Chapter 499 A Race Against Time

An hour before Leone returned to Aslan City...

The teleportation gate located at the castle grounds shone brightly.

A moment later, Samuel, who had lost an arm and a leg, appeared lying on the ground, screaming in pain.

As soon as the guards recognized their Guardian, they immediately panicked and rushed to assist him.

"One of you, report this to His Majesty. And someone, get the Royal Physician! Now!" the Captain of the Guards ordered.

"Yes, sir!" One of the guards hurried off while Samuel continued to scream in pain.

Teleporting while seriously injured seemed to make the pain much worse, and Samuel could almost feel his sanity slipping from the pain.

The guards on duty poured all of their healing potions on their Guardian’s injuries, hoping it would alleviate his pain.

Unfortunately, the injury he suffered couldn’t be cured by ordinary potions.

When the King, the Prime Minister, and the Royal Physician arrived, they couldn’t help but be in shock at the sight of their Guardian’s current state.

"What happened?!" King Augustus asked. "Who did this to you?! Did the Aurelion Army betray us?! Did that bastard Zepharion attack you?!"

"Leone... Frontera!" Samuel roared like a madman. "It’s... him! It’s all his fault! I’ll kill him! I’LL KILL HIM!"

"Please calm down, Your Excellency." The Royal Physician didn’t hesitate to pour a potion of lesser restoration onto Samuel’s injury. "Here, please drink this."

Samuel didn’t resist and drank the potion. The pain he felt lessened drastically, but it still hurt like hell.

However, it allowed him to think more clearly, letting him tell Augustus what happened in Eden.

"Capture all of his family members!" Samuel ordered with bloodshot eyes. "Get them all! I’ll kill them in front of that bastard!"

"Very well," King Augustus replied, still shaken from what he had just heard.

When the High King of the Aurelion Empire told him that the name of the person who delayed the advance of the Britannian Army to the Borderlands was Leone Frontera, he thought the latter was just messing with him.

After all, there was simply no way that an exiled boy could rise to that position of power in just a few months.

Even Samuel didn’t believe this news, thinking that the Aurelion Empire’s High King was just being petty.

But after seeing with his own eyes that the exiled young man was indeed the culprit getting in their way, there was no longer any need for him to turn a blind eye to his actions.

Since they couldn’t possibly deal with Leone right now, they would have to settle for targeting the people within their reach.

And that was none other than the Frontera Family, who were part of their kingdom.

The King immediately used his communication crystal to talk directly to the Black Tortoise General, telling him what just happened.

"Detain Marco and his son," King Augustus ordered. "Bring them back to the capital as fast as possible."

"How about his family?" General Duran asked.

"We can’t afford to pull out soldiers from the battlefield right now," King Augustus replied. "I’ll send the Shadow Guards to deal with the Frontera Family instead."

The Shadow Guards were the special forces of the Kingdom that only obeyed the King’s orders.

They were a group of superhumans who served as assassins, spies, and the King’s intelligence network.

If the King wanted a job done and done right, he would order the Shadow Guards to take action.

The general almost felt sorry for the Frontera Family since they were now about to be hunted down like criminals by the Kingdom’s most fearsome operatives.

"Understood, Your Majesty," General Duran stated. "I’ll capture Marco Frontera right away."

"Where is he now?" King Augustus asked.

"He is currently negotiating with the Barbarians and the Beastkins," General Duran answered.

"Deal with him quietly," King Augustus commanded.

"Yes, Your Majesty." General Duran nodded.

The moment the connection ended, General Duran gathered the three other generals and shared the latest information he received from the King.

"No way..." The Vermillion Bird General, who had accompanied General Duran to the campaign in the Borderlands, looked at his comrade in disbelief. "How can that be possible?"

The other generals had also heard that a young noble had been recently exiled to the Borderlands. But it seemed unbelievable for that same noble to rise up to become the chieftain of a barbarian tribe.

"Whether you believe it or not, His Majesty has ordered Marco’s capture," General Duran said firmly. "I believe they will be used as hostages against Leone Frontera."

Although it was a cowardly act to target someone’s family, none of them could refute that it was the most effective move.

After a quick discussion, everyone agreed that General Duran and General Vogel would be the ones to capture Marco and his son.

"What about their men?" the Blue Dragon General asked.

"We’ll just tell them that the King has summoned the Viscount to the capital," General Duran replied.

This was a plausible excuse, and no one would suspect anything.

However, little did they know that someone had overheard their conversation.

’Damn it!’ Edward, one of the most powerful psionics in the kingdom, cursed internally after hearing the discussion between the four generals.

Aside from having powerful psychic powers, he was also an alchemist. One of his creations was the Whisper Wing, which was a tiny mechanical insect that looked like an ordinary fly.

Using his psychic powers, he could see and hear what the Whisper Wing saw and heard.

Edward could share his senses with the Whisper Wing up to a thousand meters away. Past that, he would lose his connection with it.

He had scattered several Whisper Wings around the camp to spy on the high-ranking officers of the army.

Naturally, he also made sure that at least one Whisper Wing followed one of the generals at any point in time, so that if they received confidential information, he would be able to get it as well.

Now that he was aware of their plan to capture his father, Edward fell into a dilemma.

There was no way he could warn his father in time. He could try, but it would end in both of their capture.

After an internal battle, Edward hardened his heart and hurriedly talked to his father’s most trusted aide.

He explained the situation and asked him to follow whatever order the four generals were about to ask of them.

This was the only way to save the soldiers of the Frontera Viscounty from being branded as traitors.

"Be careful, Young Master," the aide said gravely. "I will do my best to take care of our people. But you must escape at all costs. That is the only way for you to be able to save your father and your family from harm."

"Thank you," Edward replied. "Please be safe."

Under the cover of darkness, Edward hurriedly left the camp alone.

The aide volunteered to send their elite men to act as his bodyguards, but Edward refused the offer.

He believed that he would be able to escape on his own. Dragging others along might just weigh him down.

’I’m sorry, Father.’ Edward gripped the reins of his horse tighter. ’I promise to save our family no matter what.’

Edward knew that soon, the generals would realize that he wasn’t in the camp. He had no doubt in his mind that they would order an elite squad to track him down.

But he didn’t care.

It was a race against time.

The eldest son of the Frontera Family only had one destination in mind, and that was none other than the Frontera Viscounty.

He hoped beyond hope that he would arrive in time to warn his family of the calamity that was about to knock on their door.