Starting With an SSS-Rank Swordsmanship Talent - Chapter 482: Recaptured

Chapter 482: Recaptured

On the same day that Halona surrendered, Alaric received a report about the situation through a letter.

How strange…

My mission says that I only need to occupy three cities, but I still haven’t received any notification.

They had already conquered Atarkan, Midgard, and Halona, but the system still hadn’t confirmed the completion of his mission.

Did I miss something?

He frowned.

Just what is it that I have missed?

“Hey!”

“Hey, you dumbass!”

A furious voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

Turning his head, he saw Giovanni glaring at him with an annoyed expression.

“What is it? Stop bothering me.” Alaric scowled and made a shooing gesture.

Veins protruded on Giovanni’s face when he heard this. “Look at this bastard…”

He was about to lash out, but he noticed that Alaric was unusually quiet.

“What happened? You’ve been like this since you got that letter from Exlor.” He was curious to know what was bothering Alaric.

Alaric sent him a weird look. “Are you, perhaps, worried about me?”

“Stop acting tough!”

Giovanni sneered.

“I know something is bothering you. Just spit it out.”

“It’s so boring here. Listening to your worries might help alleviate my boredom.”

Alaric facepalmed and shook his head.

This guy is really treating me as some form of entertainment.

With a serious face, he opened his mouth. “Giovanni, I think something big will happen soon.”

Hearing this, Giovanni raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Do you remember how many enemy Venerables had been stationed here?” Alaric asked.

Giovanni thought for a moment and replied. “I heard that there were three of them. If we include the Catastrophe-grade beast, that’s four. Why do you ask?”

Alaric took a deep breath and crossed his arms. “After capturing three cities, we only encountered two enemy Venerables and one Catastrophe-grade beast. There is still one more we hadn’t met.”

Giovanni furrowed his eyebrows. “Are you saying that this remaining Venerable might be waiting for an opportunity to attack us?”

Alaric shook his head with uncertainty. “I don’t know, but we should be careful. I will also send word to the guys on Mount Tirad, Atarkan, and Halona.”

He had a feeling that his mission would only be completed if this remaining enemy Venerable was defeated.

The only problem was that they had no clue where this person was hiding. Even the crown prince still hadn’t updated them about the person’s whereabouts.

“I will inform everyone to be careful.” Giovanni trusted Alaric’s instincts. This guy was usually spot on about things like this.

“Alright. I will leave this task to you. I’ll go back first and write a letter to the others.” Alaric stood up, waved his hand, and left with haste.

…

Marlon provided Alaric with a small mansion as his accommodation. It was owned by an aristocrat who had been killed in the recent battle.

To prevent retaliation from the members of the mansion, Marlon changed all the servants.

At this moment, Alaric was in the master’s bedroom, writing a letter, when a series of knocks interrupted him.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

He stopped and turned his head. “Come in. It’s unlocked.”

Creak.

A grim-faced Giovanni stepped inside the room. His face was covered in thick beads of sweat and it looked like he ran all the way here.

“Alaric, Atarkan has fallen! Our warriors… all of them have perished…” The guy spoke with a mixture of anger and sadness.

Alaric seemed to have been electrocuted when he heard this.

“What?!” His expression changed dramatically as he rose to his feet.

“I received a letter from a survivor who managed to escape from there. He said that an army consisting of half a million soldiers attacked them.” Giovanni added with a gloomy look.

Half a million?! When did they gather that many troops?!

Alaric’s face fell.

Now, he finally understood why the system didn’t send any notification.

It turned out that Atarkan had been recaptured by the enemies.

“Atarkan has been recaptured. This means that Mount Tirad might have fallen first…”

“That seems to be the case.” Giovanni nodded.

Alaric fell on his seat, his eyes shaking with fury. “Our troops…”

Giovanni grabbed a stool and placed it next to his seat.

“What should we do? We can’t just divide our forces now.”

If they divided their troops, the enemies might use the chance to attack the cities they had captured.

Alaric rubbed his temples as he racked his brains. “Is there any word from Leighnard’s side?”

Giovanni shook his head. “We haven’t gotten any news from their side since they told us that Halona has been conquered.”

Alaric narrowed his eyes.

Did they cut off our communication since that day?

“Giovanni, I think the enemies are already marching towards us!” Alaric muttered.

“No way! I just received word that Atarkan has fallen. How is that even possible?” Giovanni couldn’t believe it.

“It could be a ploy to make us think that they are still in Atarkan!” Alaric became more nervous the more he thought about it.

There were only two options for the enemy troops. The first one was to march towards Halona and the other was to march towards Midgard.

If he were the enemy commander, he would choose the weaker side, which was them.

Only one Venerable was leading the Astanian troops in Midgard and that was Ignatius.

Giovanni’s face darkened. He stood up and said. “I will go look for Lord Ignatius. We need to tell him this!”

“Wait!” Alaric grabbed his shoulder.

“I will go with you. We need to discuss this together.”

Giovanni nodded.

The two didn’t waste any time and headed straight to the mansion where Ignatius was staying.

When they arrived at the mansion, the servants took them to the balcony on the second floor.

“Your Highnesses, what is going on?” Ignatius felt that something was amiss when he saw their grim faces.

He put down the tea he was drinking and gestured for them to sit down.

“Tell me what happened.”

Alaric and Giovanni nodded at each other before they told him everything.