Chapter 223: The Black Stalker’s Involvement

There was a moment of expectant silence as the group fixed their attention upon Aelric, awaiting his answer.

Looking across their faces for a brief moment, Aelric then closed his eyes before letting out a sigh.

"Right. You are right that I should have, at the least, told you about the movements of the Pack. However, at the time, it wasn’t something that I could have done just like that."

Kaeloris adjusted his glasses as he asked, "And what is that? I mean, there is no reasonable reason that you couldn’t have warned us beforehand, is there?"

"Well..." Aelric paused briefly before continuing. "It’s not as simple as you are making it sound like."

The green-eyed youth looked across the group before speaking further.

"You see, you guys are making it seem as though the attacks on you by the wolves were something that was not premeditated. In fact, let me tell you, whether I told you or not makes no difference because you still would have fought them whether you liked it or not."

At this point, one could say that Aelric had suddenly bamboozled the members of the cohort.

It now seemed as though there was more to the situation than they initially believed, making the whole matter even more complicated and intrinsically more complex.

"And what do you mean by that?" Aureleah asked.

Aelric raised a brow as he looked toward her before answering her question.

"You see, while it seems as though the wolves stumbled upon your position accidentally, it wasn’t the case at all."

He paused slightly before continuing. "As a matter of fact, this whole battle you guys just partook in was a result of the orchestration of a third party. I mean, didn’t you guys think about it?"

His expression became serious.

"Though I warned you about the wolves, it was about the cave being their den and the fact that we can’t get caught within it. But if you think deeply about it, you would realize that we are already a long way from their den, so why is it that we still encountered them? Also, a better question would be how did they find us when they did? "

Aelric looked at them carefully.

"I mean, is it that they perhaps followed your tracks just to get revenge on the people that invaded their home without permission? It is all too deliberate and not as coincidental as any of you might have thought."

The more Aelric said, the more the circumstances surrounding their ambush were beginning to seem like an intentional occurrence.

Honestly, the group had to admit that they hadn’t bothered to consider the thought that the ambush on them was some kind of manipulation by a shadow perpetrator.

As a matter of fact, they had simply attributed it to some kind of random accident; something that was totally unexpected.

After all, the Scarlet Canopy had been trying to kill them since their exile, so why would they even bother looking for another explanation?

However, based on what Aelric was saying, it seemed that the situation wasn’t as plain and as simple as they had thought it was.

"What do you mean, Aelric?" Regaleon asked.

"I mean, surely, you aren’t telling us to believe that everything that just happened was a consequence of some hidden hand pulling the strings behind the scenes, are you? I mean, that is literally preposterous."

Aelric shook his head before speaking. "Don’t be too naive, Regaleon."

He looked at Regaleon with a calm but serious expression. "I know that everything I just said might sound like flimsy excuses and justifications to defend my actions, but I promise you that it is not."

Aelric’s expression gradually became more solemn. "Although you guys do not know better, let me just break it to you that the very reason you are in this situation is because of the Black Stalker."

Before the group could even process what that statement implied, Aelric was already continuing.

"And I would tell you the reason I said so."

He took a brief pause.

"You see, Black Stalkers, as their name implies, are specialized Sauryean soldiers that tend to stay on their target and use whatever means necessary to achieve their objective."

The group remained silent as they listened.

"Earlier, though it seems as though Vael’zhur gave up and left us for now, that is not actually the case." Aelric’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Actually, what it intended at that moment was this; since it couldn’t take you directly, then it could only use the indirect means to do so."

"Hold on a minute."

Vaelorin suddenly raised a hand, his brows furrowing as confusion became apparent on his face.

"I think we are missing something here." He looked between Aelric and the others before asking. "How does the attack by the wolves correlate with the disappearance of the Black Stalker?"

His expression became increasingly perplexed. "Also, besides that, how does all of that have to do with the reason behind you intentionally remaining tight-lipped about the impending assault of the pack?"

Vaelorin shook his head.

"I mean, it is something that is massively unrelated with one another. Yet, somehow, you make it seem as though they are interwoven, with each event following the other."

He frowned. "Please, kindly explain this dilemma to me clearly because I can’t understand anything."

"You are not the only one, Vaelorin." Valmyr said as he stepped forward. "I mean, I don’t even understand anything that we are talking about now."

His eyes drifted to Aelric when he said that before he continued.

"Like, I mean, we are supposed to be talking about you..." Valmyr gestured toward Aelric. "But now, you are making a connection to the Black Stalker and how it was related to everything that just occurred. To me, whole lot of this doesn’t actually add up."

He scratched the back of his head, his confusion plain on his face. "So, could you help us make it make sense?"

Aelric sighed before lifting his head up.

"I know you guys are confused, and because of that, I’m going to try my best to explain it as clearly as I can."

Aelric said this while looking across the group.

Then, after making sure that the group was listening, he began with his explanation.

"You see, Sauryeans are known for one peculiar ability, and that is their ability to direct and control other creatures or some members of other races."

The expressions of the group gradually became more attentive.

"As a matter of fact, if a human is not strong-willed enough, then he or she would be prone to this mind control of a Sauryean."

Aelric paused before continuing.

"However, that particular power is for the high-ranking ones in their race. For soldiers like Vael’zhur, their power is more tuned down in a way that, rather than controlling other sentient beings, they can only control animals."

His eyes became more serious.

"And what you guys don’t know is that while it might seem as though the Black Stalker was talking amicably with us about taking Regaleon away, it already knew that my presence amongst you would make it difficult to take Regaleon away."

Aelric’s gaze briefly shifted toward Regaleon.

"And for that reason, it had already been preparing its other plan. And that is to make use of the wolf pack to do its dirty job..."