Chapter 352: Emperor Arrives

He scrubbed the grime and sweat off his skin, changed into a fresh set of identical clothes, and walked right back through the portal.

He closed the portal behind him, feeling much better.

He sat right back down on his cot and started meditating again.

Later that same night, Aria slowly opened her eyes.

She turned her small head on her pillow and looked across the dark tent. Adrian looked like he was sleeping soundly on his own cot on the other side of the room. The military beds were way too thin and narrow to fit both of them, so they had no other choice but to sleep separately even though she vastly preferred cuddling up against his side.

But the sudden change in the ambient mana concentration around him was something she couldn’t just ignore.

She stared at his face.

She could immediately tell that this man had broken through.

’He... broke through? That’s really fast..." she thought.

She had already sensed his previous breakthrough when he ranked up as a knight earlier, but ranking up his magic circle on the exact same day was something she really didn’t expect.

’Looks like he got some sort of enlightenment during that spar,’ she thought to herself.

She silently analyzed his mana flow while thinking about a lot of things. His mana veins were passively pulling in the ambient energy of the room even while he slept, and it was an incredibly efficient system.

’It was only a matter of time. Now he’s the exact same magic rank as me. I can’t let myself fall behind.’

She frowned slightly as she stared at him.

’It’s a pity he told me not to train in the knight arts. I can only train as a mage right now because he thinks pushing physical limits at my age will ruin my growth. I really wish I could just grow up faster so I can start training my body too. Or maybe I can just find a way to convince him.’

She stared at him for a few more seconds, plotting her next move, before she let out a quiet huff. She turned over onto her other side, pulled the thick blanket all the way up over her head, and closed her eyes to go back to sleep.

Almost an entire week passed.

The tension in the air hung over the camp. The Oresfall soldiers went through their daily drills, sharpened their weapons, and kept their armor polished, waiting for the inevitable clash that Adrian had told them to prepare for.

Adrian was standing near the center of the camp when one of his men casually walked over to him.

The man didn’t make a sound as he moved. He was one of Lorcan’s hand-picked stealth operatives from the Shadow Squad.

"Got any information for me?" Adrian asked without looking away from the training grounds.

The guy from the shadow squad nodded.

"My lord," the man said quietly. "Emperor Maximilian is heading over to the camp right now. He has a few soldiers with him, and all of them appear to be high-ranking knights. There are also a few mages mixed into their formation. The Royal Financial Minister Roderick is riding alongside him."

The man paused for a second.

"There are also a few unknown people following behind their main group. They seem to be attempting to hide their presence. They are quite good at stealth."

Adrian just scoffed.

"Well, they’re obviously not better than you guys if you spotted them this easily."

The assassin nodded in agreement, but he didn’t smile. His face remained strictly professional and entirely emotionless.

"Okay then," Adrian said, his tone shifting into something much colder. "Spread the news to the whole squad. Tell the soldiers to get ready. I want every single person in the rifle squad loaded and aiming. I don’t want anyone slacking off today. Even a fraction of a second is going to be important."

"Yes, my lord. I will immediately spread the orders."

The assassin bowed slightly and essentially vanished into the crowd of moving soldiers.

Adrian turned his head and looked out over his army. Most of his men were just sitting on the ground doing their own thing, eating rations or rolling dice in the dirt. He watched them for a few seconds before shifting his gaze to where Claire and Thorne were standing near the command tent.

"Claire. Thorne. Come over here," Adrian called out.

The two commanders immediately stopped what they were doing and jogged over to him.

Adrian didn’t look at them as he gave his orders. He just kept his eyes on the soldiers as he spoke.

"The Emperor is heading over right now," Adrian said flatly. "Get the soldiers ready and form up the lines. I want the civilians and non-combatants moved to a safe place at the back of the camp. There is a very high chance that this might turn ugly."

Claire and Thorne didn’t ask any questions. They just nodded sharply and sprinted off to get to work.

Adrian watched as the camp instantly transformed. Orders were barked, soldiers dropped their bowls and dice, grabbed their weapons, and sprinted into their designated formations. Within minutes, a massive, heavily armed brigade formed a wall at the front of the camp.

And just like the shadow operative had reported, the Emperor’s forces soon appeared.

The royal banners fluttered in the wind as a mid sized group of heavily armored knights marched toward the Oresfall camp.

But of course, Emperor Maximilian didn’t just walk up and greet Adrian himself. He was way too arrogant for that.

Instead, a lone messenger rode forward on a heavily armored horse. The man trotted right up to the front line of the Oresfall barricade, holding a rolled-up parchment scroll with the royal seal stamped in wax.

Adrian walked past his own men and stepped up to the horse.

Before the messenger could even open his mouth to declare the Emperor’s grand words, Adrian just reached up and snatched the scroll right out of the man’s hand.