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TWL Chapter 222: Battles Waged, Wars Prevented
🕑 Added 2024-09-27 04:16:12 +0000 UTCLann stomped on the forktail's body and drew his sword.
A hand, clad in a steel gauntlet, offered him a cloak. Lann instinctively took it to wipe the blood from his sword, but something was not right.
Lann turned around and found that the man who handed him the cloak was not a warrior from Cintra, but a Redanian knight wearing an eagle emblem.
The knight, noticing Lann's surprise, stepped back and praised him: "Lord Lannister, your bravery is impressive. I have witnessed how you fought ten elves at once and how you did not rest for a moment from dusk to dawn. Without you, I do not know how many casualties we would have suffered tonight."
Lann smiled politely and replied: "My ability is of no importance. What we have achieved is due to the joint effort of all the warriors of the North. We resisted these terrifying creatures because we joined forces, and that was the reason we are here, wasn't it?"
"Your humility is also worthy of admiration."
The knight bowed his head and retreated to his team. His comrades around him looked at Lann with the same eyes as him.
After a night like that, it was hard for them not to show such respect after witnessing such a battle.
They whispered among themselves: "It's true what they say⦠The Lion of Cintra is more impressive in person."
Lann wrapped his runeblade in the cloak the knight had given him, wiping away the blood until the bright golden light shone once again.
"The Sword of the Lady of the Lakeβ¦" Someone murmured in admiration, though there was no greed in their voice.
"Only a true knight will receive the sword given by the Lady of the Lake." Another knight commented, as Lann inspected the rune carvings in the first ray of sunlight, making sure no stains remained.
Lann began to search for his troops, and soon spotted the knights of Cintra moving among the corpses of the monsters.
Kolgrim made a reassuring gesture to Lann, indicating that everything that needed to be dealt with had been dealt with.
Lann nodded.
High-ranking officers from the various armies roamed the countryside, reorganizing troops and assessing losses caused by the night's chaos. The kings, clad in their armor, came out to boost the morale of the troops once safety was guaranteed by their guards.
Except Henselt.
Demavend watched Letho, who stood beside Lann. The witcher's arm was thicker than his own waist. These warriors of visible strength were the favorites of kings who loved to lead in person.
"Witchers, huh?" Demavend mused. "Looks like I'll need to hire some in my kingdom as well. They have their own method of dealing with monsters."
"Let's rest as soon as possible and then return to our respective territories, Your Majesties." Lann suggested. "It's too dangerous outside. And the current situation will cause complete chaos in the North if there is any disturbance, and our efforts in the past few days will go to waste."
Lann was referring to the fact that Kaedwen almost called the soldiers stationed at the border last night. When the troops of the four kingdoms are on high alert, if one side irrationally breaks the balance and causes misunderstandings, it is possible to trigger a full-scale war.
If that were to happen, the North would not know peace or cooperation for years, or even decades, to come.
"The Scoia'tael is indeed a disaster." Demavend frowned. "Aedirn is too close to Kaedwen. That idiot Henselt might drag us down too. Maybe I should prepare for what's coming."
"To resist foreign aggression, we must first stabilize the kingdom. I actually agree with this. It's just that His Majesty Henselt is too murderous." Lann sighed. "When dealing with non-human races, we need to distinguish between friends and enemies."
Demavend did not comment on Lann's words.
Meve glanced at Lann and shook her head at him.
There is a rumor in the North: Although Demavend is quite far-sighted in strategy, he is actually known for cruelty and jealousy. It's no wonder that he has been entangled with Henselt for so many years. He may be better than Henselt in his overall understanding, but his character is not much better.
The leaders, deep in thought about what they would do upon returning to their kingdoms, no longer felt like conversing. They simply organized their men to count the casualties this time, regroup, and contact the border defense forces to strengthen the search of the surrounding forests and eliminate the remnants of the Scoia'tael.
Once the agreements between the kingdoms were finalized, everyone would return home.
...
While the Northern Kingdoms were organizing, deep in the forest, the Scoia'tael licked their wounds.
The gnomes, who barely had the strength to fight, looked anxiously towards the forest. After a while, they heard a rhythmic whistling, similar to the song of a bird, and their faces lit up with joy.
However, that joy faded when they saw Iorveth, and his group emerge from the forest.
Not only did they return wounded, but their number was less than a third of what had left.
"Iorveth!" A gnome shouted, rushing to the leader's aid. "What happened?"
The leader of the Scoia'tael, who used to radiate authority, now had a look of defeat in his eyes. "We failed. We failed to start a civil war in the North, or to kill Henselt or any other king. Our comrades are dead, and their sacrifices have been in vain."
"What?" the gnome insisted, still screaming. "What happened?!"
Hearing that question, all the Scoia'tael survivors remembered the same person.
"We've encountered someone..." Iorveth closed his eyes in pain. "Someone unexpected... A man so formidable that even with a strategy we wouldn't have been able to confront him. I've never seen anyone like him."
"Who was he?" the gnome asked as he bandaged Iorveth's wounds. "What did he do?"
Before Iorveth could respond, a bright emerald light suddenly appeared beside him. The phenomenon occurred so quickly and in such an unusual manner that everyone was paralyzed, not knowing how to react.
Before the astonished eyes of the Scoia'tael members, the light took the form of a human figure, and a deep, magnetic voice came from it.
"That someone is me, Lann Lannister." Said the luminous figure. "And I saved you."
...
Shortly before...
After cleaning up the battlefield, Lann returned to his room.
As he ordered his men and the witchers to deal with the collected mutagens, Lann closed his eyes and began tracing the energy mark he had left behind.
When he rescued Henselt on the top of the fortress before, he deliberately marked Iorveth, waiting for this moment.
Several familiar energies appeared in his mind.
This is the energy perception attached to the [Teleport] skill, which allows him to control which mark he teleports to. Through these marks, he can also vaguely perceive the situation of the marked person or the marked object.
The nearest few marks are right next to him, which are his several servants and the witchers.
Not far away, in the stables of Hagge Castle, was Black Wind's mark. He was motionless, probably resting after having exhausted himself the night before.
A little further away is Kiyan in Novigrad. The light dot representing him was jumping up and down restlessly, and no one knew what it was doing.
The farthest energy ball almost left Lann's sensing limit, that was Triss. Although Lann could not pinpoint where she was, he wondered if the sorceress was in Cintra, Kaer Morhen, or Aretuza.
Lann wasn't looking for any of them, though. The energy he was tracking, that of a recent mark, belonged to Iorveth, who was quickly moving away.
After a short while of activating his perception skill, Lann felt that his mana was constantly being depleted.
He paused briefly to regain his energy, and when he reactivated his perception, Iorveth's mark had stopped moving.
That meant he had returned to his camp.
Lann smiled slightly, gave some instructions to his servants and, under the astonished gazes of everyone, activated his ability and vanished in a cloud of emerald.
Kolgrim crossed his arms, smacked his lips and asked Letho: "Do you think Master Ivar has similar skills, but we have never been qualified to learn them before, and he has been waiting for an opportunity to teach us?"
Letho said expressionlessly: "You can ask him next time you see him."
...
When he activated the ability, Lann was blinded by an intense light. This effect lasted only an instant. When Lann regained his sight, he saw a slowed-down world.
The elves ran in slow motion through the camp. The dwarves comforted the halflings. The gnomes bandaged wounds as their words reached Lann like a distant, intermittent echo.
"Who... is... him? What... did... he... do?"
Lann's magic continued to drain as he kept the world in that slowed state.
Some of the Scoia'tael began to notice him. Their eyes followed him, and their bodies leaned toward him.
Most importantly, Lann's own body was also affected by the slowdown.
Comments
Axell
Thanks for the chapter π
