Chapter 451: Infiltrating Death Eaters' HQ!
The moment Kai had gotten to know the true nature of his enemy, torturing it out of Ryan, he had decided to infiltrate the enemy ranks.
There were several reasons for this.
First, and perhaps the most potent, was the fact that he wasn't strong enough to survive the onslaught of over 1000 soldiers. Not without some excellent weapons.
Sure he could track the enemy within 50 km around him, but that wasn't all he wanted to do.
He wanted to kill.
He must kill.
The second was the absurdness of Pokemon and other magical creatures' intelligence on this island.
Pokemon were already a high-intelligence species.
But what illogical concept was a talking Drogon, Viserys, and Rhaegal?
If that was all, then it wouldn't have shaken Kai so.
It was the name of the Army from the Game of Thrones — Eternal Snow!!!
If he were to face a force from that army, a special force, then even he wouldn't escape unscathed, Kai knew.
Then there were Xenomorphs.
Kai didn't fear them.
What he did feel apprehensive about was their cooperating with their archenemies, Yautja.
Kai wasn't conceited enough to think that he could fight Xenomorphs barehanded.
Without suitable weapons, and given his Trooper Rank, if even 50 Trooper Xenomorphs were to come for him, then he was as good as a goner.
And there was only one way to tackle all these problems.
The Contrasts of Facelessness!
First, he would show how traumatic this experience had been for Ryan so that he could justify his actions at headquarters.
Second, even if he could not use a wand, he could bridge the gap with his own way of using magic.
And third, he could know the internal workings of the force that was bound to be sent to deal with him.
However, things didn't exactly go according to Kai's plan.
Instead of returning to the Alliance HQ, which would have taken them days, enough time for Kai to kill all Cavalrymen and the Yautja, surviving alone, the Platoon received the order to report to Death Eaters HQ.
Now, Ryan wasn't as familiar with other headquarters as the Alliance HQ.
Even at Cloudbreak Spire, he was a mere Trooper; an inconsequential nobody.
Each Army had around 600,000 Troopers.
Out of those, 50000 Troopers remained stationed at Alliance HQ and were rotated around the different headquarters from time to time.
250,000 Troopers remained at the main headquarters of the Army, while each of the three other headquarters held 100,000 Troopers.
With Ryan's recent graduation, the only headquarters he had been to was the Alliance and main HQ.
So Kai needed to change his plans slightly.
…
Destriers neighed, their hooves pounding the earth.
Sun had reached overhead and the Join Task Force had left the dry scrublands behind, entering lush green patches of land and mountainous terrain.
Ryan was seated behind the oldest Trooper in the cavalry, feeling the vibrations of the thick armor plating.
In front of him, a mountain range stretching from south to northeast, with the tallest peak towering above three hundred meters from the ground.
On the slope of that peak, Ryan saw a grand castle, hundreds of wizards flying in and out and around it on broomsticks.
If it wasn't for this mission being his first, where he needed to learn patrolling as a foot soldier, then he too would have been issued a broomstick.
"We are here!" the Cavalry Trooper shouted over the neighing horses. "Damn! I could use a broomstick for myself. My ass needs a good warm bath, that it does. Heh!"
In front of the Cavalry, with a horse of his own, was the acting-Captain Un-Blooded Yautja, Ming.
Even now his head was moving from left to right as if he was expecting an ambush anytime now.
He was bound to be disappointed, though.
A hundred thousand Troopers weren't a small number, it seemed.
Even though the Castle, representing Death Eater HQ, was high on the mountain, the Trooper barracks had surrounded the entire mountain like a ring.
And, at the foot of the mountain, there was an enormous arching gateway, with a sculpture of a Basilisk on it, baring its fangs at the incomers.
A team of wizards welcomed them.
As Ming shared quick words with the wizards, Ryan slid down the horse and noticed that the entire camp was in an orderly hurry.
It was evident that the higher-ups had already ordered them to march.
If Ryan was right, then they were just waiting for the thousand men Company from the Eternal Snow to arrive.
It was then the Un-Blooded Yautja approached Ryan.
"They want you up," he told Ryan, his voice mechanical. "Don't act a coward in front of them and show some spine, will you? I don't want them to judge my platoon with you as the basis."
Ryan ground his teeth.
With large strides, he neared the team of wizards.
"Can you fly?" one wizard asked, a man in his forties, pointing at the broomstick. "I heard you — suffered some injuries."
A vein pulsed on Ryan's forehead.
He involuntarily clenched his right hand's wrist, his entire body trembling in fear. "I… I can."
The team of wizards glanced among themselves and nodded.
Kai couldn't fly a broomstick. Not for long before running out of magic.
But some things were incredibly hard to distinguish from magic. So hard, in fact, that one could mistake them for magic itself.
Telekinesis, for instance, was one such thing.
Kai even believed that this was the preliminary test for Ryan.
They wanted to see if he could use a broomstick or not.
Ryan threw his legs around the broomstick and almost instantly threw himself into the air, maneuvering the broom masterfully.
He was supposed to be well-trained with a broom, what with him being a Trooper from the Flying Battalion, anyway.
When the team of wizards saw Ryan shooting toward the Castle, they showed no expression but sighed inwardly in relief.
The Castle was even bigger than it had looked from the mountain's foot, Ryan observed.
The wizards took him to a tower, where they left him alone in front of a closed oaken door.
A beautiful witch was stationed there, who smiled at him, noticing his gaze.
Ryan's heartbeat quickened.
Creak!
The oaken doors creaked as they opened and Ryan walked in.
Behind a large table on the dais in the hall, three wizards were seated, eying him with penetrating gazes.
Ryan almost paused as he looked at the one in the middle.
"Commander Diggory!" he saluted, instantly falling into an attention position.
But, in the very next moment, Ryan winced as his scars stung him.
"Easy," Commander Cedric Diggory smiled at Ryan. "Take a seat."
Commander Diggory was in his late twenties, handsome, and an incredibly powerful wizard. Some even said that he was a mere breath away from getting promoted to the rank of General.
There was a seat a few feet away from the dais.
When Ryan approached the seat, he found a vial of potion placed on the chair.
"That's — Veritaserum," Commander Cedric Diggory told him. "Drink it."
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