As for the rest, they are all out front, serving as a disguise for Brando’s blinding technique.
Hearing that familiar voice with a hint of self-satisfaction, Brando didn’t even need to turn around to know who was calling him. So he simply extended his hand backwards over his shoulder and asked, "So fast?"
Roman walked over with Antitina. She calmly placed three thumb-sized, gray-white semi-transparent crystals into his palm and replied, "Of course. Lord Roman is very efficient. This is for you, Brando. Everyone and the elves each got a share as you instructed, so everything is ready. We’re just waiting for your order now."
"Unfortunately, we’ve run out of materials," Antitina said with a fatigued smile, "otherwise, we could have made more. I used up all the ingredients we had before, even dismantled the sample of the Magic Transmission Device as you instructed, including the raw stone inside."
Brando nodded, carefully inserting the Dissolution Crystals into his belt one by one. Then he took the Longsword from Hu Que and pointed outside: "The enemy is very cautious; we can’t fool them for long. Once we get close enough, I’ll draw their attention. Medisha and Qian, you’ll come with me. Our target is to entangle Conrad and the Earth Envoy among the Lizardman army. As for the rest of the minor threats, Namenis and his men should have no problem handling them."
The Silver Elf Commander glanced this way and nodded.
"Don’t just nod, Commander," Brando remarked, unwilling to let him off, "don’t forget your promise."
Namenis smiled slightly, "We shall see."
Medisha looked at the two of them and couldn’t help but smile as well.
"Qian, any questions?" Brando asked again.
"Understood." The red-haired girl nodded lightly and responded.
"Hu Que, your task is to follow behind our Silver Elf Allies and provide cover," at the same time, he added silently to himself, "make sure to protect the Gray Wolf Mercenaries. They can’t revive like you." Seeing Hu Que nod, he turned to Sanfde and said, "Same goes for you, protect yourselves. Only by surviving can you enjoy the victory—"
"Of course, my Lord." The young man nodded respectfully.
Brando scanned the few people present and felt at ease. Besides Namenis, almost everyone here was part of his core team. Of course, there might be some forces on Reto’s side, but that group of mercenaries was different from these people. He understood that—among those mercenaries, Reto’s status and prestige were likely higher than his own. But the people in front of him were all loyal and familiar. Hu Que and Medisha were trustworthy without question, Antitina and the Gray Wolf Mercenary Group had no one else to rely on besides him, so they naturally wouldn’t have any ulterior motives.
Not that he didn’t trust Reto, but as the saying goes, "a long journey tests the endurance of a horse, time reveals a person’s heart." Brando wouldn’t easily expose his secrets. He had seen too many betrayals, those who call you brother today and stab you in the back tomorrow were common even in games, let alone in reality.
After arranging everyone’s tasks, he turned back to observe the movements of the Lizardmen in the forest—Conrad and Yohkel seemed unaware of any abnormalities here, but Brando knew they wouldn’t be fooled for long. Just one initial strike would be enough.
The nearest Lizardmen were already two miles away, shadows beginning to flit through the forest. The Lizardmen hadn’t deployed their Dragon Hunter Cavalry as an advance unit like they would in the wilderness, which was excellent news for Brando. The opponent was lax, which meant their first strike would hit even harder.
Seven hundred meters.
Brando read this number from the distance plugin; Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on novel⦿fire.net
The massive number of Lizardman Warriors marching through the forest sounded like the entire valley was rustling, like water flowing through the woods or countless ants scurrying on the ground. In fact, Brando could already see the front-line mercenaries reaching for their belts, where Antitina had distributed the Dissolution Crystals. Though small in size, their instant energy burst was about 15 ’Oz’, with a destructive power comparable to a Black Iron Lower Rank Elemental Mage’s Magic Arrow.