Chapter 467 The Negotiation

Irus’s eyes narrowed sharply.

"......"

After a long, tense silence,

she spoke again, her voice cold and sharp.

"Speak. What do you want?"

Fagu scrambled to his feet, his body still trembling with fear.

"O-Our terms are simple! You must lift the siege immediately—and you’re forbidden from pursuing us!"

SWISH!

The sharp tip of the wand was pressed against Fagu’s throat once more.

"Are you mocking me?"

"Eep?!"

Fagu stumbled backward in terror, tripping over his own feet and crashing to the ground.

"It’s not me! I didn’t come up with these terms! I’m just a messenger! A-And besides......"

"Besides what?"

Fagu hesitated for a heartbeat, then gritted his teeth and blurted out,

"I-If you don’t agree within three minutes—the Hero’s neck will be snapped clean off!"

A wave of murderous intent surged forth from Irus in an instant.

"Killing me won’t help either! The Hero will die the second you lay a hand on me!" Fagu screamed, scrambling to defend himself.

"......"

Irus fell silent, her expression unreadable.

"Irus......"

Hulim Heyerar stared at Irus’s back, her heart heavy with indecision.

She glanced down at the magical artifact around Hena’s neck.

That thing......

She slowly raised her right hand, a faint red glow flickering at her fingertips.

If she used the power of Annihilation Divine Light......

No!

Hulim shook her head violently, banishing the thought.

What am I thinking?

I still can’t control my power well enough to destroy only the collar. One tiny mistake......

And the Hero will die right here.

Frustration welled up inside her.

If only my control was just a little better......

"I agree."

The words drifted from Irus’s lips, quiet but firm.

"Irus!" Hulim exclaimed in disbelief.

"We have no choice......" Irus turned to look at her, her eyes filled with resolve. "The Hero cannot die here."

"......"

Fagu collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath as a wave of relief washed over him.

He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, then forced a ingratiating smile.

"S-So, my ladies—now that we’ve reached an agreement, can you let the Hero go?"

The temperature of the air seemed to drop by several degrees in an instant.

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"I don’t recall agreeing to that," Irus said flatly, her voice dripping with frost.

The overwhelming pressure made Fagu’s face turn ashen, and he struggled to draw even a single breath.

"M-My ladies......"

He forced the words out, his voice trembling.

"The Hero is our most valuable bargaining chip! If we don’t take her with us, what’s to stop you from wiping us out with a single long-range attack the moment we turn our backs?"

"I-I’m only saying this for the sake of our deal! You must understand—we need the Hero alive as long as your threat remains. But if she stays with you, we’ll be dead meat for sure! So please...... please reconsider!"

The icy, suffocating aura finally lifted.

After a long pause,

"The Hero can go with you......"

Irus said slowly.

"But we will send people to track your every move!"

"This......" Fagu’s smile froze on his face. "My lady, this wasn’t part of our agreement!"

"Take it or leave it," Irus retorted coldly. "Besides—even if we promised not to follow you, would you really believe us?"

"......"

Fagu was left speechless, choking on his own words.

After a few seconds of agonized hesitation,

he nodded reluctantly.

"Deal."

......

The dwarven legion began to pull back.

The remnants of Gulos’s faction, mixed in with the surviving monsters, fled northwestward with Hena in tow.

Irus and the others stood atop a high ridge, watching their retreating figures grow smaller and smaller in the distance.

"Aralond—as per our agreement, you’ll need to assign several squads to take turns shadowing them,"

Irus instructed.

"Understood. I’ll make the arrangements at once."

"Charkin, Aznov—you two go with them as well. Remember—whether they travel underground or through the air, not a single one of them is to slip through our fingers."

"And if someone tries to break through our lines by force? Should we take them alive?"

"No."

"Kill them on the spot."

Aralond paused for a split second, then shot Irus a glance and nodded, understanding her intentions perfectly.

The enemy was only alive right now because they held the Hero as a hostage—and since it was their only lifeline, they would never dare to use it unless they were facing certain death.

From now on, Hena would no longer be sent into battle recklessly. Knowing that two S-Rank Champions were on their trail, the enemy’s leader would keep Hena close at hand at all times to prevent a decapitation strike. There was no need to worry about her safety for the time being.

Furthermore, in their desperation to escape, the enemy would undoubtedly try every trick in the book to shake off their pursuers.

They would most likely send out decoys first to test their response.

That was why those decoys needed to be eliminated without mercy.

This approach would undoubtedly push the enemy to the brink—but the more desperate they became, the more they would rely on the Hero. And that would keep her even safer.

They needed to apply constant pressure, keeping the enemy trapped in a state of false hope—never letting them escape, but never pushing them to the point of total despair either.

"Irus—what do we do now? There is a way to remove that magical collar,"

Hulim said, her brow furrowed.

"But it will take time. If we attempt it on the battlefield, the enemy will kill Hena the second they sense something is wrong."

Faced with Hulim’s question, Irus let out a helpless sigh.

"I don’t have a solution for now. For the time being, we’ll return to Forgehold Fortress. We’ll gather all the intelligence and information we can find, and see if there’s any way to get us out of this predicament."

The situation had reached a stalemate.

Unable to make a move against the enemy, Hulim and the others had no choice but to return to Forgehold Fortress temporarily.

No one, however, could have predicted that a turning point would soon arrive at Forgehold Fortress—unbidden.

......

Inside Forgehold Fortress.

As Hulim and Irus stepped back into the fortress,

they collided with two figures walking toward them.

"Well, well. Long time no see, Irus."

"Huh......?"

Irus froze on the spot, her eyes widening in shock at the sight of the white-haired cat-eared woman standing before her.

"Laki???"

"What are you doing here?"

"Hu—li—m——!"

A high-pitched, drawn-out voice echoed through the corridor as a white-furred figure darted out from behind Laki.

"I missed you so much——!"

The figure launched herself forward and threw her arms around Hulim in a tight hug.

"??? Miko?"

Just like Irus, Hulim stood rooted to the spot, a series of question marks floating above her head.

Later, in the command hall, everyone finally learned why the two cat-girls had appeared at the fortress. It turned out that the distress letter Aralond had sent hadn’t just gone to Ilz—Laki had received a copy as well.

"......So, to sum it up—I heard the Hero in question is a young girl of the White Wolf Tribe, and she’s apparently enslaved. An old woman like me couldn’t just stand by and do nothing, so here I am."

"This is unexpected. You never used to care about matters like this, Laki."

"Ahem. That was then, this is now. Now that I’ve chosen to step out of the shadows, I can’t keep turning a blind eye to these things. And besides......"

Laki’s eyes darkened slightly, her expression clouded with regret.

"......The White Wolf Tribe’s situation is rather special. There may be some fault of mine in the girl ending up like this."

"It seems there’s quite a story behind all this."

"Let’s just say that’s the case."

While Irus and Laki were exchanging words, Hulim found herself staring curiously at the diminutive, childlike figure of the orcish S-Rank Champion—who was supposedly a senior of great standing.

"You two look exactly like two peas in a pod......"

"Hmm? Did you say something, Hulim?"

Miko popped her head over Hulim’s shoulder, her fluffy ears twitching curiously.

"......Nothing."

It’s just that you two are so alike, it’s uncanny. Anyone who didn’t know better would think you’re twins.

Twitch. Twitch.

The fluffy ears wagged back and forth in front of her eyes.

A strange, longing look crept into Hulim’s eyes.

Come to think of it...... it’s been a long time since I’ve touched ears this soft......