Godfather's System

178. Augmentation - 21

The silence that filled the plains following my declaration was beautiful. It was a daring declaration, but the shift from blue glow to golden seemed to imprint the desired message.

Naturally, fighting against a thousand soldiers just by myself was dangerous, no matter how overwhelming my stats were at this current point. All the Baron would need was to ask the mages to contain me with their spells while focusing on ranged attacks. A simple strategy, but more than enough to deal with a foe with superior Agility but lacking in Strength.

Well, I would have just dropped a smoke bomb and retreated with my Speed, but they didn't know that.

Unfortunately, it was clearly the first time Baron Tarug had been facing such a challenge, and his purple face suggested he was more focused on the utter disrespect my words implied. "Kill him!" he ordered, his Charisma pushing his army forward wildly, trying to overwhelm me with numbers.

A big mistake.

"You have chosen death. So be it," I declared as I moved forward. Though, before I even engaged them, I noticed that the Somaton agents moving next to him, arguing with him that I shouldn't be killed, but taken prisoner.

It was interesting, but as I found myself amid the chaotic charge, I had to focus on the present. I once again focused on my Agility, letting its fluidity and control wash over me. A slash, and one of the valuable master skill holders lost his life before he could even react. A second ended up with a dagger in the eye and then, I moved deeper into the formation, leaving the first line of master skill holders behind.

Once I reached the expert skill holders, whose stats were even lower than the master skill holders, it turned into a real massacre. My blades danced, each swing delivering death. I didn't even need to parry their attacks.

Strength might be critical when dealing with monsters, but Agility reigned supreme in melee combat.

I had been prepared for a much more arduous battle, but the Baron's incompetence turned the affair into a true massacre. His emotional state was already compromised, but even more, I could see that he never truly tested his command skill which was obviously another gift from Somaton so he did not understand how to maximize the benefits of his new skills.

As a result, the more I fought, the more I felt pity toward his poor soldiers. War was an ugly business, but that didn't mean mercy wasn't useful.

I decided to end it.

Without a warning, I blasted my Charisma, which was already far stronger than the Baron's. It destroyed the hold of the command skill and the encouragement that came with it, replacing it with a supernatural fear, overlapping with their natural terror.

The army pulled back for a moment, which gave me the path I needed. Before they realized what they had done, I was already in front of the Baron.

"Pathetic," I said as I stood in front of him, feeling furious. A pathetic leader, sending his men to death, and all without doing even the slightest bit of the work himself. Now that he stood in front of me, he looked petulant rather than afraid.

Like he didn't even believe I would kill him.

"I ... s-" he started. He was hesitant, but I could see that it was not the terror that was holding him back, but some kind of petulant frustration. Like he had just lost in a game of chess and didn't want to resign.

Unfortunately, it was my move.

That was all he could say before I swung my blade, decapitating him, much to the shock of everyone.

"One last chance," I declared, this time accompanied by my Charisma to reinforce the message. "Retreat, or die!"

It was a true rout. All around me, the soldiers started running away in a blind panic. The death of their leader following their spectacular failure utterly shattered their morale.

Well, except for the two agents. They were more grim and thoughtful than panicking, but they still used the opportunity.

As the army retreated, I looked at the decapitated body of Baron Tarug, collecting myself for a moment before contacting Zolast. Killing him was a big mistake. In the eyes of the Kingdom and the other nobles, killing nobles was an unacceptable sin, and I should have captured and ransomed him instead.

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"Well, what's done is done," I said as I signaled for the flying cart to arrive. At the same time, I contacted Zolast through our connection, and explained what I had done. Zolast wasn't happy about it, but luckily, he felt cranky about the extra work rather than furious.

Apparently, him attacking our territory without an official declaration of war softened the situation. A lucky turn, because, to be honest, I didn't consider that when I was killing him.

Zolast asked me to bring the body, which would be apparently delivered for the funeral, along with his possessions, as a gesture of goodwill, which I had no problems with.

I had already killed the guy.

When the flying cart arrived, I put the body in the cart, but I didn't leave with it. Its movement should be enough to convince them that the Steward was gone.

I changed to a black cloak and let concealment cover me before I followed the two agents.

It was time for the Assassin to play.

My aim wasn't to kill the two. No, that would have been pointless, especially when the whole point was to intimidate Somaton by revealing our full might. It was far more valuable to discover the current base of operation, maybe even listen the inevitable report they would send.

I caught up with them before they could reach their base, and when they deactivated the ward to enter, I followed them closely, making sure to stay outside their field of view. Combined with Concealment, it was trivial to bypass the defenses, especially since they were geared to stay hidden rather than more direct measures.

I doubted even I could discover it without following them unless I stumbled near its entrance by pure luck. No wonder none of our scouts discovered them.

It turned out the base was more of a safe house. A rack of emergency weapons, some health pellets and mana stones, and some other consumables. The only truly impressive thing was the ward at the center of the room. I recognized it as a communication array, but it was far more complicated than anything we used.

I stayed hidden in the corner as the two agents placed a few stones to activate the array. And, soon, a familiar voice spoke. "Report."

Marquis Yontak Somaton, the brother of King of Somaton. The man I had swindled badly for quite several hundred critical skills.

"My lord," the agents declared as they knelt. I could see their shock on their face, showing they expected to talk to someone else.

"Give me a report," he said, his voice tense. "And tell me you have good news." The silence was poignant. "Enough dawdling. Speak!" he shouted. He was in a bad mood.

It looked like he had already received the news of Zolast's overwhelming victory.

"We lost, my lord. The army is scattered, and B-Baron Tarug is dead."

"They were supposed to have only three hundred soldiers. How could you lose to that force? Did that mysterious knight appear again?" he asked, his tone resigned. "Was he holding back just like their priest?" Another extended silence. "Enough! Stop wasting my time."

"No, my lord. It was the Steward," one of them spoke. "Alone."

This time, it was King's brother that fell silent, which stretched for several seconds. "Explain," he ordered, his voice no longer angry, but with a dangerous chill.

"It all started with a confrontation over the silver mine" the guard started his explanation. It was a long explanation, far longer than the fight itself, revealing every single detail.

"Explain to me how he dodged all those attacks," he said once they finished the explanation, but his voice was even more tense, which surprised me slightly, because I had been expecting him to question the fate of the baron, or even my killing performance more. Yet, he focused on the way I dodged, with a lot of detailed questions to predict my reaction speed, my flexibility, and other technical details.

The more I listened to his explanations, the more I realized I might have revealed another dangerous ability. At first, I assumed he had been trying to understand how high my Agility was, but soon, I realized those questions were more targeted.

They were the questions I would ask if I was trying to distinguish my performance compared to Limenta.

Dangerous kinds of questions.

"Pathetic," he called once the explanation was finished. "A thousand-strong army, and you can't even push him to his limit," he said, frustrated. "We don't even know his true capability."

I needed it to be poked, so I carefully manipulated one of the agent's emotions, boosting his courage and curiosity at the same time. "My lord, we already know that he has Awakened " he started, much to the shock of his partner.

"Of course we know that!" he shouted from the other side. "What I need to know is how close he is to a domain."

"What's that, my lord?" he asked.

"Something that would cost you your head if you dare to speak of it with anyone," he said. "Still, you need to understand what it is if you are to look for it. A domain is the next stage for an Awakened stat." He paused for a moment. "From now on, you two have a new mission. Observe him carefully, and try to understand the range of his abilities, and report everything unusual about his Agility usage, no matter how trivial."

"As you wish, my lord," he said. "How about the rest of the mission?"

"Stop targeting House Maell for the moment. The church is far stronger than we expected, and no other Baron would dare to challenge them after they killed that idiot Tarug. I will arrange someone more competent to handle that."

"As you wish, my lord," they said at the same time, and I sneaked out. Even with Concealment, it was hard to avoid their attention when they weren't completely distracted. Anything I might hear from the follow-up conversation wasn't as valuable as a chance to find their main base of operations.

Bypassing the wards was even easier from the inside. I moved away.

Wondering what exactly a Domain was.

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