(Massacre & Agreement 1)
As they approached the battlefield, a horrifying scene unfolded before their eyes—screams, pools of blood, and scattered body parts everywhere. Yet the horror didn't end there. Something even more terrifying had occurred.
Only Theodor's troops had suffered such a grim fate. On closer inspection, this wasn't a battle—it was a one-sided massacre.
"How… how is this even possible?!" Fred exclaimed in disbelief at the sight.
Even so, they rushed toward the battlefield, trying to help those closest to them.
Just as they approached one of the soldiers, they both heard a voice echoing through the air.
"Theodor! You'd better surrender. Maybe you're not afraid to die, but do you really want to see these people follow you to the grave?" shouted someone familiar to Fred.
It was Frank. He yelled boldly while pointing to a group of prisoners beneath the blade of his sword, making it clear what would happen if Theodor insisted on fighting.
Among the captives stood a plump elderly woman, likely in her seventies. She was known among the people in Theodor's settlement as the old healer—the very one who had sparked Theodor's desperate resistance.
Without her medicine, Theodor's people would freeze to death far faster when night fell. None of them could survive a full week without the aid she provided.
Driven by their warrior spirit, they had chosen to fight. They believed it was better to die fighting than perish like sick chickens doing nothing.
And by their calculations, their forces were evenly matched with Frank's, even though they were outnumbered.
They had believed the battle could go either way—but the actual outcome on the battlefield had completely shocked Theodor's group.
"I suspected something was off with your cowardly nature. How could a coward like you possibly have the guts to declare war?" Theodor sneered, already suspecting that Frank had something planned.
Sure enough, Frank replied, "Say what you want, Theodor. But the real coward is you. Who goes to war without securing a sure path to victory?" His words struck a deep blow to Theodor and the survivors.
"But it must've cost you dearly to hire someone at the Master Level, didn't it?" Theodor asked with a faint smirk.
He was stalling for time, trying to think of a way to save his life and those of his remaining troops.
"Tch, I know what you're trying to do, Theodor! But no matter. I'll play along one last time. Yes, I had to give the Black Crystal—my ancestral heirloom—to Lord Sam as his payment," Frank revealed.
Lord Sam was the one Frank had hired to ensure Theodor's defeat. To secure victory, Frank had willingly parted with his family's Black Crystal.
Theodor had suspected as much. But with Frank's confession, he realized that even without this battle, Frank, with the help of the Gold-Level Lord Sam, would have eventually attacked and achieved the same result.
"You're far too obsessed with getting that fairy, Frank. We couldn't even get it out of its shell ourselves, let alone you… So why are you tormenting us like this when we're already on the brink?" Theodor said, utterly defeated.
"Don't compare me to you, Theodor! You and your remaining troops won't escape from here. Make your decision now—unless you really want to watch every single one of your men executed in front of you," Frank barked, his threat crystal clear.
At that moment, Frank raised his sword over one of the prisoners, ready to strike without hesitation.
He couldn't just destroy his rival outright, because the fairy stored in Theodor's settlement was only known to a few, Theodor among them. And most likely, only an official leader like him could release it using a special technique.
"No!"
"Fine! But you must promise not to interfere with us ever again!" Theodor shouted, unable to watch more of his people die in front of him.
If Theodor surrendered now, wouldn't that mean all the soldiers who had died in the massacre had perished in vain? Yet if he didn't, he would be forced to watch his comrades executed one by one, not die in an honorable battle.
His doubt, despair, disappointment, and sorrow as a leader were etched on his face, and every surviving soldier could feel it.
"Very well! There's no point in bothering you anymore," Frank said with a sly grin of victory.
Suddenly, Theodor pulled out a box from his dimensional ring. He dripped blood onto it, chanted a few spells, and summoned an intricate magical formation.
This was why Frank couldn't simply have Lord Sam kill Theodor. Only a true leader, inheriting the method through generations, could open that box.
Slowly, the formation began to fade, and then a clicking sound echoed through the battlefield.
"Click."
Frank smiled in satisfaction. As Lord Sam used his powers to lift and retrieve the box from a distance, he handed it to Frank, who opened it eagerly.
"Hahaha… This is it! This is the fairy!" Frank laughed triumphantly.
"Now keep your promise!" Theodor demanded.
"Of course!" Frank said with a wicked grin, then turned to Lord Sam.
"Lord Sam, as agreed—please take care of all of them," he ordered.
"Very well. This will be the last thing I do, and you must hand over the Black Crystal immediately after. If you break our deal, you and your army will suffer worse than what I've done to Theodor's group," he warned coldly.
Frank's legs suddenly went numb, trembling slightly. Sweat poured down his body.
"O-of course, Lord Sam. I wouldn't dare," Frank replied nervously.
Then, Lord Sam unleashed all his energy. It seemed he was preparing a large-scale attack capable of erasing Theodor and his troops all at once.
"Damn you, Frank!"