Steel and Mana

Chapter 72 – Black Ops (2)

It didn't take me long to explain the details to Yuri and her subordinates. The family of the Obertahs were all in a small camp a few kilometers away from our spot. Right now, a contingent of soldiers from my uncle's army, numbering 70, were guarding them while my men were further away, on horses, ready to act if anything happened.

"So, we should go in and go to town.... or?" Yuri asked, playing with her hair, twirling it around her index finger with a half-smile.

"Your priority is him." I pulled a drawing of Ignacio out and presented it to them. "He is a suspected mage and could be dangerous. Eliminate him first, then we can deal with the rest."

"We?" Yuri hummed, looking at me while passing the picture amongst the rest.

"I will transport Old Obertah over. The deal was that I would enter the camp with him and Oleg accompanying me."

"Nonsense!" Shouted not just Sasha but Yuri too, surprising me.

"You two? In sync? Is the sun rising from the west?" I mumbled, rubbing the insides of my ringing ear.

"Like hell, you will walk into the camp! An idiot could tell you that this is a trap! If he is a mage, you most likely will be jumped, killed, or worse!" Yuri explained, almost shouting at me angrily while Sasha was nodding her head like a woodpecker.

"Worse? Er... whatever... I know. That is why I say you need to take the boy out clean and quick. I will go in with the old one so they won't be suspicious. He expects me to come as it will be there that he finally tells me the big secret."

"Too dangerous!" Sasha complained, but I simply shrugged.

"I know it is dangerous. But we have the advantage! For one, the old bastard doesn't expect us to know about mages as much as he does. We know full well that for a spell to be used, the user needs to be focused and talented enough. Casting without preparation is hard. Then, there are the clues for a spell's activation. The glow, the rush of mana, and the appearance of a magic formation. These all take time and give us a chance to react!"

"But Leon! We don't know what type of preparations they may have made! What kind of power is he capable of wielding? It is... too much!" Sasha pleaded, and I had the same argument with Oleg a few hours ago. He was also against the idea, but in the end, I made him agree. I was going through the same argument, but it warmed my heart.

"We can interrupt it." I answered her after she finished, maintaining my confident smile, "You mages need focus. Breaking that concentration disrupts the spell. Plus, I don't think they have more than one wizard, especially not one like Merlin! I agree, that would be bad as he can reinforce you and, even if your concentration breaks, push the spell through to be completed. But all the lore says his powers are rare! We have the upper hand here."

"You already decided..." Yuri murmured, looking into my eyes and reading my thoughts.

"Yes, I did."

"Hahh... leave it, Sasha. He is a mule, so he will do it anyway. We will protect him, so relax!"

"But... but... Yuri..." She stuttered, wanting to ask for support, but by now, Yuri had also agreed with me.

"I know the risks, but I also know our advantages. I trust each and every one of your abilities; if I didn't, I wouldn't do it this way." While speaking, I ensured everyone present could hear me, "I also have a principle in my mind that I want to adhere to." Stopping momentarily, I couldn't help but recall my old commanding officer. When we got a mission, he was right in the firing line amongst the first to lead us forward. That was someone I followed while the order givers, the prominent generals who came up with it, were just a concept in our minds, hunkered down somewhere safe. Far away. They were people I gave no shit about. I may do something stupid now, but I don't want to become the latter. "If I want to lead, I must do it from the front. Not from the back. That is all."

"We will keep him safe, My Lady." Oleg whispered, patting Sasha's shoulder, who then began pouting.

"I am coming with you too!"

"No." I answered firmly and explained it to her. "You will stay on the outside, overseeing the soldiers in case something goes awry. If the target or others try to flee, it will be your job to use magic and stop them!"

"Ah, yes, we grabbed these for you! I knew it would become useful!" Yuri laughed, waving her hand, and two of her soldiers brought forth four stone tablets for Sasha.

"Smart!" I grinned, nodding at them, and we went over the plan again for the last time.

"Don't worry, my hubby!" Yuri winked at me, "You won't notice us, and before you see it, the target will be dead!"

...
....
......

Leaving the city with Iskra Obertah was done in the middle of the following night, and after we were finally far enough, we removed the bag from his old head, letting him look around in the back of the carriage.

"You won't be disappointed, My Liege." He said confidently, and I think I saw his small lips curl to a smile under those heavy wrinkles plaguing his spotched face.

"If your trump card is not something up to par, you will still be executed." I answered coldly, crossing my arms before my chest.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, My Liege. You will see that taking us in will be the best choice for your territory. I heard you cleaned out most of the nobles... you must have trouble keeping everything in order."

"..."

I see... The bastard was clever. Or at least well-informed. Was he already thinking he would become one of my new nobles? Given his own territory with even more freedom than existing under my uncle? It can't be that all of this was his plan all along. That would be either incredible or just stupidly lucky. Was he scheming to, one day, become the ruler of the Frontier? All of that could also be swirling in his shriveled head, but they will not come to pass.

I refused to indulge him any further, making sure that I did seem cautious and suspicious for now. If I showed a too lax attitude, he could suspect something. Arriving at the camp, I spoke with the Guard Captain there after we got off the carriage, telling him to withdraw his people. It was part of our agreement to set up a secondary encirclement to ensure nobody escaped the camp, which looked like medieval fare in the countryside.

While walking in, Oleg never left my side after cutting off the ropes from Iskaria's wrists, letting him walk before us, leaning on his stick. Inside the camp, the Obertah family, including all the servants, numbered around 30 people and were separated into four tents. I knew that two were for the old bastard's family, his direct bloodline, and the branch family, while the other pair of tents were for the subordinates and servants. He had already handled his family as if they were nobles.

"This will do." I said, stopping him from approaching the tents and putting my hand on his shoulders. We were still about 30 meters from them, watching people emerge, trying to see who had come.

"It isn't a trap." Iskra chuckled darkly before raising his hoarse, ancient voice, shouting at them, "It is me! Ignacio, come here!"

I wasn't surprised that the others didn't recognize us at once as it was deep into the night. The torches along the temporary campsite were not bright enough to illuminate everything, even if the moon was out and shining down on us.

"Are you going to tell me already or not?" I asked, keeping my hand on his shoulder, squeezing it a little, making his arm flinch on his walking stick. He was old, so I knew it had to hurt him... that was my goal.

"Have you ever met a mage, Your Highness?" He asked with deep sarcasm and pride in his voice, which evaporated when I answered him.

"I am trying to impregnate one."

I gave him no more time or clues. I watched his grandson approach us, fiddling with something within his robes, or he was just trying to fix his pajamas under it. I don't know, but it did not matter. They had to go.

It happened without a noise or a cry. I just saw Ignacio's body stiffen and then fall sideways, lifeless, while an arrow was sticking out from the side of his head. It was a perfect headshot; not even a sniper from my old comrades could do it any better, especially at night.

"Goodbye, Iskra Obertah." I looked down at him, drawing my own sword, pushing it into his chest, through his heart. I saw the blade come out from his back, letting him fall over with eyes that were now completely open, forever encasing his face in shock. He couldn't comprehend what happened and why I would do this. This was wholly unreasonable and nonsensical in his point of view.

By the time his body reached the dirt ground, screams were filling the camp, shouts that were one by one abruptly silenced. I saw Yuri's gang, no, my Black Ops soldiers, appear from nowhere, dressed in all black, silently rushing from one tent to the other, slitting their occupants' throats, killing everyone present, no matter their gender, age, or desperate pleadings. The only one who didn't join in the massacre was Oleg, staying with me at all times, scanning the surroundings constantly while I walked to the dead Ignacio, searching through his body.

"Look at this..." I whispered, pulling out a scroll from his hand before it became too stiff to do anything about it.

"A spell." Oleg murmured, gulping for a moment.

"By the runes within... It looks like some kind of illusionary spell, maybe a mind-influencing one. Huh... I will have to study this."

"You were right, My Lord."

"It seems like it, yes. Even if not, I wouldn't feel guilty. They were traitors once. I can't trust traitors... I value loyalty the most over everything." I whispered, watching how Yuri and her girls did what my soldiers probably would not do. Or they would have serious issues arising from it. Especially mentally.

"Is this why you did not let Lady Sasha come with us?" He asked me as the cries slowly died down, replaced with the noise of bodies being dragged forward and laid down next to each other.

"Yes. This is a nasty, dark, and evil night. She is too pure for this; I don't want to taint her."

"What about me, My Lord?" I knew he was joking, evident from the half-smile on his face as he stood beside me, still guarding me, even if seemingly everyone else was dead.

"I trust you. Don't worry; I will take the blame if this ever comes to light." I shrugged, finally looking away from something that would count as a war crime in my old life. I would probably be put on trial and executed afterward.

"Blame from who?" Oleg asked, confused, "I don't think anyone would have any right to say anything. You are their Sovereign, My Lord."

"That is why I will not hesitate to commit such crimes. I will protect my people, my land, and our collective future at any cost."

"If anyone dares to talk about it, I will kill them personally, My Lord!" Oleg saluted, making me smile a little, watching as one of the black silhouettes approached me. I could tell from the way she was swaying her hips, with bloody daggers in her hands, that it was Yuri way before she removed her mask.

"All done! None survived!" She said proudly, watching me, licking her lips. "How was it?"

"Yours?" I asked, pointing my foot toward Ignacio's body on the ground.

"Of course! I always wanted to kill a mage... the thing they did to..." She murmured, spatting on the corpse, and in a way, I saw her face smoothen out. I remember what she told me about her meeting with that mage when she was a kid... I could understand her. "Whaccha want to do with the bodies?" She turned back towards me with a wide grin on her face.

"Strip them, search them, then set them ablaze, leave nothing behind."

"Brrr, Leon, my love, we could have been the best bandit pair!"

"Isn't this better?"

"Oh, yeah, it is! Ahahaha... I didn't know you were this brutal... I thought you were tough when we met because you were facing whores like me, but... this? Fuck... I am slopping wet down there! Want to fuck? Just a quickie! Please?"

"You are my dirty side, Yuri." I whispered, leaning in and giving her a kiss before gently patting her face. "Sasha is my bright one. You girls are keeping me in balance, you see."

"Nobody told me before that I am their dirty little secret..." She murmured, and I watched her blush like a young maiden. Haaah! She is still the same Yuri, hehe...

"Go. Finish the job; I'll help, too. Then we go back; calm Sasha down because I bet she is anxious."

"Roger!" With a lousy salute, she whistled, called her girls over, and began stripping and then piling up the bodies while I also participated in it.

If you have the stomach to give the order for such a cruel and abhorrent act, it is the least that you see it through the end. Or don't complain if karma comes back to bite you in the ass.

"What is it, My Lord?" Oleg asked, seeing me form a weak smile.

"First, I did this to my own nobles, now to this... I will either be remembered as a butcher parading as a kind ruler or as a plain dictator."

"Dic...tator? What is that?"

"Nothing.... nothing! Let's get to work. I need to take a bath afterward."