Academic gathering with Lich colleagues

"This messenger is in disguise; his face is not his true appearance."

“I can’t tell.” The Night Owl team members expressed their respect for the professionals.

"There was a layer of powder around his face. People of power and wealth do have the habit of dressing up, but they don't just modify the edges. That's to cover up traces. There was also his sideburns. The skin tone before and after his ears was obviously different. Normal people can't do that."

The view that the messenger was wearing a mask was quickly confirmed.

"Your deduction is that this envoy is merely a puppet pushed to the forefront by the Devonleya family?"

"Yes, we have confirmed that there is someone behind the scenes giving the orders."

Ralph tapped the back of his left hand with the fingers of his right hand.

"Why would a discarded pawn need to disguise himself? Either the Devon Lera family doesn't trust those masked knights, which would narrow down their allegiance to a smaller group. Or, he has his own reasons for needing to wear a disguise."

"What reason?"

"I don't know, maybe his real appearance is so exaggerated that it affects normal communication."

Three days later, Ralph discovered the pattern of Devonleya's activities.

"His activities are very regular. Even if his daily routes and the time spent talking and staying are different, he will meet with the masked knights at the agreed time. The two masked knights are sitting around the basement door, with four disguised spies around them, two Derya knights sitting at table number four in the tavern across the street, a beggar who arrived in front of the church thirty minutes ago to beg for alms, and the gray-clad shopkeeper in the shop diagonally across the street."

“Only after Devonleya’s envoy made that gesture will the sentries look away.” Ralph mimicked the envoy, making a coin-flipping motion.

“That’s our chance. Those masked knights trust their pre-arranged codes more than they can identify the disguised messengers.” Ralf’s eyes sharpened, like a wolf spotting its prey. “We can disguise ourselves as messengers and extract information from the masked knights.”

The lark opened its mouth.

“We will guarantee that there will not be a second Devonleya envoy during the time you are in contact with him.”

"We can't kill him. To ensure Queen Derya's safety, we shouldn't alert him. It's a bit troublesome. If it's something like drugging, the envoy, with his strict activity schedule, will definitely notice our suspicious behavior during our next contact."

“The poison can be prepared to induce a corresponding toxin, causing the messenger to enter a dazed and abnormal state, making him feel as if he has experienced everything.”

“Very good.” Ralph realized that these Levisers were much more useful than his previous teammates.

"After we regroup with the others, we will proceed with the next step of the operation."

Ralph walked back to the agreed location.

He paused for a moment.

"There's still one question."

"If a person can restrain his or her behavior and develop a certain regularity in his or her actions, then it means that he or she is a wise and prudent person."

"A cautious person cannot be without a sense of crisis."

"It won't be like what we see, where no counter-reconnaissance measures are implemented at all."

“If it is an order strictly required by Glenda Devenrera, then it is understandable for a servant.”

Ralph kept his doubts to himself.

He had another guess in his mind, but the possibility was extremely slim.

Unless the person behind the scenes has the same or even more meticulous thinking as Ralph.

If his thinking ability has surpassed that of a master spy.

Therefore, his ambitions are not limited to just one country.

Chapter 345 The Darkness of Holy Light

The plan was finally scheduled for the fifth day. Lyle felt a little bored watching Ralf and the Night Owl Squad make their preparations in full swing.

“You’re not the only one excluded, Lyle.” Echel smiled and sat down opposite Lyle. “Reid and I are both outside your uncle Ralph’s plans, though we’re quite frustrated. From another perspective, we bear the greatest responsibility. We need to ensure the entire plan is executed perfectly without any unexpected disruptions.”

Just as Lyle was about to be persuaded by Echel, Reid let out a muffled groan.

"When you're usually excluded from the poetry recitation group in Twilight Memories, that's how you comfort yourself: the non-existent support link, a nice-sounding excuse."

Even though the two kings had shown their sincere friendship, their most frequent social interactions were still sarcastic banter and backstabbing.

Ignoring the escalating verbal sparring, Lyle secretly slipped into Ralf's meeting.

"...After the envoy makes another visit to the Queen, Zhen and Parrot, you will assist me in taking down the envoy. Lark and Nightingale will be on guard. Swift and Raven will monitor the Masked Knight's location. After I meet up with the Masked Knight, you may leave and cooperate with Lyrebird and Raven to infiltrate another storage point to check on the supplies. Zhen and Parrot will guard the envoy, while Lark and Nightingale will meet me outside."

"Now, let's begin."

At the Royal Tower of Dreya, when the emissary of Devonleyra, dressed in white robes, appeared in the sunlight, several pairs of eyes were already fixed on him.

"poison."

A woman with a fragrant scent appeared on the streets of Deria. Her simple, exotic-style fabric caught the eye of the people around her, and a commotion began to break out around her.

The messenger frowned. The woman and the restless crowd around him were blocking his planned route. Frustrated, he took another path.

"The messenger enters Path Three, Parrot."

Hormonal commotion erupted, and even the messenger, who was not far away, was shoved by the crowd.

He patted the shoulder that the stranger had touched and continued walking.

A figure followed closely behind him. Ralph pulled his hat brim down and slowly caught up. In the crowd, he put his arm around the trembling messenger, like a friend.

"Initiate recycling."

On the other side, the Night Owl team huddled in the shadows, watching the backlit cellar entrance.

Raven Greer spoke up, “I’ll go in.”

“No, you’re dead now, you don’t have the keen senses, you might not be able to detect the problem inside.” The lyrebird took off the necklace around its neck, the pendant of which was also a bird flute. “I’ll go in, and according to our usual code, I’ll use the flute to imitate bird calls to tell you the situation. Help me distract those knights.”

"it is good."

Ten minutes later, the "messenger" emerged from the alley and continued toward the church's basement.

The masked knight, acting as a sentry, watched the messenger slowly approach, his gaze sweeping over him.

A coin flips in their sight.

The knights withdrew their gaze, casually opened the gate as if they were unrelated, ignored the messengers passing by, and disappeared into the deep stone tunnel.

The basement beneath the church was not, as he claimed, a storage point for supplies.

Pushing open the flimsy wooden door, the messenger entered a dark little room. The surrounding darkness was like a monster that would devour anyone who approached, as if it wanted to tear every innocent person who came near alive.

My vision gradually adjusted to the darkness. A cold wind, seemingly from nowhere, swept through everything in the room. It wasn't the room that was crowded, but the people inside.

Twenty tall, masked knights stood in the shadows of the wall, like cold stone sculptures, their sinister gazes fixed on the messenger.

The messenger seemed to have gotten used to all of this, paying no attention to the knights, but looking directly at the person in front of him.

Slumped in a high-backed chair, the man in his thirties or forties smiled as he looked at Devonleya's messenger. He wore tattered black armor, riddled with strange cracks resembling the fangs and claws of a wild beast. His wild eyes gleamed dangerously in the darkness, like those of a lion poised to pounce.

A soldier, a battle-hardened and arrogant veteran. His haughty and arrogant nature might need to be revised in his relationship with Devondale, who is essentially an equal.

The sound it emitted was like a suppressed roar; the lion roared.

“You are late, ‘respected’ messenger.”

A sarcastic and ironic greeting, while maintaining a facade of equality with Devon and Leila, so...

“I know my time better than you do, ‘sir,’ but I hope you still remember your job.” When the word “sir” was pronounced with emphasis, the smile on the knight leader’s face became noticeably brighter.

“That cowardly family actually produced someone like you, huh, things always turn around, don’t they? I’m more interested in Glenda Devonella behind you.” The knight leader scratched his head and asked the messenger impatiently.

"So, how long are we supposed to stay here? Or does your master want that queen in addition to this country?"

The plan to seize Dereya, Devonreira.

The masked knight wasn't there on his own initiative; it was Devonreira's arrangement. In other words, the messenger had absolutely no need to meet the knight in secret; it was all planned in advance.

So why does he still pretend to meet with the Masked Rider every day?

Ralph's eyes widened, in an attempt to deceive.

Deceiving the fish that have taken the bait.

The rangers of Levis are the fish they want.

The other storage location was a trap.

These are the people spreading negative rumors about Levither in Derija. They are inciting conflict between the two countries; once they capture the spies from Levither, war will be a natural pretext. No, they're still missing a spark.

The tomb of the founder of Dreya, the unique funeral customs of Livishe, the stolen corpse, and the desecrated former king.

Eliminate Draia's mortal enemy, Leviser, win the hearts of the people, and thus seize the entire kingdom.

This is Devonreira's plan.

If that's the case, then there's more than one trap.

The messenger stood still, watching the knight leader smile and wave. The tall knight immediately blocked the gate.

This side is also a trap.

The knight leader extended his hand and pointed at the "messenger." "I personally trust the messenger quite a bit, but we still have to follow the rules. Sir, you need to prove your identity."

"Yes, it's the question we set in advance. Answer it, and I'll let you go back in one piece, sir."

"Where do your companions, us, come from?"

The towering knight instilled a sense of crisis in the rangers, who were capable of suppressing the Leviathans by force, and might even be the main force in the plan to destroy the Leviathan Kingdom.

The intelligence isn't enough; we need to think about it further.

By the way, what are the benefits for these knights? They provide resources exceeding their family's standards, help Devonla gain trust, ultimately secure the kingdom, and even contribute to eliminating Levisser. What do they gain in return? The ability to sustain and destroy a nation—what more could they possibly want in a transaction?

Levis, a barbaric nation that has turned its back on the Holy Light...

So that's it. The benefit these knights wanted was the destruction of Lewesser itself.

The messenger looked at the knight leader and raised his head.

"It is rumored that the Church of Holy Light has secretly cultivated an army, a legendary legion dedicated to eliminating heretics. Even when a nation is on the verge of collapse, it will not forget to make offerings to the church, for they fear that the church's hidden blade will pierce them."

Am I right?

"The Dark Blade of Holy Light".

"Commander of the Judgement Legion".