Chapter 162: The Impersonator

"Rockfall Spell!" Karrie shouted.

Boom!

A massive boulder, tens of meters wide, suddenly descended from the sky, carrying a terrifying force as it crashed directly into the pond!

Splash, splash, splash!

The enormous boulder struck the water with a deafening noise, sending countless droplets flying everywhere, turning the quiet depths of the valley into a downpour.

Splash, splash, splash!

Boom, boom, boom!

First, the sound of the splashing water echoed as it rained down from above, followed by the loud crash of the boulder sinking to the bottom, unleashing a powerful shockwave that shattered the silence of the night.

Then, a chorus of beastly screams and roars erupted.

"Ahh!"

"Howl!"

"Meow!"

Ferocious shadows in red, black, and yellow began emerging from the water, desperately fleeing toward the left bank, which led to a passage up to the top of the valley.

Rhett stood still, watching the scene unfold. He casually cast several Earth Spikes at the faster-moving targets.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Yellowish-brown flashes lit up the night, each one piercing through the flesh of the fleeing beasts. Their faces twisted in agony, eyes bulging, as they were pinned to the ground, powerless to resist.

No one noticed that these spells were cast by Rhett; they all assumed they came from the powerful figure who had suddenly appeared.

Karrie glanced at Rhett, then continued to wave his wand, coldly muttering, "Earthquake Spell!"

Rhett focused intently, observing someone else perform the spell. He saw the space subtly distort, followed by a tremor in the ground. The twenty or so beastmen attempting to escape began to wobble uncontrollably, swaying in all directions before collapsing to the ground.

Rhett quickly followed up with more Earth Spikes and Earth Stingers, taking advantage of their disorientation.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

The previously subdued yellowish glow now shone brightly in the night, like flowers blooming from the ground. But these yellow flowers burst forth with crimson blood!

On the surface, it appeared that Karrie had handled the situation alone. In reality, it was a joint effort between Rhett and Karrie. Facing a beastmen squad without a fifth-level leader, the two of them easily wiped out the entire group, leaving no survivors.

To keep his strength hidden for the time being, Rhett feigned shock and then joyfully said to Karrie, "Thank you, Commander Karrie!"

Karrie paused, finding the situation amusing. He played along, maintaining a calm demeanor as he replied with a smile, "No trouble at all, just following Commander Ambiru's wise orders."

Hearing this, the soldiers behind Rhett suddenly realized what had happened.

"Oh, so that's how it is!"

"I bet Commander Ambiru knew the beastmen were lying in ambush here, so he sent reinforcements."

"Haha, that sure made this mission a lot easier."

Rhett then casually glanced at Tuck, who understood the signal. With renewed energy, Tuck dashed forward and began finishing off the severely injured and unconscious beastmen.

[Family member defeated an enemy of higher rank, Destiny Points +1]

[Family member defeated an enemy two ranks higher, Destiny Points +2]

As the notifications appeared before him, Rhett smiled.

However, he couldn't help but think of Ambiru's previous plan and silently lamented. While the idea of luring the enemy deeper and exploiting their weaknesses was appealing, it ultimately relied on chance.

A single decision by the beastmen could cause a shift in their response, rendering the plan ineffective.

Rhett had already verified through his simulations that Ambiru's plan had not succeeded.

After Karrie took down the beastmen, their attacks became more cautious and sporadic for some unknown reason, causing the subsequent ambush plans to fall through.

Fortunately, other than some changes on the Gorge Defense Line, the overall impact on future events was minimal, so Rhett decided to go along with it.

Once the battlefield was cleared, Rhett reorganized the team and led them back to the camp.

The winter night on the gorge battlefield was shrouded in mist. The fog enveloped the forest, streams, valleys, and slopes, making the strange rocks and jagged stones appear like demonic claws reaching out from the haze.

The team steadily advanced through this eerie landscape, finally passing through the sentry posts and returning to camp just before dawn, during the coldest part of the night.

After dismissing the team, Rhett didn't head straight back to the dormitory or the central war fortress to report. Instead, he used the excuse of needing to replenish food supplies and went to the mess hall alone.

In the bright and spacious mess hall, Rhett squeezed through the crowded lines, picking up some jerky, bread, and other food at the window.

He loaded the food into a bag, slung it over his right shoulder, and turned to leave.

Suddenly, near the yellow mill, he "accidentally" found a note in his pocket, read it briefly, and then, appearing shocked, ran outside.

However, the note turned to ash as he ran, burning despite his attempts to douse it with water.

Rhett sprinted all the way to the central war fortress, where he found Ambiru and Foddy in the first-floor hall. Foddy was quietly seated at a desk, writing with a pen, while Ambiru was deep in thought over the sand table.

"Commander Ambiru, I have urgent information to report!" Rhett's voice was tense and serious.

"Oh?" Ambiru looked up at Rhett, noticing the small pile of ashes in his hand. His pupils contracted as his expression grew heavy.

"What's that in your hand?" Ambiru asked, though he had a guess.

"Special alchemical paper, reduced to ash upon burning," Rhett replied gravely.

Hearing this, even Foddy glanced over at Rhett with surprise before returning to his writing.

"Was it from the same person who gave you the last note?" Ambiru frowned, asking, "What did it say?"

"I don't know who gave it to me," Rhett shook his head. "But when I noticed something unusual, the note was already in my pocket. It said that there are traitors both in the camp and back in the rear. Besides the one who bribed Gaspar, there's also a knight's follower from the Dami family in Gingin who has been bribed and turned into a traitor!"

Ambiru took the small clump of ash from Rhett's hand, scrutinizing it for a moment before sighing—there was nothing left to discern.

He clenched his fist, narrowing his eyes as he muttered, "Gingin, the Dami family…"

Although the information didn't pinpoint a specific person, narrowing it down to such a small group made it much easier to find the traitor.

To be thorough, Ambiru asked one more question, "Rhett, is this information reliable?"

Seeing Rhett shrug with a helpless expression, Ambiru chuckled and shook his head. "Heh, if only you knew."

"Never mind, I'll go find the people from the Dami family and get to the bottom of this."

"Commander, if that's all, may I be dismissed?" Rhett asked.

"Yes, and report any new developments immediately!" Ambiru replied with a solemn tone.

"Understood!" Rhett nodded before turning to leave.

As Rhett's figure disappeared, Ambiru glanced back at the ashes in his hand, his expression calm. After a brief silence, he slowly spoke, "Have you found any trace of the mysterious person?"

From the dark corner of the hall, a figure cloaked in shadow elements emerged, materializing before Ambiru as if from nowhere. In a hoarse voice, he replied, "No suspicious targets were found, but it's confirmed that Rhett received the note in the mess hall, and it burned on his way here…"

Ambiru frowned. "No traces left behind?"

The shadowy figure remained silent.

"Sigh," Ambiru sighed, waving his hand dismissively. "I see. You may go."

Meanwhile, Rhett was still on his way back. He wasn't sure if anyone was tailing or watching him. His performance earlier was purely out of caution.

After all, he knew that as the reports continued, his stories needed to remain consistent and thorough. There couldn't be any slip-ups—he was well aware of that.

[Family member defeated an enemy two ranks higher, Destiny Points +2]

Another notification flashed before Rhett's eyes, but his mood wasn't as bright as before.

Over the past month, as the frontlines gradually stabilized, the number of beastmen prisoners had begun to decline.

The Destiny Points provided by Tyles from killing beastmen had also dwindled.

In fact, the daily tally had dropped to less than ten points, fluctuating in the single digits.

"If the royal beastmen retreat en masse and the battlefront quiets down, the rate of Destiny Point accumulation will drop even further," Rhett thought, narrowing his eyes as he sighed inwardly.

"I need to seize this last opportunity to gather as much as I can!"

A week later.

On October 23rd, Rhett received orders to patrol Sector 25 again.

Sector 25 was a small valley, like a stone trough wedged between two rolling hills, with a pale red stream running through the large boulders at the bottom. To the right was a sheer cliff over a hundred meters high, and to the left was a rising, shadowy slope that looked eerie in the nighttime darkness.

Rhett glanced at the familiar scenery, confirming that he had arrived at his destination.

This area, with its deep water and numerous rocks, cliffs, and crevices, was an ideal place for hiding.

Standing by the shore, Rhett gestured with his hand.

Seeing the signal, the team immediately halted.

Rhett surveyed the surroundings, then pointed toward the blood-red stream's banks in the southeast and northwest directions, where large boulders cast shadows on the hillside.

He nodded at several of his men, sending Garay, Roy, and their teams to search the area.

Everything was unfolding exactly as it had during the previous patrol.

Garay and Roy, though dealing with their in-laws, were still in awe of the power difference between them and Rhett.

They hurriedly led their teams across the stream to the boulders on the hillside, conducting a routine search.

Rhett then dispatched six squads, each with ten men, to the hilltops on either side of the stream, where they hid among the hardy shrubs that clung to the cliffs, acting as lookout points.

The moonlight pierced the peaks, and Rhett gazed up at the sky, momentarily lost in thought.

He remembered his first patrol after returning to the Gorge Defense Line—it had been right here.

Now, with the war nearing its end, he found himself back at the same place.

With a sigh, Rhett led his team southwest, traversing the valley between two ridges.

After a fruitless search, they continued southwest, crossing the valley's endpoint and moving on.

Rhett followed the stream westward for a short distance until they reached a hollow, where the blood-red stream split into a narrow branch, about half a meter wide. This branch formed a small creek that wound its way down from a higher elevation, cutting a path through the rocks and nourishing the plants on either side.

Beyond this point lay the thicket where four Nightcats had once hidden.

However, the thicket was now leafless, reduced to dry, twisted branches that cast distorted shadows in the moonlight.

Rhett's gaze followed the stream's flow along the withered grass on either side.

"Commander, could there still be Nightcats hiding there?" Taro asked with a grin, holding his greatsword.

"Heh," Rhett chuckled, offering no reply as he continued forward.

He led the team westward along the creek, sweeping his eyes over the surroundings.

Suddenly.

A flash of light approached rapidly from behind!

"Commander, urgent news!" Garay, glowing with light-based energy, sped toward Rhett like a bolt of lightning, shouting, "We've spotted a scout and three Phantasmal Serpentmen to the northeast!"

Rhett feigned surprise, spotting Garay's glowing form from afar. Without waiting for him to arrive, Rhett shouted, "Everyone, head northeast for support!"

"Yes, sir!"

With Rhett leading the charge, the team quickly moved toward the valley, crossing the stream just in time to see the three Phantasmal Serpentmen clashing with the human forces!

The human soldiers had formed a circle, wildly swinging their swords at the Serpentmen. The Serpentmen fought back fiercely, using their hands and tails as weapons to hold their ground.

But hidden in the darkness, venomous attacks were fired at the human soldiers, catching them off guard. Several soldiers fell, paralyzed by the poison.

Makov's expression darkened as he raised his staff and cast a Wind Wall Spell.

A powerful gust of wind roared forward, forming a vast green wall that shielded the soldiers from the venom.

With Rhett's reinforcements, the soldiers' morale surged, and they began to flank the Serpentmen, cutting off their escape routes.

The three Serpentmen, sensing the approaching powerful auras, began to look increasingly grim.

Their eyes darted toward the heavily wounded scout, now hiding at the back of the human formation, gritting their teeth in frustration.