Philip hadn't come alone, he arrived with his unit of reindeer cavalry to reinforce the front. Confident in his own strength, however, he had moved faster than the others and reached the battlefield ahead of them.
Because he arrived first, he also fell first, his men went down before the rest of their unit could intervene.
When Philip's reindeer cavalry finally reached the scene, all they saw was Arik carrying Philip and sprinting away at top speed.
Philip's men gave chase, of course. They pursued him desperately.
But Arik's speed was simply too great. Using the Nine‑Serpent Body Refinement Technique, Agility Enhancement, his Agility attribute temporarily rose to 42 points. Even while carrying Philip, he ran so fast that, to ordinary eyes, he left only fleeting afterimages.
Regular rebel soldiers couldn't possibly catch him; they could only watch helplessly as Arik bore Philip into the royal army's quarters.
A few minutes later, in the castle where Gilbert was staying, servants and guards alike heard his furious voice. His anger landed squarely on a traitor named Maysfield, news that Arik had captured Philip reached Gilbert quickly.
Gilbert valued Philip highly. It wasn't only because Philip had been personally entrusted by him with a Devil Fruit power and had proven both loyal and powerful; Philip was also an excellent commander of the Blizzard Legion, and the reindeer cavalry he led constituted a major combat force.
With Philip captured, the reindeer cavalry had lost its backbone, a catastrophic loss that could seriously affect the coming battles.
"Damn it. That treacherous Maysfield… I should have executed him along with the others back then. He's caused me this much damage, I will never forgive him."
Getting angrier by the moment, Gilbert could only vent his impotence and rage. He smashed objects in his room to discharge his fury.
Maysfield's rise had been the last thing Gilbert expected. At first Gilbert thought he was an inconsequential minor player, someone easy to deal with but Maysfield had proven unexpectedly troublesome.
During this period, the man had not only significantly aided the royal army by blocking supply routes, he'd also helped the royals uncover and eliminate many spies Gilbert had placed within their ranks. Now Maysfield had even helped capture Philip, he had become a dangerous thorn in Gilbert's side.
Gilbert knew about the old affair in which Maysfield's father, Jam, had been set up as a scapegoat and unjustly perished. Still, compared to the real culprit, Jam had been a small player; he was simply made the fall guy to give his brother an explanation.
Back then Maysfield had been a prodigal gambler, hardly more than a drifter. Though he had a little swordsmanship training, he was a third‑rate swordsman who couldn't even beat ordinary gang thugs. Who'd have expected that after slipping away to sea for a while, he would come back with such skill and cunning?
Gilbert had suspected Maysfield might be an impostor, but he'd never been able to find proof.
Even if he did have proof now, it would be useless: Maysfield had secured his position through glorious deeds in the royal army. Even if he were a fraud, he was a fraud who had firmly chosen the royal side, the king's forces wouldn't be foolish enough to disown him now.
What infuriated Gilbert most was that, because Maysfield was officially labeled a defector by the rebels, the royal army had even used him as a poster example of someone who had abandoned the dark for the light, hoping to undermine rebel morale. Maysfield had become a banner of the royal army's resistance against the rebels.
He'd even been granted a hereditary barony by his elder brother, who should have been long dead from illness if not for that favor.
"No. I must get rid of that bastard fast. If he keeps meddling, who knows what trouble he'll cause next."
After venting, Gilbert quickly calmed, and he began to think seriously about how to eliminate Maysfield. He had a gut feeling: if that traitor wasn't dealt with soon, he would cause Gilbert far greater problems down the line.
Knock, knock, knock.
Suddenly, someone gently rapped at the door, interrupting Gilbert's thoughts.
"Who is it!"
Gilbert was still furious; he snapped the question sharply.
The one knocking was Watt, Gilbert's personal guard. He knew Gilbert's temper well enough not to barge in uninvited; instead he explained from outside.
"My lord, it's Watt. Mr. Aaron asked me to tell you he's away from the Magnetic Drum Peak for a little while."
Aaron has left Magnetic Drum Peak!
Hearing that news, Gilbert straightened up. Much of his personal security depended on Arik's protection. If Aaron left, Gilbert could be in danger. He asked urgently, "Do you know why?"
Watt had prepared his answer in advance. The moment Gilbert asked, he replied, "The Dars gang and the Regis gang covet Lord Aaron's territory. Yasika of the Dars gang and Winters of the Regis gang have joined forces to launch an invasion."
"These gangsters are impossible to trust. When did they ever stop fighting one another over scraps of profit? They're nothing but a drag."
Gilbert's anger flared again when he heard this, and he slammed the table, cursing.
Watt shut his mouth immediately, masking his own disbelief.
To Watt, Gilbert was the classic case of a well‑fed man who can't imagine the hunger of the starving. The situation in the city was far worse now than it had been two months earlier. The war hadn't reached the city in force, but its effects were obvious, explosions and shootings were happening every day.
War was brutal. To win, both sides were trying every tactic: each was stirring trouble at the other's strongholds, staging terror attacks to destabilize enemy headquarters.
In this contest, ordinary people were the eternal losers, they were the ones who suffered most directly.
The residents of Vilia Port had long since lost any sense of security. If there had been a safer place than Vilia Port, most would have evacuated long ago from that city where explosions and shootings were daily occurrences.
Economic decline had made life harder for people, and order was breaking down. Robberies and murders were increasing; crime rates were rising.
Yet Aaron's territory remained a haven. Terror attacks rarely occurred there, and crime rates were very low; people who lived there felt unusually secure.
Happiness is all about comparison. Ordinary citizens elsewhere naturally wanted to move into Aaron's territory, which led to severe overcrowding. Aaron had been forced to expand, and his territory was already more than twice its original size.
The influx of people had turned Aaron's district into a bustling, prosperous place, a stark contrast to the rest of the city's depressed areas.
That prosperity made Aaron's domain a target. The Dars gang and the Regis gang especially were jealous; most of Aaron's new land had come at their expense.
Now they wanted it back.
"Heh. Back when they couldn't be bothered to resist, they simply gave up their turf. Now that my people have improved the place, they want to take it back. Dream on. Winters, Yasika, today I'll use you two gang lieutenants to test the results of my recent training."
Aaron smirked as he moved rapidly across the snow, aided by the power of the Speed‑Speed Fruit.
---
[Every 50 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
For early access to advanced chapters visit my P@treon:
P@treon/ Dexy3
Thank you so much for your support and for reading!