"It already started," Lux said as the two armies clashed with each other. "I already told Sherlock that we'll move independently during the battle. However, since we need to have a temporary Vice-Leader, I'd like to appoint Xander as the Vice-Leader of our Party, so he can lead while I'm away. Is that fine with everyone?"

Einar and Vall frowned upon hearing Lux's words. They only recognized the Half-Elf as their temporary leader because of his performance during the battle at the Gate of Death. Both of them were very proud individuals, and they didn't want others ordering them around.

"Xander, it's not that I don't trust you, but I just don't feel like following any of your orders," Einar said. "I hope you don't take offense."

"Same for me," Vall commented. "No offense."

"None taken," Xander replied.

He and Lux had already expected this to happen during their secret talk the night before. Both of them knew that the other two teenagers might not agree to listen to Xander's orders, so the Half-Elf prepared a Plan B just in case.

"Very well. If that is how you feel then I will respect both of your decisions." Lux smiled before raising his hand. "Come out, Asmodeus."

The Archlich appeared beside Lux with an amused expression on his face.

"I've intended to keep this a secret from everyone, but since we need to clear this mission, I will come out clean," Lux stated. "The truth is, I have a very strong connection with my Named Creatures. Whatever they see in their surroundings, I can see all of it as well.

"I'm sure that all of you are already familiar with my Archlich, Asmodeus. I will leave him here so I can observe the battlefield and give orders through my connection with him. Is that acceptable to both of you?"

Einar and Vall both nodded their heads. They had heard tales about Necromancers having a strong connection with the Higher-Undead. Although they were still a bit doubtful, they'd rather obey Asmodeus' orders than obey Xander's.

"Diablo, obey Asmodeus' orders as if they were from me, okay?" Lux said to Diablo, whom he had summoned earlier. "You are much needed here in the main camp because the power of the Dead will serve you greatly."

"Understood." Diablo nodded. "Be careful, Master."

"Don't worry. I have Ishtar, Pazuzu, and Orion with me." Lux patted the Death Knight's shoulder to give him some form of assurance. "Make sure to perform your duty well."

"As you command, Master!"

"Mmm."

Lux then took out the Map Projector that was given to him by Sherlock and observed it for two minutes, looking for a good place to start his ambush. However, while looking at the map, he noticed that there was a group of people that had detached themselves from the enemy camp's main force, and was heading towards the Southwest.

"Strange, there are over a dozen individuals that broke away from their main camp and are traversing the forest in order to reach our rear," Lux commented as he pointed at the map where over a dozen blinking red dots were moving in an organized formation.

Cai, who was chewing on some beef jerky, glanced at the map and voiced its opinion.

"Maybe they are assassins?" Cai stated. "Sherlock mentioned that both sides would send assassins at each other in order to target the commanding officers."

Vall, who was also observing the suspicious group of individuals in Lux's map, pointed at the path that they were taking.

"Look," Vall said. "They are now about to engage the sentries that are positioned in the forest to ensure that they will be able to take the main camp by surprise."

When Lux's comrades saw the function of the Pseudo-Legendary Item that was given to him by the Gnome, Sherlock, all of them became green with envy, with the exception of Keane.

Such an artifact was priceless in large scale wars because it allowed its user to spy on the movements of their enemies in real time.

However, there was a drawback. The map's fuel was High-Grade Beast Cores.

A Deimos Beast Core would allow it to remain active for an hour.

An Argonaut-Ranked Beast Core allowed it to function for four hours.

And an Empyrean-Ranked Beast Core would allow it to work for half a day.

It was truly a core-consuming artifact, but its effect was second to none. Fortunately, Sherlock had already charged it with an Empyrean-Ranked Beast Core before giving it to Lux, allowing him to use it for half a day.

Everyone looked at the over twenty green lights that represented their allies on the map. Lux and his comrades thought that as soon as the red lights discovered that there were defenders guarding the path, they would immediately retreat.

However, they were wrong.

Once the two forces engaged each other, the green lights representing their allies disappeared from the map one by one, until none were left.

"All of them are elites," Keane muttered as the red dots continued their advance deeper into their side of the forest.

"One of my skeletons is there," Lux immediately sat cross legged in Lotus Position in preparation to connect with his Skeleton Fighter that was currently on standby nearby the route that their enemies were taking. "Give me a moment."

----

'Commanding an elite unit surely is truly different from commanding deadweights,' Malcolm mused as he ran in front of the formation. 'Those defenders didn't even know what hit them.'

The forces of the Yelan Kingdom that they had taken down were all Grade B Apostles, which were led by a Grade A Apostle.

For Malcolm and his allies, who were at the peak of Grade A Apostles, dispatching their enemies was not anything difficult. They were only a step away from the Initiate Rank, and all of them were battle-hardened individuals.

They were personally handpicked by the Kingdoms and the Vahan Empire, both of which belonged to the Skystead Alliance. Naturally, they sent only the best in order to ensure that the success of their mission was guaranteed.

As they were passing through the trees, they saw a dismembered skeleton along the way, but they paid it no mind. They thought that it was just part of the setting of the dungeon, so they didn't stop their advance and continued at a steady pace.

Meanwhile, back at the Yelan Main Camp

"Impossible!" Lux gasped after breaking his connection with his Skeleton Soldier. "Why are they here?!"

"Who's here?" Cai asked before throwing the last piece of beef jerky inside its mouth.

"Malcolm."

"Malcolm who?"

Keane, who was standing beside the Boar, jabbed his elbow into the side of Cai's body, making the latter squeal in pain.

"Little Swordy, you bastard!" Cai glared at the skinny swordsman. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Shut up, Idiot!" Keane glared back. "You don't even know the name of the leader of the representative of the Skystead Alliance?"

"Leader? Are you talking about that annoying blondie who challenged My Daddy earlier?"

"Yes. That's him."

It took Cai roughly half a minute in order to connect the dots before its eyes widened in shock.

"F*ck!" Cai cursed loudly. "I-Isn't that bad? Aren't they supposed to be in the Gate of Conquest? What are they doing here?!"

Einar, Vall, and Xander, all had grim expressions on their faces. As much as they wanted to say that Malcolm's group was no big deal, the reality was different.

They were a BIG DEAL!

"Calm down," Lux said as he assessed their situation. "They still don't know of our existence. We have the element of surprise on our side. If we play our cards right, we can hit them where it hurts and stop their advance."

"Then what about your earlier plan?" Keane asked. "Are you going to abandon it?"

Lux shook his head. "I'm not going to abandon it. I'll just put it on hold until we repel Malcolm's forces. However, if we are going to do this, we can't let our identities be known by them."

"Um, why?" Cai asked. "Shouldn't we tell them who beat them up to a pulp?"

Lux glanced at the clueless Boar with a fed-up expression on his face.

"Do you really want the Skystead Alliance to know that you attacked their representatives while they were doing their mission?" Lux commented. "Don't forget. We just got our names removed from the Blacklist of their Kingdoms. Do you want to get blacklisted again?"

"I have an idea," Einar, who had been keeping his silence since earlier, voiced his opinion. "It will be best if we all wear masks, or anything that can cover our faces. Also, the Boar has to stay here. It is impossible to hide such an obnoxious creature, and although our fighting force will go down by a bit, it will be safer if we kept our identities anonymous."

Everyone nodded in agreement to Einar's plan with the exception of Cai, who felt as if it was being singled out of the group.

Still, Cai wasn't completely stupid and grumpily agreed to the plan to remain inside the camp. A few minutes later, they went to the Main Tent to tell Sherlock and Watson about the danger that was slowly making their way to the rear of their encampment.