After teleporting over to the location where he wanted the mine to be, he had dug earth out and made the cave using metal that he brought over and melted.

Next, he used the a.s.sembly line blacksmiths to make Gem shaped objects which could give a red reflection.

Making sure that they were as identical to Ker Gems as possible, he had embedded them around the fake mine in order to fool the soldiers who came. After all, these were all soldiers who had never seen Ker gems in their life and only had a rough description of them. They would also be in a hurry, so they wouldn't pause to check whether it was the real thing. Just for safety, the first few gems were actually real Ker Gems that had been formed by the Natural Energised Training Chamber.

As for the earth above which the mine hunter had spotted, Daneel had modified it using a technique developed by the system. Finally, the two people in the inn who spoke about the incident were actually spies.

In this way, he had fooled the Black Raven Kingdom into thinking that there was actually a Ker Gem mine so that they would risk everything in order to obtain the gems.

Explosion trinkets were placed everywhere under the ground which would be detonated remotely in order to kill whoever came.

The only reason he had given one last chance for them to turn back using his plea through the display trinket had been to make Faxul witness their choice.

He knew that his friend now had a soft spot for this Kingdom, and he did not wish to make himself look like the villain who killed people without any mercy.

Hence, he had brought Faxul over to watch as he gave the chance.

By killing them, he was actually hitting two birds with one stone.

One, he was getting the materials needed in order to make the land fertile again.

Two, he would be able to cause unrest in the Kingdom which they were soon going to take advantage of.

As for the 1000 people who had marched towards the western border gate, they were clearly just a distraction to pull away the commanders so that the Black Raven Kingdom strike team could leave without any hindrance. Those 1000 people had actually teleported away a few minutes after the explosion.

After getting back to the palace and finding Faxul ready to go, the two departed to the Black Raven Kingdom.

…

After hearing the explosion and receiving no coherent communication from the soldiers except screams of pain, the Black Raven King and the old man looked at each other with shock realizing what had just happened.

After a few seconds, the display trinket which had gone blank shattered as the old man put his fist through it.

He was burning with rage, making the Black Raven King step back as he felt the air around them heat up.

As the old man turned around and was about to say something to the King, a cough interrupted him, making him spit black blood which he stared at with the fury on his face only increasing.

Knowing that his emotional state would only increase his suffering, the old man calmed down before closing his eyes and a.s.sessing everything that had happened.

The Ker gems were now in the hands of the Lanthanor Kingdom, and with their army now short of so many mages, there was no way that they could even hope to mount an attack.

How had that darn King been able to place such effective countermeasures??! He resolved to find this out as soon as he could.

Taking out a communication trinket, he first sent a message saying that the mission was over which made the 1000 people at the western border gate teleport away.

After this, he tried to decide what to do.

If he wanted to continue living, he needed Ker Gems at all costs. With his power, leaving the kingdom wasn't an option because he wouldn't have time to establish himself somewhere else before dying.

Right now, he was sustaining himself using Ether blocks and the situation was stable for at least six more months.

Hence, choosing to slowly take drastic measures, he said, "Handle it," with a cold voice before striding out of the room.

Handle it?

How?

As the Black Raven King gritted his teeth and almost wondered aloud in this way, he felt the communication trinket vibrating telling him that there was a message incoming from the Lanthanor Kingdom.

Having no mood to converse with the bratty King right now, he told the messenger to stop the communication and closed his eyes, imagining the soldiers who had just been sent to their deaths.

Had there really be no other way? Did they all have to die?

Such questions were actually useless because he knew that he would have slaughtered his enemies in the same way if he were the King of Lanthanor.

What was he even supposed to do now? The bulk of the mages were now gone, and thousands of families would soon come to the Palace asking what happened to their family members.

What answer would he give? That they died because of a pursuit for wealth?

No matter what he said, it would only worsen the public favor which was against him.

To redirect the people's hatred and pain, an enemy had to be found. An enemy whom they could point at with their fingers and blame for their loss.

Of course, the best candidate was the Lanthanor Kingdom. The only risk was that someone might have recorded everything that happened.

If there was no proof, it would be quite easy to make up a story and say that the Lanthanor Kingdom had slaughtered the soldiers.

But, it was too much of a risk. If proof did come out, his credibility would completely be destroyed.

As he tried to think of alternatives, the communication trinket vibrated again sending a message which shocked him and made him sprint towards the old man who had just left.