Supreme Magus novel Chapter 1011

Chapter 1011 Change of Leadership Part 1

"I have many things to say, but too little time so I’ll limit myself to one thing. A Captain that has the guts to issue the ’stop the enemy’ order instead of formulating a strategy is worth to be added to the list of jokes the Association tells about the army.

"Captain Phloria, you’re now in charge of the mission. Since I’m forced to change plans due to Kortus’s manifest incompetence in leadership, I’ll invoke the second-in-command protocol.

"Now put the Prospectors’ foreman through. I need to inform her of my decisions. Reinforcements are already on their way." Berion said.

Those words made Kortus’s eyes water. Usually, the second-in-command protocol was applied only when the commanding officer went mad during a mission, forcing his subordinates to replace him.

The protocol implied that whatever went wrong with the mission would be his fault, whereas every success would be to Phloria’s merit. It left no space for politics or power plays. Even if Phloria willingly killed everyone, it would still be his fault.

"With all due respect, General, I wasn’t done with my report. Permission to speak freely, sir." Phloria Said.

"Granted." Berion nodded for her to continue.

"Something doesn’t add up. The undead clearly knew the caves well enough to stage an ambush, so we can assume that Ghouls mined the crystal veins undetected until recently.

"Yet this raises some questions the answers to which may prove vital for the success of the mission. If really this really is a crystal mine, then how could Belin of Feymar find red raw gemstones?

"Ghouls would never be so sloppy, quite the contrary, their presence shows carefully planning and preparation. I considered this to be a set-up, but putting a crystal mine at stake just to kill random soldiers makes no sense.

"Back when they left the scraps, the undead had no idea who would have found the gems or who would be sent here, so it can’t be all part of a bigger scheme. Last but not least, why didn’t they detonate the mines after we defeated them?

"It takes but one Ghoul and one spell to turn this place into a huge crater, yet the mines are still here for us to take." Phloria looked with worry at Friya who was talking with the members of the Crystal Shield guild that had finally returned.

"I’m glad to see there’s someone capable of using her brain." Berion drummed his fingers on the black mahogany desk, asking himself the same questions yet finding no plausible answer.

"Requesting permission to join the conversation, your honor." Friya said while raising her hand.

"This is no classroom and I’m no judge, Mage Ernas. Permission granted anyway." Berion chuckled.

"My men brought good and bad news. The good news is that following my sister, I mean, Captain Ernas’s instructions they found several hidden caves filled with prisoners..."

"Their codename is life banks, for short." Berion cut her short.

"Several life banks. My men were taking care of the survivors and collected some information. Based on what the prisoners said, the life banks were there for a while and before the oldest prisoner got turned into lesser undead, they talked about a mine." Friya said.

"Excellent job, both of you." Berion’s smile was sincere now. "Captain Ernas, your cunning allowed us to confirm the presence of a crystal mine and to cut off the enemy’s supplies.

"Mage Ernas, if not for your guild, the incompetence of the previous commanding officer might have been fatal. It was you who ordered the barrier array to be strengthened and then sent them to empty the life banks, securing our victory. What about the bad news?"

"There were also beasts in the blood banks, which means that today we didn’t fight the main force. I suspect they were just probing our defenses." Friya said.