The main army of the prisoner's convoy had already set off on their journey to the Desolate Wastelands after receiving a 'report' from Leon's side that their original route was clear and without any danger points.
As such, after days of waiting, their convoy finally moved to enter the wastelands.
Crown Prince Ranon was feeling good as he saw the look of seriousness and vigilance on Mishael, Kazimir, and Antoine's faces.
He interpreted it as a sign of anxiousness as they finally entered a well-known route where the conditions were unpredictable.
Upon his estimation they will arrive to encounter the ambush after seven days or so, it was a long delay on their end, but for him, it was enough for the ambush troop to deal with Leon and reorganize for their next assault.
After all, they were now composed of three battalions. It would be a waste if they failed to contain Leon even if he is an S-class.
However, five days have already gone by since their delayed departure yet they have not received any affirmative notification from the ambush troops ahead.
According to their estimated timeline, Leon would have encountered the ambush troops three days ago but it has been days since then and no good news arrived on their side about him.
'What's happening? Where did that Third Prince go? Why is he not clashing yet with the army?' He frowned and asked.
As they were already in the wilderness, he could only communicate through notification paper as there was no secluded cover around other than his carriage.
He would appear suspicious if he kept himself cooped up in the carriage just to wait for the updates from the ambushing army.
The Vanderford Headquarters and the Pope's team were equally anxious… Where is the Third Prince?
"Could he have discovered the ambush troop ahead and did not dare to come over?" One of the strategists from Vanderford asked.
"That does not even make sense. If that's the case then they would have asked the main army for the delay."
"Could he have been struck by the untoward weather conditions? It has been days, maybe something really happened?" The others commented.
"I could be, but I couldn't help but feel uneasy. Something is not right!"
"Your Majesty, we will get to the bottom of the matter…" The chief strategist stood up and assured the agitated emperor. Only when they were finally waved to dismissal did they heave a sigh of relief.
"Go and contact the Lieutenant of the first army through the communication stone, ask them what happened right away!"
The chief strategist pointed at one of his men and immediately ordered with a grave expression.
The man followed the suit and carried out the order with trepidation. If they could not give a good answer to the Emperor later on, their heads would surely roll off the floor!
Fortunately, before the call immediately connected, the Chief Strategist's aide rushed to his side and immediately told them the news.
"Your Excellence! The ambush army replied! They have finally captured the Third Prince!" The aide announced with great relief in his eyes.
Seeing this, the fellow strategist around also beamed in delight. Thank heavens, their heads were finally safe!
However, the Chief Strategist did not let his guard down and still looked at the man whom he tasked earlier.
"Do not spread the news yet… You shall continue to talk to the Lieutenant and ask them about the entire process of the subjugation, now!"
"Cough… cough… Your Excellency Grand Duke, why not go to the council room and hear the process ourselves?" One strategist suggested he was clearly interested in how the famously strong Blood Prince was captured.
The other men also expressed their interest, leaving the Chief Strategist no choice but to agree.
In the room, they sat with excited expressions and called the ambush camp. The communication from the other side immediately connected, and they heard the Second Lieutenant's tired voice responding.
"Sire, have you received our notice?" There was a trace of tiredness and discomfort in this voice, which led the men to believe that they were somehow injured or affected during the clash with the blood prince.
"Tell us what happened, Second Lieutenant." The Chief Strategist asked straightforwardly.
"It's like this…" The Second Lieutenant started to narrate everything that transpired relating to capturing the Third Prince Leon.
It turns out that Leon was already gravely weakened when a group of roving scouts spotted him struggling to stay conscious in the wilderness.
His lips were pale and there were traces of poison on his body as greenish veins appeared throughout his entire body. It seems like they have encountered some sort of desert beast and for some reason, he was inevitably poisoned.
At first, the roving scouts thought that they had struck rich and lucky enough to see the weakened s-class prince. But they did not think that even as he was on the verge of losing consciousness, he was still able to fight back and ferociously kill all the guards.
Lucky enough for the ambush camp, one of the members of the guards have already sent the news about the chase and managed to get the directions where he was spotted.
The entire camp was immediately mobilized however, it seems that the Blood Prince was alarmed and so he moved quickly towards the central area.
Then the chase ensued, they tracked the Third Prince's whereabouts for one day and one night, until they finally stumbled in the land of corpse and carnage.
The entire ambush team shuddered in fear as they saw the Blood Prince finally manifest as he stood at the center of a hundred corpses, he was standing in a daze, like a crazed bull.
In his hand was the head of someone they did not expect to see in such a situation, the Lieutenant of the Third army!
They were so unfortunate to meet the Prince along the way of regrouping with the front army that they were completely wiped out in the process!
The Third Prince seemed to have noticed their presence, and before they were able to investigate the army of corpses around him, he immediately charged and started to kill their troops.
They were overwhelmed by his power as he was already able to kill a third of the troops they took with them so the Lieutenants have no choice but to leave the corpses of the third army and lure the crazed blood prince toward their camp which is full of troops and army.
It was a hard and arduous task to keep themselves alive while having to lure the prince, who was already weakened yet still too hard to deal with.
As they retreated, they were pressured to deal with his spell attacks as a caster, his devastating speed and power as a devourer, and his monstrous stamina to endlessly call on his familiars to compensate his number to deal with the troops.
Finally, after a night of the desperate retreat, they finally managed to meet the troops who were already prepared as they managed to tell them the situation in advance.
The casters left behind were able to set up a powerful array that would immediately block off the mana within their area of effect and immediately render the prince magicless.
However, they forgot that the Mad Blood Prince has lived the early stages of his life as a trash but still excelled in combat.
And so even without mana around him, he was still able to kill off a few hundred before he finally collapsed in exhaustion.
All in all, while the Third Prince did not manage to significantly lower the death toll of the entire army of the first and second troops, he was still able to kill off a third of the elite A to B class warriors on their end and of course, kill the entire third army.
Moreover, he managed to severely injure the First Lieutenant. The Second Lieutenant was injured as well but he was also exhausted to deal with the aftermath.
After hearing the news, the strategists did not know if they would celebrate or mourn instead.
While they managed to successfully capture the Third Prince, they also lost a significant force that was detrimental to the next operation which was to subdue the main convoy and snatch the high-profile prisoners.
"How is he contained at the moment?" The Chief Strategist remained steadfast despite the mixed feelings and asked important questions.
"Your Excellence, he is carefully restrained by the mana blocker array so that he will not be able to use his mana to heal himself.
Moreover, we also reinforced the arrays with multiple restrictive spells and took off all his belongings.
He could no longer do anything and is in constant guarding of all our strongest mages." The Second Lieutenant reported which effectively made the listeners finally sigh in relief.
"Hmmm… alright, good work. Now just focus on healing right away as you might meet the main army in the next three days.
Do not bother to contact the other parties, I will be the one to reach out to them and the two of you focus on getting back your strength. Do your best to reorganize your forces as fast as possible. " The chief strategist said.
"Thank you, Your Excellency…" The Second Lieutenant replied with a hoarse yet relieved voice.
Both sides ended the call rather pleased.
However, unbeknownst to them, the Third Prince, whom they thought was gravely injured, was sporting an unbothered expression on his face.
It was as if he had made his own mission to be tied up in this very place!
