"So, where are we going now?" Inquired Izzy, as we found ourselves in the forest outside of Kieph Town.

"We talked about this yesterday, we’re heading for the nation’s east border. We’ll bust out and fight off any Light Continent troops that might be trying to invade the nation. I’m not too thrilled about fighting for this stupid country, but we can’t afford to have an invasion at the same time as a civil war, it’d mean absolute chaos...I don’t care what happens to most people in Obsidian, but I don’t want those whom I’m acquainted and friendly with to die," I remarked with a sigh.

"Huh? Sorry, I zoned out at some point, I wasn’t really paying attention. Well, whatever, you clearly have a plan in mind, so I’ll just follow your lead," Shrugged Izzy wryly.

She’s so carefree...

"Given the distance from here, it’ll probably take us a couple of days to get to the east border on foot. And we can’t head straight east since there’s a large mountain at the end of the forest in that direction, we’ll have to go around it. That might take an extra half a day," Surmised Argent thoughtfully.

"That won’t be a problem. Prysm’s set up a Teleportation Point near the outskirts of Marri Town, the closest town to the east border," I informed him.

"Isn’t Blont Town more or less equally close to the border as Marri Town is? I’ve set a Teleportation Point near there too, remember?" Chimed in Prysm.

"Yeah, but we should use the one you set up near Marri Town instead," I replied as I took out a map of the nation from my Pocket Dimension and spread it out against the trunk of a tree, adding as I pointed at a spot on the map, "See this right here? If we split the east border into two halves right across the middle, the lower half has a mountain range stretching across outside of it, I’ve heard it’s quite treacherous, with a lot of dangerous Monsters roaming through it. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

So, it’s highly unlikely that the any Light Continent troops will try to invade through this area. Meanwhile, the stretch of land outside of the upper half of the border is occupied by the East Dead River, one of the two rivers that flow on either side of the Dead Zone, stretching vertically across the entire Continent, and flowing through the mountain range I mentioned.

That river is home to a lot of Monsters as well, but it’s not as dangerous thanks to this...there’s a large bridge stretching over the river, spanning from just outside the east border to edge of the Dead Zone. It’s likely to be the most heavily guarded spot on the east border, but it’s also the shortest and easiest path to get through from the east, which means that if the Light Continent really are trying to invade Obsidian, they’ll most likely use this bridge."

"Why is there such a bridge in the first place? I mean, why have a path between the border and the Dead Zone?" Frowned Prysm in confusion.

"It’s pretty simple, actually...as much as the Light Continent wants to invade the Dark Continent, it goes both ways...given the opportunity, the Dark Continent would absolutely jump at the chance to invade the Light Continent. Though these days, the bridge is mostly used when criminals, Heretics and the like are banished to the Dead Zone, and I’ve also heard that slavers use it to try and find potentially valuable slaves among the people living in the Dead Zone. Of course, it’s an extremely barren and dangerous place, so most people wouldn’t go out of their way to visit it," I replied wryly.

"Dangerous, huh? You think there’s anyone there who could give me a challenge? Hey, let’s visit the Dead Zone once we’re done wiping out the Light Continent troops or whatever!" Grinned Izzy with a gleam in her eyes.

"Absolutely not. The place is probably a petri dish of disease and infections, there’s also a Labyrinth there, and since I highly doubt that people venture into it and cut down the Monsters inside, it’s probably overflowing with Monsters, pouring out of it to the outside. It’s the last place we’re ever going to visit. We’re just going to deal with any Light Continent troops that might be dangerously close to the border, then we’ll teleport back and hide out somewhere safe while we wait for this whole mess to blow over. We can assess what to do afterwards," I concluded as I put away the map.

"Honestly, I’m surprised...I thought for sure you’d opt to go in hiding right away," Remarked Argent with a wry smile.

"Can’t say that option didn’t cross my mind, but I decided against it. If the Light Continent invades, that’ll mean more problems for us. And even if we managed to escape to another nation in the Dark Continent, it won’t matter, the entire continent will be in turmoil. So I’m mostly doing this for myself and my long term interests," I responded with a shrug.

"Sure, whatever you say, little brother."

I don’t like his tone...

"What should we do about the guards that we’ll almost definitely run into at the border?" Prysm asked me.

"Hm, I guess I could knock them out with my Dark Magic...but then again, they’re Knights, so I’m definitely not opposed to killing them," I replied dryly.

"No, I don’t think we should. The Knight Order has reformed under the command of Aries Velenet, we shouldn’t antagonize them if we don’t need to," Pointed out Argent.

Yeah, he’s got a point, I suppose. And from I’ve heard from Ilex, Rosary and Gior, the Knights that are stationed in the towns that each of them are at have been cooperative with the residents, not throwing around their authority like before.

Fine, I suppose they’ve earned a pass, I won’t kill them. Probably. Depends on them, really.

"Okay, let’s get going now. Prysm, teleport us," I remarked, before we gathered around her and linked up...

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