Chapter 253: Milena's Acting Ability |
Not long after, a violent explosion tore through the magnificent palace. The thunderous blast echoed hundreds of kilometers through the underground.
Amid the chaos, many of the slaves enslaved by the undead queen seized the opportunity to escape.
Ambrose and Milena were mixed in among them.
This was the first lesson Ambrose taught Milena: if you want to deceive others, you must make detailed preparations.
This wasn't meaningless roleplay, like what Catherine had engaged in. Rather, every aspect of their cover had to connect logically, each detail serving a purpose.
Simply claiming to be runaway slaves wouldn't convince anyone.
Only when something truly went wrong within the Undead Queen's domain—only when large numbers of slaves genuinely did manage to flee—would their identities hold up under scrutiny.
There were many escapees: gnomes, drow, gray dwarves, and even some mycelids and rarer races.
The explosion had been like kicking open an anthill. The undead were too busy repairing the palace to bother chasing down every slave.
"Father, how do we find the mastermind now?" Milena asked through their soul link.
Ambrose didn't answer directly. Instead, he asked, "What do you think?"
Milena thought for a moment. "I remember the tunnels where they appeared before. Maybe we could try our luck there."
Ambrose immediately rejected the idea.
"If you rely on luck, how can you be sure those driders will invite you to join them instead of eating you? Even if you're a female drow and hold higher status, they might eat me. Then our identities would be exposed."
Milena fell silent, confused.
If they didn't go looking for the drow, how could they infiltrate them?
They couldn't possibly expect the enemy to come to them… could they?
What Ambrose said next made the gap between their intelligence painfully clear.
"No one will be interested in us if we simply present ourselves to the drow. What we need to do is make them come to us. Right now, we're not looking for those rebellious drow. We're going to gather up these scattered runaway slaves. Once we build a sufficiently large force, those rebels will come to us seeking cooperation."
Milena was stunned. "Oh… so that's how it works!"
Only now did she realize that the explosion and mass escape weren't just for disguising their identities. They had served a more important purpose all along.
"Understand?" Ambrose said. "Then it's up to you now. Subdue these slaves and make them follow you."
"…How do I subdue them? Beat them up?"
"Exactly."
Ambrose's reply came without hesitation. The simplest way to subdue slaves was through force, and it perfectly fit Milena's drow persona.
Might made right. Poisoning, assassination, torture—nothing was off-limits. That was the drow way.
With Ambrose's approval, Milena felt a surge of excitement.
She might not be great at thinking, but fighting was her specialty.
Even without her mount or lance, she was more than capable of knocking down large numbers of fleeing slaves with her bare fists.
But after beating them up, as the slaves looked at her with confused, almost accusatory eyes, as if to ask, "Why are you hitting us?", Milena froze, unsure what to say.
Fortunately, Ambrose prompted her in time, "Tell them that if they don't want to die, they shouldn't scatter. Only by sticking together do they have a chance to survive."
Thankfully, Milena wasn't stupid enough to repeat him word for word. Instead, she rephrased the sentiment. "You idiots, we're in the Umbral Depths. Do you even understand how dangerous this place is? Scatter and run, and you'll die miserably. Only by sticking together do we stand a chance."
The slaves hesitated, thoughtful.
They were all natives of the Umbral Depths. They knew the place was dangerous, but if they gathered together, wouldn't they just be easier targets for undead pursuit?
A male drow spoke up, "Running separately might get us killed, but if we group together and the undead catch us, we're finished."
Milena was about to respond when Ambrose's voice cut in, "Break his leg. You're a female drow. If a male dares to argue, he deserves it."
Without hesitation, Milena walked toward him.
The male drow realized his mistake immediately. In his panic, he had forgotten he was speaking to a female.
He dropped to the ground, trembling. "Honored lady, I was wrong! Please forgive me! I meant no offense!"
Milena didn't hesitate. She stepped forward and crushed his lower leg beneath her foot.
He screamed, but before Ambrose could prompt her, Milena slapped him unconscious.
Ambrose's voice followed. "Tell them that most low-level undead are mindless. If you leave behind a half-dead person every so often, you can slow the pursuers."
Milena relayed the idea, her tone now cold and ruthless. Without realizing it, she had begun to settle into her role.
After all, undead already leaned toward evil. Playing a drow was far easier than playing a paladin.
Surprisingly, the slaves didn't panic at her cruelty. Instead, they found her reasoning sound.
This was the Umbral Depths. Most races here were selfish and ruthless. Leaving bait to delay pursuers? That didn't even come close to crossing their moral boundaries. And among the dozens present, most were drow. Morality was practically nonexistent to them.
Milena's plan was quickly accepted. The group of slaves united with ease.
And she wasn't joking, either. Every few kilometers, she would break someone's legs, knock them unconscious, and leave them behind.
In the end, they managed to flee so far that the scent of undead had long since faded. No pursuers bearing the banner of Black Rose appeared.
Everyone credited Milena. This female drow had the undeniable bearing of a leader.
Milena herself was thrilled. She already had a group of followers, just like that! At this rate, dealing with the mastermind would only be a matter of time.
But her excitement didn't last long. During a rest, a male drow approached her respectfully. "Honored lady, we've already put distance between ourselves and the City of Mercury. But where do we go next? Everyone is exhausted. We need rest, food, and water."
Milena thought for a moment, then asked through her soul link with Ambrose, "Father, what do we do? We don't have food… we're not going to kill a drow and roast him, right?"
Ambrose almost rolled his eyes. She had been acting so well just moments ago. How did she revert back to her undead instincts so quickly? Drow were cruel, but they didn't eat their own kind. Male drow were sacrificed to Loss or fed to spiders, not butchered for food.
"Milena, what's our goal? We simply want to gather up the slaves, not worry about these slaves' survival. Your job isn't to solve their problems, but to stall until the rebels come to you. Why do we need to find food? Why let this drow guide your thinking?"
"But… shouldn't I answer him?" Milena asked.
"Turn it back on him. Someone like this is clearly currying for favor. He won't ask questions he doesn't know how to answer. Let him reveal his plan."
Milena was still processing this when the drow, unaware of their silent exchange, eagerly continued, "My lady, I know of a very weak mycelid settlement nearby. We can seize their territory. There'll be food and shelter!"
Milena blinked. "Really?"
Just as her father said, he had come prepared with his own answer. Cunning.
The male drow nodded eagerly. "I swear to the Spider Queen that it's true! If I'm lying, may I die in the jaws of spiders!"
He had only dared to approach Milena because he knew the area well, hoping to earn her favor.
Male drow always sought to attach themselves to powerful females. It was instinct.
But to his shock, Milena struck him hard across the face, causing half of it to swell up instantly. "Why ask me a question you have the answer to? Were you trying to make me look foolish?!"
The drow clutched his face, kneeling, blood spilling from his mouth. "No, no, my lady! I wouldn't dare! Please forgive me!"
Ambrose inwardly praised her. She had fallen into character again. A promising talent.
Her behavior further solidified her authority. These slaves now knew they were following a volatile but powerful leader. She could beat them all into submission alone, and she had no tolerance for scheming subordinates. As long as they remembered those two things, they could survive under her command.
Under her iron rule, the once-unarmed slaves lost all fear of the coming battle.
After all, what were mycelids compared to this terrifying drow?
The battle was exactly as the drow had described: easy. The mycelid settlement was pitifully small and consisted of fewer than thirty individuals in total. They stood no chance against this vicious group. Milena alone could have wiped them out.
The fight ended quickly, with minimal casualties. Among the slaves was a mycelid. After witnessing Milena's strength, the settlement surrendered immediately and offered up their food supplies.
After the battle, Milena no longer asked Ambrose what to do next.
With her right eye, she had already spotted figures lurking in the shadows: driders. The rebels had come to find them.