Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons novel Chapter 866

Chapter 866: Chapter 866 - Taming the Fifth Year - Price of Family - 3

The 3 were tamers he recognized. Old members of the Goldcrest faction who’d maintained a low profile during the last open confrontation.

He knew their names... Knew their capabilities.

All carried confident postures suggesting they didn’t feel particularly threatened by Selphira and Arturo’s presence, arrogance that was unsettling considering the power disparity that should have been obvious in the mana.

Either they were idiots, possible but unlikely given their survival to this point, or they knew something that justified the confidence.

Arturo suspected the latter. Which meant the trap was deeper than just numerical advantage.

The trio’s leader, a man of approximately 50 years with hair beginning to show gray at his temples, spoke first.

"Lord Arturo. Matriarch Selphira." The greeting was formal. Almost exaggerated in its courtesy. "We’re pleased you’ve accepted our invitation to discuss the terms for Victor’s release. Lord Orion awaits you inside the ruin where the situation can be explained appropriately."

It was an invitation that was obviously a badly disguised trap.

Entering the Goldcrest ruin where Orion controlled the terrain and with an army at his back was exactly the type of tactical error a competent instructor would warn against in any basic military strategy course.

But simultaneously it was the only way to verify if Victor genuinely was being held there and in what condition, information they needed before they could formulate an appropriate rescue plan.

If they didn’t enter, they couldn’t verify Victor’s status or assess the actual threat level. If they did enter, they walked into an obvious trap with eyes open.

Sometimes there were no good options. Only less bad ones.

Selphira exchanged brief look with Arturo.

Do we eliminate them all before entering?

Not spoken aloud. Not even transmitted through bond with beasts. Just expression and timing that conveyed complete thought through minimal gesture.

Arturo considered it.

The army wasn’t small. It would take considerable time and energy to defeat them completely. Maybe longer if the Golds were competent at tactical retreats and regrouping.

And they seemed to be part of the wall defense around the zone that wasn’t in its proper place for this reason.

4000-5000 people pulled from the defensive perimeter meant 40,000-50,000 meters of wall inadequately guarded. Maybe more if these troops had been spread across multiple sections.

That was an invitation for a mutant attack. The creatures didn’t think tactically, but they seemed to sense weakness. Detecting gaps in defense through mechanisms nobody quite understood.

And a mutant attack after this operation would be a disaster for common citizens of the city.

Not the nobles or the military... The ordinary people who couldn’t defend themselves. The farmers, workers, merchants and craftsmen who’d done nothing wrong except live near a territory that happened to be of strategically valuable to these rotten nobles.

Killing this army might save Victor. But it might also doom thousands of civilians who’d done nothing to deserve it.

Still Victor was family...

’Family came first right?’

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