"The time has come for us, the Phantoms of the Night, to finally eradicate the existence of the Demon Cult in Gardenia!"
Amadora declared to the members of the organization. Astra watched silently from the side since majority of the members don't know of her existence.
"Since the bar which we are going to attack seems to be the second-largest hideout in Gardenia, Named Shadows will break in first. Trained Shadows will lead around five Shadows-in Training to take care of the remaining enemies. I will lead you all to victory! As for the hideout in the forest, some of the Phantom Shadows will take care of that. Excellent Shadows will stay back at the base."
The members nodded and departed swiftly with Amadora leading them. Astra glanced at the nine Phantom Shadows behind her. They nodded, understanding Astra's intent to begin hunting the other hideout of the Demon Cult. Astra travelled through the darkness with the Phantom Shadows following silently.
When they had reached their destination, they stopped to check their surroundings and Astra cast her original magic "Ghost" on all of them. Using magic, Astra checked for any abnormalities in the surroundings. Astra spotted a difference in texture on a huge tree. A small part of the bark was smoother than the rest.
Astra gestured the Phantom Shadows to prepare themselves as she pressed the smooth spot. The ground shook a little as a small passageway opened inside the tree. They entered and found a spiral staircase leading up.
(Just how big is this place? To think that such a huge base was located in Gardenia, but we never noticed it.)
Astra swiftly ran to the top where a door awaited them. Astra detected some abnormalities behind the door and concluded,
"It's a trap. It seems that the real base isn't on the top."
Luna looked quizzically at Astra.
"Then, where would it be?"
Astra thought for a moment.
"Perhaps below."
Astra jumped down from the staircase and landed softly. Another passageway was opened.
"It seems that the mechanism is activated when there's enough pressure."
Astra and the Phantom Shadows entered the passageway and saw a small village lit up by bright lights. Astra deactivated "Ghost." At the entrance, there was a guard checking the identities of the people who enter.
Astra pulled out the pass of one of the members of the Demon Cult that she had killed and the Phantom Shadows did the same. The passes were from fairly high-ranked members.
When he checked their passes, he exclaimed, "What an unusual group! Such powerful people came together, so I assume that you have something important to report?"
Astra and the others nodded. The guard let them pass without any problems. And so, they entered the village.
They split up to eliminate as many as possible silently. Astra had taught them how to get rid of corpses using shadow magic and they could also eliminate humans weaker than them with it, but they haven't done that too often since it costs a lot of mana and they prefer to make use of their skills.
They eliminated people one by one until they realized that many people were gone, but it was too late for the members of the Demon Cult. Astra and the others had already eliminated them with ease and set the sacrifices free.
•••
Amadora departed with many members of the organization behind her. They numbered over a thousand and would surely increase in the future since the Demon Cult was rooted deeply all around the world.
They casted "Stealth" on themselves. Although it was not as effective as Phantom Diana's original magic "Ghost," it could hide their appearance and muffle most of the noises that they made.
Before entering the bar, Amadora warned the members.
"Remember that all of the people in the bar are part of the Demon Cult. Even if they look normal, remember that they are your enemies!"
They nodded curtly. As Amadora had planned, Named Shadows broke in first, unnoticed, and searched for hidden passages. Trained Shadows led Shadows-in-Training to take care of the leftovers as Amadora watched over them.
It ended quickly and there were no casualties whatsoever. It was rather easy, but Amadora felt uneasy for some reason.