When the dark night took over the entire city was the moment blood would be spilled on a grand scale, I'm not kidding about that. The small group I'm leading will kill very few people, I've found a good entry point into the mansion for us to use so we don't need to shed too much blood.
Not that I've been annoyed at killing cultists or those who work for them without knowing it, but keeping our movements hidden is more important than something as banal as the gratification of killing garbage. But that doesn't apply to the other raiding parties, they will kill all those around the secret entrances to the smugglers' underground base.
Raven separated the troops to invade the underground base in five so that all possible entrances apart from the main one in the mansion that is next to my group, Raven doesn't even want a disturbance in the mansion so that the cultists think there is nothing wrong with the mansion.
The reason for this is that Raven asked me to place various incendiary arrangements in the mansion while we scour the mansion for information or anything that is highlighted, she wants the cultists inside the base to think the mansion is a safe place to retreat in case the alarm is triggered. In the fiery arrangements of a poisonous material that when burned causes the smoke created by the fire to be extremely toxic, Raven wants to kill the cultists who try to escape across the surface when she hides the mansion's theft of information.
Raven really wants to kill as many cultists as possible, this greenish wood comes from a swamp far away from the realms.
The amount that will be used here is worth a considerable amount of wealth for an orange core warrior, this thing isn't cheap as it's hard to transport it without diminishing the properties of the wood it's funny that it doesn't have much use besides poisoning through of the smoke.
I hope neither one of the groups makes a mistake and let one of the sentries that is at the exit of the secret passages activate an alarm, that would be really bad.
As the leader of my team, I have to choose the exact moment to enter the mansion to have enough time to loot the mansion and not leave enough time for the mansion guards to notice that there is something wrong like a black rectangular box in my chest a hallway or behind a curtain.
I'll try to keep my gifts hidden from prying eyes, it's not nice when a surprise is spoiled by prying people. It's a shame I can't put together some fireworks, but Raven almost set me on fire when I suggested making the flames more colorful.
As I waited for night to come, I kept watch studying the mission and secondarily I took a look at the underground base, even though it can be difficult to warn Raven to be sweating like crazy or someone who has a perception outside of any rational explanation other than True, but I'd rather take a risk than let Raven walk into a trap.
But there was nothing different with the cultists luckily for me, their number hasn't changed since yesterday and not one of them seems to be doing anything suspicious. I made a complete plan of the mansion studying the house from afar using the difference in the mansion's color intensities, and difficult one more great exercise in deduction and perception.
I believe I've located some spots where a safe might be hidden, this will greatly advance the search, but what worries me is the orange dot that is walking around the mansion.
My two companions have a green core and only one of them is in the final stage, I'm not so confident they can kill a fire element orange core mage. Killing this type of target without letting him burn anything or attract the attention of the guards is difficult, I kept my eye on him hoping he would go underground when the sun was going down, but when the night had already taken over the sky he was still in the mansion.
Ignoring that problem, I waited until the moment Raven instructed me to break into the mansion, my group will storm the mansion twenty minutes before they start making their way through the secret passages. This advantage will allow us to leave at a time when the cultists may be trying to flee through the mansion, which will catch fire.
With only a few lights from the mansion to illuminate the surroundings since this is a moonless night for our luck, I led the two assassins with me into the mansion. The Lazy Cat and Crooked Blade give two warriors trained in the art of assassination and both have the element of fire, but the Lazy Cat has the element of wind as well, the two so unique number given by their leader who seems to have a humorous sense of naming.
But I wasn't stupid enough to ask Crooked blade why he was called Crooked blade, I feel the explanation might make the conversation uncomfortable.
I didn't ask them anything as it would be silly to do so, the secret part of secret units is very important to ask about your temporary companion's past is not smart.
The only thing I know about Lazy Cat is that he's good at interrogating prisoners and has worked as a guard for rune craftsmen, he got pretty worried when I said he didn't have to worry too much about hiding me with his shadow because I have a good reception in the evening.
According to him rune craftsmen he has worked with before have always complained that having too much shadow element energy is hiding and it gets in the way of their work, when I told him not to worry, he became very worried. He thinks I'm pretty incompetent or inexperienced, he thought this was the first time in my position and a mission of this nature.
Only after telling him that he didn't have to worry since Raven has tested me before and I'm not a rookie since this isn't my first team did Lazy Cat feel calmer but I still feel like he's nervous what makes me nervous, he must be the most experienced of the three of us and the other assassin seems calmer than he is, this is wrong.
Sneaking through the first barrier is as difficult as walking down a busy street and literally bending a thin barrier that follows the wall around the mansion. This weak barrier is not here to stop a threat but the poor, it basically serves as a bell for the mansion and as i don't want to be announced so i avoided it, didn't even have to sweat my tools my aura was enough to bend the flow barrier energy.
There was no patrol on that side now so we arrived at one of the windows of the mansion without seeing anyone, here it is already a little more difficult. I had to take my parchment out of my bag so I could have assistance unlocking the barriers and alarms that are on the beautifully decorated glass window, this window that is almost purely glass must be pretty expensive.
As I opened the window my two companions released a subtle layer of their shadow element, each on my side made a cloak of shadows that works very well on a dark night. The little light that sprang from my aura interacting with the window was completely hidden, a guard could be patrolling the garden behind us and not be able to see us.
Upon opening the window, I finally entered the mansion of a cultist who can kill me as if I were an insect, he just needs to release his elemental energy towards me and I instantly turn into a corpse.
As I studied well the pattern that only a few guards and marked where all the mansion's employees are I have several empty corridors on my route to the first point where I saw a mana concentrating, this is a connection node between the mansion's defenses or is it a safe.
With the two assassins keeping a layer of shadows around us we're hidden in the dark hallways of the mansion; they really save on the light here. My target is inside one of the walls, but I'm not going to punch a hole in the hallway so I went into the empty room and drilled a hole on that side of the wall only to find a plate full of runes.
Great, I found what I didn't want to find. Maybe I should look for a spot with no mana or elemental energy on the walls, making a safe without rune protection is risky but better to hide it since it has no mana.
I took a good look at the sign while I'm here and realized the cultists are really stingy, they've saved a lot on this mansion it may be a simple bait or disguise but could they have tried a little harder or is my standard too demanding?
As I modified the rune plate to disable a good part of the mansion's alarms, I noticed that the great danger of the mansion began to move through the halls. That's a big problem, it wouldn't be nice to find a fire mage that strong in a tight hallway.
I hope he's going for a late-night snack or a gruesome underground ritual, both options work for me. I went in the opposite direction to the wizard just to feel safer, we already spent a few minutes and so I decided to go straight to the offices even if I don't find a safe there will still be papers there.