Arlesk and the crew continued going deeper into the tunnels. They wanted to finish up their progress quickly as they had realized that they have run through the first quarter of their supplies already. "We actually have infinite budget, but it was quite arrogant for us to enter the mine with supplies only for 20 people." "Yeah, our pools of mana are much deeper than an average raid of humans." "We should probably contact Sir Jacquinn again for this, raising the supplies to at least 200 people should suffice." "And we're only halfway to the third open room."
The four of them continued chatting while clearing the monsters. The resistances of the monsters have ramped up for them, but they were able to push through without much issues after getting used to the extra equipment.
Before long, they arrived at the third open hall.
"The area looks the same as the first open area, which is the mines, but I have a feeling that the monsters will just get worse over time." "Yeah, two sea monsters were already pretty terrifying Arlesk, the next one is definitely going to be worse." They entered the hall and took notice that the entrance closed behind them. "Guess were in the right path, but doesn't seem like we'll be getting a break this time." Arlesk lit up the room using the orb as a catalyst. In front of them, at the other end of the large hall, was an enormous spider, which seemed to barely fit the dimensions of the hall. "Hahaha... If Draxus or Remuel were here... This would've instantly turned into a disaster..." The spider didn't proactively move, as if it was merely protecting the entrance to the next hall. Looking around they noticed that there are massive holes that seemed to be leading to other tunnels. "[Magic Tra-]" Arlesk tried to trace the paths of the tunnels with magic, but the spider immediately reacted. "I-It can sense magic it seems..." "Not just that, but it can sense movement and sound in omniscient levels... Let's use telepathy to plan out, don't leave your position or it'll move." Arlesk began explaining a sound plan to them. Which was still somewhat considered to be insane. "You think anything else would work at this stage. I'm entrusting the three of you to use the magicannons right, or we're fucked. Ya'll ready?" "Heh... This one is gonna be hell of a fun time..." "This is definitely not going to be fun Ulysses..." "To be honest, this is pretty terrifying..." The three heroes had slight doubts and excitement to their next battle, and began the execution of their plan. "Go!"
In the meantime... Jacquinn arrived to the castle to warn Oswald and the young king about what he had found out about most nobles.
"This is really bad... At least half of them are known to be corrupt..." "I think there's something worse..." "Yeah... That enemy encounter you have. It seems like getting close to him is already a tough chore." "I know right? I have some ideas, but the dude has boundary magic, which is one of Drax's new staples." "Draxus uses [Boundary Magic]?" Oswald interjected as he realized that Draxus has once more reached a new height in magic. "Yeah, he taught me about it recently so I can make use of it in certain battles, but..." Jacquinn gained a premonition of them getting instantly killed. He activated his magic to push Oswald and the young king away from their current position and the space they were in suddenly brought out a black sphere with large spikes. "Tch. So you have a similar ability to mine huh. I knew our enemy has some troublesome magic, as expected of the [Puppet], he knows what must be done." "Puppet? Who the hell are you talking about?" "Isn't he your leader? Why do you think you guys have been transported here after all?" "Huh...?" Jacquinn first checked thirty seconds into the future in the case he gets attacked while thinking, after knowing that he won't be attacked by the unknown enemy for a bit, he decided to think about the reason why they were summoned in the first place. But instead of getting confused, he closed his eyes and confirmed his conviction. "I'll think about it later when I talk to him. But for now, you have to get lost." "Heh, as expected, us harbingers have our own purpose here, and it's to steal the last essence of the [Prime]!" Jacquinn quickly used his magic to instantly transport both of them to an open area. "Tch, even are transportation? You really are troublesome." "I have this magic in case the enemy reaches the backline. With your trespassing, I'll have to get rid of you here, harbinger." Jacquinn prepared his sword which was engraved with various runes by Draxus.
Oswald and the Young King, who were pushed away had witnessed the entire conversation. Oswald had the Young King start to organize the paperwork as they now have conclusive evidence of every bit of corruption in the nobility. "[Guardians]! We need to contact the Preeliance Castle immediately! Jacquinn is under attack by an unknown enemy, likely to be at the level of council." The Guardians, heard Oswald's worrying shout as they looked at each other for a second. After the commander in charge of guarding shrugged his shoulders, he decided to contact the castle. "Uhh... Are you not worried about Jacquinn? Why aren't you guys in high alert?" Oswald noticed the lack of emergency on the situation. While the commander contacted the main castle, one of the Guardians explained. "We once had a preconception on how the rest of the main group of Preeliance are not that powerful behind the Archons. We learned it first-hand the hard way on how dangerous each one of the members are. What's more, it's Executor Jacquinn. The best assassin of this world by a long shot. He has the ability to see quite far into the future and can plan nearly as fast as Archon Draxus. He also has one of the most powerful weapons made by the same Archon." "I-I see..." "Well, I do understand your standpoint, we'll likely call another Preeliance member here, it would be great if Collin responded as those two are said to be similar in prowess." Oswald was shocked, as he had once expected that the powers around Arlesk and Draxus may be somewhat inferior to what the Archons are. But with his preconception shattered with their lack of emergency, he now understood why Serkyrio was always confident in the abilities of his subjects from the very beginning.
A thought passed by Oswald's mind as he muttered the words that came up. "Serkyrio, just who exactly are you..."