Team 2 is composed of a Soldier, a Hunter, a Mage, a Healer, and a Guardian.
Team 6 is composed of a Soldier, a Hunter, a Scout, a Healer, a Assassin, and 10 Acolytes.
The role of the Guardian is to protect. They are the frontline tanker who will attract attention of the enemies and have them target them. With their highly advanced armor and a enchanted tower shield, the Guardian is capable of turning their defense as their offense.
For this mission, additional 40 Acolytes joined this mission, along with the support from the elves.
In fact this mission is requested by the elf tribe Brezza Verde. They are being harrassed by a cult of unknown origin and they are very mad about exterminating the elf kind, accusing that the elves brings misfortune and calamity.
This concerned the Altare Cremisi as they are also cult themselves but do not see why would elves bring misfortune and calamity to the land. If anything else, such calamity do not exist.
They got information that the unknown cult is a human cult who believes in sorcery. Their ideals conflicted to the Altare Cremisi's ideals. They had to put an end to their cult.
The High Priest approves the task from the Brezza Verde tribe to be taken. 2 teams are picked for this job. The team who are expert in raids, Team 6, and the team who are expert in support, Team 2.
The elf tribe formed their own troops. They are expert in archery and have druid magic. They are split into 2 teams also. The total numbers of soldiers in Altare Cremisi and Brezza Verde assigned for this mission is roughly 180, with the Altare Cremisi having 120 soldiers ready for the raid.
The Brezza Verde are quite bold to send lesser soldiers than the Altare Cremisi. The High Priest encourages the brave men that they are blessed by their god. They will be victorious because they have the power of the Crimson Demon. It boosted the Altare Cremisi's morale thanks to the High Priest's elegant speech.
One day later, one of the scouts from the Brezza Verde tribe claims that they have found a lair where the notorious cult is hiding from. They have been pillaging villages who have been contact with the elves. The Altare Cremisi cultists found it silly because they once did pillage back then in their early days.
Nevertheless, the Altare Cremisi now is different from the past. They do not like the fact that the heretics are causing trouble in their territory. They have to be punished for the atrocious acts.
The council of elves have started and they talked about the strategy on how they should take on the unknown cult. Being the vice leader of the raid team and have the most experience of leading the group, the Hunter from team 6 became the representative for the Altare Cremisi.
The Hunter asked about their ideas first. One councilman suggested a full assault to the lair. Other councilman suggests laying traps and cornering the herectics. The Hunter is thinking of subduing all the cultists that comes out of the lair one by one when they are too far from their fellow cultists.
It sounded idiotic for the elves so the Hunter scrapped the idea of theirs. The Assassin heard what the Hunter said. The Assassin will tell team 2 that they will eliminate anyone that leaves from the lair and have the Scout report back to the High Priest about their plan.
The fighting force for the Altare Cremisi is reduced to 65 troops. The other remaining troops will be on stand by and attack cultists that escaped from the lair. The Guardian will be the guard of the dungeon door. They will never let anyone out while the Mage will cast barrier spell, Muro Arcano.
The elves will be in the back lane of the frontline assault providing range support. Team 6 leads the charge and their mission is to destroy the cult's belief entirely. Any type of treasure or artifacts must be destroyed in order to crush their enemies' morale. Because they are also cultists and they know how important an artifact is for a cult.
The plan is the first councilman's idea. To aggressively assault the cult inside their lair. The formation is decided. Team 6 is in the front row. The Brezza Verde tribe's first group is in mid row. Team 2 and the other tribe's group will be in the back row.
Altare Cremisi's Acolytes will be attacking in close range combat. The ones like the Soldier and Assassin will be controlling the crowd. In case of enemy mages and archers, it is the main job of the Scout to disturb them by throwing smoke bombs to their faces. The Hunter will find the other escape route with their personal squad and lay traps there.
The Brezza Verde tribe will be shooting arrows and heal injured Acolytes with their magic. The elves are the master race of the bows. They are highly skilled in bows. The general will be joining in the frontline and use their giant sword, Grande Spada d'Acacia, to crush their enemies like bugs.
The team 2 will be guarding the lair's entrance with the remaining troops and defend it with their lives. They must not let any single cultists get past them. Their goal is to search and destroy anything that is valuable to the unknown cult and eliminate the leader. Without a leader and nothing to believe in, the cult will be forced to disband with their hopes are crushed to dust.
A day after tomorrow from the meeting, they have started the expedition towards the lair. The Soldier is particular more angry than usual. They seemed to be agitated. The Hunter asked why they are like that. Turns out that the elves disrespected them because of the way they act. The Hunter said that someday the Brezza Verde tribe will receive divine retribution soon.
They marched off the mystical woods and encounters various beasts. Fortunately, the Hunter expertly lead the whole company of troops without engaging unnecessary battles in the woods with the beasts. And also they picked the best possible routes based on the geography of the map provided by the elves.
They have reached what is believed to be the unknown cult's lair. The Altare Cremisi cultists make sure that they remember what their strategy is. The Brezza Verde will be taking a short break.
Sometime later, the general of the Brezza Verde noticed how different the weapons of the cultists have. The swords are made out of bones. It is expertly sharpened and crafted. It even has the strange crimson emblem by it's shaft. The shields is also made of bones. Surprisingly enough, these shields doesn't seem to be worn out.
He asked the Hunter about their strange weapons. The Hunter simply told him where the material comes from. The general is shocked. The bones are from people they have slain. So inhumane. The general points their greatsword towards the Hunter's neck. The Hunter glares at the general's eyes intensely. They release an intense murderous demonic aura, making the general sick and nauseous.
The Hunter reminded him why they are here. They are supposed to work together against the common enemy. Disrespecting them more is equivalent to disrespecting to their religion. The general never felt such fear inside of him. His hand trembles and his feet is stuck on the ground. The cold aura embraces him then spreads out. He knew that the Hunter is dangerous.
The general cannot offend the Altare Cremisi any longer. Their numbers are greater than his men. The Hunter sees that the general understood what the consequence will be if he doesn't teach his subordinates some manners. They left him alone. The general finds himself in pathetic state. He was so scared to death.
After the short break, the Brezza Verde soldiers suddenly changed their behavior with the Altare Cremisi cultists. The other cultists found it strange but decides to not think about it. They are ready to charge in the lair.
The first unit enters the lair forward. Their appearance surprised the enemies and they successfully dwindle their numbers. The second unit joins in and they used their archery skills to support the first unit. They encountered mages but they were interuppted by the Scout. The Soldier and the Assassin controls the crowd with their high experience of combat, then the Acolytes will finish them off by stabbing their vital organs.
The cultists often use stab attacks rather than slash attacks. Their bone sword is very durable and get through leather armors. In case of metal armors, they will just stab their legs to stop them from moving before finishing them off by stabbing their necks with the ceremonial knife.
The general is on the frontline swinging their greatsword widely, hitting anyone that comes contact with it. None of the enemies have gotten close but it takes a while before the general gets tired from swinging it. The elves archer will back him up from behind and defend the general until he us recovered.
Acolytes that are injured were healed by the Healer and the elves mages. The Healer got jumped on by the enemy and was about to get stabbed. The Healer pushed them off them and killed them by reversing their healing magic to undead magic. The skin of the enemy gets rotten and they slowly die while feeling their skin painfully and terrifyingly peels off. That kill is gruesome but that's one of the original skill of the Healer before. Altare Cremisi Healer's real identity before is Necromancer.
The third unit is encountering enemies from the outside. The Acolytes use their crossbows and shoot the enemies off with single shot of bolts each time. Their eyesight and reaction time is enhanced by the Mage with their spells, Mirino di Falco.
The enemies countered and fires dozens of arrows, hitting 12 Acolytes who are unable to dodge the attack. The Healer quickly heals the injured Acolytes within their reach and was only able to save 4 Acolytes. The Soldier charges at the enemies alone and pounds the earth, making it unstable. The ground shakes so hard that the enemies fall off to their knees and they got finished off by the remaining Acolytes.
The remaining enemies tries to flee away but they were knocked out by the Soldier one by one and the Hunter's animal trap got activated when the enemies unconciously went to spots where the beasts were gathered. Red wolves pounce them and bites their flesh off.
Team 6 Hunter and team 2 Hunter worked together to lead a bunch of red wolves in the area by tempting them with their blood. Meanwhile, inside the lair, the whole group discovered a big statue. It has the body of a human and head of the bull. There seems to be dead elves sacrificed in front of the statue. Their hearts were gouged out and female elves were violated without mercy. This angers the Brezza Verde tribe since they recognize some of the corpses are once tribesman of their tribe.
It is not surprising for the Altare Cremisi. They inspect the red glyphs painted on the walls and the floor. They feel the dark energy stored in the glyphs as they brightly glow in the dark. The whole room is cursed. The Healer stopped all from leaving the room. They are familiar with this kind of sorcery.
They figure that this cult is aiming for immortality and they use the blood of the elves as ingredient for the immortality potion. The whole room is surrounded with dark magic and the temperature suddenly drops to cold. They were freezing. The Healer orders all the cultists to prepare for a prayer. They must counter this trap before it is too late.
Clearing the rest of the debris, the Healer placed the totem of the Crimson Demon in front of the statue. The Acolytes and the rest of the cultists began praying. They are using demon language which surprised the elves. The Healer requests the general and his men to defend them during their prayer. Because of the situation, the general has no choice but to accept.
The ritual prayer begins and the Altare Cremisi cultists chant demonic words which is uncomprehendsible. The Brezza Verde soldiers stands on their guards waiting for something to happen. The dark energy circles around and surrounded a frail looking elf. It consumed him immedietely without making a sound. The same thing happened to the other elves.
All the weak elves were succumbed to darkness. The elves troops are reduced to 35 without them noticing. A couple of seconds later, strange shadows comes out and tries to attack the general. The general felt the murderous aura and reacted to the attack. He almost get his neck chopped off. He loudly shouts to his fellow men to stand guard.
Multiple shadows comes out and fights the elves. The elves fends off the shadows but they are unable to kill them. They slash, they stab, they shoot, the shadows are not dying. The arrows are sticking out of the shadow's body, meaning it has a physical body. They keep fighting until they heard an agonizing scream. Blood is splattered and the dying elf screamed loudly as their torso were violently ripped out, exposing their organs.
One by one, screams of terror were heard, leaving dread to the remaining elves. They can smell the blood lingers in the air. The general has gotten so tired that he cannot swing his sword anymore. The shadows are getting closer and closer and closer... the general is losing his will to fight. He is utterly terrified of this nightmare.
The shadows were one inch closer to touch him but strange red light begins to glow. A magic circle made out of blood with an Acolyte standing on top of it. The chant has gotten louder and the Soldier holds their ceremonial knife at hand and faced the Acolyte.
"Thou shall become a tribute for our god. We sign the blood contract where thy power will be shared among us. Thou and thyself, obliged to sacrifice thyself for the greater good. Brother, may thy soul be where it should be."
The Soldier stabs the Acolyte to the heart. Surprisingly, the Acolyte didn't express pain but they expressed delight. Blood dripping from the knife falls to the floor, activating the blood circle. Red light shines brighter than darkness, which blinded everyone who sees it. There is suddenly sound of cracking and dust fell from above.
The red light slowly fades out and the room is now covered with red mist. The Acolytes rise up and holds on to their bone sword, which is shining red. The shadows are furious of what the Altare Cremisi have done to the sacred ground. Piles of bodies were gone. Even bones were not present. There are blood on each Acolyte's mouth. Their eyes are glowing red and they growl like an animal.
The Shadows attack the cultists, not bothering to dodge the attacks. The Acolytes stab the Shadows with the sword and lets go of it. At first nothing happened, but a few seconds later, the shadows felt sharp pains around their body. Their bodies are paralyzed and the pain keeps getting worse. The Healer explained what they did.
Their prayer is a curse ritual, where curses are made for immortals in order to torture them mercilessly. Immortals are the Altare Cremisi's mortal enemies. The presence of the Immortals will cause never-ending war that will further damage the whole world, including the Altare Cremisi.
The curse is the ultimate punishment for selfish men who seeked immortality. The Altare Cremisi are no Saints but they truly despise despicable people who use such underhanded tactics. Like how they were repeatedly betrayed by the demons they worked with.
They vowed that they will kill even the kings of the world for the greater good, and for their survival. The Acolyte that was sacrificed will be forever remembered as a savior. Their faith is carried on by the surviving cultists, who wished that their soul will go to where it belongs.
The Brezza Verde soldiers were devastated. Some of them lost their mind. The Healer used a spell, Dolce Tocco, to calm the elves down. The surviving elven soldiers are 10, including the general. The general is quite confused and delirious but his body is very much relaxed thanks to the Healer. He asked if they are done with their mission.
The Healer said it was far from over because the unknown cult they have faced is Dio Immortale cult. The cult is composed of humans and other races that wished to become powerful and attain immortality.
They will do any means in order to create the so called immortality potion at the cost of the lives of the victims. In order to stop this killing, they must eliminate all the members of the cult. The Healer doubts that they have killed enough cultists. But they certainly cleared out the lair.
The general's face darkened. He has never fought against monsters before. He looks around and sees the shadows spasm and howling. The bone sword is stuck on their bodies. They were in so much pain it cannot be described. He wonders what the Altare Cremisi did. He founds them mysterious and dangerous to be provoked.
The group rested for a while before leaving the lair. The Scout planted bombs in the lair and when they got outside, they ignited the rope connecting to the bombs. It doesn't take a while before the whole lair exploded and rocks began to fall down to seal it forever.
9 of the Acolytes have been killed and 37 of them are injured. The Altare Cremisi returned with 111 cultists. The whole Brezza Verde tribe are shocked by the news. They are quite mad they tried to blame the cult for letting their tribesmen die. The general scolded his people for ignorance.
After explaining his side of the story, the councilmen and the head of the tribe got a huge headache. They have fought with dangerous cult that endangers their species. They look at the Altare Cremisi cultists and asked for forgiveness.
They will happily will serve them if the Altare Cremisi protects them from the cult. They have no such power to decide. Team 2 will be giving the news for the tribe once they report the incident with the High Priest.
Whether the Altare Cremisi accepts their request once again or not, they will eventually have to fight against the Dio Immortale cult. Their mission is already completed and will wait for the High Priest's answer.