"!!" Anson widened his eyes. "Are Saints really that powerful? Can they really kill all of us easily?" He asked in shock.
Thorn opened his mouth to speak but he was interrupted by Buck, who was by his side, asleep a second ago. "Saints?" Buck opened his eyes and propped himself against the cozy back of the seat. Anson looked towards him, his eyes sparkling.
"If we met a Saint, even these babies wouldn't be able to do much." He began flexing his muscles the moment after he woke up. Anson rolled his eyes and looked towards Thorn.
Thorn shook his head. "Saints... They're the peak of humanity. They could change a course of a war alone, not like this one, a large-scale war. Like the ones in history."
Anson nodded. "A large-scale war." He remembered reading about those kinds of war in the classroom. It was unbelievable to him that armies would consist of tens of thousands of people. "There really were armies consisting of thousands of people back then?" He looked at Thorn to get his opinion.
Thorn nodded his head. "This was all before the God's Descent, although it continued for some time even after God's Descent. After the Gods gifted people with their strength, army of numbers slowly became obsolete." He paused. "Haha, if the people of that era looked at what we call a war now, they'd roll in their graves."
Anson nodded his head and looked down, fidgeting with his hands. "Well it's better this way. At least the causality of war will be low." Thorn looked at Anson with amusement and smiled.
They continued chatting for a while before the carriages finally stopped.
"Oh? It seems we're here." Thorn then proceeded to look at the door of the carriage, which was opened from the outside by a Night Leader.
"Sirs! We're at the designated spot." He reported.
Thorn nodded and left the carriage from the door held by the Night Leader. He looked around where they had stopped to see a ruined town with destroyed houses and black soot on the ground. His eyes became solemn, as he had seen this scene a lot, the most recent one being Luesburg.
"So this is where they're holed up huh!" Buck exited from the carriage and approached Thorn. He looked back at Buck and nodded his head. Anson appeared from behind Buck's large frame. "So what should we do next?"
Thorn's gaze lingered at him for a moment before he answered. "Tell everyone to set up a temporary camp here. We'll send some scouts first and confirm the activities of the cult."
Anson nodded. "Asa, Price" He called out.
Two people appeared behind Anson silently in a flash. They were the same knights who were behind Anson on the day of the meeting with the Grandmaster.
Anson looked at Thorn and spoke, "These two are Asa and Price, the ones I recommended for Night Leader position." he continued, "They specialize in infiltration and stealth, they'll be perfect for scouting."
Thorn smiled and nodded. "Good. Good." He looked at the two, "Please also look out for a suitable space where we can set a base of operations while you are underground."
After nodding their heads, They bowed and disappeared. Thorn turned towards the town and a blue flame appeared on his eyes. He could barely see the silhouette of the two knights running towards a house in the middle. The two went inside the house and examined the floor. Acting according to the intel they received, they removed a large slab from the floor which revealed an opening with a stairway. Finally, they entered the opening and disappeared.
"So, what do you think?" Anson appeared behind Thorn, who turned his head, the blue flames from his eyes flickering and dying down. "They're good. It'll be hard for the cult to see them." he nodded. Anson smiled and rubbed his nose. "Well, I was thinking of creating a infiltration or stealth squad with them as leaders."
Thorn smiled and nodded. "If we all return safely, it would be possible." He looked around. "Let's prepare a temporary base and wait for them."
---
*Swoosh*
Two silhouettes quickly passed through the huge underground tunnels without making a sound. They ran in silence for some time before finally reaching what seemed like the end. Asa, who was on the front slowly stopped her steps and raised her hand, signaling Price to stop too.
Seeing her hand gesture, Price also came to a stop. Looking ahead, they could see a huge door like opening. Asa looked back and gestured at Price, then she concentrated for a moment, causing a dark energy to conceal her presence. Price did the same and they approached the opening slowly. After checking if the opening is clear, they slowly walked out the exit and looked around. It was an open space around the opening. They could see a huge cave formation.
They walked forwards, towards the cliff of the open space. At the end of the cliff, there was a path leading downwards which could fit 8-10 people easily. They followed the path with their eyes, and when it reached the end, they widened their eyes.
At the end of the path, there was a huge town like structure. They could see the whole town from where they were standing. The circular town was barricaded with large spiked wooden walls. There were lots of wooden house structures inside the town, with a majestic looking stone chapel in the middle. They could see that the town had some activity from up there.
The cultists were busy and running around town. They could see them bring out items from their houses and plant them on the ground. As they watched, the huge wooden gate of the town opened and some cultists hurried outside.
Even though the both were concealed, they still lowered their bodies and hid themselves. After adjusting, they kept on watching the cultists who came out from the gate. The cultists began planting something on the ground, then walking further on the path and planting something again. After doing this for some time, they stopped when they were towards the middle of the path and hurried back to the town.
"..." Both Asa and Price were dumbfounded. Looking at the town for some time again, Asa signaled Price with her hands. They both got up slowly and went back to the opening. After entering the tunnels again, their concealment wore off and they looked at each other.
Price gave a questioning look to Asa.
Asa nodded. [They knew we were coming. They're also preparing. We need to go back quickly and report this.] She signed with her hand, they both began running back where they came from, to report what they saw to their commanders.
As they ran back the tunnel, a fist-sized white moth with red eyes kept staring at their fading silhouettes. After it could no longer see them, it flapped it's white wings with four red eyes like pattern on them and went towards the town.