Dozens of human figures slipped silently into a sealed, uninhabited small town.
There were thirty-two of them, the largest number of humans to have appeared in this small town since the new year.
"This is Chalice squad, the construction of the bounded field has been completed. The left flank support Judgment began with regional planning. All teams, start the magic circuit second hand, 10, 6, 3, 0. Completed, good, notify the vice-commander to act according to the scheduled time."
The magic circuit secondhand is a unique timing method for magi. Compared to a mechanical clock that requires visual observation, the timing method that directly acts on the magic circuit is more convenient and precise in battle.
The magi who fanned echelon formation showed no signs of confusion. Their style was more akin to that of military force than magi. This impersonal group, their true identity, is the combat unit directly under the Department of Policies of the Mage's Association, known as the Chelon Canticle Brigade.
"The layered isolation bounded field is complete, the area division can be initiated in half a moment. To annihilate this land, we can begin in an hour."
The vice-commander Chariot consulted the communication thaumaturgy - should they conduct a segmented search and take them down one by one, or directly annihilate them along with this land without any battle?
The former is faster and the latter is more secure.
"Implement both simultaneously. Let Judgment complete the division as soon as possible, Sword squad and Pentacle squad immediately conduct patrols in the surrounding areas, Wand squad continues to prepare for the extermination of thaumaturgy, Chalice squad releases familiars, and then stand by."
A series of orders came through the earpiece.
"Commander, isn't this a bit too aggressive?" Chariot had some doubts.
"Aggressive? However, I feel that this is still not enough. The enemy hasn't made any moves so far, it's too abnormal, we must find out what they are up to as soon as possible."
"Yes, Commander - all squads, accelerate the progress!"
◇◇◇
In a small building in the center of the town, a handsome young man in a luxurious attire opened his scarlet eyes and muttered himself:
"So they have come, the whelps raised by Barthomeloi..."
The young man's gaze, unhindered by distance, surveyed the three squads dispersed throughout the town.
"This arrangement, with segmented searches and wide-area extermination happening simultaneously... it's more aggressive than I had anticipated. Is this Chelon Canticle Brigade commander lacking wisdom and not raising suspicions? Or do they have some other plan?"
After pondering for a moment without getting an answer, the young man shook his head and no longer thought about the irrelevant details.
"Regardless, it will not change the fact that you will be annihilated tonight. The plan remains unchanged - Team 1, Team 2, Team 3, you go attract the attention of the magi, you don't need to inflict much damage on the enemy, just keep them occupied and don't let them leave."
Countless red dots lit up in the corners of the houses - these were the eyes of the dead apostles.
At the next moment, all the doors and windows opened simultaneously, and the dense red dots were scattered in the three groups.
Dozens of seconds later, the large room regained its calmness.
The young man continued to gaze at the distance, and his original tense expression gradually relaxed. He tightly clenched his pale palm, and when he opened it again, a strange white mist appeared on his hand.
"Foolish Chelon Canticle Brigade, you'll never realize that the bounded field you set up to seal us in will end up dragging you into the abyss!"
The night wind blew and dispersed the white mist in the young man's hand.
Soon, a gossamer-like mist shrouded the entire deserted town, just like a few months ago.
◇◇◇
A qualified commander would not overlook any movement on the battlefield, and Chariot was one such commander. Although he was not good at scheming, he had a very keen battlefield instinct.
The moment the mist appeared, he immediately issued the order "Be careful of the mist" as if it had been fired automatically.
However, after issuing the order, he did not receive any feedback from the officers, not a single one.
"Oh no, this mist can interfere with communication techniques."
Chariot immediately figured out the purpose of the mist, but he did not feel panicked, because the Brigade had more than one way to communicate. He took out a walkie-talkie from his tactical backpack, and a familiar voice came through the speaker with a slight "crackle" sound.
"Attention all personnel, attention all personnel, the composition of the mist has been determined to be the lingering essence of Night of Wallachia; the effect is interference with long-range magecraft.
'Attention all personnel, attention all personnel, all personnel please switch to technological equipment, all personnel please switch to technological equipment." Chariot issued orders while silently praising his battalion commanders.
Before heading to Italy, Shinji requested the Barthomeloi family to provide a batch of individual equipment used by the British Royal Special Forces to arm his subordinates. At first, everyone did not understand, thinking what use could these things be other than adding to the load? Now, everyone gets it.
The deep-rooted traditional thinking of the occult side has led to the entire occult world neglecting the progress of technology. Magi are like this, and the dead apostles even more. They often prepare defenses against various occult phenomena but ignore high-tech devices.
Communication magecraft interferes with? No problem, there is still a radio station.
Detection magecraft interfered with? Also no problem, there's still individual radar.
Do you have the audacity to create electromagnetic interference?
With the assistance of modern warfare equipment, the Brigade was unaffected by the mist and continued to carry out its mission as usual.
"This is Judgment, we have found traces of the dead apostles, please advise."
"This is Hermit, we have also found traces of the dead apostles, they are just low-level cannon fodder, no high-ranking dead apostles detected so far."
"This is King..."
Hearing the reports from the executives, Chariot let out a light hum: "So they couldn't hold back anymore? Except for the Wands squad, the rest of you are to hunt them down in squad units, do not let a single dead apostle escape! That White Feather is mine, I want to twist off his head with my own hands!"
"Understood!"
The hunting operation of the Chelon Canticle Brigade has officially begun! In less than five minutes, more than ten low-level dead apostles were destroyed by various magecraft.
◇◇◇
The young man in the white robes could not hide his astonishment.
"They used those vulgar and tawdry things, where is the glorious honor that magi revere?"
After the astonishment came immense rage.
"Damn the Chelon Canticle Brigade, why couldn't they obediently fall into the trap? No, they just had to struggle to the death! Alright, since you all love killing so much, I will let you kill your heart's content. After all, they are cannon fodders, and a batch dying off can be easily replaced. As a price, I'll make sure you suffer terribly, wishing for death!"
As the words left his mouth, a pure white feather, shining with a radiant light in darkness like the legendary feather of an angel, appeared in the young man's hand.
This is the origin of his name "White Feather", and also the most precious token bestowed upon him by his lord.