Chương 43: Depart for War

There were a total of 9 people present in a spacious tent, propped up by the knights as a temporary base for their commanders. Inside the tent, they were sitting around a table with a map on it. The map contained the details of the underground tunnel, the cave and the underground town that Asa and Price had seen.

Looking at the map before them, no one uttered a single word for quite some time. They were all silent, their faces grim, which made the atmosphere unpleasant. The reason behind this atmosphere was the report that they received from their two scouts.

After Asa and Price exited the tunnel, they went straight to the commanders in order to report what they saw. They gave their detailed report and Price even drew a detailed map of the underground, which was sitting on the table right now.

Breaking the long silence, Thorn finally spoke. "So they already knew we were coming." He turned his gaze to the opposite end of the table, where Asa and Price were sitting.

"From what we could see by their activities, we can assume they already know. In the town, the cultists seemed like they were in a rush, and they even laid traps on the path outside the town." Asa looked at Thorn. She stood up and leaned forward on the table. Extending her arm, she then started drawing on the map. "They laid the traps in these places." She accurately marked the places where the cultists had buried the traps.

"Hmm.." Thorn studied the map and the areas marked by Asa.

"What should we do? Should we change the plan?" Anson looked at Thorn, who was still busy looking at the map.

"Why should we change it!? It doesn't matter if they know we're coming. The job we have to do remains the same." Buck interjected and huffed a puff of air with his nose.

"So what? You want everyone to barge in their town and die? Who knows what relics they have prepared!?" Anson raised his voice at Buck.

"You think our knights are so weak that these cultists can kill them with some low tier relics? You're thinking too high about these cultists boy." Buck replied. After pausing, he continued, "And don't we have relics too? Why don't we use them?"

They both looked towards Thorn, who was sitting in silence, listening to them bicker. "Haah..." Thorn sighed. "Settle down both of you. It's true that them knowing changes things, but it doesn't change much."

Anson opened his mouth but Thorn didn't let him speak. "Even if we had the element of surprise, our plan before was pretty straight forward. We wanted to minimize the use of relics if possible too." He continued. "But now, it seems in order to clear the traps, we have to use our relics."

"What about the plan? How should we attack them?" Anson spoke.

Thorn looked at Anson and smiled. "There's not much change to the plan. Now that they know, we can be even flashier." He showed them the map and pointed at the huge space on the cliff. "We'll set up an operations base here first." Looking towards Buck, he continued speaking. "We'll be using relics number 25 and 26 in order to clear the path. Can the relic reach the traps if you throw them from here?"

"Heh" Buck snorted. "Of course I can! Who do you think I am!?" He puffed his chest.

"Good.." Thorn nodded. "Anson, I want everyone to be ready at this point before Buck uses the relics to disarm the traps."

"Will we attack according to our plan before?" Anson asked him.

Nodding his head, he added, "Yes, but you need to stand by until the traps are disarmed. Once the relic is used, consider it a signal to charge and attack. We need to use the brief moment created by the relic and attack swiftly."

"Alright. Then should we move right now?"

"Yes. Gather all knights and prepare to leave." Thorn stood up, which made everyone follow him and get up from their seats. "Haskell." He called out.

"Sir!" Haskell responded like a soldier.

"Go and make sure the relics are fine. Load the relics on a cart and prepare to depart." He commanded.

"Yes Sir!" With that, Haskell left the tent and went to do as he was ordered. He gathered the knights who were given responsibility of the relics and began loading them on a portable cart.

"You all start moving too. We need to finish this quickly." He spoke out, which made the others nod their heads and head out the tent. As soon as they got out of the tent, they started gathering the knights and preparing.

Edana was the last one to head out the tent. Before going out, she turned back her head, only for her gaze to meet Thorn's. When her eyes locked with Thorn's, she paused for a moment, and nodded. Thorn nodded back at her with a small grin, and then she finally exited the tent, leaving Thorn alone inside.

"Haah..." With a heavy sigh, Thorn reached inside the pocket of his coat and fished out his keepsake, the hand watch. "We're coming... Brother..."

---

Inside a dark room, two people were sitting in silence. Zane was sitting on his chair while looking at the beast on the table, his eyes empty. Zaros was slouched back on the couch, his eyes covered by his arms.

'Hmm' Zane was lost in his thoughts. 'How much of a distraction will this war of theirs cause? Will I be able to escape? How should I escape? Should I take Slem with me? His healing is really useful. Maybe I shouldn't escape. What if that Saint person comes after me? Nah, will he really come after a nobody like me? But it seemed like he was interested in the diary. Oh.. right.. Where are my items? Where is my bag?' Zane's thoughts were racing all over the place. When he thought about his belongings, he finally broke out from his thoughts and looked at Zaros.

"Umm.. Hey.. Zaros?" He called out to Zaros who was resting peacefully. Looking at him, one would never say he was a member of the Cult of Mayhem. He slowly removed his arms which was used for blocking his eyes and stared at Zane.

"What is it?" He spoke in a irritated voice.

"Umm.." Zane scratched his head. "Do you happen to know where my belongings are?" He gave a bright smile to Zaros.

"Oh?" Zaros propped up from the couch and looked at Zane. "And why do you need your belongings all of a sudden? Are you thinking about something?" He squinted his eyes.

"What? Me?" Zane pointed at himself with a shocked look on his face. "Haha! What are you talking about! What would I be thinking of? It's just that the items in that bag and that diary, which is my family's keepsake, are very important to me. I was only thinking if they were safe, with the war and what not!" He spoke with a hearty laugh.

Shaking his head, Zaros laid back down. "Don't worry. They're in the safest place they can be."

"Uhh.. Where's the safest place?" Zane queried further, hoping to get an answer.

"Haha, don't you remember? Didn't we just come from the safest place in the town?" Zaros smirked. "Your belongings and "Family's Keepsake" are in the Saint's room."

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