Prologue: Silent War

Hello friends, I'm back.

Shorter Chapter to introduce the dawn of the Third Arc.

Much politics and manipulation in this one.

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The shroud of evening had enveloped the lands of Re-Estize, but the darkness that only spared nocturnals from the semi-psychedelic state of joy and horrors lacked its usual intense black of only distant twinkles.

No, a crescent moon of a dull pale hung like an imperial monarch below the vast sea of constellations. And a light breeze that carried the melody of an isolated, uncharted, locale permeated.

It took several dozen seconds, maybe a minute of tranquil consistency until the whole state was disturbed by a bright flash of unrefined spellcraft and the muted whistles of spatial distortion.

Of course, the wild locals remained oblivious to the unnatural twist of the ethereal energy of reality-bending, only ever privy to its common touches on the basic senses.

No, only those loved and blessed by mana or the greedy magi could have felt the undisguised ripples of spell formation. Or those fluent practitioners of variant mutant energies.

When the bright white light subsided, succumbing to the encompassing bright-less state of night, five figures clad in diverse combat attire were left in its stead… Staggering, from the uncouth casting of an amateur who had yet to understand the arcane arts, four of the five figures collapsed to a single of their knees.

"Ugh! Dammit, Shorty! Is there no way to make that spell less uncomfortable?"

One of the panting four asked, the one clad in armour of a dulled crimson and supporting her unusually large figure on her titanic war hammer. Her voice was a deep type that needed adequate focus to pick up the undertones of its femininity.

The standing figure, the one who had cast the [Teleportation] spell and remained unaffected with her expression hidden behind a mask of white and black streaks with a blood gem of evident mystic situated in the middle of its forehead, simply ignored the inquiry and surveyed their surroundings with false laxity.

"No time for banter, Gagaran. We only have a few minutes until we initiate our objective."

The leader, the one with a large sword that carried a blade as dark as night which felt magical even to the naïve, chastised to the hammer wielding warrior, now named Gagaran.

She was the first out of the four to regain her bearings, her long golden blonde hair carefully braided swaying in the gentle breeze like the ethereal robes of a haunting ghost. Noble, her tone was, fostered and nurtured from a young age. Even her posture, the stance she took screamed of highborn upbringing.

Her equipment was an ornate design of white, red, blue, and golden edges and trims. There was also its feel, the enchantments applied to it seemed to repel the night's dark with light unseen. The magic of divine.

The clench on her sword seemed to increase, a slight crease of her brows at the light glow of her gauntlet rings unnoticed by her teammates.

She was Lakyus Alvein Dale Aindra, a Templar of the Fire God, leader of the Adamantite party; Blue Rose and the Re-Estize Kingdom's only 5th tier divine caster.

She stabled herself, green eyes passing over the adjusting twins who looked even more indistinguishable when clad in their black Ijaniya attire. It was eerie, the coldness and passiveness that settled in their scarlet eyes whenever missions as cold and dirty as this were undertaken.

She tore her gaze away, not allowing guilt to settle, and allowed them to rest upon their party's caster.

"Evileye, can you please move ahead of us and survey the situation of our objective."

The elementalist took flight, echoes of her powered voice resonating with her spells of [Fly] and [Invisibility]. Lakyus had always been envious of the caster's callous use of her plentiful mana pool.

— It must be the nature of the arcane discipline.

She thought with a turn as flawless transparency shrouded Evileye mid-flight.

Gagaran was still a staggering mess.

"Jeez, does Shorty's magic have a thing against tall people or something?" The warrior staggered some more before deciding a tree was more suitable support than her war hammer, "I mean she barely seemed affected by the displacement."

The templar approached, her lips tilted into a faint smile at the giant woman's attempt at lightening the mood.

"Are you going to be fine?"

Gagaran waved her concerns in dismissal, a confident grin gracing her face.

"Bah, just give me a minute and I'll be back to normal. Ha! Honestly, I think I'm starting to get used to the spell's whiplash."

It wasn't a lie, the warrior had only suffered the dizzying effect this time, the same as everyone if a bit more intense.

Still, Lakyus sought to comfort her with a minor stabilising spell.

Gagaran let out a low sigh, her sky arctic orbs resting on the silent twins.

"On side duty again, ha?"

The templar nodded with pursed lips, her gaze having traced Gagaran's. The twins were going through their wea- equipment's final check up, throwing stars, kunai, needles, and wires as thin as hair all being sorted into places were they would be reached with expert ease.

The templar and warrior were just ill-suited for stealth operations, their presence was only in case the situation got out of hand.

Both their fighting styles were too loud and traceable. Even with Evileye's [Mute] and [Invisibility] spells, there still were too many variables to allow them to partake, including the spells' timer limits.

"Caution should be a consistency when dealing with groups as dangerous and large as the Eight Fingers."

Lakyus warned, ensuring that whatever frustrations Gagaran could be feeling be suppressed with brutal logic.

"Yea," the warrior affirmed, the tremors of weakness that had ravaged her body now quiet. "That perverse syndicate wouldn't hesitate to target any and everyone with slight connections to us if they ever caught word of our actions against their efforts."

The noble descendant nodded, a slight frown hinting at her displeasure of such a situation coming to pass.

It didn't escape her that she and Gagaran were the only ones whose relatives and friends would be easy to locate, much so Lakyus.

"And with some nobles being in bed with them, I've no doubt they'd be brazen with their…messages."

"This kingdom," the warrior's hold on the war hammer increased. "I sometimes wonder if it's even deserving of saving. Those who should have been on its forefront and seeking its prosperity would rather squabble among themselves and try to fill their pockets with dirty change."

Lakyus looked at her oldest friend, eyes clouded with concealed acceptance. She shifted to a relaxed posture, her eccentric clerical attire a flutter in the gentle blow.

"At least Renner still shows care and concern for the affected."

She placated, knowing her royal friend was a bleeding heart.

While the other nobles, the Aindra house included, were chasing after riches with little concern for their subjects. Renner had been fighting against the injustice and unfairness that saw the lower class citizens only surviving.

The common folks, they were the ones who suffered from the neglect of the nobles and cruel nature of the syndicate.

Gagaran nodded her statement true.

"She's a true noble heart that one. But, I fear her actions will be un-awarded. At the rate the kingdom's dwindling, her affords will be harvested by that persistent Emperor of Baharuth."

The dull pale light of moon seemed to flicker out of existence for but a second, a stray cloud having intercepted it.

The templar of fire let out a low breath, unable to identify the exact emotion that shot through her heart at the inevitability of her homeland's downfall.

Would she fight against the emperor if that were to happen? Or just watch on the sidelines as it all unfolded? Elenor had allowed them much leniency with their battle against the syndicate, but if they were to openly involve themselves in political affairs, whatever favour the Adventurer's Guilds had in the nations they resided would be extinguished.

That…would be disastrous, no matter the decision.

— I had thought my disassociation with my family would bar me from the headaches of political machinations? Naïve.

She shook her head as if to dispel her concerns.

"Tia, Tina? We move out in a minute."

"Aye, boss!"

The twins chorused with practiced sync.

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Author's Thoughts

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The Saint: Was my justification for the lack of Lakyus and Gagaran's involvement in the upcoming operation sound? What about their assistance with political affairs being only privy to the capital's Adventurer's Guild Master, Elenor and the Golden Princess, Renner?

The original novel just kinda glossed over it without much depth. I'm obviously gonna expand on it since it will give me a chance to develop Renner's character.

Anyway, the layout for Arc 3 done. Heads up, it's a long one.

Remember to review and provide feedback, friends.

Ah, we've passed the 100K views marks. Hooray!

Bye bye.