Plan of Attack

Buck looked at the relic on Thorn's hand and gulped. "Will we really use it? It can only be used two more times right?"

Thorn nodded. "Yes... So we must succeed, whatever means necessary. Otherwise this legendary relic's use will be wasted."

Buck shook his head. "It's a finger of an Angel but it's only legendary grade?" Thorn looked at him with wide eyes and sighed. "Only legendary? How'd you pass the academy... Even if it is a finger of an Angel, the power we can exert from it barely reaches a Saint's level. Do you think a legendary relic is easy to acquire? We're only using it because we have no other option.." Thorn explained.

"Okay Okay..." Buck nodded. "I was only saying. Let's destroy the barrier and get to work." Thorn nodded and walked further from the barrier. The knights in front all scattered away to the side hurriedly. Right when Thorn was about to focus, Anson appeared in front of him, his hand extended towards him.

Anson appeared before Thorn, extending his arm asking for the relic. "Let me do it. Using this expends a lot of essence. At least let me do this much." Anson looked at Thorn with a determined gaze. Thorn looked back at him and nodded, handing over the relic to him and stepping to the side.

Anson stood where Thorn was and faced the barrier. Focusing all the essence he had left in his body, he charged the relic. Everyone looked at him, not taking their eyes off for even a second. After charging it for some time, the relic finally activated.

*Zoom* A thin ray of black light which looked like it contained the starry night sky inside it fired from the tip of the finger. *BOOM* It pierced through the dome shaped barrier and continued further. *BOOM* The light hit the church on the middle of the town, demolishing the top half, which fell down on the ground. *BAM* The debris of the church went shooting around the town, hitting the wooden houses.

The light didn't stop and went further, piercing through the barrier again and the cave's ceiling too. *BOOM* After a while, the light disappeared, revealing the damage. Moonlight was now shining through the hole that the relic had made on the cave's ceiling.

The dome-shaped barrier was now cracked everywhere, disintegrating into nothingness slowly. After the dome disintegrated, the town was finally revealed once again. But it was nothing like before. The town was in shambles, the once elegant church missing it's top half and the wooden houses destroyed by the debris.

"It worked!" Buck and the knights cheered enthusiastically. *Plop* Anson dropped on the ground and Thorn approached him, extending his arm. Anson looked up at Thorn and smiled. Grabbing his hand, he stood up once again, his eyes no longer in despair. "You did good." Thorn met his gaze and smiled. "...Thank you." Anson replied, returning the relic back to Thorn's hand.

From inside the gate, Lonz and two knights came running towards them. "Lonz, you're okay!" Buck approached him and pat him on his shoulder. "Ouch!" Lonz cried out, as the pat seemed more like a slap. "Yes sir." Lonz stood straight. "We've returned from scouting the south east part of the town, we couldn't find anything odd there."

Thorn approached them and started speaking to Lonz. "What about Edana?"

"She..." Lonz hesitated. "She also took two knights and went towards the South West of the town to inspect that area. We agreed to meet in half an hour. It's already been an hour, but she hasn't returned. And the rest of the knights... They..." His voice became low.

Thorn put his hand on Lonz's shoulder and nodded. "It's okay. I understand." Just as he said that, they started hearing noises of a group of people from the gate. Peeking from the side of Lonz's head, he saw that the two knights were leading a bunch of scrawny looking people towards them.

"They're here." Thorn spoke and walked towards the knights when he suddenly stopped on his tracks. Towards the back of the group, he saw a scrawny looking middle-aged man with rough graying hair and beard. If the man wasn't so thin, he would resemble Thorn. "...Brother..?" Thorn muttered.

Right at that moment, the scrawny looking man felt a gaze on him and raised his head. Squinting his eyes, he could finally see who was staring at him. It was his brother, Thorn. "Thorn...you came..." He smiled, a tear drop rolling down his cheek. Thorn fastened his pace and ran towards his brother, who was the one now standing still.

"Thorn..." The man spoke when Thorn got close, but he was met with a brotherly embrace from Thorn. "Vine... you're really alive. You're really okay..." Thorn also had tears flowing down. "Yes..." Vine spoke in a heavy voice, a smile on his face. "I was waiting for you, my brother. I was waiting for you to come, I never gave up hope." He also wrapped his arms around Thorn's wide back. "...Thank you."

Everyone looked at Thorn and Vine's reunion in shock. They never knew Thorn had a brother. After the emotional reunion of the brothers concluded, They all gathered and discussed about what to do next. Vine told them everything he had gathered about the cult. "If we were only fighting their numbers here, even with their two high ranking commanders here, we could win." Vine explained. "But the existence of a Saint makes everything different for us. This is not a battle we can win right now."

"So they really did have a Saint..." Anson muttered for everyone to hear. Buck looked serious, like he was contemplating something, while Thorn clenched his teeth. "Is there nothing we can do against this Saint?"

Vine contemplated for a moment. "Well.. If my guess is correct, he is not a full Saint." Everyone looked at him, confused. "Let me explain. I think he is a Quasi-Saint. One who failed to transcend into Sainthood."

Quasi-Saints, those who have exceeded Transcendent Seeking, but could not reach Sainthood due to some complications in their transcendence process. They can never reach Sainthood and will be stuck in the realm of Quasi-Saint all their life.

"A Quasi-Saint... Why do you think this?" Thorn questioned his brother. "He is searching for something from ancient eras. Maybe a relic, maybe a beast. I think he hasn't given up on becoming a Saint, and is searching for something that can give him a chance again."

Thorn nodded his head. "A Quasi-Saint... But this doesn't change much. We still cannot fight him. He is still stronger than a Transcendent Seeker by miles. The best we could do would be survive for a little longer." He sighed.

"Yes.. I was also barely able to survive. But I can tell from experience that it is doable. If we had firepower, we could distract him for a bit and end him." Vine also sighed and went back to thinking.

"Uh.... Couldn't we use that?" Buck pointed towards Thorn's hand, which held the legendary relic they just used. Thorn raised his hand and opened it, revealing the relic to Vine.

"!!!" Vine widened his eyes. "The Waxed Finger of the Wicked Angel!!" He looked at Thorn. "They gave you the permission to use this? It only had two uses left if I remember correctly!"

Thorn nodded. "One. It only has one use now." He looked at Vine and then turned his gaze at Buck, reluctance on his face.

"Whatever means necessary. Right?" Buck met Thorn's gaze.

Vine's gaze was glued to the relic. "Hahaha!" He let out a manic laugh. "This will be more than enough to kill that bastard. Not even his ashes will be left. Let's do it! Let's go and kill that bastard!" Thorn looked towards his brother, who was looking at the relic with crazed eyes.

He felt guilty, watching his brother in this state. His once dignified brother was now acting crazy and cursing. 'If only I could've come sooner... Would he have been like his old self then?' He looked towards his brother with resolute eyes. "Let's go. We need to eliminate him."

Before moving, they made a plan once more. As Anson had no essence left, he would go back to the base. The rest had decided to head towards the town and battle the cult. Even the rouge seekers agreed to join the fight, their hatred against the cult root deep.

As Vine revealed that there were not much to the cultists except their numbers, they decided that the knights would fight the low-level cultists. The leaders would group up and fight the two commander level cultists using the two relics, the Fickle Flame Lantern and the Night Crystals required to use the lantern. Then, Marshall Buck would distract the Saint until Thorn was ready to fire the Waxed Finger at him. It was a straight-forward plan made on the spot as they didn't have much time.

Finally, after planning their attack, they were ready to head into the town and face the cultists.