Back to Base

Thorn had already sent Roe to go and bring back the operational knights stationed at the base. Meanwhile, he had gathered all knights and even rogue seekers to pile up the beasts corpses. As for the knight's corpses, Buck, Edana, Lonz and Thorn himself were the ones lining them up on the ground properly.

Done lining up the corpses of both beasts and knights, everyone waited for the knights to arrive. Those left of the Sacred Order were sulking, their friends and colleagues lost in the battle. Unlike the knights who were brooding and making the atmosphere like it was about to rain, the rogue seekers were enjoying their respite. In fact, they were joyous, finally freed from the clutches of the cult after so long.

The atmosphere on their side was lively, chatting about how the cult caught them and which cell they were in. Zane looked at all of the rogue seekers who were left and began thinking about something. "Slem.." He called out to Slem in a small voice. Bursting the bubble coming out of his nose, Zane's call woke Slem up, who was leaning on him and sleeping. without any worries.

"Yes?" Slem spoke while rubbing his eyes. "Look at the people who are left. Aren't there only those whose es-" Zane paused. "Ahem... Uh.. Aren't they the ones who were left to be punished?" He whispered. Slem took a closer look at the seekers who were chatting and laughing.

After examining the seekers closely, Slem turned towards Zane with wide eyes. "Uh.. I don't know" He spoke with a dumb look on his face. "How would I know who we have and haven't punished?" Zane sighed and shook his head before turning towards the seekers. Then, turning his gaze towards the corpses of the beast, he remembered something that Zaros had told him. 'Essence... Lunacy... Huh? Zaros?' He suddenly remembered Zaros.

Standing up from his seat, Zane hurriedly dashed towards the knights. Reaching in front of Edana, he looked at her face, which was confused. "Zaros... Where's Zaros?"

Startled, Edana also stood up and went towards Thorn and the others. When they began to speak, Zane slowly approached, listening in on their conversation.

"So his name was Zaros..." Buck nodded. "He was struck by the Saint as soon as he appeared. We thought he was dead. But when we were clearing the field right now, we couldn't find his body. He disappeared..." He explained.

"Could the Saint have taken Zaros with him?" Buck turned towards Thorn. Contemplating for a moment, Thorn shook his head. "I don't think so. Why would he have tried to kill him otherwise?" Nodding his head, Buck agreed. "Right..."

The knights and seekers rested for a while, until Roe came back with the operational knights and carts. They swiftly loaded up the carts with the corpses and headed back to the base they had set up. When they reached the base, the medical knights swiftly took the injured for treatment and the rest were given food and space for respite.

---

Inside a tent, Thorn was sitting on a stool besides a bed, where his unconscious brother was lying. He was lost in his own thoughts until he heard a sound coming out of his brother's mouth. "Ughh..." Vine opened his eyes and looked towards his side. "Thorn..." He looked at his brother and smiled.

"Brother, you're awake!" Thorn jerked towards Vine and helped him up on his back. "What happened to you?" Thorn asked him with a concerned look.

Vine turned towards him and spoke in a grave tone. "Brother... It seems I'm being consumed by lunacy. It happened recently..." Vine started telling Thorn about what had been going on in the cells recently. He told him about what happened to him and about what he would hear at the cell. "... But I don't know what they did to me... I was knocked unconscious. When I woke up, my body felt uneasy, like I was missing a part of myself."

Thorn listened to everything his brother had to say and nodded his head. "You'll be okay now brother. Rest well for now." He made sure his brother was comfortable before exiting the tent.

Towards the exit tunnel, carts filled with corpses were parked on the side so that it would be easier when they had to return. Anson was standing in front of a cart, his body shivering and face emotionless. Thorn appeared behind him and followed his gaze. He was looking at the corpses of two people, Asa and Price.

Noticing Thorn's presence, Anson spoke out, his voice breaking. "How....did they die..." He turned back at Thorn, gazing straight into his eyes.

Gazing back at him, Thorn replied after clenching his teeth for a moment. "They died in each other's company. Your knights were very brave." Thorn thought back. "In fact... Price was the only one to even injure the Saint.. Not even Buck could do that." He added.

Anson turned back towards the corpses again. "I always knew the bastard was strong..." He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them, now filled with resolution. "May the night guide you." He took a final look at their faces before turning back towards the camp.

After resting the night, The Sacred Order prepared to return. Inside a tent, seven people were seated around a table, discussing something.

"Even though they were a victim in all this and has been of help to us, they are still rogue seekers. We must follow the laws placed upon us by the Union..." It was Lonz who spoke, his voice firm.

"But there are even kids among them. Will we apply our law on kids too?" Edana replied, which made everyone think amongst themselves.

"It's true that there are kids and that they have been a major help to us. How about we take them back for now and report to the Union about these matters. We'll plead to them to reduce the punishment. We could at least do that much." Buck chimed in.

Vine was the one who spoke next, with his arms crossed. "Plead? To the Union? They will not care about our pleadings. While it is true that they have been a huge help to us, I suggest you all not to cross the Union. We will do our duties as Seekers and take the rogues to the Union. The rest will be up to them."

Thorn looked at Anson, but he did not have anything to add. Looking around the table, Thorn sighed and finally came to a decision. "Alright, let's do this. We'll take the rogue seekers with us for now, to Arcturus. We'll talk to the Union and report our findings." He looked at Buck and Edana. "We'll also plead with them to reduce the punishment. Anything else?" He looked around the table. Buck and Edana were dissatisfied, but they couldn't say anything because they knew that they had to follow the law.

"Alright then, you're all dismissed." Everyone got up from their seats and exit the tent one after another. Thorn turned his head and looked at Edana with a questioning gaze. Edana looked at Thorn and Vine, who were the only ones left in the tent now. Drawing her breath she spoke, "Sir, will we really take even the Kid and Val's brother to the Union? You know what will happen to them if they get their hands on them..."

Thorn shook his head. "I understand how you're feeling Edana, but we cannot do anything in this matter. If we let rogues go, the Union will come after us next." Edana clenched her fists. Right when she was about to get up from her seat, the tent opened and a person walked in.

When all three looked towards the entrance of the tent, they saw Zane with his pale appearance. He was smiling at them with his sharp teeth. "Hello." He spoke with a smile.

Widening his eyes, Vine raised his hand and pointed towards Zane, "You..."