Three weeks had passed after their encounter with the members of Crimson Reapers.

Luckily, they were not identified by the other members of the organization that was why no one disturbed their training.

​​

Rufus started getting used to multiple sword stances… He was no longer just alternating between Jodan and Chudan…

He's slowly mastering the Eight-Faceted Stance or Hasso no Kamae and sooner or later, this young man would surely dominate most of his sword fight against other sword practitioners…

Thud! Thud!

Two Ice Wolves collapsed on the ground as they were killed by Reiji's sword slaves… These five are getting really stronger thanks to their sword affinity…

Reiji could guess that they'll be able to fight equally even against some Knights that he had seen before.

"Let me take their cores… Watch the trees for me. I think I've felt someone gazing at us…" Ruthren said as he pulled out a small knife to take the cores of the Ice Wolves… These are just Wild Beasts so they can actually take their bodies and sell them to the city.

However, their added weights would just drag them down… Unless they have an Arcana with dimensional storage space, they wouldn't think of carrying these bodies to the location they were aiming at.

The four ladies surrounded the perimeter as they cautiously looked around…

They are currently at Blue Canopy Forest not too far from the city… This place is famous for winter herbs and its Aurora Lake…

"Two more mountains and we'll be in a great spot to hunt the ancient gazelles…"

Rufus muttered after he surveyed the surroundings… The ice wolves were increasing in number and their potions to drive away the weaker beasts are getting less effective the farther they go…

In the past few days, they were just hunting in the vicinity of the forest and other places to get used to the cold environment and to familiarize themselves with the surroundings.

Now that they were familiar with the beasts appearing in the surroundings, they have finally decided to travel deep inside the forest…

'Alright, let me just survey the surroundings…'

Reiji then flew upwards and stopped after getting a clear view on the forest…

He can feel the existence of many other Evil Beasts up ahead and several Wild Beasts around their group…

"Hmm?"

He suddenly noticed that a group of people were about to reach them… It would probably take 3 to 5 minutes before they'll meet the other group.

The small group came from the inner forest and perhaps they were already heading back to the city…

'There are three Arcanists up ahead…'

'Three Arcanists… Maybe they're doing missions as well… Should we change our path?'

Rufus asked after thinking for a moment. Meeting other Arcanists in this forest may not be that bad but the problem is that they might misunderstand them and think that they are here to rob them or something…

'Wait… Their Arcana is quite familiar… Each of them has more than two high-rank Arcana…'

Reiji suddenly recalled a group of people they met before…

'I see… Then we'll continue here. We might be able to use the path they take.'

'Good idea.'

Reiji answered Rufus' idea… Their path should be easier to traverse now that the other group has cleared them.

Tap... Tap… Tap…

As they sprinkled some Null Flower Essence to the corpse of the Ice Wolves, they heard footsteps going their way…

It took quite some time for Ruthren to retrieve the core as he wasn't comfortable with it yet. However, as soon as he noticed that someone's coming, he quickly pulled up his sword and ready for a fight…

However, as soon as Rufus saw them, he smiled and greeted them…

"It's been a while… Are you also hunting the Cults here?"

Rufus asked as he sheathed his sword.

That's right, the group in front of them was the three tall men they've met at the Magmire Town…

"Oh… So it's you guys…"

"Thank for you the previous information you gave us."

"You're right, the Cultists would normally choose to hide in these kinds of places…"

After Rufus heard them answer and he became curious since their current group was about to hunt deeper in the forest. He wanted to know whether they might encounter these cultists.

"Will they appear around the mountain where we can hunt the ancient gazelles?"

"What? Ancient Gazelles? There's only six of you, right?" The leader of this Night Brigade Unit seemed to be quite confused.

However, Rufus knows that their group is more than enough for the task.

"That's right, we would like to hunt a couple of Ancient Gazelles…"

"Mhmm… If you're that confident, then I wouldn't mind. The Cultists that we found deep inside were already dead… We cleaned them up so you don't have to worry… However, in case someone managed to escape, I don't think that they'll dare to mess with you guys…"

"I see… So it's true that they've created a base here… Right, what happened to the Elite Cultists that we told you about before."

"Mhmm… We found their hideout… However, there are no longer any cultists there… They quickly evacuated before we arrive. Well, at the very least, we got valuable materials under their care."

One of the members of the Night Brigade answered.

"Haa~ If we just know how they're bypassing our soldiers and sneaking out from that forsaken land… This wouldn't have happened."

Reiji who heard this understood their concern. The appearance of the Cultists in large numbers within the kingdom must've confused the northern army. After all, they were supposedly blocking them from entering…

However, Reiji knows the truth behind this after hearing his slave's story…

Apparently, the leaders of the cultists made a tunnel to enter the kingdom, and although it took them decades to complete, it was worth the wait…

Of course, Reiji doesn't have plans to telling them this… He wanted to benefit from it first before telling it to the Night Brigade.

In the meantime, Reiji asked the four ladies about their base here…

'These people said that they cleared up the cultists here… What do you think?'

'Master… There's no way the Northern Hermit would be defeated so easily…'

'That's correct master… The Hermit is also under the protection of Evil God Geg'Drath… There's no way that three Arcanists were capable of defeating the Hermit without suffering heavy casualties.'

The female sword slaves answered firmly.

***

This Geg'Drath they mentioned is one of the Nine Imp Gods that the cult is worshipping...

Apparently, each of these imp gods has different factions within the entirety of the Three-Eyed Imp Cult.

"Alright… We will be moving ahead. Good luck with your hunt… Make sure you have plenty of supplies with you."

"Thank you… We will be careful."

The members of the Night Brigade started walking away but not without taking a glance at the four ladies that were previously members of the Cult…

They might still be suspecting them but they perhaps decided to just let it go since Rufus is here with them. After all, they can't just ignore the fact that he came from the Tower and has permission to have these servants.

Their group entered the deeper part of the forest and they noticed the significant increase of the Wild Beasts.

There are Frost Bears, Ice Wolves, Icerock Vipers, and many more beasts with high cold resistance.

"Master, the Null Flower is no longer effective as it was before..." Rufus said as he observed the surroundings. Luckily, they brought a lot of them so even though it wasn't as effective, they just have to use them a couple more times.

"That's right… This won't work for long. We'll change plans… We'll move stealthily."

Reiji said as he activated his Traceless Ability and covered everyone. Apparently, the members of the Night Brigade indeed managed to kill many powerful Evil Beasts but it triggered the weaker ones to started moving around since they lost their natural predator.

"I can't keep this up for long… We need to run."

"Yes, Master!"

As soon as they answered, Reiji floated forward and lead the way.

Rufus and the others made sure to follow their master.

'We're not being noticed… As expected of master Reiji, this is very impressive.'

The young man thought as he looked at the wild beasts they are passing by…

They were unable to sense them. They were reacting to their noise or footsteps but they weren't getting angry or giving a thought of chasing them.

'This is ten times more powerful than the Null Flower Essence.'

The young man compared them as he looked in front… They were finally reaching the end of the mountain… They are getting near to the spot where the Ancient Gazelles are sighted.

'We've been running for 10 minutes now… I thought that Master can't hold it for so long…'

It seems that their master has a different sense of time with them.

Finally, after reaching a rocky place within the deeper part of the forest, they have found one of the Ancient Gazelles.

Rufus took a big gulp after seeing the creature.

'Master… Are they supposed to look like that?'

The young man couldn't help but ask.

The creature in front of them has a bulky and furry humanoid body with a head of a gazelle! It has two horns pointed upward and blood-red eyes that can send a chill down their spines.