Orders were passed from point to point until all frontline commanders were brought up to speed with the latest strategy. Prince Roland’s eyes slitted in thought. He soon left his unit as part of his periodic break and walked into an isolated area.

Repeated twists of his head and careful observations calmed the former Prince’s beating heart. From his pocket, he produced a small cigar. A quick light and huff later, Prince Roland leaned against a fence post as if to relax. His eyes scanned the forest ridge as if expecting a response.

He waited for nearly an hour until the cigar was burnt to a nub. His face distorted with disappointment and his figure turned to leave when he felt a chill crawl down his back. The cigar he smoked was one of the summoning mechanisms handed over to him to contact the mysterious organization.

Initially, Prince Roland thought the items were a joke, however he had managed to summon a runner reliably every time he tried. Indeed, a man dressed in mercantile attire emerged from the forest line. One thing Prince Roland noticed through his many interactions with the organization was their members were the very definition of ‘ordinary’.

Outside of his first few encounters, every encounter he had from that point on could easily pass as a normal merchant or peasant. This time too, the ordinary man crossed through the fence gate and introduced himself.

“Sir, I’ve just escaped the hectic frontline. Have you the kindness to point me in the right direction?” Had it not been for the creeping chill that always followed these runners, Prince Roland would never suspect him. After so many encounters, Prince Roland had grown numb to the unique entrances and proceeded to ‘assist’ the man.

Between their chatter, the two exchanged a document and money while playing their roles immaculately. Prince Roland waved to the departing man before starting his return to his unit. This was the first time the runner took so long to reach him so he now had to consider his excuse upon return.

Dorothy watched the exchange between the two men from nearly a kilometer away. Her massive spiritual awareness allowed her to listen in to the conversation while also providing a glance at the document exchanged. Her brows furrowed at the contents.

Usually, Dorothy maintained her observations and allowed Prince Roland to leak information like Sol requested of her, however the latest document was rather worrying. Unlike the previous leaks that only served updates to Sol’s position in the past, the latest document predicted her movement rather accurately.

For the first time, Dorothy chose to act on the runner instead of leaving a spiritual marker. Her figure flickered from position and her shadow blurred across the terrain as she closed the distance on her mark. Dorothy’s spiritual awareness had long since engulfed the runner and her face contorted a moment later in slight panic.

Rather than return with the information like previous runners had, the man lit the document on fire then tossed the burning paper into a spherical tool. Dorothy funneled her focus into the object to crush it on the spot, however her action was a moment too late.

Sparks of rune ignited across the sphere before it turned into powder. From within her awareness, Dorothy felt a pulse of magic escape her net. The next second, her awareness collapsed on the man and his position crushing him into pulp.

Worry clouded her face the moment she arrived at the man’s position. Flames ignited from her hand and burned what was left of the liquified corpse into fertilizer. Unlike the organization they were up against, neither her nor An held onto devices for remote communication. Put simply, they underestimated their enemy.

At no point during their descent into the lower realm did they consider such a well organized and prepared enemy to appear. The investment required to push such a collection of items into the lower realm was exceedingly high. Various thoughts crossed Dorothy’s mind at that moment.

Initially, she and An wanted to preserve the organization as a grinding stone for Sol, however the item she saw just now altered that plan. While only a glimpse of their strength, Dorothy was aware of what it signified to waste consumable items like that for such vague intelligence.

Plans had to change. Dorothy no longer maintained her spiritual awareness around Prince Roland and instead accelerated herself towards Glondal City. She was determined to eliminate this threat before it could grow further. Their Master was so close to descending. She couldn’t afford to fail at the last moment.

As Dorothy sped towards Glondal City, a series of jade tablets inscribed with runes flickered to life across the territory. After reading its contents, the message was passed up the chain of command until the document was laid before a certain group of individuals. After reading the item, a lady tossed it towards the center of the table.

“This is it? A prediction? Is it even trustworthy? We should have killed the Prince the moment he lost his use.” The woman’s tone was antagonistic at best and a clear distaste for the former Prince leaked from her every word.

“Now, now. He’s the only man we’ve got on the inside. That Duke Reviarra and his family are exceptional at raising trustworthy troops. Regardless, this is the first time we have knowledge of her future position. He did rather well if this is true.” Replied a man seated across from her. His wizened voice carried with it a calm and venerable spirit that belied his looks.

Between the two was a third member who remained silent at their exchange. His eyes were focused on the tossed document and appeared to be deep in thought. Upon closer inspection, the man showed a strong resemblance to the gentleman who initially negotiated with the Blansall Princes.

Although similar, the man was clearly younger than the 40 year old man he was previously. Meeting tone with looks, he soon spoke his opinion as well. “Move out. Master wants the woman dead at all costs. If that bodyguard gets involved, the two of you can distract him. Don’t worry about defeating him, just try to buy time. This King will kill the girl while he’s occupied.”

The two fell into silence at his reply before glancing at each other. The woman’s face contorted in disgust after the moment of surprise passed. “This Queen has to work with this guy? Impossible. He’s a monk!”

“Hump! A monk? Woman, this King could bend you over without breaking a sweat.” He retorted with an abnormally calm tone. Despite the lack of tone, the woman’s flames only ignited further from the comment.

“HAH! Bend this Queen over? Even if you could, then what? Spank me? What a toy! Go lie to some young thing. This Queen understands your ‘situation’ well enough. Boss, this Queen can kill the girl, let’s swap roles.”

The man’s cheeks twitched at the sharp comments. Given the choice, he’d never send these two out together. Sadly, he couldn’t pick the reinforcements descended to help him. A sigh leaked from him as the biting exchange between the two continued.

Magic pulsed from his body and enforced a heavy weight upon the spirits of the bickering couple. “This King doesn’t care about the history between you two. Master sent you here to assist this King’s mission. Follow this King’s orders or get the fuck back up to the higher realm. This world has been draining this King for years now and if you blubbering fools are the reason this King’s ascent is delayed again, this King will personally bend the two of you over and open your rears to the public.”

Although his tone was low and controlled, the bickering couple shut their mouths in the next second. The pressure laying on their souls gradually lifted as well. The man stood from the table before delivering his orders.

“Ready the pawns. This King gave them power for this reason. It’s time for them to fulfill their purpose. We’ll head out this afternoon.” His footsteps faded away after a while and the remaining two only fixed their gaze on the document left behind.

The woman soon spoke up. “Was that it? We were called to a tripartite meeting, crossed hundreds of miles in a single day, and dragged into this dreary room with mediocre light just for that? He could have just sent the order directly! This Queen wasted magic for no reason!!”

The man chuckled slightly before standing from his seat. He chose to walk away in similar fashion to the previous man. “Boss probably thought you would ignore the order if he didn’t call you here. If your personality was more trustworthy, we could have saved time.”

The scathing remark left the woman speechless. He was called in too? How was she the problem? Despite the new flame igniting her emotions, the man had already left the premises. Left alone, her gaze traced back to the tabled document. She never had the chance to ask, but the woman marked for death in the document piqued her curiosity.

For the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why 3 Advanced Assemblers were forced to descend just to deal with a mortal girl. Evenso, the flame produced from her finger leaped to the document and consumed it. A warrant for death is a contract for death in their community. Anyone with such a hefty warrant attached to their name was guaranteed to be an immortal sinner.

Questions were fine, however the woman’s eyes glazed over with firm determination. The mission had to be done. Even her sporadic personality was provided a chance for redemption. The pain and risk of descending to a lower realm was worth it if a single warrant can reduce her sentence.

Her heels clicked for each step away from the smoldering document she took.