The sun rose slowly across the horizon, it was a cold morning while they walked along a paved path surrounded by plains of vast grass, filled with the vibrant atmosphere of a fresh breeze flowing through their noses.

"Nature's beauty always captivates me no matter where you look. It's a shame that we're needed somewhere, otherwise I would stay here until the view disappears, Charles remarked peacefully.

"Tell me again why we're going somewhere? Shouldn't we be staying to take care of the people back there?" Cecil asked Laruse.

"As I've said many times already, were going to a small village, northwest from the organization's location. We'll be dealing with monsters and bandits roaming the area. This is important since some of those farmers provide us with food vital to the effort. But first thing is we need to find the chief of the village. Plus, I put someone in charge, so there's no need to worry."

"But, why am I with you? I think you, Cecil, and Charles will be able to handle this by yourselves. I see no need for me to be here," said Ophelia who walked beside Laruse timidly, feeling unnerved by his presence.

"That's for me to know. You'll be doing a large part of this request, so don't worry about me or the others."

"But why? I don't think I can contribute to anything at all. You're acting more and more of an ideal lead than I am."

"Like I said, don't worry about it. Just do as I say and everything'll be alright. And don't discourage yourself. What I said back then was supposed to be something to motivate you. I haven't entirely given up in you yet, and I don't intend to, so give your trust to me and you'll see why in the end," he reassured her, drawing her close.

As she saw this, Cecil pouted, crossing her arms, looking riled up, but staying silent as Charles laughed internally without Cecil noticing.

"What exactly will I be doing then? At least tell me that," she persisted.

"Fine, I want you to use your magic. Simple, right?"

She seemed to reel back at the word, shocked and silent, thinking hard as to why he would do that, and where he got the motivation to do so.

"Magic? Why? I don't know how to do magic at all," feigning her expression, she tried convincing him.

"Why is a good question. I won't hide it, but I asked Cedric to tell me all about you and your past. I want you to conquer that. And you will, I know you can."

"Laruse, what you're asking for is unreasonable. I can't... I just can't. I've already moved past that, so I don't want to regress. I've already seen more lost, so there's no reason to lose more due to my negligence and weakness."

"That's for me to decide now. I'm sorry, but I'll have to force you whether you like it or not. You'll decide whether you want to atone, or stay silent for the rest of your life. I'll lead you to where you need to go; I won't leave your side till I succeed."

"For what reason do you have for doing that? I've not done anything for you that would warrant such a thing."

"I don't need a reason. I just want to. Sounds selfish, but that's just how I feel."

Unable to deny him of what he wants and intends to do, she resigns herself to him half-heartedly, thinking deeply about the scars of her past which she had tried her best to run away from, or at least redeem with her own efforts.

They reached the designated farming village within hours worth of walking and treading, surprisingly calm and transient despite the letter saying that it was being harassed by monsters and bandits.

"It's quite secluded, isn't it? And the soil, it looks and feels fertile as well," said Charles while looking around, taking a handful of soil in his hands, displaying a bit of his knowledge of the surroundings.

In the distance was a two story wooden lodge that looked like a rich noble's villa, a landmark that gave Laruse the idea that it might be the village chief's quarters.

"Let's get moving first. We'll need to find the one who sent the request," Laruse led the way, approaching the wooden lodge a few meters away, also silent in the background, not showing any signs of having life within its dwellings.

Upon opening the door, a ransacked view came into place; furniture and many other things were scattered along the floor, creating a mess of high proportions, as if one were to abandon this house, then they would simply thrash all there could be to thrash, leaving nothing behind to be used.

Yet, it doesn't seem to be like that at all.

"What happened here? How horrible. Everything's destroyed," Cecil said in surprise upon entering.

"Let's search the house. All three of you, stay close. I'll search the upper floor and see what I can find," he left immediately, not waiting for any type of response.

His footsteps creaked along the wooden stairs, ushering him to a rather spacious room, also ransacked of any valuables.

he noticed a slightly opened door, one that blasted open with a sudden push, a young adult who wore round glasses, looking to be at the age of sixteen, came charging from the door with his eyes closed, wielding a pitchfork as he recklessly yelled out in order to bolster his spirits.

Noticing the obvious charge minus the surprise, Laruse stepped to his side, evading his direction entirely, allowing him to hit the wooden wall with his momentum, slightly impaling the pitchfork on the wall, making it stick.

The young man looked back in surprise as he saw his attack fail, now trying to pull it back, only to be pulled back by his own weight, falling on the floor.

He pointed the pitchfork at Laruse with a menacing expression, his hand on his weapon quivered under fear, along with his eyes, and the rest of his body.

"W-Where did you take him! Where did you take my grandfather!" he said with a stammer, forcing the words out from his mouth.

"Hey, calm down, will you? What do you mean by take? And who are you anyway?" Laruse asked, not minding the object pointed right at him, though taking cautious in the case that it becomes a danger to him.

"Don't Lie! I-I know you're with them! Tell me where my grandfather and everyone else is, now!" a cold sweat seemed to form on his forehead; nervousness was starting to overcome his body as seen from his erratic behavior.

"Like I said, I don't know what you're talking about. If you calm down, you'll understand what I mean, " he tried to settle him down, lowering his voice as to reduce that young man's pressure.

The young man stood up, then charged once more towards Laruse, gritting his teeth and yelling out in a high-pitched voice.

Knowing that anything sharp that's pointed at you is dangerous than anything else, he took wary movements, stepping to the side in a fluid manner, then hitting the young man on the back of his neck with a sharp and precise strike using the back of his hand.

The young man fell unconscious and his weapons dropped to the ground with a thud, and Laruse quickly took hold of his collar as to avoid him falling to the ground.

He laid the man to rest on the floor, sighing, where Charles and the others came running upwards, looking frantic to see what was happening from where they were, alarmed at the yelling that took place.

After what seemed to be hours of waiting, the young man woke up, the view of the stranger that he had encountered before appeared before him, looking down with a certain disinterest.

"Finally awake?" he spoke, rousing the man to immediately spring up from his bed.

"W-What?! Where am I?" he sprung up, his eyes immediately darted back and forth, finding something to use as a weapon or shield, but before he could jump from his bed, he was restrained with a strong amount of force, preventing him from moving at all.

"Calm down will you! I don't know what worked you up like this, but you'll need to tell me. You're making no sense as you are right now," Laruse focused his eyes on him, surprisingly forcing the young man from saying or doing anything, coming back to his senses as he sat silently, looking back with a dazed expression.

Laruse parted, waiting for him to speak clearly.

"So, you're not part of them?" he said.

"No. And whoever they are, I don't have the slightest clue. But for now, breathe for a bit. I don't know what came over you when we met earlier, but you seemed worried about something."

"Ha~ Forgive me. I-I was terrified. I don't know myself. All I remember was locking myself in the room until the noises disappeared, then took up the courage to do something when I couldn't stand the thought of my grandfather out there alone with those fiends, and sure enough I heard footsteps... So that was you, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. Who're those fiends anyway?"

"They're a horrid band of cultists that came around all of a sudden, wanting to take some followers, even by force in some occasions. We thought that they were harmless at first, but we were terribly wrong. It began with discussion, escalating to small threats, then it they resorted to sending tamed monsters to terrify us, then... this."

"This is a bit too much for me to take in alone. Come with me. I have a few companions downstairs too. We're here to find out what's wrong with the village," Laruse stood up, looking at the open window, displaying a dark and dreary scenery of trees rustling, as if there were something hiding from behind them, like a pair of red, bloodthirsty eyes; then walking downstairs.

The young man immediately followed after adjusting his glasses, taking a bit of caution.

"Wait. Who are you anyway? A traveler? An adventurer?" he stopped Laruse before he could disappear beyond the steps.

"I'm the leader of the organization. I'm here for a request that someone from this village put up. You know anyone that could've done that?"

"... From the organization? That must mean, yes. My grandfather must be the one who sent for you. I encountered him once, writing a letter to someone. He simply responded to "Someone who can help us" and not anything else. Then you must be the one he is referring to."

"Probably not. Who knows. Maybe it's someone else. Oh, and sorry about what I did to you to make you fall asleep. That must have hurt."

They came down to see Charles, Cecil, and Ophelia waiting downstairs, each one doing their own thing, but no have their attentions turned towards Laruse and the young man.

Each one welcomed the young man, introducing themselves to him.

"Well, my name is Christopher. You can call me Chris. N-Nice to meet you," he timidly reached his hand out to each one, shaking theirs with a certain cautiousness.

"So as you said, you're here to help my grandfather and the village?"

"Right. So, tell us, what exactly is wrong here."

"Well, as I've already said to Laruse, the village had been harassed by mysterious people who came to be known as cultists overtime, establishing a much more unpleasant image for themselves as fanatics who go through extreme means in their worship. They've asked for devotees and people to join them, promising power, riches, and salvation. Of course, we ignored them. But they became much more aggressive."

"How unnerving. Have they a name?" asked Ophelia.

"I believe if my memory serves me correctly, they introduced themselves as the Midnight covenant, always wearing dark robes that concealed their identities, always in groups whenever they visited."

"Hmm, the Midnight Covenant, is it? The name itself if rather suspicious. I've never heard of the name, however. They must be a newly established group," said Charles with his arms crossed, carefully analyzing the words that would come from Chris's mouth.

"Laruse, they sound like people who use dark arts, don't they? The name just screams it. Just like the that one frightening group we came across one time," Cecil said, facing Laruse with a concerned expression, inching closer to him as the eerie atmosphere began creeping up on her; the flickering of the lantern's flames and the howling wind were the only sounds besides their voices.

The presence outside became even more spine-chilling, as if there were a presence out there in the dead of night, watching them, looking outside from within the bushes and the trees, peering into the windows.

The group was sitting on the worn seats, closely listening to the story of the village menace, the light that accompanied them barely showed their surroundings as the night truly hid everything in its shadow.

Cecil had offered one too many times to provide a much more suitable amount of light, using her light attributed magic to cast a ball of light, which Laruse strongly protested to, politely asking her not to do such as things as it would give away their presence, which was now important seeing the situation they were in.

For resisting the urge, Laruse assured her of her safety, knowing the she feared most things that came off as unnatural, yet the irony within her identity went unnoticed by everyone, except Laruse, who set aside the thought.

"Frightening group? What does Cecil speak of, Laruse? They may have a connection to this one," Charles asked.

"Cecil and I encountered them on a mission, destroying the group entirely. They're a cult too. They called themselves the Ebon Ravens. They sacrificed people to their false god which turned out to be a deceased Dark Lord's blood soul. They used human souls to power a spell that would weaken a Dark Lord's soul, and overall mental will, allowing someone to consume it and become a new Dark Lord. Luckily we stopped them before the ritual could be completed, but the amount of casualties when we got there was, immense to say the least. I doubt that they're associated with the group, but the possibility isn't zero."

"How terrifying! Who knew someone could be able to do something like that, becoming one of the most powerful entities in the continent. If that would have happened, then that person would have surely wreaked havoc upon the land," said Ophelia.

"Your adventures are always so grandiose. I can imagine you both always being embroidled by such matters. The only source of worry would be how you two would overcome such odds."

"We'll know more only after, so please continue, Chris."

"If you say that you've defeated some groups like that, then you might just be able to help my grandfather. But where did I leave off? Ah, it was when they started being a bit more aggressive in their recruitments did we find them a threat. We found ourselves hiring mercenaries and offering rewards to travelers that would often pass by in order to calm everyone."

"What exactly did they do?" asked Charles, a bit intruiged.

"They would preach about their group near the outskirts, often talking to people by force which only terrified them even more. Then finally came the abductions. One by one, people went missing, and there was only a need to point fingers at an obvious someone. It was then that they were acting stragely, asking my grandfather for something which enraged them more when he denied them."

"And that was?"

"I-I don't know. Grandfather never truly spoke about it with me, though it piqued my interest multiple times. They may be referring to something valuable, but I could only imagine what that was. My grandfather was someone who had interests in the arcane, so there's no telling what he could be hiding."

"If you'll allow me, I'd like to see your grandfather's quarters. There may be something in there that could give us a clue. This is turning about to be a more thrilling mission than I originally thought," Charles said.

"I guess there's nothing more to worry about from me. Everything's a mess. Go ahead, I don't think he'll mind at this point. All I want is for them to be brought back safely."

And with that, Charles and Ophelia went upstairs with Chris while Laruse and Cecil remained downstairs to keep guard in the case that anyone suspicious comes by.

Led upstairs, they went through a short hallway leading to a certain room whose door had been left open; its insides also being ransacked, taken of every valuable the room might have possessed.

It was a simple room with simple furnishings, save for a desk and two shelves that were filled with books of varying titles.

Everything was messed up; however, making things rather hard for them before they could even begin trying to find what they need.

"Well then, let's start by going with our only lead. Please search for anything that seems to relate to the arcane arts, or anything affiliated with magic. If we hope to find anything, it's with what we have," said Charles, immedietaly sifting through the papers and books scattered on the floor, followed by Ophelia and Chris who nodded in response.

"These are rather mundane books, aren't they not? And these letters, they're not of any importance, simply things that have to do with the village. It's a plethora of things to search from."

"Yes, well my grandfather grew fond of books, always interested in purchasing new ones for us to read in our spare time. Ah, might this have something to do with it?" said Chris, presenting a book to Charles.

"Hmm, no. This seems to delve more into things related in apothecary and alchemy. Strange, but nothing too important. But I shall make sure. Meanwhile, please keep searching for more while I skim through the pages. It might have something important."

As more time passed, the night grew, and midnight was at its peak, giving way to an eerie night as rain and thunderstorms began sounding around them, the cold chill of the wind entering the house made the atmosphere even more unbearable.

The three of them had searched tirelessly, and had finally tracked something that piqued their interests.

"Found in a small secret hatch under the bed, opened with its contents taken, most likely. But, a book still remains," Charles dusted off the book, reading the cover aloud.

"The revival ritual's secrets... A way to use varying types of magic arts to unseal objects and artifacts without fail using a meticulous ritual."

"Wait, Charles. I don't like to acknowledge it, but it feels as if it's linked, isn't it? to Laruse's story," said Ophelia.

"It may be a coincidence, but you may be correct. One thing's for sure is that there's been a secret the village chief had been hiding. Come, let us go downstairs, I shall explain to everyone my findings."

Descending the stairs, they were all gathered once again, this time discussing things that might finally bring light to the situation.

"This book seems to be the village chief's possession, and one annotated with various interesting words as well. It my not be as for from what you told us earlier, Laruse."

"If that's the case, then we need to find them right away. Whatever ritual that is, we can't let them succeed at any circumstance," said Laruse, standing up urgently.

"It's also said here that the heirloom is the focus of the ritual. Chris, what do you know about a family heirloom?" Charles asked, drawing confusion among the others.

"An heirloom? Nothing, I don't think grandfather has ever told me of anything like that. But he talks about a precious object that's always with him, and I often hear him mumbling about it. But that's all I know."

"Than lastly, tell us. Where is this cult located."

"They took residence in an abandoned church, perched on top of a small hill. That's what I've heard the other villagers and guards say."

"Then lead the way and let's go, we've got no time to waste," Laruse said impatiently, opening the door.