454. Interlude - Cloaks and Daggers Part One

A crimson glare rose from the horizon as the group crested atop the hill. Morning dew sat fresh on the blades of grass beneath their feet. The inkling signs of dawn prefigured the rising sun, yet the sun wasn’t even close to touching the pale blue sky.

Orgaf cast his gaze over the bright landscape. He saw the thin crimson pillar rising from the earth— so familiar. Yet, so different. With that, he turned back to those accompanying him.

“We’re here.”

There was a snort in response. Lofus the Broken Berserker of Bherein leaned against her war axe as she rolled her eyes.

[Warrior - Lvl. 158]

“What clued you in on that? The fact that the map says we’ve arrived, or that gigantic ritual unfolding before us.”

She spoke in a sardonic voice. Orgaf frowned as he eyed her, but he didn’t respond. A second voice drew his attention. A middle-aged man dressed in a bright blue robe with a long pointed hat. It was Domenic the Archsorcerer.

[Mage - Lvl. 143]

“What you’re seeing here, Ms Lofus, is not the grand ritual itself. Quite the contrary, it is simply a byproduct of this attempt to merge the planes.”

He rubbed the stubble on his chin as he finished. Another disgruntled voice spoke up.

“What’s the difference, then?”

Marwin the Silver Swordsman growled. He had his arms folded across his chest— well, his arm. Singular. He apparently lost the other one a month ago or so. Orgaf didn’t really know or care how that happened. The Thief of the Golden Scale just knew that Salvos was somehow involved— which probably meant that Marwin deserved it.

[Warrior - Lvl. 142]

“You can’t just say all that without explaining shit.”

The Silver Swordsman continued. Domenic furrowed his brows, but he wasn’t affronted. He raised a finger, adjusting his glasses as if to elaborate. But a soft voice cut him off.

[Archer - Lvl. 146]

“In simple terms, stopping the ritual here will not prevent the merger of the planes as a whole.”

Alice the Shadow Consort raised her head fractionally. She stood to the side, wearing a cloak made of shadows. She had no visible weapon on her— no bow, no arrows. Domenic nodded, clearing his throat.

“Yes, that is indeed correct, Ms Alice. Although, I would say it is more akin to patching up a single crack on a glass window when the house itself is crumbling all around us.”

“Then why the fuck are we here?”

Lofus grunted, clearly annoyed. Orgaf couldn’t blame her. She looked slightly tired. Sure, she was an Elite Ranked adventurer. The only other one present here, besides Orgaf. The rest were Diamond Ranked— high Diamond. Close to Elite in level. But she was a [Warrior]. Not fit for fast travel. Not especially while sneaking around enemy defenses.

They’d spent the last day traveling across the Human lands to get here. To arrive at the Inoria Empire. But not just at the fringe of the country where the front lines were. They were relatively deep inside of the Inoria Empire for a reason.

It was a simple mission. One that could only be carried out by a group of high-leveled individuals. As Alice the Shadow Consort and Domenic the Archsorcerer had said, this wasn’t the source of the Demon’s ritual to bring the Netherworld to the Mortal Realm. It was a ritual— but not the ritual.

Apparently, in addition to the main ritual that encompassed most of the Inoria Empire and the Elutra Kingdom, there were thirteen other… sub-rituals. Smaller rituals that empowered and hastened the spread of what they now called the ‘Hellification’ of the Mortal Realm. So, rather than this process spreading out from a single point— the center of the grand ritual— it would be hastened from expanding from these thirteen other points as well.

Here was one of said points. Orgaf turned away from the bickering as he faced the academy up ahead. It was like a small city— more comparable to a town in size, really. However, it was anything but a town. The academy was ornate. Regal. Like it was a palace of sorts with tall spires decorated with frivolous designs to glamorize the buildings in it. Even the palace of Alyras didn’t look quite as lavish as this academy.

Orgaf shook his head and turned back to this team of Elites and Diamond Ranks.

“—it was Archmage Warshade’s directive that infiltrated the enemy lines to put a halt to the ritual!”

“We’re at Cedric Academy! This isn’t enemy lines— and didn’t you say we weren’t even putting a halt to the ritual, anyway?”

“That’s enough.”

Orgaf spoke over them, cutting off their argument. The Thief of the Golden Scale spoke, and they listened. Well, all except for Lofus. The Berserker just harrumphed.

Still, he was the most senior of them all. He had the most battle experience. He had even ventured into the Kobold lands alone before, something only a handful of other Humans could boast of. Most of all, Orgaf was the highest-level of the group. That made him their leader. So they listened to him.

“We’re not going to be putting an end to this war overnight. Cedric Academy just so happens to be one of the least fortified of the thirteen sub-rituals across Inoria. Our job is to just put a stop to it when they’re not prepared. Got it?”

Marwin scowled, and Domenic nodded. Alice didn’t quite react. Lofus started forward, punching a fist into an open palm as she cracked her neck.

“Whatever. As long as I get to break some shit.”

Adventurers. Orgaf snorted. All they cared about was for themselves. That was why they were adventurers. Sure, Orgaf could admit that he was occasionally just like them— so selfish and self-serving. But he understood when things mattered, unlike plenty of others. He always tried to find that little overlap where what he did was beneficial for himself and beneficial for others.

Orgaf pointed towards the center of Cedric Academy— where the red pillar of light was shooting up and painting the sky red. At the tallest tower of the school.

“There. That’s the source of it. Let’s go.”

He leapt forward as Lofus and the Diamond Ranked adventurers followed after him. He landed at the base of the hill, looking down at the line where the grass was replaced by a pure white stone. Up ahead, the entire landscape was replaced by this marble-like earth for miles.

It’s already spread quite far. But not as far as he feared. That meant that as long as this ritual was stopped as soon as possible, the damage to the Mortal Realm could potentially be reversed— as said by Helena Warshade.

Orgaf dashed ahead of the group, reaching the edge of Cedric Academy long before the others. As he got closer, he heard a soft chittering. Like as if a thousand birds were chirping mixed with a thousand tormented souls shrieking in agony. Again, a familiar sound to him. If he hadn’t already seen something similar to this before, he would’ve been more on-guard.

But he knew it was just the sound of the ritual— of the hole being torn between the planes. He slinked into the shadows, quickly navigating through the archways and empty halls of the academy without a sound.

He only slowed when he realized that… there was no one there. No guards. No students. No soldiers. Nothing.

After briefly scouting the outer parts of Cedric Academy, Orgaf emerged from the shadows and returned to the group. Lofus, Alice, Domenic, and Marwin were waiting right outside of the academy’s premises. Domenic was busy inspecting the earth— collecting samples of Netherworld rock to study for later.

“I wonder if there’s anything special about these…”

“What did you find?”

Lofus asked as Orgaf shook his head. He gestured to the academy.

“It’s empty.”

“What?”

She blinked in response. Marwin frowned.

“Seriously? Surely they aren’t stupid enough to leave this place defenseless, right? Right…?”

Domenic rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“It seems that they must’ve evacuated the premises, knowing that the summoned Demons would serve as a natural safeguard to protect the ritual.”

“That’s not possible.”

Orgaf replied simply.

“Why not? Why wouldn’t the Demons give their lives to defend their ritual?”

Domenic blinked, and the Thief of the Golden Scales closed his eyes. It was a simple question— but one with the wrong assumptions in the first place. Orgaf, too, in the past believed that all Demons were simply followers of the Demon King. But at that battle against Belzu in the Motharis Mountain Range, he learned that that wasn’t true.

First, that there were these wild Demons wandering the Netherworld. Like monsters. Mindless, soulless. Then again he learned of the truth of Demon society when he learned of Salvos’ secret and Belzu’s own motivations.

Orgaf shook his head.

“It’s just not.”

“That’s—”

Domenic tried to protest, but Alice spoke over him.

“And the ritual site?”

She faced Orgaf expectantly. He glanced back towards the tall building at the center of the academy.

“My [Danger Sense] tells me it’s a bad idea to go in alone.”

“I see.”

Alice furrowed her brows. Lofus shrugged as she stepped forward.

“Well, if there’s nothing else, then let’s just go and—”

She started, but Orgaf’s eyes widened. His [Danger Sense] rang first— like an alarm bell in his head. Then he felt the vibration of the earth. The ground shook as Lofus leapt back just in time to avoid an explosion.

Rocks erupted into the air like water from a geyser. A giant undulating creature emerged from the pure white rock floor. Orgaf drew his daggers, readying himself as he saw the worm-like creature looming over them, a hundred feet tall.

But before he could react, the ground next to it burst open as well. And behind it. And all around it. Dozens of these giant creatures emerged from the ground, surrounding the party.

[Ouroboros - Lvl. 135]

[Ouroboros - Lvl. 93]

[Ouroboros - Lvl. 87]

[Ouroboros - Lvl. 96]

…

Orgaf took in this view as he whispered.

“Wild Demons.”

And the Demons attacked all at once.