And (N)one Shall Remain

“Are we there yet?” asked Brother Artorius for the fourth time that day. The only reason nobody snapped a rude reply or slapped the young priest upside the head was because his father was one of the bishops of the temple and was known to dote on this son of his. Otherwise someone would have put the noisy upstart in his place already out of annoyance.

 

“No,” replied Father Poligenes curtly at the question. The middle-aged man was one of the temple’s more skilled priests, and one of the three fourth tiers that took part in this leveling expedition. If the more experienced priest had not been entrusted by the annoying boy’s father to look after him during the expedition, he would likely have been the first to slap him upside the head. “And stop asking. We will not reach the center of the dungeon for another day, at the very least.”

 

Their group of thirty – or two Temple Guard Teams, as they were commonly called, each consisting of a dozen temple guards and three accompanying priests – had set out from their temple to increase their power on order from the High Priest, like many other similar groups from other areas. Each group was to head to the nearest dungeon that was still conductive to their leveling to increase their power before they were to reconvene in the frontlines of the war.

 

Poligenes understood the political maneuvering and intent behind the action, but could not care less. He was an orphan who was raised in the temple and had served the temple all his life. That he happened to be talented – and fortunate – enough to reach the fourth tier was a blessing from the Gods, as was his present life in general, so he would do whatever he was commanded, be it by the temple or the Gods they worshiped.

 

Not like there was much difference between the two to him anyway.

 

Leveling expeditions were effective and efficient means to increase one’s strength, but it came with its own risks, since it involved fighting monsters who would fight back with all they had. Typically the more privileged people who walked the combative path would seek out safer methods to grow their power, even if it did so more slowly. Such expeditions were typically reserved for the ambitious, the foolhardy, the desperate, and the [Heroes].

 

They needed to go through such expeditions themselves because the [Heroes]’ party garnered quite a bit of attention of late, and the higher-ups in the temple didn’t want them to take the limelight too much, unless it was their members who hailed from the Temple Guard who did so.

 

This expedition had already proven fruitful and Poligenes expected at least four or five of their members to step up to the ranks of the fourth tier at its end, even if the younger and more affluent temple guards complained about the harsh conditions. Their complaints mattered not, all that mattered was the will of the Gods, which shall be done at all costs.

 

“Speaking of which, Sister Maetel, is it not time for the scouts to return and report?” asked Poligenes to one of the fourth tier temple guards in their group, a middle-aged woman who led one of the two teams. Out of their group of thirty, six of the temple guards were deployed as scouts further out to warn the main groups of any potential trouble, and they were instructed to report at certain intervals.

 

“It is probably still a bit early, Father,” replied Brother Brodwick, the other fourth tier temple guard, after he glanced upwards and measured the position of the sun with his splayed fingers. “I would say perhaps another five minutes or so before they should report back, at the latest.”

 

“I see, pardon my impatience, then, Brother,” replied Father Poligenes. He didn’t usually ask such nitpicky questions, but for some reason he had been feeling somewhat bothered for the past while, which probably made him more irritable than usual. Perhaps it was this accursed forest of a dungeon. He hated such ‘open’ dungeons where threats could come from anywhere and very much preferred the more contained ones, if he had to go into one.

 

Unbeknownst to him, his gut feeling was far more accurate than he thought it to be.

 

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“Sssh, now, this won’t hurt much,” whispered Legisvula as he soundlessly pierced the female temple guard’s torso from behind with his short blade, his other hand already covering the woman’s mouth to prevent her from screaming or otherwise uttering a cry that might alert others. His blade expertly slipped through the woman’s rib cage from her back, right between the fourth and fifth ribs, and found the woman’s heart without any notable resistance.

 

Then to make certain of the kill, Legisvula shook his blade from side to side as well, which caused its sharp tip to slice through the woman’s lungs and tore her heart apart in the same motion, ending her life swiftly and without much fuss.

 

The woman went limp and collapsed in his hands, and he took care to carefully perch her corpse on the tree branch she was standing on previously, so that it would not fall off, at least until some local creatures smelled the blood and cleaned her up for him. He himself casually wiped his blade clean on the woman’s clothes – which were, against all common sense, white, in a forest of mostly greens and browns – and departed just as soundlessly as he came.

 

He, along with Esperanza and some of Ani’s people, had gone out ahead of the rest to deal with their enemy’s scouts in order to keep them unaware of their approach. It helped that it was already in the afternoon by the time they caught up, with their targets already somewhat tired from the day’s trek, whereas Esperanza’s group made better time as they simply followed their targets’ trail.

 

Legisvula went for the kill since he did gain some appreciable experience for the act, while the others mostly tried to capture their targets alive and brought them back to camp where the lower leveled infiltrators like Tiara, Kurt, and Leo could benefit from some shared experience as they finished off the incapacitated targets.

 

The operation itself went smoothly, and as Legisvula returned to where the group was, he saw that he was the last one to return, which was not unexpected, as he had taken one of the scouts who were ahead of their target group and to the side. The one who took on the scout opposite his target, on the other side, had the benefit of being already in their fourth tier, while Esperanza personally took care of the forward scout since she was the fastest.

 

He saw no sign of the bodies, but given how Tiara had gained a level, the deed was likely already done anyway. The bodies would likely be left for the forest’s creatures to dispose of, which would also make determining their cause of death an impossibility at best.

 

“Good, you’re back, all went well I suppose,” greeted Esperanza as she noticed Legisvula’s arrival despite his various concealment skills.

 

“It is done, Exalted One,” he replied, no longer bothered by how easy he was for her to notice by now. He knew that the Exalted One had her own blessings which were far greater than his own. “What shall we do next?”

 

“They would get suspicious if their scouts do not report back before too long, so we should use that time to get in position around them,” replied Esperanza after some thought. “When they’re distracted with discussing the possibilities of why their scouts had yet to report back, that’s when we strike.”

 

“Understood, Exalted One,” noted Ani who was walking just behind Esperanza. “Should my men participate as well, or do you wish to give these foes to the [Progenies]?”

 

“I’d like your people to surround the area and be prepared to intervene in case they proved too much, but otherwise, their levels are mostly in the high third tiers. The kids will benefit most from them,” said Esperanza. “I’ll handle the fourth tiers myself, so they shouldn’t trouble the kids too much. If they were to split off a bit more it’d be ideal, but we’ll see what they’ll do after they realize that their scouts are missing.”

 

“As you willed, Exalted One,” replied Ani. She turned to the rest of the group and quickly passed down Esperanza’s commands, and the group quickly separated into three.

 

Esperanza and the children, the [Progenies of Yore], made up the first group and rushed towards their target at the front, though they did so while also maintaining stealth, partly aided by Esperanza flaring out her [Veil of Entropy] over a wider range. That way, it was unlikely for their approach to be noticed too early by whoever they were dealing with.

 

Ani and most of her warriors followed closely behind Esperanza’s group, spread out in a wider formation to better deal with whatever got past the former. Her two scouts ranged out front and to the side, and would inform them of the enemy’s movements once they spotted them. The two missing warriors from the group were further in the back, as they escorted the five infiltrators from Zikeal who were unable to move as fast as either previous groups could and kept them safe from the creatures of the forest.

 

Both Esperanza’s and Ani’s group made good time and caught up to their prey before too long. They found the group of temple guards in the midst of a somewhat heated discussion – or at least it looked like one, with the three fourth tiers debating in the middle of a circle formed by the rest – that reached even their ears some distance away.

 

Apparently they disagreed on how to deal with the fact that their scouts were missing. The fourth tier priest insisted that what was left of their group should stick together closely to guard against whatever caused the situation, but the two fourth tier temple guards wanted to send out a group to search for the missing scouts instead, probably out of a feeling of camaraderie and not wanting to leave their people behind.

 

The debate lasted a few minutes more while Esperanza and the rest of her group – Ani’s people formed a wide cordon around the area to deal with any escapees while the five from Zikeal waited for them a short distance way – watched. Finally the temple guards came to a decision, and a small group of six people were sent out towards the way they came from.

 

They had rationalized that their forward scouts might have found something notable that made them range out to check things, which might excuse their lateness to return and report, but that should not be the case with those in the rear. As such, they sent out their troops to check up on the scouts to their rear, the small team of six walking cautiously into the forest, taking the same road they used so far.

 

All considered, it was a pretty ideal situation for Esperanza’s plan, as the enemy splitting up would make it easier to deal with them. She sent out five of the [Progenies of Yore] as well as Iryl to stalk the small group of six with the intention to take them down once they have reached far enough away from the main group.

 

Mostly just letting them get far enough so that the sound wouldn’t get noticed by the main group. Esperanza had no desire to alert her enemies.

 

The six people she chose nodded and quickly slunk away into the forest on the tail of their targets, while the rest settled down and kept themselves hidden as they watched over the main body of the temple guards. Their enemies were now somewhat nervous and agitated, and the wait would not make that any better. It was a pretty ideal situation for Esperanza’s plan to take them down.