Eternal Rest

The night had descended, casting shadows across the bustling Adventurer Guild. Despite the operation supposed to be kept secretive among a select few, Rayne knew the presence of traitors like Gustav posed a risk of information leaks. Time was running short.

Rather than returning to the guild, Rayne commandeered a small guard station near the central area. He coordinated a joint operation with multiple guard divisions and their captains, preparing to sweep the sewers once more in search of the bombs. The city had already been swept once, including the sewers, yielding nothing. Rayne found it suspicious and questioned if Tivaara had merely misled them. Uncertain of what to trust, he had to entertain every possibility.

"Belle, you sh-"

"I'm going! You can't keep me sidelined, doing nothing!" Belle interrupted firmly, refusing to yield. Rayne knew he couldn't force her to stand down. After a brief pause, he relented.

"Alright, alright, I hear you! Take a few men and cover this area," he indicated on the sewer blueprint Belle had brought him, "from here to here. But be cautious, and don't take unnecessary risks, understood?"

She nodded her head vigorously, and Rayne distributed the detection devices among the teams. Turning to the assembled guards and guild members, he addressed them with a firm tone, fully aware of the gravity of the situation.

"I have no doubt your teams conducted thorough sweeps of the sewers before. However, we may have underestimated our adversaries. There could be someone among them capable of illusions or setting up formations to hide the bombs and mask their mana signatures. That's likely why our initial search yielded nothing. This time, each team will include a trap specialist and a tracking specialist. We will sweep the sewers again, meticulously following this map." He gestured towards the sewer blueprint spread out before him. "Our objective is clear: locate and neutralize those bombs. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir!" The response came in unison from the assembled men.

"Good. Time is against us. You have thirty minutes to prepare. Be ready to move out." Rayne concluded, watching as the teams dispersed to make their final preparations.

Belle stepped forward, offering encouragement. "You're doing a remarkable job leading them, Rayne. Once this is over, you should consider rejoining the guild."

Rayne arched an eyebrow, considering her suggestion. "Perhaps," he replied cautiously. With the dawn approaching, multiple groups stealthily entered the sewers, ready to begin their critical search.

The sewer system, designed spaciously for both access and water flow, unexpectedly housed Ratmen, anthropomorphic rodents with keen senses but poor eyesight. Though the guildies mostly ignored them, the Ratmen's presence and the labyrinthine tunnels slowed their progress.

As the groups explored, they encountered an unusual absence of Ratmen, which soon became clear—they had hit a dead end. This discovery contradicted the interconnected nature of the city's sewers. Specialists within each team identified and dispelled a concealment barrier, revealing the continuation of the sewer network.

Some guards, inexperienced in such environments, were unnerved by the sudden appearance of oversized rodents and a gelatinous blob that fell from the ceiling, causing chaos as it burned one of them upon contact. The affected guard's screams and frantic attempts to remove the burning substance alarmed the group, but quick action with healing salve prevented further harm.

"Quiet down! It's just a slime!" the group leader admonished, swiftly turning to confront the approaching threat. Footsteps mingled with Ratmen's scampering announced the arrival of company. The leader narrowly dodged an arrow aimed at his head, reacting with urgency.

"Weapons ready! We're not alone!" he commanded, rallying his team to prepare for an imminent confrontation in the dark, labyrinthine sewers.

While the group engaged in battle, similar scenes unfolded elsewhere. Rayne confronted a swarm of Ratmen, while Joshua, his second-tier barrier specialist, worked to dispel a concealment barrier. Suddenly, Joshua cried out in pain, clutching his head. Rayne hurried to his side and saw blood streaming from his nose and ears.

Joshua reached out as if grasping for something, and the barrier dissolved, revealing a figure at the tunnel's end. Rayne's eyes widened as he started running toward the figure, but halted after a few steps. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. Rayne didn't want the party to accompany him into the sewers; in this area, only the two of them remained, and Joshua's safety took precedence.

Returning to Joshua, Rayne caught a glimpse of Silva vanishing around a bend in the tunnel. They were on the right track, and for a moment, Rayne dared to hope that everything might yet turn out alright.

Joshua sat on the ground, leaning against the wall. "Let me take a look," Rayne said, lifting his head. The bleeding had stopped, but Joshua looked worse for wear. "The bleeding has stopped, Joshua. How are you feeling? Do you know what happened?"

Joshua looked up, his eyes bloodshot. "My core, my soul, it's damaged," he murmured, slumping down, exhausted and nauseous. Rayne remained silent, his face twisted with concern. He helped Joshua to his feet and guided him back to the surface. Rayne saw that Joshua wasn't the only casualty. Leaving the barrier specialist in the care of a healer, he approached the other group receiving treatment and inquired about what had transpired.

After hearing that the other group had also been attacked after dispelling the barrier, Rayne hastened back to the sewers, rushing through the tunnels to find other group members. He ordered each group he encountered to retreat and regroup outside. Within the hour, all groups were accounted for, and Rayne listened to reports from each group leader.

All the barriers had been concealment barriers hiding parts of the sewers. No group had been able to venture deeper because they were attacked. The assailants were few in number, three or four per group, but they were well-prepared and formidable. Two guild agents at the second tier and five guards had died in the confrontation. One agent was slain by a weapon, and the other had his core shattered. Rayne instructed each group leader to mark the locations where they encountered barriers and ordered everyone below the second tier to return to the guild and await further orders.

While Rayne was planning a new course of action, Forvas Vog, a third-tier gold ranker, was summoned from the frontlines and was busy interrogating the men apprehended the previous day in the hideout. Vog was a top-ranking officer in the army and an interrogation specialist, having spent the last month on the frontlines acquiring intel from captured Aphitonians.

"Mr. Vog, you called for me?" Belle asked after a messenger found her and relayed the message that she was needed back at the guild.

"Greetings, Belle. Yes, I did. I finished interrogating the prisoners. Here, deliver this report to Rayne at once while I take one to the prince."

Belle received the report and rushed out of the Adventurers Guild, heading to where Rayne was staying. The members of the group who hadn't stayed at the guard station had returned to the guild by now and reported what had happened in the sewers.

As noon approached, Rayne felt the weight of responsibility pressing down on him. With just a few hours remaining until the opening ceremony, he sensed they were close to uncovering both the bombs and dealing with Silva. Standing outside the station, he observed more people streaming toward the squares. The crowd was gathering early...

Glancing down at the blueprint of the sewer system in his hands, Rayne noted the concealed passages leading to the squares in the central area.

"Squares, huh? Makes sense. That's where the crowd will be most concentrated," remarked Sandro, one of the second-tier members who had stayed behind. Rayne nodded in agreement.

"It's a risky move, though," Sandro continued. "What if this is a diversion? What if they plan to attack the royal palace or the Adventurer Guild? Any place and anyone could be a potential target..."

"Easy, Sandro. Stressing about 'what ifs' is my job, not yours."

"Rayne!" Belle's voice cut through the conversation. Rayne turned to see her racing toward him, a report already in hand. She reached him swiftly, ready to deliver her findings. Rayne took the report and began scanning through its pages as he headed back inside the guard station.

"Well?" Belle impatiently asked as they entered the station. Rayne raised a finger, signaling for a moment, then turned to her.

"In short? The report says the men we arrested yesterday are clueless about the attack. They're local muscle paid to gather intel and handle mundane tasks for Silva. As for Silva himself, their answers about him were vague and disjointed. Forvas noted traces of mind manipulation among some, and a critical case of soul tampering..." Rayne finished, gripping the pages tightly.

"You think Silva did that to them?" Belle asked, surprised to hear about Silva's manipulation abilities for the first time.

"Yes. I saw him, Belle. In the sewers, I caught a glimpse of him," Rayne explained. "He used a soul attack on Joshua."

"Oh my god! Is he... dead?" Belle gasped loudly, drawing attention from those nearby.

"What? No, he's okay. He'll be okay," Rayne reassured her before addressing the others. "Here's the situation. The six of us are the only ones capable of resisting soul attacks. Fortunately, only one of the attackers seems truly dangerous, but don't let your guard down. We're heading back into the sewers to focus on the remaining uncovered areas together."

"We have around two hours until the start of the festival. We don't know exactly when they plan to attack, but we have to assume it will be shortly after the ceremony begins." Rayne spoke urgently. "Belle, go find Master Frose and ask him to try and delay the ceremony."

"Um, the guild leader isn't here. He's already left for the royal palace, and Mr. Vog said he would deliver the report to the prince himself. Also, reinforcements are on their way. They should be here within minutes," Belle replied quickly.

"Alright, we can spare a moment. The situation has taken a turn for the worse, and I don't want you anywhere near the squares. Go back and stay at the guild," Rayne insisted.

"But—"

"Please…" Rayne pleaded with her to listen.

"Alright, be careful, Rayne. It's okay if Silva escapes, understand?" Belle relented.

Rayne smiled and nodded. "Sure." Belle left, and Rayne waited for the reinforcements to arrive. They soon appeared: another gold-ranked adventurer like him and three second-tier silver-ranked ones. With this team at his side and newfound confidence, Rayne led them into the sewers.

Despite narrowing their search area, the tunnels remained an intricate network. The new team proved formidable, successfully breaking through barriers and overcoming an ambush orchestrated by Silva's new henchmen. As they meticulously scoured the sewers, Silva himself busily made his own sinister preparations..

The new lackeys, despite being easily subdued initially by overwhelming force, refused to stay down and cease their attacks. There was something unsettlingly off about them—they exhibited a crazed demeanor, throwing themselves into danger without regard for their own lives. Although there were nine initially, the gold rankers noticed more approaching from behind.

Arndell, the other gold ranker, confronted the incoming threat from the rear. After repeated clashes with no signs of relenting, Arndell abandoned restraint. He struck one of the lackeys, causing their body to explode from the impact.

"Mother of… Rayne!! There's something seriously wrong with them!" Arndell exclaimed, covered in blood, guts, and remnants of the assailant.

Rayne witnessed the gruesome spectacle but struggled to comprehend what was happening. These men were nowhere near their level of power; they barely qualified as silver rankers. Despite their wild and poorly executed attacks, they possessed ferocity and unexpectedly potent strength. The silver rank members had little trouble evading their erratic swings, but any blow that connected, even against guards, proved disadvantageous.

"I don't know, Arn! They fight like they're possessed! Just focus on neutralizing them for now!"