Earl studied Nero for a moment, and then turned back to the file
"Although the reason I called you here was to inform you of this threat, so that you may begin to raise your vigilance, in truth you do not need to be too bothered by it. The Eldruin cult made big moves to announce their return, but as a result they also received a major blow.
"In Kolar, all Six Sages worked together to use some of the country’s secret weapons to target all Curse users. Knowing how big a threat they used to be, Kolar has long since devised many ways to combat them should anyone try to emulate the cult. Who could have guessed that it would be useful fighting the original cult itself?
"The point is, a lot of their operatives in Kolar are dead. The same is true for Nova and New Velariya. Unfortunately, if they have members who are not curse users, it is not so easy to target them. That was why the notification was issued, so that everyone can be on the look out. Once you reach KMA, your safety on campus will be guaranteed, but until then, you need to be careful."
Nero had the urge to ask why he was so sure that Nero would be safe in KMA, but didn’t. More than once, he had heard that KMA was totally free of external pressure, and that no one external could influence how KMA operates. Even Gabriel had claimed that it would be tough to influence which military branch they get assigned to from within KMA, though he would try.
But any time he had tried to inquire, no one gave him any specific details, simply saying stuff like KMA is highly protected and strict. He did not think the pattern would change today. He’d just have to wait until he was there to find out.
"I will be careful, but I have full faith in my fellow soldiers to keep me safe," Nero said. The irony was apparent, considering that Noman too had been killed under the protection of his fellow soldiers. Yet it was exactly in such moments that unity was needed more than doubt. Of course, this was not a reflection of Nero’s personal beliefs, but rather his assessment of how the lieutenant thought.
"Good man. You may leave and return to the caravan, they will leave shortly," the lieutenant said.
Nero saluted, and left.
It only made sense. If the existence of a path other than that of card masters became common knowledge, some people might be motivated to try it out. It would be a danger to kids and to society as well. He was sure there were many other historical events of which he had no idea.
The name, initially, sounded stupid. Eldruin - how unoriginal. Yet it was more than enough to deliver the message. In a simple way, they declared what they stood for. They went against the orthodox cultivation path, shunning the Eldrim cards, discarding aether, and choosing the corruption of cursed energy.
Such a thing required a very specific kind of mindset. So, despite first impressions, the name was very fitting. Now that they were targeting him... now that he knew they were the ones responsible for killing Noman, he at least knew his enemy. The good thing was, this was at least an enemy he could kill without restraint.
Nero picked up the pace and quickly returned to his post by Corporal Thomas’ side. No one asked him why he had been called, for they were more focused on the impending departure. Although their return was not as grand as their departure, and the Juggernauts did not escort them back, the strength of their caravan was not to be underestimated.
Marinating in that intensity, in that bloodlust accumulated by so many soldiers, Nero felt his whole body tingle. At that moment, surrounded by so many soldiers, he felt like they could conquer the world.
But to Nero’s immense surprise, the number of curses they faced on the way back was not even a fraction of what he had expected. The difficulty of this journey was actually quite insignificant compared to what they faced when they came here.
He could not help but ask Thomas about it.
"You know about the ruins, right? And the moon incident?" Thomas asked, looking down at Nero. "It was said that the cursed energy in the world became far more active after that, resulting in the birth of excessive curses, causing immense loss. Well, by now, things have returned to normal, as if the influence of that event has already faded. So it’s not that things are easier - they’ve just returned to how they used to be."
Nero looked around at the dozens of cures attacking. Well, to be fair, this was still dangerous. It would be kind of wrong to be upset that the journey was easy, right? So instead, he dismissed all random thoughts and focused solely on maintaining peak vigilance. All it would take was a single mistake for his life to end, and that was not an opportunity he would give anyone.
*****
"This is no longer something we can handle," Irene whispered as they saw the distant group enter into the Deadwood forest. The Deadwood forest, as one might be able to guess from the name, was a forest of dead trees that surrounded the world’s largest cursed zone.
It occupied a vast part of Creta, and ended at the Hills of Hope, the natural barrier that kept the cursed zone from expanding, and from the dead trees from spreading. All the citizens of Creta lived on the other side of these hills, far away from the forest or the cursed zone.
"That’s what I’ve been saying for days ," complained Invictus.
Patrick, who was studying the group enter the forest without issue, frowned.
"I can feel the thick cursed energy all the way from here ," he said. "How can they enter the forest safely?"
"It doesn’t matter, Pat," said Irene. "I’ve marked the others. My sparrow will be able to find them no matter where they are, but there’s nothing we can do anymore. We are too weak, and they no longer need to hide their movements now that they’ve entered the forest. All we can do now is leave, and return with the information we’ve gathered. It’s going to take us weeks if not months to return to Kolar anyway."
Patrick stared at the group as the last of them vanished into the forest, then turned away.
"Who said we’re going to Kolar from here?" he asked as he began his trek on the other side of the Hills of Hope, away from the Deadwood Forest. "From here, we are first going to Emenfield, the capital of Creta. A contact will meet us there, and help cross the border into Nova. From there, we can return to Kolar by simply climbing aboard a trading vessel."
"Why do you have contacts everywhere?" Invictus asked, shaking his head. Why did it seem like Invictus was the one who had spent years in Kilachi, instead of Patrick? He had no idea about any of these contacts or secret paths to cross borders, but Patrick knew them all!
"It’s not me, it’s ’us’," Patrick said with a soft smile. "The reason you don’t know about it is because you’ve barely begun your Whisper Guard training. I’ve already been training for years. I was already a member before I stabilised, and I did my first mission at the age of eleven. So I just have a whole lot more exposure than you."
Invictus pouted as he followed Patrick lead the way, causing Irene to chuckle. The issue he had wasn’t that Patrick was more experienced, or was more skilled - that was a given considering their age difference. The issue Invictus had was that whenever he said something, Patrick would ignore it, but if Irene said it, he would listen right away! That was blatant discrimination. Just because she was his wife...
Irene poked Invictus and when he looked over, she stuck her tongue out at him.
Invictus sighed, and shook his head. He was going to say something, but suddenly froze.
"There’s something coming from underground!" he suddenly yelled as he pulled out a golden card from his case and leaped in the air. Irene, too, jumped up in the air as two tattoos of wings grew out of her feet and kept her afloat.
Only Patrick remained standing as he sucked in all the cold around him, causing the temperature to rapidly rise.
The ground burst open and some kind of creature, maybe a Revenant or Tainted, leaped at him with jaws open. Yet by the time it reached him, Patrick’s body was already aflame, and the surroundings were already scorching.