Thick candles flickered inside the tent, casting bright light across the space.
Leilin, Rafinia, and several other squad leaders sat in a circle, with Olan at the head. A massive map of the Dark Night Forest hung on one side of the tent.
"This mission is extremely dangerous, so I'd like to ask you all first — do you have any good plans?"
Olan furrowed her elegant brows, but the responses from those below left her somewhat disappointed.
"What about you, Leilin?" Olan looked at Leilin with expectant eyes.
The army wizard held a high status, and Leilin had long since proven his capabilities — he was the second most important person in the entire team.
"There's no additional intelligence at the moment. All we know is their approximate location, and that they have high-level Beastkin among them... Under these circumstances, all we can do is heighten our vigilance and wait for an opportunity to find their weaknesses..."
Though Leilin's words were perfectly reasonable, Olan still frowned — she hadn't heard what she wanted to hear.
Leilin naturally understood what the elf was thinking. He did have a plan, but it involved Tifa and the others, so how could he possibly tell Olan about it?
"Fine... Sorry to have interrupted your dinners. Meeting adjourned!"
Olan looked at the group wearily and finally waved her hand.
Clearly, she was already beginning to feel a touch of despair.
"Don't worry, Sister Olan! Justice will always triumph over evil. Those wretched Beastkin can't possibly defeat us!"
The only one still brimming with confidence at a time like this was the young knight.
This was still a world where individual strength reigned supreme. With the power of a High Knight, Rafinia had smoothly taken over the position of a fallen officer and become a squad leader, which entitled her to attend the meeting.
"I believe in you..."
Olan forced a bitter smile. She had no energy left to say anything more.
"Leilin! Why do you think Olan ended up looking like that..."
After leaving the tent, Rafinia still asked Leilin with some confusion: "Is the mission too difficult..."
"It's nothing..."
Leilin shook his head, suddenly feeling that all of Rafinia's previous training had been for nothing.
"My lady! The fish soup is ready!"
At that moment, one of Rafinia's attendants had already served two bowls of thick fish soup, along with white bread as a staple. There were even some freshly picked berries.
"Mmm!" Rafinia cheered and began to enjoy her dinner.
Watching her like this, Leilin smiled and slowly tore the white bread into pieces, dipping them in fish soup before putting them in his mouth.
"Rafinia!" As they were about to part ways, Leilin called out to her deliberately.
"Hm? What is it?" Rafinia still had bread crumbs around the corner of her mouth, looking like a gluttonous little cat.
"Nothing much. I have a feeling tonight might not be peaceful. Make sure you keep your weapon close!"
Leilin warned her.
"Got it!" When it came to serious matters, Rafinia's head finally stopped malfunctioning, and she agreed solemnly.
After they parted, Leilin looked left and right. When he saw no one paying attention, he flickered and slipped into Olan's tent.
Night fell!
The silver moonlight appeared particularly dim tonight, with dark clouds drifting past from time to time, making the light even more hazy.
The north wind howled, and the temperature dropped further. Everyone besides the patrol guards had already retreated into their tents. The unfortunate night-duty soldiers could only huddle tighter into their collars, cursing their bad luck.
Suddenly, a thick bank of dark clouds drifted over and completely swallowed the moon.
The light vanished in an instant. Apart from a few campfires, there was nothing — visibility blurred immediately, and even sitting right next to the flames, one could barely see anything beyond five meters.
"What a dark night! What thick fog!"
One of the patrol soldiers complained.
"Give me a break! I've seen far more terrifying fog out on the Boundless Wilderness. You literally couldn't see your own fingernails when you reached out..."
Another patrol soldier said dismissively.
"You're right!" The younger-looking patrol soldier nodded, then tensely gripped his weapon. "Who's there?"
Through the fog, a hazy figure was approaching.
"It's me," the figure said calmly, the voice utterly familiar.
"Oh! Sir!" The two patrol soldiers immediately saluted. But the instant they bent over, several cold flashes of light swept past.
"Mmph..."
Shock and bewilderment filled the young soldier's eyes as both hands clutched tightly at his neck, where a thin line of blood was slowly widening.
The two bodies crumpled silently to the ground, attracting virtually no one's attention.
The hazy figure seemed to sigh. Then it moved to the front of another tent.
"Who's there?" Leilin's voice came from inside the tent.
"It's me! Lancier!" The figure's voice was perfectly calm.
"Oh! Is something the matter? Hold on a moment — let me disarm the magic alarm."
A burst of light flared inside the tent, and then the flap was pulled back, revealing Leilin's slightly puzzled face. "Come in!"
The figure stepped into the tent, and the bright lamplight illuminated its slender frame. A half-face black gauze mask covered its features — it was none other than the team's scout leader, Lancier!
"Coming here this late — there must be something important."
Leilin had tossed aside his military wizard's uniform, leaving only his white shirt, exposing a solid chest that looked quite masculine.
"Well, you see... about this mission, I have an idea..."
Lancier's voice carried a strange undertone.
"An idea? Why didn't you bring it up during the afternoon meeting? Is there some difficulty?"
Leilin's expression turned serious as he unconsciously moved a little closer to Lancier.
"Well! Actually..."
Lancier's voice grew even lower, prompting Leilin to stretch his neck — and in that very instant, everything changed!
A silver gleam of sharp light suddenly appeared in Lancier's hand and thrust viciously toward Leilin's neck! At that moment, Leilin had no protection whatsoever.
With Lancier's strength as a high-level assassin, if this attack connected, the only outcome would be death!
Pop! The dagger sliced through Leilin's neck without any resistance, but the expected spray of blood never came. Leilin's entire body seemed to transform into an enormous soap bubble before bursting apart, producing nothing more than a gust of wind.
"This is... a Major Illusion!!!"
Lancier's expression shifted rapidly, and upon realizing the Leilin before her was merely a fake, she leapt out of the tent at full speed.
But then she saw a ring of people surrounding her.
The real Leilin stood in immaculate wizard's robes, his staff already aimed at her from a distance, with the fully armed Rafinia beside him.
And at the center, Olan looked at Lancier with an expression of disbelief tinged with sorrow.
"Lancier! I never imagined it would be you! We've known each other for over fifty years, and yet even that couldn't withstand the corrosion of power..."
Grief was written across Olan's face.
"Friendship? Was it ever real?" Lancier lifted her veil, revealing a young woman's face — except the left side was crisscrossed with knife scars that utterly destroyed any beauty, even making it somewhat ugly.
This world had the power of divine magic, yet she had kept the scars on her face all this time. Either they held some special meaning, or the person who dealt the blow had deliberately left destructive force in the wounds to prevent divine magic from taking effect.
"Since that night, I'm no longer who I used to be!"
Lancier smiled coldly and pulled the veil back into place, her eyes now filled with undisguised hatred.
"So... you still can't let it go..." Olan said sadly.
"Who do you really work for? The Beastkin? Or some other faction?"
Leilin couldn't be bothered with these emotional entanglements. He stepped forward and took command, having Lancier completely surrounded.
Anyone who opposed them was an enemy. If you couldn't win them over mentally and bring them to submission, you could only eliminate them physically — that was the law of this entire world of gods!
"Kneel and repent for your sins! Confess everything! This is your last chance to live!"
Leilin declared solemnly, though privately he held no hope of the persuasion working. One look and you could tell she was the type with an iron will, her entire soul consumed by vengeance.
For the sake of revenge, she would drag everyone else down to hell with her!
That look of someone willing to sacrifice everything — Leilin knew it all too well! And so, when he saw the smile curling at the corner of her lips, he simply waved his hand. "Kill her!"
The radiance of battle qi and magic flickered in rapid succession.
Lancier was merely a high-level rogue. With her abilities, she could certainly have caused enormous trouble for Leilin's side from the shadows, but a head-on confrontation was clearly not her forte.
With the help of Leilin and Rafinia, it didn't take long before Lancier — hit by a Slowing Spell — was stabbed in the abdomen by two massive steel swords, and scalding blood poured out.
"Incapacitate her!"
"Jinqi, heal her!"
Lancier was, after all, Olan's friend, and Leilin couldn't go too far.
"Haha... I'd die before accepting your kindness! And besides... do you really think this is over?"
Lancier's veil had long since fallen during the fight, blood foam seeping from the corner of her mouth, and paired with her hideous expression, she looked even more terrifying.
"What?"
Olan's expression changed.
"C-Captain..."
At that moment, Aoge — who had been responsible for setting up traps along the perimeter to guard against attacks — was carried in by others. "It's the Beastkin! Their strength has far exceeded our expectations..."