The retreat was not easy. While most of the enemies were slowed down and behind, the more faster ones, such as flying Cari, were still able to harrass Kaden and his group the entire time. They didn't need to engage in actual combat, just fling spells and then go back only to return soon after.

There was no rest. This was not problem to the phoenixes who could just keep going far longer than basically anyone else, but the mercenaries were having problems.

Kaden hoped Ciner would finally die, but if she had problems, she was not showing it.

There was finally good news. Caark was able to get connection to someone higher up with more information.

Indeed, someone had arranged a big move. Not only one enemy of phoenixes was involved, but several. Suddenly they all attacked with force at the same time. Frontlines had fallen, but actions had been taken quickly and some stronger groups and even several True Cari had taken defensive positions and held back the attack. Some territory was lost, but not as much as expected.

It was still significant. A lot of mercenaries had been lost. No phoenixes were killed. The phoenix endurance was legendary. This didn't mean many had not been severely injured and wouldn't be fighting anytime soon.

"It seems phoenix clan will have to let go of large part of territory in Madakar", Kaden thought to himself. "Eventually there will be retribution. Whatever ploy was arranged to make all this happen will not last long. Each Cari clan have their own goals and desires. They won't ally like this way for long."

Kaden also wondered whether he would have to be more careful outside of the phoenix clan home once he got back. If there was resentment for phoenixes, it might be a problem. It might even be hard to tell since random fights were common. He could be target with any flimsy random excuse.

"Its indeed probably due to the godless mana system", Kaden though to himself. He had thought about it before, but he was now even more certain. "It doesn't matter. There is no way to stop it. This is all part of the chaos its existence brings around. Not everyone is going to like it, but there is nothing they can do about it so they will simply lash out instead."

Phoenix clan had taken it first and, only after some time had passed, spread it. Timing for the current events were about right. Perhaps a bit late even.

"Could it be that Madakar isn't the only place where there was some retaliation from the fools that are afraid of gods?" Kaden pondered. "This might actually be good. I don't really like large scale war like this. I have more control, if I get to go hunt singular targets rather than work in some group."

The retribution that Kaden expected could happen much sooner than he originally believed. Phoenix clan would not want to seem weak. That would attract more trouble, if there was some sign of weakness. At any rate, everything was proceeding at more than acceptable pace.

There would be far more conflict, chaos and death along the way. He had to concentrate on the current ones on his way.

The enemy stopped following eventually. There was no point following anyone fleeing that far. They had just gained a lot of territory and they had to take actual control of it or it would be lost immediately once counter attack came.

Additionally, it seemed the group would be reaching the newly set up defenses.

The situation was far less chaotic than Kaden expected. There were many injured Cari that stayed in the back. Dead? Those didn't exist as they would be eaten by enemies.

Kaden was quickly ordered to start building formations at the defense line. Not that they were needed. No attack came. It was a good surprise move that worked once. It wouldn't work again.

In fact, Kaden heard about scouting reports that the attacking side, basically most of the clans that had grudges with phoenix clan and their allies, were now having disagreements about the newly conquered territory.

"How pathetic", Kaden muttered to himself. "Short sighted fools."

Not that it surprised Kaden. Everyone worked for themselves. Still, they could have waited for a bit longer before starting infighting. Kaden had heard that there was going to be a retribution. A show of force.

From what he understood, that was going to be True Cari going to annihilate some places. Afterwards some newer groups were going to take over that territory.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

In the end all ended up being switching of territory. In other words whatever happened was basically an useless act as far as control of territory went. At least in Kaden's opinion, that is. No one really seemed too concerned. Kaden wasn't entirely used to the entire Cari way of constant posturing. Even bigger move was basically a test of strength meant to weed out weak and let strong grow.

It might have had some reasoning on the background that the opposing side was disgruntled and wanted to send a message, but thats just about it. Basically a stronger slap on the wrist.

Kaden had to mentally sigh. He had expected it to be far bigger matter. All it meant there merely were those who didn't like recent actions of the phoenix clan.

What annoyed Kaden most that he had to stay around in the background where there was no fighting fortifying the place for next few months. His greatest concerns aside from the formation building was to avoid Ciner.

Kaden was going to switch out soon. Once the next group of fresh reinforcements came, it would be his time to leave. Freshly hired mercenaries had arrived already.

For a moment Kaden wondered just how large portion of these mercenaries that got hired by all the factions survived? For the privilege of being paid to fight for the stronger clans and all the gains from that, they would risk their lives. Kaden was pretty sure most, if not all of the strongest clans, were pretty durable, but few in number like phoenixes. It was mostly the mercenaries that died.

"Wouldn't it be better to send out mercenaries to fight some useful fight, rather than bring them here in this meat grinder?" Kaden pondered. "Such as send them closer to human borders. Why do they not take over all that area? It would probably alarm the empires, but that fight would be much more useful. As it is they are just expendable figthers for the greater clans."

Then he decided it didn't really matter to him. That war would happen sometime soon. Until then he didn't really care where all these Cari chose to go die. He only wanted to be there to pick the benefits. As it was, he wasn't getting any and it annoyed Kaden.

"Perhaps I can ask Kranor to arrange me elsewhere", Kaden thought to himself. "Like assassinations. Battlefields are not really a place where a single person can gain much. Unless you are the one that commands everyone else, that is. Whatever opinions I had of Verdict back in the Saint Empire, I did prefer small team or solo missions. My time isn't spent well here. I could gain much more that way."

There were also other matters.

"If I also can complete the full set of whatever the black fragments are, I may need personal time to understand it", Kaden continued his thoughts. "Then again, it might just remain far beyond my understanding even once completed."

Eventually the group of phoenixes from the clan came. It was a bit larger group than what Kaden's had been. The clan probably took things a bit more seriously.

It was time for Kaden to leave. While the trip to Madakar had allowed him to grow to or at least close to the limit between initial and mid Lower Cari stage, he wished for something more. The phoenix clan would likely still demand more of him, but for the time being they might allow some room for personal moves.

The defensive lines around the territory controlled by phoenixes and their allies were more heavily defended this time. Kaden ran into no problems on the way out of Madakar.

Instead of going back towards phoenix clan, the direction was Caricoun. This was not unexpected. There were things such as the spending of contribution points. It was alliance of two clans so these things were handled on neutral ground.

Kaden was feeling excited.

"This is the chance to get the black fragment", Kaden though to himself.

He had been waiting already ever since his first visit to Caricoun. Many years had already passed. If his understanding of the black fragments was correct, the fragment or fragments had likely not moved anywhere. They seemed to gather towards those who lacked faith to gods. Kaden himself rejected them entirely and so he had already collected many. If any conditions had not changed, whatever remaining fragments existed, they would come to his hands.

They also seemed to be a puzzle to collect. Kaden was fairly certain something new could be discovered once he had all the parts. He had already determined it was likely one or two parts at most. He hoped it was just one more.

Kaden truly could not wait to uncover the secret behind the mysterious objects. In this world, gods and those worshipping them were everywhere. Probably almost all intelligent beings worshipped a god. Yet, these black fragments had clearly been made to reject gods and their influence and deceive those who did worship gods.

Who would have done such a thing? They were even beyond everyone he had met so far. Their material was unknown. This meant at some point there likely had existed someone very very powerful who rejected gods.

Kaden was very happy about it. This meant his path of rejecting gods was not unique and that someone had reached extremely high level of power while doing so.

Was historical records of such an invidual simply purged? Had it all happened in secret?

At the very least Kaden expected scattering of the fragments be intentional. Churches would have contained such objects if they knew of them. Therefore, even if this invidual had been defeated, the fragments had been scattered without knowledge of the churches. If this person had remained unknown, the fragments had been scattered intentionally.

There were things that could be guessed. Were the framents a test? Collect all and then be guided somewhere? Or perhaps they were some artifact that had been broken apart and scattered so that the churches wouldn't get it?

"Perhaps I will be able to learn soon!" Kaden continued his thoughts. "Whoever made this, clearly opposed gods. There are so many things I could gain that will help me to do so too."

The more he could cause trouble to churches and gods the better. What could the creator of the black fragments have left behind to be discovered? Hopefully something powerful.