Not too far from their hideout was Alvor giving his command.

“Listen everyone; this is the only time we might be able to pull this off. If somehow we messed this up, doing it the second time will be far from easy”, he exclaimed at everyone under his command, including the Knights of Gregoria.

“We can’t mess this up, especially you”, he pointed at Nicolas. “You are our greatest asset so it would be bad for you to space out.”

“Nicolas? Are you alright?”, Alisa whispered, shaking him as he read the letter his father had written.

"Yeah, yeah, I’m listening”, he kept looking down as he folded the paper, putting it back in his pocket before facing her with a bittersweet smile.

“We will proceed as planned. The mixture of our men and the knights led by Anton and Donnor will enter from the right hills while I and the remaining will do it from the overgrowth. When everything is ready, Alisa will fire one of her glowing arrows in the air, commencing the operation. Did I make that clear?”

"Yes, sir!”, all of them yelled with utmost pride.

Moments later, the dawning sky was painted with the white glow of Alisa’s soul. Painting the whole state with life as everyone began the operation. All was going according to plan; everyone was prepared not only physically but mentally as they approached, but there’s one thing that bugged them all.

“Are they supposed to leave no one on guard. I thought even them would see the signal”, Nicolas uttered as he felt a hint of doubt.

Alvor too had a bad feeling but tried to dismiss it, “I know, so keep sharp.”

Both groups cautiously approached, crouching to the level of the shrubs to further hide their presence. After making sure that everyone had circled the building, Anton and Alvor yelled on top of their lungs.

“Charge!”.

Despite being abandoned by the family that once resided in it, the current state of the place could still considered as grand. The doors are still sturdy with functional locks, the windows were a little dusty but intact; a large vase decorated the walls together with paintings and the shriveled flowers that each contained. Furniture covered with white blankets left to gather dust.

But even the sturdiest doors would not be able to withstand a slice from a sword that does not obey reality itself. The plan was going smoothly—too smoothly for comfort.

“Commander”, one of the men holding a luminous sword reported. “The whole place was deserted; some of the rooms has evidence of being used but we think they’ve already left.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Same on our end”, Anton also reported, closing in to regroup as he put back his sword into its sheath. “Could someone from your end have leaked some information to the enemy?”, he blankly gazed at Alvor.

“Are you implying that we have a traitor on our side? How can you be so sure that the traitor is not from your end”, he threw the accusation back as they both stared at the large but poorly painted words on the wall.

“The early bird gets the worm, as they say, but we are no worm and the bird is on our side.”

“To whom Hunter supposed to be grouped with?”, Alisa blurted, her face pale and alarmed as she scanned everyone in the room.

“Aren’t he supposed to be with you? He and I are the only shield bearers here, so we took separate groups in case we were on a tight spot”, Donnor explained, followed by the men he and Anton were leading.

Nicolas too entered the room, holding a pink ribbon, “Come to think of it, I don’t think I saw him today, I put so much faith in him, It never crossed my mind that he’d bail on us.”

“I knew I should have talked about it last night. I should not have trusted him!”, Alisa exclaimed in frustration, punching the wall. Self-destructive thoughts ran through her mind, thinking that her incompetence might once again be the cause of another incident.

Nicolas quickly caught her fist and tried to calm her down, “Why, what happened?”

“I should have told you what I saw last night; I’m sorry.”

“What did you see?”, Anton asked, angry and frustrated.

“I saw him venturing the woods last night. He met with a man wearing a cloak; I should have spoken sooner”, she explained as she was eaten by guilt.

“Well, would you look at that, The traitor was on your end after all”, Alvor glared at Anton, who’s now looking even more stressed than before.

“No, that can’t be right, Alisa”, Nicolas uttered. “He’s a coward but he’s no traitor; well, he might be in the past but not now.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s been trying so hard to make up for what he did and knows very well that I’d kill him if he tried anything funny. Besides, I’m the one who talked to him last night.”

“Enough with your chatter, youngsters”, they followed Donnor’s voice to the window, “I don’t know what to believe right now but we have a bigger problem than that”, he said, watching a man riding a horse coming from the direction of the town. Blood stained, panting, and scared.

“Is the former Lord Donnor Cromwell here!”, the man came shouting as he entered the Mansion. He fell to his knees, weak and bleeding.

“You’re from the town guards, right?”, Alvor asked.

“You’re men asked me to tell you— those people— they’re causing havoc in town; many have already died. We tried everything that we could, but they just won’t die, they keep rising back up whatever injury take took”, he came into tears.

“We tried surprising them, but they surprised us instead”, Donnor worriedly whispered as the sun tried shining through the brimming dark sky.

Nicolas, who’s still fixated at the window, suddenly fell to his knees, breathing heavily, sweating, and trembling. His hands were clasping his head from both sides while covering his ears. Voices started to cloud his hearing as a familiar headache began to assault his head, countless cries echoing through his head, begging for release, begging to be saved.

“NO”, he squealed, taking everyone’s attention.

“What’s wrong, Nicolas?”, Alisa assisted him.

“The citizens— their souls— they’re being harvested.”

“What’s going on?”, Anton and Alvor also queried.

Nicolas only stared at the both of them, terrified and stuttering, “So— someone is forcefully harvesting souls; they are all screaming! Matthew, what have you done!”

With all the commotion that’s going on and the news coming directly from Nicolas, all of them rushed for the town. It was a bit far and by the time they arrived, the sun must have already been up, but thanks to the smoke and what looks like a brewing storm, not a single ray of light could pass.