Eventually, the group of six made it near where the cultists were spotted. They slowed their movements and looked for any signs of traps being placed. After finding nothing they grouped up.

"Alright, do you have an idea of how many enemies there are?" Elizabeth asked.

"Nope." Immediately responded Ezekiel.

Lily then slapped him on the back of the head and chastised him.

"I thought you said you took care of it!?"

He then tried to calm her down.

"Wait, wait, I was just having some fun. While I didn't technically count how many are located here, based on some documents we found and the people we counted in the other bases it was 20 or more but less than 25."

The others around, including Elizabeth, were not shocked in the least, it was almost as if they were expecting him to pull something like that.

"Twenty to twenty-five… based on those three cultists I fought before, I could probably manage that by myself." Elizabeth quietly remarked.

She then began discussing a plan with those present.

"Is there any way to get past that barrier without alerting them?" She asked

"Well, I already prepared for that so I brought some-"

But before they finished they noticed Ezekiel walk away.

"?"

"?"

"?"

"?"

"You idiot what are you-"

Lily and the rest were stupefied by what he did next. He stuck his hand into the barrier before eventually walking into it.

"Just as I thought, this thing's harmless."

Even when he did something like this the four except Lily seemed like they had expected as much. They then began walking towards the barrier together.

"You idiot, why the hell did you do that!? Do you like watching people die? Do you think being outnumbered is a joke?" She shouted at him.

"Now, now, Lily, Elizabeth said these guys are small fries, so what's there to worry about?"

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Lily looked like she was about to burst from anger but he continued.

"Why the hell do we need a plan for things like them? We're not hunting a fox nor are we searching for a bounty. We're cleaning up some trash, simple as that. With me and Elizabeth here, their deaths are basically confirmed. With our help, everyone here should be able to handle some small fries."

Before Lily could retort to what she believed to be an asinine statement, voices started shouting at them. They were coming from a few men wearing regular clothing.

"Who the hell are you guys!?"

"Unless you bastards want a fist up your ass you better turn around!"

"Dumbass, we can't let them escape after seeing us!"

The men took out various weapons and charged the adventurers. Before they even knew what happened they fell to the floor. Elizabeth swung her sword in the air to fling the blood off and sheathed it again. Those present except Lily gave a brief applause and continued on into the forest.

Lily wondered if she was the weird one here, but she just shrugged her shoulders looking defeated and followed them.

In a rickety shack further into the forest there were four men gathered that were sitting on the floor, forming an enclosed space in front of them. One threw a pair of dice in the open space and punched the ground. He was bald, had a beard and was a bit fat while also having noticeable muscle. For some reason, he wasn't wearing a shirt.

"Snake eyes again? What kinda horseshit is this? Zama give me more of your coins."

The man in front of him sighed and handed some over.

"Boss, is it really gambling if we're just forced to give you gold when we lose?"

"That's priest to you jackass!" He said while grabbing the gold out of Zama's hand.

"Boss, you're only a priest because of your strength."

The other men present nodded their heads and agreed.

"Shut the hell up you slackers, do you think just any muscle head can be responsible for covering a retreat."

"You say that but isn't this just Father Daniel's plan with you doing what you're supposed to by staying here?"

The bald man then slapped the man although it looked more like he received a punch as he was sent flying out of the shack.

"Tch, you better not mention that annoying bastard's name or I'll actually kill you next time. Bastard thinks he can order me around just cause he fucked up and got too greedy. When we get back I'll report it to a bishop and see how high and mighty he acts then."

One of the men got up to pick up their fallen comrade, brought him back into the shack and tossed him to the side. When he was about to sit back down he asked something "Boss how much longer we gotta be here?"

"Ask that bastard Daniel, he was supposed to send us a letter when he got out of the country yet we haven't heard shit. Maybe he's too busy giving the new believers some speeches none of them give a shit about." He then gave a hearty laugh and rolled the dice again. He got a six and five.

"Unless any of you bastards are feeling lucky you better be ready to hand over your gold."

As the bald man was about to win his first round so far, a man rushed into the tent.

"Priest Saito! It appears we've been located!"

The man then grabbed the dice and threw them through the shack's wall leaving two holes.

The priest then got up, grabbed the man by his collar and lifted him up.

"Are you fucking with you little shit? As soon as I win a game you expect me to believe some assholes are out there right now." After he closed his mouth he heard some noise outside the voices of various cultists he recognized shouting. He then threw the man to the ground and clicked his tongue. The men sitting on the ground got up and immediately went outside.

The man then cracked his neck by twisting it and reached for something in his pocket.

"What a pain in the ass. You're gonna be lucky if the higher-ups even let you be a priest after this, Daniel."