"You're right, it's a trap. A very dangerous one at that." Zolast confirmed, breaking the silence of the small warded hilltop.

"Tell me," I said. Limenta was completely silent, observing us. He was smart enough to realize that, unless there was a very unexpected situation, he was there to watch and learn, not to contribute.

I always appreciated such awareness, my second favorite attribute, only behind loyalty, and immediately followed by competency. I had seen many other bosses prioritizing competency over anything else … but few of them were met with good endings.

Unaware of my little mental tangent, Zolast drew a simple layout, then covered it with a very complicated scheme, enough to give a headache. "This is the simplified layout of the wards I could detect," Zolast said. "Have you been able to detect them all?"

"Maybe a fifth," I said as I pointed at several wards in his plan, then pointed to a particularly complicated corner. "I didn't even realize there were multiple wards here. I thought all of it was a singular unit, nothing more."

"Well, it's not, but I can see why you're mistaken. It's not exactly well-crafted. The carrier lines are already mixing together, which reduces the efficiency significantly. A day or two, and it'll implode."

I sighed as I looked at the horizon, where I could already see the frontal force of the Baron. A hundred of his best warriors, mounted, led directly by him. And, only one of the four flying carts was accompanying his forces.

Apparently, he decided to split his forces, confident that only a fraction would be enough to attain victory.

A terrible decision made by a boneheaded fool, but one I preferred to the alternative. Now, even if the worst happened, the majority of his army would stay intact.

Luckily, he wasn't enough of an idiot to charge forward at full speed, keeping the troops in top condition.

"Do you think you can activate the traps early," I asked. "They might be smart enough to retreat if they see the trap being activated preemptively."

"Give me a minute," Zolast said as he closed his eyes, creating a very complicated magic structure in front of him before it delved to the ground. Some kind of detection trick, but not a simple one. "No, that won't work," he said after he opened his eyes. "There are several creatures waiting in the tunnel. This is not just an ambush, but an invasion force."

"Oh, how fun," I said even as I examined the situation. I didn't expect the trap to be that intensive. "Do you think this trap is for the Baron?" I added, afraid of his answer.

"No, he's the bait. The real trap is for someone else," Zolast declared decisively. "I'm not sure against whom. But I suspect it's just an opening salvo."

"Any idea about the real target?" I asked.

"My guess is Town Maell, but somehow it doesn't make full sense," Zolast declared immediately.

"Really?" I asked.

"My best guess," he said. "Ultimately, Town Maell hosts a breach created by the god of destruction himself. The dungeon helps drain his power, and given enough time, his effect would be cleansed…"

"But if they suddenly take control and use that connection, things will be different," I completed.

Limenta interrupted. "May I ask a question, boss?" he asked, and I nodded. "Why would he do that now, and not before?"

"Why not before part is easy. Because neither creating nor expanding a breach is a simple affair. No god wants to waste their energy without return," Zolast explained. "Ultimately, gods reside in faraway places, in their own worlds, and reaching from such a distance is not an easy task. A direct display of power takes significant resources, even for them."

I followed. "And, since he was convinced that I was on the other side of the wall, he didn't feel a need to waste his power to expand the breaches that had been created after his first attack."

"Then, what changed?" Limenta followed, which earned a sigh from me.

"I only have guesses. Maybe he finished searching every hiding spot and realized I wasn't there. Or maybe, he just got bored of waiting. And, for the moment, it doesn't matter. Regardless of the reason, we have to stop it."

"How?" Zolast said.

"I have an idea," I said. "I'm not sure if we will be able to save the baron, but at worst, it should be enough to weaken the cultists significantly," I said. "Do you think you can build an emergency defensive bulwark here?" I asked.

"As long as you bring me more mana stones, it should be doable. Especially if we don't expect it to persist for more than a few hours. Not against a dedicated siege."

"A few hours should be enough. Either it'll be enough for the reinforcements to arrive, or it'll show that there was no sign of reinforcement. How many mana stones do you need for it?" I asked.

"One of the large crates, maybe even two," he said. "I have enough to start, but you should still hurry up."

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I prepared to move, but then I decided to pull a different plan. "Limenta, you're with me," I said.

"I can handle the danger, boss," he said.

"Don't worry, it's not that. I have an important mission for you."

"Town Maell?" Zolast asked.

"Exactly. If they are targeting the town, we should expect that they have a few cells ready to attack from the inside."

"You're going to move Karak there," Zolast said.

"Yes. Mahruss as well. They are the only ones I trust who can also keep their mouths shut in the aftermath. Terma would be nice, but…"

"I'd rather face the cultists alone than try to make Terma keep a secret successfully," Zolast completed. I shook my head. He was young, and I doubted his naturally awakened Speed was helping him at all.

"It's a plan," I said as I watched Limenta climbing on the cart. I didn't bother stopping at Town Maell before I returned to the town, putting my Speed to best use. "Wait here," I said as I went into the town. Both Mahruss and Karak were at the headquarters, resting after their training.

"Rise and shine, boys," I said even as I knocked on their door aggressively. "You have a minute to get ready. We have an emergency."

"Yes, boss," they jumped up, not wasting a second as they moved. While they were preparing, I went into the vault, and picked up three crates of mana stones, then added a small crate of advanced skill stones just to be safe. After all, due to our secret dungeon, we had an excess of them. I had been planning to sell them on the black market at one point, but I had a feeling that they might be useful.

When I returned, they were fully armored, and equipped with their public weapons.

I paused for a moment, considering before I gave another order. "Bring your dungeon weapons as well, but keep them wrapped," I said.

That earned a reaction. Those dungeon weapons came from the vault of the Greens, and to hide our responsibility for their demise, we only used those weapons during our secret dungeon runs. The fact that I asked them to bring those along despite my repeated warnings was enough to show them how serious the situation was.

"Should we bring more people, boss?" Mahruss asked, while Karak stayed silent.

"No," I said, though I was glad that they had already gone into the dungeon with Limenta, and that they had already worked well together.

Any mistrust about Limenta's class would have been very inconvenient in such an important issue. A good lesson. Maybe I should open up about my Hero identity to those two soon. At this point, I didn't have any doubt about their loyalty. More importantly, they were getting good enough not to reveal it accidentally.

Something to be considered once we pass this crisis.

"Now, put on a cloak, grab a crate, and follow me," I said. We left the town in a supply carriage of our guild, our hold in the town strong enough that not even inner city guards stopped us. We could have walked out as usual as well, but no need to provide our enemies with information they didn't need.

"Limenta is a part of the mission as well," Mahruss said, his voice tense, but I was able to read his tone well. He was feeling tense, because he knew me well enough to know that I wouldn't have deployed our only Assassin without any need.

"Karak, how confident are you in identifying cultist hideouts?" I asked.

"Depends. Are they sleeper cells, or are they getting activated?"

"Our fear is the second," I said as I passed the crate to Limenta.

"How big is the target area? If it's a village, I can find the cultists easily even if they are locals," he said.

"Town Maell," I said.

"In that case, I'm not that confident," he said, his voice almost the same, but I was familiar enough to read his body language. Mahruss' face was even tenser.

I didn't blame them. Both of them were smart enough to understand the issue with the cultists couldn't be simple if we were preparing to interfere with another town openly. To their credit, they didn't ask anything else, trusting me to explain the situation.

"Sit down, we need to start moving," I said, gesturing them to their seats. Both of them looked hesitant.

"Boss, maybe we should pull it," Mahruss suggested. "It's a bit unseemly."

"Just sit down. We don't have time to care about that," I said. "You don't have the Speed necessary to pull it."

"It shouldn't make too much of a difference," he started, but he still followed my order and took a seat. Limenta grabbed the crate with one hand and grabbed the cart with the other. "What are you—" Mahruss started, only to gasp in shock.

Even Karak let out a scared little noise.

"Sorry, boys. I forgot to warn you about my Speed," I said, not bothering to hide my chuckle. "It might be a tad higher than I had revealed."

Their matching groans were amusing. It was particularly amusing to pull a reaction like that from Karak.

Though, this time, I didn't pull that prank for my amusement — well, not just for my amusement. With the immensity of the situation revealed, they started too lose their cool a bit. Worse, they were able to connect the dots enough to realize I wouldn't be with them for the mission, making it the first time they were being given such a great responsibility without me or Zolast ready to intervene in seconds.

Of course, Limenta could always send me a warning using his connection, but that was the last choice. Especially since there was no guarantee that I would have the ability to come back and help them.

Showing that I was still relaxed enough to mess with them should calm them down a bit.

As I pulled the cart, I gave them a detailed breakdown of the situation, and explained the mission. Find the cultists, let Limenta kill the hidden ones, and intervene directly if they start to get activated.

It would be inconvenient to reveal their full capabilities, but not as inconvenient as an active breach spitting out monsters.

"What if they ask questions, boss?" Mahruss asked.

"Limenta will be hidden, but you two will be in the town with your official identities. If they ask, you're here for a business deal with a trading company about opening a branch: Iron Trust Traders." They nodded. After some consideration, I passed a rune plate to Mahruss. "If the situation gets too bad, activate this. It'll summon the guards of Iron Trust Traders. If they ask about it, say that it's a part of a cooperation deal."

"Will they follow my orders?" Mahruss said.

"They should, as long as cultists don't act too aggressively and scare them. They are ordinary guards, don't expect much," I said, trusting him enough to handle the situation. "If they don't: just bludgeon them with your new Charisma skill. It should be enough."

He nodded in acceptance.

Then, I sighed and passed him something else, this time a message stone. One that would allow him to communicate with Takis, who was hidden, waiting in a nearby location, on my orders.

"And, if things really get bad, activate this, and you'll have reinforcements," I said. "But, try to keep that unless the town is about to fall, or your lives are in danger. It's a favor I don't want to call unless it's a last resort. But, it's not as important as your lives."

Mahruss nodded, and for the rest of the way, we kept the discussion to the operational details.

"We will do you proud, boss," Karak said as he nodded.

"I know you will, boys," I said, and ran once again, leaving them behind.

Hoping that I had trained them well enough.

I didn't want to lose my people, not again…