Outposts' Defense

"Sir, there you are. Why have you been ignoring all our people's messages?!" Schnell was worried all the way as he tried finding Ciemnosc's whereabouts, barely confirming he was at the Little Lake whereas Mosto left a trail with his huge feet and legs making the strong grass around flat and pointing towards a certain direction. Only like so did he find Ciemnosc and Mosto who was still drying his feet up at the side.

"What is it now?" With all the calmness in the world, Ciemnosc stepped forward and tapped Schnell's left shoulder with his right hand, asking like he was merely talking about the weather. Schnell almost went crazy but didn't, and with his eyes showing imploration. He began. "Commander, please!! You have to return! The 3 outposts have reported large advancement from the 3 other major organizations."

"Each outpost is now preparing to face a different one as we speak. These damn Moribund Yearning Cult believers have actually made an alliance with them, and so quickly!" Schnell urged but then saw that Ciemnosc was still nodding with ease before then patting his right arm and beginning to walk back to the semi-finished stronghold with normal steps.

“Schnell,” Ciemnosc said, a tone similar to simply walking around the park with a buddy accompanying his voice out of his throat. “How has it been going with your new line of work? Any major troubles or minor ones? What’s all of what you all know of as we speak that the outposts had been doing and are doing? How have most things been going?”

Schnell was about to urge Ciemnosc once more, this time to walk faster, but seeing that he was asking about his job, Schnell began walking with his back straight and his tone firm. “All outposts have seen some subordinate cultivators trying to defect or refusing to join their posts. Some had been imprisoned already and waiting for trial while others were nervous and fearful but not that cowardly; for what it seems.”

“Mmm, ‘some’?” Ciemnosc lowered his head, then raised his eyes upturned to look at Ciemnosc at his right. Schnell’s eyes quickly opened up a bit more, and he felt an electric jolt before rapidly recomposing and explaining properly. “A couple thousand, commander. Outpost 1 was the worst in this matter, as there were more subordinate cultivators refusing to move, and they also had the least number of them in their ranks.”

“Hum, Ernesto has gone too soft?” Ciemnosc asked his right index, thumb, middle, and ring finger against his chin, covering it slightly. Schnell placed his hands below his own chest in front before explaining even more. “No, no, commander. Ernesto is actually following your instructions for the training regimen of both the fellow sect disciples and subordinate cultivators.”

“It’s just that…because he is really good at moving them and training them, the subordinate cultivators began to grow fond of outpost 1 and refused rather adamantly by saying they wanted to just stay and help in the outpost rather than to fight for it and keep on training or so within it.”

“It is also the fact that their own organizations don’t even have training grounds, let alone such specific and helpful, advanced training regimens that are different to what any cultivators knew of before,” Schnell said with some amazement on his part as well, everyone felt like this training, though somewhat lacking since there was barely any use of sparring against one another.

‘If I were to tell that it resembled a ‘mortal’s’ training, would you disdain it instead?’ Ciemnosc shook his head imperceptibly at Schnell’s words of amazement and thought. Then, he looked up before turning his head to Schnell and patted the latter’s right shoulder with his right hand. Ciemnosc spoke with a light atmosphere surrounding him, “Let’s first talk to the guests, there’s still some time before they arrive, and this time, though they stopped sending messages to me after a while, they didn’t report to me way too late; I suppose.”

“Uh…mnm, alright.” Schnell said though he did not need to say anything at all, merely feeling the need for this ‘verbal agreement’ that his commander so much is after with every meeting there is between the others with him, and so on.

…They then made their way towards a certain location within the stronghold. They entered a boring, dull, and rough-like building that was rather small…but that was for the naked eye, as the entire building itself was several floors with each of them being still rather small but somehow large, keeping the same length and width as the went more than 20 floors below the ground level.

Entering it, Ciemnosc first saw the reception which was for now empty, and from which only alarm arrays were placed in case anyone without an Identification Token stepped in or so. They went to the stairs, though Schnell preferred and recommended the elevator, which Ciemnosc had ended up adding for each building.

Naturally, they took the stairs and went to the first underground floor, where Ciemnosc immediately saw the cells on this jail-like building and accompanied Schnell as if he didn’t know the place at all despite designing it himself. Schnell moved around and used his Identification Token rather smoothly and quickly like he was used to it already, making way for Ciemnosc once they got to the inside of a cell from the few within each floor.

Accompanied by Mosto, Ciemnosc went inside a cell while Schnell also went in but remained on the floor where he stood with tranquility, and both his hands overlapping each other in front of his pelvis, yet, those within the cell were trembling the moment they saw Schnell come back.

“Hey, look at me. He may look handsome and really dashing, but I’m his boss and more handsome~.” Ciemnosc crouched down when in front of a person seemingly incapable of moving, his limbs as if malnourished and dried up of blood and muscle, leaving only flaccid skin and not even the strength to raise such light weight.

The cult believer ‘woke up’, directly noticing Ciemnosc’s smallish cultivation at the Link Consolidation realm, spouting out with cowardice but still the pride of being a higher leveled cultivator. “Piss off, kid! You Self-Mutilating Honores ssshits really think you can humiliate us in any way you want, huh?! PISS OFF!”

“Hmmm,” Ciemnosc tilted his head to the right, immediately Mosto went over and showcased his even sturdier, impenetrable, and solid cultivation base at the Spirit Gathering realm 10th stage, much scarier than Schnell’s, which he probably was still in the midst of in the middle of the 10th stage while Mosto was quite more advanced within the same stage.

“Talk,” Ciemnosc spoke again, and he wasn’t ignored this time as the believer felt Ciemnosc’s words at last and began babbling. “I- I- I- I don’t have anything more to say, I- I’ve told you everything I know! I’m j-j- ju- just a Phrenic realm cultivator. Please don’t do anything to me anymore!”

“...” From the nearby prisoners, they looked at their fellow cult with both disdain but also shame, as it was obviously too shameful to see one of their own appear so subservient to just another enemy from one of the 3 major organizations. But they themselves have also told everything to Schnell and the people he brought with him from time to time. They at least got to eat Creature’s meat if they did cooperate.

Though they didn’t know that those were just the most bland type of foods the Self-Mutilating Honores Sect had to eat every day, they did think that their food supply was being ruined by making them feed their malnourished bellies. It at least gave them something to grab and hold tight to.

“Mm-m,” Ciemnosc shook his head, no longer dragging his voice nor words as he made the cult believer begin to show signs of apprehension. Ciemnosc then said rather specifically. “How about telling me of the relations of your leader with the other 3 major organizations. hidden within my sect’s organizational territory?”

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“Gulp…” Ciemnosc looked as the believer gulped. He smirked with the left corner of his mouth as he added. “Nothing can be heard from the outside from here, that’s why the walls are made so thick, and I even added some unique materials to the mixture. That’s why you don’t know yet, but your people have come back…”

Ciemnosc looked deep into the cult believer’s eyes, even closing in his head to the latter without seemingly caring about a possible outburst from such and getting killed in response. The cult believer was told by himself that he was the boss after all. And while Mosto and Schnell, mostly Mosto, were about to step up, Ciemnosc’s dragged-on, hoarse voice stopped them in their tracks.

“...with a couple of new friends who are right now, as we speak, moving towards all those 3 outposts whom you saw there was barely any way for you to even face off.” Ciemnosc’s words chilled the cult believer immediately, he began speaking, and with such a hurry that he bit his tongue a few times. He was at least 10 times more sincere than sincere.

“No, no, please! I don’t know anything. The boss didn’t start talking to them even before we set off to assault and steal the outpost away from your hands. We didn’t even know you had such a young- promising, and excellent boss! Please, let me live!” He thrashed about as much as he could and looked at Ciemnosc’s eyes with hope and begging, looking all so human.

“Mmm, no need to be like this.” Ciemnosc’s voice became quiet, really quiet and calm. He tilted his head around for a bit before saying to the believer with his right hand on the latter’s left shoulder. “I’m just interested in your body, not your life! So don’t worry about having to plead anymore.”

“W-what?” The believer was confused, though Mosto was looking at Ciemnosc with silent, profound eyes and Schnell felt a cold sweat begin rushing up his back from somewhere.

“Eerr, not like that, no no no.” Ciemnosc stood up and looked down at the believer, feeling sorry he had led such a misunderstanding to happen. He shook his hands with his fingers spread open. “I’m just talking about dissecting you alive, nothing weird. Pheewsh, I’ll have to do it right after this battle if I don’t want Valy killing you off right away.”

Clap.

“Okay, Schnell, make sure to contain them even stronger now. If anyone successfully kills themselves while I’m gone. You’ll go to paperwork and have a temporary boss from any random in your team.” Saying so, Ciemnosc exited the cell with Mosto behind him while a sour-faced Schnell began fidgeting with the keys in his hands, quickly turning around and using his Identification Token to present it before the panel of the cell from outside that came out from the ground

The panel didn’t work in the same way as the cylindrical object did in the arenas of the sect, it simply showed itself whenever those with authority within the building requested to see it to the arrays making the entire place work, something that wasn’t new and was mostly basic knowledge about arrays.

The panel then simply popped out from the floor by pivoting, presenting itself to Schnell, who crouched down to look at it and make some changes, his Identification Token still presented to it. There was a wide distance of 3 meters between cells and a panel for each cell just 1 meter away from them, so it was more than safe for Schnell even if he was of a lower cultivation base.

“AAAAAAHH!! Nbvoooooohh…!!” While Schnell hurried up outside to rejoin Ciemnosc, hollow shouts came from behind and then from below while walking up the stairs, disappearing once they stepped close to the main floor.

. . .

A few minutes later, Ciemnosc appeared along with Mosto and with Schnell right behind them. The former stood up in the main tent and just behind Ciemnosc’s chair with Valeria already present. While Schnell remained farther behind Ciemnosc and with his hands in front of his pelvis, wearing that new uniform that looked sneaky-black yet had bright, pale brown all around the torso and covering his shins, knees, and thighs from both sides.

Screech~.

Ciemnosc pulled his chair and then sat on it. The now fewer people inside the tent sat back down after he did, with a bit of respect at the very least now, and then Ciemnosc turned on all of the monitors in front of him.

Buzzh, buzzh, buzzh.

“Yeah, and take another 2 squads with you!” Makis suddenly appeared shouting at somebody, he wasn’t in the command center of outpost 3, and his shout immediately attracted the attention of subordinate cultivation in the other outposts, who then called Ernesto and Shidar right after informing them that the call had started.

“Sir, commander!” - “Commander, it’s good that you’re here.” - “Commander Ciemnosc, reporting.” Makis was the first to greet Ciemnosc, while Ernesto and Shidar were next respectively, as they arrived at the screen in their outposts’ command center instead of a portable one, unlike Makis.

“Mn, at ease,” Ciemnosc said, seeing that even Makis was constantly observing around and from which lights colored his face slightly; everyone was at all times making sure they were monitoring the happenings around their people, and that was good.

“Making, you go first.” Ciemnosc didn’t even bother to elaborate, simply giving Makis’s screen a glance and that was not enough for everyone except Makis to know that the commander was indeed looking at himself. But he responded 1 second later, in a right-away fashion. “Sir, I’ve chosen another simple formation. This time, with 15,000+ to the north, 6,000 to the south, and about 9,000 to the center.”

“There are about 7,000 Eagerburning Flames Sect’s disciples moving towards outpost 3, but they’ve begun covering their numbers after approaching the 100th-kilometer mark of the outpost. They’ve already divided themselves into t3 forces.”

“I’ve begun mobilizing several squads in their cars in case there is a situation at the first line of defense, to make time but not endanger them. The rest are about to set off to their position as we speak.” Makis elaborated, not having that much to tell anyways.

Makis could’ve spoken about the number of tools ready to be used in the next battle or several if it went that way, and of the possible strategies to deal with the approaching enemy, but that was barely necessary as it would have to be a fight like before but with the genuine addition of their armored cars for cultivators that were still not yet seen.

“Shidar, that’s your cue now.” Ciemnosc calmly said after turning his head away from Makis’s screen and directing it into Shidar’s in outpost 2. She lifted her eyebrows almost indiscernibly and then opened her lips to speak, “Sir commander, some squads have been sent to march preemptively should any occasion present itself from outpost 1 to the first line of defense.”

“The enemy is the Preferential Light Justice Sect’s sect disciples, who number in the 9,000 and have also similarly begun hiding their divided forces’ numbers. I’ve sent 4,000 to the north, 10,000 to the center, and about 15,000+ to the south.” Shidar spoke somewhat hesitatingly, and Ciemnosc could tell why as did Makis.

In case there was another such thing like a huge attack, going all out and using all kinds of even more dangerous— for both sides —tools of an even higher level, then it would become easier for her to send her forces to aid the outpost 3 from a large coalition of 2 or 3 major organizations’ attack.

“Ernesto?” Ciemnosc said before turning his head to the former’s screen and asking with a rough tone, his eyes as if tired and looking at Ernesto’s face without barely any emotion visible. Ernesto lowered his head in a semi-nod before proceeding with his own report.

“Commander Ciemnosc, the number of enemies coming towards outpost 1 is 7,000; they are from the Moribund Yearning Cult and did carry a lot of tools like the ones from before with even more cultivators of lower cultivation base. Squads have been dispatched in case of an emergency at the first line of defense while the ‘cavalry’ is preparing to set off already.”

“From our side, 6,000 have been placed at the north and east, while the south will have 18,000+ sect disciples. They don’t seem to have changed any of their tactics, from what we could see before they began hiding from our scouts’ eyes. But there are at least many more of those dangerous tools at the rear, and their troops were no longer mixing their corpses or puppets among their own.”

“...” Ciemnosc didn’t nod, but he simply looked away from Ernesto’s screen. He took quite a moment of silence, to which a sect disciple within the tent was monitoring the enemy moving towards each outpost and the remaining time before they would reach the first barrier of the protective array. The moment that sect disciple spoke, Ciemnosc lifted his head and began giving his orders, “70 kilometers before reaching the first line of defense.”

“Shidar, change your deployment to 6,000 to the north and the south, then the remaining 18,000+ at the center. Make sure to bring many more pre-inscribed protective, small arrays per squad than before, and attack in charging waves, not all at once. Deploy the subordinate cultivators equally on each side of outpost 2. How many did you pick today?” Ciemnosc asked at the end.

Shidar straightened her back, having seen how and why the commander had changed the deployment of Makis back then, trepidation covering her back with sweat. But it was at least not cold sweat. She answered Ciemnosc with a light, shaky tone of her voice. “There are 10,000 sir. I had to take some extra since there were quite some deserters.”

“Mn, good then. Now, Makis,” Ciemnosc said, not turning his head towards their screens still and solely looking at the monitors in front of him. The people within the main tent didn’t seem to know what he was finding so useful or even entertaining to this point from the monitors at this moment.

…