The answer at how long they built up strength was: Three Months.

What they worked on I have no idea, as they have eliminated my direct spy right away. The Information from Angie are not really helpful as of right now, only the movements of the hidden currents could only seen vaguely. The Fighters left for two Months, before new fighters came.

Their behaviour has changed a bit. While Angie notices the rather heavy armed people first, the more subtle lithe people were more in the background. She noticed them mostly as they were the silent kind and were even ignored by most of the Mercenaries, except the new people with their heavier equipment.

Scouts or spies before the heavy infantry? They go at the infiltration in a two tiered approach, maybe more. I should be wary.

The last visit of Mordred had been a week before the motion of the Amulet suddenly peaked. Normally it gets stored in the chamber for valuable products right after the use, as it is the key for even entering the Forest. Prime got sent with a message to the Root about the incoming force to be careful. She will be back in half a day, at most.

…

“Remember the briefing. Orders from above tell about heavy forces. Main target is a white haired rat Ferral. Do not approach her alone after the breach. She might use strengthening Magic to be able to fight with able Warriors alone.”

Wrong, she is that strong to begin with. I pity them trying to attack Snow, maybe I should have told them a different lie, but now it is too late.

“Goal is the elimination of all forces. Collateral is allowed as long as it does not pollute the Mana well.”

The commander is rather monotone in his commands. He obviously has done that more than once. While we are at it, they are about a Kilometre before the entrance to the Crater. Far away but still if they wear my Amulet, I can hear everything around them anyway.

They analysed it and deemed it ‘safe’ and even helpful, as the anti Monster field can be amplified with Magic. If they could not find the small rift, it is their problem for letting me spy on them.

…

Deep in the Night, at the entrance of the Crater. The gates are closed and the Drawbridge pulled up for security. With some kind of magical acid the bars on the first Gate were silently removed by the six spy type Mercenaries.

Using a cushioned grappling hook two of them slowly invade the towers. Noticing the dart thrower, they carefully disable the runic circles with cuts by magical daggers. Afterwards the two try to figure out the mechanism for the drawbridge before slowly lowering it to be as silent as possible.

Carefully climbing down into the Lost Village they wait for their other members to melt right through the rock and wooden Gate. The locking mechanism was too complex for them and signalled to use the more destructive method.

While the Village is silent a bright glow was over the Village and lit up the streets. A female Statue holding a large Sphere glowing like starlight illuminate the darkness. No one is walking around except the now again six people wrapped in darkish blue cloth.

The next step surprised me a bit. They split up! Two were going into the Barracks I totally forgot about. The traps in there are still working, so they will have not a nice stay. The other four hurry right into the night to the castle.

For now about the two poor souls entering the Barracks. They found a few traps that were rather obvious. Simple trapdoor and dart thrower were easily removed. No Guards meant for them easier work, but made them uneasy to see the sleeping quarters unused.

Checking around they find two interesting spots they wanted to look into at the same time. A rather heavy door locked tight and the briefing Room. They really split up again while the one with his lock picking tools started on the door after searching for traps, while the other lit a candle for reading the documents.

Now I have to wait… Not that I like to wait, as I could already start the carnage, but the door needs to open first otherwise the lock picking guy would stop and flee. After an agonizing fifteen minutes the lock finally opened and I broke the cork.

While the one in the miasmic Chamber wanted to shout, he was enveloped in Miasma that killed him outright. The other one had longer to regret his decisions, as the acid melted him slowly to the bone. His cries were not heard, as the walls were rather thick.

On to the other four. Entering the gates they got even quieter as they saw movement behind the glass windows where they suspected the Guards to be stationed.

Splitting again in two teams, the first two were going into the Greenhouse while the other two silently went into the Labyrinth. While the flowers ever so slowly unfurled behind the two in the Labyrinth the other two have been searching for someone inside the Greenhouse.

It is in the middle of the night, but still they are in luck. A silhouette of a man was being seen walking around and seemingly tending to the creepily wild flora. Searching for other in the area, the two sneak right to the person before jumping him.

Their shock was imminent, as they noticed him being a whole amalgamation of vines wrapped around themselves and only looking like a person. Immediately one of them drew their weapons and attacked. Bad move, as the acidic blood of Bush Man is not to be trifled with. With this one, two people got melted by acid tonight.

The other one was more wary, but after hearing something behind him he did the wrong move. He looked. It was no mere accident I called those Chickens Cockatrice. Looking right into the eyes of a Cockatrice without preparation means the hardening of the muscles at first. It is like you clench every muscle to the absolute limit in your body and if you look longer… Well that happens.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

The body of this one starts to dry up and becomes petrified. It is not like becoming stone directly, it just removes the blood and starts a calcification process. That way the Cockatrice can hoard food for later digestion, as they can decalcify the meat in their stomach. Nothing to do, but this one is already dead. Luckily the half melted one still had some breath in him to put into my Realm before dying for more Information.

…

Travelling through the Labyrinth the two people start to see things. They know something is off, but are on a Mission, so they forced themselves forward. Even if they want to go back, the way outside is already gone. Moving deeper and deeper the vibrant flowers seem to lead them further into a sweet dream.

After days of travel in their dream Worlds they finally reached the middle of the Labyrinth. In reality they just wandered about fifteen Minutes, but the Dream Flowers have a rather vicious way to mess with the sense of time.

“Ah, Visitors. Did you hear me sing?”

A honey sweet Voice came from Petal. She is just sitting there and relaxing. While one of the intruders is mesmerized, the other tries to break out of his stupor. Petal notices the struggling one and slowly stretches her roots to him.

“Is there a need for Weapons? As you can see, I am totally unarmed. Why don’t you leave your weapons there?”

One pulls out his Dagger and drops it. Also hidden weapons came out of hidden pockets and were dropped too. The other struggles and while he also draws his dagger he plunges it into his other hand. Snapping out of his stupor he wanted to shout, but then was gagged and restrained by Roots enveloping him.

As he was occupied with his self mutilation he could not retaliate as Petal just twists his head three hundred sixty degrees around and lays him next to the hedge. The hedge itself starts to move the now lifeless body into itself and starts to prick him with thorns coated in some digestive enzymes.

The other did not even notice as he slowly walks to Petal.

“Good boy. Or are you a girl? Might you unveil yourself?”

With the request of Petal he unveils himself and with a totally normal face he stares at Petal.

“Do you need him still, Lord?”

‘No, I already took the other one over. They wiped their memories with some kind of Magic. I try to look into the remnants, but the only thing I can find is training, Gospel of some kind of Spy codex and Pride to be a tool for his Master, even if he does not know how his Master looks like.’

“So he is useless?”

‘He only needs to send the Signal. Afterwards he is disposable.’

“As you wish, Lord. So, could you please send the signal for the infiltration? The main group will finish the job thanks to you, afterward come here and rest a bit on my lap.”

While the one was confused a bit about his mission, he nods and gave the signal. A rather crude crystal was infused with his Mana and after registering, that he is really the true person a Mana Wave was released. The Wave came and… bounced back on the miasmic bubble. Dang it!

Copying the specific Wave I send it out of the Crater via the tunnel. The reaction was imminent as the People are already moving through the tunnel right to the Village. All the Villagers are resting in the Bunker below the Village, so they are safe.

Oh, the one stripped right to his birthday suit and just laid his head on Petal’s lap! Caressing his hair while the Flower closes and starts to fill with enzymes, he does not even notice how his skin and flesh slowly melts and drips from his bones. Goodbye Mister Spy.

…

The entrance of the Soldiers was rather forceful. Not silent at all Sixty Soldiers trudged into the Village and start spreading out. A small group entered the Barracks while another invaded the Mansion. The main part ran right into the direction of the Castle.

With them were about a dozen non Soldiers. I would say four are Mages, and one is an Arch Mage. Rather Fancy for them. The others are something similar, but they have not really the magical pressure of their companions.

Elane is with them, but she does not look like she is here on her own accord. Some Artifacts are locked on her neck and wrists. Who knows what is up with that, but I do not care, as she never was liked by anyone of my Family.

For now I look at the ones in the Barracks. They find the poisoned Cellar and after one was falling to its knees, they escaped right away. Also the Soldiers in the Acid room are leaving right away. The greatest thing was seeing the Kitchen trap in action. The kinetic Blender was somewhat effective, but after some heavy injuries the runic circles got damaged by their own flying pots and knives. Should have known after reviewing the dart towers, this would happen. Oh well, I have more data to work with now.

While the Barracks got evacuated the Mansion got literally ripped apart. Breaking walls and floorboards to search for hidden entrances and maybe ambushes. The documents in the Mansion are all already in the Castle. No sensitive data is in any of the strewn across notes in the hidden compartments, but they still collect them all.

As they are rather busy destroying all the walls and other furniture I use the only trap I placed in the Mansion for exactly this occasion. With a creak and heavy rumble the Mansion folds in like a house of cards. Only a few got heavily injured, but most of them are now trapped in the rubble. It was made for emergencies to gain some time, but right now it is only for annoyance. As they do not know anything about the structure they might think is was their own idiocy.

The main group did not even care about what happened. They are directly on the way to the Castle with a rather grim determination.

…

Bush Man is back in the Labyrinth and all the Monsters in the Greenhouse are awake and giddy. As already told, they need some Biomass to reproduce, and they want to grow their numbers, as I increased the size of the Greenhouse to the west part already.

All the Flowers are already blooming and have started to emanate a small mist of water against fire attacks. Ice is still a problem, but it spreads not that easily, so Petal argued with her hedges to be prepared for this. Maybe the mist should be a permanent feature? I could maybe… no, focus! Enemies are coming.

Invading the Army regroups and starts to argue.

“Where are the Scouts? They should be waiting for us, but no one is here. Except the Signal nothing was heard!”

The Archmage seems rather incensed.

“We have no notice Baron Willard. Maybe they are still poisoning the food?”

“They would have not sent the Signal without finishing it. Those people are trained better than this! Search Point B and C for them!”

“Yes Sir!”

And with that a group of Soldiers split up into the Greenhouse and Labyrinth. Well now, that their attention is split, I can start my great Entrance.

The Front Gate slowly opens and the Light in the Foyer is growing brighter. With this their attention is on the one Person coming from the Hallway leading to the Tower Stairway.

Looking angry the Baron Willard orders with a wave of his hand to go into the Foyer, as the surprise attack already failed. To be that uncaring is either bold trust in his might or foolishness, where I suspect the latter as he is in front of all of them.

“Welcome to my Castle. If you had sent some nicer Messengers than those Scouts, I would have called for a nightly tea. Can I ask if you stop this foolish invasion and surrender? With this, the relation between Telk and the Crater can be still…”

Boom