Did Aqua mention that this mission was very big?
Phase 1 was thinning the Spawns by the outskirts of the inner side of the Green Wall. While the attack on Saturday had certainly wiped them out, they were quickly replaced. And so, the Otherworldly Court had to do this.
Throughout the whole week, a different group of Court Wizards consists of whoever reported for duty on that particular day of the week. Then, they will transfer to Geron Yor and eliminate the Spawns throughout the outskirts of the inner side of the Green Wall. When the next batch of Spawns comes in, the whole process was repeated.
This tedious and repetitive task will weaken the Green Deity as he will have to either to use his power to constantly replace the Spawns or abandon the first line of defense against the oncoming army. Either choice will serve the Yellow Deity's army.
If you're wondering about the whole being secretive about the whole operation, that only applies to the native Geron Yor residents. It doesn't matter if the Green Deity knows about it - he's going to die after all. Heck, he might already have an idea about a third party interfering with the war for centuries.
And there was a rumor that according to the lost records, the Green Deity knew about the Court Wizards.
But it will be inconvenient if the Green Deity saw the Court Wizards and analyze their capabilities through the eyes of the commander Spawns, hence they were prioritized for elimination. Besides, that was the secondary objective, the primary objective was this.
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PIING
Geron Yor
Year 1334
Four Court Wizards in matching brown robes traversed the rocky hills in the vast territory of the Green Deity. Avoiding patrol Spawns as they went.
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"Phase one is doing great," Aqua said. "After excessive genocide against the Spawns, the Green Deity had given up on bolstering the front line altogether, for now. And all the while he might think some elite unit of the Yellow Deity's army did it."
"Yeah, MIGHT!"
"Anyway," Aqua continued, "we can now begin phase two. Now, normally the two of you should not be doing this, but you and Rin should at least observe how this particular mission is done so both of you will come along. You will be accompanied by Darc."
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Because carrying three more humans within Shadow Teleportation in this situation was simply a waste of magic and exhausting, Darcassan Erith opted to lead Alicia, Rin, and Owen on foot.
Stay behind these rocks and observe. (Darc)
Okay, mister Darc. (Rin)
Darc sunk into the shadow he created with his Progressive Half-Order and it moved to a clearing where there are Spawns.
However, these Spawns are more scrawny and did not have any combative equipment. They instead wore rags dirtied by the rocky ground they were prodding with a stick. The ground they were tinkering with has a green circle filled with symbols and such. There were multiple runes embedded to the ground around the outer lining of the circle which Alicia could read thanks to her Maneg Soul and it read: Manual Activation, Weakness, Amplification, Amplification, Amplification, Link, Retain.
As they are not in combat, the emotion suppression was deactivated. This causes Alicia to wince the sight of these creatures. She looked to her side to see Rin completely unfazed by the sight, and so was Owen. Though Alicia suspects the latter was used to see this kind of thing.
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"Eew! They're skinny!"
"These Spawns are the magic engineer type," Aqua explained. "These guys do not fight the enemy but instead, they create traps and other defenses in every territory they captured. They are not fighters so they are easy picking and the fact they work deep inside their own territory means they are guarded, though they still have their own commander Spawn."
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The engineer Spawns were too busy with the work that they did not notice the patch of moving shadow without the object that should have cast it. Though it could also be their design to not get distracted by anything and anything that they failed to recognize such things as Darc moved his 'shadow' formation right in front of one of them. Well, even more so because right in the middle of the circle, Darc emerged halfway with a parchment and the Spawns still did not register their presence.
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"While they are more lacking in the awareness department," she continued, "the commander Spawn of these groups are connected to the Green Deity, so if it spotted you, the Green Deity will send a squad to hunt you guys down. So do not get caught by them."
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The commander Spawn was not looking at Darc's position when he emerged, though Darc did have to wait for a few moments for the commander Spawn to turn its back. The dark elf then placed the parchment onto the circle and it quietly sinks to the ground.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Afterwards, Darc sunk back into his shadow and went back to Alicia's group.
What was that paper?
It's a scroll from this world that will cause the magic circle to blow up if it activates. (Darc)
Do we leave them alone? (Rin)
Yes, if they are dead the Green Deity will get suspicious. (Owen)
We move to the next one. (Darc)
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"So the Green Deity plans to activate four magic circles which will cast a spell onto the Yellow Deity's army when they enter his territory which will cause the army to be put under the disadvantage. This phase ensures that it will never happen. In other words, we are sabotaging him."
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There were a total of four circles prepared to entrap the Yellow Deity's army, based on the information gathered from observation a few weeks prior to this mission. Each circle was placed evenly distanced each other so that when all of the circle activates at the same time, the circles link with each other to cover almost the whole territory.
The circle 'Weakness' was doomed to fail from the start now, three more to go.
Quietly traversing the rocky plains, Darc suddenly lifted his arm up to signal a stop.
Behind those rocks. Now. (Darc)
Instinctively, the Court Wizards hopped into the shadow of a particularly huge rock on the side of the crossroad.
CLIP-CLOP CLIP-CLOP
The sound of horses entered their sense of hearing. Moments later, the ones responsible for the sound was seen.
It was another Spawn, it's the only beings here anyway aside from the Court Wizards. But this particular Spawn rode on horseback, which was similarly green in color too and the horse had armor too. The Spawn itself wore the most cool-looking (according to Rin's remark with [Telepathy]) set of armor which was black in color and it carried a great sword which is definitely not a mass-production type. Also, the Spawn had a black eye patch covering its left ugly eye.
The horseback Spawn and its entourage of Spawns that have equipment on par with commander Spawns brushed pass the huge rock where the Court Wizards are hiding behind. The Spawn looked at the rock, giving the recruited Court Wizards a jump in their hearts, but Darc quietly muttered something and the Spawn simply turned away and ordered its men to carry on.
But before that, the Court Wizards were able to hear its grumble. "Damn whoever killed the lookouts," the horseback Spawn said. "Great Deity had activated the magic circle too many times every time they were killed. Their position could be compromised."
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"Excuse me, miss Aqua," Rin interrupted. "How do you know there are four magic circles?"
"Very perceptive," Aqua praised. "I forgot to mention this but every time we kill the Spawns in phase one, the Green Deity would panic and activate the magic circles, which does not cover the outskirts. We used a magic detecting tool to pinpoint the locations of the magic circles every time they are activated. With the fifth time the circles are activated, we were able to determine the number and the position of each magic circle."
In other words, phase 1 was actually baiting the Green Deity to turn on the magic circles enough time to know where they are. Those few Spawns in the outskirts are simply there to alert the Green Deity when the invaders came and activate the magic circles in time. Most Spawns are concentrated in the middle that could reach tens of thousands - Spawns rely on strength in numbers.
Voice: and that's a perfect excuse for the first phase which doesn't make sense in terms of us at all!
an: *sigh*
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What was that Spawn?
Yes, he looks pretty cool! (Rin)
That's a general Spawn, it's the strongest Spawn the Green Deity could create. They also have names and their own personalities and are not stupid like the rest of their kind. That general Spawn is called Gra. Also, I simply cast an area spell so they wouldn't think of looking here. (Darc)
I see...
Our mission is to sabotage the magic circles, not assassinating the generals. That phase will be done the day before the invasion by the Yellow Deity's army. (Darc)
Why? (Rin)
The Green Deity can regenerate the general Spawns too. I heard Gra had been killed multiple times already by the champion. (Darc)
The coast is clear, let's go. (Owen)
Right.
an: since they are going to do the same thing three times, we will fast forward to the aftermath part.
Voice: oh my, the author is being lazy!
an: STFU!
Voice: *gasps* :o
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Manegia
Year 1421
They were able to 'tinker' with the other three magic circles without much issue.
Although there were numerous times the Court Wizards could have been caught, Darc made sure to not let it happen.
The closest scenario where they get spotted was when they ran into Gra's group, one of the general Spawns. Gra seems to like wandering around the territory in his spare time - general Spawns normally sit back in the fortress and not doing patrols. This meant he had no clear pattern of travel and lady luck was not smiling at the Court Wizards that there were no hiding spots so Darc had to bring the other three Court Wizards into his artificial shadow.
In the Dark Guardian's chamber. (Alicia and Owen are back at the fire chamber.)
"Mister Darc, mister Darc!" Rin jumped up and down whilst holding the armrest of the chair Darc was sitting while drinking tea. "Can you tell me about the general Spawns?"
"Rin, settle down. Let big brother finish his tea." Came from a voice of a young woman.
She was a few dozens taller than Rin. Golden blonde hair that reached her waist and bright green eyes. She wore a lime-green dress and a white apron over her petite frame. What sets her apart from a human is her pointy ears that are half the length of Darc's ears, and her porcelain skin, unlike his brown skin.
"Okay, Zenya..." Rin pouted.
She was Ilezenya Erith, Darcassan Erith's younger sister and the Guardian of the Mother Soul of Nature. Like 'Darc', everybody calls her 'Zenya' as 'Ilezenya' was a mouthful.
"I baked some cake if you would like." Zenya put down a tray of chocolate cake on the table.
"Yay! Thank you!" Rin beamed.
It just so happened that Darc gulped the last bit of his drink and puts down his teacup on the saucer. "Alright, I'll tell you about Gra," he said.
"Uhn!"
Even though the two elves only get to know Rin for six years (six years isn't long for elves), she was like a little sister to them. Her cheery attitude and optimism that held on in spite of everything (i.e. Haruto missing) meant that they couldn't resist her demands.