14

YEAR 168

Operation Smuggle the Hero Out of the Northern Isles was in full swing as a fleet of ships sailed across the ocean.

- Does the hero even want to be saved? - Edna asked the obvious question. - I�m not planning to escort a tantrum - throwing hero across the ocean. - For a task that involved a hero, I felt only Edna was up to the task.

- Yes. I�m pretty sure he wants to be saved and healed, even if he prefers it not to be through A/ �s powers, - Kei responded on the magical communication device. - As it is, he can�t bonk his harem. -

- Does he know that it�s. you? Did he see you as. you? Did you ask him? -

Kei didn�t answer, and Edna rolled her eyes. - Seriously. A/ , you there? You agreed to this? -

- Yes, - I responded through a magical speaking item, one of the priests acting as my spokesperson. My eyes looked through that same device.

Edna shrugged. - Kei, you owe me one. -

- Yes, boss. - Kei bowed. - I�ll meet you guys once the force lands. I�ve already bought off some of the scouts and folks in that area, but I�ll doublecheck. - The fleet would mostly remain along a string of uninhabited islands, cloaked by magical spells and fog. A smaller group of ships would make landfall, and a few hundred men would disembark. From there, they would travel to the city where Alvin was kept under watch by the temples. This was a secret that very few were supposed to know, but it seemed that there were a lot of loose lips around.

Edna called on the senior team leads for a recap.

Essentially, the mission was to - steal - the hero without the temples knowing we did it. The potential for a political and worldwide drama, should it be seen that the Central Continent - kidnapped - a hero, well, a part of me thought it�d be a big middle finger to the four temples, and yet I wasn�t sure how the kingdoms and the temples would react.

In any case, it was best if the force remained unknown. That meant all of them were in disguises and had magical artifacts that altered their presence and magical signatures. Also, no unique abilities, so they had to all use common skills and abilities, and all their equipment was basic.

Even the ships we used for the operations were all repurposed ships captured from pirates or Northern Isle�sanctioned privateers.

One of the accompanying Valthorns was a level one hundred twenty - five sharpshooter called Roon. He, too, received multiple experience seeds and the soul - strengthening seed and was in the third batch of - ascended - potential warriors. - Well, a cakewalk, isn�t it? -

- In a way, - Edna said. - There are six of us here that are above level one hundred and another ten at level eighties. I do not expect any of us to die from this. The temples themselves have only a few people in the high sixties and seventies, and those old farts are probably hidden away. Our main risk, really, are the hero - items. -

Roon brought out a greater teleportation device, again a relic of the Harris era, one of the items they used to teleport back to me. The idea was, once they got hold of Alvin, they�d use the teleportation device to send him here.

There was a risk that the teleportation path could be traced via magic, and that would reveal my role in this entire affair, but I suspected an item used by the heroes was unlikely to be so easily followed.

- The city and the temple itself is fortified with ancient teleportation shields. We must get the target out of this range. - There was a circle drawn on the map, results of their earlier scouting efforts.

- That�s quite a big range. -

- Yes, if I recall, it was a hero item from a few centuries ago, - Roon explained. As the ranger, sharpshooter, and one of the elite ranged specialists, he did quite a bit of research. - They are likely to have secondary magic interference here and here. -

- All right. -

Kei & Valthorn�s perspective - 3rd person POV

The weather was cold. The north was often cold like this; the battering of the colder, northern winds was relentless.

- I wonder how much of the chill is due to the Frozen Tree. - Roon was fully equipped, even if it was all entirely off - the - shelf items. They drank a cup of warm tea, which boosted their natural heat and kept them warm.

Edna shrugged, her senses taking in the air of the north. - We�re not here to meet the Frozen Tree or hunt the hatcheries, Roon. - News of her ascension to the realm of the domain remained a secret known only to a few, so even Roon didn�t know. Not yet.

Roon smiled at the middle - aged knight. - Yes, yes. -

Another high - leveled ranger came by. He wore a thick cloak and jacket, again, a very ordinary item. - I wish I can use my enchanted coat. -

- Me too, Johann. Me too, - Roon responded. Their items were all stored in specialized magical crystals in the event of an emergency. Edna waved, and they kept their mouths shut.

The small ships stopped, and the captains signaled that they were going to hold. It was time. Edna stood, and everyone else followed. They changed to rafts and then made landfall.

- We could�ve used magic. - Johann wondered. He was one of those who had not received the soul - strengthening seed, so he was only level eighty - five. Still, he believed he would be given the honor once this task was done.

- No need to trigger any wide - range magical detection. - The group split up, about thirty starting to set up camps. The higher - leveled ones, led by Edna, would go first. Smaller teams would stay back to ensure they had somewhere to retreat to or provide support if needed. - The north�s intelligence systems are surprisingly robust. -

Johann frowned. - Really? -

- I�m surprised, too, but yes, - Roon said. - We need to look out for their agents. -

Kei�s POV

- This is the place. - The informant was an old woman in her sixties, and she walked Kei through the door of the hotel. The receptionist was a human lady in a beautiful outfit, and the informant spoke to her briefly and then flashed a card. Kei was sure it was a card of some kind.

The receptionist smiled naturally and then led them through a beautifully decorated walkway and into a wooden lift.

- This is as far as I will go. The receptionist will take over. - The informant nodded. Kei felt it was strange how serious she sounded. She entered the lift, and so did the receptionist. The doors to the lift closed, and then the receptionist knocked on the wooden walls of the lift.

The receptionist took out a pendant and pressed it. The lift went down, and when it opened, it looked as if she was in an armory. - This way. - There were groups of people resting. Some looked injured, their weapons all on the central table. There were a few individuals that looked like healers, and they even had white doctors robes.

She was led to a room. It was very bare for a hotel. No, here it wasn�t a hotel anymore. This was a war preparation area.

- Hello. - The two walked through the door, and the door closed. The lighting was very dim, and she had to use a skill to see.

Kei sat. - Hello. I�m here to confirm the heroes whereabouts and buy details on the security around the temple area. -

The two individuals seemed to have shared a glance, but it was too dark to make out anything.

- I believe the informant should have submitted the request? - Kei tried to clarify.

- Yes. - One of the two shadows brought out a briefcase. Kei reached out to touch it.

- Payment. -

Kei paused. Oh. She activated a storage crystal and withdrew the payment. Gems and coins. Two additional shadows came into the room and went through the payment. They nodded once they were done and left the room. The briefcase slid across the table and opened.

Kei looked at it. It was meticulous work, schedules of the patrols around the city, where the forces were, what the level of guards was. There were just three level fifty�plus individuals in the entire guarding force, and this was a great relief to Kei.

- Thank you, - Kei said. She assumed the briefcase was hers, so she placed the documents back inside and then grabbed the briefcase.

It. wouldn�t leave the table.

- Huh? -

- We�ve been watching you for some time. -

Kei paused. She was being watched?

- So, tell us, why have you been sniffing around for details about the hero Alvin�s condition? - The voice was clearly female, but it sounded weird. Not a human for sure.

Kei took a deep breath. - I believe I am the client here? -

The two didn�t reply.

- I had the impression organizations like yours don�t pry into the affairs of your clients. -

- That is normally true. - Another voice spoke. Kei wasn�t sure what exactly this voice sounded like. - But when your targets are the heroes, we want to hear exactly what your plan is. Are you one of the hero - hunters? -

Kei didn�t reply to that. Hero - hunters? What was that?

The voice on the left continued. - Lady K, right? I�ll be frank. My agents across the continent have been watching and protecting the heroes where we can. So we know when you�re looking for him, and we even know you�ve managed to somehow sneak into Alvin�s compound. Once. -

Kei�s eyes twitched. They�d been watching her for so long? She thought back to all her conversations with Lozanna and A/ . Did they know? She was pretty sure she used magical interference abilities to hide that she was having a conversation. At that moment, a magical energy blast coated the room, and Kei�s magical disguise was instantly dispelled. It was a very strong - dispel - spell.

- A crystal golem, - the two said. - Interesting. -

Kei�s fists went up, and she was prepared to fight. - This is a trap. -

- I�m surprised that a hero - hunter would walk into our trap. Unless you are not one, - the shadows said. - We can�t let anyone hurt the heroes before their time is up. - At that moment, a magical suppression field popped up, and Kei felt her energy level decline massively. How she missed her hero powers. - Tell us everything and who you work for. -

Kei wasn�t sure how deep down they were, but she guessed they were quite deep underground. The explosion from her magical crystal bombs merely rattled the room.

It didn�t occur to Kei that her response was overkill, that activating a magic bomb was too much force, but Kei felt afraid. The fact that the entire underground area was magically rigged made her feel unsafe, that she was vulnerable, so she thought her response was proportionate to the level of risk she faced.

Still, the rooms seemed incredibly strong; she deduced they were magically enchanted. Rather than spill anything, she decided to bomb the shit out of the place. If they had torture devices or magical artifacts, Kei felt they could still hurt her.

- There really is no need to be so aggressive. We just want to talk, - one of the voices said. Kei didn�t believe that one bit. The walls seemed to close in, and Kei�s crystal limbs glowed, attempting to push back. The other voice seemed to have vanished, but Kei was sure she - no, she was sure both voices were female - was still here. She activated her speaking stone.

- K to E. K to E. Trap. Trap. Trap. Abort. -

- E to K. Acknowledged. Location. -

- Rosewood Gardens, Galewinds, - Kei spoke while she tried to fight off the rocks and bricks that flew her way. The room itself seemed to move in her way; the walls itself attempted to cut off her path.

- I kinda figured this is how this would turn out, - the shadows said, seemingly unharmed by the huge magical bomb. - Lucky us, we have the bombproof shielding installed. -

Kei frowned at how loudly they talked. An extra arm popped out of her chest to fight off the shadows that attempted to restrain her.

- Champions. - Kei repeated the word, a code word for high - tier opponents. Those two individuals were clearly strong. Her fist of crystal glowed, and she slammed into one of the moving walls, which caused it to crack.

Kei frowned; that was a lot less damage than she expected. These were reinforced walls, a skill of some kind. She punched again, and this time, it buckled. She charged her crystal fist for a third punch, and this time, it made a big hole that led to the surface.

She ran out.

Yet. they didn�t give chase.

Kei didn�t like that feeling. It felt like they were still on her tail, even though she didn�t see anyone in the entire afternoon. She was now quite a distance away from town; her golem body�s stamina was incredible.

She surveyed her surroundings. All data pointed that she wasn�t followed. Yet it still feel like they followed her. It was strange.

She sat and activated her speaking stone again. - K to E. K to E. -

- Status. -

- Safe. Surroundings clean, - she lied. She activated her magical interference spell. Yet she didn�t feel safe.

- Is the plan compromised? -

Kei was silent.

- Is the plan compromised? - The tone was clearly seeking confirmation.

Kei sighed. - Maybe. -

Edna closed the speaking stone. - That went as expected. That means we�re going with plan B. -

Roon and the group nodded. There was always a contingency plan in the works, in the event Kei was compromised. Edna never quite trusted her, and as far as she could tell, A/ also kept her at arm�s length, even if he entertained a lot of her whims. - All right, we consider that the temples know what Kei knows. Which is there�s a group of us coming for the heroes. -

- If they know we are coming, then we should strike with two forces. A feint. A smaller force to make it seem like we�re attacking, and then a larger, actual force to capture the hero, - one of the knights suggested.

- Good idea, but how? -

- We can hire some bandits or mercenaries. -

- If the intelligence systems are as good as what we�ve seen, they�ll know we�ve hired them. -

- I�ll hire them, and I�ll be the bait, - Johann suggested. - Together with three others. -

Edna paused. - Hmm. fine. No. I suggest you split into pairs and hire two groups and mount two separate attacks. We�ll strike at the third attack. -

- E to K. Please move to pickup one. -

Kei frowned at the instruction. Pickup one? Wasn�t that one of the southern port cities? But she figured they must have had a plan.

- Acknowledged. -

The hero Alvin was supposedly living in a massive fortified palace in the City of Essenva, home to about two hundred thousand others, half of which were temple followers. The city also housed the branches of all four temples and a large contingent of their force. Located in the largest island in the Northern Isles, and geographically in the center, it was one of the many - fort cities, - built when the temples realized they needed a show of strength a decade ago.

The city was very heavily fortified, and yet it was surprisingly easy to hire mercenaries and other kinds of instigators to trigger riots, simply because there was a lot of pent - up dissatisfaction built up over the decades, from food shortages, to bad behavior from the ruling authorities. The first riot was crushed brutally, but it did what it was meant to do. It - relieved - some of the tension in the air, and some of the forces seemed to think what they were predicted had come to pass.

The second riot was a much smaller one and pretty much fizzled out.

They waited a month in between, and a month after the second riot.

- The hell. Why are they waiting so long? - Kei was now in the southern port city. She was nervous, but no news was good news. Edna had disabled the communication crystal, a sign she wanted absolute radio silence, so Kei�s news came from bards and news - speakers.

- Have we spotted him? - Edna asked as Roon returned from the scouting mission.

- Yes. We�ve finally managed to slip in and get one of the identifier crystals. He�s alive, and we�ve mapped out his routine for the past two weeks. - He placed his notes on the table in their secret operation room, hidden in a magical space in the forests. Alvin was bedridden and seemed to be supported by a magical bed.

The Valthorns considered his schedule in a portable secret hideout , made out of an ordinary tree deep in the nearby woods, courtesy of the Court of the Deitree.

- The intelligence forces have been sweeping the town for the past two months. They�re still not letting up. - Those intelligence forces came through the forest as well, but they couldn�t locate the secret hideout .

Edna frowned. - They are more persistent than I expected, but no matter. This will be a matter we�ll highlight for our next investigation. -

So far, none of them were caught. They were all too high leveled and had enough equipment to evade most conventional weapons.

- But Kei�s under surveillance by the intelligence. - A few of the Valthorns were tasked to keep watch on Kei while the operation was underway, without her knowledge. - They seemed to have reported her, but they are not taking any immediate action. -

Edna�s frown didn�t go away. - Any risk that our extraction and escape will be interrupted? - It was still a distance to travel from that port to the ships. But Kei could teleport, and that would allow her to get out. But teleportation - jamming crystals were sufficiently common that most large cities had some lying around.

- Not sure. The intelligence forces are quite high leveled. We spotted one or two that we believe are around level sixty. If they have reinforcement, then we may have a problem. -

Level sixty was quite high. A/ preferred killing of other high - leveled individuals be kept at the minimum, since every person alive was someone that could fight the demons. They were pretty much working on this with kids gloves.

- Hmm. we�ll put this aside first. In terms of our course of action, the key question is, then, are we going to make contact with the hero? - Edna asked, and everyone gulped uncomfortably. A/ wanted to kidnap the hero, whether he wanted to come or not. But if he resisted, it would make things difficult.

- That�s only point one, - Roon said. - The bed must also be considered. I think it�s some kind of healing or life - support artifact. I think I need one more visit to confirm the artifact�s effects, that our items can temporarily replace its function while moving the hero. -

Last thing they wanted was the hero to die if he was to leave the bed. A/ didn�t want that. Not yet. Edna knew he wanted to look at the hero�s curse. And for that, she had to capture him alive. She quickly sent a specialized encrypted message home.

Will require healing once target is sent through teleport. Hero seems to rely on healing support.

- We could send the item across, too. - Edna explained.

- If we�re sending the item, too, we�ll need channeling time. Can we keep the hero still for 1 hour? - The mage asked. Teleportation scaled with distance and size.

Edna tapped the table. - Which is why we must ask the question, do we actually want to ask the hero? -

- Can�t we just put him to sleep? -

- We can try, but heroes are naturally immune to all kinds of regular ailments and lower - tier spells and skills. We�re not sure whether it will work, but if it does, good for us, - Edna said. To what extent did the curse weaken the hero�s power? Did it nullify immunities, too? Didn�t seem like a good bet.

Roon noted it down. - All right, one last recon. - As the level one hundred twenty - five ranger and sharpshooter, he had enough stealth and camouflage abilities to walk through the gates, but the presence of the intelligence forces still made things a little tense. Someone around level forty with the right mix of detection and scouting ability could still spot him.

The last scouting mission was thankfully smooth.

- All right. Good. Let�s just confirm our plans. Our plan is two - fold, and we must hit both at around the same time, - Edna said. They had considered many ideas and plans over the past month of surveillance, so they had to firm up which version they went with. - I�ll lead eight of us, together with our artifacts, to enter the hero�s location and capture him at this time. Roon and Johann will lead the rest to hit anti - teleportation crystals and disable them. Once disabled we�ll ping, and we will trigger the teleportation channeling. We are sending the hero with the bed, unless the resistance is too heavy. -

Everyone nodded. - All right, let�s get into the tunnels. -

Using their special familiars Root Tunnel ability, they�d excavated tiny tunnels that led under the hero�s compound and also to the magic tower where the city�s anti - teleportation crystals were held.

Sadly, the tunnels only got them three - quarters there, as there were structures underground built by the builders . Reinforced stone and rock prevented the root tunnel from going further.

But at least they were in the compound. Roon and Johann�s group started the first ping to indicate they started the assault. They were all in camo and hit all the resistance with extremely powerful sleeping agents. It was. pretty much a cakewalk at how quickly the resistance collapsed. They were too high level.

Once they got up to the crystal�s location, they pinged again.

This was Edna�s cue to launch their side of the operations. Similar to Roon and Johann, they hit most of the targets with strong sleep or paralysis agents, causing the regular guards and the temple�s forces to collapse. It was also a relatively easy task; their high levels meant they outclassed the resistance.

Then they reached the hero�s compound. They found the hero already asleep, and Edna was the first to approach the hero, her protective abilities all active. The moment she touched him, she knew the condition was bad. He just looked all right, but something churned deep in him. She could feel it.

But the touch triggered something else.

An alarm. Someone had cast a touch - alarm on the hero.

- Ugh. - Edna guessed that it must have been the intelligence. She made a mental note to check on who ran them. The temples were clearly not behind them.

The alarm was city wide. Roon instantly deactivated the anti - teleportation shield, and one of the high mages started the teleportation channel.

- . who�re you? - Alvin woke up, groggy.

Edna glanced at him; her mind was on the defensive forces that streamed through the various buildings toward them. - We�re here to take you to someone who can help you. -

- But the temples said. only the gods can help me. -

- Well, we�re taking you to a god. -

Edna and her team activated their magical items, which summoned massive walls around them. One of the druids then casted a wide - area sleep - poison spell. It soon sent most of the guards to sleep.

Alvin frowned. - . who? -

The sleep ability was effective on almost everyone. Almost everyone. At that moment, a dark shadow charged at them, the shadow�s blades active. Edna could feel that this shadow was someone who had probably reached high levels. Perhaps in the eighties.

Edna smiled and focused her domain�s aura. It instantly caused the shadow to freeze and collapse, revealing a lean, humanoid lady with strange, beetle - like armor. Still, it wasn�t enough, as the lady got up and charged, her body surrounded by a deep purple light.

She activated a massive force shield that pushed back, and it was too big for the shadow to dodge. The shadow smashed into the force shield and was launched a few hundred feet away.

The mage in the group said, - Twenty minutes. - The sleep spell on the guards would knock them out till the next morning.

Edna thought for a moment and then turned to face the shadow. It was going to get up again. She then activated her Court �s vines and tentacles. It surged out and wrapped the shadow, injecting the sleep and paralysis directly into the strange lady�s body.

Yet that was enough. As she collapsed, her eyes went wide as the vines that now wrapped her body. - . A/ ? - The moment she collapsed, one of her artifacts activated, and she was teleported away.

Edna was impressed. - Wow. These intelligence forces are well prepared. -

Alvin was just surprised. - Who are you guys? -

- We�ve met. - Edna smiled.

- Teleportation is activating, - the mage said, and at that instant, Alvin and his bed vanished.

Edna smiled and went to the ping. - Radio silence off. Let�s get our ass out of here. K team, please get our golem lady out safely. Knock the intel guys out if you have to. -

Back to A/ �s POV

Alvin arrived on time, and already my best biolabs and medical skills were ready and waiting. They sent him right into the Valley of the Unrotten. I even opened up the magical barriers and runic foundations just so that I could receive this particular teleportation.

When he arrived, he glanced up and saw all the trees around him.

- Oh fuck, - he said.

- Hello, - I spoke. - I believe we�ve never met, but Kei told me to help you. -

- And you think I�ll believe that, A/ ? She�s dead, and it�s your fault, - Alvin responded, surprisingly angry. Eh, and I thought it was his fault for not coming here. - It�s out of respect to Kei and her ideals that we didn�t pursue a crusade. -

- Really? - My spirit vision told me that his energies were extremely conflicted; his spirit was like a bright light, but there was something that blocked that light out, so much that I saw only bits and pieces of stray light. - No matter your views, I have been requested to assist you, and I will. -

I meant every word. But I�d also figure out how to disable heroes, too.