The Regent’s orders were transmitted with incredible speed.
At the Night Owl Unit base in the northern part of the Eternal City, a long assembly call rang out in the afternoon.
In the five minutes following the horn’s blast, 600 soldiers dressed in black light armor and equipped with standard-issue enchanted blades and crossbows gathered quickly, ready to depart.
Ten carriages carrying bases for small protection and detection arrays slowly rolled out. These vehicles would coordinate with the upcoming search and rescue operation.
At the base of the 6th Royal Mage Squadron, forty intermediate mages dressed in deep blue robes and thin Mithril Light Armor mounted Flying Dragons under the leadership of two High-order Mages.
At the same time, within the black spire on the east side of the Cathedral of Holy Light, three carriages marked with Holy Light symbols drove onto the Imperial City avenue. Inside each vehicle sat four Silent Purifiers wearing white-gold robes.
They brought not only their staffs, but also various magical tools and scrolls with various functions.
The three forces merged outside the city. Led by Dean Duncan, they arrived at Mirror Lake Manor, where the protection array had been raised, in less than 30 minutes.
The area surrounding the estate had already been cordoned off by a regular detachment of the Imperial Guard that had arrived before them, strictly controlling every direction.
Professor Thorne met the party at the entrance of the estate.
The Inquisition’s carriages drove straight in. Twelve Silent Purifiers leaped out one after another, ignoring the surrounding army and the welcoming party. They dispersed on their own and began to pray in low voices with a unique rhythm, their bodies glowing with golden Holy Light.
The students were moved to the center of the military encampment, and the estate’s main hall was temporarily converted into an operations command center.
A massive map of the explored regions of the Frostwhisper Forest was spread across a long table by the Night Owl Unit commander.
“Status,” he asked succinctly.
Professor Thorne briefly recounted the known information once more and added the results of their new investigation. Inside the Old Logging Trail to the east, they had found deliberately concealed footprints as well as unnatural fluctuations in Mana.
“The students disappeared from different locations, yet traces were only left on the eastern side. This indicates that the kidnappers are professional,” the captain of the 6th Royal Mage Squadron, a gray-haired High-order Mage, analyzed slowly.
“To be able to control nine students with a certain degree of self-defense capability in such a short time, the opposing side cannot be few in number. The proportion of spellcasters should also be very high, and they must be well-trained.”
“The Silent Purifiers have initially sensed a repulsive Chaos Aura and the lingering traces of soul interference within the forest,” the leader of the Inquisition squad reported in a low, raspy voice that sounded like grinding metal.
He coughed twice and continued, “This is very consistent with the methods of certain heretical sects. This group of maggots is likely still entrenched in the forest, using the terrain to hide.”
The Night Owl Unit commander’s finger tapped on the map of the Frostwhisper Forest.
“The forest area is too vast, and more than half of it is unexplored. A full-scale search is unrealistic and would easily alert the enemy. We need to judge their movements based on the traces left behind.”
After listening to the reports, Dean Duncan closed his eyes. A few seconds later, he slowly opened them and issued his orders.
“Divide into regional operations centered on the points of disappearance. The Night Owl Unit is responsible for tracking along the traces. The Mage Squadron will split into two groups: one will set up monitoring arrays on the perimeter, and the other will support the Night Owl Unit. To the gentlemen of the Inquisition, I must trouble you to continue tracking the source of the Chaos Aura.”
He paused, glancing around at everyone gathered near the long table in the hall.
“We must be prepared for any encounter. If you find the kidnappers, the primary goal should be to detain them to extract as much information as possible. However, if you encounter resistance…
“Under the premise of ensuring the safety of the hostages, the use of lethal force is permitted. The Empire must let these lowlifes know the consequences of provocation, and we must also bring our students back safely.”
The orders having been given, the Night Owl Unit commander, the Inquisition squad leader, the Mage Squadron captain, and Professor Thorne immediately moved into action.
—
On the eastern side of the Frostwhisper Forest, a scout squad consisting of seven Night Owl soldiers moved skillfully through the ancient trees, their sharp eyes scanning every unnatural mark.
A patch of tightly trampled snow, a branch broken at an unnatural angle, or even the faint scent of medicinal powder lingering in the air amidst the forest’s smell of humus.
‘Relatively professional, but not flawless.’
The scout captain knelt, using his fingertips to pinch a tiny, nearly invisible amount of grayish-white powder, bringing it to his nose to sniff lightly.
“Trace-Eraser Dust. Black market goods from the east of the city. It can erase scent trails, but they used too much of it.” He stood up and patted his hands on his armor, signaling his comrades to track the path of the drifting dust as they moved deeper into the woods.
After penetrating several kilometers, the scout captain suddenly raised his hand. The six people behind him stopped in succession, quickly hiding behind the towering trees.
In front of them was a forest clearing about 10 meters square that looked exceptionally clean.
The snow was in disarray, the exposed earth was a grayish-black, and several massive ancient trees at the edge of the clearing were covered in scorched marks, as if they had been licked by flames.
What made the scout captain most uneasy were the few puddles of smoking, charred stains in the center of the clearing.
The entire clearing displayed a strange, desolate gray hue, with no signs of life ever having existed, as if it had been forcibly erased by some kind of power.
He did not approach rashly. Instead, he pulled a Recording Stone from his pack and carefully circled the area to capture the scene, while the other scouts used instruments to record various environmental parameters.
‘This wasn’t caused by any known magic or tool. A brief and intense conflict clearly took place here, but who left those stains? And what kind of thing could cause such terrifying destruction?’
Outside the Frostwhisper Forest, the Royal Mage Squadron was currently setting up array nodes around the edge of the woods.
As the nodes took shape, faint blue lines appeared between the points, weaving into a wide-reaching detection network.
The old High-order Mage responsible for monitoring the array’s operation frowned.
‘The interference is too severe. The accuracy of the large-scale life detection and tracking spells has been reduced by at least 50%… and unstable turbulence is stirring everything up.’ His gaze swept back and forth across the floating magical screen.
On the other side, the twelve Silent Purifiers of the Inquisition seemed to have made a new discovery.
“Over here, I hear a disgusting ‘Echo’…” A Silent Purifier raised the staff in his hand, the head of the staff pointing directly toward the northwest. “There seems to be an aura of Chaos there. It is very faint, but it definitely exists.”
He communicated quickly with his companions through mental Whispers. After a moment of confirmation, the directions they perceived all pointed toward the same location—the northwestern area marked as the “Unexplored Deep Valley” on the map.
“We move immediately,” the Night Owl Unit commander, who was waiting beside the Silent Purifiers, said with a serious expression. “While we can still perceive the source of the direction…”
“Commander! The 5th Squad has brought back a major discovery!” An aide came running from a distance and placed a Recording Stone into his hand.
“What is it?”