Cursed Soul: Ch.19

“Anyone feeling a bit queasy?” Liam asked as we flew on the Praying Mantis through the skies above Fiore. The lieutenants looked amused with his words while Alya sighed, already looking tired of his voice.

“Seriously? That's what you're worried about right now?”

“Hey, we're about to drop down into enemy territory to safely rescue a royal family. If we succeed, we prevent a war, but if we don't, we're going to start a war. Sorry if my stomach feels like doing backflips.”

“He's got a point there”, I chimed in and shrugged as Alya palmed her face before looking to Danny who was busy taking deep breaths.

“You got anything to add here, Lycan?”

“Not particularly. Feeling a bit of anxiety before a big mission such as this is normal.”

“That and if we fuck up, death is going to be a mercy for us”, Khae added with a shrug and I smirked as Alya sighed.

“With that issue done, we got a plan of entry, Colonel?”, I asked as I turned to Mundus, who was studying the screen I'd conjured for him.

“Make a screen of the city outskirts for everyone”, He ordered and I nodded as I snapped my fingers. With that snap, digital maps appeared hovering in front of everyone and we leaned in, waiting for the plan.

“Firstly, we will be dropped in the mountains here”, He began as he pointed to the mountain a few kilometers north of the city and then traced a path through the rugged mountain terrain towards the western gate.

“After we land, we'll be in for some heavy fights because we'll be landing in wyvern territory and it's breeding season so we're in for some fun there.”

“Well, isn't that lovely?”, Lycan murmured and I smiled as the others nodded with grimaces before Mundus continued.

“From there, our formation from the base of the mountains will be as follows: Lieutenant Arreiks and Sergeant Major Lycan will be the vanguard. Right behind them will be Captain Creed and Lieutenant Maverick. Central Column will be Corporal Peekwold and Lieutenant Danners. I will be behind them and the backline will be Sergeant Hunters and Captain Danvers.”

“And once we get through that mess?”, Leah asked with a frown and Mundus didn't say anything as I took over.

“That is where I take over”, With a thought, the screens flickered as the sigil of a grapevine.

“This is called the Hymn of Dionysus. What it does is release a fragrant and invisible mist that would cause the guards to see only what I want them to see. Therefore, I would then cast an illusion that makes it so they can't sense us approaching.”

“Well, that would work great if not for the fact that the capital city of Bosco has anti-ethernano stone built into their city walls to prevent that sort of thing from happening”, Liam said and I grinned as I nodded.

“That would be the case, yes, but this hymn doesn't use my ethernano to maintain the illusion. It only activates itself when I use my ethernano and afterwards, I manipulate the ambient ethernano in the air itself to keep the spell activated.”

“I don't see how that's a good thing”, Alya said with a look of skeptism, but I chuckled as Khae gave me a wide grin.

“That's fucking brilliant. The anti-ethernano stone in the city is calibrated to ignore the ambient ethernano in the atmosphere in and around the city, which is needed since no one can survive without even the slightest bit of ethernano to keep their organs from collapsing under the pressure of the ethernano in the air. Therefore, the illusion becomes undetectable.”

“Exactly”, I said and the squad hummed and nodded as Mundus spoke up once again.

“Once we're inside the city, things get trickier. The western district's military compound is only a few dozen meters from our entry point. We'll need to stay low and quiet, which means no trying to be a hero. Our goal is to first figure out where they have stashed the royal family inside the facility so we can't risk alerting the city guard until the royals are secure.”

“Sir, question. If the royal family is in the facility outside the city, then why don't we stay outside?” I asked and Mundus shook his head as Arreiks explained.

“If we did that, we'd have to worry about the patrol routes of not only the guards outside the facility but also those that are ordered to stop anyone from getting near the facility. We would not even be able to take them out, because if we did that, we'd risk Pietro and his goons getting spooked by that and killing the family off. That would mean a failure on our part.”

“Not to mention the fact that we need to go inside to scope out if and when deliveries are made to the facility. That way, we can maybe figure out an easier way inside”, Mundus asked and I gave a thumbs-up in understanding as Danvers asked her question.

“What kind of resistance are we expecting inside the city?”

“A lot. The city guard's numbers have doubled in the last two weeks and we've confirmed sightings of specialized mages patrolling the inner sectors. They're not part of the regular military so someone's funding a private force here.”

'Mercenaries', That was the thought that flashed through all of our minds as we heard that and I frowned before the grapevine hymn was replaced with one of an owl with its wings flared.

“Finally, we go to this one: the Hymn of Athena. This one's not as flashy as the others, but it is still quite good. It sharpens my tactical awareness and eyesight so I'll be able to analyse every structure we pass, detect hidden jutsushiki and sense ambushes before they are sprung. However, what makes it better is that I can apply it to a certain two people with extraordianary eyesight and sniping skills.”

“Not bad, Creed. I'm starting to see the vision here”, Alya spoke with a smirk and even Danvers looked excited as I chuckled before smirking as Leah smirked.

“Ooh~ Got a few hymns for me?”

“Some.”

“Back to the mission, please. You two can fuck when we get into the city”, Mundus interrupted, rolling his eyes as Leah huffed while I saluted.

“Sorry about that. Continue.”

“How long does this Hymn of Athena last?”

“Ten minutes active and then an hour cooldown to make sure their brains don't overload. If I cancel it halfway, then the cooldown is only thirty minutes.”

“Good. We'll depend on that to navigate choke points and detect traps once we're fully inside the city.”

“And if we get split up?” Danners asked the one question none of us wanted and Mundus frowned before nodding.

“If that happens, regroup points are marked here, here and here. Eric, download the map for everyone.”

“Will do”, I muttered before pressing away at my keyboard, smirking as the download bars appeared above everyone's head with the battle tactics and notes that we just discussed.

It was a weird feeling for them as I was essentially just sharing my memories that I had of said map to them and to them, it would feel as if they came up with the plan all on their own.

“Worst case, we retreat, but that's the last resort. The moment our stealth is broken, assume the royals are compromised.”

“Got it”, We all agreed before I closed the screens and the comms of the Praying Mantis crackled to life.

“Ten seconds to drop point.”

“Make sure you have what you need”, Mundus said as he stood up, the rest of us doing the same as Arreiks cracked his fingers while taking point.

The doors hissed open and the cold mountain air entered with a howl as we hovered above the jagged peaks. Snow flurries whipped us in the face and I frowned as I made out the faint glow of city lights visible far in the distance below.

“Stick to formation. Watch your spacing…and don't die”, Mundus said as he put on his mask and I rolled my eyes while the others smirked as we did the same.

“Drop Zone is under! Go!”

“Here's to hoping we don't”, Arreiks spoke before he dropped and one by one, we all walked out of the Praying Mantis and fell down towards the wyvern-infested territory below.

Time to work for a living.

“Earth Magic: Softening.” A golden magical circle appeared in front of Arreiks as he landed first, pushing the snow away with his rough crash before mud surged upwards and slowed down each of us.

Alya was the first to land with a tight roll, her bow already in her grasp with an arrow notched. Liam was the last to land and I snickered as he had landed face first in the snow, popping up with a gasp while Mundus landed near the rear with his blade already out.

It was not long before we heard the first screech, all of us turning to see the snow-white wyvern barely visible amidst the light blizzard raging around us.

Its pitch black eyes stared us down before it let out a high-pitched and guttural roar, diving down as I lifted a hand to it.

“Bow Magic: Flaming Wrath!” Alya chanted as she fired three precise arrows through the air and I watched as each one lit up with blazing flames.

The next second, the pained cries of the wyvern echoed in the air as they all stabbed into its chest before exploding with a raging fury and blowing its chest wide open.

“Damn, someone's been training”, Liam spoke in our minds with his Telepathy magic and Alya huffed before I looked up to see a flock of the winged monsters rising up from the snow.

“Vanguards, take point! Everyone else, formation!”, Mundus barked out and Lycan was already in full werewolf form as he and Arreiks charged towards the city with the rest of us following after them.

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Despite our intense planning for the wyverns, they did not last long once the vanguards began clearing a path with us supporting them from the backline.

No one needed to say anything as we all knew the map and moved in silence, knowing that every second we stayed in the mountains increased the odds of being found by patrol groups or worse, alerting them to our presence.

A loud crunch made Arreiks and Lycan halt as the former held up a fist, all of us stopping as we watched the loose rock tumbling further down the slope before Mundus spoke.

“Advance in staggered pairs”, We all nodded as Lycan and Arreiks went first followed by myself and Leah, Liam and Khae and finally, Mundus, Alya and Erica.

After a few minutes of some very rough mountain climbing, we reached the edge of the treeline overlooking the outer city wall.

Bolia, the capital city of Bosco, glimmered with numerous buildings surrounding the large fortress carved of ancient stone and ironwood at its centre.

From here, the anti-ethernano stone inside the wall stood visible, a faint shimmer in the night air and I frowned as I could feel the ethernano suppression tug at my senses.

“Creed, you're up.”

“Hymn of Dionysus.” I whispered while grasping onto the ambient ethernano around me before making it expand with a pulse. In an instant, the mist formed before it was carried out towards the city walls by the cold wind.

One by one, I watched before smiling as I felt my mind connecting with every guard on the wall, grasping onto their senses before I began to weave the air around us.

“Move low, slow and in pace with each other.”

“Got it. You heard the man's orders, people. Keep up”, Mundus spoke as he went first, the rest of us slowly descending the mountain while I took up the centre to keep the illusion evenly spread.

It would have taken us a shorter time if we had gone faster, but even with how slow we were going, I had to make us stop a few times as the illusion cracked and nearly exposed us.

However, when we reached the worn merchant path that led to the western gate, I smiled as we simply walked around the two guards at the gate, Liam snickering as we walked into Bolia like the phantoms we were.

“Holy shit, this is working.”

“Shh~ Don't jinx it!”, Alya hissed and I frowned as we began making our way to the far outskirts of the western district.

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“Everyone good?”, Mundus asked as we sat under the cover of an abandoned watchtower near the outskirts of the western district, everyone nodding as I typed away at the screen.

“Good. Creed, that Athena one you spoke of?”

“Hymn of Athena”, The owl sigil in front of me glowed before my vision sharpened and the details around me snapped into clarity.

From the cracks in the stone walls to the scuff marks on our clothes and even the faint traces of the ethernano in the air were made out by my eyes and I memorized each one by making a note of them in my Archive.

With a thought I extended it to Alya and Erica and they flinched as their pupils shrunk to near pinpricks before slowly adjusting back to normal. It was not long before I felt the spell click, Alya grinning sharply while Erica adjusted her sitting stance without a word.

“Two patrols sweeping eastbound. Six men. No enchantment, but they're armoured.”

“Trap jutsushiki buried under that cart to our left. Someone's expecting saboteurs.”

“Marked. Keep going.” I muttered as I updated the map and Mundus signalled for us to stand up before we moved, ducking through alleyways and slipping between narrow courtyards and dead-end streets.

“Five on the rooftops to our 1, 3, 5.30, 8 and 11, dressed in irregular armour with mismatched insignias.”

“Another five all gathered in the gatehouse to our left”, Alya called out and I made a note of them before turning to Lycan as he spoke up.

“They're private. Take note of the Petra Arms they're wearing. That's high-grade northern steel, not the cheap stuff.”

“Great. So our theory of a foreign benefactor was right, then”, I called out through the telepathic link and Mundus frowned before we continued going.

Making our way across the courtyard near the fortress, Mundus kicked up the manhole cover before we all dropped in, the Colonel last to enter as he landed with a grunt and we stood in the grime.

“Three guards down the sewer to the right and the entrance to our final rendenvous point is behind them. In between them and the corner is a field of jutsushiki that serve as a motion detector”, Alya called out and I frowned before nodding.

“Give me a few seconds”, I answered as I walked to the corner she spoke of, stopping a few meters from it with everyone behind me before tracing a series of jutsushiki in front of me.

“Hymn of Dionysus: Echo”, With a pulse of my ethernano, the jutsushiki activated before the sound of footsteps echoed as they raced further down the sewers.

None of us moved as the illusion triggered the motion-detection field and we watched as the guards instantly ran after the footsteps before Mundus patted my shoulder.

“Good work. Let's go”, Making our way around the corner and towards the door at the end of the tunnel, Mundus stopped us as the door opened, everyone of us watching tensely as the door opened before I blinked as a familiar grinning silver-haired face walked out and waved.

“What took you guys so long?”

A/N: And infiltration is successful~!! We are in and now, we're most likely finishing the arc in the next two chapters as we move on to something new after that.

Next chapter: Battling against a Demon.

As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…

Ba-Bye~!!