"What kind of person would be so utterly deranged as to slaughter innocent civilians on our own land?" Ogha asked.
"With only this information, it's difficult to determine the attackers' identities." Olik frowned deeply and thought for a moment before saying, "But as far as I know, there is only one kind of person in the legion skilled at assassination."
At that, Radahn and Ogha both fell silent.
They exchanged a glance, and both knew exactly who Olik meant. The Night Sorcerers within the legion.
These Night Sorcerers were less like ordinary Sorcerers and more like magical assassins.
The sorceries they wielded could be called techniques specialized entirely for killing.
Compared to traditional Sorcerers who studied the stars and moon, Night Sorcerers prioritized how to kill their opponents swiftly and efficiently.
Moreover, among the Night Sorceries was one called Unseen Form, which could completely conceal the user's figure.
This seemed to confirm what Olik had said earlier, that the attackers were highly skilled at concealment.
Ogha took a deep breath and slowly said,
"Ever since the General shattered the meteor that nearly destroyed Sellia Town and was given the name Starscourge..."
"The Night Sorcerers living there swore that they would serve the General for generations. Neither the General nor I would ever doubt their loyalty."
"I'm not saying the original Night Sorcerers betrayed us." Olik slowly shook his head. "But Sellia Town is still a place many Sorcerers long to study in."
Hearing this, Ogha frowned slightly and pressed further.
"You mean those attackers may have used studying sorcery as a pretense to infiltrate the Night Sorcerers, or even reached the upper ranks?"
A bitter smile appeared at the corner of Olik's mouth, and he shrugged helplessly.
"Mm... more or less. But this is only a guess. At present, we have no solid evidence to prove it."
After hearing this, Ogha did not know what to say for a while.
He silently picked up the wine jug on the table, tilted his head back, and took a large mouthful. The harsh liquid slid down his throat into his stomach, bringing a burning heat with it.
By the flickering firelight, Ogha's plain yet resolute face was illuminated with unusual clarity. A scene suddenly appeared in his mind.
An unremarkable nobody, carrying love and longing for sorcery in his heart, stepped into Sellia Town.
In that place filled with mystery and knowledge, he studied one step at a time, enduring countless hardships and setbacks, until finally, through his tireless effort, he became a master of sorcery admired by thousands.
He had thought the long tale of a legendary figure's rise should have ended there, only for someone to suddenly tell him that the story had just begun, and that the protagonist was actually the great villain.
The Redmane Knight Commander stood beneath the moonlight, staring at that place shrouded in darkness, constantly imagining the person hidden in the shadows.
He felt that the man must be just like him, with an ordinary face that did not match the praise people heaped upon him at all.
Radahn stood there quietly, looking up at the moon hanging high in the night sky. For a long time, he said nothing.
If there was any place in this world that mattered greatly to him, Sellia would count as one.
It was a holy land countless Sorcerers longed for, and it was also where he had studied.
In Sellia, he had learned the gravity sorcery that sealed the stars, and part of the reason he sealed the stars was to protect Sellia from falling stars.
"Olik's words are not without reason." After thinking for a long time, Radahn finally spoke. "The Night Sorcerers must be investigated carefully, but it must be done in secret. After all, a great war is imminent. We cannot cause unnecessary panic."
"In secret? That's not something I'm good at." Ogha scratched his head. This task gave the rough man of the battlefield a rare headache.
Radahn was silent for a while, then slowly said, "Sage Grilan... can be trusted." His voice was calm, as if he were stating a fact.
Although it was also a holy place of learning that Sorcerers dreamed of, Sellia was different from Raya Lucaria Academy.
At Raya Lucaria Academy, the leaders were the respected magic professors, renowned for their vast knowledge and outstanding teaching ability.
In Sellia Town, however, leadership was not held by professors, but by a group of Sorcerers honored as "Sages."
In terms of pure scholarship, the Sages might not compare to the professors of Liurnia, but when it came to killing on the battlefield and stealth assassination, they were absolute experts.
Matters that had to be handled in secret would become much simpler with insiders helping. Most importantly, Grilan was currently the most senior Sage.
Even before Radahn became Starscourge General, Grilan had already been a Sage of Sellia Town, as well as one of Radahn's staunchest supporters. With his help, things would naturally be much easier.
...
At this very moment, in a swamp near the center of western Caelid.
Far from the Redmane camp, white light glimmered in the darkness. It was moonlight reflecting off carapaces.
The insect-like creatures covered in those carapaces might seem unfamiliar to the people of Caelid, but anyone from Elphael would recognize them at a glance as the monsters they hated most.
Kindred of Rot.
As the dark clouds drifted farther away, a figure in a red robe stepped into the muddy swamp. Aside from the noisy, insect-like hissing, the place was deathly silent.
The mud ahead suddenly lit up. That swamp crowded with humanoid insects gave off a faint red glow.
Looking closely, one could see the insects scattering. Ripples spread across the swamp's surface, and a figure taller than the insects emerged from beneath the water.
The figure was covered in mud, as if it had crawled out from under the earth. Yet even with filth all over its body, its movements were still elegant.
What was even more startling, however, was the figure beneath that coat of mud. It was no ordinary insect, but more like some kind of fungus grown into human shape.
The figure was roughly human in build, over two meters tall, and possessed human features. Yet its whole body was covered in dense clusters of mushrooms, with the mushroom rising from its head especially enormous.
"Lord!"
The insects bent their knees and bowed, letting out reverent hisses. Though there were many voices, they conveyed only that one meaning.
In the distant past, those great Lords had all devoutly served the Scarlet Rot. The mushroom on the head was a crown, a supreme honor.
The red-robed figure bowed in greeting. Dark red light illuminated the face hidden beneath the shadow of his hood. It was plain and ordinary, unremarkable, just as Ogha had imagined.
But from a slightly different angle, he also resembled the protagonist of the story the Redmane Knight had imagined, the great villain who only appeared halfway through.
In this world, some people would be seen as great heroes by one group, while at the same time being viewed as demons by another.
To those insects, this red-robed man was undoubtedly a hero in their eyes. But to the Redmanes and the people of Caelid, he was that terrifying demon.
The line between hero and demon was sometimes that subtle, separated by only the thinnest thread.
The great hero stood there, seemingly able to smell the rot spreading through the air. Facing that silent, towering Lord, he waited quietly.