It was almost evening and the sun had already begun to lose its morning radiance. The dark forest was eerily quiet compared to the chaotic noise that had enveloped it for the past hours.
At this moment, Blaze and Black Drifter could be seen moving at their peak speed toward the direction of Winterseed village. Black Drifter was the fastest, yet he had to reduce his flying pace because Blaze was leading the way.
Soon, Blaze exited the dark forest and could now see the Village; the mighty Wind Mill at the farm area was already visible from his position. He ran a short distance and came to a halt before directing Black Drifter.
[ "That is the village," ]
Blaze Drifter let out a low, bestial sound of approval; afterwards, he activated one of his skills to make his scouting mission easier.
Instantly, a brief, blinding glow enveloped Black Drifter. Once the glow disappeared, a miniature version of Black Drifter—about the size of an adult pigeon—appeared.
Blaze was genuinely amazed by the brief transformation. He even thought to himself, rather shamelessly, that he could easily defeat Black Drifter at that size.
On the other hand, Black Drifter wasted no time; he blasted toward the village at a speed that made him nearly impossible to spot.
Black Drifter arrived at the village and first reached the farms, where the farmers were already retiring after a long day's work – they didn't seem to be in any sort of trouble, with most even smiling and joking on their way home.
Passing the farm, he entered the village—It was evening and, as usual, the women were busy cooking and bathing the little ones. He even spotted some children running in circles, laughing heartily as they played to their heart's content.
Black Drifter was very confused at this point – weren't the villagers supposed to be in trouble?
He had been expecting a little bit of conflict and chaos, but everything he saw was quite the opposite.
[ 'Did Bratty Blaze show me the wrong village?' ] he pondered.
He flew around the entire village thrice to ensure he did not miss any important details, yet everything remained the same – no sign of any conflict.
He then flew out of the village immediately to meet with Blaze, who was already waiting for him. He told Blaze what he had seen, and it confused him as well; both of them decided to relay the news to Rowan.
However, a few minutes after Black Drifter left, two mages dressed in dark cloaks appeared out of nowhere in front of Rowan's house. Coincidentally, there was no one on the street, so their strange arrival went unnoticed.
They knocked twice in a rather peculiar manner.
Afterwards, the door was opened by Xandros, who wore an expression of utter boredom.
"Are they not back yet?" he asked.
Both dark mages shook their heads.
"Then why are you here?" Xandros demanded, his tone clearly irate.
"A divine beast entered the village," they reported.
"Was it an Ashfire wolf? That is Rowan's pet; they must be nearby. Prepare the others right away." Xandros's face lit up with a spark of urgency.
"It wasn't an Ashfire wolf but a bird-type divine beast from a race we couldn't recognize. It flew around the village thrice and then headed back toward the dark forest; we think it was sent to scout the area," one of them explained.
The other dark mage proceeded to describe how diminutive the divine beast was, as well as the considerable power it possessed.
Hearing all this, a frown quickly appeared on Xandros's face – why was such a divine beast here?
'Winterseed is not blessed with mana; no divine beast would bother to enter such an impoverished place unless it were being controlled by a master,' Xandros pondered.
'Also, Rowan doesn't possess any other divine beast except Blaze, so it's definitely not him.'
'Could it be the handiwork of that bastard King?' Xandros gritted, the face of Venerable Mario appearing in his mind as he was suddenly overwhelmed with murderous intent.
The cult of Ember Justice was extremely overpowered; the mere mention of their names was enough to turn a peaceful kingdom chaotic, and their presence spelled its end.
However, even with this might, they had an unbeatable enemy – Venerable Mario; he was the only one capable of stirring chaos among the cult. He was the proverbial light that could chase away the dark – the dark being the cult of Ember Justice.
'The grand plan of the cult had been delayed so many times because of this fucktard, and he is planning to do it again!' Xandros's mind continued to churn with hatred.
Inside the room, Dragun, sitting on the ground beside Riela, overheard the conversation.
'If that man intervenes, then we are safe,' he thought.
As an ex-member of the cult, he too knew about Venerable Mario.
Riela did not understand the conversation; she still wore the same worried look on her tear-soaked face.
Dragun patted her shoulder gently, offering consolation, "Everything will be okay."
Riela didn't respond – she knew those words were merely dry reassurances meant to give her hope. She had already given up at that point.
"Return back to watching and report everything you find," Xandros said after a few minutes of contemplation.
The two dark mages nodded their heads.
"Be extra careful this time. If it is who I think it is, then any sort of mistake would mean the end of everything we have planned so far," Xandros added before they left.
He closed the door and went back inside.
He sat on the bed and picked up a scroll to read, completely ignoring Dragun and Riela as though they weren't even in the room.
Meanwhile, Rowan and his army halted to hear the reports of Black Drifter and Blaze.
"Are you sure about this?" Rowan asked with a frown.
[ "Yes, master, there was nothing amiss; everywhere was peaceful, not even a single conflict," ]
Rowan went silent while the soldiers behind him whispered among themselves, wondering what Black Drifter had told Rowan.
'If the message was a fake, it could only mean one thing – Dragun is setting me up!'