Chương 312: It's just so... specific.

Wander loved cities. With there being so much an entrepreneurial swarm of rats could accomplish - be it sampling food, finding nooks and crannies to explore where people usually did not want you to go, or her favorite pastime of taking note of all the naughty things people did when they thought no one was looking - she usually had the time of her life. Even more so now that so much attention was directed towards the hubbub in the main arena.

As such, one of her bodies was even currently informing Braid of what an example of virtue and restraint she was currently being as Wander was actually focusing on her job with at least sixty percent of her bodies, a number rarely surpassed outside of the time she had followed Kite into the Queen's gate.

"Truly, no appreciation for morals these days~," a few of the rats around the city muttered, getting empathetic nods from their companions as Braid seemed less than enthused by her staunch display of discipline. But even with the lack of proper praise, Wander kept combing the city for hints of suspicious activities, and not just through the wiggling of whiskers and dark beady eyes looking at everything and everyone.

Here and there, a perceptive observer might notice a few rats who were helping each other carry a rolled up piece of fabric, occasionally stopping to unroll it and laying a paw on the intricate embroidery which in turn lit up, the rodents stopping to nod and point while gesturing to one another before rolling the cloth up once more and continuing. Back in the reclaimed Tengu Clan compound, one of Wander's bodies was counting off the finds to Braid, who in turn kept managing his meticulous notes.

"Hidden stash of spirit coins in this house. Malfunctioning array here. Two silver-rankers doing some kind of ritual here~," Wander said, pointing on a map while ticking off what the mana detection embroidery revealed to her one-woman search party, the last statement causing Braid to look up more sharply.

"What? Ritual? Why–" he began, but Wander spoke over him.

"Given how they're both very naked and covering each other in some kind of… Ew, what even is that? Well, let's just say it's more sanity ending than kingdom ending~."

"Wander…"

"What? It really is– Ouch! Oh crap~!"

"What is it now? Another group of people with dubious sexual practices?"

"Hold on– And there went another one. Take that! Blood-Hungry Bite! Bleh! No blood. What– Where did you– Pull back, everyone~!" During the blistering series of exclamations, Braid got a front row seat to an odd pantomime as Wander's nearby bodies either froze or moved as if cheering on other parts of herself. But he had worked with her for years now, and while she was definitely up to her usual antics, the conflict on the other side was very real.

"Definitely found something now," she soon reported.

"One of my detection groups was suddenly pounced upon in the southwestern parts of the city. Something nasty and bony climbed up from a nearby grate and swiped them. Definitely undead, given the taste. Bleh. The detection formation was ruined though. Sorry~."

"You know they're very replaceable," Braid replied, waving away the concern.

"Random monster from the sewers or something more?"

"The latter. I started getting odd readings from your formation. I thought it was too weak at first, but it was like… In an odd way. So I started moving closer, and that thing emerged to tear into me."

"Then you've found something. We'll notify the others as soon as the opening event ends," Braid said with certainty.

"Together with honored Obsidian Crow starting to cover the city, we'll get a complete picture of the weave that is Heavenward much faster than our enemies would think possible."

"They're here," was all that Altessia Sessante stated grimly as Ametrine and Might of Inner Calamity returned after the opening of the Heart of Hua-Xi tournament.

"Inside the city."

"What? Who?" Ametrine asked as she noted her counterpart's expression. While they believed that they knew where the other churches stood, most of them either unable or unwilling to act given that Discord did not intend to impinge upon their domains in Hua-Xi but simply create his own around them. The ideal garden of Discord was one of heterogeneity after all.

Still, sealing off teleportation directly into the city should have been enough to ensure that there wouldn't be any interlopers so soon, should Knowledge or Unity find a way to act.

"The guild and the Crows," Altessia replied, her tone ice at the mere mention of Obsidian Crow and his clan.

"Our allies in the church of Undeath guarding one of the secondary ritual sites reported a few of the rats of that swarm-woman sniffing around. They dispatched them, but those are only a drop in the bucket. One that needs to be taken care of. As for Obsidian Crow, it was some of our own veteran agents that discovered his web of shadows. He is in the city."" So, they did manage to circumvent our detection," Ametrine mused.

"Then is it time?"

"It is time," Altessia agreed.

"Give it six hours for the sects to start building up the conflict around the city. That should somewhat shield us from any further outside interlopers as well. Then start activating the assets. Find Obsidian Crow. Have our allies keep the guild occupied. Activate our assets in the Heavenly Shadow Sect to keep the Adventure Society held in place. Show them the futility in going up against our most venerable lord Discord, where all of their struggles only serve to feed the growing garden.

But remember: Obsidian Crow is mine. When we find him, I will move. The only aid I will accept is to make sure that I may destroy him undisturbed."

"Sect leader! Initial skirmishes have begun around the border. Inner Disciple Petal and her two companions managed to detect a group of infiltrators and drive them off, but we will have to stay vigilant unless they try the same tactic again."

"Good. Keep the plan in mind and be ready. Given the dimensional lockdown, I believe that we shall have another type of guest soon enough," Frost Among Morning Dew replied even as she was using her aura senses to scan her domain and fight off another encroaching spirit that tried to blanket their territory and muddle everyone's spiritual perception.

"For Hua-Xi and the Fated Severance Sect, we must do our part."

"Good, drive them off! Our fellow students are calling for reinforcements up north. We should– Wait, what are you doing?!"

"Suffer not the enemies of the sect to live!" The inner disciple could only stare in mute horror as one of her companions suddenly struck at one of their enemies that was crawling away in defeat. One mighty downward swing of a sword later caused the bronze-ranker's head to roll off, blood spurting everywhere. Cries of alarm and outrage came from the previously retreating members of their rival sect, the retreat turning into a counter-offensive of pure retributive fury.

The inner disciple barely had the time to notice a much more powerful aura suddenly directing its attention to their area before she was suppressed for a moment, feeling as if she was drowning beneath the overwhelming spiritual pressure only for it to be ripped asunder a moment later as one of their own grand elders appeared to combat it.

It was too late though, as a javelin shimmering with forces able to level a whole town was arching in towards them and the grand elder was forced to physically intervene with his own path, shooting towards the sky the next moment as the two gold-rankers smashed into one another with enough force to cause all those weaker on the ground to stagger.

Killing opponents who had surrendered was against the rules of engagement, the King had clearly said so himself, but the inner disciple did not have time to visit proper wrath against her fellow disciple who had made such a blunder driven by heated rivalry as the counterattack from the other side resumed again, with two more silver-rankers joining the previously lower-ranked fray.

Of the disciple responsible for this escalation she saw no sign before the next conflict found her, sweeping her up in its wild torrents. Patriarch Song frowned as he looked up from his tea. The sound of conflict was echoing in from far away, and even while many of the younger members of his family had taken up prime spots from which to watch the unfolding conflict, the patriarch had found it both uninteresting and beneath the dignity of a man of his age and station.

However, the reason for his frown was that his gold-ranked senses had picked up something else; a snap of timber that should not be there. While he might have been less than diligent in practicing with his aura and utilizing one of the aura-sealing bands as many core-users of his station did eventually, there was no fooling his actual senses. Just what was– That was when his teacup exploded into pieces, shards flying everywhere even as the patriarch jerked backwards.

The contents of the cup had been similarly scattered all over him and the room, but there was little time left to properly react to the humiliation of it all, as what had shattered his cup had been an arrow that had neatly punched through several walls of his compound and almost hit him as well. Patriarch Song had leapt backwards by the time several more followed, barely noticeable even to his senses as they punched a row of holes through a wooden wall and a paper screen, tracking his motions.

The last projectile did hit, only to glance off the patriarch's skin as it had started turning to marbled stone.

"Come, Venerable Boulder." With murmured command his familiar emerged from where it had been subsumed into his skeleton just as the patriarch exited his chambers out onto a balcony, the streams of shimmering magic coalescing into a huge, craggy toad the size of a wagon, stalagmites growing in clusters across its form.

Patriarch Song landed atop his companion's back before the toad sprung, easily clearing one of the wings of the main building and landing in another courtyard of their compound where the invaders were awaiting him.

"Patriarch. How good of you to join us. Now I won't have to ruin as many of your walls," a mocking feminine voice called, belonging to the gold-ranked woman with the stark white bow who stood just inside the gates of the Song compound, another inscribed arrow already knocked.

"Thought you could simply ambush me inside my own home, hag?" Patriarch Song retorted, his fury rising at the sight of Mother Valor, matriarch of the Valor family and now invader of his home. A core-using gold-ranker like himself, she was the pinnacle power of her family now that her grandson had failed in his bid for the throne and been exiled, even if - like him - it had been rare that he heard of her raising her bow outside of the obligatory service during the monster surges.

But where Patriarch Song had only Venerable Boulder at his side, Matriarch Valor had more company. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

"What? No appreciation for visitors, old man?" she retorted.

"And here I went to the trouble of bringing my new and most supportive friends here for a visit when we heard that you might have remained here alone." A trio of hulking silver-ranked leonids flanked the woman, people Patriarch Song had not seen before as they didn't seem to be locals. But worst of all, she had another companion that was more creature than person in the shape of…. Something. Everything.

Vaguely humanoid, the being was shifting constantly in texture and color while different kinds of masks manifested on its face, but its aura was decidedly gold-ranked. Weak gold rank, but a gold no less.

"How valorous then, to ambush a man inside his home," Patriarch Song growled even as he pondered his own route of escape while weighing just how much he was willing to fight for the lesser-ranked family members and servants still remaining in the compound.

"If it means finally casting you and your cursed brood from the Heavenly Stairway now that your protectors in the sects are busy, I believe that I can live with the indignity," Mother Valor replied with a cold smile as she drew her bow once more, and spoke her order.

"This one's star has been fading for a long time now. Time for someone to snuff it out. Kill him." Kite, Dragonfly and Will turned as one when a huge pillar of stone erupted from a compound atop the Heavenly Stairway that rose in the middle of Heavenward, with Kite even able to pick out the flickering of essence powers even at that distance from where the three had been making their way through the city streets.

"Is that…?"

"No, that's on another plateau," Kite noted, seeing that the sudden fighting wasn't anywhere near the Tengu Clan's compound.

"The question remains though… Who? I can sense two golds up there, but both are core-users."

"I'm trying to get a few bodies closer to check it out, but you left Soul behind at the compound for a reason, no? So get your asses moving before I lose track of the thing that keeps eating my bodies," Wander protested from Kite's shoulder, hidden beneath the flowing veils of his hat.

"Oh, by the way though, Obsidian Crow has found another three suspicious sites we suspect to be some kind of ritual, so I think it's time to call in the guild if we are to have a chance at going for all of them~."

"As we suspected then," Kite noted, the others followed him into a nearby alleyway before he brought out a rectangular wooden token adorned with a simple magical rune. It had been left up to Kite to determine when they had enough confirmation to send the signal. But now? Undead in the sewers? Multiple potential ritual sites? The odd sensation still tickling the edges of his spiritual awareness? It was time.

The token was one out of a set of three, one for each approach, and Kite wasted little time in infusing some mana into it before snapping it in half with a flick of his hand. Further up north, a similar one in Walker's possession would activate and similarly snap, giving the signal. One of the unused pairs would have indicated for the guild to conjure their portals with the Adventure Society campus platform as a target, but that was unavailable to them. The other would have told them to not come at all.

And the one that Kite had snapped? That one indicated a different location, one that would no doubt prove more… intense… for the arriving members, but that couldn't be helped at the moment.

"It is time." Grain snapped out of his meditation as the Guildmaster spoke, a rush going through him of both excitement and nervousness. The latter only increased when he noted which of the tokens on Walker's desks that had just snapped.

"The secondary location. So, things are complicated," he breathed, to which Walker nodded.

"Which just means that little Kite believes that we are needed all the more, despite the potential danger," the older man agreed before walking past Grain, who fell in step behind him as they walked through the guildhall and emerged into the larger foyer near the main entrance. Dozens of faces turned towards them, with most of the guild's silver-rankers being present while a similar number of bronzes would act in support.

Grain knew all of them by name, having ferried most of them out on contract more than once in the years since he himself joined the guild, and he knew that Walker did as well even from his lofty perch of guildmaster. He was also once more struck by just how many of the guild members were adventurer clergy of one god or another, with plenty of holy symbols or meditative prayers on display.

From what he now knew of the conflict, it felt far beyond mere coincidence, but Grain knew them all and it would be a relief to have them at his side today no matter the games of the gods. Walker silenced the murmurs with a pulse of his aura as he stepped up to the edge of the stairs that led down to ground level from the mezzanine where he stood, speaking in the silence that followed with a tone that was far removed from the jovial one Grain was used to in their more private meetings.

"The word has been sent. It is time for us to depart," he began, hands behind his back as he addressed the room.

"We were intended to be a guild of messengers and wanderers, outcasts and the independent coming together for the good of these lands. You have all traveled to the far-flung villages and towns, hunted down the most isolated monsters and brought word and message to those that would otherwise be left without. And you have done it for this very purpose.

I don't need to rain the praise of the Adventure Society upon you for your hard work, as you have already seen and heard it from the people, be it in word of thanks or the emotions of the spirit. You know that you have gone above and beyond for the people of the north. That is why it humbles this old man that so many of you are here today. Because this… This scene we are stepping into is not something far-flung or isolated.

We will be stepping into what might be the densest heart of our kingdom turned into a battlefield in this so-called tournament which we suspect is nothing more than a veneer for Discord's true intentions for our kingdom. Kite's call is the confirmation of this, and even though you know all this, you are still here.

Messengers, herbalists, healers, rangers and hunters all, you're still willing to use the power your paths have accumulated to once again step in for this kingdom, even when what we are protecting it from is in part itself." Walker let the words hang in the air for a while and sink in, but eventually he continued.

"As we step through the portals, I want you to remember something. We are not there for the same reason that the sects are. We are not there for personal pride or to show our vain prowess, but to correct a wrong at the heart of our kingdom while protecting the people of the capital from what we fear might turn into a mess, to say the least. But the sects might not see it that way. Do not let their pride infect you and blind you to our purpose, no matter the provocation.

Follow your tasks and, when in doubt, trust your own judgment and that of your companions. Because that is the judgment which I trusted when accepting your applications to the guild. Show friend and foe alike the heart of the Autumn Wanderer's guild as we act for prosperity, not for strife. You know your assigned order to head through the portals. I shall be with you too. May Fortune favor all of you. May Warrior keep your arms strong. And may Unity hold you together in the face of adversity."

Grain could feel the auras of the gathered rising along with Walker's speech, the first cheer and raised guild symbol erupting the moment he finished. Dozens of arms shot up to show the bronze leaf that marked their unified purpose, the cheer eventually dying down as they all headed out towards the yard outside the guildhall from where they would depart.

"I believe that you are needed down there now, Grain," Walker said with a chuckle as a clap to the younger man's shoulder snapped him out of the haze of emotion the speech had stirred in him.

"I shall go and say farewell to Spring and little Hunter. Just in case. Then the guild shall be heading into danger together. And alongside Ash, you will be the one ferrying us on this excursion. Fortune be willing, you will be able to start to really head out into the wider world you have been yearning for when all of this is over." Then he conjured a plant and stepped into it, leaving Grain to head down the stairs to where Scythe and Fawn awaited. It was indeed time to head out.

A lone rat crept along an alley in the southwestern reach of Heavenward. To any observer who had ever seen a rat before, it would be obvious that it was an unusual one, given how its whole body language advertised its attempts at sneaking closer to a certain sewer grating. Said observer might also notice faint traces of blood and the like around the grating, a warning sign which the rat didn't seem to notice.

When it drew to within a few paces, the grating was suddenly flung upwards as a skittering mass of bone appendages burst forth, their pointed tips aiming to impale the rodent in a heartbeat and have it suffer the same fate as many who had come before it. This time, however, things went differently.

"Ward!" A barrier appeared before the rat which stopped all of the bony claws dead in their tracks, and before they even had a chance to retract, an armored form blurred from its hiding place. Several crunches resounded through the alley as a gauntleted hand was thrust into the now thrashing mass of clawing appendages, scraping ineffectually at the armor while said hands found purchase and heaved.

This caused the creature's flailing to intensify, but it mattered little as it was ripped from the opening before an overhead swing had it crashing into the alleyway street with enough force to crack the stone below. This revealed the creature in its full form, like a huge mutated hand completely wrought from bone but with a hundred thin fingers instead of five, though several of the finger-tendrils had been cracked or crushed by the sudden violence.

"Undeath is indeed here, though it's not like any of us had any doubts," Kite noted grimly as he brought forth the spear gifted to him by his father - the title still a strange sentiment he was getting used to - and impaled the creature to pin it to the stone below.

"And it sure is a disgusting one," Dragonfly agreed, shuddering at the wild, insect-like flailing as she emerged from her own hiding space around a corner.

"All those legs, or whatever they are…"

"We are on the right track," Kite agreed, nodding to Will and Laevyeth to finish the thing off before they would continue. While it was indeed disgusting, he had seen even less appealing creatures during his time spent with Gauntlet; a record he was all too happy not to surpass this day.

"Time to head down. Wander, take the lead? ~""What? Think I feel at home in sewers just because I'm a rat~?"

"No, but I do know that you find great spots from which to crawl into many places where you shouldn't be."

"Well, you got me there~," the rat admitted with a shrug of one of her bodies even as dozens more of them had emerged from the surrounding alleys to start climbing downward.

"Glad to have you too, Wander. I'd much rather go check this place out now rather than waiting for more information at the clan compound, but all of these auras clashing outside is more distracting than I'd like, so I'm glad we have some more eyes and ears," Dragonfly grumbled. Kite could understand what she meant, even though his own greater power let him more easily push the spiritual din to the back of his mind.

So many silvers and golds clashing outside - and now the two inside the city - did make for an intense experience. And he did agree that it was nice to be able to head out rather than wait, even though Soul's ready agreement to stay behind had been more surprising, as if she seemed content with waiting for some greater challenge instead. River was already out investigating another distinctly dangerous lead as well.

Will touched Laevyeth's tip to the now twice dead monster and activated her looting power before leaping into the sewer opening after Dragonfly, and Kite soon joined them, all too happy to escape the rainbow smoke. Sewers were another domain that he too had become quite used to over the years in the task group, and before anyone else had time to complain about the smell and grime, he had already brought out a studded crystal on a chain into which he infused mana before affixing it to his belt.

The gem lit up, projecting a sphere around him which pushed away both sewer sludge and smell, and its effect left both Will and Dragonfly forming up close around him.

"Heavens, Kite, where did you get this?" Dragonfly asked while poking the contraption.

"I am certainly not complaining, it's just so… specific."

"Amica and I commissioned a few rather odd artifacts during our time with Gauntlet, as did most of the others. The number of sewers or waterlogged caverns we had to creep through made this worth it many times over," Kite smiled, and was about to say something else when he sensed something. Even over the spiritual din of the conflicts around the city, he was close enough to pick up on something that sent a chill through his being as his aura brushed against one of unlife and decay.

The moment of spiritual contact was brief, but it left both Kite and whatever he had felt in the distance without a doubt of the other's presence. And as they were both gold-ranked, there was little to doubt about the threat either.

"Gold-ranked undead. Close. Get–" Kite began, but Wander's many-bodied shriek drowned out the words that followed.

"Oh shit! Horde! Get ready~!" Then the walls and tunnels around them came alive to Kite's aura senses as creatures previously well hidden were suddenly unveiled, the echoes of claws upon stone and bone feet sloshing through the waters washing over the group from every direction.

"As above, so below," Kite muttered at the conflict about to erupt around them.

"At least this lead was not a false one."