Immoriens walked into the lounge and saw several groups of agents hanging out and relaxing before the mission.
As he walked in, they all stood up and saluted him.
"… At ease…" Immoriens said
They all put their hands down but still stood up straight
"It's okay- you can just relax. I… wanted to drop by to say a few things. First, I'm sorry for what I did. Even if it was involuntary, there is no excuse… I almost killed you all. And for that, I am sorry. Second, we have received our orders to move onto the coastal temples. Prepare appropriately. Thirdly, if any of you Delta Agents who were assigned to me for this mission do not wish to accompany me, you do not need to do so." Immoriens said
The concerned agents looked around and shared a look.
"We will follow our original orders and accompany you." Delta Seven said
"Thank you." Immoriens replied
He breathed in and out then continued
"Three of you are wind users right? So we'll go in by air. The other two are water and earth… so you'll be doing something else. I read about a certain tactic, a decoy plot. If the alarm is raised, you two will be decoys and run for your lives south. Meanwhile, the four of us inside will wait for the coast to clear up and make our escape then." Immoriens explained
They shared a look. Particularly the two non-wind attuned agents had grim expressions on their faces.
"What are your thoughts?" Immoriens asked, realising there was something going on that he wasn't aware of
"Nothing, sir… we understand." Delta Eleven replied
Delta Ten meanwhile remained silent.
As night fell, Immoriens and his squad left at the same time as Delta and his squad.
The trip to the temples between Stonebourne city would take a whole day so they would arrive the next night at the two coastal temples.
On the way there, Immoriens was admiring the roads.
"It's quite amazing how the region known for its trade actually invested in its roads and transport. The crimson region is not nearly as well developed and the Capital is too small to need such extensive development." Immoriens said aloud
"Have you only been to those two regions, Captain Immoriens?" Delta Eleven asked in a coarse voice
"And Stonebourne, now." Immoriens said
"We've only been in Stonebourne our entire lives. How is crimson?" Delta Eight asked
"Very warm. The active volcano makes sure of that but honestly nothing is quite as bad as when it throws a fit. The heatwaves makes you sweat and tire all too easily— unless you're a flame users who harnesses the heat that is." Immoriens explained
"I wonder what's worse— the frozen lands of northern Aquabourne or the blazing lands of southern Crimson?" Delta Seven asked
"Beats me. I've not been to northern Aquabourne. How did they even get that space— the two Aquabourne regions are split by the Stonebourne region?" Immoriens asked
"What is now known as northern Aquabourne used to belong to Stonebourne. It was only in a clash between the first Leviathanlord and Golemlord, the elemental lords of water and stone, that a large chunk of Stonebourne became frozen over. Well— the Leviathanlord was losing a battle on land so he decided to engulf the land in ice. The Golemlord responded in kind by making up the Petros peaks which are now the border between northern Aquabourne and Stonebourne. Since no Stonebourne could actually do anything in that frozen land, the Aquabourne were given the area but it came with a heavy price." Delta Nine explained
"What was it?" Immoriens asked
"The daughter of the Leviathanlord. She was to be wed to the Golemlord. She was both a sacrifice and a hostage— but that wedding would make the two lords whole whilst ensuring the Leviathanlord did not come for more. It was a terrible affair." Delta Nine said
"And she lived the rest of her life as a thing to be traded? A hostage and prisoner?" Immoriens asked
"No. She did not live a long life. Because of the emperor." Delta Nine said with disdain
"… what do you mean. What… happened?" Immoriens asked
Delta Nine breathed in deeply and then sighed.
"Emperor Anax was amused by their developments… and when they finally made their arrangement… he grew bored and killed the Aquabourne daughter, planning that her death would end the truce and continue his entertainment. He was wrong. The lords united… banded together even with the aloof Dragonlord and took down the tyrant… even if it cost them their lives." Delta Nine finished, ending the story
"… a despicable bastard…" Immoriens mumbled under his breath
The trip went on. But Immoriens could not help but feel heavy.
'Am I… scared? We know where the guards will be. We know where to go get the information. It's just a quick and out operation. Why do I feel uneasy?' He thought to himself
At the 24 hour mark, they had arrived at their own infiltration sites. The temples were actually more akin to fortresses that had a pagoda temple structure surrounded by tall walls. There were multiple tiers to the temple floors, spanning over one hundred metres in the air. On every floor, there were balconies and guard posts.
"Hey is it me or are most of the posts empty?" Immoriens asked as he looked at the temple from a distance
"They… are? But they're not meant to be according to our intelligence." Delta Nine said
"I don't like this one bit." Delta Eleven added
"What are your orders Captain?" Delta seven asked
"… we stick to the plan. It is clear that they know they have empty areas but they are not covering them. Which can only mean that something disturbed them but it also means that they were told to pretend that it didn't. So let's move and quickly get the hell out." Immoriens said
"Understood." They said
Immoriens and Delta agents seven, eight and nine prepared to go in. Delta Ten and Eleven would stay behind and cause a distraction if needed.
The four wind attuned agents approached the wall under the cover of the night with their essence supressed.
"The northwest corner closest to us should be unwatched." Delta Nine said
Immoriens led them to the corner and letting out the smallest bit of essence, he created footholds to let them scale the tall metal walls.
'Now that I'm close I see that they actually engraved these walls. There's a maze like pattern on them— weird choice.' Immoriens noted as he climbed up on the 20 metre wall.
At the top, he glanced below and saw the courtyard was clear. He nodded to the team and jumped down. A normal person would break their legs from the fall but an elite wind attuned could simply sway the wind to break their fall. Even if they didn't, enhancing their muscles and bones with essence would allow them to drop without fear of injury.
Immoriens and the rest dropped in the courtyard right into bushes. When he was on the ground, Immoriens left a small construct of wind. As the bushes shuffled three more times, they were inside and shifting toward a back door to the temple.
It was easy to go inside.
'Too easy.' The Delta agents shared looks throughout but did not dare to say it aloud.
Eventually though, they saw an open door.
The delta agents waited for him to move but he did not.
"Just wait." Immoriens said
A wind blast kicked up a dustcloud in the courtyard. The guards on the above floors immediately turned and knowing there was no one on that flank, immediately rushed to cover.
Now the way up was clear.
"Let's go." Immoriens said, creating a construct below them which let them get lifted up.
As they reached the top floor however, a guard walked out on the balcony.
"Dammit we're gonna be seen—" Delta Seven said before realising Immoriens was gone
In a flash, the Special Agent had vanished like a phantom and was behind the unaware guard. The unconscious guard.
He then pulled them all the way up to the balcony.
"Let's go in." Immoriens said
The rest walked in on the balcony and looked at the guard. He was an expert, just like them, something they could tell from the number of brown stripes on his black uniform.
Opening the wooden door to the top level of the pagoda temple, Immoriens and the Delta Agents found themselves in front of a massive chamber with a solid iron door locking it. The entire chamber was a box of iron at that.
"I thought metalwork like this was reserved for transportation. This seems like an imported item… illegally imported." Delta Eight said
"Legal or illegal— we can't get through it without raising the alarm. But there's a lock on the door— what are the chances a guard has the key?" Immoriens asked
"They shouldn't. If they're guarding the box, the person holding the key shouldn't be here. We need to come back… but if the mole is going to tell them… then we can't come back." Delta Eight said
"So we need to break through and alert the whole bunch… okay I want you all to leave me here." Immoriens said
"What— but what about the intel?" Delta seven asked
"I'm going to get the intel— right after you make your escape, that is. I'll bust open this thing, give you a random piece and you'll make your escape with the rest. Whilst they give chase, I'm going to get what we came here for and then make my escape when I can. Get those two from outside and don't look back okay." Immoriens said
"Understood." They said
Immoriens took a step back and unleashed his essence. Whirlwind swayed at his call and a slash went forth, cutting through the iron like a hot knife through butter.
Immoriens went in and tossed them a book.
"Go!" He shouted
The agents immediately went to the balcony only to see tens of guards looking up at them.
Enhancing their bodies, they flew across the sky. Their flight was a turbulent one however, as conjured blasts and projectiles were sent after them.
Immoriens meanwhile withdrew his essence into himself and waited for anyone to enter and check what was taken. But, no one did for hours.
'Guess I can just read.' He thought
Immoriens began to look through the records.
"Main Trade Parties:
The Holy Empire
The Southern Principalities
Isle of the Blessed"
"Active concerns:
Piracy
Counterfeit currency
Expansion of Underworld Metalwork
Poison Manufacturing control
Farmer's Revolt
Merchant's Tolls
Holy Empire Inquiries"
"Active Military Military Personnel Statistics:
500,000 Rank 3
212,000 Rank 4
58,000 Rank 5
12 Rank 6"
'Interesting… they have twelve masters… and tens of thousands of elites. They're all active too… but where? At sea to deal with the piracy?' Immoriens took a guess
"Reserve Military Personnel Statistics:
789,000 Rank 3
304,000 Rank 4
29,000 Rank 5
18 rank 6"
Immoriens kept reading through different records until he found a list of names that were all crossed. All but one at the bottom.
"Tempered Champions:
Master Gilen Brun
Master Cart Stonebourne
Master Etroph Fernway
…
…
…
Master Taeru Stonebourne."
"Taeru… his name's not crossed out. But what does a tempered champion mean? Tempered for what—" Immoriens mumbled
He kept looking
"Combat Report:
'Lord Taeru has adjusted well to the change. In a recent exercise he withstood all twelve masters within the military. Most intriguing was the strength of his defences. Twelve masters could not even scratch his armour and within moments of his engagement he changed the whole environment around them, isolating them and suppressing them all simultaneously.'
'It has been three years since the last evaluation. Lord Taeru has completely adjusted to his evolution. He can finally sleep through the nights and his presence is stable. In a combat encounter, the masters were utterly defeated. It would seem he can sap their essence and block their attacks with his essence alone. A combined attack failed to leave any mark on his armour. Your grace has succeeded.'"
'Your grace… a high noble, a duke. Succeeded in doing something… something with Taeru. Wait a minute—' Immoriens noticed something
He looked back at the list of Tempered Champions. Then at the combat report.
"Holy sh*t…" Immoriens cursed in shock and bewilderment