Sacrifice Mage

Chapter 242 (B3: 69): Zairgon Responds

I was distraught. For all that I had rushed over to Kalnislaw estate to help protect those I cared about and the ventures I myself had established at the manor, I had failed, hadn’t I? Vandre was gone. Taken by those bastards from Claderov for some inconceivable reason.He had been kidnapped from right under my nose.

That was the most maddening bit. I had those idiots. The first one had been taken care of with Starburst. Then the other two had been a closer fight, but I had still overcome them. At least until the distant shots from their far stronger ally had interrupted the battle. This was supposed to be a victory. Vandre wasn’t to be taken.

“You need to calm down, Ross,” Hamsik said as we sat inside the huge main hall of the Kalnislaw manor. “I know you are angry. So am I. But we can’t charge into Claderov just like that. We can’t pursue them if we don’t even know which direction they’ve gone.”

As the hours were passing by, Zairgon was responding. The Council had already blockaded the trains from getting out of Zairgon to head back to their parent city. There were already teams of guards looking for the ones who had attacked Houses Uralivanth and Kalnislaw. The Councillors were also contacting the city of Claderov itself and their Senators.

I didn’t know how much any of those measures would be effective. Then there was the fact that none of those measures involved me personally, so I felt left out. Useless.

“Are you even listening to me, Ross?” Hamsik said. “You cannot let the trees distract you from the forest.”

I looked up at him oddly. “Have you actually a forest?”

Hamsik looked a bit stumped. “I am told they exist. We have some in the Preserve too.”

I snorted. “Those are hardly . Even the smallest of real forests would cover the entirety of Zairgon and then some.”

“My is that you are the leader of the Cult of the Sun. You cannot abandon those duties in search of personal satisfaction and fulfilment.”

My temper flared again. “You think I want to find Vandre for ”

Hamsik wasn’t one to be cowed so easily. “Don’t you? Think about it, then answer me.”

I growled at him. “I want to find him because he’s an important member of the Sun Cult. Because I’m responsible for him just as I’m responsible for everyone else, including you, Hamsik. Because I need to make Claderov pay for thinking they could ever take a member of our cult and get away scot free.”

“And what about the temple?” Hamsik asked. “What about the people still in Zairgon?”

He was asking what I’d do if I had to leave for Claderov to get Vandre back. I couldn’t just casually refute his argument. Not when the bastard was making a valid point.

No matter what I felt about Vandre’s kidnapping, I couldn’t just drop everything about the temple here and rush off to Claderov or something. I had duties here, responsibilities I needed to attend to. Sure, I could leave the temple behind in the hands of capable deputies, like Hamsik himself.

But that was what Hamsik kept warning against. I’d be a poor leader if I made decisions based on my immediate emotional reaction behind one member’s kidnapping.

This was especially true because I wasn’t sure if Claderov had an actual motive in capturing Vandre. The more likely scenario was that they had gone after the woman and the kids, and Vandre had tried protecting them, which had resulted in him getting caught up in it as well.

“But why him?” I asked. “Instead of just killing him? Not that I blame them for not killing him, but understanding what they actually want will help us tackle whatever they’ve got planned.”

“I don’t know,” Hamsik said. His expression darkened. “I simply hope that they haven’t suffered terribly.”

We sat in silence for a long while. There no right reaction other than feeling morose. First Sreketh with that horrific attack. Now Vandre who had been outright kidnapped by the enemy. I was starting to feel a little like I was being messed with by Fate or something.

Eventually, I left to break the news to the rest of the temple. I explained what had happened at Kalnislaw estate to Aqrea, Santoire, Guille, and the rest of the Scarthralls and other initiates in attendance. They were all shocked and dismayed to learn that Vandre was simply gone. The Scarthralls were especially affected.

“We need to go after them immediately,” Lujean said. “If those bastards think they can just steal one of our own, then they really need to learn a good, hard lesson.”

“Right,” Atholaine said fiercely. “We need to burn down Pits-cursed Claderov. .”

“When are they setting out the expeditions to Claderov if they’re handling it that way, Cultist Ross?” Lujean asked. “Or do we need to volunteer for the military?”

I sighed. Their reactions were understandable. Absolutely. I felt much the same way. But at the same time, we couldn’t just barge straight into a hostile city.

“Let’s see what the Council says,” I said. “We need to wait for their decision.”

Lujean shook his head. “Why? They’ll take too long. By that point in time, who knows what they’ll do to Vandre. We can’t waste any time, Cultist!”

I swallowed this time. This was exactly how I felt.

And it wasn’t just me. The rest of the cultists, Scarthrall or no, all felt the same way. Several of them were agreeing vociferously, adding their ferocious agreement to what Lujean and Atholaine had suggested. Now, I cursed Claderov. They had created an untameable storm.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I should have been paying more attention. I should have protected him personally. But no. We’ll need to wait for an official decision. We need to work together with Zairgon. We get Vandre back. Have no doubt about that. Remember, he’s strong and resilient. We will get to him and we’ll bring him back. We just need to be a bit patient.”

Obviously, they weren’t satisfied with that. A few of them even tried to argue that we didn’t need Zairgon’s approval or assistance. We were strong. We could take a few belligerents from Claderov.

But eventually, they settled down for the time being. They were obviously not going to remain dormant for long. I could feel the tension threading through us all.

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Vandre…

My fingers clenched into fists. Whatever happened, I bringing him back.

Zairgon took steps to address the situation pretty rapidly. Even before the day was done, they had already sent out word to Claderov to demand an answer for the brazen attacks on Zairgon citizens and infrastructure by some of their members.

The Council had also moved fast to impound the Claderov trains. They hadn’t stopped their running, of course. All they had done was cut off the exits from the city that would have allowed the trains to return to Claderov through the Nether Vein. They had also cut off revenue streams so that none of the fees would go back to Claderov. Basically, they had taken over the trains.

I didn’t blame them one bit. After what Claderov had pulled, stealing their train business was the least they deserved.

Revayne and the guards were continuing their inquest, but I was also heartened to see that Zairgon was activating its military. I had already seen them in action, of course. First during the Blight Swarm, then on the expedition in the Nether Vein. In fact, a lot of them were still that expedition that Se-Vigilance had led them into.

Which turned very, very awry a day later.

“What happened?” I asked as I rushed along with my teammates.

Khagnio, Ugnash, and Cerea were all heading to what had formerly been Eversight dungeon. There had been a general summons from the Adventurer’s Guild—from most of the guilds that could participate in adventures, even if they didn’t advertise themselves that way, like the Mage Guild—and my friends had answered. They had alerted me about it, too. It was serious.

“The Nether Vein is compromised,” Ugnash said. “Claderov stole most of the Klevacite.”

“” I couldn’t even fathom how that could have happened. “”

The Council was impounding the trains, closing off borders, making sure there were no leaks or passages the Claderovians could use to get away. And yet, they had stolen a vital component of our Nether Vein expedition.

“So now, we’re all being called in to provide support.” Khagnio said. “Elevator’s going to be more crowded than ever.”

He was right. The elevator down to the Nether Vein’s maw was stuffed with people from all sorts of guilds and other affiliations. I thought I even spotted several nobles from Ring Two, their rich garb standing out amongst the sea of armour and adventuring gear. What in the world were they doing here?

It wasn’t far from the gate that things had already deteriorated into a giant mess. A small army of Zairgonites were fending off an aerial assault of familiar monsters from the Nether Vein.

This wouldn’t have been bad on its own. The problem was that it was occurring way too close to our base camps. I caught several trains on the tracks that Claderov had laid down, but they were all swarmed by people from Zairgon. It looked like the Councillors were about to use them for their own benefit.

“Ross.” Hamsik walked over. “What in the Pits are you doing here?”

I stared at him. “I have literally never seen you on one of these expeditions, Hamsik. What are doing here? At least I’ve got a history of coming down to the Nether Vein.”

He flushed a little. My teammates had already moved off, so we had a little bit of privacy. “I got a personal request from one of the Councillors to join up. Though, I call it , but I think nearly everyone involved with or related to Ring Two got one as well.”

“Well, didn’t get one.”

“Because you stay at the temple.”

“Fair point.”

Yerenc had probably forwarded whatever invitation the Councillors had sent to the nobles to Hamsik, which was what had led him here.

“But all this…” I said, looking around and trying to fathom the huge gathering, the constant battles in the distance. “Don’t tell me they intend to make a direct push to Claderov. It’s happening a lot faster than I had assumed.”

“Claderov betrayed our trust,” Hamsik said. “On multiple fronts as well. At this point, it isn’t just about some dispute with some noble house. I understand the Councillors’ frustrations and their growing need for retaliation.”

So did I. It was one thing to feud against a Great House who purportedly killed one of the Claderov nobles. Wholly another to use that as an excuse to attack noble estate, even if they were harbouring members of the accused House, and then go on to steal the all-important Klevacite from the Nether Veins. Claderov was going insane. Of course they had to answer.

“You shouldn’t have come,” Hamsik said. “The Cult of the Sun needs you, Ross.”

I shook my head. “They’ve always needed me. And I’ve needed them too. That hasn’t stopped me from adventuring before, and it’s not going to stop me now either.”

“Right. But those were adventures. This is . Are you really willing to go to war for a city that treats Ring Four like shit?”

“I already did that once, remember? With the Blight Swarm? The whole of Zairgon was threatened, and I stepped up more than anyone else did.”

My growing anger was making me forget any stupid notions of modesty and humility. It wasn’t a lie. was the one who had led the successful defence of Ring Four. was the one who had discovered what the Blight Swarm was truly seeking.

was the one who had led the way to open the Nether Vein and thereby end the threat of the Blight Swarm for good, instead of just passing the threat onto the next city like everyone else.

Hamsik sighed. He seemed to be chewing on what to say next to convince me, but then, others arrived to intrude on our conversation.

“You’re here too, Thefris?” I asked. I turned to Hamsik with a scowl. “Is she—”

“No she isn’t!” he said quickly.

Thefris made an admirable effort at not rolling her eyes. “Greetings, Ross. And no, I am not accompanying them on their war. I came to see my husband off.”

That made more sense.

“Cultist Moreland,” Se-Vigilance said. “I am not about to request that you join us, after everything you’ve done for us.” She glanced briefly at Hamsik, who was clearly holding back the impulse to glare. “You’ve done more than enough already. That said, would you be willing to perform some of your Rituals?”

I slowly nodded. “Sure, why not.”

We didn’t need to worry about the Rituals’ effects running out too quickly since I had Circle to essentially activate it remotely at any time. The idea was I’d channel Circle at intermittent intervals every so often, within six hours to a day.

A lot of people were weirded out by the little ritualistic actions I performed. I didn’t really blame them. Some seemingly random cultist from Ring Fo—

Alright, no. I needed to stop thinking about myself that way when it clearly wasn’t true any longer. Almost everyone I went up to recognized me, even if I had no idea who they were. Adventurers, healers, aristocrats, it didn’t matter. Apparently, in their eyes, there was only one person wearing golden-white cult robes who’d come all the way to the Nether Vein.

I felt like some sort of weird cleric as I went about essentially “blessing” people, putting Circle on back after back. Some wanted it on their shields, some on their breastplates. One person wanted it on their bald pate, another on their butt. In fairness, I declined both.

The lines of mana from Threaded Reinforcement were thrumming hard when I was finally done. I had instated Rituals of Growth, Precaution, War, Strengthening, and Defiance on just about the entire war party that the Councillors had assembled together. Of course my mana was strained. The only people to reject it were the Councillors themselves and several of the nobles.

Honestly, I was just impressed that there were several of the aristocrats who had answered the Council’s summons.

There was House Drihawk, and House Brasvay as well. Then there were a bunch of Houses I didn’t recognize. Ruenth, Virisia, and more besides. There was even House Revayne, represented by not just the friend I was familiar with but her father as well. I supposed it made sense he was martially inclined too, with his daughter in the military and all, despite originally being insect farmers.

“You’re not going to regret going with them,” Thefris said when the war party finally began moving off in the direction of Calderov. Soon enough, she and I and a few others who had come to see off the warriors of Zairgon would be the only ones left.

“I won’t?” I asked.

“No.”

I was curious what she meant, so I followed when she led me to the base camp. Specifically, to an empty torch where Klevacite should have been. Thefris channelled her Aspect next. A faint green line of mana emerged from the notch in the torch, extending away towards .

“Wait, what?” I asked.

“It’s faint,” Thefris said. “So I didn’t want to distract the others. And obviously, there’s more important stuff going on than plain old Klevacite. But I think we can find some of them back in Zairgon.”

I was way too confused by that. Weren’t the Claderovians supposed to have stolen and run off with the Klevacite Claderov?

“You know what I think?” Thefris said. “Not of the Claderovians might have left Zairgon just yet.”

That disquieted me quite a bit. Which was why I kept following her as we tracked the line of mana.