A bit distant from a small and silent residential area, there lies a pair of ponds. The windows of houses closed and lights snuffed out. Everyone living in each house had already fallen asleep as midnight steadily approached.

Only the faint sound of cicadas and other tiny insects filled the air as thin clouds lightly covered the moon in the night sky, leaving only a small amount of moonlight through. There was utter silence in the surrounding area, as it always would, signifying that it would be a peaceful evening.

Amidst a forest a small distance away from the pair of ponds, a young priestess hid behind a tree as she kept her breathing delicate and as quiet as possible. Her eyes watched the ponds closely.

At the moment, she was wearing a dark tight robe which reached just about her thigh, blending in the darkness of the night. In addition, the long sleeves were tight on the wrists and the entire fabric of her clothes was stretchable. Underneath her robe should be a simple shirt, and one could see she wore dark trousers and dark boots.

These were traditional combat clothes used by every member of the church whenever they carried out an operation. For every mission, they do not preach the wonders and goodness of the light, but they shall dirty their hands for the people. The blood must not taint the purity of white they might spill by their own hands. Thus, darkness shall be where they dwell.

They would dirty their own hands for the sake of the people and kingdom, and above all, for their gods, who sought peace and harmony.

The young priestess, named Tina, clenched her fist to prepare for anything. This was not a place to be complacent and she must not neglect, it must be taken seriously.

The King of Wisteria gave this mission to the Church Order. Details comprised potential enemies falling into the trap that was set up beforehand. None of the church members knew who set up this trap. The King only mentioned that this had a high chance of success, which could cause the capture of the unknown enemy.

Of course, everyone questioned how the crown even managed to set it up, nor what made them assured that there was a high chance of success. However, the King decided not to disclose any information regarding that.

As they couldn’t let this chance slip by, the Church Order prepared for an ambush even though a chance this would be for nothing existed. It was better doing something than nothing.

Tina, however, hoped that something would happen here. She didn’t like to waste any time and effort. It would be annoying that they got nothing after all the fuss. Besides, she wanted to end these threats to the kingdom as soon as possible so she could get back to adventuring and to her friends.

Well, first she had to pray that she wouldn’t die here in case a battle spurs out. Though the chance of that was incredibly low, since she would be staying at the rear as a support unit.

She sensed movement above her on the branches of the trees. She looked up and saw one priest crouching down atop of a branch and did it all quietly. Before they began waiting, Tina had cast a silence spell — a spell which can muffle the sound one emits, therefore it doesn’t completely silence them, however, with their already stealthy movements, not even skilled individuals can hear their movements.

Then the additional spell was a spell which hides their presence. Some individuals, after all, had abilities to sense a presence, thus to be safe, Tina cast it to everyone. That being said, if their enemies were more powerful than they had expected, then those might end up being useless.

The priest straightened all his fingers and pointed them towards the pond. Then his lips moved to mimic saying a word. Tina wasn’t good at reading lips so she would have a hard time reading a sentence, but if one simple word, she could, and she understood that what the priest was trying to say was “movement.”

Upon realizing that, Tina turned her eyes towards another person hiding behind the tree in the darkness. It was a tall and beautiful woman with long black hair, the one she recognized as her big sister, Astine. They nodded at each other, and Astine shifted her eyes to the other members present who were blending in with the darkness.

There were twelve members of the order here in total. They could have brought more, but too many would have a high chance of discovery by the enemies. That being said, everyone here were excellent individuals, so Tina had no qualms about it. Besides, their High Bishop also came with them and was keeping watch from a distance. Tina knew he wanted to watch everything first, wanting to test the abilities of others, and also maybe because it was entertaining.

How cold…

She thought that, but Tina understood deeply why the high bishop was doing this. He was getting old, after all. The mantle would need to be passed down to the next generation. In ten years, he might have to retire, and someone as strong must replace him. And, he must also be content by the power of the next generation.

Astine moved her hand in a circular motion with two fingers stuck out. Those above the trees immediately moved out and jumped from branch to branch. It was the order to spread out and go into position to surround the enemy as much as possible.

All of them possessed the ability of physical enhancement, which made them capable of leaping from a tree branch to another. Needless to say, they were also capable of doing it stealthily. Tina, however, was incapable of those since she spent all her time learning to cast support spells — well at least she could move stealthily.

A moment later, as they waited, Tina saw a group of figures walking at the side of the ponds in the open area. There were five of them, and they covered themselves in cloaks. That alone made them too suspicious. On the other hand, Tina found herself feeling surprised that someone actually came at about midnight.

The figures seemed to be looking around, looking out for something. Astine invited the attention of one priest and ordered him to go speak to them. Even though they seemed suspicious, it was still better to ensure that they were dangerous, otherwise they might mistakenly attack someone innocent or harmless.

A priest walked forward and got out of the forest and headed towards the open, possessing no weapons whatsoever.

The moment he emerged though, the figures immediately turned towards him. They seemed to grow stiff and on guard.

“Who are you?!”

One figure shouted towards the priest, however the latter kept on walking and didn’t respond. It was a way to get a closer look at the five.

“Stop it right there!”

One of them shouted again, but sterner this time, and thus the priest halted. Tina also witnessed the five figures seem to discuss something at the same time. They seemed to be flustered.

“Good evening. May I ask what brought you here in the middle of the night?”

The priest asked respectfully, keeping his hands to his side as to not alert the five.

“None of your business! So who are you?!”

“I… I am a member of the church order. May I ask that you show your faces?”

“Church…?”

At that moment, the five took a fighting stance.

“Dammit, it’s a trap!”

They immediately drew their swords. Tina’s brow furrowed upon seeing this. They definitely were the targets they were waiting for.

Then came a loud whistle from Astine and every church member sprang into action. Astine rushed forward, followed by a priest and priestess fighters at quick speed. Tina delayed her action since she was supposed to stay at the rear.

She ran when her team was now several meters away from her. Then, at that moment, others had already surrounded the five strangers. Every fighter was way faster than her. She saw another supporter at the rear of another group like her, a girl the same age. That being said, Tina was above her in terms of power.

Stopping a few meters away from the team, she watched the five strangers cautiously.

“An ambush.”

“Then where’s Oryn?”

“Dammit, he must be dead or captured.”

The five glared at the members of the church. Astine, meanwhile, stepped forward.

“Drop your weapons and turn yourself in. Let’s make things easier, shall we?”

One stranger pointed his sword towards her.

“Where’s our friend? What did you do to him?”

“Your friend? I have no idea.”

The stranger seemed to glare at Astine.

Astine truly had no idea what he was talking about, the same with the others. They weren't told of anything.

“So, will you give up?”

“As if.”

“Haaaah, so the hard way then…” Astine sighed.

“Everyone…” the stranger said. “Kill everyone!”

At that moment, every one of them charged forward with surprising speed. Tina was dumbfounded, of course. The way they moved was almost on a par with — no, they were faster than the church members.

One opponent specifically went after Astine. His sword would definitely strike her down when she had no weapons she could use to defend. However, against his expectations, his sword was blocked. His eyes went wide as a light of gold illuminated the small area around them.

What appeared in Astine’s hand was a spear made up completely of golden light. It was as if light itself took shape. The other strangers also fell into surprise as the enemies they faced themselves held and blocked their attack with swords and spears of light.

This was one of the Holy Spells of the Church Order, exclusive only to their members, called “Empyrean Arsenal.” It was a spell that allowed them to conjure any weapon they wished, ranging from swords, bows, claymores, hammers, axes, polearms, and so on.

“You’re quick on your feet,” Astine blankly said. “Everyone! Leave at least one alive!”

She swept up the weapon of her opponent, leaving a beautiful arc of golden light in its motion. As her opponent leaped back, she stepped forward and kept on swinging her polearm. She thrusted her weapon whenever she saw an opening, but her opponent still managed to block them.

 

***

 

A priest was clashing swords with another. The enemy was quick on his feet. He swung his sword at such a speed that the priest was having a hard time keeping up with him. One priest snuck up to the enemy, but to everyone’s surprise, the enemy held out his hand and wind blew the priest away.

Wind magic?

Followed by that, the enemy seemed to cast a spell and vines suddenly grew out of the ground and wrapped around the priest’s legs. Taken aback, the priest involuntarily made an opening for the enemy and the latter swung down his sword.

However, before the sword could reach the priest, Tina cast a spell. A protective barrier covered the priest, blocking the enemy’s sword. The enemy’s eyes widened in surprise and turned his eyes towards Tina. Before he could do anything else, though, the priest that was blown before had returned and resumed his attack.

The enemy received the strike, but the priest was quicker to counterattack and kicked the enemy, sending him flying. As he landed back on the ground, his hood was removed.

“What?”

The ones handling him were dumbstruck by what they saw. Others were dealing with other enemies by pair, so those couldn’t see what they were seeing here.

“Long ears?” Tina muttered questioningly.

The man had short, blonde hair and a normal face. There was nothing else strange except for his long ears.

“What are you?”

A priest asked.

“An elf?” Tina murmured, but it turned out to be louder than she had intended.

She had read a few myths, and one creature which had any resemblance to anything that had long ears was a being called “elf”. They were said to be creatures that dwell deep in the forests. And surprisingly, not much was expanded about them.

Not their true nature, abilities, just where their habitats were. However, for centuries that humans had spread into these lands, no one had encountered an elf — not in record, at least. But if someone did find one, it was strange that they didn’t spread any news about them.

The elf jumped up and ran towards Tina all of a sudden. He must be intending to get rid of her first before anyone else. The elf swept his hand vigorously, sending a slash of wind towards her.

Tina immediately cast a barrier. A golden wall appeared in front of her and received that deadly attack. But to her surprise, the barrier shattered. Her eyes went wide and her heart jumped. The one who could break her barrier that she knew aside from the high bishop was her sister, Astine.

But even Astine had to give her all to achieve that.

Tina instantly cast a protective spell on herself and gathered magic in her hand. Now that the elf was about eight feet away, she blasted light magic towards him and three streaks of light emerged from her hand. One shot out from the center, while the other two on each side.

The elf failed to evade and defend in time, and light struck on his torso and shoulders, causing fatal wounds.

This was Tina’s trump card in case she herself got in danger. One streak of light costs fifteen percent of her current total mana capacity. That was why she wouldn’t just casually use it unless the situation calls for it since she had to reserve her mana in case someone needed healing or her support.

As the elf lay on the ground, the two priests had arrived and one changed his weapon from a sword into a pointy polearm and struck down through the elf’s wrist, keeping him down.

“Aaagh! You won’t take me alive!”

“Dammit! Let go of him!”

They heard an angry shout. Tina turned her eyes towards the source of the voice. One of their enemies was looking at his immobilized ally. As a priest was about to strike him, he parried the sword of light and swung his sword at him in turn, slashing the priest in the chest.

“Agh!”

Then he subsequently kicked away the other priest with fearsome force and sent him flying away.

“Cover me!”

Tina loudly said to a priest near her and she immediately ran towards the wounded — leaving one to guard the elf while pointing a blade at him. 

The priest advanced forward and encountered the enemy. She cast a protective spell to him before healing the dangerously wounded when she was in range. A stream of light emerged from her hand and rapidly healed the wound.

She shifted her eyes towards another one, and he seemed to be more fine than the other as he was running towards Tina with a pained expression — his ribs might have been damaged. But with physical enhancements helping him sustain the attack, he shouldn’t be that gravely injured.

 But it was good that he immediately sought a healer in order to be able to fight at full capacity.

She healed him when he got in range.

“Bothersome healer!”

Their enemy shouted in a growling voice before coming after her.