Damn that Garami. The monsters at the eastern wall were stopped by that instant mountain range from Lily's friend, the Continent Knight himself. That gave us some time to take a rest so we're ready for tomorrow's brawl. So why must we walk around here in the no-mans-land known as the research district, while anyone with half a brain's already sleeping?!

I would give her the beating of her life if it wasn't for her being so scary. Long-range biochemical weapons in the form of a poison dragon? Is that even allowed? Are all the Champions like that? Sir knight is the same, with how he trusts through the bigass turtles' shells with that freaking big lance of his. And he's supposed to be incapacitated? 

"Isn't there something strange going on here?" - Lily

Lily's comment snapped me out of my anger, and I looked around. Sure, the research district is foggy and dark, and to be honest, I would be too freaked out to come without these two following me.

"You are right. This is strange." - Carion

"How so?" - Mira

The research district was closed off a long time ago since the researcher here all moved over to the western district to fight off the drought. The bountiful harvest of the Velantas Forest has dried up long ago anyway.

"The fog. There are no bodies of water that could create this fog." - Carion

He's right! My hometown got fog almost every fifth day, so I didn't notice. Is this what Garami wanted to look at?

"!? Who's there?" - Mira

I noticed someone lurking in the alleyway. That's...!? Aptrganga! They're here in the city? I and Carion took out our respective weapons, but Lily only stared at the black-robed cult member.

"Garami? Why're you wearing that?" - Lily

Garami? The cult-guy took off his hood, and revealed... someone not Garami? Or that was what I thought before their face got covered in a cloud of black smoke.

"How did you notice?" - Garami

"The smell." - Lily

"Tsk, need something against that," said Garami, who was wearing the robe of the Aprtganga cult. Not only did she dressed herself up; she also made use of [Transformation] to hide her real appearance. 

"Where did you get that robe? I thought you could not place the robes we took from the cult members at the temple in your storage." - Carion

"I didn't. This is something that I stole from the guys hiding in the abandoned buildings here in the district." - Garami

"The cult's in the city!?" - Mira

"Yes, but don't shout like that. I've knocked out all of the ones outside their base, but you can never be too careful. I've used this disguise to take out as many of the guys patrolling, so we should have a clear route to attack their main base." - Garami

So that's why she's dressed up like that. After seeing her dressed in her grey mantle for so long, it feels weird seeing her covered in black like that. She's not even wearing the rosary-mimic. Wonder where she placed that?

"Then, are we raiding their base then?" - Carion

"Bingo. And the other adventurers are busy with the monsters, while the city guard got their hands full protecting the city from eventual undead attacks, so we're on our own here. Meaning that any valuables and communication devices they have are for our taking." - Garami

"Valuables?! I'm in! But, communication devices?" - Mira

"Think about it; why did the monsters in the Husk Forest attack when we were away? Because they thought that the city didn't have Bermuda in town and that the earth Champion-["Galleth!" - Lily]-, that Galleth was out of commission. Meaning that someone in the city must have warned them. And that again means they have some way to connect to them or even a special item that lets them enter the forest without risks." - Garami

"Why the sudden interest in going to the forest?" - Carion

"Cause the thing that creates the monsters we're facing on the east side is made with an item from that place, which is also the same item that's used to steal all the water from the Water-Knot Dungeon, AND me and Mira's goal here in this region." - Garami

"Point taken." - Carion

Garami then led us to the cult's base. Just you wait, you fucking thief! I'm gonna get revenge for what you did to uncle Wayvol!

---

Garami's side

In the alleyway opposite to the Wessrot Research Facility, Velantas branch.

And we have arrived. Talk about a gloomy building. Despite being called a research facility, the place looks more like a storage building.

"...Garami. Why would a faux cult such as the Aprtgangas have access to a Wessrot Company facility?" - Carion

"Cause a member of the group sponsoring this cult's part of the Wessrot Company." - Garami

"...Say what now?" - Mira, Carion, & Lily

"It's true. I found tons of shipment documents that originated from the Wessrot Company, but none of them included any payment, nor any connection to other companies, so I think I'm right here." - Garami

"If they can use this facility, then it is probably true. Did you find anything else there?" - Carion

"Just that all the mobs of this cult comes from the Groxlia kingdom under the order of a certain noble there." - Garami

The only race amongst the cult members were humans, so it was kinda obvious when you thought about it a little.

"Those 'human supremacism' guys?" - Lily

"Those who even treats Migrant humans as tools for their enjoyment, yes." - Garami

"Ooh, I hate those guys." - Lily

I feel you. They only think about that stupid ideology to such an extent that they fail to see that they're making the whole world their enemy, even if they're just an itty bitty little kingdom with no real power, except for their fancy barrier technology. If the Balos gang's involved with them, then they're gonna go down on their own when they lose their support, or whatever it is that gang gives them.

"Shouldn't we rather warn people about those guys if we know about them?" - Mira

"The second guy's inside Groxlia even now. Nobody can reach him until they take down the whole kingdom. And we don't even know the true identity of the guy inside the Wessross Company. Telling people about him would rather expose us to danger. I've already warned the marquise junior about them. Let him take care of the politic-problems for us." - Garami

This gang's just too big for only us. Let's make other people do that dirty work.  The only thing we need to do ourselves is to neutralize the thump-thump, along with whoever of the gang that has it.

'And what if the one who has the heart is one of those two guys'? Haven't you guys figured out that the mass-produced Glavras monsters and Prototype Draugr are the product of the thump-thump? Bet they planned to use the kidnapped people to get their hands on a real Draugr through some way, for then mass-produce...huh?

"Hey, ain't all the known members of the Balor gang related to warfare?" - Garami

"They are? ...Oh, right." - Mira

"Huh? What are you talking about?" - Lily

"I think I get it. The Wessross Company could earn quite the deal by producing weapons for war. That Groxlia noble could have agitated their king to start a war, which then would fill the Wessross Company's pockets." - Carion

"But the Wessross Company ain't working with war weapons per see, but they do cooperate with other companies that do so. And if that baron Gregor completed a real Draugr, then he could mass-produce them for an army to the highest bidder, if not going to war himself." - Garami

"...And then there's the Black Baron, who probably gave the rest of the gang the technology needed for all these schemes." - Mira

"...Ain't the scale here a little too big? I'm getting dizzy here." - Lily

"Me too. But taking back the item they stole from the blacksmith Wayvol will stop a good portion of those plans. Even if nothing of what we have discussed now is true, that mechanical heart's too dangerous to leave alone." - Garami

"Hey, how do you even know this is the place?" - Lily

"Thanks to these guys.", I said while holding my hand up. A bunch of fog gathered in the palm of my hand.

"? The fog?" - Mira

"Not quite. This is a Grey Ghast. I've spread them out over the district." - Garami

A Ghast is a demon monster similar to a Shade, but this one is a mass of gasses and/or particles that floats in the air without harming anyone. A Gray Ghast is made of dust and frost, making them look similar to fog.

I had abused my Summoner class to summon seven of these guys to search the research district, which ended up with me reaching LV10 with the class, giving me another summoning slot, so I called on one more and even used the tamer slots to call four more. 

The research district is way too big for just twelve regular creatures, but Grey Ghasts are like real fog. They can spread themselves over massive aerials without problems, making them perfect scouts. I need to compensate for their lack of intelligence by giving them clear orders that can't be misunderstood.

"That was a good idea you had there. So, do you have any more of them?" - Carion

---

A few minutes later, and tons of cult members came running out of the main entrance. Closing off all the other entrances, for so filling the place with poison dust seems to do its job. The cult members were met with daggers, water-swordplay, martial arts, and golem arms.

I controlled the blood daggers to make deep cuts in the limbs of the cultists, while Mira bisected them with her sword. Mira slashed at a cult member with armor underneath his robe, but it was cut in pieces along with him with Mira's Star Breaker Art. The Art delivers a five-combo slash that draws a star, which only takes a second to perform. The worst is that the Art was done with a sword that gives each swing the full force of the T-Rex it was made from. Rest with the stars, poor dude.

Lily showed off her improved martial arts, including the Echo Fist that gave internal damage to the cult member that was hit by it, Whip Kick that she used to accurately hit them on their chins to knock them out, and Full Throw, a grappling skill that lets one throw the opponent. Kinda looks like a judo-move. And what's the level of her Martial Arts skills? There's some stuff mixed in there that can't be beginner level moves.

Carion simply protects himself with rock walls while his golems squash the cult members without resistance. Simple n' ruthless. Not that many people can stand up to a two-meter high rock doll. And wasn't golems supposed to be made of clay?

With this much firepower, it was smart of me to have Levi do a different job for me. I hope that Zelot understood the message I gave him...

---

"And then, if you don't tell us where the entrance to the Husk Forest is, then you have to face this guy-" - Garami

"I seriously don't know! And I couldn't say anything even if I knew! Please, spare me!" - Cult member

We have moved into the building, with me taking the lead to clear up the poison. We gave the surviving cult members the antidotes that Mira and the rest had taken with them (under my instructions), after wrapping them up like a birthday present, and we're currently interrogation the guy in charge, but to no luck. Even the second-highest member of the cult, according to these guys, have no clue that the cult is just a ruse.

There are tons of magic items here, but the all-so important communications were rigged to be destroyed when a certain amount of cult members died. I even had some members become the prey of my summoned Mindflayers, but we got nothing out of it.

"Well, let's just wrap these guys up and take them to the police." - Garami

"Sure. Lily is probably tired of waiting for us by now." - Carion

Only me and Carion went inside the facility, as we're the guys with the brains to figure out what all the magic items do. There was nothing that told us about the forest or the Draugrs, or even the thump-thump. The last one was probably impossible from the start...

I had Blitz pick up whatever looked expensive while I was in the middle of change the Mindflayer for physically strong Skeletons to carry out the cult members to the police. Suddenly, a *click* sounded out in the room. I turned to the bounded cult members, but they were either unconscious or frozen in terror due to the Mindflayer treatment.

"Oops?" - Carion

It was you?! Are you Mira or something?!

Even as I was scolding Carion in my head, large magic circles appeared with the two of us in their center. I tried to move away, but my body, my body won't move! I can't even produce threads or use skills! Wait, I can move my mouth! The magic circle increased in brightness, so I quickly turned over to Blitz, who was outside the magic circles due to searching for magic items.

"Blitz! Go and tell Mira-!" - Garami

But I couldn't say another word before the light of the magic circle covered my whole body.

---

When the light faded, I found myself under the open night sky. The moon illuminated the surroundings, revealing a clearing in the middle of a dark, empty forest, devoid of any living beings. Or so I thought, but at the edges of the clearing, I saw shadows of what I thought were people.

Wait a sec... ain't this-!?

*Clank*

With the sound of metal, a large figure came into sight. It was wearing a full-plate armor, fashioned after coffins, with black, tar-like substance dripping out from the gaps of the armor. The only thing not covered with armor was a human-looking, ashen skull with a wolf-like maw, one of its eyes covered with a black leather belt, and a single, devil-like horn to its left side.

Oi, time-out. Seriously, what's going-?!

*STAB!*