"What the hell? How did this even happen? Why would the sect take on these contracts when it's already being attacked by us? Why would it do something so dumb?"
"I don't know, my King. But it is definitely good news for us. It means that we can move even faster, and try to convince them to surrender to us. After all, they might choose to join with us to save themselves and fend off the attacks from the other two kingdoms rather than suffer from all three and risk being destroyed. Would you like me to send another liaison to contact their sect leader?"
After a moment of silence, the minister heard the reply from the other side of the door.
"No. But be sure to hasten the movements of our troops. Make sure that we do not intersect with the path that the other two armies are taking. We still need to be hidden. The sect leader also understands that we are his best hope. He will come to us. So there's no reason for us to send someone again. Just wait."
With a nod, the minister left the door to the King's chambers and walked to the room where an assortment of commanders were waiting.
"What do you all think? How did this happen in such a short span of time? What motive could the sect have to do something like this? Even if the governments of the two Kingdoms did give out the contracts, why would the sect accept them?"
The one who responded was the head of intelligence of Axelor, who was a brown-haired man with a short stature.
Standing up, he said something which made a hush fall over the entire room.
"Sir, we must consider another possibility. All of the assassinations that took place did have signs of being committed by the Hidden Kill Sect, but I believe we are ignoring something. Up until recently, this would definitely have been a clear sign that the Hidden Kill Sect was behind these actions. However, we now know that there is an additional force which has assassins trained by the sect themselves - Lanthanor. Maybe it is them who committed the murders? After all, everyone knows about the rule of the sect which states that once a contract is taken, the giver of the contract will never be exposed by the sect."
As the Minister heard this, he couldn't help but nod with realization.
The offer to train the soldiers of Lanthanor had been something that was thrown out in a royal court where many had been in attendance. Hence, all the kingdoms knew about this fact, and now that he thought about it, this should definitely be something that must be on their minds as well.
He wondered whether he should bring this to the attention of the king, but remembering his last reaction when Lanthanor was mentioned, he decided against it.
"Be that as it may, what could the motive of Lanthanor be? What will they gain from this? After all, their king only acts when there is a benefit for him."
For this question, no one had an answer.
Indeed, even in the other kingdoms, no one could figure out what Lanthanor could gain from this if they were the ones behind these actions.
As for what motive the sect might have had to take the contracts in such a sensitive time, that couldn't be guessed either.
After many useless reasonings were thrown around in the meeting, the minister finally concluded by saying, "The only motive I can think of is Lanthanor swooping in and taking advantage of the chaos if the three forces fight each other and weaken themselves. Of course, no one knows that we are also in the fray. Increase the number of spies watching the Army of the Lanthanor Kingdom. If even one of their personnel goes missing, I want to know about it. If they intend to move, we will have to divert some forces to stop them in their tracks. No matter what we do, we have to make sure that Lanthanor doesn't benefit from this. The only victors, in the end, must be us. I don't think I need to explain what will happen if that isn't the result."
Seeing everyone nod with healthy fear in their eyes, the minister left the room, hoping that there would be no more surprises in this operation that had been in planning for a long time.
Meanwhile, the sect leader of the Hidden Kill Sect was sputtering with rage while trying to understand how his beloved sect had fallen into such a precarious position.
It was just one thing after another, as if they were the target of some malicious entity that just wanted to see their end.
First, it had been the machinations of Axelor which couldn't be stopped no matter how many assassins they sent. It was as if Axelor had been prepared to do everything possible to resist assassinations, as each and every key personnel was protected so fiercely that the sect would have had to expend valuable assassins in order to kill them. The sad thing was, even if they managed to do so, another would just pop up to take their place. As for assassinating the king himself, it was impossible with their current assassins and weapons.
This was one of the main reasons he wanted the formation to open so badly. Inside, there was supposed to be a weapon which would enable them to threaten even someone as protected as the king of a large Kingdom.
The Hidden Kill Sect's power had always come from being a deterring force, so even their weapons operated in the same way - by striking fear in the hearts of their enemies and making it so that they wouldn't even dare to attack.
Just when the sect leader had started to relax and just hope that the formation will open, their food stores had gone up in flames due to a freak accident.
He had recovered from even that, but this situation was just the last straw. Suddenly, there were multiple armies marching on them.
Like the others, he too suspected Lanthanor. No, he was almost sure of it.
It had taken a day for him to take an inventory of all the assassins and make sure that none of them had taken rogue contracts without his knowledge, and he was now waiting for the final report on the final batch of assassins.
If even this one turned out to be normal, then Lanthanor was definitely the culprit.
Even he didn't have the faintest clue about what the motive could be behind such an action, but he was prepared to wring the answer from that mysterious master as soon as the work with the formation was done.
All he needed was one weapon. One weapon that would be enough to stop all three kingdoms from attacking him. One weapon that was famed as something that the basilisk itself had forged for the protection of the sect before it died.
Hearing a knock on the door, the sect leader quickly walked to it and opened, findings Skrrag holding a trinket in his hand.
Quickly snatching it, the sect leader went through the data and growled with anger.
It was them. It was Lanthanor.
Each and every assassin's location was accounted for, except for the ones they had trained as part of the deal with Lanthanor.
"We take them and train them, and this is how they repay us?"
He knew that it was just a business deal, but he still couldn't help but say this in exasperation.
As Skrrag stood to the side with his head bent, the sect leader once again walked to the window and looked out.
All three forces would soon be knocking on their doorstep, and due to the stupid rule, he couldn't even flee with the sect.
No. He couldn't think in that direction.
Hadn't they had enough bad luck? When would it turn?
Just as he asked this in his mind with an expression of deep frustration, he saw something in the corner of his eye that made him turn around with shock and stare.
Raising one finger shakily, he pointed at the moon.
Seeing his father's strange actions, Skrrag also walked to the window where he similarly stared with shock
In the next second, both father and son turned to look towards each other before reacting at the same time.
"Go!" The sect leader shouted, but even before the word was completely out of his mouth, Skrrag was already running towards the door.
As soon as he exited, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Gather everyone at the sacred location! The time is here! The formation will soon be exposed! There is not a minute to waste! Go!"
Hearing this and nodding, the sect leader walked to a certain corner of his room and lifted a painting, revealing the bare stone wall.
Slitting his scaled finger with his sharp nail, he drew a symbol on the wall, making a small door appear.
From inside, he took out three items: a snake scale, a trident-shaped trinket and a communication trinket.
It was the last one that he handled the most gingerly, keeping it carefully in his pocket before heaving a sigh of relief.
An expression of determination coming on his face, he walked out of the room and headed to the bottom of the tower to open the trap door that led downwards.
…
Barely 2 minutes later, Daneel found himself standing in that cavernous room again, this time with a lot of company.
The one to note most was the sect leader, who looked at him briefly with an expression of extreme scorn before saying to everyone who had gathered there, "The auspicious time has arrived. In a few minutes, the formation will be exposed and be vulnerable to anyone capable enough to take over. As I have stated before, the one who succeeds will definitely be allowed to keep one item, and I swear on behalf of the sect that they will come to no harm in the sect. In fact, I will escort them outside personally. Now, we shall wait."
Raising an eyebrow at the sect leader's statement and scoffing inwardly, Daneel folded his arms and leaned against a wall, looking like the very picture of an expert who felt that his time was being wasted.
However, inside, he was very excited.
It was time for the final phase of this trip to begin.