While Karl was busy on the Northern defence lines, Niall was busy within the city.
He had to find as many of the spies as possible before the Giants reached the walls. That would be the natural time for them to start causing chaos, giving false orders and starting trouble within the supply lines.
With the incident on the trucks, he had discovered the trick to detecting them. He couldn’t normally see through their disguises, which appeared to be created by a Totem Rank disguise item. But once he had gotten his hands on one of them, he could clearly see the disguised form of the others.
With [Shadow Meld] active, he raced through the streets, invisible to the population that he was protecting. Then, a most horrifying sight caught his attention. Three Generals were planning the deployment of the western lines, and all three of them were disguised Titan infiltrators.
They had been deploying the troops this entire time. The Archbishop was going to be devastated to know that so many of their trusted leaders were actually spies.
The Inquisitor was about to attack when a subtle difference caught his attention. One of them was not a disguised Titan at all. The spell wasn’t as good, and the power he could sense through it was that of a beast.
So, quite possibly a disguised spy, but possibly not today’s enemy.
Niall made a mental note of the Divine Beast Nation spy, and then launched two [Ambush] enhanced throwing knives into the base of the skulls of the other two.
For an instant, he let the surviving General see him as he collected the bodies so that he wouldn’t raise an alarm. But the dead Titans were already transforming back to their natural shape, and that should be enough for him to understand.
With a quick activation of [Advanced Shadow Step] the bodies were deposited in the Inquisition building, and Niall was back to continue his work.
With the positions of the defenders on the western lines mostly ordered by the enemy, there was too much to do.
“General, I want a full redeployment of the western lines. The enemy knows the location of our assets. Scramble your reserves and cycle some strategic assets out. It needs to be done before the next push.” He explained as he returned to the site of the ambush.
Then he was off hunting again. It was a shame that he didn’t have Sister Rae with him. She would love this game.
Deep within the Cathedral, seated around a table in the war room, the Archbishop and his advisors looked at the Scryers’ projections of the duels happening all over the battlefield. The North was holding well, but the same could not be said of the champions on the west, and the lines there were being forced to retreat after two Overlords were lost, and their bodies claimed by the Giants.
“Your Holiness, the visions are changing. Someone has altered the odds on the western front in our favour. I can’t see what is happening, but when I look at the Command Group, two of the three Generals have changed.” One of the seers explained.
“Understood. That should be the work of the Inquisition.
Have we found what they’re looking for yet? It can’t be the Temple. The Mountain Giant Great Sage already knew about the change. So, whoever took over from him after his death should know as well.” The Archbishop asked his advisors.
“No, Your Holiness. We have been searching the city with every skill that we have, but there is no sign of a Holy Relic that we didn’t detect in advance.”
The old man sighed. “What do the fates say?”
An aging cleric on the Archbishop’s left sighed. “The fates are a tangled mess. Many heroes will be made, and many names will fall to shame today. But there is one clear tangle above the others, shining bright with the favour of the Gods.
The closest member of the group is right here with us. Overlord Tabitha, as well as Ahmad, Niall, Othello, and that Beast Master’s team are all entwined together. I believe that most of what they were going to do to affect our fate is already done, but their dominance suggests that there will be something else for them to do, either individually or together.”
Tabitha suspected that her part in the ordeal was finished, as she had been tricked by that bastard of an Inquisitor into being the Liaison to the Northern Front.
That was the only front that they had reliable communication with. But once she gained access to the System Function, Tabitha had sent Othello to the Eastern Front to do the same as Karl was doing in the North.
Ahmad was still recovering, but he should be ready soon, and then he could head to the western wall and relay orders and Intelligence from the Cathedral.
At Karl’s station, a proud Hill Giant was marching through the ranks, with four Hobgoblins holding up a tarp over his head, keeping him out of the rain.
It was clear that his chance at a challenge was coming to him, and Karl had moved out to the front line, where the battle had parted around him as he waited for his opponent.
The Giant stopped fifty metres from the line, then raised a hand, and a portal opened. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
Out stepped a fifteen-metre tall, four-armed monstrosity of a Titan. There was no doubt that thing was at least a Totem Ranked Giant, and likely the new leader of the Mountain Giants.
As one, the entire Giant Army on the Northern Front knelt facing the new arrival, even the ones who were in combat backed away to kneel.
The Giant glared down at Karl, who returned his energy with an unblinking stare. This fight might only last half a second, but there was no need for him to embarrass himself before his inevitable death.
“You.” The Titan rumbled, clenching his fists in rage.
“Me.” Karl agreed, utterly baffled about how this creature might know him.
Unless it had been a vision that revealed his identity, Karl was absolutely certain that they hadn’t met before. Not even ten thousand years ago. The Giant was about to say something, when a portal opened behind Karl, and a small girl with white hair and white scaled ears stepped through.
“Bishop Misty.” Karl greeted her, then stopped and did a double take as a second figure exited the portal.
Karl stared at himself, five metres tall and radiating power, with a grizzled version of Cara sitting on his shoulder, her face pulled in a permanent smirk by a scar across her muzzle and grey in her fur.
The visor was down on his helmet, and his Cara was smaller than the one on this man’s shoulder, but if there was anyone in the world that Karl would recognize just by their aura, it was himself.