Pov Athena:
“Are you sure you want to do this now? I think one of the Priests suspects something.” (Angela)
“I know, I made him believe that I want to take all the credit for Zenos’ death.” (I)
“Why did you do that? I thought the plan was not to draw their attention.” (Angela)
“Because they already realize we’re up to something.” (I)
“They’re not idiots, they see you walking in and out of meetings with me, they realize that our movements since we arrived on this continent have been suspicious and that I’m hiding something.” (I)
“I was already prepared for something like this, so it was easy to fool them into thinking I want more credit for this mission.” (I)
“Do you know that this could cause problems if your lie is discovered?” (Angela)
“They will never find out, I am from a family loyal to the Church of Light for countless generations, and my Elder Sister is the youngest and most talented Inquisitor leader in history, I have been a genius since my youth and have always followed the orders of my superiors.” (I)
“My being a traitor is something no one will think about, but if these people I was forced to accept into our group start investigating our movements, then you will be in greater danger as you have done the tasks I ask.” (I)
“They know you are loyal to me so I tricked them for that reason, now they must think I want more credit for this quest than they do, which is perfectly normal for someone on their first quest.” (I)
“Won’t that cause trouble during the ambush?” (Angela)
“No, most of them don’t care about the credits for this quest, the Templars want to kill the Heretic who humiliated our Templars from the Morror Continent.” (I)
“Priests, on the other hand, are very focused on information about Saint Vanessa, they don’t accept someone who was called Saint against the God Baldr.” (I)
“I hope you’re right because our plans can go terribly wrong.” (Angela)
“Thomas said something that everyone agrees with, he said Zenos might not trust us.” (Angela)
“(This is something that has been bothering me too, if I were in his shoes I wouldn’t trust us…)” (I)
“I hope you have a plan.” (Angela)
“I have a plan, there’s an important piece of information I heard on the way here, it should be enough for him to hear us.” (I)
“(I just hope your strength is less than mine if not, I might not even get a chance to speak.)” (I)
“You must go to the others and make sure everything is ready, we’ll only have one chance.” (I)
Sigh
“It’s all right.” (Angela)
———–
After the dream I had I managed to convince others about the place we should go, I said that it was information I had gotten from a source that I can no longer speak of, I even left some discreet blood marks on my clothes to convince better thanks to that I managed to get them all to Venon Fortress City on the edge of the Poison Forest.
After getting there, only one of us went in to gather information, as soon as we found out our target wasn’t here yet I was happy, that means I don’t need to adjust my initial plan.
We all went out of town, this place is part of the Black Empire, this place has elite spies who were the cause for the elimination of almost our entire intelligence network on this continent, I can’t keep up with the pace of catching the attention of this local giant while I don’t have anyone to ask for backup.
I took them all a little far from the city and we used the artifact we brought to locate the Heretic, thanks to that we confirmed his direction, from the information we have received from the Church of Light, Zenos likes to do things hidden, he does not draw attention to the things it does.
So I knew that he would avoid a road that was long and full of witnesses, he would probably come towards this city in a straight line, at least that’s what I came to.
We set up two powerful barriers with magic rituals I learned from books, we are using powerful light element magic crystals, Templars and Priests think this will all be used to kill the target but my goal is just to make sure I am stronger so I don’t die early too much.
I could always save him if everything was going well, plus setting up the barrier rituals would split our group, it will make surprise attacks easier to eliminate these six nuisances.
————-
After a few days of waiting, three people were seen riding monsters coming from the direction the artifact showed Zenos was, when they got closer it was confirmed that Zenos was among them.
As soon as they entered the barrier area the plan started, when he was restrained I thought it was ok, the barriers should have halved his strength and restrained his Aura but his eyes were calm as he looked at me and the others.
Soon several attacks rained down on him, but he defended himself from everything even restricted, then he got rid of most restrictions and somehow cured the fluorescent poison.
He was much stronger than the report described, it seems the Church of Light is still underestimating him.
I tried to send discreet signals in the hopes he’d notice I wasn’t an enemy, I avoided making attacks, and gave orders that would just be a waste of energy in this situation, just as I hoped the summon was prevented by wasting the energy of the people behind me.
I was doing my best to wait for the right moment to finish everyone off, but when Zenos managed to land an attack that could have ripped my hand off if it wasn’t for the protections I put on me, I realized I couldn’t wait long, he should already see me as an enemy, the longer this fight lasts, the worse his first impression of me will be.
Because of that, I gave the signal while he prepared another attack, so I made my move killing 2 and wounding a third one that my companion finished killing, the other three must have been killed as well.
I couldn’t do much more than demonstrate that I wasn’t an enemy now, even if I start talking now, he has no reason to believe me.
I had to talk to him to call a Moon Fairy, so he would find out that everything I said was true, plus when we’re in a safer place I’ll be able to tell the real reasons I did what I did.