Chapter 326: You are being followed.

Zyra had given him a candle whose smoke could make him invisible for a while. He lit it and whistled, telling his eagle that was following him above to fly in another direction.

A moment later, a figure scurried around the corner, eyes darting left and right in a panic.

"Where did he go?"

Achilles shot out his hand, grabbed the follower by the front of his shirt, slammed him against the brick wall, and raised a fist, ready to cave the man’s face in.

"Wait! Wait! Don’t hit the face! Not the face!" the man shrieked, throwing his hands up in absolute terror, squeezing his eyes shut. "I just got my nose done! Wait, who are you? Are you a ghost?" His legs trembled.

Achilles paused, his fist hovering an inch from the man’s trembling nose. He squinted at the scruffy guy, who was wearing a cloak patched together with three different colors of expensive cloth. He used one hand to blow out the candle, and his body appeared within five seconds as the smoke faded.

"Arrow?" Achilles asked, raising an eyebrow. He was a black market middleman that worked with the guild.

Arrow opened one eye cautiously. "Ah_ Achilles! My good friend! My favorite trader! Could you let me go? My shirt is ripping, and silk is expensive these days."

Achilles shoved him instead. Arrow hit the dirt with a soft thud and rose quickly, frantically smoothing down his clothes.

"Why the hell are you tailing me?" Achilles barked, folding his arms.

"I wasn’t tailing you to fight you, you muscle-brained gorilla!" Arrow hissed, rubbing his chest. "I came to the warehouse to take goods! But when I got there, I saw a bunch of sketchy guys in grey robes sneaking around. So, I tracked your eagle down and followed you. And then I saw a raven hiding between two transport beasts. It’s the Salt Deer Guild. They are lurking in the shadows, watching you, and then three of them followed you all the way to the courthouse!"

Achilles froze. The annoyance vanished from his face, replaced by sharp alertness. "Salt Deer? Here?"

"Yes, here!" Arrow whispered loudly. "They’re hunting, Achilles. And whatever you just did in that building, you gave them front-row seats!"

Achilles slowly turned his head toward the entrance of the alleyway. The air suddenly grew quiet. The ambient noise of the bustling market street seemed to fade away.

Stepping casually into the mouth of the dead-end alley was Alvin, holding an apple and taking a slow, loud bite. Behind him, two men clad in dark grey robes blocked the light. They seemed to be buying bread from an old man and his grandson.

"You know," Arrow said slowly, looking genuinely disappointed, "for a guy who boasts about his survival instincts, Achilles, you really suck at checking your six."

Achilles didn’t look scared at all. In fact, he looked mildly annoyed. He glanced at Arrow, who was currently trying to dig a hole through the solid brick wall behind them with his fingernails.

"Arrow," Achilles murmured out of the side of his mouth.

"Yeah?" Arrow squeaked.

"How do you feel about killing them for free extra supplies." He smiled like a demon, about to trade for a soul.

Arrow took out his shadow glass knife and licked the tip. "What is the plan?" He knew the Salt Deer boys pretty well, as he had been raised alongside them. He had killed his master and changed his face over the years. Now, he ran solo and operated a small business. But assassinations were his side business, for the right fee.

He knew Achilles was someone he could do business with. The right employee with a heavy account.

****

By nightfall, Zyra and her teams were already crouching in the shadowy ditches surrounding Grimmark, looking like a bunch of suspiciously well-armed bushes. They watched a steady stream of people entering and leaving the gates_ traders with shiny swords, burly men wearing spiked shoulders, and sketchy representatives from various powerful guilds, all strutting around like they owned the place.

A low, metallic crackle buzzed in everyone’s hidden ear-mics.

"I’m just saying," Bullet whispered through his bulky armor, his voice vibrating with mechanical feedback. "Not that I’m scared or anything. I’m a brave man. My mother raised a warrior! But... these guys definitely have powerful backing. Look at those guns. Those are expensive guns."

Hunter, crouched on a tree branch three feet above him, squinted at a squad of heavily armored guards who had just marched out of the gate in perfect synchronization, heading off toward God-knows-where.

"For once in your life, Bullet, I actually agree with you," Hunter muttered into his mic. "Those guards are organized. And they look like they eat raw iron for breakfast." They were all large sized!

"It doesn’t matter if they eat iron or gold," Etania’s smooth, overly dramatic voice chimed in through the comms. "The Divine Maiden wills this mission! Therefore, mountains shall crumble, oceans shall part, and it shall be done!"

Zyra pinched the bridge of her nose, letting out a long, long-suffering sigh. "Etania," Zyra said into her mic, keeping her tone strictly deadpan. "For the hundredth time, the moment we step inside those gates, do not call me ’Divine Maiden.’ If I hear that title in there, I will personally throw you into the nearest ditch."

Etania opened her mouth, ready to unleash a passionate three-minute argument about how the world deserved to bow before Zyra’s majestic divine status. She wanted to scream it from the rooftops! She wanted billboards! She wanted fireworks! But hearing the exhaustion in Zyra’s voice, Etania swallowed her enthusiasm. "_Fine," Etania pouted loudly over the channel. "I’ll call you ’Boss.’ But under protest."

"Gladly accepted," Zyra replied instantly.

The operation was meticulously planned. Zyra’s forces were split up, hiding in various blind spots around the fortress perimeter. They even had a backup team stationed near the lower trenches. That group had containers and water horses, ready to act if the King beast crashed the party.

Zyra tapped her ear-mic two times. "Trade team, you’re up. Activate operation ’Legitimate Businessmen’."

Zyra was leading this team herself. The others came out of hiding, revealing plain, slightly dusty clothes, and pulled up three heavily laden wooden wagons filled with energy stones and herbs they seemed to have picked up along the way. There were other supplies like food and eater. Their reason for entering late was to find a reason to spend the night inside legitimately.

Malia threw on a floppy merchant’s hat, adjusted her posture to look like a stressed-out middle manager who hadn’t slept in three days, and began walking calmly toward the main entrance of Grimmark.

"Remember," Zyra muttered quietly to the guys pushing the wagons next to her, "Be slightly arrogant, look tired, and if anyone asks, we’re just here for rare meat."

"Got it, Boss," Taylor squeaked, nervously wiping sweat from his forehead. "I will be a loudmouthed, tired, boss of a restaurant."

Hunter groaned. He could see punches being thrown at the gate already.