Chapter 202 - The Raiding Team

The next day, after midnight, my raiding team and I made our way to the sewage outlet.

We had spent most of the day coordinating and practicing drills using the new jackets, boots, and pants to understand the functionality and limitations of the runes in a practical setting. Moreover, trying to sneak past people like Kael and Peter made for good practice.

The most obvious weakness of these runes was that while they hid us from sensing skills, anyone looking directly at us could easily identify us. Thankfully, to counter that, we had taken uniforms from the bodies of dead mercenaries belonging to the first camp we were supposed to enter.

All those uniforms were bundled up in our backpacks. For now, we wore normal training clothes that would be discarded once we made our way out through the sewage.

We stopped in front of the sewage gate and waited for Senior Lieutenant Torquatus to arrive.

After less than five minutes, he arrived with another person following behind him.

“This is Lieutenant Oliver. He is an earth mage who will help create the exit,” Senior Lieutenant Torquatus said, introducing the lieutenant accompanying him.

Lieutenant Oliver nodded to me.

Then, without a word, he approached the sewage outlet and touched it.

While the lieutenant worked on creating a gap for us to exit through, Senior Lieutenant Torquatus looked at me.

“Sergeant Edward, this mission is of great importance. Have you studied the route I marked in detail?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“That route was mapped out after five days of observation. It should have minimal patrols, and most of it also avoids the sensing ranges of the enemy Tier-4s.”

“Yes. My squad and I know the entire one-thousand-meter route. We have studied the map in detail and memorized all possible deviations, along with the likely positions of the Tier-3 patrols.”

In times like these, [Operational Cognition (A)] was a godsend, especially its [Memory Recall (UC)] component. After reading the map only once, I had memorized almost all its details.

Senior Lieutenant Torquatus nodded and then, surprisingly, held out his hand and clasped mine.

As his expression softened a little, he said, “Take care of yourself out there. I would hate to explain to Cicero how I lost his only disciple under my watch.”

“Yes, sir.”

I was not sure how to feel about it. It felt less like a send-off and more like a final goodbye, so instead of thinking about it, I looked at the earth mage at work.

Slowly and without making a sound, he formed a gap large enough for my squad and me to pass through.

Nodding to Senior Lieutenant Torquatus, we all entered the sewage tunnel.

Because using a flame inside the sewage tunnel was not a good idea, I led the way, guiding my team behind me using [Perceptive Instinct (UC)].

As soon as Barry entered, he commented dramatically, “If I die out there, do not bring me back. I do not want to experience this fucking smell after dying. I regret suggesting this exit.”

And he was not wrong.

While the smell had already been unbearable outside, it became far worse once we entered. Thankfully, I had already digested my dinner. Otherwise, I was sure it would have come back up.

“Even worse, the man who first proposed this plan is not here. Garran should be the one walking in front through this,” Rokan said as his boot made a splashing noise in the sewage.

“Yeah, once all this is over, I am bringing that fucking giant here,” Barry added.

“You sure Garran’s senses even work? He eats whatever shit gets put in front of him and sleeps through any damn noise. I have never heard him complain,” Daren commented.

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“Can you three shut the fuck up?” I snapped, losing my patience.

The smell and the experience of walking through sewage were already affecting me. I was not ready to listen to their endless chatter.

Thankfully, after my outburst, their chatter stopped.

Once we reached the end of the tunnel, I called for everyone to stop.

I extended the range of [Perceptive Instinct (UC)] outside and checked the surroundings for enemy patrols while we waited there for the next thirty minutes. [Perceptive Instinct (UC)] used very little mana, making it harder to sense.

While no one came too close to the sewage outlet, two mana senses swept through the area in alternation every five minutes.

“Barry, there are two patrols outside, one coming from the left and the other from the right. I can let you know when they are close to the canal. Will you be able to take out the one on the right without making any noise?”

“Yeah, I can do that. Anyway, I am getting tired of this smell,” Barry said.

Barry moved out first. Using the irregular stones protruding from the canal wall as shallow footholds, he moved along the wall while hanging from it.

Once he had made his way a little farther, he removed his sewage-covered boots and pants. Then, taking his rune jacket out of the bag, he put it on.

“Barry, the target should be above you in thirty seconds,” I said, using [Battlefield Command (UC)].

Still without pants, he got into position.

Then, as soon as the soldier was directly above Barry, I kicked the sewage water with my foot, making a small splash.

The soldier leaned over to investigate. Barry sprang up like a tiger, clamping one hand over the man’s mouth while plunging a knife into his neck with the other.

Barry came back down.

Surprisingly, he landed perfectly on the same stone he had been standing on before. Without making any noise, he lowered his kill onto the canal wall, keeping one hand on the body to make sure it did not fall into the sewage.

“Let’s go. We have less than five minutes to change our gear.”

We all made our way out quickly, and just like Barry, we remained inside the sewage canal. The canal wall sloped at around sixty degrees and had a rough enough surface for us to keep our balance on it.

We quickly discarded our filthy boots and pants, put on the new gear, pulled the mercenary uniforms over it, and prepared to move out.

But before leaving, we took down the second patrol in almost the same way.

Then we staged both bodies farther away from the canal, leaving arrows—which we had brought with us—protruding from their neck wounds so that it looked as though the patrols had been killed by an expert archer rather than by someone wielding a knife.

After that, we started moving forward.

After we had walked two hundred meters along the canal wall, the angle became too steep for us to continue. So we climbed out and made our way onto flat ground, with the enemy camp less than fifty meters away.

Instead of sneaking slowly using the runes, we walked into the camp, pretending to be drunk.

Passing through the first mercenary camp was easy. Even when mana senses passed through us, no one noticed anything amiss.

We stopped at the end of the first mercenary camp, almost halfway along our designated path. This was where the mercenary camp ended and Frosthallow’s camp began.

Discarding the first mercenary group’s uniforms, we revealed the full sets of black rune gear beneath them and made our way deeper into the camp.

This time, we moved with far more caution.

Linking all the runes, we started crouch-walking, with me leading the formation. Barry followed behind me, then Varric, Rokan, Daren, and Silas, with Peter covering the rear.

Less than ten minutes into our advance, I sensed a mana scan sweeping over us.

I raised my hand, halting the entire formation.

Then I looked around to make sure that no one was physically watching us. Only after the mana scan had passed did we start moving again.

From then on, the whole journey felt like walking along a knife’s edge. It seemed as though even one loud breath would alert our enemies. Every time a mana scan passed over us and I halted the formation, all of us tensed, ready to fight for our lives.

Around eight hundred meters in, after crossing more than three-fourths of the route Senior Lieutenant Torquatus had suggested, I sensed a figure entering my range.

We all crouched lower, trying to make ourselves as small as possible.

Regrettably, the figure kept walking toward us. I pointed in the soldier’s direction, and Barry slowly moved toward him.

As soon as the soldier emerged from behind a tent, Barry threw his knife, piercing the man’s neck.

Quickly, I wrapped my arms around the Frosthallow soldier’s body to make sure that he did not make any noise as he fell.

Just as I was about to drop the body, I heard a voice.

“So there really are Avalon rats sneaking into my camp.”

The speaker was a hulking Tier-3 giant wearing a Frosthallow soldier’s uniform. Behind him stood ten similar-looking Tier-2 soldiers.

Without wasting any time, Varric lunged at the leader.

Their hammers collided, creating a loud noise.

While the Frosthallow soldiers were focused on Varric and me, Barry threw two knives. One soldier blocked one of the knives with his shield, while another managed to shift just enough for the other knife to strike his shoulder instead of his throat.

The rest of the soldiers on both sides also engaged in battle.

While all this was happening, I froze for half a heartbeat, fully aware that completing the mission objective was no longer possible.

Before I could properly process my next move, one of the Frosthallow soldiers attacked me.

I dodged sideways, moving out of the path of his hammer, then created a quick mana arc aimed at his neck.

As soon as my arc struck its target, I shouted, “Varric, dodge!”

The moment Varric threw himself aside, I activated the rune bomb and hurled it at the Frosthallow leader's feet.

“RETREAT! RETREAT!” I shouted.

My squad started running back toward the western side of Velkar, while I covered them using mana shields and mana arcs.

Then, just before leaving, I caught sight of our designated target.

The transmission tent.

Without stopping, I pulled out another rune bomb and threw it toward the tent.