110 A Shady and Faded Afternoon

Valentine and Luuk, who had now put on their Zodiac masks, arrived at the field with overgrown grass. The cloudy sky blocked the sun from shining and warming up their cold bodies. The temperature was getting lower and lower each day, which meant that winter was just around the corner. The yellowy grass was swayed and danced in the breeze.

They were walking quietly, cautiously looking around for any signs of their target. According to Old Benthe, the two people from Pale Society should be here in this field. However, it was such a vast plain with a lot of wooden shacks around, so there were a lot of blind spots for them.

"Shouldn't they be around here?" asked Luuk.

"Yes. We should be very careful not to let them see us first. Catching them by surprise is our only chance of winning," replied Valentine, and then lied down on the ground.

The grass tickled his body slightly, but it created a soft cushion. Luuk understood what Valentine was trying to do, so he kept watch of his surroundings. Valentine closed his eyes and fell asleep soon after. After that, Graham opened his eyes and quickly got up.

"Was there anything?" he asked Luuk to make sure while also looking around.

Graham's boosted eyesight was still better than Valentine's and there was sufficient lighting, so he could see far ahead. There was no movement at all in that large field.

"There was nothing. You're only asleep for less than ten seconds anyway..." replied Luuk.

"Really? It always felt like a long time," he said.

Graham took out his lighter and carefully lit a fire, placing it away from the grass not to burn them. He concentrated on the flame and repeated a question in his mind.

"Where is the current location of Andreas Peters?"

A bird's eye view of the area surfaced on the flame. There were two red dots indicating his position and one other in the distance showing the location of the target. Judging from the map, Shade should still be more than one kilometer away from him.

Luuk was also watching the image and he memorized the location of the target. The red dot indicating our target keeps on moving further, albeit at a slow pace. It seems that they are in search for something. Didn't the old woman say they are looking for the burial site? Are they planning to collect bones or are they going to hold a ritual on it?

After that, the image gradually disappeared and Graham put back his lighter inside his pocket.

"Why do you think they're searching for the mass burial site?" asked Luuk.

"I don't know. Why don't we ask them later?" he replied.

After that, he lied down on the grass again. It didn't feel very comfortable for him because the grass was pricking him slightly.

"I, in the name of the Deity of the Tongue, order myself to fall asleep,"

"G, we really need to find another way. Switching all the time like this is really impractical,"

Valentine turned to Luuk and said decisively, "Let's go,"

The two men walked in the direction that was shown in Graham's divination. The tall, yellowish grass was split as they got past them, leaving behind a path. Sounds of rustling were heard in that cloudy morning, although they had tried to be as quiet as they could. The farther they went, the taller the grass became, and the more trees appeared around them. There were also the occasional wooden shacks for some reason, providing them with a lot of covers.

From time to time, Luuk could feel a presence coming from the belt that Valentine was wearing. It seemed that they had long got out of the area of effect of his Concealment. However, since there was no one around, and the members of Pale Society were still far away, Valentine didn't bother to recast it.

When they felt like they were close enough but not enough to feel the others' presence, Valentine stopped and hid behind a tall tree whose leaves had all turned yellow. He signalled at Luuk and the latter understood what he needed to do. He also hid behind the tree and started chanting.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Secrets, hereby declare Luuk's presence a secret!"

"I, in the name of the Deity of Theft, declare Mr Hymes' presence mine!"

A thin yellowish mist enveloped Luuk as he made a swiping motion with his right hand. He kept his hand clenched without releasing it.

"My theft will only last for five minutes maximum," reminded Luuk.

"That's more than enough. Let's go," replied Valentine calmly.

The two men started running lightly with weapons ready. Valentine had taken his gun out while Luuk was holding a knife with a small piece of green gemstone embedded on the hilt using his left hand while his right one was still clenched in a fist.

Valentine and Luuk could start to feel the dangerous presence of the two members of Pale Society ahead of them, and slowly, their figures also became visible. They stopped and approached carefully, stalking them with the cover of the tall grass.

In the distance, there were two men wearing black robes carefully looking around, searching for something. One of them was taller than the other, and Valentine could see them wearing facemasks when they turned around for a brief moment. The taller one should be Shade while the other one was unknown to him. Graham couldn't use his divination since he didn't have enough information to go with it, so Valentine had to get close enough and use Reveal to know his abilities.

"I think that old hag was lying to us," said the other man, which was very clear to Valentine thanks to his boosted hearing.

"Let's keep searching. This is such a large field, so maybe we just missed some areas," replied Shade.

"When we meet her again, make sure to torture her until she'd rather die," the man spoke in a cold and hateful tone.

"Don't worry, I've planted a Bug in her mind. She should be killing herself tonight. After all, she has seen us," said Shade heartlessly.

Valentine and Luuk were still creeping behind them and got closer. Luuk made sure his right hand was still clenched to keep Valentine's presence. The two men hadn't noticed them so far because of that; even the rustling sound that they made before was no longer heard now, although the grass was still moved. The strong breeze also helped them mask their movement by blowing the grass.

"Will we really be able to use the burial site for the ritual?" asked Fade.

"We should. It should hold an enormous amount of negative energy, so the ritual will be a success. The descent of the Pale Lord is coming near. I can feel it," Shade spoke in a sinister manner.

Once they were close enough but still within a safe distance, the two stalkers stopped. Valentine watched the two men intently and waited patiently. The moment another breeze blew, he quickly chanted very quietly; the rustling sound made by the wind masked his chanting.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Uncovering, ask you to reveal your secrets to me!"

Slowly, an illusory text formed above the man who was walking slowly next to Shade.

'Gerard Birenbaum aka Fade. A member of the secret organization called Pale Society with the task of gathering materials for summoning. He is currently in a contract with the Deity of Wit and Blood and is skilled at frontal assault as well as assassination.'

Once the information was revealed, Valentine could start his ambush plan. He crept a little bit closer because the two men had walked farther away, exiting the range of his ability. Once he was in range, he quickly chanted without waiting for the breeze this time.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Uncovering, hereby put you under interrogation!"

Fade suddenly stopped in his track. His eyes were blankly staring at the space ahead of him. Shade, who noticed his partner's abnormality, quickly readied his short sword and looked around carefully, trying to locate the attackers. However, he couldn't feel anyone's presence nor see anything out of the ordinary. The grass was blowing gently in the wind without any signs of movements beneath it.

Bang!

Suddenly, there was the sound of a gunshot coming from behind and he quickly dodged to the side. He wasn't fast enough, however, so his arm was grazed by the bullet. His robe was torn and blood came out of the wound. He wasn't worried about the blood, but rather, the fact that he was now feeling rather sluggish. His movement and reaction speed had been reduced!

"I, in the name of the Deity of Cunningness and Transformation, hereby state that I will forget about the bad status effect affecting me!"

Once he finished chanting that, his movement speed gradually returned to normal. He wanted to get down to avoid being shot at.

Bang!

Another shot hit him before he could completely get down. The bullet this time hit his right shoulder, lodging itself inside.

"Fuck!"

Shade screamed in pain and quickly got down. A lot more blood flowed from his injury and dropped to the ground below, painting the grass red. He couldn't react carelessly because the unknown attacker had a gun, but he couldn't just stay still and do nothing either.

"I order my wound to heal!"

While Shade was busy taking care of his wound that was now rapidly closing, Luuk had crept slowly closer to him. Once he was in range, Luuk quickly chanted.

"I, in the name of the Deity of theft, declare the Shade's short sword mine!"

He made a swiping motion with his right hand and suddenly, a metal sword appeared there. Luuk then swiftly got up and got away from his spot to avoid Shade, who had seen him.

"What happened?"

Suddenly, Fade spoke. He had managed to break free from Valentine's control and was now confusedly looking at his partner who was lying on the ground. He looked around but saw no one else there.

"Get down quickly!" shouted Shade.

Bang!

Another shot was fired and Fade wasn't fast enough to dodge it. His left thigh was hit and he fell down from the impact.

"Shit! What's happening!" he shouted in confusion.

"We're under attack!"

The blood that poured out of Fade's wound suddenly started floating as he was chanting something. The crimson liquid gathered in one spot and hardened gradually.

Shade, who had lost his weapon, now needed to give his partner a chance to finish creating his blood weapons. He had seen Luuk, so at least now he had one target. He carefully moved towards him and once he was visible, Shade quickly spoke.

"I order you to stand still!"

Luuk's body started to move by itself against his will. He stood up and stayed there motionlessly, making him an easy target. Shade was about to start chanting while hiding under the grass, but then...

"I, in the name of the Deity of Uncovering, hereby put you under interrogation!"

Valentine had finished chanting first.

Look saw as the man's eyes became blank. I can't believe the trap actually works. Although I'm still a sitting duck, standing here out in the open. I need to break away fast.

He struggled really hard to regain control over his body. Although the caster had been placed under someone else's control, his Order was still as strong as before.

"Get a hold of yourself! You're a manipulator, why are you being manipulated like that?!" shouted Fade.

He seemed to have finished creating blood weapons in that short time. Floating next to him was a pair of blood daggers that he had quickly made. They were as long as Valentine's dagger and looked just as sharp. Fade raised his right hand and waved it in front of him to control the floating weapons.

Swoosh!

The blood daggers pierced through the air at a frightening speed. One of them was cutting all the tall grass around, spinning very quickly and tearing apart everything it came in contact with. The other dagger quickly moved towards where Luuk was standing without any means to protect himself.

Bang!

Valentine shot at the dagger that was about to pierce his partner's heart without revealing himself. The blood dagger quickly rebounded and Fade controlled it again to continue its attack on Luuk.

"Shit shit shit!"

The effect of the Order had worn out, enabling Luuk to move again. He picked up the short sword that he had dropped quickly and briskly defended himself with it.

Clank!

Luuk managed to parry the attack launched by Fade. He then dashed towards the injured man and chanted.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Theft, declare your intention to attack me mine!"

He made a swiping motion with his right hand and kept it clenched. Fade looked confused, but the moment he saw Luuk charging at him, he knew what he needed to do; he needed to defend himself against the attack. However, the split-second delay was enough for Luuk. He released his fist and returned Fade's intention of attacking him.

Stab!

Because of his conflicted intention, Fade didn't manage to defend himself properly. It gave Luuk the opportunity to stab him in the chest with the short sword, although he failed to strike the vital spot.

"I order your wound to heal quickly!"

Shade had regained control over himself and quickly issued another Order after seeing his partner in a pinch. The wound on his chest quickly closed around the sword that was still there. Luuk had no other option but to leave the sword and quickly retreated.

Bang!

Valentine, who was watching and waiting patiently for an opportunity, shot Shade and hit his abdomen. The man was pushed back by the impact and groaned in pain. The grass that cushioned his fall became red and his robe was all torn.

"I order my wound to heal quickly!"

The wound started closing and the bullet that was lodged in his chest got spit out by the flesh. His body was overcome by pain, but suddenly, he started feeling something else. His stomach was in pain and his muscles became sore. He realized right away what was happening and shouted at his partner urgently.

"Those bullets are poison bullets!"