Chapter 209 Abort

"I need to speak with the Mission Hall's Manager, open the communication crystal…" Ersin ordered his subordinate after analyzing their current situation.

The appearance of the terrifying female 'Grand Knight' is out of their expectation. They weren't prepared for it and were dealt a huge blow because of it.

It was unfair and someone must take responsibility for such a terrible piece of information given to them. The scouts or whoever gathered the intel regarding these criminals must've slacked off to miss such an important detail!

They should've mentioned that one of those criminals has the strength of a Grand Knight! If that were the case, they wouldn't accept this mission in the first place!

Although they all have life-saving treasures with them, their squad is still filled with Adept Mages with a single Archmage. Once ambushed by a Grand Knight, they would still crumble!

Soon, Ersin held the communication crystal as the female manager spoke on the other side.

"Squad Leader Ersin, is there a problem with the mission? We are sure that the criminals should be in the First Tower City right now."

She seems to have thought that Ersin was unable to find the criminals.

"Elder Suna, it's not that. Eight of my companions just died… We weren't facing weakened criminals as we were told. One of them is a Grand Knight. This is beyond our strength already, you should get a red emblem to accept this task… Why aren't we told about that Grand Knight's presence?"

"Hmm? Grand Knight? That's impossible. Did you see the Grand Knight's face? I'm sure that you've spoken with the Tower Master before you left. The criminals didn't have that strength. Perhaps they hired someone?" Elder Suna answered as she tried to guess what happened.

,m She also frowned after hearing the deaths of Dragon Riders.

It's not easy to find many practitioners who wanted to learn aerial combat after all. Training with the Forest Wyverns can also be harsh since they have to anticipate any accidents while they were in the air.

If they lost concentration and fell off their mounts, they could certainly die. Furthermore, they couldn't freely use their mana arts when they were in the sky. Although being in the sky gives you the freedom to move around, there are still many restrictions for Mana Practitioners like them.

It means that their training wasn't that easy. Anyone who managed to pass such a strenuous selection would have a bright future ahead of them. It was a pity that they have to die on this mission.

"I'm not sure… Anyway, we were lucky that we survived today. She was probably weakened by a lot after I used my life-saving treasure… Ugh, we should be highly compensated for this mission."

Not only did he lose the life of his members, but two of his expensive treasures were also used!

"Don't worry. I'll give you satisfactory compensation. For now, compile your report before I send it to the Tower Master. If we're really facing a Grand Knight… We probably have to send several red emblems to ensure the victory…"

"That's what I thought as well..." Ersin said with a sigh.

After informing her of a few more details about their operation, he ended the conversation as they decided to stop this mission already.

They were going to return to the 15th Tower to bring the bodies of his members back to their families. As for the young man who allowed them to chase this group of criminals, he decided to just forget about him since he wasn't in the mood to return to the First Tower's City right now.

***

Within the carriage that was heading to the Heinen Fog Forest, Lar and the others were feeling extremely happy with the result of their operation.

They have consumed several potions to recover their strength and the previous battle didn't leave any signs of injuries on their bodies.

Right now, there is only one thing left to do, it is to leave pieces of evidence that they've arrived at the dangerous fog forest before secretly returning to the first tower. To do that, they will have to use the route they have previously arranged in addition to their magic tools to conceal their tracks.

Lar looked at the Celestial Being who was silently cleaning her short blade. He's still a bit unsure how to approach her but because of the recent battle, he felt a bit more at ease talking to her.

"Ehem… Celestial Tara, I noticed that you were attacked by a summoned creature… Is everything alright?" Lar asked.

Although it is unlikely for her to be affected, he still wanted to show that he cares about her.

"Yes. It was part of the operation to act weakened."

"T-that's true. We can't kill them all after all." Lar nodded in understanding.

As per their plan, they have to leave a few of them to report back to the 15th Tower. That way, their 'escape' to the forest will reach the Tower Master. They might still try to find some of their traces in the First Tower's City but it wouldn't be as active as before…

In an instance that they've managed to get out of the forest, they will only have to pass through a couple of Black Towers, the 7th and the 12th Tower, before they could enter the northernmost side of the Martial Arts Alliance.

Since they've shown their martial techniques, the tower wouldn't doubt that they will be allowed to enter the alliance if they decided to do so with a small price to pay.

In short, the next plan for the Black Tower is probably to guard the surrounding forest or just in case, send another group to block the three passages to enter the Martial Arts Alliance's territory.

Noticing that the Celestial doesn't want to talk that much, Lar decided to just focus on the road. This journey will still be quite long so it's better to save their energy for now.

However, after several hours, the Celestial finally decided to talk to him…