695 Chapter 695

The fragile-looking, lithe elderly draconic skink cast a wide contrast to the four musclebound warriors as he stepped out from the building. Not just by his body frame, but with his attire as well. His clean, almost sparkling, shining silk pearl white robe with the golden embroidery of a roaring dragon's head emblem looking back from the center of his chest… compared to the dark, matte black sturdy steel plating of those full-body armors… He was like a glowing beacon of light in the looming darkness.

The elderly skink figure raised his right hand in the air, grabbing the attention of the four elite guards and silencing them. His bronze mask glimmered in the flickering candlelight.

"[Reptilian] Halt! Hmpf! What are you, brainless cubs?" He chided with a disdainful tone, snorting to showcase his utter contempt and disdain towards these primitive barbaric beasts he now had to be amongst.

His attitude wasn't merely a reaction to the current peculiar situation but a direct response to his growing annoyance because of this seemingly pointless assignment. Ever since the High Priest's original plan failed, he had refused to take responsibility for anything and blamed his 'incompetent staff' for the shameful defeat.

At the same time, he had decided to reinforce the various groups in each of the outer districts, changing his original strategy vastly. Whilst this was something that each member of the priesthood supported, they didn't expect that this restructuring was going to have an effect on them as well.

After the elite forces were spread out and a small contingent was sent to each of the Temple Guard barracks, then it was their turn. As the High Priest and the Archbishops explained during that fateful meeting, due to their failure to properly 'educate' and 'command' the army forces as well as the masses, they are in a dire need of some training, a bit of hands-on experience so to say.

Thus each Priest was given a new assignment. Whilst most were sent to the various sectors to further increase the local guards' strength and control the citizenry, a select few were even sent away to explore the nearby tribes, cities, and communities and make contact with them.

With the last utter loss, the Temple Guard forces have taken a massive hit, a brutal nosedive and thus they needed to gather new recruits. With the situation among the common rabble of Ugburg already quite delicate as it is, they needed to explore new avenues and search for fresh meat from outside the premises.

,m In any case, the old man was feeling humiliated himself. At his age and position, he felt that his time and power were wasted on this pointless, senseless assignment and was just merely punished in turn for the High Priest. Since the other party has refused to accept his mistake, they, the lower class Priests had to take and carry this burden themselves.

Thus, his rather annoyed and prickly attitude.

Turning his head, the old man turned to look at the stone pillar for a couple of seconds before speaking up again. Even though his expression remained hidden behind his bronze mask, his tone betrayed his feelings.

"[Reptilian] What is wrong with you? You the so-called elites, highly trained warriors yet, reacting to the first, most primitive trick in the world?! Laughable!" He snorted, before raising the head of his staff he was carrying and pointed it towards the looming darkness from whence the noise came.

A bright golden light lit up at the tip of his staff, forming a little brightly shining ball of light. As it materialized the priest gently touched it with the tip of his staff, giving it a gentle tuck, a push to send it forward.

As if reacting to its creator's action, the floating, rotating ball slowly moved forward, steadily sailing the air towards the source of the disturbance. Along the way, it was like a miniature sun, a star creating an aura of bright daylight amidst the gloomy darkness as it traversed along its predestined path.

"[Reptilian] Change of plans." Madam Dara muttered silently as both of them were focused on the unexpected change of the situation. Now with the appearance of this surprising new element, this priest, they could no longer rely on their previous approach, nor could they hope to achieve any success with a direct approach.

Worse, they now quickly needed to react to the shifting situation, as whilst the simple magic the priest cast was aimed at the darkness, they too would be revealed once the flying sphere of arcane energy passed by them along its path towards the dark cover next to them.

Not wasting any more time, she made a quick decision and quickly chanted the already prepared spell, however, the ground was shifted around them, rather than its original target area. At the same time, its range was much smaller as she hastily could only think of protecting the two of them, making the dome the size of the undergrowth they have used for cover.

In a moment, an aura of darkness engulfed the two, forming a dark fog around the two of them. An ominous domain surrounded the duo of female makeshift assassins shrouding them with its unnatural, otherworldly energy just before the floating sphere would have reached their vicinity.

The two watched with bated breaths, lying motionlessly but still ready to spring into action in a moment's notice if the situation soured any further. They looked at the group not far from them, hoping that their sudden reaction would remain unnoticed, or at the very least not be investigated.

"[Reptilian] Hmm?" Yet, it seemed their hope was not fated to come true this day. As the ball passed by them, the old priest frowned when he spotted the strange peculiarity. The shadow he spotted felt strange.

Whilst for most it would probably be skipped by, thinking that it was just something normal, he thought different. For one, such a shadow should not appear, since it would need a solid material of a similar shape standing under the direction of the light source.

Something would have been needed to be present for it to appear yet, in the surroundings there was nothing. Still, even that wouldn't have earned the priest's attention and made him stand alert unless he could also sense the slight disturbance through the special skill he had just cast.

For this wasn't a simple light, but actually a special low-level scouting spell with basic sensing trait infused into it. Whilst it was still considered rather primitive it could actually sense the active essences around the area it covered, and send this information back to its caster.

The old priest frowned as he could clearly feel the vibrations in the air around that strange darkness. Raising his right index finger, he pointed in the direction and…

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