A meeting of far calmer and wiser individuals.

That was the conclusion Jean arrived at while sitting within the conference hall alongside Ariana, Annabelle, Albec, Tia, Ruby, and finally...

The man they had all been waiting for.

Adrian.

Since Ariana couldn’t leave the academy grounds for the time being, Adrian had instead invited the three Tower Masters directly to the institution.

Now, seated around the large table, Adrian naturally took the role of spokesperson.

Pulling away the cloth covering a small canvas board, he revealed a detailed map displaying the western edge of the continent.

A desolate region lying between human settlements and the vast ocean beyond.

The Wastelands.

"This is where they’ve been hiding," Adrian stated calmly while pointing toward several marked circles he had drawn earlier. "Their temporary hideouts."

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"They’ve been gathering forces there for... what? Nearly two months now?"

Jean nodded in confirmation.

Albec soon voiced his confusion.

"If I remember correctly, that region is mostly covered in endless sand." His brows furrowed thoughtfully. "How did nobody discover them? The Wastelands are practically an open expanse of nothingness."

Jean answered this time.

"Underground bunkers have existed beneath those lands for centuries." Her tone remained calm and informative. "They were originally constructed during the ancient wars that devastated the region."

A faint pause followed.

"They simply discovered those shelters and modified them for their own use."

Albec hummed softly in understanding.

"That reminds me..." His gaze drifted absentmindedly for a moment. "There was another bunker hidden in the eastern Wastelands as well."

His eyes briefly shifted toward Annabelle.

"The one Lady Annabelle protected with her life."

A strange undertone lingered in his voice, almost as though he had been speaking more to himself than the room.

Yet everyone heard him clearly.

That bunker...

It had once belonged to Avirin.

The legendary Runesmith.

And it was within that very place that Adrian had first realized how deeply his origins were connected to the ancient craftsman.

Back then, when the two Tower Masters had first discovered the bunker, Annabelle had forced an agreement upon them.

In exchange for staying away from the place permanently, she promised to grant each of them one favor in the future.

Later, she entrusted the hidden sanctuary to Jean and her people, allowing them to use it as their operational base.

Thankfully, they had maintained the place carefully ever since.

"Well," Adrian finally spoke again, breaking the drifting thoughts around the room, "let’s leave old matters aside for now."

His gaze returned toward the marked locations on the map.

"We should focus on the problem currently in front of us." Adrian interrupted the flow of the discussion noticing the way Annabelle narrowed her eyes, he knew she wanted to say something.

Ariana was the next to speak. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"Jean... how many people are actually hiding there?"

Adrian was curious about that as well.

Up until now, he had only understood the rough outline that a massive number of people were being gathered for the sacrificial ritual.

Jean folded her hands calmly before answering,

"My people are divided into two infiltration groups."

Her expression turned more serious.

"And each group has reported nearly two hundred members within the camps they observed."

A brief pause followed.

"Unfortunately..." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "They still couldn’t determine the total number of groups operating there."

Tia raised her brows in surprise.

"So we’re potentially looking at over a thousand lambs prepared for slaughter?"

Jean slowly nodded.

"That appears to be the case."

Albec frowned deeply.

"But how did they recruit such numbers so quickly?" he wondered aloud. "It’s not like they could suddenly brainwash an entire town into following their beliefs overnight."

His fingers tapped lightly against the table.

"If something on that scale had occurred, we would’ve been informed immediately."

Silence settled across the hall for several moments.

Then Adrian finally spoke.

"I don’t think this is something recent."

Everyone’s eyes shifted toward him.

Adrian continued calmly,

"I believe this has been a long-term operation." His gaze lowered toward the map again. "They’ve likely spent years preparing for this."

A faint pause followed.

"And once they realized the current crisis had reached a certain point..." His eyes hardened slightly. "They finally decided to move forward with the plan."

Tia blinked in surprise.

"You’re suggesting they’ve been recruiting people for years?"

Jean nodded slowly.

"That possibility exists." She leaned back slightly before adding, "According to the reports I received, most of those people are older adults."

Her expression grew thoughtful.

"Generally somewhere between their twenties and forties."

Then Annabelle finally voiced the question lingering in everyone’s minds.

"How exactly did your spies infiltrate them?"

It was an important question.

Because the answer could very well reveal how the Acolytes had been recruiting people all this time.

"They were invited by people they already trusted in their daily lives," Jean explained calmly.

"As spies, my people don’t live like ordinary Umbral soldiers." Her fingers rested lightly against the table. "They build entirely different identities and blend into society for months if necessary."

Her gaze sharpened slightly.

"They earned genuine trust from the people around them."

"And among those trusted acquaintances... were individuals later invited to become sacrifices."

Adrian hummed thoughtfully while cupping his chin.

"Then the influence is spreading naturally through personal connections."

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"Though what truly interests me is something else."

Albec muttered quietly,

"Why are these people so willing to sacrifice themselves?"

His expression darkened.

"Could some form of sorcery be involved?"

"Or runes," Tia added immediately.

She leaned slightly forward before continuing,

"If I remember correctly, there are several Dark Element spells capable of influencing a person’s thought process." Her brows furrowed thoughtfully. "Twisting beliefs. Altering perception."

"Forcing someone to view the world through an entirely different lens."

Ruby nodded in agreement.

"There are quite a few spells capable of accomplishing something similar." Her tone remained thoughtful. "Though using them on this many people simultaneously would be extremely difficult."

Annabelle folded her arms.

"So ordinary sorcery might fail..." Her eyes shifted toward Adrian. "But runes could accomplish it instead?"

Adrian nodded calmly.

"Runes are far more suited for this kind of thing."

Everyone’s attention shifted fully toward him.

"Magic requires constant application and maintenance." Adrian tapped lightly against the table while explaining. "Runes, on the other hand, only require a sufficiently durable medium to sustain their function."

He smiled faintly.

"If the intended purpose remains unchanged..." His gaze sharpened slightly. "Runes become vastly superior for long-term influence and manipulation."

It was similar to the artifacts he had recently created for Querella.

For stable, continuous effects...

Runes surpassed ordinary sorcery by a significant margin.

"I believe our main focus should be figuring out how to destroy every base they’ve established," Albec said, redirecting the discussion back toward the true purpose of the meeting.

His expression hardened slightly.

"If we can wipe out enough of their hideouts, we may be able to delay the ritual for a significant amount of time."

Ariana nodded in agreement.

"A large-scale attack would likely be the most effective option." Her fingers tapped lightly against her lap as she thought aloud. "The real problem is that we still don’t know the locations of the remaining hideouts."

Silence slowly settled across the conference hall.

They had reached a frustrating dead end.

The issue wasn’t destructive power.

Far from it.

Several individuals sitting within this very room possessed enough strength to erase entire regions if necessary.

Including the strongest Warden currently present amongst them.

No...

The real problem was information.

Before launching any assault, they first needed to locate the hidden bases themselves.

Otherwise, the ambush would fail to achieve its purpose entirely.

After a long pause, Adrian said, "I will do something about it. Give me some time."

Albec hummed, "Are you going to physically assess that area?"

Annabelle, Ariana and Ruby instantly flinched at those words.

Adrian wryly smiled and comforted them, "Don’t worry, I won’t be going anywhere near that place." Exhaling a sigh, he added, "I actually have someone in mind who could help us here."

A giant dwarf, to be precise.

°°°°°°°°°

A/N:- Thanks for reading.