The more they oppose, the more it shows that I am doing the right thing

The next day.

The weather was exceptionally gloomy.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

A murky dusk covered the desolate plains, as if it was about to rain, with the cool mist drenched in the deathly stillness of late autumn.

Faint lightning flashed through the gaps in the clouds.

The location of the Painful Esoteric Sect's dry campus was to the left of Seden Town and bordered by mountains on the right, with a large expanse of continuous woods behind the hills.

Hidden among the trees, pairs of eyes watched the base below intently.

These uninvited guests were wrapped in deep black hoods. Underneath the hoods were pure white helmets, the garb of the frontal Holy Knights; behind the knights, the saints acting as scouts had a cold gleam flickering in their eyes as they looked down at the base from afar.

In the very back were the mages and priests.

This entire troop consisted of fully one hundred and fifty second-order saints.

It was almost half-past eleven.

According to the schedule provided by An Su, the Cultists were to return to their dormitories at eleven o'clock, followed by lights-out. Accompanying the sound of bells, the lights in the base went out one room at a time.

Rosen frowned slightly; according to last night's agreement with his Painful confidant, he should have come to meet the Holy Knights by now.

There was an Alchemic Holy Array set up around the dry campus, making it very difficult for them to infiltrate.

Added to that was the widespread Magic Eye System covering the entire school, making a surprise attack impossible.

Rosen was not worried that the Painful confidant would break the alliance. The Soul Contract was the highest level of contract; as long as the contract's content was reasonable and established, no one could break it.

Having studied law, he naturally understood this.

Boom—another bolt of lightning slashed across the clouds, momentarily whitening the world and illuminating the figures in the distance.

Amid the woods stood three figures.

Rosen perked up; the Painful confidant had finally arrived.

The three approached them leisurely. The lightning flickered in the clouds, casting their faces into alternating light and shadow. They were all dressed in pure black military uniforms with skull-decorated caps, and their long military boots splashed ripples as they trod into puddles.

Walking in the night with rain looming, the three's footsteps were ghost-like and nimble, quite stylish.

Their steady footsteps echoed in the silent woods and stepped into the hearts of every saint.

Everyone was on high alert, tense.

The Painful confidant,

The Painful Falcon,

The Painful Hound.

This is professionalism... Rosen thought admiringly to himself.

These three were none other than the Painful Trio, with their names upstarting and celebrated.

"Boss An Su, my rehearsal wasn't bad, right?" Arthur, on the far left of the three, asked,

It was Lister who came up with this explosive opening. He thought that as a Cultist with style, one should start with an elegant and awesome impression.

For this, they even practiced marching in unison for half a day.

"You're a bit offbeat..." An Su silently hinted to Arthur with his eyes.

"Who stepped on my foot..." Lister's mouth twitched slightly, but he barely managed to keep from making a sound in order to maintain an aristocratic grace.

Regardless of the details in private, they were concealed by the heavy rainy night, and the appearance of the three indeed caused great psychological pressure on the saints.

"Your Excellency, greetings," Alice was the first to break the silence, lightly lifting her skirt, "May I ask if you have dismantled the Alchemic Magic Circle's defen—"

"The person I wanted."

An Su interrupted Alice's words, furrowing his brows, speaking in a low tone with a mocking air, "Have you brought him to me?"

Alice pursed her lips; she had hated this frontier man since long ago, but now, where was she supposed to find him at this moment?

An undisciplined and disorderly fellow,

For over a month, there was never any contact with the Church.

Having caused such a big blunder and obstructed the team's plans,

If he had any shame left, he should step forward and commit suicide as apology.

"Your Excellency, rest assured," Rosen said calmly, "we will find him."

"Very well," An Su nodded slightly, finally showing a calm smile. Lister and Arthur both knew that whenever Brother Su smiled like this, he was bound to cause a big stir.

"Please, follow me."

He turned and walked down the mountain; lightning struck once more, etching An Su's smiling face into sharp relief.

"Action." Order Knight Rosen instructed his men, and the Holy Knights quickly got into formation, protecting the priests amongst their ranks as they advanced toward the base.

At this moment, all the lights in the academy had gone out.

The entire campus had fallen into a prolonged silence.

The stealth attack seemed to have succeeded,

when the Holy Knights stepped over the array, it did not trigger any defensive response, and the Magic Eye had not monitored them,

and the believers responsible for patrolling and guarding had already been called away.

They deftly crossed the fence and set foot on the soil within the academy.

Everything was quiet all around.

Rosen's tense heart gradually relaxed.

An Su led them forward; first, they reached several rooms of new members. Sharp blades pierced the hearts of the first-order cultists, silently snatching their lives away in their sleep.

[Kill confirmed]

The voice of the Celestial Messenger rang in everyone's ears, but this time, the contributors were no longer those damnable borderlanders.

A smile hung on the corner of Rosen's mouth.

Finally, he no longer had to be trampled underfoot.

Of course, even the most perfect infiltration could not kill all the cultists in their sleep.

They were bound to be discovered eventually.

The real fight was coming... Rosen thought to himself.

However, they were not worried.

Because they had already entered the inside of the stronghold.

The hardest part was already done.

Death was not scary, because they would be resurrected even if they died.

What was scary was not getting any points.

And with their current military strength, they had nothing to fear even if they faced a legion commander.

After slaughtering nearly twenty first-order cultists, finally, a believer rang the alarm bell.

In an instant, the entire stronghold lit up as bright as day.

Cultists from several buildings immediately awoke; those who had been professionally trained took daggers from their sleeves and got out of bed in unison.

They quickly formed into teams and rushed toward the location of the attack, like wave upon wave of dark clouds.

Rosen gazed at that mass of dark clouds from afar, his fighting spirit reaching its zenith.

The fighting spirit of all the saints had reached its zenith.

This was exactly what he had longed for,

a righteous and great battle for order!

"Tonight!" Rosen shouted, his arm raised, beginning an impassioned speech, "We will surely win, we will reclaim the lost order!"

"We will surely win!"

"We will surely win!" Explore stories on empire

At this moment, An Su said softly, "It's about time."

At the same time, three other special teams burst in from three different directions,

They wore black uniforms, but the badges on their caps were different from the other cultists, consisting of patterns of the sun, moon, and stars.

Rosen had seen this team the night before; it was the personal guard established by the most trusted of Painful Esoteric Sect.

They followed the Painful Triumvirate with a brainwashed fervor.

Truly worthy of that great person.

He watched An Su, only to see a slight smile on the latter's face, eyes as bright as stars in the night.

With such a powerful insider to help, how could they not annihilate the Painful Esoteric Sect in one fell swoop?

But then the personal guards came to a halt; standing firm, they saluted the three in unison, their eyes filled with a certain zeal.

Their voices were uniform,

echoing in the quiet night sky.

"Reporting to the chosen of An Su!"

"Reporting to the chosen of An Su!"