Chapter 332 (Patreon)

The basement looked ordinary at first glance. Stone walls. Wooden beams. A single candle flickering atop a round table. Yet something about the place felt deeply wrong.

Because basements were not supposed to exist in the middle of an endless desert.

There was nothing above them. No house. No ruined structure. No abandoned outpost swallowed by sand. Only dunes stretching endlessly beneath the night sky while buried far underneath them, this hidden chamber sat like a secret the desert itself wanted to keep.

Six cloaked figures stood around the table in complete silence.

Heavy black robes concealed their bodies. Their hoods obscured their faces beneath layers of shadow. Even their breathing sounded restrained, careful, disciplined. The tiny candle flame trembled softly between them, casting shifting light across unmoving cloaks.

Finally, the man standing at the head of the table grunted. “You are requesting one of the Heavenly Four Jhings?”

Even the title itself seemed heavy enough to darken the room. The man they called Captain lowered his head slightly beneath the hood. His voice came out rough and weary. “No.”

A brief pause followed. “To ensure the success of the mission… we must send all of them.”

The atmosphere changed instantly. One of the cloaked figures shifted slightly. Another inhaled sharply. Even the candle flame danced harder for a moment, as though the room itself disliked what had just been said.

The man at the head of the table slowly folded his arms. “We are already gathering five hundred capable men,” he said. “And we are hunting fewer than fifty people.”

His voice sharpened. “There are also five of you.”

No one interrupted him. “And If we deploy one the Four Heavenly Jhings against such a small group,” he continued quietly, “we will win for sure. Why do we need four of them?”

His fingers tapped once against the wooden table. “The shame of it will hunt us forever even if we successfully executed our mission.”

Silence swallowed the room again. The Heavenly Four Jhings were not ordinary assassins. They were monsters wearing human skin. Weapons reserved for wars, rebellions, and the extermination of entire bloodlines. Sending all four against several students, two royal knights and a few knights from another kingdom sounded excessive to the point of humiliation.

Yet the captain slowly clenched his fists beneath the cloak. “Even so,” he said firmly, “I believe we must use everything we have.”

The man at the head of the table remained still.

The captain lifted his gaze slightly. “That is what my guts are telling me.”

His voice lowered further. “I saw the battlefield. Thousands of monsters.”

The captain gulped, “And they slaughtered them without losing a single person.”

The words settled heavily around the basement. Several cloaked figures exchanged glances beneath their hoods. “There were dungeon bosses among the corpses,” the captain continued. “One attack from the girl called Suri wiped out hundreds.”

A pause followed. “And Rose Light…”

Even saying her name seemed dangerous.The captain’s jaw tightened. “She killed Ghin.”

This time, nobody moved at all. Not even the candle flickered for a moment. Because everyone inside that hidden chamber understood exactly what that meant. A faction master 

had fallen. One of the rulers of the lawless city. Dead.

The man at the head of the table slowly leaned back, the lower half of his face barely illuminated beneath the hood.

Finally, he spoke. “I always trust your judgment.”

The captain lowered his head immediately.

“You already proved it.”

The man’s voice hardened. “So we will go all out.”

Mana stirred faintly inside the room, subtle yet heavy enough to make the air feel colder.

“We will mobilize over a thousand men.”

One by one, the cloaked figures straightened. “And the Four Heavenly Jhings will move this time.”

For the first time since entering the room, the captain released a quiet breath of relief. Relief mixed with dread. Because once the Heavenly Four moved, there would be no turning back.

The captain stepped forward and bowed deeply before kissing the man’s hand. “Thank you,” he whispered hoarsely.

The man said nothing, but the captain continued anyway. “I will carry the shame of this decision forever.”

….

Suri suddenly opened her eyes as the wagon rattled over the uneven desert path. 

“Oh.” The single word immediately drew everyone’s attention inside the wagon.

The lazy expression she usually carried had vanished. Her gaze remained fixed somewhere far beyond the wooden walls, focused on the illusions she had scattered across the desert earlier that morning.

“I see footsteps,” she said quietly. “Someone is moving but I don’t see anyone walking on them.”

The atmosphere inside the wagon instantly became heavier. Even the constant creaking of wood and the rhythmic stomping of the giant lizard beasts outside seemed dull for a moment.

Kana already understood what Suri meant. Invisible scouts. Possibly assassins.

After what Ryle confessed several nights ago, Kana had asked Suri to constantly monitor the surroundings through her illusions. At first, Suri complained endlessly about how tiring it was to maintain them beneath the desert heat. But she still did it.

Now those precautions were finally paying off.

Rose Light slowly opened her eyes from across the wagon. She looked perfectly calm as always, though Kana noticed the slight shift in her posture. The commander’s fingers tapped once against the armrest beside her before going still again.

“Can you tell how many?” Rose asked.

Suri tilted her head slightly as if listening to distant whispers only she could hear. “Around five,” she answered after a moment. “They’re spread apart. Perhaps trackers?”

Rose immediately unrolled the map resting near her waist. The parchment spread across her lap while the wagon continued swaying from side to side.

“We’re five days away from the empire’s capital city,” Rose muttered while tracing one of the routes with her finger.

Her eyes narrowed slightly. “There’s a town ahead.”

She tapped the location once. Then she sighed. “Classic empire ambush.”

The words carried experience rather than fear. Rose looked up at them. “If they already sent invisible trackers ahead of us, then there are probably more waiting near the town itself.”

The desert wind howled faintly outside the wagon curtains. Rose rolled the map shut. “We’re dividing the wagons into three separate groups.”

Suri blinked. “We’re splitting up?”

“Yes,” Rose answered calmly. “Some of us.”

Kana frowned immediately. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said. “You’re planning to sacrifice someone.”

A few knights nearby exchanged glances.

Surprisingly, Rose chuckled softly. It was such a rare sound that the rest of the students and the knights looked startled.

“I understand why you think that,” Rose said. “The knights already know this plan. You students were not informed yet. Because we didn’t need to.”

Kana remained silent.

Rose leaned back slightly against the wagon wall. “We are not changing our destination,” she explained. “We continue toward the capital using the original route.”

“Speed matters now.”

Her gaze swept across everyone inside the wagon. “So we create confusion instead.”

She pointed toward the front of the convoy. “One wagon will move to the east side.”

“One wagon will take another route from the west.”

“The main group continues forward while the others draw attention away from us.”

Suri raised a brow. “Decoys.”

Rose nodded once. “The selected knights all possess mobility or escape-related skills. Their job is not to fight. It’s to survive and regroup with us inside the empire’s capital.”

One of the knights nearby flexed his arms dramatically. “Miss Kana,” he said proudly, “don’t underestimate us.”

A few tired laughs spread inside the wagon.

Even Kana looked slightly embarrassed now. “I’m sorry,” she admitted quietly. “I keep assuming the worst.”

Rose crossed her arms. “For people like us,” she said calmly, “assuming the worst is often the reason we survive. It’s a good thing to have.”

Kana lowered her gaze after hearing that.

Then Rose suddenly raised her voice.

“Knights!”

The command cracked through the desert air instantly. The wagon slowed before coming to a complete halt. Outside, sand swirled around the massive reptilian beasts pulling the convoy. Knights immediately jumped down from the wagons.

Everything became organized chaos.

Crates were unloaded. Water supplies divided. Dried meat, medical herbs, spare weapons, camping gear. Enough provisions for each group to survive independently until reaching the capital.

Artin climbed into the main wagon while adjusting the green cloak around his shoulders.

Seven knights moved toward the first wagon. Another seven gathered around the last.

Not one of them hesitated. Kana quietly watched them through the wagon opening while the blazing desert sun hung high above the endless red sands.

For the first time since entering empire territory, the danger ahead no longer felt distant.

It felt close. Watching them from somewhere beyond the dunes.

After the preparations were finished, the convoy finally split apart beneath the burning desert sky.

One wagon headed west. Another veered slightly southeast, disappearing slowly behind waves of red sand and heat distortion.

The main wagon continued forward toward the empire’s capital. Toward the trap waiting ahead.

Inside, the atmosphere had become strangely tight.

No one spoke much anymore.

The constant rattling of the wagon wheels against stone and hardened sand filled the silence instead. Outside, the giant lizard beasts hissed occasionally while pulling the heavy wagon forward beneath the blazing sun.

Rose Light remained standing.

Her presence alone made the inside of the wagon feel smaller somehow. She slowly glanced across everyone seated there. Knights. Students. One by one.

Her eyes lingered on each face carefully.

Thoughtfully. Like a blade testing where to cut.

“I’m still wondering,” Rose said at last, one hand resting lightly against her chin, “who betrayed us.”

Nobody answered. Even Boris stopped playing with Thorne. Rose continued pacing slowly while the wagon swayed beneath her feet as if the violent movement meant nothing to her balance.

“And more importantly,” she added quietly, “when.”

The words settled heavily inside the wagon.

Chelle instinctively lowered her gaze. One of the younger knights gulped.

Rose’s boots scraped softly against the wooden floor as she continued circling them.

“No,” she muttered after a moment. “This isn't a coincidence.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly. “One of us might be connected to the empire.”

Kana remained silent. But her attention had already shifted elsewhere.

Toward Ryle.

She carefully listened through her [High Awareness].

Heartbeat.

Breathing.

Sweat.

Tiny physical reactions most people never noticed. The other night, when Kana confronted him alone, Ryle’s heartbeat had nearly exploded from panic. His fear had been obvious.

Now? Nothing.

Steady heartbeat. Controlled breathing.

No sweat. No shaking hands.

Ryle even looked mildly bored while staring outside the wagon curtain.

Kana felt genuinely impressed. So he really is trained for this, she thought.

Not just some nervous noble playing spy.

A real one. Across from them, Rose finally stopped walking and slowly sat back down.

The wagon creaked softly beneath the shifting weight.

For the first time since speaking, Rose looked uncertain. Only slightly. But enough for Kana to notice.

“I personally checked everyone’s background before this mission,” Rose muttered quietly, almost to herself.

Most people inside the wagon probably missed the words beneath the rattling wheels.

Kana did not. Rose’s fingers tapped once against her knee.

“Unless…”

Her gaze drifted toward the desert outside. “Unless the empire predicted this beforehand.”

Kana’s eyes narrowed slightly. Predicted?

Rose sighed faintly. “[Oracle] class users,” she whispered.

A chill quietly spread through the wagon after those words. Even the desert heat suddenly felt less comforting.

Everyone knew about the powerful [Oracles] of the empire. Or at least the stories.

Classes capable of glimpsing fragments of fate itself. And almost impossible to counter.

Rose leaned her head lightly against the wooden wall behind her and closed her eyes once more. But Kana noticed it immediately. The commander’s hand remained resting near the hilt of her sword the entire time.

Post note:Rose, Kana or Suri? (Title: coldest killer) Fourth chap of the week.

Hope you enjoy the chap! 🙂

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