Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

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"Alright, team. We're at the final stretch of this mission," Elric announced as the team gathered around him.

"There are only three bases left to go through, and it just so happens that those final three bases are near each other. Once we're done with this, we can return home and relax for a bit, so cheer up and don't let your guard down. Understand?"

"Yes, Captain!"

Despite being at a constant pace, Team Elric remained fairly energetic.

If this was before Cedric joined them, they'd probably be on the verge of a mental breakdown at this point because roaming the Black Lands generally does that to people. However, with Cedric, it's different.

Since he could modify bases into what could be considered 'luxury hotels' in a place like this, the team was able to release their tension and rest properly, allowing them to continue in this mission at their peak state.

Cedric's skills allowed them to have a good rest, eat good food, and keep their alertness sharp and ready for the challenges on the way.

Currently, they're about to exit the transmission site. They passed through the tunnels and would appear somewhat close to the western walls of civilization. It was tempting to just use the transmission site to go back home for a bit; these networks of tunnels were connected, after all, and with the transmission sites, they could do it. Doing so would be considered abandoning their mission, though.

And considering that they're on the cusp of a great war, that would be considered treason punishable by death, so they resisted the urge.

This mission brought them pretty much all over the continent. This somehow allowed Cedric to have a rough map of the Black Lands—not completely, of course.

But like Elric said, they're at the final stretch of this mission. Cedric will admit that he misses home too. Even though his workload wasn't really much out here, especially considering how many things he could actually do if he was serious, But even so, the Black Lands were just too depressing and unhabitable, even with his methods of making a difference.

'Thankfully, joining this team exempts me from Hell Dives,' Cedric thought to himself.

Yes, this was one of the benefits of risking his life out here. Although, in truth, Cedric wouldn't have minded even if there wasn't an exemption, he's confident in his skills after all. Still, knowing that he didn't have to worry about it was nice.

With Francis and Elric at the lead, the transmission site lit up, and the light swallowed the team. Cedric felt the space warping around them, which was a sign that they were being transported.

Cedric has gotten used to this. And because the method of transmission out here was raw and unaided by Acala, the sensation of being teleported felt more natural and wild for Cedric, who had unparalleled insight.

It's just a pity that the teleportation was too short. Cedric just doesn't have enough time to enjoy the raw sensation and the deep profundities of space; otherwise, he would've gained sufficient insights into it by now to build a solid foundation for deep research into space laws.

The true Sword Communion Hall doesn't allow him to learn things he doesn't have insights on; it could only provide him with more insights on laws he has already encountered and learned before.

Otherwise, Cedric would've found a way to resist the enlistment and just seclude himself in there to deepen his knowledge about all sorts of laws, only coming out when he's a paragon of creation, or something.

Still, even if it's short, Cedric tries his best to gather as many insights into space laws as he can. So long as he gains a rough understanding of it and solidifies that, he'll be able to learn more about it once he returns to the Law Communion Sword.

Swoosh!

Cedric took a deep breath and adjusted his posture. His thousands of thought chambers analyzed and fleshed out the sensation he felt upon being teleported. He delegated this task to his subconscious since he had to focus on the present.

The team appeared on the other end of the transmission zone in this area. Each team member was covered with a cloak that muted their presence. Unlike rookie teams, everyone on this team was experienced. As such, there's no need for anybody to perform a 'Ki Pulse' to prevent corruption from affecting their mentality.

As soon as the team appeared, they began moving. They couldn't afford to stay at the transmission site for long, lest they expose its location.

The transmission sites, especially the ones located deeper into the Black Lands, are their way of going around the continent. There are measures in place to prevent demons from sensing their location, but they deactivate once people use them. As such, it was protocol for anybody who uses them to not stay there for long to reduce the risk of demons discovering them.

Just like before, nobody spoke or even breathed out loud. Even their footsteps were minimized to prevent them from alerting their enemies. If someone wants to communicate, they'd use hand signals to inform the team.

Team Elric maintained a brisk pace as they traveled; this too was to minimize the noise they're making. And despite the gloomy darkness of the Black Lands, Francis led the team towards the next site with certainty because he knew and memorized the location of each base by heart. Elric's the same.

'Oh, no.' Cedric muttered inwardly.

As usual, since they're deep into enemy territory, Cedric unleashed his field of senses to its limits. And despite being supressed out here, he could still see very far.

It's due to this that he's able to locate where the next base was even before they arrived there. And what he saw wasn't good. He remained silent for now, though, since he's keeping this a secret from the team.

That said, it didn't take long before the team arrived close enough to the nearest base. It's at this point that Francis suddenly raised his hand to signal the team to pause in their tracks.

Cedric could see Francis' expression turning gloomy as he saw the state of the base. Francis looked at Elric and gestured:

'The base is completely wrecked, reduced to ruins. What do we do? '

Elric, as well as the rest of the team, minus Cedric, were shocked. They knew that Francis wouldn't dare to lie to them, and that just made it even worse.

That's right, the base was completely ruined. Nothing in there remains intact. Even the remains of the base were spared and corrupted. Cedric already saw this way ahead of everybody.

Elric massaged his temples for a bit and closed his eyes to think. He then looked at Cedric and signed, 'Can you repair it? '

'Yes,' Cedric replied straightforwardly.

'Great. How much time do you need? And would it make a lot of noise?' Elric asked again.

'Same as before, three hours. And yes, it might make a lot of noise; I'll try to minimize it as much as I can.' Cedric answered.

'Okay, we'll guard you.' Elric signed to him before looking at the rest. 'We need to rebuild that base since it's at a strategic location. We'll guard Cedric as he does his thing. Francis, scout the location and see if there's anyone around. You know what to do. As for the rest, we remain here until he comes back.'

'Yes, Captain.' The team replied in unison, using hand signs.

As soon as the order was relayed, Francis blended with the darkness and disappeared. Cedric remained with the team and stayed still, but he's also watching as Francis does his thing.

Francis was seemingly swimming with the wind as he moved. He's barely disturbing his surroundings as he does so, while his eyes scan his environment. If it weren't for Cedric inheriting the godking's eyes, he probably wouldn't even sense him at all; that's just how good he was.

'He acts like a clown most of the time, making it so easy to forget that he's just as much of a genius as the rest of the team are.' Cedric inwardly shook his head at this.

Cedric then saw Francis evading something that popped out of the ground. He wasn't worried, though, since Francis was too elusive to be touched by that thing. He didn't really trigger that attack; it's just a mere coincidence. But it did expose the hidden threats within the ruined base.

Francis took some more time analyzing the place before making his way back to the team. He popped out of the shadows with a grim look on his face as he signed:

'There's a young sapling of Crimson Thorn Tree in there. I also sensed a puppeteer somewhere, but I couldn't see it.'

This news caused Elric to feel another headache. Even the rest of the team, except Cedric, looked solemn as well.

They initially thought that they just had to wallop a couple of stray demons around so that they could rebuild the base in peace. They didn't expect to meet troublesome fellows instead.

This could become a huge problem if they're not careful.