Chapter 173 The Zoren Gate Mission

"I told you there would be too many of them, now what!?" Jessamine said in a hushed voice.

"I told you already, we're going to kill them and use the Gate. They don't have an Imperium so it won't be very difficult." Leo answered, also whispering.

Leo, Jessamine and Duke Wesley were standing on a rooftop across from the building that contained the Gate. There were several cultists standing guard all around the building, as well as within.

"Five cultists guarding the outside and another eight inside. We should take care of the ones outside as quietly as possible, lowering their numbers will make it easier to deal with the remainders once they realize we're here." Leo said.

"What? How do you know how many of them are inside?" Jessamine asked with a bewildered look on her face.

"Seriously? You can teleport yourself and others at the snap of a finger but you're surprised that I can survey a building? Stop asking stupid questions and just listen." Leo replied in a commanding and irritated tone.

"..."

"Good. They ones outside are dived in two groups, two on the right and three on the left. The two on the right can be taken out quickly and quietly, especially if you can teleport them to us up here." Leo said.

"You're going to attack them as they appear, before they can react or make a sound..." Duke Wesley said.

"That's right. If they're this far away from the other then the sound of my attack, as well as their bodies hitting the floor, won't be heard." Leo said.

"Can you do it?" Duke Wesley asked.

"I can. Where do you want them to appear?" Jessamine asked.

Leo showed her the spot and then waited. Jessamine started counting down from three and as she said one the cultists materialized in that spot.

[Wind Blade]

The air in front of Leo's body condensed and formed into a crescent shape that then shot forwards and decapitated the cultists instantly.

"Can you do the same for the other three?" Leo asked, turning to Jessamine.

"No, two people is my limit." She replied while shaking her head.

"Alright, then let do it this way." Leo said. He then proceeded to quickly explain a simple plan to dispose of the other three cultists.

Afterwards, Leo dropped down from the rooftop and moved to an alleyway beside the building the Gate was in. Once in position, he watched the three cultists and waited.

They were gathered around a small fire they had created inside a barrel. One of them was sitting on a chair, holding his hands up to the fire to warm them. The other two were standing on the opposite side of the fire, talking to each other.

The one sitting down suddenly disappeared and Leo instantly jumped out from around the corner. He was around fifteen meters away from the cultists so as their attention was pulled to the now empty seat, they didn't notice Leo.

[Wind Blade]

[Wind Blade]

Two blades of condensed air shot out towards the cultists, decapitating one and going most of the way through the others chest.

'The power of the Wind Blade decreases as it travels, making it less affective at long range. But for regular humans it's a garunteed kill within twenty meters as long as I hit a vital area.' Leo thought as he noticed the second cultist hadn't been completely bisected.

Jessamine and Duke Wesley had remained on the rooftop as per Leo's plan. Jessamine teleported one of the cultists to the spot on the roof and Duke Wesley used his sword to impale the man's heart as he appeared.

"General Rune managed to kill them before they could alert the others." Jessamine said.

"Yes. Now we just need to wait here like he said." Duke Wesley replied.

"Do you really think he can kill everyone inside on his own?" Jessamine asked, still skeptical about Leo's power.

"Without a doubt. How quietly is he able to do it? Since he said we should approach the building when we see the 'signal' I doubt it's going to be very quiet." Duke Wesley said.

After killing the two cultists, Leo made his way to the door furthest from the cultists. Most of them were gathered in one place and were lying down, leading Leo to believe they were sleeping.

Entering the building, Leo found that it was just like the others that contained a Gate. It was a large open room with a walkway at the top that allowed someone to remove or place a crystal inside the Gate with ease.

Looking towards the cultists, Leo found that he was right about them being asleep. Two of them were awake and sitting on chairs, presumably to keep watch.

When looking closer, Leo noticed that one of the two keeping watch was actually asleep in his chair and the other was reading a book using the dim light of a small crystal he wore around his neck.

'They've made it easy for me, gathering so close together like that.' Leo thought.

[Lightning Strike]

The sound of crackling electricity filled the room and then there was a bright flash of light that lit up the room and poured out through the windows, illuminating the entire area around the building for a moment.

A blue bolt of lightning appeared from above the cultists and split into several smaller lightning bolts that resembled the roots of a tree.

Each bolt collided with a cultist, causing their bodies to convulse from the electricity coursing through them. After a moment had passed, the lightning disappeared and a group of charred corpses remained.

'That's the first time you've used that one.' Dreifus said.

'Yeah, that's because it uses so much energy.' Leo replied.

'Well that's to be expected. You're literally selecting multiple targets to get hit by lightning bolts, it seems fair that you have to pay for each bolt.' Dreifus said.

The large front doors for the building were pulled open a moment later. Jessamine and Duke Wesley walked through the doors and into the room.

"Well it certainly wasn't quiet but it sure was affective. Nicely done!" Duke Wesley said, giving Leo a thumbs up.

"How did you... I've heard you could use wind and fire but...never lightning." Jessamine said.

"It seems I managed to surprise you after all. Yes I can use lightning, I've been able to do since just after the war began but I've been keeping it as a sort of trump card so id appreciate it if you didn't mention this." Leo replied.

"I won't..." Jessamine replied sheepishly.

"Same goes for me." Duke Wesley added.

"Good."

Duke Wesley handed Leo the crystal. Leo then turned and looked up at the walkway a few meters above him. He bent his legs and jumped towards it.

It wasn't so high that he needed to use Leap, his natural strength was more than enough to jump these few meters.

Leo took the crystal and placed it into the Gate, the white Energy filling the space between the archway.

"Remember, in two days I'll activate this Gate again. I'll do it at midnight and it will only be active for a few minutes. If nothing comes through then I will assume something is wrong and change my plans." Leo said as he looked down at the others two.

"We'll be sure to bring enough soldiers to take back this city. Do what you can to protect the civilians who managed to survive and are still hiding in the city. Remember to look for my son as well, if you can." Duke Wesley said.

"Of course." Leo replied.

"Then goodbye and good luck, General Rune." Duke Wesley said as he started walking to the Gate.

Jessamine had a look on her face that suggested she had something to say but couldn't work up the courage to do so.

Just as she opened her mouth and was about to speak, the Duke grabbed her arm and pulled her into the Gate.

The two of them disappeared and Leo removed the crystal, immediately placing it inside his ring for safe keeping. As he did this, he suddenly remembered the crystal that's been inside the ring since day one.

'I should really get this thing checked out by a crystal Smith. It would be frustrating if it can't be used to help me in any way... Selling it would be pointless, I don't have any use for money.' Leo thought as he left the building through the front door.

'Its not like you've had much of a chance to speak with a crystal smith. There weren't many to begin with and now they're all hiding away and refusing customers due to the war.' Dreifus said.

'Yeah and it doesn't help when the only one I know died a few days before I was supposed to have a meeting with them.

This war is costing so many lives and we don't even know the cults reasons. Even the cultists barely know what's going on. They're just hoping to become an Imperium, so they stick around and do whatever their leaders tell them to do.'

Leo took a deep breath while using Leap to jump onto the rooftops around him and started heading back to the bunker under the graveyard.

'I just need to find one of them who knows why the cult is after me specifically. I doubt a normal cultist would know... I'll be sure to get answers from the next Imperium I find.'