Chapter 50: Order and Chaos
From the shadows, five figures emerged into a small, dimly lit room. Their faces were almost impossible to recognize, concealed by the darkness surrounding them. The only light source was a small bluish candle, flickering weakly as if it were about to go out.
"Did you manage to collect the crystals?" Cain, the leader of the shadows, asked in an authoritative tone.
"Yes," another of his subordinates immediately responded, bowing respectfully. "Here they are." Then, he tossed the bag containing all the crystals to his master.
"Tsk! I’m sure these are the crystals of the weakest students," a third shadow joined the conversation. "This won’t be enough to weaken them. We should have taken advantage of catching them by surprise and attacked once and for all."
"No, not until our lady returns," Cain replied sharply. "We can’t act recklessly and risk failing the mission."
The figure walked forward and placed all the crystals in a circle. Then, using his powers, he sent them as deep into the dungeon as possible.
"Besides, this will shake their internal trust. After being betrayed by their teacher, I’m certain they’ll start fearing that one of the students might be next," he continued, his voice visibly strained from excessive mana use.
"Divide and conquer, isn’t that right?" A female voice joined the small discussion.
"Yes," the leader sighed. "Now go and observe how the main group will react," he said, looking at two of the shadows.
"And what about the students we teleported?" The female asked.
"It’s impossible for them to survive, so there’s no need to waste energy worrying about them. But, just to be sure, you can send one of your pets." The woman nodded accepting the order. Then Cain looked to his left, "Now, more importantly, you two must continue searching for the Sacred Ark."