Chapter 156 – Shadows Strike
The night air hung thick over Nocture. A thin fog began to drift in from the north, shrouding the hills and rocky slopes that served as the natural boundary between the city and the outside world. Behind the near-motionless fog, dark shadows crept like an underground current silent and well-trained.
Twelve hooded figures moved between large stones and clusters of dead shrubs. None of them spoke. Communication was done through hand signals and internal crystal wave comms accessible only via Central Military devices. They were part of the Covert Conquest Unit, one of the best infiltration teams under the Central Military Headquarters formed for hit-and-run missions, high-value target eliminations, and the destruction of strategic structures behind enemy lines.
Leading the team that night was Lieutenant Keron, a man in his forties with sharp eyes and a long scar across his right cheek. He knelt behind a dead tree, gazing toward Nocture, visible only as a dark silhouette in the distance, surrounded by high walls and watchtowers.
"Alpha Team, advance five meters. Bravo Team, place the demolition spells and explosives at point nine-B," he whispered into his communicator.
The signal was sent. Alpha Team moved, three operatives silently sneaking through brush and shadows, tracing the dry riverbank once used by refugees as an escape route. They placed small orb-shaped silent magic bombs designed to explode in a narrow radius and sever local magical networks without causing major physical damage. The goal wasn’t mass casualties, but rather to sever communication between the castle and its surrounding units.
Meanwhile, Bravo Team began preparing sihrum grenades small bluish-green balls that pulsed gently. A new weapon from Central Command, designed to bypass magic defenses and sow chaos in control networks.
"Distance to the outer wall: one hundred meters. No immediate guards. No visible response," one operative reported.
Lieutenant Keron observed for a moment, then signaled: "Initiate Phase One. Detonate decoy on the southeast flank. Launch silence spell at Alpha-Three."
Soon, a small explosion sounded not a booming blast, but a pressurized burst that scattered dust and disrupted magic light in the targeted area. A torch on the southeast side went out immediately, followed by two zombie guards losing their footing.
However...
Behind Nocture’s walls, red eyes lit up one by one.