Chapter 1055: The Cult’s Plan
The day before Ravenfell was attacked, Marden had gathered all the Mana Core Magi who would be participating in the upcoming battle. This meeting took place right after he had finished speaking with Taron Norwood and Daniel Ranzenberg.
Somewhere in the snowy mountain range, north of Ravenfell, seven people—including Marden—had gathered in an abandoned outpost. They all radiated vast, overbearing auras, their strength capable of dividing the clouds and rendering the lands.
Scattered across the mountain range were several outposts, each positioned at key strategic points. In the distant past, the Magi of Ravenfell had built and used these fortresses during a brutal war against a terrifying species of magical creatures that once ruled these peaks.
It was centuries ago, and the threat those creatures posed to Ravenfell was immense, so much so that the city’s Magi had united to wage a relentless war that lasted decades. In the end, the creatures were driven to extinction, and peace returned to the mountains.
But now, in an ironic twist of fate, one of these very outposts, which had once been a beacon of Ravenfell’s triumph, had secretly been occupied by their enemies.
The Mana Core Magi of the Cult of Bones now plotted to do what those extinct magical creatures never could...
Exterminate the people of Ravenfell.
Sitting at a rusty table, Marden Benton, still wearing his wooden mask, looked out of the window and gazed at the distant snowy peaks. His brown eyes flashed with reminiscence, and he said:
"I was but a child when the Magi fought the fearsome yeti tribes of the mountains. They were a primitive bunch, but very powerful. They’d also tamed a massive army of direwolves, which made them all the more dangerous."
He turned to the six Magi sitting before him and scanned their faces. Then, he continued, "In the end, we were able to achieve victory, but at a great cost. Many of our people died. Yet, in the decades that the war waged on, not a single time did these monsters breach the city’s walls."
Marden leaned forward, smirking underneath the wooden mask, "In fact... ever since its founding, Ravenfell has never been breached even once."
He paused for a few moments, shifting his gaze from one Magus to the other. Then, he said in a low voice, "We will be the first to breach their defenses. And we shall do it... in the most glorious manner."