Arsène S. Tanael, as a clone of Viers Isuel, was no stranger to war.

  Putting Fables such as 40K aside, he had been embroiled in the Battle of Valkut, Conquest of Magisterium Tower, Defense of Gryphon's Reach, and most recently, the Grandia Campaign.

  The final point of the campaign, the assault on Grandia Castle would be ongoing at this time but Tanael had split from Viers beforehand. This way he could participate in the Tower of Remorse raid.

  Witnessing the cults and their forces, Level 5s flexing their power unscrupulously, Tanael wondered if the other him was watching the same scale of epicness that he was enjoying right now.

  The Tower of Remorse didn't look like what he was expecting. At first, he thought it would be like the Tower of Doom at Valkut or the whitewashed version of Magisterium Tower.

  Instead, it looked like a Pentagon building seen from ground level. A sturdy and big building, but there was no ‘tower’ feel from looking at it.

  “Not very towery, isn't it?”

  “Most of the tower is underground,” Izabella said while jogging next to him. As always, she was dressed like a witch. However, even a layman could tell that her quite revealing robe was enchanted to high heaven and back. It was a battle garb combining aesthetics and function.

  She might be a vampire now but her original forte was enchantments. The prodigy enchanter’s skill had only grown, not lessened.

  “Ooooh.”

  Tanael smiled. This was looking more and more like Impel Down. How pleasing.

  Of all the previous large-scale battles, this one surpassed them all. This many Level 5, priming to trade Artes?

  Currently, the cultist invaders were attacking en masse. However, despite their power and numerical superiority, their summoned demons and enslaved monsters, the barrier of the Tower of Remorse stood as steady as Mount Kilimanjaro.

  The prison didn't take the beating one-sidedly. There were no prison guards sent out to sortie yet but the defense system in place was firing back. Deadly arrays, traps, and golem guardians were breaking the tide of the cultists.

  Furthermore, there was a powerful Level 5 floating above the Pentagon-like building, showing off his aura. He was so overt in his intimidation display that he was unmissable.

  Tanael didn't recognize him because he was far away and his overwhelming Victa messed up his detection. Since that guy wasn't his problem, Tanael didn't pursue further.

  Yes, it wasn't his problem because Tanael wasn't among the army attacking the front.

  He, along with Izabella and her minions were already on the other side of the tower’s barrier. They were behind enemy lines before the barrier was raised. If he was among the rank-and-file, he wouldn't be smiling. Even for him, the risk was too great. He pitied the disposable ones down there but such was life.

  ***

  “So far, so good,” Iz looked at the magical lantern that she brought. “The other infiltration teams have started. Let’s not fall behind. Glory Through Blood!”

  “Yes, Ma'am!”

  As they made their way, one of the Level 4 looked back at the battle.

  “So much power was brought to bear against the enemy... The Church will lose a finger over this. Heck, the whole limb. Why didn’t we do this sooner?”

  “I hear it’s because the Popess is missing,” another Level 4 said.

  “In other words, this attack wouldn’t be happening if Popess Sallustia was still around,” Izabella spoke up. “Can you imagine how powerful she is, to scare that force behind us?”

  That line hit many in the heart.

  “...She is said to be the most powerful Pathseeker on this side of the world. Even if that is true, surely there’s a limit to what one woman can do, right?”

  “Our leaders know better than us, those who have crossed blades and Artes against her. You know how greedy they are, how big their ambitions are, and how high-handed they act. Sallustia sitting silently in Sephoria was enough to make them act good and obedient like children before their matron. Think about that for a while, and contemplate what kind of power the leader of the Estellian Church possesses.”

  Izabella’s words, the words of the Blood Vicar, put a damper on their morale.

  “There are people like that in the world. So far out of convention as if they stand in a different dimension. Remember that and maybe you’ll live longer. What guarantee is there we won't face one of their kind in this battle or the next?”

  Izabella used a buffing Arte that elevated the group’s status.

  “But we’re not without monsters of our own... Believe that, and focus on the task in front of you.”

  “Yes, Ma'am!”

  Izabella refrained from glancing in Tanael’s direction.

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  Tanael... Viers... Give him a century and perhaps he will grow to be the next Sallustia. A man with the power to hold the powers of the continent in check on his own. Under the wing of a man like that comes privilege... and price.

  ***

  Tanael heard Iz’s cautionary tale in silence and he wholeheartedly agreed. Furthermore, no matter how much crisis the Tower of Remorse was in, he would think the danger was on the cult’s side instead.

  The champions of light had their back on the wall against the forces of darkness. Like Helm’s Deep, like Minas Tirith, and many more... so, so many. The evil army is never more vulnerable. That’s the burden of being on the evil side. Ever precarious, even in an advantageous position.

  Tanael guessed that either the good guys had cavalry on the way, arriving just in time when night was the darkest, or there was a heroic strike team, small in number and elites, that would decapitate the joint cult army leadership.

  Both were equally possible.

  Feh. Heroes... so predictable but no less dangerous for it.

  “Hey, hey. You’re the Manners Maketh Man guy, right?”

  Tanael turned his head.

  “Yep,” he said to the red-eyed girl who asked.

  She looked like a young teen with a childish and cutesy face but she was a Level 4. Determining her age was quite difficult.

  “Fufu. I knew it. People have been talking about you. Did you really break all of Marc’s teeth and then leave him naked?”

  “He had bad manners,” Tanael smiled.

  “Is that something a good-mannered guy would do?” The girl made a teasing smile.

  “Helene, don't be so casual towards the Blood Vicar’s guest.”

  Alan, the guy that Viers once defeated and now Iz’s right-hand man, scolded his compatriot. He also possessed red eyes.

  “Why not? He’s a mercenary, is he not? We paid him. He’s not one of us. Our status is different.”

  The harsh-speaking one was Restil. Tanael remembered that the young man was Iz’s rival for the Blood Seraph Arte. By delivering a fresh Latias prince to Izabella’s address, Restil lost the right to learn that legendary Arte.

  So why did Izabella turn him into a vampire noble?

  Alan, Helene, and Restil... Izabella’s vampire kindred. Three first-generation Vampire Nobles. A force to be reckoned with, even among Level 4s.

  “Don't look at me like that, Izabel,” Restil said. “The curia didn't bankroll this operation just so you can rescue your sister who messed up and got herself captured. For the other objective, I hold command over you.”

  “I remember.”

  “Good. Now let’s get this over with,” Restil scoffed and walked to the front of the group.

  Tanael gave Iz a look full of questions.

  “I need his faction’s support. Politics,” she said using telepathy, the arcana card served as a medium.

  “The little shit will stab you in the back,” Tanael said.

  “Yes, he will. I have it handled.”

  Of course, the Blood Church had another agenda for the raid, not just for rescuing a few captured members. Tanael didn't know the specifics but he didn't care. He was aiming for independent action from the start.

  Their group of sixteen reached a side entrance of the Pentagon-like Tower of Remorse’s outer building. The door looked sturdy and heavily warded but there were no guards.

  It opened from behind.

  “This way. Quickly.”

  The man was wearing a prison guard uniform. He even had a name tag and credentials on his neck.

  The Blood Church infiltration team went in.

  “The way to the first floor is clear. Use this to operate the elevator. The security of this section has been disabled. I’ve done my part,” the prison guard said nervously while sweating buckets.

  “You have,” Izabella crossed a name from a stone tablet she conjured. “The curse on your son is dispelled. Hide until this is all over.”

  The man looked equally relieved and loathing. He clearly didn't want to do this but he had no choice. The betrayer took a step away then Restil smashed his head to pieces with his hand.

  “No loose ends,” Restil said to Iz with cold, red eyes then he slurped the fresh blood directly from the guard’s neck.

  “The increase of power from the vampire physiology is nice, but the thirst that comes with it is somewhat inconvenient.” Restil’s lower face was colored red and he looked quite happy drinking that wine of life. Tanael spied that Alan and Helene also desired it but refrained.

  “It’s only been a week. You’ll master your instinct over time,” Izabella said without batting an eye. She didn't care about the guard enough to make a fuss. She too was a born and raised villain.

  Like her, Tanael also didn't care about the guard. He didn't arrange this, by the way. It was all a Blood Church thing. His mind also contemplated that no matter how tight the security was, the human element was always the weak link.

  “Only for the higher kindred,” Restil licked his bloody lips. “The lower rank vampire will have a thirst so strong they might as well be slaves to blood... It will be horribly unpleasant. The stories make sense now.”

  “If we’re all done here, let’s press on,” Tanael walked to the elevator.

  Restil made the guard’s blood enter a bottle and put it away. Izabella used the key and the elevator went down. No one spoke during the descent. They were finally entering the real Tower of Remorse, a place their kind dreaded.

  After what felt like a trip to the first circle of Hell, the elevator doors split open.

  “Welcome, to the first floor of the Tower of Remorse, the Boiling Baptism,” Izabella light-heartedly said.

  “We all are already baptized by blood. This floor is nothing,” Restil glanced at the masked Tanael. “Well, except one.”

  Tanael ignored him.

  Each floor seemed to be a different pocket dimension. My connection to the ground floor is cut. Let alone teleportation, even telepathy is not possible. Well, it is as expected from a prison, I suppose.

  “Follow me.”

  Izabella was the leader of the group so no one complained. Despite the place being built like a maze, Izabella seemed to know where she was going. Tanael hadn't seen why the place was called the Boiling Baptism yet.

  “Halt. There are people in front.”

  Guess this is as far as the poor guard’s influence goes. Well, bringing us in is already plenty. Iz said that each cult will infiltrate using their own methods from different places. We might encounter each other deeper in.

  Tanael sensed them too. Between them and where they needed to go, there were about fifty prison guards. They were agitated and armed. It seemed words had reached them that there was a demon army upstairs.

  “I sense two Level 4s among them. Remember, the prison guards are all above-average Pathseekers. The qualifications for the job are strict. They are not our opponent but we mustn't let a single one slip and alert the others. Alan and Helena, you two go from the south. Restil will-”

  “LEEEEEEEERRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOYYY JEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENKINS!!!”

  Tanael stormed from the front, shouting a legendary war cry from the top of his lungs.

  The look on Izabella’s face was priceless.