Chapter 144 – The Weight of Ashes.

Five days passed at a work pace that left no room for idle chatter in the manor.

The Arcane Greed Faction's routine fell into a steady cadence. Every morning, before the city's cauldrons began burning heavy coal, Diana split the group into two hunting formations to probe the eastern rifts. Kael and Mai held the physical front line, where the lad's volcanic shield and the tiger girl's black-fire fists cleared packs of beasts swiftly enough to avoid drawing the notice of Beelzebub's guards.

Rhea covered the high ground through the shadows, while Aurelia-Elysia and Seraphina ensured no one went without protective barriers or empty potion pouches. Zarek alternated between overseeing training in the courtyard and vanishing across the outpost's rooftops to gather rumors regarding guard movements.

Late in the afternoon on the fifth day, Diana sat at the kitchen table reviewing the ledger when the gate's iron knocker sounded twice with Boran's characteristic dry rap.

Diana stood up and went out to the courtyard.

The old tracker slipped through the gate's opening carrying a burlap sack of fresh bread and two bottles of lamp oil. He latched the grate behind him, drawing Diana into the willow's shadow with a discreet motion of his calloused hand.

“Things in the central plaza are getting tight, Commander,” Boran murmured, his good eye scanning the neighboring rooftops. “Inquisitor Vaelor came down from the border fortress last night with twenty heavy infantry guards. The taverns are packed with elite hunters who traveled from the northern fiefs to compete in the arena.”

“Did Vaelor come in person to oversee the tournament?” Diana asked.

“Aye. And there's more.” The old man spat onto the gravel, adjusting his patched coat. “Two inquisitorial scouts were prowling the corners of this sector early this morning. They sensed the mana fluctuations rolling off your gravity drills and are checking into who leased this property. Nobody has dropped your name yet, but if you keep making the earth shake in here, they'll be hammering on your gate before the fight even starts.”

Diana crossed her arms beneath her leather coat, thinking quickly.

The news was not an entirely unexpected development. Concealing seven high-level combatants in a city where all the locals knew one another was a race against the clock.

“The tournament opens its gates in forty-eight hours, Boran,” Diana said. “Until then, the courtyard's gravity matrix stays shut down. No one trains with open magic until we set foot in the arena.”

Boran nodded, handed over the sack of bread, and took his leave with his usual austere nod, vanishing down the alley of the southern street.

***

Diana returned inside, locked the doors, and gathered the six members in the living room.

Kael was sitting on the floor propped against the stone hearth, finishing polishing his combat greaves. Rhea was in the chair by the window with her legs crossed, while Mai lay on her stomach across the thick wool rug, chin resting on her wrapped hands, flicking her striped tail in the air.

Aurelia-Elysia and Seraphina sat on the sofa with freshly distilled elixir vials set upon the coffee table.

Diana stood before the fireplace, meeting the eyes of each member.

“Hunting in the rifts is done for now,” Diana began, her clear voice arresting the full focus of the room. “Beelzebub's inquisitors are patrolling the neighborhood around the house. Any combat in here will draw an entire Level 60 garrison down on us ahead of time.”

She rested her hands on her waist, looking toward the three pairs that would form the faction's offensive lineup:

“Our registration in the Conquerors' Bracket is confirmed. We are fielding three independent pairs into the Red Cauldron tournament:”

Diana gestured toward Kael and Rhea:

“Kael and Rhea make up the first pair. Kael anchors the center with the shield's damage reflection, and Rhea cleans up the flanks without letting anyone reach his blind side. You two have fought together for months and know each other's cadence down to the second.”

Kael thumped his iron gauntlet against his heavy breastplate with a confident grin, and Rhea nodded slowly, silver ears upright.

Diana turned toward Aurelia and Seraphina:

“Aurelia and Seraphina form the second pair. The cast speed of Aurelia's barriers buys the time needed for Seraphina to summon her crystal spirits. As long as you maintain distance and keep heavy vanguard fighters from closing the gap, no one in that bracket will be able to breach your defense.”

Aurelia gripped her staff with determination, and Seraphina adjusted her spectacles with a steady nod.

“Zarek and I form the third pair,” Diana concluded, looking at the arachnid demon leaning against the stairs. “We take on the main bracket against the highest-level veterans.”

***

Mai abruptly lifted her torso from the wool rug, round tiger ears pinning back with a sulking pout:

“And me, Commander?! You're leaving me out of the brawl? I have black fire punches to smash those ogres' faces in!”

Diana looked at the tiger girl with utter seriousness:

“You are our most crucial rear guard, Mai,” Diana said, her firm tone brooking no tantrums. “If the inquisitors suspect the house is empty while we are fighting in the arena, they will try to breach this gate to search the basement laboratory and our vault. You stay locked inside on watch. If any soldier attempts to force entry... you have full clearance to unleash your full strength.”

Mai grinned broadly, flashing pointed fangs that very second, slamming both fists onto the living room floor:

“Leave it to me! If anyone lays a finger on the wood of that gate, I'll punch their teeth down their throat!”

Diana released a quiet sigh, walking over to the meeting table to perform the final tally of the currency gathered from their latest hunts.

Sales of noble beast meat and obsidian scales at the central butchery had yielded another twenty-five clean silver coins via the command bonus. Deducting the four silvers and fifty bronze spent on registration seals and laboratory reagents, the bookkeeping hit an exact figure that made the golden rings in Diana's pupils flare with pure satisfaction:

Five hundred Silver Coins locked in the vault.

Exactly Fifty pure Gold Coins.

Exactly half of one hundred gold was now accumulated and safeguarded in the Bastion.

Diana closed the mahogany ledger with a clean click of its brass clasp.

She went up to the second-floor balcony and looked out at the reddish sky of the Third Circle. Smoke from the city's cauldrons rose in dark plumes toward the vaults of the mountain range, and the distant drone of the Red Cauldron Arena began to carry on the evening breeze.

The squad was ready. The three pairs were aligned.

In forty-eight hours, the Arcane Greed Faction would step into that pit of red sand to tear the Border Pass from the hands of Beelzebub's inquisitors.