Forces inside of the Stone Conglomerate had been watching the Tenebach clan and the Order of the Amber Heart. A warning had been sent to the Society of Midnight, though the message might not arrive much ahead of any approaching forces. Now it was time to perform the other part of their duties.

Chert looked at those with her. Only a couple dozen, not enough to get into a conflict with the Tenebach clan. Even whatever forces they had remaining could be a problem, if the battlefield was against them. The powerful guardian beast they were heading towards wasn’t something they could handle… normally. But the Society of Midnight had arranged for a powerful suppression talisman. With that, the Rock Runners would be able to capture the creature and transport it. Payment was just waiting for them.

“It’s too dark,” one of the men commented.

“Of course it’s dark,” Chert shook her head. “This is the den of a darkness element creature. Why would it pick anything less?” Even though she said that, she still found the way that their torches wouldn’t light up the corners or most of the ceiling disconcerting. It felt like something could be hiding anywhere, ready to pounce at any moment. Every time someone kicked a stone or had their boots come down too hard, it spooked her. Quite reasonably, since if she couldn’t use the suppression talisman they’d probably be lunch.

They moved deeper into the caves, searching for the creature. Their torches weren’t just mundane sticks, but enchanted to pierce through darkness… and even so the shadows grew around them, ever thicker. Chert clutched the talisman to her chest, as if it would protect her. They were looking for the deepest darkness, shadows that even those with the sight couldn’t see through. Movement would do just as well, but if that happened someone would almost certainly die. Chert slowed her pace half a step. It wouldn’t be her.

Deeper still into the caves found them in a large chamber. The stone sloped upward, a giant stalagmite with its top cut off to create a flat plane. Atop it was a blob of darkness, powerful… but still. Somehow, they had caught it completely unaware. It was hard to tell, but Chert didn’t think it was facing them. She clutched the talisman tightly… then threw it. It unfurled over some unseen shape, suppressing the darkness energy. The power shrank until she could even see what was there… or what wasn’t.

All that was revealed was a small formation, a few bowls placed around that must have held spiritual darkness… and nothing else. But her eyes trailed up to the ceiling, where the line of darkness was no longer concealing what was there. When the ceiling started to crack and splinter, she began run- along with the others. But the wave propagated faster than they could move, and they found that previously solid sections of floor gave way beneath their feet, dropping them into pits or cracking away to reveal traps that snapped closed on their ankles. Individually those weren’t of much danger, but combined with the cave collapsing it slowed them enough for them to be buried in rubble.

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Ciaritzal ‘stretched’ inside of John, as if waking up from a nap of sorts. “I’ll miss my cave.”

“It might not be destroyed,” John pointed out. “If nobody goes in, you could still use it.”

“It won’t be the same. Besides, I won’t need to concentrate my power in the same way if this works. And I suggested it, so I’m not really complaining.”

“Won’t you need some place to live?” John asked. He was slightly concerned that Ciaritzal would not wish to remain with the Tenebach clan after being restored. But if he really didn’t want to, John didn’t wish to restrict him.

“Remaining idle made the darkness stale. I’m not so old that I need to settle down in a den for the rest of my life.”

John wasn’t sure how old Ciaritzal was, but he had to be at least a few centuries. Unless he’d been extremely young when the Tenebach clan rescued him.

“I might travel with you more,” Ciaritzal said. “And if I need a cave, they’re rather simple to dig out given time.”

John shrugged. Trapping the cave made some sense, but seemed ultimately unnecessary. Though leaving it empty might have encouraged someone to look at the clan itself. The triplets were off in the Brandle clan, but the Tenebach clan was still less protected than normal with a large portion of their forces away.

John saw Renato approaching. “How are the tunnels?”

“They’re going well. We’ve passed the walls, except for the outer ones curving to parallel the walls. We can go at any time.”

“Good,” John nodded. “We just need to wait for the signal.”

“Do you think they’re actually coming?”

“If they know what’s good for them? Absolutely. With the help of the Calamitous Swarm, our victory is basically guaranteed. And they’ll be in prime position to take over.”

“Just give the word,” Renato nodded. “I’ll get back to it.”

The sun was already up, but John was willing to wait a few more hours. Optimally their attack would begin slightly before noon. Some of their forces would have an advantage at that point, while the others would be equally disadvantaged as the enemy at worst. They might predict that, but hopefully they wouldn’t be ready for how the attack would happen. So far, it didn’t seem like their work had been noticed.

As he waited, he resumed his efforts to replenish the energy in the area for those aligned with light. The main component of darkness separated from it was used to conceal what they were doing, as before.

Just about when John was about to give up and send the signal, a mosquito buzzed past his ear. Normally he would have squashed it, but he was waiting for something of the sort. There was another, and another. All three landed nearby, looking up at him. “Message received,” he said.

It wasn’t clear if they could actually hear him, but they buzzed off a few moments later, flying in formation. It was impressive- he could barely feel the influence of darkness energy on the creatures. Then again, insects didn’t have much of a brain, so controlling them might be surprisingly easy. At least on that scale.

“Time to begin the assault.”

They didn’t blow any trumpets to sound the assault. That would be unnecessary for the number of people they had. Instead, a portion of their forces gathered together before marching out of the gates of their small fortification. John and Matayal at the front, along with Zacharie and Monika. And of course their two fiery friends. Six of their ten Consolidated Soul Phase cultivators were visible, but others remained within their fort. That was the idea they intended to convey, anyway.

Against them were arrayed many defenders atop the walls, and clearly some behind. The Shadow Wolf clan had archers atop the walls, but had chosen not to risk themselves outside the walls. If they got caught between their enemies and the walls, their skirmishing talents would be worthless.

John sensed a number of Consolidated Soul Phase cultivators. Most were in the early stage, perhaps even a rank or two below himself, but one from the Shadow Wolf clan was in the mid phase. That would be Damian, most likely. He hadn’t met either of the heads of the two groups. There was another in the mid Consolidated Soul Phase from the Society of Midnight… and one in the late Consolidated Soul Phase. The man was truly ancient, skin wrinkled like a prune. Deep bags under his eyes. But inside, great power… and a shard of Ciaritzal. Faramund, likewise not encountered in person before. Though that made sense, because such contact would have almost certainly ended with one of them dead.

“I’m impressed,” the Society of Midnight’s head spoke, his voice crackly and rough, but still infused with vigor. “You’ve survived this far… and even managed to grow somewhat. But you made a mistake, to come here. Especially with this disorganized mess,” he gestured towards their army. “

John kept his gaze locked on Faramund’s. The old man was trying to intimidate him, and it might have worked… if John were alone. With Matayal by his side, he felt he could resist any suppression… and frankly with Ciaritzal inside of him succumbing to a bit of pressure would have been laughable. “And who’s going to kill us? You? Why don’t you come down here for a proper fight?”

“That won’t be necessary,” he said. “Katla will be enough. I have other matters to attend to.” That left John somewhat concerned. Not having him participating in the battle at the walls meant the enemy’s forces were missing a significant advantage they should have had… but he wouldn’t just be fooling around, wasting his time. He couldn’t be that overconfident, could he? No, he had to be preparing some sort of trap. Though why he would announce it was another question. “I’m sure the rest of your forces will understand they are outmatched when you fall.” With that, he turned and left.

In some ways, Faramund was right. John was the core that tied their alliance together. But if he died… he doubted that his allies would give into despair or otherwise cease to attack. Most people involved actually liked him, so he hoped they would at least try to avenge his death. Though he really would prefer that not be necessary.

Having Faramund split from the rest of the battle was ultimately a good thing, though John could sense the final shard of Ciaritzal was also further into the Society’s grounds. They weren’t devoting all of their attention to the outer walls, but it was a significant hindrance regardless.

John kept internal track of time. A few seconds either way wouldn’t matter, but he didn’t want to be too fast or slow. “Begin the assault!” he decreed. He began to move forward with the others, contributing his own energy towards the communal defenses. Arrows and attacks with spiritual energy rained down on them, but with everything being darkness element… it was fairly easy to adjust. Faramund might have called them a disorganized mess, but having cultivators of every element let them adjust to any weaknesses they might have. The Golden Tomb Guardians remained in the back for the moment, as they would be most effective when they could attack unrestrained. At the moment there were some problematically high walls restricting them.

But that shouldn’t last long. The first tremor happened when they were about halfway to the wall. Judging by its height, John didn’t want to be closer than twenty meters when it fell. Covering the remaining distance would only take a second or two, so he kept a measured pace, glad for the water cultivators providing a wave to catch the arrows in front of them. He circulated his energy to support everyone he could, but he was mainly conserving his own energy.

Another tremor, and John wondered if the tunnels were big enough. If the walls came crashing down just a few meters, would it even matter? But he needn’t have worried. The Order of the Amber Heart knew what they were doing. One section of the wall began to tilt, stone blocks tearing away from each other as it sagged. Part of the wall toppled forward, some backwards, some to the side. As the ground tore apart, he could feel how the tunnels had wormed around like a snake, moving back and forth and even vertically. Part of the wall didn’t completely collapse at once, hanging down from a connected section… but without flat ground to rest upon it couldn’t hold.

This happened on both sides of the gate, opening up tens of meters of area on either side, though rubble filled most of the area. With so little time, they hadn’t been able to exactly determine how the walls would fall.

Beyond that, John knew that the rest of their army had already been moving through the other tunnels, and would be coming up inside the walls soon. As enemy troops began to scurry to fill in the gaps, their army marched forward to meet them… not rushing, but instead fully occupying the enemy’s attention so that the group inside the city could properly complete the pincer attack.

The walls were just one step, though. Some of the guards had been injured or killed as the walls collapsed, but the home territory of the Society of Midnight wasn’t short on cultivators. There were also those of the Shadow Wolf clan, and some small bands of mercenaries. Hopefully the bugs were close. They’d be able to make up the numbers.