Soulbound: Dual Cult Chapter 481: Celestial in town

Chapter 481: Celestial in town

Lucas remained silent for a while after the plan was laid out, his eyes still fixed on the sketch before him, but his thoughts were no longer entirely on the estate itself, because beneath the urgency and focus, there was something else tugging at his senses, something subtle yet unmistakable, and after a few seconds, his gaze shifted slightly as his expression tightened, prompting Tom to notice and ask, "What is it, you’ve had that look on your face for a while now, what did you pick up," his tone cautious as the others turned their attention back to Lucas.

Lucas exhaled slowly before answering, his voice lower now, more serious than before as he said, "There’s something in this town, something stronger than the rest of them," and when Patrick frowned slightly and asked, "Stronger how, like another commander or something," Lucas shook his head and replied, "No, not that, this is different, I can feel a faint celestial aura lingering around the town, which means one thing, there’s a Celestial here."

The room fell into immediate silence at those words, the tension rising once again as Tom straightened and said, "A Celestial, here, in a town like this, that doesn’t make any sense," and Lucas gave a small nod before responding, "It doesn’t have to make sense, it just has to be true, and right now, that’s all that matters, because if we run into that person during this operation, everything changes."

Lady Cecilia’s brows furrowed slightly as she looked at him and asked, "Can you handle it if it comes to that," her voice steady but probing, and Lucas met her gaze without hesitation as he replied, "I can handle myself, I’m confident I can escape if things go wrong, but that’s not the problem," and when Tom crossed his arms and asked, "Then what is," Lucas’ expression hardened as he said, "The problem is that the rest of you can’t, and neither can the people we’re trying to save, and the moment we clash with a Celestial, our cover is gone, the entire town will be on us, and this mission fails before it even begins."

Patrick let out a quiet breath as he nodded slightly and said, "So we stay quiet, we don’t draw attention, and we get in and out before anyone even knows we were there," and Lucas gave a firm nod before adding, "Exactly, this operation has to be discreet, no unnecessary fights, no chaos, we move like shadows and we leave the same way."

He straightened then and looked around at the group, his voice taking on a more commanding tone as he continued, "Which is why not all of us are going in, too many people increases the risk, so only three of us will infiltrate the estate, the rest of you stay here and prepare for what comes after," and Tom immediately frowned as he asked, "Only three, that’s cutting it close, who’s going with you," and Lucas didn’t hesitate as he answered, "I’ll lead, Darmian comes with me, and Patrick joins us, the three of us will be enough."

Darmian, one of the four men in his squad that Lucas had picked...looked slightly surprised at being chosen but quickly nodded, his expression firming as he said, "Understood, I won’t slow you down," while Patrick gave a short grin and added, "Guess I’m in then, let’s make it clean," though the seriousness in his eyes betrayed the weight of what they were about to do.

Tom stepped forward slightly, still uneasy as he said, "And the rest of us, we just sit here and wait," and Lucas shook his head as he replied, "No, you don’t just wait, you prepare, because the moment we come back, we move immediately, there won’t be time to gather supplies or argue about direction," and then he turned to Lady Cecilia, Flora, and Gwen, his tone firm but respectful as he said, "You three need to get ready to leave this town at a moment’s notice, pack only what you can carry, nothing that will slow you down."

"We’re not staying here after this, the moment we get Lady Isabelle and Sage Raph out, we’re leaving Valerion behind, our destination is the Blackmare Kingdom," Lucas said.

That caused a brief stir in the room as Flora exchanged a glance with Lady Cecilia before asking, "That far, are you certain we can make it safely," to which Lucas replied, "It’s safer than staying here with what’s coming."

Lady Cecilia studied him for a moment before giving a slow nod, her voice calm but resolute as she said, "Then we will be ready when you return, there will be no delays on our end," and Lucas inclined his head slightly before turning back to the men he had chosen, his expression sharpening once more as he said, "As for us, we go in disguised, we take out three guards quietly, either kill them or incapacitate them, take their armor, and use it to move through the estate without raising suspicion."

Darmian frowned slightly as he asked, "And if we run into that Celestial," and for a brief moment, Lucas was silent before he answered, his voice steady but carrying a faint edge, "Then we pray we don’t, because that is one fight we cannot afford to have right now."

The room fell quiet again, but this time there was no uncertainty left, only resolve, as Lucas gave a final look around before saying, "Memorize the plan, prepare yourselves, we move soon."

As the others began making their preparations and quietly discussing their roles, Lucas drifted a step away from the table, his gaze lowering slightly as his thoughts turned inward, because despite the clarity of the plan they had just formed, something continued to bother him, something deeper than the immediate danger of the mission, and after a moment, he spoke, not loudly, but enough for those closest to hear as he said, "There’s something else that doesn’t sit right with me."

Patrick glanced over, adjusting the strap on his gear as he asked, "What now, you already told us there’s a Celestial in town, what else could be worse than that," his tone half serious, half uneasy, while Darmian also turned his attention toward Lucas, sensing that this was not just a passing thought.

Lucas lifted his head slightly, his expression calm but shadowed with quiet concern as he replied, "One Celestial is already a problem, but I’m starting to think a Celestial has been stationed in every town they’ve taken," and that immediately drew a reaction as Tom frowned.

Lucas eyes were distant for a brief moment before he finally spoke, his voice steady but laced with cold realization as he said, "Think about it, the usurpers didn’t just take Valerion by brute force, they orchestrated everything, from internal chaos to external pressure, and this isn’t the first time we’ve seen them pull something like this."

He paused briefly, his mind flashing back to a specific memory before continuing, "Back then, when Vorde triggered that beast attack on Valerion, it wasn’t random, he didn’t act on impulse, he was promised something," and at the mention of that name, Tom, who had been standing nearby, looked over and said, "Resources, right, that’s what we heard, something to boost his cultivation."

Lucas gave a slow nod, his expression darkening slightly as he continued, "Exactly, they promised him resources powerful enough to push his cultivation further, and he was willing to unleash destruction on an entire capital just to get it," his voice carrying a faint edge of disdain as he added, "That tells you everything you need to know about the kind of people they recruit."

Darmian crossed his arms slightly as he said, "So you’re thinking they’re doing the same thing again, offering power in exchange for loyalty," and Lucas met his gaze as he replied, "Not just thinking, I’m almost certain of it, because it explains how they’re maintaining control and why there are so many powerful cultivators suddenly appearing under their banner."

Patrick let out a quiet scoff as he muttered, "Greedy bastards," before shaking his head and adding, "But I guess that’s how it always goes, offer people power and they’ll sell whatever they have left."

Lucas’ eyes hardened faintly at that, his voice calm but carrying a quiet certainty as he said, "Not everyone, but enough of them, enough to build an army," and he shifted his gaze toward the window, as though looking out beyond the walls of the room and into the unseen forces moving across Valerion as he continued, "And if they’ve been doing this consistently, then there’s no telling how many high-level cultivators they’ve gathered, or how many Celestials they have at their disposal."

The weight of that statement settled heavily in the air, and for a moment, no one spoke, because the implication was clear, that what they were facing might be far larger than a single mission or a single town, and that the enemies they were dealing with were not just opportunistic rebels, but something far more organized and dangerous.

After a brief silence, Lucas exhaled slowly and straightened, pushing those thoughts aside for now as his expression sharpened once more, his focus returning to the task at hand as he said, "Speculation won’t help us right now, we deal with what’s in front of us first, we get in, we save them, and we get out, everything else comes after," his tone leaving no room for doubt as he grounded himself back in the present, even though the questions in his mind remained unanswered.