“And there is one more disturbing thing.”
Said Rias after a short time of consideration.
“What?”
Asked Cleria as she looked at her.
“Hero Faction is on the move once again.”
Hero Faction is a group of relatively strong humans; most of them were at the Ultimate-Class and had Sacred Gears and inherited souls of their ancestors, Heroes. It is a faction that solely consists of humans, and all of them had some specialists to them, like already mentioned Sacred Gears, bearers of the Holy Swords or Demonic Swords, and some of them had even Logninuses.
It was created to fight against supernatural existences and protect humanity from them, or rather its goal was to kill everything supernatural. They operated only on the Earth and fought against monsters or even other factions.
“During their last attempt to attack forces of the Empire on Earth, they came across of Imperial Prince Elect, who killed several their members and sent rest of them fleeting, but due to Longinus Dimensional Lost, they were able to survive. Afterward, a sleeping agent among them, Arthur Pendragon, managed to obtain all crucial information about their faction, hidden members, and their exact strength before he deserted. That happened one year ago, a week ago, I have captured one human magician that was affiliated with Hero Faction, and after some interrogation, he spilled everything he knew about their recent movements.”
Stated Rias, proud of herself that she obtained crucial information for the Empire.
“What did you find out?”
Asked Cleria seriously.
“They are preparing for some kind of large-scale ritual to obtain some higher form of power. Though this time, it is apparently well planned and everything. I have already reported this situation to the Intelligence Department and Execution Temple, so they could start searching for them. Unfortunately, the one I have interrogated was just a grunt that was supposed to bring some magic tomes. Still, my understanding of Magic is limited, so I cannot decipher them. Still, I can see that they are of the Mysticism branch.”
Even Cleria was surprised to hear that.
Mysticism was a very obscure branch of Magic, and not many even across the entire Chthonian Empire delved deep into it.
Even the Emperor of the Chthonian Empire was only a Master of Mysticism with all of the time he spent researching it and his talent for Magic.
Mysticism revolved around various obscure rituals and the most complicated and profound secrets of the Arcane.
Even in the Dresden Arcanum Empire, a number of Mysticism Masters could be counted on one hand. Chthonian Empire had one Master Emperor and several Experts and Adepts.
“It should be for Georg Faust; from information available on him, he was a pupil of Lord Magister Mephisto Pheels before he went rogue; by Imperial Decree, he is targeted as only for capture alive. Even as a human, his mastery over Magic eclipses many young geniuses of the Chthonian Empire, not to mention he also possesses a Longinus Dimensional Lost. Imperial Father wants to recruit him if possible personally…”
Cleria nodded in agreement with Rias’s statement.
“I will send this tome to Magisterium of Arcane and Magic Research so they can figure out what ritual are they preparing for. I will also notify HQ of the Imperialis Militarum to send some support to guard the Kuoh Town if it is attacked by forces we cannot handle.”
Stated Cleria.
“Whom do you think Empire would send?”
Asked Sona this time, as it was crucial information, as based on the person they would send, their lives here could drastically change.
“Probably Khaos Brigade or Sardaukar forces.”
Stated Cleria plainly as both of them shuddered a bit.
Both of them were so-called non-standard forces of the Imperialis Militarum, the Elites of the Elites. They didn’t fall under the standard chain of command but answered only to the Emperor.
Khaos Brigade was infamous across the entire Draconic Deus. At the same time, Sardaukar Force was a newly established military force, in nature similar to the Khaos Brigade; its commander was Arthur Pendragon. Along with the entire Pendragon Family, the latter pledged their allegiance to the Chthonian Empire for returning the sword Excalibur to them and awakening their draconic lineage.
Sardaukar Force were similar zealots to Khaos Brigade, and all of them were swordsmen, the best ones recruited across the entire Chthonian Empire from all branches of the Empire.
“What about Boosted Gear? Did you find anything?”
Asked Cleria shortly after.
“Across Japan, there are tens of candidates with an aura that is similar to Sacred Gear. Lady Kuroka has assigned to my Class Servant Peerage her younger sister, so she could cleanly search through the Kuoh Town, as several of the such aura are noted to be here. Up until now, we have found around 3 possible targets in Kuoh Town. Unfortunately, we are searching for someone who is not capable of awakening the Sacred Gear by himself, meaning it makes our job very hard.”
Asnwered Rias her findings.
“After you find the host, it will be up to you to negotiate with Ddraig… hopefully, the possible host would be someone that dragon would despise… it would make your job easier.”
Indeed it would.
“One of the people is such a person; if he is the holder of the Boosted Gear, then I believe I should be able to persuade Ddraig within a few months, without the assistance of the Elder Crom Cruach.”
Dragons were prideful creatures.
Even Elder Dragon Crom Cruach had a lot of trouble negotiating with dragons to join the Empire without beating them black and blue.
“Excellent, then report to me after you have finished the task.”
Stated Cleria as both Sona and Rias stood up, and after a small bow, they left the room; Cleria tipped something on the arcanotech tablet she was playing with.
“Connect me to the Lord General Matrix. I have a message for his Imperial Holiness about his daughter; I think he will be satisfied with her growth.”
