Hugo and Meterion, leading the vanguard of the procession, halted in front of a massive entrance that split into three paths. It wasn’t yet time to reach their second objective, but they had encountered a fork in the road earlier than expected.
Meterion, who had conjured a floating light orb, scanned the towering entrance before speaking.
"I think it's time we split up."
Hugo nodded in agreement.
"Let’s start by dividing into battalions."
Responding promptly to the radio call, Delua approached the front of the procession with Marlen. Hugo gathered the battalion commanders, held a quick meeting, and designated the routes for entry.
Of the three paths, the ones to the left and right were suspected to connect to outer routes or mountainsides. Thus, it was decided that the 3rd and 6th Battalions would take those paths, each dividing into company-sized units. Hugo, meanwhile, would lead a smaller group from the 1st Battalion through the center.
As the meeting wrapped up, Delua glanced up at the large entrances and asked,
"Then... are we heading out now?"
"Yes."
At Hugo’s response, Delua beamed, her voice confident as she asked,
"Commander, then Blaine’s coming with me, right?"
Hugo didn’t answer immediately. He simply stared at her in silence. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, someone else interrupted from an unexpected direction.
"I’ll take Leonardo Blaine with me."
Everyone turned toward the voice—Meterion.
Hugo and Delua stared at him, stunned, as ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) if they’d just heard the most ridiculous thing imaginable. Delua, who had been frozen for a moment, spoke up first.
"Meterion, have you no conscience? Blaine wouldn’t want to go with you, you know?"
Meterion furrowed his brow and fixed Delua with a frosty glare. But she, undaunted by his stare, rattled off nearly a dozen reasons why Leonardo would refuse to follow him.
The company commanders of the 3rd Battalion, who had previously argued that Leonardo should be put back in handcuffs, also sided with her. They, too, seemed baffled by their battalion commander’s suggestion.
As Delua kept listing facts without mercy, Marlen and Flynn—standing beside her—subtly touched their lips, trying not to laugh.
Hugo narrowed his eyes, clearly unable to understand Meterion’s intention. After casting a glance at both him and Delua, he finally said,
"Leonardo will come with me."
Delua flinched, then asked, clearly bewildered,
"What? Commander, you've always entrusted Blaine to me. Why now...?"
Without responding directly, Hugo gave a subtle signal to the surrounding commanders to begin moving. All began dispersing—except Meterion, who stayed in place. Rather than addressing him, Hugo simply walked four or five steps away.
Then, facing Delua, he calmly asked,
"Delua, I won’t speak of other situations. But that man’s control is unstable right now. You must’ve noticed it a few times while staying close to him today. If a moment comes where you have to face his unstable mana directly—can you say with confidence that you can contain it?"
Delua winced at his words. Though his tone was calm, his face was cold and serious. Seeing that, she couldn’t find a quick answer.
Regardless of whether she could or couldn’t control Leonardo’s mana, she had in fact sensed instability in his control several times today. But she had made only minimal reports—fearing he might end up cuffed again.
Yet from Hugo’s question, she realized something. He already knew. Even the parts she had omitted.
Reporting between a commander and a battalion leader was built on trust beyond just relaying facts. Delua’s omission had been a serious breach of duty.
Still, knowing the Commander had understood her mistake but refrained from calling her out in front of others—Delua bowed her head slightly and quietly answered,
"...I’m sorry. I can’t say I’m confident."
Unaware of their conversation, Meterion scoffed and turned his head away as soon as he saw Delua—who had pressed him so fiercely—fall silent at Hugo’s question.
With Delua now subdued, Hugo relaxed his stern expression, tapped her shoulder twice, and said,
"I’m assigning the rightmost path to the 6th Battalion."
"...Yes, understood."
Leonardo silently observed from the rear. Truthfully, it wasn’t the first time he’d sensed someone following him.
While scouting minerals with Flynn a bit ahead of the procession, he’d heard an odd sound deeper in the cave—had sensed something was there. And afterward, he’d felt someone shadowing him, maintaining just the right distance.
'No lunatic would be dumb enough to attack a procession guarded by Kazad.'
As he speculated on the identity and purpose of whatever was lurking in the dark, the procession began moving bit by bit.
Leonardo found it strange that they were proceeding even though the 6th Battalion commanders hadn’t returned, but based on his gut, he figured they’d come across a split path. So, he followed after the rear group.
As he walked forward, just as he expected, three massive entrances came into view.
Each group was moving through a designated path, and by the time Leonardo reached the front of the split, nearly twenty people were waiting for him at the central entrance.
Hugo, arms crossed, gestured for Leonardo to come his way. Leonardo frowned at the gesture, then abruptly stared at Hugo’s exposed hand. Hugo, who usually wore black combat gloves on both hands, wore only one today.
Noticing Leonardo’s gaze, Hugo clenched his ungloved left hand into a fist, concealing his palm. Then he addressed Leonardo, who had stepped closer.
"As you can see, the path splits here. We’re dividing the formation. You’re coming with me down the center."
At his words, Leonardo glanced at the people standing in line behind Hugo. While the left and right paths had each swallowed hundreds of personnel, only a little over twenty stood at the central entrance.
"Isn’t this... a bit too few?"
Leonardo asked, puzzled. Hugo responded without concern.
"The ones here belong to the 1st Battalion of the Council’s Central Branch. It’s a full combat unit, and their individual abilities are well above average. Compared to the other battalions, you could say these members have the highest mobility."
The 1st Battalion had no specific battalion commander. It operated as a collection of independently functioning platoons that, together, made up a company-scale force. And being a pure combat unit, it was packed with elites—even by Council standards.
Only the Commander and Deputy Commander had authority over the 1st Battalion, making it more or less a direct-command unit.
Just as Hugo described, the twenty or so members gathered there had a noticeably different aura than the average personnel.
Leonardo already knew the 1st Battalion was the Commander’s direct force, and it showed. While the 6th Battalion gave off a soft, rounded atmosphere, the 1st Battalion radiated uniform coldness—and the stares they gave him were far from welcoming.
As Leonardo scanned their faces, his eyes met the woman he’d seen at the camp dinner table the night before.
When he narrowed his eyes, she glared back sharply, as if ready to duel with her gaze alone. Leonardo soon recognized the familiar face and chuckled.
"We meet again."
