Ethereal Ascendance: A Journey of Transformation(Vol 5)

Vol 5/ Chapter 30: Sneaking In Backwards

"It really is the imperial army!"

This time we were close enough to clearly see the soldiers' dark red uniforms. About 100-200 soldiers were trying to attack the gates of Duera city.

But they weren't having much luck. Duera is a border city with airships to help defend it. Without more backup, the attackers had no chance of taking the city. That's why the border was still just in a standoff without fighting - maybe they didn't even know what was happening here!

The imperial army must have realized this too. They were slowly retreating, but not going far. Instead, they were building defenses at the edge of Sylvanvale Wood, not far from Duera.

"They must have found that underground tunnel across the border! Looks like after coming out on this side, they were spotted by local guards while gathering troops. So they had to attack the city right away," Adrian said.

We quickly understood the situation. We even found the tunnel exit - it wasn't far from the city, behind the imperial army's temporary defenses, under a hill.

There was a dark cave at the bottom of the hill, heavily guarded but very busy. Imperial soldiers and vehicles were constantly going in and out. Piles of dirt outside showed they had just made it bigger.

"Charge! Kill the invaders!"

But the town guards from the republic weren't stupid. They didn't know where these imperial troops came from, but they couldn't let enemies run free near the city.

Soon after the enemy retreated, the republic guards opened the gates and attacked, trying to destroy the new defenses. The two sides started fighting fiercely at the forest edge. They didn't notice us watching from not far above - they probably couldn't have anyway.

"Is that... Dennis?" Gwendolyn suddenly recognized someone in the crowd of fighters, staring hard and muttering.

"Dennis? Isn't that Altima's big brother?" Cyra reminded me.

As Sebastian family's oldest son, we hadn't seen Dennis at the castle last night because he had already joined the army. So it made sense for him to be with the imperial troops sneaking in.

"Are you going to help him? Wouldn't that mean joining the war between the empire and republic?" I asked worriedly.

After all, Gwendolyn was also the head maid for the Sebastian family. It seemed wrong to just watch her "master" in danger without helping.

Luckily, Dennis seemed pretty skilled, about level 5. He clearly stood out among the mostly level 2-3 human soldiers. He was probably a main combat leader for the imperial army. He didn't seem in mortal danger yet, but if the republic troops kept having the upper hand, things could get bad soon.

"Not yet! I only promised Hausman to protect his family's descendants. I definitely won't get involved in conflicts between countries. Plus, I'm an angel - it would be bad if the imperial and republic armies thought angels were getting involved!"

Gwendolyn's words sounded good, but she looked conflicted. Clearly it wasn't so simple. "...But I can't just ignore him either. He's the only son in this generation of the Sebastian family. If something happened to him here..."

"It's okay, just rescuing someone should be fine. Don't overthink it at a time like this!"

This kind of conflict between reason and feelings is always hard to balance. As an outsider, I just made the decision for her.

Even though we'd only met Altima once and never officially met Dennis, it was clear that Gwendolyn had deep ties to the Sebastian family. Otherwise she wouldn't have stayed in Sifur for so many years.

Maybe it all started with her stubborn love for Hausman back then. But after so many years, those feelings had changed into a special kind of family bond. In my view, it would be a shame if she regretted not helping just to avoid revealing she was an angel.

Besides, there were some ways to help without being discovered, even if they might not work perfectly...

Gwendolyn didn't decide right away after hearing me. She lowered her head and was silent for a long time. Maybe she was struggling inside. We couldn't decide for her.

"Feliciana, did you notice?" Cyra suddenly stared excitedly at the chaotic tunnel entrance below. "These imperial soldiers don't seem to have any mages! Well... no light mages at least!"

Angels can only sense light element energy to identify human mages. So we could only confirm light mages. But these light mages were the biggest obstacle to us sneaking into the imperial military base.

That's because they could also sense the different energy from angels, making it very easy to find us even with our wings hidden! And if we used light magic, we'd be even more obvious. So it was hard to sneak in through the main entrance.

But now Cyra was saying there were no light mages among the imperial soldiers down there! It made sense that the empire wouldn't send valuable mages as the first scouts into an unknown tunnel. But it also gave us a rare chance, which meant...

"We can use this tunnel to sneak backwards into the imperial military base!"

That was our goal all along! Adrian, who I was carrying, understood right away. Without light mages, we had many ways to sneak in - invisibility, disguises, and so on. It would be so easy!

The fighting between the republic and empire troops wouldn't end quickly. We couldn't miss this heaven-sent chance, so we quickly landed in the dense forest nearby to prepare.

"My 'Stealth' arrows can greatly reduce the light energy given off when invisible. But if they gather light mages to search carefully, we could still be found!" Adrian explained as he took out his arrows.

His special invisibility method had worked perfectly in the inner trial space. Since it used fighting energy, it gave off very little light energy. It was much more reliable than normal invisibility magic. I had no doubt it would work! As long as we weren't unlucky enough to meet light mages in the underground tunnel, the rest would be easy to handle.

"Are you planning to sneak into the imperial base right away like this? Then I'll wait outside for you, I won't go in yet!"

After quietly listening to our plan, Gwendolyn glanced at the arrows now infused with fighting energy and suddenly said she'd stay here.

"What? But the republic and empire are fighting - won't it be dangerous for you to stay here?"

Cyra blurted out, then smacked her own head. She knew she'd asked a dumb question. Gwendolyn was a 10-winged high-level angel. The three of us together probably couldn't beat her. Even in all this chaos, she could easily escape danger.

I understood that she'd made up her mind to stay and make sure Dennis was safe. But also, a high-level 10-winged angel elder would give off much stronger light energy than me and Cyra, even with wings hidden. Having her stay behind would lower the risks for our mission.

"Alright, we'll split up for now. Be careful and don't be too reckless!" Adrian nodded and gave a few casual reminders. Then he poked me and Cyra with his arrows one by one.

"Hmph! Of course I know what I'm doing. I don't need a mere human to teach me! That Dennis boy has always been spoiled and lacks training. I won't help easily unless he suffers a bit on the battlefield!"

Watching us slowly turn invisible, Gwendolyn's tsundere side seemed to come out again. She didn't even check if we'd left before snorting and flying back up without looking back.

"...Okay, let's get moving. We need to hurry!"

Now it was just the three of us, and we couldn't see each other. Hearing Adrian's resigned voice, Cyra and I hid our wings and snuck towards the tunnel entrance nearby.