Is this really a Game?!

Chapter 1006: Stalking the Hooded Man

As the tunnel carried them forward, the group remained hidden, observing the hooded man and trying to understand the workings of this underground transportation system. They waited for a while until the tunnel came to a stop, after which the hooded man started walking forward.

The hooded man stepped out into the large chamber they had previously been in, he went to the center of the large chamber and simply stood straight and waited. The group followed suit, careful to remain undetected while looking at the hooded man, making sure he hadn't noticed their presence.

After a couple of minutes, the opening of the tunnel closed as the entire chamber rumbled and shook, just as it had previously when Reign and the others had been present.

'Alright, with this, we can be certain that the enemy has no control over the mechanisms that are present in this underground space, they are merely letting the mechanisms activate by themselves and are using them to travel through the underground complex.' Aethion spoke telepathically to everyone in the group.

'The smaller tunnels that the enemy is using, the ones hidden by the runes have probably been here before they arrived as well, they just closed them with the runes so that only they could use them, unfortunately for them, they had no idea that you have so many Transcendents in the territory.'

'Had it only been you guys, even if you all studied the runes, I doubt Laura or any of you would be able to activate them, but with the help of Drayce and the queen, that became much easier since they had managed to decipher quite a decent portion of the runes.'

'So, they have no idea that we came here?'

'Honestly, they might know, we don't know if that hidden array in the entrance of the first hidden passageway was capable of seeing through your barrier, but I doubt they would have just allowed you to walk into the main chamber where their base was located in that case.'

'Which means that the enemy most likely has no idea you guys had ever come here, this guy included, he wouldn't show you that they have no control over the machinery if they did indeed know you were here.'

Reign and the others nodded at Aethion's words before Shadow spoke to him. Find out what happens next on m_vl.em,pyr

'What if that is their plan, to trick us into believing that they have no control over the mechanisms?'

'Then you guys will be in for a rude surprise once you attack them, but again, I highly doubt that is the case.'

Reign and the others mulled over Aethion's words, weighing the possibilities and potential risks of their situation. While they couldn't discount the possibility of being deceived by the enemy, they also couldn't afford to dismiss the opportunity that lay before them.

"If they truly have no control over the mechanisms," Reign began, "then we have a chance to exploit that weakness and gain an advantage in our upcoming battle."

"But we must proceed with caution and be prepared for anything."

The group nodded in agreement, their determination unwavering despite the uncertainty that loomed over them. They knew that they couldn't afford to let their guard down, especially now that they had uncovered a potential vulnerability in the enemy's defenses.

As they watched the hooded man wait inside the chamber, they got ready to take the same passage that they had taken back when they entered the chamber previously. They only hoped that the hooded man wouldn't take the same passage as well as it might make things a bit more complicated.

What they feared did happen in the end.

The rumbling and shaking stopped and the man went to the same passage they had taken previously, with the group right behind him, following him closely so that the entrance wouldn't get closed before they were able to pass.

The man went inside the small hidden chamber they had been in before leaving and taking the same route they had previously taken when entering the underground area of the desert.

'Is he going up to spy on the mercenaries?' Tank asked as Beast and the others shrugged their shoulders, having no answer to his question, but thinking the same thing as he was.

Upon getting back to the surface, they all suddenly stopped.

The barrier was enough to hide their presence and bodies, but if they walked in the desert, they would leave a trail.

If the hooded man turned around, he would be able to notice the trail, which meant that they had to walk carefully and make sure to erase the trail instantaneously, otherwise, there was a chance of them getting noticed.

Previously, they had done so with the help of Aelrinder and Beast who used their wind manipulation to blow the sand around and hide the trail, but this time, they had to do it much more subtly, lest the hooded man in front of them noticed the mana fluctuations.

After walking for some 10 minutes, the hooded man stopped near a small rock before lying flat on it and staring ahead, straight at the camp of the mercenaries.

He started whispering something and drawing on the rock with his right hand, which Laura quickly identified as runes, and after 15 seconds, the runes he had written started glowing slightly as his whispers came to an end.

A small bubble appeared around him, making his presence much weaker and hiding his body. Reign and the others could still see and sense him, but that was because they were already aware of his existence, as well as because they were so close to him.

For anybody who was further away, and who had no idea that he was on this rock, it would be nearly impossible for them to notice, perhaps only those with special abilities and skills could do so.

'We should go around, take a wide circle around the camp, and then get in the main tent.' Reign told the others telepathically while staring at the rock where the hooded man was lying.

'The enemy is well aware of the mercenaries, but the question is whether they know that they are looking for them or something else.'

'They won't do anything for now, they are probably still trying to see just how powerful the mercenaries are, which means we have a bit of time left, perhaps a day or two before the enemy attacks.'

'During that time, we can start taking over a side base, we can also use the inevitable attack of the enemy as an opportunity to ambush them, but after our appearance, I doubt they will take such a risk.'

'I agree, they will definitely find out that a group of 9 has appeared here, which means that they will know we are close to them, their defense will only become more difficult to get through at that point, so we should be looking to attack them as quickly as possible before they have a chance to get ready.' Wolf said as Reign nodded before they all turned and started making their way to the mercenary camp.

They took a long route around the camp in order for the hooded man to not see the trail that was being left behind them. Aelrinder and Beast were making sure to wipe away the traces as they appeared, not even allowing them to appear outside the barrier, but sometimes that happened, and they didn't want to take any risks.

It took them about 8 minutes to go all the way around and then make their way to the camp. They didn't take the barrier down and continued walking forward, passing through the camp without any of the mercenaries spotting them before reaching the main tent in the middle.

They all entered, and the moment they did, the mercenary leaders immediately grabbed their weapons, channeled their mana, and got ready to fight.

Reign and Shadow quickly dispelled the barrier, and upon seeing that it was them, the leaders sighed in relief, with one of them staring at them in slight anger.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, entering the tent like this?!"

"We could have attacked immediately, you know?!"

"I know, but the situation didn't allow us to do this differently." Reign said in a calm voice as sweat fell down his forehead.

After keeping the barrier active for so long, he had really gotten tired, the constant focus and mana consumption was definitely not something that was easy to bear with.

"What happened?" Ivan asked them with slight apprehension.

"We found the enemy base." Reign stated calmly as the mercenary leaders all stared in shock at him and the rest of the group.

"We also followed one of their Tier VI combatants out of the underground complex, he is situated about 700 meters away from your camp, and a runic formation is keeping his presence hidden."

"That is why we came in like this, we couldn't let him see us, it would spoil the 'surprise' that we have in store for them."