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Primarily, their team consisted of Evangelina Stroud, Diego Redwater, Melchor Blackburn, and Leo. However, they had also brought along two more members of House Blackburn: Dino and Rafael.

Those two were young enough that they would likely be of no help in an actual fight, but there was also zero chance of running into any reapers who had memorized their souls. So the plan was to have those use their soul power to infuse everyone else's clothing.

Which was why Evangelina was so heavily garbed, at the moment. Her modified cloak had a thick head that even extended halfway around her face, allowing only her eyes to be seen.

Could this even be considered a "cloak" anymore? She'd never worn anything so concealing. It was dark blue instead of black, but she still felt like one of those Sandlords who rarely ever saw the light of day.

Not exactly to her tastes.

Maybe that Atreyan guardian girl would've liked it, though. She seemed to have a thing for cloaks.

Diego, Melchor, and Leo were all similarly dressed, to the point where even she might've not been able to tell them apart if not for their slight variance in colors. Diego was in dark red, while Melchor was in black, and Leo was in dark gray--all appropriately chosen, she supposed.

Their heights were also somewhat telling, since Diego was taller than the other two, but Melchor and Leo were so similar that she still had a bit of trouble differentiating between them.

The two young ones were heavily clothed in black as well, but they were short enough that Evangelina could differentiate them easily enough. Plus, they always walked together in a little pair. Aside from hiding their souls, however, this rather heavy-handed precaution came with one other major advantage.

It allowed them to bring their reapers along by hiding them under their clothes.

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"I need some time to think about this," said Hector.

The ambassador nodded. "Of course. I understand. But please decide soon. The Beast could attack again at any time. I fear the longer we wait, the more innocent people will die."

Hector returned a nod of his own.

However, Hector had just told a lie. What he actually needed was not more time to think. He only needed time to talk to the Queen and the Rainlords.

The truth was, he had already made up his mind.


Chapter Two Hundred Twenty-Three: 'In the land of disorder...'
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Evangelina Stroud would have much preferred to simply sneak into the country in the dead night. If stealth was their goal here, then it was better to forego all of these pretenses with disguises and fake identities. To her mind, proper stealth didn't mean hiding in plain sight like this. It meant never being seen in the first place.

But sadly, that wasn't an option. The Vantalayan Border Guard was everywhere--and for good reason, of course. They were watching for enemy forces. And they appeared to be well-equipped as well. Fences, cameras, drones, dogs, watchtowers--and probably more. Vantalay had obviously been prepared for this war of theirs.

Much of that observational intel arrived via Raul Blackburn, who'd had a much easier time getting into the country since he'd arrived before the lockdown.

So they were blending in--or were trying to, at least.

Evangelina wondered how long this would last. Ridgemark was one of the only open ports in the country, and just like the Triplets had reported, it was absolutely inundated with reapers.

On the bright side, that made it a bit easier for their own reapers to blend in. Unfortunately, it also dramatically increased the likelihood of running into someone they recognized, and concealing themselves from a reaper who had memorized one or more of their souls would be quite the difficult feat indeed.

But not necessarily impossible.

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Hector thought carefully. He wanted more details, but it seemed like the ambassador wouldn't be able to provide them.

Perhaps he was getting spoiled by the kind of intel that Gina, the Rainlords, and now perhaps even the Gaolanets were able to provide him with. It sure was nice, wasn't it? Knowing shit about the enemy before going into battle.

He still recalled a time when he hadn't had that luxury, and he wondered now if it was about to make a return.

Hmm.

"Please, Lord Goffe," said Ambassador Stoutamire. "The situation is dire. Only three days ago, seven people were killed. That is the highest single-day body count since that doomed gathering of hunters half a year ago. We fear that the creature is growing more bold and trying to expand its territory. Evacuations have already been going on for months, and now it seems they will only increase. People have had to abandon their homes without any idea of when they might be able to return."

Hector sympathized--perhaps a little more than he should've, even. It was like the man was speaking straight into Hector's heart.

He tried his best to remain cold and logical, though. He wanted to ask the ambassador why Lorent was coming to him of all people when there were so many other servants out there who were way more famous than him. Even if Intar had failed, there were still plenty of other candidates to ask.

But as he thought about it more, he supposed he already knew the answer. No doubt, it was because Warrenhold was so close to Lorent. Not to mention, many of those super famous warriors out there were now quite busy fighting a war.

Even a few of his own. Leo and Melchor probably would've been able to make short work of this monster. If they were here.

Would he have even wanted them to go, though? Sending them to Vantalay was one thing. That country was far away. If they made a big splash there, there was a comparatively low risk of it getting traced all the way back here to Atreya.

Either way, he supposed it hardly mattered now.