---Shadow Ghost Cult, South of the Gate Guardian---
"Is this the place?" Ibelin asked their guide, Tien Shen. He knew the cultivator from the great tournament. They had met a couple of times in Little Gamma, so he was glad to travel with at least one familiar face.
"Yes, the Shadow Ghost Cult is situated in a cavern that can only be entered through the cave at the end of this valley," the cultivator confirmed calmly. They looked down a dark, narrow valley. Trees and plants had been sucked dry and blackened; the whole place smelled stale with a hint of mold and rot.
In this barren stretch of bald rock and dry grassland, this place looked especially desolate. Why would anyone choose to stay in this kind of place? As if reading his expression, Tien Shen spoke up again.
"It is a natural stronghold, further fortified by spells, traps, and formations. The only reason this cult still persists is this fortress in a land nobody wants to fight for," he explained the reason why anyone would live here. They quite literally had no other alternative to survive.
"I guess they are that bad," Ibelin mumbled grimly, recalling the info he read. This was still about the drugs made from people who had shaken Urth in the past. Master Mountain and Minas Mar had taken care of the organizations that had moved to Urth and those with the strongest ties to them, but it was not the end.
Especially places like the Shadow Ghost Cult had been the main customers for bodies, the resulting cultivation drugs, or living slaves they used for sick experiments or as cultivation cauldrons. Ibelin didn't even want to know what exactly this entailed.
However, what was clear was that many of the methods used and many of the citizens kidnapped from Y-City found their end in this place. Somewhere beyond this dark, rotten hole. As a resident of Y-City, he had insisted on participating in Minas Mars operation the moment he caught wind of it.
He was not the only one. Although they were tasked with smaller places, some close to the Gate Guardian, quite a few adventurers and chosen from Guilds of Minas Mar, were allowed to enter this foreign world and seek revenge.
"Well then, let's go," the crusader said grimly, lowering the visor of his helmet.
"Wait, aren't we supposed to wait for a couple of days? The plan is to take down all of them at roughly the same time," Tien Shen argued. He wasn't against doing it now, but he wanted to mention that this was not part of the original plan.
Ibelin Godfrey halted for a moment, looking back at the small party of Oathguards that came along to support him. None of them had moved when he was about to enter the valley. They seemed to agree with the cultivator.
"Do any of you know that air magic that lets you scout a place?" he asked, not knowing the proper name of the spell. He just knew there was something like that.
"Here, me. I can cast Atmospheric Exploration," one of the mages among the Oathguards stepped forward.
"Then can you also cast gas generation?" Ibelin asked, considering that there was very little in the vicinity that could be burned.
"That's an adept-level spell, so yeah. I think I get what you are intending to do," the wizard said with an understanding smile.
...
---Dark Ocean Sect, West of Gate Guardian---
Before them, a sprawling city stretched along the coast. This place probably had at least a couple of hundred thousand people, and the harbor was filled with exotic ships.
"These guys are quite big, huh?" Shay mentioned, looking down at the huge settlement. Their target was the Dark Ocean Sect, which claimed this city and the surrounding land as its territory.
"Right. They make a lot of money by providing protection for trade and ocean voyages.. and the opposite of those if the price is right. They take any job on the water," Dowloon explained emotionlessly.
"Well, that's why I was sent here, I guess," Shay said with a wry smile. Along the eastern and southern coast were many sects specializing in skills involving water. Not many of them were that big, since the oceans of the Voracious Cloud Continent were more terrifying than the land. At least according to the info Marco sent back.
Apparently, these oceans had dragon rulers and comparable monsters, splitting the ocean into territories. People of the land, even cultivators, rarely left the shallow coastal seas. Commoners couldn't even dream of crossing the ocean to other parts of this realm.
The Dark Ocean Sect was one of the biggest coastal sects and enjoyed a questionable reputation as a former member of the Southern Sect Alliance. Shay didn't want to read the details, but it was proven that many people of Y-City entered their halls and never left.
"Honey, don't say it so loud; people might hear you. We still have a couple of days," Ellen Culpepper reminded him. Right, he was not alone. Apart from him, there were Elly, Dowloon, and a team of Oathguards. They were here to crush the Dark Ocean Sect.
However, this place was really close to the Gate Guardian. Their journey here had only taken a day. The idea of the operation was striking and wiped out the worst of them at almost the same time. That meant they had to wait for the others to get into position before they could attack.
"Let's enjoy this little vacation. This place doesn't look half bad," Elly suggested with a bright smile. She understood these days they had to wait here undercover were a vacation. They had already donned robes common for the Cloud Continent, and Dowloon helped them not to stick out too much.
"Shouldn't we use this time to gather more info on the target?" Shay asked a little hesitantly.
"There isn't really much more to know about those guys. Although they are fairly rich, they are a backwater sect without anyone actually strong. The info your agents gathered summed up anything you need to know," Dowloon revealed herself to be Elly's unexpected ally.
The water mage would not have expected the usually so serious acting lady to agree to enjoying their time here.
"I guess, if you look at it this way. All we have to do is not attract attention," the mage finally acquiesced. There was no harm in recovering from their journey with some lighthearted exploration of this foreign city in a different world...
Or so he thought, shortly before screams sounded in the busy streets. The crowd sluggishly began to move when a group of people rushed down the street, screaming and shouting.
"They are fighting!" "Someone is fighting Young Master Wah of the Ocean cult!" "Run!" they proclaimed in between their cries. People and stalls were trampled as people tried to get away from the unseen scene of battle. It was only moments later that a fountain of dark water shot to the sky, taking out several adjacent buildings.
"Tsk, sightseeing is over. We should go into hiding until this is over," Dowloon advised, unimpressed. They could now see two men fighting on the roofs of the city. One wore a dark blue robe with bluish embroidery, the other wore pure white with black hems.
"... after all, she liked it! Why are you so angry?" They heard part of their dialogue.
"You dare say that after defiling my junior sister?" the man in the white robes exclaimed angrily, his aura swelling. All of their faces inadvertently turned into scowls upon hearing what this was about.
"Does this kind of stuff happen here often?" Shay asked Dowloon, who still seemed nonplussed by the situation.
"Fairly often...."