[: 3rd POV :]

Hearing Arcturus's words, the entire assembly stiffened.

Disgust rippled through the crowd like a plague.

Hardened mercenaries clenched their jaws, seasoned guild warriors tightened their grips on weapons.

Even the younger recruits—who moments ago were brimming with nervous excitement—now stood pale and grim, drowning in the horror of it all.

But disgust was not the only fire that burned.

For many present, this was no distant atrocity.

Some of them bore scars that traced back to the Zero Organisation's hand.

A few had lost comrades during previous raids.

Others had watched families vanish overnight, only to later discover their loved ones had been slaughtered for rituals.

And among the ranks, there were warriors who had come not for coin, nor honor, but for vengeance.

Faces darkened with grief.

A dwarf clutched a silver pendant hanging at his neck—his daughter's.

An elven woman's hand trembled on her bowstring, her mind no doubt haunted by the faces of kin who would never return.

A beastman warrior snarled low, eyes burning with a feral rage, his entire clan wiped out in one of Zero's earlier operations.

The air was heavy—thick with grief, fury, and a collective need for retribution.

The Zero Organisation had not just harmed nameless strangers; they had taken from them.

And now, standing in that plaza beneath the banners of Blue Moon, they finally had a chance to strike back.

The silence among the gathered warriors was suffocating, broken only by the faint hiss of torches burning along the guildhall walls.

Every man and woman in that hall carried grief like a shackle, and yet, that grief was slowly turning into something else—rage, boiling and restless.

The Guild Master stepped forward, his armored boots striking the stone floor with weight that demanded their attention.

His face was grim, but his voice carried both authority and sorrow.

"I know," he began, his tone low but steady.

"I know the hatred you feel. I know the hunger for vengeance that burns in your chests"

"Do not think for a moment that I am blind to it."

His words struck chords in their hearts, and the room stirred.

The Guild Master's gaze hardened, his jaw clenching before he finally spoke the truth that had been carved into his own soul.

"My wife…" he said, the hall falling utterly silent, "my wife was taken by the Zero Organization"

"Cut down like she was nothing. My brother, too"

"Do you think I have not tasted the bitterness you feel now?"

"Every mission I've led against those monsters… every blade I've raised… has been for them."

A murmur of sorrow and anger spread across the ranks.

A dwarf slammed the butt of his axe against the floor, his voice rough and breaking.

"They took my daughter! She wasn't even of age to hold a blade!"

An elven woman's eyes shimmered with tears as she whispered, "My parents… both of them, gone. Slaughtered during their experiments."

The Guild Master raised his hand, silencing them, though his own eyes glistened.

He allowed the pain to breathe for a moment, then steered it, shaped it into something sharper.

"Yes," he said, voice rising with power, "they've taken much from us."

"Too much"

"But hear me now—do not let that grief chain you. Let it sharpen you. Let it harden you into steel."

His words boomed through the chamber, a battle hymn of defiance.

He took a step forward, pointing toward the horizon as if the Zero Organization itself stood beyond the walls.

"Turn your rage into courage. Let your vengeance fuel your will to fight"

"We go into this not knowing if we will live or die, but hear me—we do not cower before them! We do not break!"

"Even if this fight claims us all, we will drag the Zero Organization down with us!"

A roar answered him, fierce and unrelenting.

"For the fallen!" one warrior cried.

"For vengeance!" another screamed, raising his sword to the ceiling.

"For every soul stolen!" the crowd thundered as one.

Fear had vanished. What remained was fire—untamed, unstoppable, and fearless.

They no longer cared about the outcome. Victory or death, it no longer mattered.

All that mattered was that the Zero Organization would finally bleed.

The Guild Master let the roar of the warriors settle before raising his hand once more.

The fire in their eyes hadn't dimmed, but now he steered it toward purpose.

His voice dropped into a tone of command, every syllable sharp and clear.

"Good. That fire—keep it burning"

"But rage without direction is wasted"

"Now… listen carefully. This is how we strike."

A table at the center of the hall shimmered as he activated a projection crystal.

A map of the sea flickered into view, glowing blue lines marking currents and scattered islands.

One island in particular glowed crimson, like a warning.

"Our target is here," he said, pointing to the marked isle. "Tetaria."

A hush fell over the room.

Even the veterans stiffened at the name.

"Yes, I see the looks on your faces," the Guild Master muttered grimly.

"Tetaria—the island of abundance, once famed for fruits and herbs said to strengthen body and spirit"

"Once a paradise"

"But that paradise was abandoned centuries ago for one reason—beneath its waters, gates. Countless gates."

His tone darkened as he dragged his finger across the map, highlighting the blackened zones around Tetaria.

"The seas around it are crawling with monsters"

"Leviathans, kraken, swarms of abyssal serpents"

"That is why no kingdom dared to claim it. Yet… it is exactly there that the Zero Organization built their illegal facility"

"A place hidden from the world's eyes."

A young warrior clenched his fist.

"Cowards… hiding behind monsters to protect their filth!"

The Guild Master gave a sharp nod.

"Exactly. But we will not waste time sailing there blindly. No. We will use teleportation scrolls."

With a snap of his fingers, aides brought forward several rolls of parchment, inscribed with glowing runes that pulsed with mana.

Their presence alone carried an air of danger.

"These scrolls," he continued, "will take us directly to the outskirts of the island"

"Close enough to strike, far enough to avoid landing inside their defenses"

"Once there, we move quickly. If we hesitate, the sea itself will devour us before the Organization even lifts a hand."

A murmur rippled through the warriors.

Someone asked, "What about the sea monsters? They'll sense us the moment we arrive."

The Guild Master's lips curved into something like a grim smile.

"That's why we strike hard and fast"

"Before the beasts realize what has entered their territory, we'll already be cutting into the heart of the facility."

His gaze swept across them, measuring their resolve.

"Make no mistake—this will not be easy. Tetaria itself is a death trap, and the Zero Organization will not go down quietly"

"But remember this: it was they who turned paradise into a graveyard"

"It was they who took from us everything we loved. Now, we'll repay the debt."

The hall answered with a unified thrum of determination.

Arcturus let the projection hover a little longer, letting the image of Tetaria burn into their minds—the crimson-marked island shrouded by the abyssal sea.

"Now, this mission serves two purposes."

His finger tapped against the glowing map, the crimson pulsing brighter.

"First, we strike down the Zero Organization's facility. Second, we reclaim Tetaria itself."

A few of the younger mercenaries widened their eyes.

Reclaiming an abandoned land was no small thing.

But Arcturus's tone left no room for doubt.

"By raiding their base, we don't just destroy their corruption—we also clear the path to recover what was once lost"

"Tetaria's resources alone could strengthen entire nations"

"If we succeed here, this is more than vengeance. It's renewal"

"It's turning a graveyard into hope again. Killing two birds with one stone."

The words rippled through the crowd, sparking whispers of opportunity alongside vengeance.

He raised his hand again, silencing them before the whispers turned into chatter.

"Once we arrive, stealth is our greatest weapon"

"The moment our scrolls activate, we will be in hostile territory"

"The sea monsters will already be restless. And the Organization will no doubt have eyes watching from the shadows"

"One misstep could alert both."

With that, he extended his hand, summoning a faint shimmer of mana that spread across the air like a translucent veil.

"My guild members will cast a massive stealth skill over the entire strike force"

"Our presence will be erased—sound, scent, even the ripple of mana in the air. To the beasts below and the cultists inside, we will be no more than a passing breeze."

A veteran mercenary frowned. "And if they've set traps? If the island itself is cursed?"

Arcturus's expression hardened, but his lieutenants stepped forward.

One by one, they unfurled small, rune-carved devices and crystals that pulsed in a rhythmic glow.

"That is where the Blue Moon Guild comes in," Arcturus explained.

"We have trackers, ward-breakers, and scouts specialized in detection"

"Every step we take across that island will be swept, scanned, and cleared"

"Any trap they laid, any illusion they wove—we will unearth it."

He paused, then his gaze sharpened.

"But remember this: no spell is perfect"

"The stealth will mask our presence, but not forever"

"The longer we linger, the higher the chance that something—beast or cultist—will notice us. That is why this operation is not a slow march. It is a strike. Swift. Precise. Ruthless."

One of the recruits raised a trembling hand.

"What if… what if the stealth fades while we're underground?"

Arcturus looked at the boy for a long moment, then answered without hesitation.

"Then we fight. And we make sure they are the ones who regret noticing us."

A ripple of grim laughter spread through the veterans, their hardened eyes gleaming.

The recruits, though pale, found strength in the certainty of his words.

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