The leader of the Wolf bloodline and the person Emery met at the White Fang rave four years ago, Patriarch Lucious Corvin. After the Wolf bloodline was accused of betraying the alliance, no trace of the patriarch's whereabouts could be found. Even in the clan's time of greatest need, he was still nowhere to be seen, and yet… the fierce-looking man was now in front of Emery, and he was introduced by the headmaster as the core, who held crucial intel for their mission. Under Emery's unconcealed gaze, the grand magus half-blood also looked back at him for a few moments, before turning to survey the other acolytes present. "They are indeed not your usual acolytes," the Wolf patriarch said to the Headmaster. However, his expression then changed as he sighed, "We just have to make do with what we have… we don't have much time." A briefing was immediately done where they concisely discussed the latest intel the Wolf patriarch had gathered. Apparently, he had been beyond the enemy line for years, infiltrating the elven realms was something he had quite the expertise in. Soon after their discussion, the Wolf patriarch updated the data that Headmaster Delbrand had previously gathered. With it, Emery could see concern appear on the headmaster's serious face. Silva, who was beside him, also had her brows slightly furrowed upon reading it. The silver-haired girl commented with a hint of doubt, "Is this number correct? There are 10 times more than last week…" "The number I gave last time is 10 days old. Things have escalated rapidly since then." In front of Emery and the others, the data of a species called Nightwalkers was being displayed, these creatures were reported to be filling out the area outside the compound. There were roughly a few thousand of them in the data previously given to them, but now it showed they reached the tens of thousand. However, that number was just for those on the way to their mission. For the whole continent, there were estimated to be at least a few million of them, with each one of them having the power of a saint warrior with annoying abilities. These numbers might not be much of a hassle for individuals at the grand magus level like the Wolf patriarch, but this was not the case for the seven acolytes who had to get past them undetected, else they would risk jeopardizing the whole mission. On top of these creatures, the data showed sightings of at least five grand magus–level individuals, three dozen magus-level subordinates and 300 elven guards. With the sharp rise in the number of Nightwalkers and the addition of those individuals, the threat level had risen by a few levels. Although Emery wished to go, he couldn't help but doubt whether it was still possible to execute their mission. Silva evidently had the same thought as she looked toward the Wolf patriarch. "I'm sorry, but I don't think the mission is feasible," she said before turning toward Emery. "If we get spotted by even one of those creatures, we will inevitably be under the radar of a grand magus. It's nothing short of a suicide mission." After a moment of silence, Silva mentioned the base and outpost placed in the vicinity of the planet they were heading into. "In other words, if we don't complete the mission fast enough, elven reinforcements will be coming for us." As her words came to an end, silence once again permeated the entire room. Not even the headmaster had anything to say in response. The Wolf patriarch, however, added after a few moments of consideration, "While it is indeed dangerous, we might just have the luck we need. Just 24 hours ago, our team recovered a person from a group of acolytes escaping the compound. Through him, we were able to find a way to get into the compound". "However, we will need to hurry. The more hours pass, the more danger our man on the ground will be in." Hearing this, the tense atmosphere in the room loosened ever so slightly. This was certainly good news for them, but at the same time, they couldn't help but enquire about the condition of the escaping group. And the patriarch's expression gave them an inkling of what happened to the acolyte, like an indirect answer even before his verbal reply. "Most of them died and only a few of them were captured back to the compound." Unfortunately, the Wolf patriarch had no information regarding who died and who was captured back. But according to his estimation, at least one-third of the captive acolytes were already deceased. Emery thought about Klea, Thrax and Chumo, while Eeshoo thought about Jinkan, and Anzi of his master, Shatter Cross. Their minds involuntarily wandered, were the people they knew still well, or at least alive? As Headmaster Delbrand looked at the worried expression on their faces, he couldn't hold himself back from asking, "What do you all think?" "We still have to give it a try, whatever it takes," Eeshoo said first, followed by Anzi's nod of agreement. Olivier and Atlas did not comment. As for Emery, he was willing to jump into the depths of hell to save his friends, so he very much agreed with the Nephilim protégé's words. Beside him, as if she was able to read his mind, Silva quickly interjected before Emery made his decision. "Our deaths are not going to help anyone. We should think of another plan, there must be another way to do this." She then held Emery's hand and continued, "We'll think of another way to save your friends." It was a reasonable argument put out at the right time. In front of them, Lucious Corvin had a complicated expression on his face. As if he knew it would come to this, the Wolf patriarch revealed an important piece of information he believed could change the headmaster's stand on the matter. "Delbrand, I have a confirmation that the elves will move 'him' soon. We only have a window of a few days. If we want to have even a chance of saving our master, we have to move now." These words quickly pulled the attention of everyone in the room, especially Headmaster Delbrand. From the patriarch's words, it seemed the two elders also had someone they wished to save. Moreover, the person was the master of the two grand magus–level individuals. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦 Under their part-surprised and part-curious gazes, the headmaster finally responded, "Yes, we know for a fact they also held the previous academy headmaster, my master Altus Dresden."