A chapter master who commanded a great legion had died. He was the highest-ranking Dark Priest to fall since the war began—the soul-wail released at the moment Masellus's mind dispersed echoed like a gale through the vast Root Network of the wasteland, piercing and shrill, mixed with intense hatred and fury, as well as undisguised fear and unwillingness.
The scream entered Grand Priest Bolken's mind, making him gaze uncertainly toward the western plains beneath the dark night sky. He could not help softly repeating, "Masellus is dead..."
The subordinate nodes also learned this shocking news. The dark forest gathered around the hill immediately produced a chaotic series of branch and leaf friction sounds. Dark, twisted "trees" whispered across the plain, and the army of Aberrants under their command inevitably stirred as well—but the disturbance did not last long. The Grand Priest's will quickly brought the entire cult back to silence.
Two figures climbed onto the platform at the top of the hill, one after the other. Bolken watched the twin sisters appear in his line of sight, his dark-brown eyes shifting. "It seems you received the news as well."
"We could hear the sounds within the Root Network—the wail Masellus made at the instant he died was truly loud," Feilna said, shaking her head. "Ah, how tragic."
"That was our compatriot, and yours as well." Bolken immediately swayed his withered branches, his eyes fixed upon the unconcerned elf sisters. "You should show at least the most basic respect."
"Of course, we deeply regret it, but regret cannot bring Chapter Master Masellus back to life," Raina said with a sincere expression. "The key is what intelligence Chapter Master Masellus sent back before his martyrdom. How did he die? Wasn't the western legion previously advancing more smoothly than any of the other