Chapter 106: Chapter 104: No More Hiding

Gravewall was empty. The personnel weren't anywhere to be seen, and even the patients had seemingly disappeared. Night had fallen over Eastford Town, and he was thankful that he could see through the darkness of the asylum, because not a single light was on. He wondered if Rainey had done it on purpose, for theatrics perhaps, or if she had decided to unplug the life support off of Gravewall. Eventually, he found himself in front of her office.

The door was ajar; she had been expecting him, no doubt about that. A chatter could be heard from Rainey and Jerry. Then, as he approached, silence. And the moment he stepped into the office, he was immediately under their expectant gazes. Jered couldn't help but notice their attire. Whatever they had decided to don for that day was hidden under a silky, black cloak. Those garments were so black, in fact, that they absorbed light. It was as if they were dressed in shadows, with a withered rose emblazoned across the heart.

It was the emblem of their organization. And if they were dressed like that, it meant they were fully prepared to come back to the world. No more hiding.

"I heard the commotion from here," Rainey grinned from ear to ear, eyes sparkling with power and something else, "Did you take care of Ashy Petals?"

"Yes," he nodded expressionlessly, "Though... I'm afraid there won't be any resources for us to move to Akashka. I razed down their whole building in the heat of the moment. Then again, it would have been destroyed regardless of what I did. The Sems Lunar Cult was the one puppeteering everything from the shadows. But you already knew that, right?"

"Guilty as charged," she laughed, staring at Carneval behind him, "Oh, you took him with you."

Jered sighed, "I wasn't sure whether to kill him or not. He did say your name, babbling on about a grand purpose and working for you. However, now that we're on topic. What do you want me to do with him?"

"You do know that Ashy Petals is actually also a successful company, don't you?"

A nod, "Yes... Evelyn told me that," then realization dawned on him, "You want to use him...?"

"Uh-huh. All of the other executives are dead, and with Ambrose out of the picture... there is only one executive left. Naturally, Evelyn, as the only successor, will take the reins of the company in the interim. That's only a question of time. She doesn't know how to run the business; Ambrose might have considered her as an apt candidate for the succession of Ashy Petals, but the company? No. Since Magicians are so longevous, it probably never crossed his head to address the issue of who was going to take his place in case he died."

Jered blinked, "Ambrose isn't dead. I did leave him half dead... but that was more of a gift for Evelyn than anything else."

"It doesn't matter," Rainey seemed to know what was happening on the other side of the town, "I wonder what choice she'll make."

"..."

Rainey turned her attention to Carneval, "You're weak, thus you are to stay here until we return. Make sure you have a solid grip on the company's assets. I didn't lie when I said I have a bigger purpose for you."

Carneval was immensely respectful as he nodded, chest puffed out and hands clasped behind his back.

"This is for you, lad," Jerry took a drag of his cigarette as he handed a cloak to Jered—the same one they were wearing, "Rainey knitted it herself, using a rare type of silk that you can only find in Archiland. And, obviously, I enhanced it. It's extremely durable, which means it will be quite hard for someone to tear it, and even if they did, it has an auto-repair feature. Fancy, eh? It can also speed up mana regeneration and negate a portion of physical damage. But that's not the best part..."

"Oh, what's the best part?"

"It's very fashionable! The ladies will love it!"

Jered laughed, "You're my stylist to go, Jerry!"

"Right?" Jerry raised his hand for a high five, and Jered readily complied.

Rainey sighed as she massaged her temples, "Hurry up and put that on!"

"Aye aye," Jered rolled his eyes as he draped the cloak over his coat, "It does look good though."

"..."

"I'll go back now. I have a few calls to make," Carneval interrupted, "The rest of the shareholders will want to know of today's events."

A dismissive wave of Rainey's hand was all he got. And with that as his cue, he promptly left.

Jerry's hand rested on his shoulder, "It's time..." his voice had lost a great quantity of its humor, "We don't know when we'll be back. I hope you made up a believable excuse."

"Don't worry. Everything should be fine."

Rainey stared at him, "I'm going to give you a quick summary of what we're going to do there."

He stared back at her, listening.

"As you know, my powers are slowly fading. Naturally, it would take quite a while for them to fully disappear... but we can't have that, can we?" there was a tense pause as she walked up to him and smiled, "Luckily, I found a ritual that could help me recover from that curse... and regain my youth..." there was an eager sparkle in her voice.

Jered was surprised, "That sounds... dangerous..."

A ritual was an equivalent exchange between the user and mana itself. Since there was no spell that could help her with that, a ritual would be used. It would have been the same for Kenny's circumstance. He didn't know what they would have had to give in return—for Kenny's case—but there was no doubt that it would have been something most people couldn't afford. And Kenny's situation might not even have been that serious. As for Rainey? He really wondered to what extent they'd go to make that wish come true.

"It won't be easy... but I'm going all out for this mission. Failure is not an option. We must be successful, no matter what."

He could infer what was left unsaid. If they screwed up, she'd lose her powers, and most likely die from the curse.

"What do we need to do?"

Jerry was the one that explained, "The ingredients, Jered. We have to get ahold of the ingredients."

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"Okay, and what are those ingredients?"

"For the curse... we have to rip the heart out of our enemy—the one who cursed Rainey, and use it as the catalyst for the next procedure, which is to... take blood from the royal, young, and innocent. It's symbolic in nature. The heart of Rainey's most hated foe will restore her powers, and the blood of the unsullied will renew her vitality. Everything will be connected by a chalice of Holy Nectar, for it contains slight divine properties."

"It won't be easy," Rainey admitted. And if she, of all people, said so, then the journey was bound to be hazardous, "We'll be making a lot of enemies. So, don't lose your focus. Don't toy with your enemy and go straight for the kill."

Jered nodded.

"Good," she waved her hand, and a portal cracked open in front of them, its suction force messing everything up around them, "Let's go."

She floated inside, followed closely by Jerry.

Jered allowed himself a few seconds as he pulled Ashy Petals' ring out of his finger and slipped in Akashka's. This time, there was no distraction. He had left his arcane mastercard with Jasmine, and along with it, enough slabs of his flesh to last her for a couple of months—if she remembered to use the freezer he bought solely for her. It was a painful process, that of mutilating himself to stave off her hunger, but he didn't trust her to find her own food without alerting the whole world.

She was very clumsy when distracted or excited, and albeit that was an endearing trait of hers, her situation was delicate and he hoped she'd be discreet when at home.

Evelyn's situation was a bit concerning, but she was a grown-up woman and very responsible. He had no doubt that she was going to be fine.

The crack pulsed impatiently, and Jered didn't tarry any longer. He stepped right through it.

---

The sky was as he remembered, though with a heavier hint of light blue. It was most likely morning; the sun was high up and the purple hues were less evident. Jered was spat out of the portal along with Rainey and Jerry. Their cloaks billowed in the wind as they floated at a high altitude. A mountain range was barely visible in the distance over the light mist shrouding the landscape around them. Underneath them was a village.

Not of Dark Humans. The buildings and pathways had a more modern flair, contrary to the shabby layout of the Dark Humans' settlements. The village looked better built and durable, with trained guards garrisoned atop the walls. Jered spread out his 'Mana Sense', and he could immediately feel sources of mana—coming mostly from the stronger Swordmasters. There were a couple of Magicians, but they ranged from Neophyte to Adept-Tier, simply not worth taking a second look at.

"What is this place?" Jered asked as they slowly made their descent.

"Cliffstone Village. A remote, god-forsaken place in the middle of nowhere," Rainey said monotonously, "This place is so peaceful that no one here has ever seen any monster more threatening than a goblin. A Magician here could be considered of high aristocratic status, and pretty much revered by anyone. A quite wonderful place to retire to if you're a low-level Magician."

"Okay, but why are we here?"

"Klava is the one that cursed me. She probably thinks I don't remember her since she sneaked that attack on me. But I know everything about her. Her name, her age, her living quarters, the last time she had a good dickin'... aaaand... where her parents live."

"She's hot, by the way..." Jerry chimed in, whispering with a knowing chuckle.

Rainey shot him an icy glare, which promptly shut him up, "Anyway..." she continued evenly, "... it would be foolish to intrude into Klava's territory. She won't be alone. She never is. We'll bait her out by using her parents. She placed them here exactly because she feared for their safety. This place is so far from any other civilization that you would have to know its location in advance to find it."

"Is that what you've been up to lately? Tracking Klava's parents down?"

"I was left with no other choice," she replied with a casual shrug, "If push came to shove, we would have barged into her guild. Luckily, it didn't come to that. I'd rather not fight unless I have to."

The moment their feet touched the ground, their combined mana presence pressed on the village. The guards, as if controlled by one mind, all stared at the same direction. A bout of silence followed as Jered, Rainey, and Jerry's oozing power demanded peace and obedience. That was why no one uttered a word when the intruders casually ambled through the streets. The surrounding villagers gasped for breath as they dropped to their knees, hands clutching their chests.

All it would take them was a slight stirring of their mana, and genocide would ensue.

Those villagers were normal folks, after all. The magic density was enough to drown them and crush their insides.

It was for that same exact reason that no one attacked them.

"So quiet here," Jerry commented with a bored groan.

The villagers struggled to get out of their way and scurry back to safety, though considering how far the intruders' power had spread, the whole village had become a death trap.

"W-W-W-W-Who..." a voice, masculine—though the frightened high pitch made it sound more like a squeal—rang out behind them, "... a-a-are y-you?"

Rainey, Jerry, and Jered slowed down to a halt and turned around.

Three sets of powerful eyes bore into one lone man, whose act of bravery crumbled under the violent waves of mana.

A wet patch grew in his pants.

"Visitors," Rainey said simply, waiting a few seconds more to see if a rebuttal would have made their way. But none came. So she turned back around and continued on. Jerry and Jered did the same.

The man fell down in a heap of fright and fluids as he was left behind in the empty road. He could hardly breathe, as if his lungs had decided to boycott him—probably due to his less than a wise decision of approaching those monsters. Someone, a guard perhaps, ran over to him and pulled him up, "Sir, are you okay?" he could barely register the concerned baritone over his own gasps.

"I'm..." another gasp, this time less intense as the distance between him and those figures got larger, "I'm... okay..." he wheezed out, a hand over his heart, "P-Please, inform Lord Calian immediately!"

The guard sprinted into a run as soon as the order was given, knowing the severity of the situation. Meanwhile, the man found a building to lean on as he stared at the silhouettes rounding up a corner and disappearing. Only one thought raged in his head.

'Who the fuck are they?!'

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