Chapter 42: House of Crimson Moons

- A Short While Earlier -

After dropping their four teammates off, Octane continued driving the truck upwards on the slope, heading for the mansion at the very top. Despite the playful tone he used to communicate with Fanatic just now, his hands were sweaty and trembling as he held the steering wheel.

"Nervous?" Storm asked from beside him, raising an eyebrow.

"H-Huh? No, of course not. What are you talkin' about?"

"… Hm." Storm turned away and stared out the window. "We're lucky Heartbeat's squadron has never met us in person before, since we never go to headquarters… otherwise, this plan would be a no-go. The Guildmaster is giving us a chance. We can't squander it, Octane."

"I-I know… we can do this."

"No… it's not we can. We WILL do this. We must."

"…" Octane fell silent, unsure of how to respond.

Storm reached over and patted his friend's shoulder gently in reassurance. "If you think what we have to do is tough… just imagine what the other four have to pull off. We have the easy jobs — all we have to do is put up a believable act and stall as much time for them as possible."

"Yeah, I know. It's just… I've never been a good actor. Or liar, for that matter."

"… In that case, act mute. As long as you don't start excessively sweating or appearing too nervous, we should be fine — just let me do the talking."

"Easier said than done, but o-okay. I got it."

He pressed on the brakes as the truck neared the mansion's front gates, tightening his grip on the steering wheel and attempting to swallow his nervousness. There were two guards standing on either side of the entrance, and an officer of some sort who sat in a small stall about a meter away from the road.

"Halt," the officer said, even though they already were parked. Stepping out of the stall, he walked up to the truck's window and knocked on it.

Octane closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and opened the window.

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"What is your business here?" The officer asked, raising an eyebrow. "Do you know that this is the private property of the Tussian Conglomerate's CEO?"

'Interesting cover-up story,' Storm thought with a smirk in his head, but he didn't let it show on the surface.

Octane pointed at his mouth, then made an X-shape with his two arms, signaling that he can't talk. Storm took over from there.

"Crimson moons and starless nights; tranquil waves and endless fights. Beneath the moonlight shall they be born, perhaps forgotten, but never forlorn."

After a short silence and looking around to see if anyone else was trying to spy on them, the officer's expression took on a stricter look as he stared into Storm's eyes.

"… Welcome to the 7th Squadron of the Phantom Slayer Corps, the House of Crimson Moons. State your business here."

Storm smiled deep down, thinking.

'Not that I doubted it in the first place, but the Guildmaster's information was really accurate… Finn and Ivis did well to acquire her help.'

"We're here to deliver you your weekly supplies," Storm replied calmly.

"I see… but I've never seen your face before. Where's the old driver?"

"He got into… a bit of a scandal. I'm not too sure about the details myself since that's his private matters, but hey, all I know is that I got sent here to deliver you supplies. People like us, we just follow orders, right?"

"Damn straight," the officer said with a laugh. "Head on in, I'll send someone to alert the patriarch for reception."

Octane closed up the window and turned to Storm, who wore a triumphant smirk on his face.

"And just like that… we're in."

Several minutes later, the quartet arrived at the back entrance of the mansion, circling all the way around the structure via the extremely tall grass surrounding it. From where they were, they could see the truck Octane and Storm drove was already parked deeper inside, signaling that they had made it in successfully.

"Alright… according to the Guildmaster… the person we were supposed to meet up with should be right here," Iris said, looking around.

"I'll get closer to the mansion to take a look," Fanatic replied, but was stopped by a hand that came seemingly out of nowhere.

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"No need."

"Wha-?!" Fanatic leaped back a short distance and pulled out his pistol on instinct, before pointing it at the stranger. Reaper also spun his massive scythe around, ready to slash down at the target.

"Woah, woah, easy there, kid." The man raised his two hands up in surrender.

"… You're the 'traitor' we are supposed to meet up with?" Iris asked as Fanatic lowered his gun, calming down a bit. Reaper did the same.

The man, wearing fully black knight-like armor, nodded. "I became the Guildmaster's spy since I've wanted to overthrow Heartbeat for a long time now. His way of 'physical discipline' isn't discipline at all. It's just plain torture — all for his own amusement, the sadistic bastard."

"Given the tone of your voice… it's a miracle you've remained undercover for so long," Fanatic remarked in surprise.

"In this line of work, you learn to deceive others as easily as breathing. It's part of our daily lives — after all, we cannot reveal to anyone in the public world about the existence of the paracausal."

"I suppose that's… fair," Iris said hesitantly. "But we're getting off-track, and the clock is ticking. How do we get in?"

After glancing both ways, the man turned in the direction of the massive mansion.

"… Follow me."

The five ran up to the tall fences enclosing the manor, careful to use the tall grass as cover for themselves. After checking no one was watching once again, the man began digging the dirt on the floor.

"What are you doing…?" Fanatic asked, confused.

"There's a secret tunnel down here that leads into the dungeon below this mansion, where you can find the people you are looking for. They will be in the maximum-security cell, but I've prepared a replica key for you already… ah, there."

He moved out of the way to let the rest of us get a glimpse of what was below — a tunnel built out of wooden rapports, lit by torches.

Iris's eyes widened. "Wow… who built this?"

"Heartbeat ordered it built as an emergency escape route in case the guild ever comes down on us," the man explained. "He was prepared a long time ago."

"… Hmph. Sly," Finn noted quietly.

"Indeed," Fanatic agreed, then smirked. "But who knew… this would turn out to work in his enemies' favor?"

"I can lure the guards down there away from you," the man said, jumping down into the hole. "They aren't the main problem, however."

Finn, holding Iris, jumped down next, following her instructions. "What do you mean?"

"The other prisoners," the man explained as Reaper jumped in last. "They'll want to be broken out as well after seeing you rescue your friends, making a lot of noise. As much as I'd like to save them all, it just isn't realistic given the circumstances."

"… Ivy," Finn suddenly said.

"Yes?"

"How far can that special perfume the Guildmaster gave us reach?"

"Hm… she said a radius of 50 meters. How big is the dungeon?"

"The dungeon itself is enormous, but the prisoners placed near your friends are few. The room is about 10 meters by 20 meters at best," the man said after some thought. "If what the Guildmaster said is true, the perfume should be enough to cover them all."

"I see," Finn murmured. "Fanatic, are you okay up there?"

"Yeah, I got it!" He shouted back, vigorously typing on a laptop. "Reaper helped me hack into their WiFi systems just now… I should be able to use their router to channel into their consoles and override the admin panel soon, thus accessing their security cams!"

"By the time we get there, he should be finished," the man said, turning away. "Let's go. And stay behind me."

Finn and Iris nodded firmly in reply before following him, with Reaper taking up the rear as usual.

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