As skirmishes began to break out all around the city, unbeknownst to the good or bad people of Krobridge, Nadia and Arwen, accompanied by Roland and Claudia made their way above ground before setting up base in the precinct of the Royal Blue.
Currently occupied by very few officers owing to the distribution of the Royal Blue across the city, they made their way to the center of the building and quickly began to construct a large magic circle which looked like a combination of the magic circles constructed for the summoning ritual.
To avoid doing it wrongly, Arwen and Nadia were the only ones who worked on the circle while Claudia and Roland remained at the entrance of the building alongside the few officers present to guard against any intruders.
Working in silence, the two ladies quickly finished up with the magic circle before picking out a few materials rich in aether to amp up the flow in the vicinity.
Just then, Nadia spoke up. "Do you have feelings for him?"
"..." Arwen paused what she was doing, confused by the question poised.
"Uhmm... I don’t understand."
"Yesterday... I heard everything." Nadia remarked as she turned to meet Arwen’s gaze.
Arwen turned silent for a moment before bursting out into laughter.
"What...what’s so funny?" Nadia asked, slightly embarrassed.
"Nothing... It’s just... hah, I think I understand now."
"I didn’t know you were eavesdropping," Arwen said with a tease.
Coughing awkwardly, Nadia replied. "It’s just... I was passing by."
"Uh-huh." Arwen chuckled before quickly quieting down, her expression taking on a more melancholic tone. "I have no such feeling for Kane."
"Then why?" Nadia asked.
Letting out a sigh, Arwen answered. "Because there’s no other way."
"But still..." Nadia trailed off as she sensed something from Arwen.
For a moment, silence reigned between the two as an exchange devoid of words took place.
After what seemed like an eternity but was barely a minute long, the two ladies reached a tacit understanding.
Taking a deep breath, Nadia seemed to regain herself as she remarked. "We may not know each other much but... It’s clear you have a beautiful heart, unlike mine."
"So I hope you can teach me."
"Teach you?" Arwen blinked in confusion.
Nadia nodded. "Mn, teach me how to have such a good heart."
"Is that even possible?" Arwen couldn’t help but ask, flustered by the incredulous request.
Nadia said nothing in response as she stepped forward and enveloped Arwen in a warm embrace.
"..." Arwen was left speechless until she decided to not reject the gesture.
As a vague bond of sisterhood began to blossom between the two ladies, none would be privy to the watchful eyes of a certain female Vampire.
It started quietly but it didn’t take long before even the oblivious citizens of Krobridge realized something was wrong.
The procession suddenly felt a lot more tense as Royal Blues stationed all around the city congregated at their position.
As murmurs began to fly, the nobles couldn’t help but feel disconcerted.
Being one of the nobles, the chosen one who was a youth with dark hair and a prideful demeanor, while resting in his golden carriage called out for one of his retainers to figure out what was happening.
"My lord, it would seem there might be an uprising currently taking place." Was the curt response.
Usually, during the celebration, the one picked as the chosen one enjoyed the privileges of the Emperor, albeit for a day, hence the means used to address him.
Frowning deeply, the chosen one inquired. "Uprising from the commoners?"
Just like most nobles who were well-informed, it wasn’t hard to hear the news about the destruction of BoneHaven which was barely a few days’ journey.
Which was why it was right to wonder if the situation now was similar.
Of course, he was right but never could he have imagined that his correctness was in a different direction.
Just then, the sky began to darken as the rays of the Lightbringer were blocked out by a dome-shaped dark barrier that covered the entirety of Krobridge.
"What’s happening?" Caught off guard by the sudden change, the chosen one grew flustered.
The retainer was unable to finish his sentence as he turned wide-eyed at the sight of the so-called chosen one impaled by a silver spear dyed red with his blood.
"Ah..ah.." was all he could manage before the entire procession descended into chaos.
"Calm yourselves!... Stay together!..." The Royal Blues at the scene tried to keep the citizens from dispersing but their attempt was pathetic at best.
With everyone running to protect themselves, the Vampires hidden in the shadows began to move.
Killing without mercy, they harvested the hearts of as many as they could get their hands on, causing the already chaotic scene to take a turn for the worse.
"They won’t be able to hold it," Elizabeth remarked while standing atop the roof of a building, her eyesight unimpeded by the sudden darkness engulfing the city.
She had the urge to rush toward the procession to help but knowing fully well it was pointless, she restrained herself.
Alex looked on with a complicated expression on his face.
Despite the timely intervention of the Department of Special Relations, the situation was already quite dire.
Turning his attention to the dark curtain, Alex muttered. "Have you begun to make your move?"
"You were right." Elizabeth suddenly said as she glanced at Alex.
Alex sighed. "It’s annoying."
"We can’t be sure that the sequence of the ritual given to us by Roland is correct, considering Nikolas was unable to completely decipher it before his death so instead of wasting our time here, figuring out where Damian is holding the ritual is imperative. In the meantime, we have to trust that Arwen and Nadia will be able to save the citizens."
"... Alright." Nodding imperceptibly, Elizabeth took one last look at the bloody scene in the distance before making her way in the opposite direction.
Sighing helplessly, Alex followed behind, snapping his fingers intermittently.
"You don’t have to do this." A child-like voice could be heard coming from within a dark space.
Damian sat at the steps leading into the hall with Charlotte standing beside him.
Ignoring the voice, Damian inquired. "Has it begun?"
"Yes. But they are meeting resistance from the liaison and her cronies."
"It’s to be expected. Now you understand why we had to upgrade our loyalists?"
"Unfortunately, so many had to be sacrificed for the strength of a few to be upgraded but regardless... it’s working out for our benefit." Charlotte replied.
Damian nodded in agreement before slowly rising to his feet. "Well then..."
"I guess it’s time we begin the devouring."
At the same time as he finished speaking, flame tongues appeared atop torches placed on the walls, illuminating the entire space to reveal hundreds of Vampires hanging from the roof with strange black threads possessing thorns wrapped around their bodies, lacerating their skin and drawing blood.
Their expressions seemed to be pleading for mercy while some tried to escape their bindings but only ended up causing the thorns to cut deeper into their skin.
Sparing a glance at the gory scene, Charlotte shook her head as though trying to convince herself of something before making her way up the stairs.
Behind her, several screams suddenly erupted with the sound of bones being violently broken and flesh being torn apart.