"Oh, my, such disrespectful behavior, Alex my boy. Where did you learn this?" Mrs. Granger scolded however Alex was having none of it as he sighed.
"You plan to keep up the act till the end?"
"Act?" Mrs. Granger turned perplexed at Alex’s statement.
Douglas gritted his teeth as he addressed Alex. "Enough with this!... I understand you are trying to get information but it’s clear this witch doesn’t plan on handing Emily over!"
"My goodness, just what is this?... Even you, Douglas?"
Douglas glared at her before unleashing his authority. "I will not ask again, Mrs. Granger. Consider this my last act of kindness with what you have done for the community. Let Emily out of whatever sorcery you have cast on this town or I will have no choice but to..."
"But to what?" Mrs. Granger cut him. "What?... Do you think I’m scared?"
From old, frail, and wise, her voice took on a more sinister tone as her smile contorted strangely.
Alex remained silent throughout the entire process, studying the changes that took place.
Douglas snorted. "I take it you refuse?"
"There are two options." Mrs. Granger remarked just as her eyes turned pitch black with black ink covering the inside of her mouth.
Reaching underneath the table, she suddenly pulled out a strange card and placed it on the table.
The card had a size similar to a normal gambling card but its design was different and on it, there seemed to be something written but Alex was unable to discern its contents.
Alex tried to activate his spirituality only to feel a sharp pain from attempting a connection with his pneuma.
It was almost as though his pneuma was disoriented, causing it to be unable to acknowledge the aether it was bathing in.
Just then, an unfathomable amount of killing intent rushed toward him, catching him completely off guard.
Then, he heard Mrs. Granger’s voice. "You can either dance to entertain the children... or leave."
With the Lightbringer lighting up Eventide, its golden lights helped to reveal the true nature of the calamity about to befall BoneHaven.
People trying to leave were stopped as Ambrose didn’t want any member of the Evil Eye brotherhood taking the opportunity to leave the city.
"How much more time do we need?" Ambrose asked as he approached the entrance of the underground tunnels.
After studying the blueprints sent by the Maple family, Ambrose had decided to attack the Evil Eye brotherhood from five angles, based on the tunnels crisscrossing the area beneath the surface.
From the north, south, east, and west, Ambrose selected a great deal of Enforcers, even asking for reinforcement from neighboring cities to ensure the attack was successful.
Using Quillion shards imbued with anti-magic runes, he planned on ripping apart the barrier before closing in on the brotherhood from all sides to not give them a chance to escape.
"The other teams are in position already, awaiting your signal." The Enforcer beside him replied.
Ambrose nodded. "That’s good."
However, he didn’t immediately call it as he knew that rushing in as is would still be disastrous considering a powerhouse like Basar was still with the brotherhood.
They were equipped with weapons made from Quillion and imbued with anti-magic runes but still... a slight mishap could lead to Basar wiping out the entire unit.
He needed a powerhouse of equal standing to keep Basar occupied.
Thankfully, they had one of their own.
[Go in. I’ll keep watching from up here. Ensure the Quillion remains active so when you see Basar, I would come to your aid]
Anastasia’s voice rang in Ambrose’s head, giving him the courage to start the mission.
Nodding at his subordinate, the latter immediately passed the message across via radio transmission.
"In the name of the Great families, we begin this subjugation!" Ambrose exclaimed loudly.
The whole of BoneHaven shook like an earthquake had struck.
Down in the tunnels, the barrier Basar had put up with the help of the Eye of Truth began to dissipate like a lie, revealing the true situation underneath.
"Sir... the situation down here is dire." A voice came over transmission.
"What is it?" Ambrose asked.
"The tunnels... have been pervaded by the Abyss."
Ambrose remained silent as he slowly turned wide-eyed.
’An invasion by the Abyss?... The Fallen Angel is from the abyss?... No, that makes things worse.’
"Lady Ana!" Ambrose immediately called out.
Anastasia didn’t waste another second in the sky as she rushed down to Ambrose’s location before transforming into her human form.
"I had no idea it would be ... no wonder I saw a trace of tainted divinity from Basar. The Fallen Angel has been corrupted by the Abyss."
"What do we do now?... If it’s the Abyss, we are sorely unprepared for such a confrontation."
"No, all is not lost yet." Ana shook her head. "Basar most likely used the barrier to cover up the corruption and his base. Since the Eye of Truth hasn’t been summoned yet, we can say that the corruption is most likely a side effect of Basar’s acts."
"So we proceed as planned?"
’But I have a bad feeling about this... what are you planning, Basar?’ she couldn’t help but ponder inwardly as she watched Ambrose direct his men to open up the entrance to the tunnels.
Pursing her lips, she decided to read Ambrose’s fate though it went against her rules.
However, at that moment, the sound of a trumpet echoed across BoneHaven.
Wide-eyed, she remarked. "Basar!"
Not wasting any more time, Ana took to the skies and rushed toward the origin of the sound.
"You are here again?" Natasha was shocked by Basar’s brazen nature.
Despite knowing the park would be heavily guarded, he dared to come and even dared to play his instrument.
He didn’t bother replying to her as he attempted to play the instrument again.
However, Natasha wasn’t about to allow that to happen as she flicked the switch on her switchblade causing a blade as long as a longsword to come out.
As she rushed forward, Natasha unleashed her anti-magic and imbued it in her blade before swinging with precision in Basar’s direction.
Unbothered, Basar plucked the string of the instrument as the sword arc struck him, splitting him into two halves.
Natasha was amazed by how easy it was to defeat him, however, she immediately took back her words as more and more Basars began to appear until the park was filled with hundreds.
She stepped back in shock. "...What is this?"