"Thank you." Alex sincerely remarked as he stood before the imposing majesty of the Broken Saintess.
He understood, based on her words, that she was taking a huge risk for him; after all, the pain he was experiencing was due to the corruption ravaging his body.
For the Broken Saintess to take it on meant she was risking her divinity being tainted by the corruption of the Abyss.
No need to thank me, dear child, I am only doing what I must to survive.
"Regardless, thank you and I will put an end to this, I promise."
I will take your word for it then, dear child.
"And after all this is over, perhaps, you and I might have a little chat."
We shall see, dear child.
Managing a smile, Alex closed his eyes and upon opening his eyes again, found himself back in the real world with Arwen peering over him with eyes filled with worry.
"You are back." She breathed out in relief.
"I am," Alex said, managing a smile as he sat up.
"And you seem fine." She added, slightly surprised that he was no longer looking like a man on the verge of death.
"For now," Alex remarked. "This won’t last so we need to take care of things before time runs out."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Come with me," Alex remarked as he tried to get up using his right hand only to realize that he had no right hand.
Clicking his tongue, he snapped and with a focused Will, utilized the Blessings of the Dark Moon to regenerate his right arm.
"Much better." He said as he got to his feet and made his way out of the basement with Arwen following closely behind.
Firstly, they returned to their bedrooms to get changed into more work-appropriate attire, with Alex opting for a tweed jacket with leather elbow patches and matching trousers, paired with a wide-brimmed felt hat and leather boots, while Arwen put on something similar, though instead of trousers, she went for a pair of shorts.
Once they were in the sitting room, Alex paused, seemingly recalling something.
"Head over to Leokhares’ house and watch over him for the night."
"In previous loops, he as well as Dolope’s daughter, Hermione, disappeared inexplicably. I want to know why and if it’s important to the loop, do you understand?"
"Don’t worry, I’ll handle everything else."
Though hesitant, Arwen nodded. "Alright then, be careful."
"I should be telling you that. Unlike me, you are heading into unknown territory, so you have to be careful, understand?... Don’t take any risks, and if you see anything, inform me, alright?"
With that, Alex snapped, applying Mindscape to him and Arwen.
"What was that for?" Arwen asked to which he replied.
"Just extra measures. Now go."
With that, she took her leave, heading out the door before hurrying down the street, well aware of Leokhares’ home address in the twenty-eight district.
Unfortunately, it was too late to find carriages, so she’d have to opt for a different mode of transport, which she did not hesitate to do as she summoned the skeletal remains of a horse.
Once she was gone, Alex snapped and a moment later, was gone in a flash of black and white.
His first destination was Theoren’s paper factory.
Upon his arrival, he found the place to be devoid of presence, an eerie silence dwelling within.
"Theoren." He called out as he made his way to the old man’s office only to find it just as empty as the rest of the building.
It seemed he was too late.
Azazel and his brothers had already struck.
In that case, he moved on to his next destination.
Though he had not made his mark at the Bookkeeper’s residence, he had done so at the library in the upper districts and so, quickly made his way over there before continuing the rest of the way via short-range teleportations until he arrived at the imposing structure with a structural design unlike any other in the city.
He dropped down from the roof he was on before making his way into the building.
Usually, there would be guards but with Azazel and his brothers using it as their lair, there was no need to waste manpower... At least that was Zenon’s reasoning.
In any case, Michael pushed the doors open only for an arrow to come flying at him the next moment.
Instinctively, he leaned to the side and the arrow flew past him, embedding itself in the ground behind him.
"Interesting." He muttered, recalling from past loops that Arwen had said nothing about there being traps, which meant... "I am not here to fight."
What he got in response was yet another arrow flying his way, only this time, he snapped with the shadowed form of Charlotte appearing in front of him and slashing it in two.
"I want you to understand that I am not here to fight. All I want is an audience with Azazel and once that’s done, I’ll be on my way."
"How do you know that name?" a hoarse voice questioned from the shadows.
"You don’t have to know, just get Azazel over here to talk to me," Alex remarked as he glanced in the direction the person had spoken from, his night vision serving him well as he spotted the assassin in an instant.
Of course, this was because the Assassin wasn’t in a camouflaged state and instead had been using the shadows of the unlit building, thinking it to be enough.
"Wait here." The assassin said before leaping down from his position and making his way into the basement space below.
Alex didn’t wish to antagonize the Assassins Guild, and so he did as the assassin asked, waiting until he felt multiple gazes on him, which informed him of the presence of other Assassins, and this time, they were all camouflaged.