Alex opened his eyes to find himself laying on the ground, facing the sky.
Blinking a few times to make sense of his surroundings, he sat up and checked around to find that he was in the golden fields where barley and wheat swayed gently in the morning wind.
Unlike BoneHaven, the breeze was clean and free of impurities.
Perfect for a deep breath, unfortunately, Alex wasn’t in the mood for one as he massaged his temples while recalling the events of last night.
"What happened back there?" He wondered.
The strange and icky sensation he got while using Eternal Night, the ghost children capable of merging to form monstrosities, the lilies and slumbering people of Townsend, and finally Mrs. Granger.
What bothered him even more after the clear indication that Mrs. Granger was the cause of what was happening in Townsend, directly or indirectly, was the fact that while trying to activate his spirituality, he found himself unable to do so.
The sharp pain that he felt was followed by him having to force a brief connection.
He had never encountered such a thing.
Glancing around, he turned to find that Douglas was a few meters away.
He slowly stirred awake before glancing in Alex’s direction.
"You look well," Alex remarked.
Douglas squinted a bit before sitting up as well. "Mrs. Granger..."
"Yeah, I know," Alex remarked. "Any idea how she managed to do what she did?"
"... When I tried to move back then, I felt hands on me. Small hands but so many of them that I was prevented from moving."
"The ghost children."
"Yeah. This... I’m afraid to say but this is related to the Abyss."
"The Abyss?" Alex raised a brow.
Taking a moment to recall where he heard the word before, he quickly understood it to be when Arthur told him about the Immortal Wheels.
The one he was most uncomfortable talking about... the Abyss Wheel.
Hadn’t he said something about them being the most troublesome bunch?
"Mrs. Granger had used a card to distort the senses of your pneuma while the ghost children restricted me from making a move," Douglas explained.
"Different Mystics have different methods of using their Abilities. For the Abyss Wheel, they make use of specially made cards. I’m guessing you weren’t able to decipher the inscriptions on the card since your Spirituality couldn’t be activated."
Alex pursed his lips. "So you are saying she has the Ability to disorient a Mystic’s Pneuma."
"...this is troublesome," Alex muttered with a troubled expression.
Douglas nodded. "Based on what’s happening, I’d guess that Mrs. Granger is an Abyssal in the Soul Domain, judging from how she is still playing house here in Townsend with spiritual creatures."
"First Lock of the Abyss Wheel," Douglas replied.
Alex massaged his temples. "So our opponent is an Abyssal, that has the Ability to disorient a Mystic’s Pneuma..."
"We can be certain that if she is indeed an Abyssal, she’d have at least 3 more cards she hasn’t made use of."
"Most Mystics, after completing their origin, endeavor to have at least 2 Abilities before attempting the first Lock. If we double that for them to attempt the second Lock, that would mean..."
"Mrs. Granger hasn’t revealed all she’s capable of." Alex’s expression fell even further.
This was an opponent who had an Ability that perfectly countered everything he had, yet she still had a few more to pull out.
"I understand why Arthur doesn’t like these guys," Alex muttered in annoyance.
Douglas nodded. "Most Mystics of the Abyss Wheel are beyond problematic. I worry that we might need to find help if we want to enter Townsend again."
Douglas revealed a complicated expression as he replied. "My master."
Natasha stepped back in shock as the authority emitted by the numerous Basars threatened to crush her in a single breath
However, she soon came to a stop, gritting her teeth as she pulled out her second switchblade.
"Damn, it... I can’t run from this."
Reminding herself of what was at stake, Natasha prepared to move again when a terrifying roar echoed about the city.
It carried with it an authority that completely trumped anything the numerous Basars could muster, turning them into insects deserving of being crushed.
A moment later, a vast pillar of flames descended amid the Basars and wiped out more than half of them.
Natasha glanced at the sky and revealed a smile at the presence that had arrived.
"Basar!" Ana called out angrily, completely ignoring Natasha’s presence.
"How dare you come back up here?"
All the Basars looked up at the same time. "You cannot stop this. The advent of the Eye of Truth is upon us. Your actions only serve to delay the inevitable."
Their voices were mechanical and through close inspection, it seemed only a quarter of the Basars were talking, marking them out as real people while the rest were most likely images of the true Basar.
"Screw you!" Ana bellowed as she opened her mouth and yet another pillar of fire descended and wiped out the remainder of the Basars.
As the ashes of the Basars clones covered the park, Ana calmed herself as she couldn’t help but feel like she was being toyed with by Basar in some strange, convoluted way.
Then she frowned upon realizing something.
"Why did he do something so stupid?... There was no need for him to act now and in the central district, no doubt. Is he trying to infuriate me?" Ana pondered.
The trumpet had played at about the same time she wanted to check Ambrose’s fate after entering the tunnels.
A coincidence or... something more?
Then she turned wide-eyed. "This was a distraction!"
Unfortunately, she was a step too late in her realization.
A terrible explosion rocked the whole of BoneHaven.
It would seem today that the city would be unable to survive the calamity that was about to come.