Darkness flooded space in the middle of nowhere. A man was levitating calmly in the center of the darkness mass with his eyes closed as if meditating. His breathing was even, and his posture relaxed. However, with every breath, more darkness left his nostrils. The puffs of darkness swirled around him, not wanting to leave his side. Suddenly, he sensed something. Something or someone seemed to have disrupted him, following which thin lines appeared on his forehead. His body jerked, and his eyes flew open to reveal pitch-black darkness inside them. His eyes seemed like bottomless pits of void.

"How long was I asleep?" He wondered.

The man had no idea of time anymore. Days, years, or millennials could have passed.

A thin smile formed on his lips.

“How long has it been since my Essence found a suitable seedling?” The man shrouded in darkness murmured.

His expression changed slightly as he focused on his Essence. He grinned a trace of surprise plastered on his face.

“Oh? He regained control of his body. That’s rare.”

The man retracted the mass of darkness swirling around him and pulled it closer. The darkness seemed to heed his call and began covering his body like a second skin. It rushed towards its master and began coating his body in a thick and even layer. Several small and large tendrils sprang out of the armor like restless serpents. The armor of darkness was a lot stronger and more rigid than Xavier’s. The tendrils were swirling and twitching, cutting into the fabric of space, tearing it with every inch the man moved.

“Maybe it is time to get started. I shouldn’t let her wait too long.”

**

Xavier regained his senses. The crimson world around him returned to normal. Cold sweat trickled down his cheeks, and his back was suddenly drenched in sweat. The lifeless body of the Lesser Succubus was sprawled in front of him, her aged and drained face distorted in utter agony.

What…happened just now?

Xavier recalled everything that had just happened but couldn’t explain it. The darkness that oozed out of him had overwhelmed him. It took charge of his body for a few seconds, enough to eradicate the Lesser Succubus in the worst possible way. Xavier was not sad about her death, but he shuddered when he realized that he lost control of his body and his rationale.

That darkness. What is that? Where is it coming from? It feels so familiar….almost like I’m caught in a dream. Dream? Wait! The darkness feels like the darkness I’ve dreamt about?! How can that be possible? What is happening to me?

Xavier was scared. However, he was not the only one.

He shook his head, and the death grip on his blade finally loosened, but he did not drop it. Taking a step back, he looked around and noticed his team members staring at him as if he had grown a third arm.

Xavier scratched the back of his head and muttered. “Well, at least she is dead now.”

He attempted to ease the situation, but the people stepped back involuntarily when he took a step forward.

I’ll deal with you guys later.

He thought and rushed to his Mother and Leyla, whom the Lesser Succubus had severely bruised. His heart began to race like there was no tomorrow, and he shot toward Linsey and the other Healer, who were busy treating Silvia and Leyla with their Healing Cards. The Supporters who came with their small strike force used their Support-type Cards to help the Healers, while Xavier did his bit by utilizing every bit of Healing Energy that had accumulated in his energy pool.

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“I won’t allow you to die like this!” He declared, his sore muscles trembling wildly.

Losing control of his body and letting the darkness overcome him took a significant toll on his body and mind. He was still reeling from the aftereffects and had difficulty focusing on what he was doing. But a voice inside him kept reminding him that his mother was gravely injured and that she needed all the help she could get. So, despite his head hurting like crazy and his limbs twitching uncontrollably at times, he forced his body to function properly.

A healer saw a few cuts and bruises on his skin and a trembling hand, but Xavier shook his head, pointing at the two women in front of him. His injuries could wait.

Healing his Mother and Leyla was more important than his issues!

The other group members focused on killing off the remaining enemies who lost their bravado after seeing the Lesser Succubus die miserably. Like cowards, they began to flee instead of fighting. Then, it was just a matter of time before the other members of Haven captured and silenced the bandits, Ghouls, and Lesser Vampires.

As the Healers did their magic, Leyla and Silvia’s wounds began to heal. The blistering wounds began to scab as new, translucent skin began to form while the bleeding stopped. Xavier watched nervously as he heard the faint creaking of the joints, which told him the healers were aligning the broken joints and torn muscles, filling in the gaps as new tissue formed.

You can do it, guys!

He hoped and prayed to whatever God existed in the apocalypse that both the women would recover soon. The healers spent a lot of time and energy fixing their injuries. Some color returned to their faces, and Xavier gently touched his mom's wrist. Her pulse was weak, but it was there.

Mom!!

He screamed in his mind because speaking it out loud right now was too much work for his brain. His gaze flicked to Leyla, whose angry bruises were also ebbing away.

Her body suddenly twitched, and she took a deep breath as her eyes flew open. She was gasping for breath, and her vision was blurry. She raised her hand to hold her head weakly and focused on Xavier’s nervous face.

“I thought it was over,” She muttered. But Xavier could not afford to sigh in relief. His mother was still battling for her life. Her body seemed to respond to the healer’s treatment weakly. And she had not regained consciousness. Luckily, one of the healers looked at his ashen face and then at Mark’s, so he added.

“Her breathing has returned to normal, but it looks like she might need a bit more rest. But she will be fine.”

At that, both son and father sighed in relief.

“Let’s leave. We attracted too much attention,” Zora Vador shouted as she emerged from a collapsed building. She was covered in dirt and dust but ignored everything else once she found her unconscious daughter. Silvia Vador’s clothes were covered in blood, startling Zora. She rushed to her daughter and checked her pulse right away. A sigh of relief escaped her lips once she sensed her daughter’s pulse. Silvia was still alive.

“I couldn’t kill the monsters after they went berserk, but they ran away at some point. The leader of those Demonic Card Holders is probably still out there!” Zora Vador explained a little bit more calmly than a moment ago.

“Let’s leave!”

The members of the strike force moved quickly. Mark picked up his wife while Pauline supported Leyla. Xavier wanted to help Leyla first, but Pauline shook her head. She noticed how worn out Xavier was, which was no wonder. A faint gust brushing against him could probably knock him out.

The strike force went through the bandit camp once again. They offered all the survivors a chance to join them in living in a better place. Some accepted the offer, but a few hid in the corner of collapsed buildings. However, a few men and women also got up from the ground to pick up the bandit’s weapons. They bawled their eyes out while stabbing the dead bodies of their perpetrators dozens of times angrily.

Nobody in the strike force could imagine these bandit camp survivors' feelings. They didn’t even know how long the malnourished men and women suffered under the bandits’ constant torture and their assaults. It was hard to imagine what they’d gone through. In the first place, nobody wanted to imagine what must have happened to them.

I wonder if they can overcome it.

Xavier sighed deeply. He wasn’t even sure if he could return to his usual self after what had happened a few minutes ago. It was impossible to tell how the unfortunate men and women of the bandit camp would overcome their traumas.

Their traumas worried Xavier greatly, but something concerned him a lot more.

The two Lesser Succubi were dangerous opponents but didn’t feel like they were the camp's leaders.

‘Where the hell is their leader?’