Chapter Seven: What Individuals can do

Part One.

“Are you sure we have to do this?!”

“Yes, I am sure. There is no reason to reject Mr. Falsch and Ms. Nachahmung idea.”

*Sigh*

“I knew it.”

Alba, reluctant to follow Engel and Lene’s plan, was trying to persuade Adrianna in order to rebel against the two, yet she was quite eager to try the plan provided to them.

“Is it me or actually you’re amused by the danger?”

“It is none more than your imagination if so I say.”

Replied Adrianna while smiling mischievously, as she’d not do in public, which made Alba puzzled.

For this occasion, Engel and Lene asked the two of them to be in business-like wear, which was one of the reasons that Adrianna was complaining they spent long time under the sun, on an heliport without any means of prevent their clothing of ruining.

After so much nagging from her part, Lene restored their clothes to the state previous to their meet-up.

*Glup*

At this moment, they walked unfazed towards the main entrance of the building they were watching a while ago. Alba, highly nervous, gave a step forward inside the [Antimagic FIeld Barrier] together with Adrianna.

Because the highly trained guards recognized the two of them, they didn’t move an inch, much less make an expression; but didn’t hesitate a millisecond to report this to their immediate superior.

[Two people have just came by the main entrance. They are [Elite Shadow], Alba Roth and [Elite Electric], Adrianna Livingstone.]

[Got it. I’ll relay the info ASAP.]

Thus, in less than one minute, the arrival of Alba and Adrianna would’ve been relayed to Terrance Ace.

But-

“Ms. Livingstone, Mr. Roth. What a surprise having you here.” Said a person in businesswear. He seems to be a person of high position among the ones around.

“Indeed. I hope this is not a bad time, as we came unannounced. My deepest apologizes for this ‘intrusion’.”

“Do not mind such details. People from your caliber are welcome anytime.”

“Thank you very much for your words. It’s my intention to have a slight talk with Mr. Ace; Is it possible he can receive us as soon as possible?”

“A talk? I am afraid that-”

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

[What’s wrong?!]

Asks the person who is talking with Alba and Adrianna, thorough the network, to a subordinate of his.

It seems some kind of silent alarm, only noticeable by the crew of the facilities was triggered.

[Someone invaded the airspace of the top of the building moments ago and now… They’re trying to break through! It seems our people on the roof is knocked out and bit by bit, these people are indeed making a hole through the structure!]

Part Two.

“... Strikes?”

“Mmm… five or six; Oh!- Be careful not to break the building.”

“... Gotcha.”

At the same moment Adrianna and Alba waltzed inside the facilities down below, Izaak and Isold were on the heliport, landing after a swift fly through the sky thanks to a small boat-like artifact made by Izaak. That artifact was floating above them a couple of meters, operated by Anya and Kris who inspected their below, puzzled.

Suddenly-

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*

Isold, without any second thoughts hit the building with her bare hands, manipulating her strength so the building didn’t collapse and the shockwave created by her raw power shook the insides of the whole building faintly.

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*

*BANG!*

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“That’s enough. Let’s go back to the [Sailor]”

“... Yeah.”

Sailor is the name of the small boat floating above their heads; and in an instant both Isold and Izaak appeared inside it after finishing their given task. Isold had a prideful face while Izaak just looked at her with a soft gaze.

What a simple woman- He thought.

“....... What was that for?” Asked Anya as she was bewildered by the sudden actions.

“It’s a part of a bigger plan devised by Engel. He’s the only one who knows the whole picture- We’re only here doing small tasks.” Shrugged his shoulders Izaak as he activated his [Twin Call].

(He seems to trust Metatron quite a lot… Completely different from the rumors…) She noticed from Izaak’s words.

“Now….. Okay… Anya- You know [Divine Element Magic] right?”

“Yes! It’s my speciality! How ya dare to even ask?” She replied while smiling smugly.

“Just making sure. Now- I want you to make us invisible.”

“................... Eh?”

“What’s with that face? Come on, quickly!”

“Mister, Anya’s speciality indeed is Divine Magic, but how do I say it- She’s a-”

“Boom boom destroy it all?”

“.......... Exactly.”

Anya averted her face in shame while grinding her teeth in frustration as Kris told Izaak her weakness.

Her raw strength was comparable to Engel in his Sephiroth form, but she was ultimately unable to correctly control it to it’s full extent.

“... Dumbass.”

Added Isold, as some sign of antagonism towards Anya while Izaak took out a mirror-like object out of his [Item Box].

“There, use this.”

Throwing the artifact towards Anya, the plan followed its course.

Part Three.

“What?!” Exclaimed Terrance when he suddenly found himself in an eerie situation.

Silber, who was reporting to him seemed frozen in the air; he could not even feel her aura. Not only that, but also everything around him lost color and there was not even the mere trace of a sound around him.

(What’s this?!... Is this a coup d’etat? An assassination?!- No way… but-)

“Hello, Terrance.”

Said a calm yet strong voice behind him. He abruptly turned around and found two people there. A lean and extremely beautiful woman, and a unique-looking guy.

“L-Lost gods!”

“Lets not waste time, okay? Tell me, who did you contact?”

Asked directly Engel, the one confronting Terrance. Originally, his plan was to make Terrance get out of the desk and then copy all his HDD in one of his own, but then as he was hid in a corner of the office, covered in a slight barrier of [Mind] created by Lene just in case- He detected something.

Lene did so as well and then they saw Terrance talking to someone thorough his [Twin Call].

What did he detect? That’s of course, [Mind] traces.

He could not hear the conversation, much less know the core purpose of it- But he did know [Mind] energy around meant serious trouble.

(Who did I contact?... What does he know? Why is he asking that specifically? Does he know what I talked about?.... No. Probably he doesn’t know at all- but why is he asking that? what extent of our plans does he know?...)

Despite being in front of someone of Engel’s caliber, Terrance’s head was working at it’s finest- His environment, despite his power, was full of scheming bastards and multi-faced traitors. Even under the pressure of the strong he wouldn’t easily budge.

(First of all let’s assume the worst- If he knows what I was talking about, and all my plans- there’s no need to directly ask who was behind the scheme. The best is to work out a deal with the slightest changes in our statuses- Yet he’s overly oppressive and menacing….

He’s bluffing…)

“Why should I tell you? What need is there for me to comply to your words?”

*Kuh!*

To Terrance bold remarks- Engel grunted.

(... I hope I’m right. He’s way stronger than me and he can make it so I spill the words easily- Luckily he understands I’ve got ways to hide everything important- and in the worst case to go down with my own secrets… which he’s not willing to risk.

So, what he wants to know is not something accessible, but something only I know- just as he asked, whom I talked to… He knows something…. But what does he know?...)

At the same moment, Engel was moving a train of thoughts in his own.

(This space is really limited for the types of magic I can use, yet this is the only way of getting intel out of him without raising suspicions… Fuck! What do I do for him to spill the beans…)

[Engel, remember we’ve only got 5 or so minutes. Creating this and concealing our tracks it’s too much even for me…] Reported Lene to him, afraid the [Mind] entity that contacted Terrance could detect them.

She knew that no one who knew [Mind] was a simple being, as well as this seemed heavily related to whatever was happening around them; any lead was gold for them at the moment.

(Wait a minute… His answer is really suspicious… Does he really know our true objective? We should’ve caught him off ward but he seems too defiant; is he bluffing? Of course! He doesn’t know the effects of Lene’s Arcana and its limitations- but wait… He’s the head of a company… He knows the implications of losing intel, that’s why he’s closed in here…

He might have something to screw the intel we might get even over his dead body- though, he’s a cunning yet cowardly bastard who uses underhanded tricks… Why is he so overly defiant then?....

Why hasn’t he used the power he has over the kidnapped? Does he not have a way to?- No, he should… But then again, why?...)

The time was moving slowly even inside that time-stopped world.

((What should I do?...))

“I suppose…”

(I got it)

Part Four.

(First of all, get both in equal grounds; then, lead the conversation. Guess everything you can from subtle gestures and make it so the other person has no other way than comply to your demands. Listen to the other party’s words and counter. As long as you got the advantage in knowledge of the situation- you’ll win…)

Thought Terrance while slowly moving away from his desk.

“I suppose, you’ve come here to ask me to release your beloved ones and get something from me… Fret not, I won’t do anything unnecessary. I know you’ve already made plans to release them by other means, so I won’t interfere… Maybe.

Then again, I suppose you didn’t listen to my conversation- So, why are you so eager to know?”

At the same time, Terrance moved his hand to his pocket with swiftness and and took the [Twin Call] in his hand, while smirking.

(I guess the reason they’re not attacking and asking as well for the one who contacted me, is because they know at least something- the scale of the person I talked to… They’re afraid… Once I calmed a bit down, I understood- The seriousness he was asking- as if he meant to know nothing else…

Thus, the best way equaling the ground with someone of their caliber is making them think I can get back at them…

*Sighs*

I really don’t like these tactics of threatening with force but what else can I do? Moreover, they already have an unfavorable opinion of my by kidnapping their relatives and acquaintances…)

“Tch… The… The reason we want to know is because there’s something threatening us from the shadows. Lurking around us and trying to destroy us. There’s no way we’d let that hidden entity threaten us and laugh behind the scenes!”

Declared Engel in a somewhat valiant and slightly cheesy way.

(I knew that already- For some reason She’s been eager to get the Lost gods’ status window, guess they’re an annoyance to her or something…

But… is there should be more to it… I don’t believe he’s telling me everything. The Metatron of the stories wouldn’t talk about this so eagerly… I believe he’s hiding something behind those cheesy words… But what is it?...)

Terrance stared at Engel, hinting he didn’t believe his words, to what he was forced to keep talking.

[How many time left, Lene?]

[4 minutes.]

[Tch…]

“We… We don’t know a thing. We only know that entity is targeting us and might as well be a danger to everything around. We’ve been in the dark too much time and with the intel you have we’ll get a lead on our quest. We just don’t want to see the ones around us suffer for something we neglected.”

(He’s… surprisingly honest… Tch, I just can’t hate people like that…

But I just can give his her name either…)

While Engel talked about their reasons, Lene frowned to find he did spilled the beans easily, as if afraid of touching a bad nerve.

“Well, I am sorry but I can’t give you anything I know just because you want it, am I right?”

Mocked Terrance, trying to look superior to Engel.

Engel clenched his fists and moved slightly closer to the computer on Terrance’s desk.

“You can’t force me to spill the beans- Any contradictory movement you have, with one word of mine will doom your acceptance to society, but not only that- It’ll damage your loved ones and ultimately hinder your quest… Tell me- Are you sure you can win against that entity?”

[2 minutes!]

With Lene’s words in his head, and the interrogant made by Terrance, Engel found himself unable to answer right away, and with some hesitation he replied-

“... I don’t know."