Back in the real bookstore, moments before Ed fell into the void, Ulric stepped through the door. An ounce of shadow held the door open, stopping the bell from ringing and allowing Ulric to enter without drawing anyone’s attention.

Invisible to the world, he slipped behind the old store owner while he was conversing with Ed.

Vague shadows cloaked the room, preventing anyone from noticing any changes in the room as Ulric knocked the man out silently.

Draven walked through the door, closing the door quietly behind him as they both came to stand behind Ed.

Ed stood there in silence, not moving and seemingly zoned out instead of doing anything.

“Do you think he’s going to do anything?” Draven whispered to Ulric. His eyes darted around the room, making sure that nobody came close to the bookstore, his beasts scaring off anyone that came even remotely close.

Just before they were going to do something, Ed shook, zoning back into the world around him. “I’ve got it.” Ignoring Draven and Ulric, he hurriedly went about pulling apart the shelf, tossing books to the floor in a seemingly random order.

Draven and Ulric stepped away, steering clear as the books fell to the floor behind Ed. Draven shot Ulric a questioning eyebrow, who only shrugged in return.

Pulling one last book off the shelf, Ed stepped back with a sigh, watching in anticipation. Please. Please.

As if the world could hear his pleas, the bookshelf dropped into the ground, revealing the stairwell leading into the darkness.

“Let’s go, before they find out about us.” Ed gestured to the others to follow him.

Draven dove into the shadows, swimming down to near the bottom of the stairwell, coming to a stop at the sound of voices.

“Do you really think someone’s found us?”

“I don’t know. But boss seemed pretty adamant about having us watch the stairwell, so I think it’s true.”

“But it’s been nearly an hour, and no one’s come through. If he was really being followed, the old man upstairs would’ve let us know.”

Draven snuck upstairs, telling the others what he heard before going back to hide in one of the guard’s shadows.

“Either way, we have to stay here otherwise the boss will kill us, so quit your grumbling.”

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While Draven was downstairs in the guard’s shadow, Ed and Ulric were making their way down the stairs. Despite his size, Ulric remained completely silent with ease, while Ed had to focus to make sure he didn’t give them away.

Ed stopped just before they reached the bottom of the stairs, while Ulric continued moving forward silently. He walked right between the guards as they continued their conversation, not even batting an eye.

This is just ridiculous. Ed watched, bewildered, as Ulric stood right behind one of the guards, and as if they had done this millions of times before, Ulric and Draven struck down the guards at the exact same time. They gently guided their bodies to the ground, stopping them from falling before they made any noise.

Ed joined them at the bottom of the stairs, where they found themselves in a hallway lit up entirely by the light coming from the end of the tunnel.

Maintaining the same approach, the trio crept forward with Draven in the lead. Passing through the shadows, he was stopped from moving further than the hallway, as the next room was completely flushed with lights, destroying any and all shadows. “We might have to fight.”

Ulric took the lead entering the brightly lit room while the others waited in the hall.

The room was a stark white chamber, lit up by several overhead lights and wall sconces, making sure every part of the room was brightly lit from all directions. The room was completely bare, aside from a single door opposite the hallway.

He scanned the room in search of cameras but couldn’t immediately spot anything. There was a numpad attached to the door handle, acting as the locking mechanism. The door was completely opaque, so he was unsure what could possibly be on the other side. He waved the others forward and left Ed to figure out the code.

Spending a few short moments in the void, Ed quickly popped back out and unlocked the door.

The second the door opened; they were greeted by a tidal wave of guards aiming their guns at the door.

Shit. Ed dove to the side as a bundle of threads, narrowly avoiding the hail of bullets thanks to his new, more compact form. He casted a small shadow while he was in the air, which Draven took advantage of to also escape the gunfire.

Ulric shielded his head as he charged forward, bullets pinging off him as he barrelled through the waves of people, completely unstoppable as he forced his way to the other side of the room. The gunfire stopped, as a section of the guards pulled out their melee weapons and charged at him.

The people on the ground scrambled to their feet, as Draven took this chance to finish off a few that were too slow to move.

The guards were well trained and disciplined. While a third of the room was locked in combat with Ulric, most of them kept their guns trained on the doorway, knowing that there were more enemies.

Draven dove between the crowd, tripping up the guards and keeping them all on their toes, pestering the enemies across every corner of the battlefield.

Knowing that he had to do something, Ed attached himself to the roof, and snuck in through the top of the doorway, avoiding any gunfire. You can do this. They tried to kill you. They won’t die unless we attack their soul. It’ll be fine. Lurking on the ceiling, he watched the battle with rapt attention, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.

Ulric landed a heavy blow on someone, sending them hurtling across the room, their body parallel to the ground. Draven launched up from the shadows, kicking the man in the back and sending him soaring above the crowd.

Now!