Agent Jones charged toward the ninth door on the underground floor. She placed three fingers on each side of her head and called out, "Mental Stronghold!"
A spherical, translucent azure mantle manifested around her head, glowing brighter with each step closer to the ninth door. Soon, the entire Mental Stronghold became a blinding white bubble, releasing a wave that revealed gaseous purple Magick seeping from the seams in the doorframe.
Agent Jones pulled a red baton from inside her jacket and rammed it into the ninth door, blowing it open.
That was the last thing Michael saw of Agent Jones before he entered room 2.1. Inside, he found two men in purple robes. The first, Sharif Ma'adal, was a high-ranking member of the Cult and one of Team A's targets. The second man was Yarin Park, a regular Cult member.
Sharif Ma'adal stood at the center of a Magickal Circle, over half his body consumed by a purple, jelly-like substance as he chanted from a piece of paper.
The Magick in the room was stronger and more corrupted than what Michael had sensed the previous day. It caught him off guard, and he didn't notice Yarin Park until she closed the door behind him and charged at him with a knife.
Michael swiftly turned, grabbing her hand and crushing the bones in her knife-wielding grip.
"All heathens will be food for Kinta-Lath-Macbur!" Yarin Park wickedly smiled, seemingly unfazed by the pain.
'She's drugged…' Michael guessed, but it was too late.
Yarin Park clenched her teeth around a mysterious vial concealed within her molar. In an instant, her eyes widened with a pain that sent shivers down her spine. Her body convulsed violently, limbs flailing uncontrollably, as her once composed features contorted into a mask of pure agony. Her cries, now distorted and guttural, echoed through the room, but they were cries of pleasure, not suffering.
Michael let go of Yarin Park's hand as her body turned into a purple liquid, which was absorbed by the Magickal Circle, hastening the Summoning Magick to near completion.
A resolute glint flickered in Michael's eyes. He kicked the ground, cracking it. The Magickal Circle was slightly crooked but otherwise intact. Sharif Ma'adal, on the other hand, was distracted enough for the summoning Magick to falter and weaken for a single moment.
To Michael, the moment was plenty. He pounced, crossing the boundary of the Magickal Circle and punched Sharif Ma'adal's head off, ensuring he couldn't end himself in a similar fashion to Yarin Park.
'Next room!' Michael told himself, grabbing the piece of paper and pocketing it to turn over to the Bureau after the mission. He charged out, channeling all his strength into his feet at the center of the dimming Magickal Circle, causing it to shatter completely.
'Team D arrived!' He felt the Magick of the Cult clashing with different kinds of Magick in rooms 2.2 and 2.3, figuring the five members split between those two rooms.
'The Magick from 2.4 is intensifying!' He rushed there and discovered a situation similar to room 2.1, but with three cult members in addition to a high-ranking member at the center of the Magickal Circle. All three sacrificed themselves to accelerate the summoning Magick.
Michael's body sweltered in response to the corrupted purple Magick. It was too late to stop. The jelly-like matter consumed the top brass member of the Cult like a cocoon. Michael took a cautious step forward when a "CRACK" resounded in the room, and a shockwave blasted him against the wall.
"Fuck!" Michael landed on his feet, more hurt by the Magick contained in the shockwave than by the impact with the wall. He wasn't bleeding, just feeling a little stiff.
He stood up and stared at the Corrupt Being at the center of the now Magickless Circle.
It looked like the same top brass member of the Cult… Daniel Craig, mostly. Its skin was glossy and purple. Four crystallized horns grew from the sides of Its head. It had four purple eyes, a thick tail that matched Its height, and zero emotions on Its face.
The Corrupt Being raised Its hands and clenched them, testing their strength. At Its lower back, Its tail thrashed the ground to gravel.
Done gauging Its physical capabilities, It dropped Its hands and rested Its tail, then turned to face Michael.
'Its Magick is higher...' Just as the thought crossed Michael's mind, the tips of the four horns released purple rays that targeted him.
Michael dodged the rays as they combined and burnt a hole in the wall behind him. The Corrupt Being remained focused on the spot where he had been, while the rays split and moved independently after Michael. On their own, the rays were weaker but still damaging. They seared Michael whenever they hit, forcing him back. For a whole ten seconds, it was a game of cat and mouse, with Michael dodging the four deadly rays.
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Finally, the Corrupt Being seemed satisfied with the results of Its Magick.
"Mark of Kinta-Lath-Macbur, surrender yourself," the Corrupt Being spoke in several voices simultaneously. "Do not reject the Magick of Kinta-Lath-Macbur that is in you. Embrace it, and you will be awarded gifts beyond your mortal aspirations."
Michael, catching his breath, gave the Corrupt Being a funny look. He stretched his back and rubbed a sore spot at his waist where one of the rays had hit.
"And it's comply or die, right?" He sneered. "Just like a textbook fanatic."
The horns' glow increased as the Magick in them amplified.
"Wait!" Michael hurriedly said.
The Corrupt Being didn't respond, Its horns still charging, which was better than shooting, giving Michael time to say his piece.
Michael closed the room's door and walked to the opposite side. "Can you tell me your Magick Ion count? If you're uncertain, a rough number will do."
He could tell it was significantly higher than his, but below Agent Jones's.
The Corrupt Being released a single ray at Michael's feet, carving a line fifty centimeters deep in the ground.
Michael's heart beat with excitement rather than concern. "Fuck Kinta-Lath-Macbur!" He grinned.
For the first time, the Corrupt Being showed emotion as a twisted expression adorned Its face. The remaining three horns also shot rays at Michael.
"Symbiosis ON!"
The rays hit, yet Michael was gone.
"You see, I'm not at full strength, and neither is my little buddy," he said, appearing behind the Corrupt Being. He stepped on Its tail, locking it in place, and punched twice, breaking the four crystallized horns before they could turn their rays on him.
"It's not an ideal test run, but I don't get many opportunities to go all out with both Physique and Psyche. Yeah, there's still a lot to work on utilizing the two together..." Michael tapped his foot on the tail in deep thought, smashing it in the process.
The Corrupt Being swung Its arm back, but Michael caught it easily. "Weak..." he said somberly, judging himself. "And you," he added, catching the Corrupt Being's other arm, "were satisfied with even weaker strength. Well... at the very least, I'm grateful to you for raising the Risk Assessment to Level 4."
Michael strenuously ripped the two arms off, crushed the Corrupt Being's head into the ground until it was mush, and punched until his fists went through Its chest.
"Whew!" He released a breath. 'Rather than this mess, I must learn how to cleanly kill in a way that verifies the opponent's Magick is depleted.'
Only a small part of the brutality was from the thrill of using his entire current strength and arsenal. The bigger part was his awkward attempt to make sure the Corrupt Being's persistent Magick was gone.
He headed to the door and realized something as he was about to open it.
'That's right. I've been too focused on hitting Matteo wherever it hurts that I forgot about efficiency – going straight for the heart... i.e. the Pool of Magick Ions.'
…
Meanwhile, while Michael handled his part of the mission, Grace contemplated various scenarios. Uncertain of Hanna and the others' whereabouts, she had exchanged phone numbers with them before Michael and Harold departed.
Grace decided to call Hanna, judging her as the most likely to answer. Her decision was correct, not because Hanna picked up, but because she heard a dial tone, indicating Hanna's phone was working. Although Grace hadn't heard Hanna's ringtone before, who else would have a phone ringing constantly at such a time? Grace wagered that nobody else would. Therefore, she simply needed to listen carefully to eventually locate Hanna and, hopefully, the other four.
'The potency of the Cult's Magick is intensifying,' Grace dismissed the guard and Cult member, focusing on the Magickal signature instead. She hoped to detect Michael's Magick as well, just to ascertain his condition, but the Cult's Magick had permeated the estate, complicating her search for other signatures. Besides, they were too distant from each other, prompting another question... 'There's a consistent Magickal signature of the Cult's Magick on the opposite side from where Agent Jones pinpointed the source...?'
Having yet to hear Hanna's ringtone, Grace had nothing to lose by investigating the area. Sprinting at full speed, she reached the end of a corridor on the third floor of the estate, facing a window overlooking the opulent gardens.
'This can't be it. The Magick is within the estate,' she murmured, pausing to survey her surroundings. No guards or Cult members were present to hinder her.
'There?' Her senses directed her towards the left wall. Grace cautiously ran her hands over it, searching for any Magickal mechanisms – traps or triggers for a hidden passage. 'There's Magick on the other side, but it's not integrated into the wall. I can break through!'
Stepping back, she unleashed a powerful kick, channeling the full force of her Build.
"Truly..." Grace hissed, as the wall crumbled, revealing a secret passage beyond. Simultaneously, her ears caught a faint ringing...
The passage led to a narrow, spiraling stairway descending underground, extending into a long tunnel that terminated in a small chamber beneath the rear gardens of the estate.
With nowhere to hide, Grace found herself fully exposed as she entered the chamber. Inside were her five targets – the Cult Leader Harold, Michal, Gunnar, and two other high-priority mission targets – lying within...
'Another Mind Transfer Magickal Circle!' she exclaimed in realization.
Grace swiftly canceled the call on her phone. If it weren't for the Bureau-issued device and Hanna's privileged background as the daughter of "very, very rich parents", she might have been surprised they still had reception in such a clandestine location.
"Lesser Ward!" Grace extended her right hand, stepping into the Mind Transfer Magickal Circle and steadily approaching Hanna. Purple Magick attempted to corrupt her, but it was thwarted by an invisible shield – the same one she had used during her first mission with Michael to block Pixies' Magick.
"I hope it's not too late," Grace muttered, grabbing Hanna's leg and pulling her out of the Mind Transfer Magickal Circle and into the tunnel. "Sorry, this might be futile, but I'm doing it anyway for her sake."
Returning to the center of the Magickal Circle, she positioned herself at its core.
"This is definitely a Risk Assessment Level 5 with enough misinformation for a bonus pay!" Grace announced, placing her hands on the floor.
"Major Ward!" she declared, feeling all the Magick drain from her body. The Mind Transfer Magickal Circle glowed briefly, emitting a short electrical sound before fading completely.
Grace fell back on her buttocks. "Lucky this place didn't explode."
As she regained her footing, moans of awakening echoed through the chamber. Grace hurried back to the tunnel and leaned over Hanna.
"Vi... Vi...?" Hanna's voice faltered in confusion.
Grace gripped her cheeks firmly. "Whoever you are, if you don't know the lyrics to at least five Toni Watson's songs, you're in for a world of hurt!"