“It doesn’t look like the place.” Isabel voiced everyone’s thoughts.

And Mila had to agree with her love. They had sneaked as close as possible without getting discovered. The place where the ritual was held was across a spacious field of grass and flowerbeds. Or at least that was what the Messanger claimed.

Because the field was empty. There was nothing here. Or nothing that could be seen by simply looking. But Mila could feel the mana fluctuate. And there was a lot. She was only feeling what was leaking due to poor control, but it made her sweat.

They were taking shelter in yet another empty building. This one was the worst thus far. Mila had seen children's toys and paintings. Whoever were the parents, they had been taking proper care of their kids. She had seen the toys even in the owner's bedroom.

“An illusion?” Viola took a deep breath. “Because the place stinks of important people. And poor. And dead. It really doesn’t smell good.”

“Yes.” The Messenger’s gaze bore into the empty space, where a small bush was proudly displaying its leaves. “They are there. Hiding. Killing. Casting.” He spoke as if seeing it.

Maybe he did. Mila still couldn’t tell what the man was capable of. It wore on her nerves to be constantly so overmatched. It reminded her of the travelling with Silinth, honestly.

After looking at the bush for a while longer, Mila was forced to admit that she couldn’t conjure anything more than a vague feeling. “What about the ‘Sage’?” She looked at the buildings that surrounded the empty area, trying to find the group of seven.

“They are here. They are not our problem. Not now.” The Messenger vaguely stated. “Now, we must move. I have shown you what was needed. Did you learn anything?” He asked Viola, who nodded. “Good. There is another secret entrance into the facility below. Follow me.”

That sounded mighty ominous. Mila looked at the ground, imagining an expansive ant nest below, full of enemies. She then returned her gaze to Isabel. Her girl was chewing her lip while tightly gripping the hammer in her hands.

Isabel looked ready to either fight, puke or jump into a fire. Sometimes, all at once.

“Give us a minute, if you will and can spare.” Mila addressed the rest of the group.

The Messanger nodded. “A minute is fine.” He looked up to where the sun was setting. Of course, the wall obscured the view, but he still seemed to be able to read the time.

When she and Isabel were left alone in the room, Mila walked to her girl and leaned against her. “Now, my dear, what can this lady do for you?”

“I don’t want this…” Isabel suddenly collapsed, only supported by Mila, who quickly caught her.

It was unclear what Isabel meant, so Mila waited while gently patting her girl’s back.

“... I don’t want this city to end up like Ocheon.” Isabel let out a sob. “I feel so weak!” She complained. “So insignificant…”

Mila could understand. She was struggling with the same. They were too weak. There was no question about it. “That’s why we grow. That’s why we are here.” She stated, but there wasn’t much strength behind her words. They just felt fitting.

“We can’t even run away…” Isabel complained. “What kind of hell is this?”

Another unfortunate circumstance. Mila felt stifled as well. The lack of options, with the only direction forward, was unpleasant. Granted, she tended to forge onward regardless of the situation.

“We can’t allow all those people to die,” Isabel whispered. “So many refugees. So many… Just like Ocheon…”

“Ah…” Mila could only awkwardly keep patting her girl’s back. Isabel had hidden the trauma too well. Mila should have spent more time helping her work through the wound.

“Okay!” Isabel suddenly pushed Mila away. “I am better! Let’s go!” She put on her mask of a demon.

Mila didn’t miss the tears rolling down Isabel’s cheeks. “Isabel…”

“We fight. We grow. That’s right. We still can do something about it. This doesn’t have to be the same as Ocheon.” Isabel took a few breaths. “... Just saying stuff like that aloud doesn’t actually help all that much, huh?”

“It helped me.” Mila hooked her hand with Isabel’s. “Thank you.”

“That’s… that’s good.” Isabel appeared to be taken aback. “Yeah, so… We just go and deal with it, right. And then we find Andrew and kick his ass.”

“And then we leave the city,” Mila added. “Yes. That sounds like a plan.”

“Right. Because there will be a city to leave.” Isabel sounded more spirited.

“And then you give me that date you owe.” Mila had more to include. “A magnificent one.”

“I… I did say something like that?” Isabel suddenly sounded unsure. “Maybe? That’s… How?”

“Hmm?” Mila began to walk and pulled Isabel along. “Whatever do you mean by how? Of course, by planning. My expectations are high.” She mercilessly added. It was clear that this topic had turned away Isabel’s gloomy thoughts.

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“Not helping.” Isabel’s voice had a tinge of desperation of an entirely different sort. “Your dates were wonderful. I can’t beat that.”

“Thank you for the praise.” Mila led Isabel to join the group who were waiting at an exit. “I will keep my expectations high.”

“Don’t do that. Like, actually. Don’t.” Isabel pleaded. She didn’t even pay attention to where they were heading next.

All things considered, it was wiser for Mila to try and scout the surroundings, but her girl needed attention now. She did notice a few glances from their group, wondering what the new atmosphere meant. But the peanut gallery could be safely ignored.

“Ah, but my love, I am sure you’ll do fine. You are a girl I chose to be with, after all.”

“Not helping. Stop that. I see what you are doing. You are trying to mess with my head to keep those fucking dark thoughts away.”

“Guilty as charged,” Mila admitted. They stepped into another mansion. This time, it was a gloomy place, a little rundown. There were also signs of a fight happening here. “But as always, I am successful. She boasted. “Your mind is now full of me.”

“And that’s a good thing?” Isabel tried to glare at Mila, but the mask made the effort pointless. “We are about to fight.”

“Not right away…” The Messanger inserted but was ignored.

“It is a good thing.” Mila raised her chin. “You are not brooding anymore. And you can take a few glancing blows. It will quickly awaken your fighting instincts.”

“That’s not how you taught me.” Isabel’s words were barbed. “Or what? Did you teach me incorrectly?”

“Not at all. I did everything right.” Mila kept her shameless act. At this point, she was just going with the flow. Mila was aware she wasn’t a good teacher.

“What is this? Are you playing a new character?”

“I never play a character.”

“Then what is this?”

This time, Viola tried to speak. “It’s distracting. Stop that.” Only to be ignored.

“Morale-boosting exercise, of course.” Mila bullshitted.

Which didn’t fly with Isabel. “That’s not how it works, and you know it.”

“You aren’t thinking gloomy thoughts, so it is a morale-boosting exercise by practice.”

Isabel raised a finger to argue more, only to pause. “That is a good point. Should I thank you?”

“With that once-in-a-lifetime date, yes.” Mila nodded.

“You are still set on that?”

“Of course.”

“We are here.” The Messenger stopped their chatter. “So, can you please focus? I feel like there are two more Peppers with all that talking.”

“Hey!” Viola protested. “I take offence to that! I am not that bad.”

“True, you are worse.” The Messanger nodded.

And that was a line Mila didn’t want to cross. “I apologise. I didn’t realise we were closing Viola’s level of annoyance.” She slightly bowed her head.

“Yeah.” Isabel joined. “I don’t want to stoop to her level. Sorry.”

“That’s so mean, right, my trusty swords?” Viola sought support from her mercenaries but only received indifferent looks. “Hey! What am I paying you for?”

While Ugum and Raran averted their eyes, Laura did answer the question. “It is hardly a fair question. I believe you are being annoying on purpose.”

“If only…” The Messenger murmured. “Can you all please focus. I cannot help much but with directions and information.”

These words immediately gathered the attention. Mila studied the cloaked figure. Was this why she couldn’t read him? Perhaps a puppet? Clone? It couldn’t be a projection as the flesh had substance. Golem of sorts? But the way he just suddenly appeared ruled out these guesses.

In the end, Mila just didn’t know. “Rather curious how you withheld this information. Why?”

“I am not powerless. I simply cannot act against weak opponents. If you will run into an impossible-to-win fight, I’ll help.”

Mila looked at Viola, who shrugged. “Gotta trust the big boss.”

The Messanger led them through the mansion. It quickly became apparent this was one of the points from where the unfortunate ‘supplies’ were fed into the preparations for the ritual.

Drab, grey walls. No furniture. Leftover crates, pieces of clothing and the like were thrown in the corners. All the windows were closed with thick curtains, not allowing light to witness the horrors inside.

With the nightfall so close, it made the place almost completely dark. Raran cast a simple spell - a ball of light that flickered above his raised palm. The long shadows the light source cast made the place even more dreary.

They continued down. While avoiding a broken trolly, Mila stepped on the wide stairs leading down to the basement. Down in the basement, they found dark spots on the ground. Most likely blood.

But the entrance into the underground complex was blocked. Mila studied the large stone slab that stood in their way. “Why was this place discarded? I would think they needed all the available entrance points to feed their dark magic.”

“Lack of trustworthy people.” The Messanger explained. “Mr Raran, if you would.” He asked the mage specialising in the earth to free the way.

At least they didn’t have to hack their way through like Oscar did. Raran put his hand on the stone slab and started to melt it.

While the mage worked, the Messanger continued. “They ran out of the workforce. Not many can be trusted to do such dark deeds. Or, that’s what our comrades concluded.”

Soon, Raran made an opening, which he proceeded to widen. Mila heard distant voices coming from the hole. And the stench of rotten flesh, blood and death.

Viola violently gagged. “Fuck me! I don’t want to go in there.”

“You will if you want to see another morning.” The Messanger simply stated.

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Viola looked over Raran’s shoulder. “What won't I do for…” She started to mumble.

“Another reason to go in there.” Isabel's voice was grim. She leaned on Mila. “This is terrible. How can they do that to other people?”

There was no good answer. Or rather, there were too many. Greed. Insanity. Belief. Patriotism. Desperation and more. Mila could imagine many reasons people did horrible things.

“We have to stop them.” Isabel hugged Mila tightly. “We have to…”