As the words, which sounded somewhat arrogant to the others, fell, the flame representing the "Prophet," burning in pitch black, suddenly extinguished without leaving any farewell or explanation, vanishing as if it had never existed.
Thus, the stone chamber fell into a brief dead silence.
The other two flame projections seemed stunned as well, with their flame-formed vague outlines slightly shimmering in the air.
About a few seconds later, a laugh sounded from the orange-red flame belonging to "Phoenix," a laugh impossible to distinguish between mockery and a sigh.
"Good luck, Ramsey."
His voice carried a kind of indifferent frivolity, and then his flame also extinguished with a "puff."
The last projection, with its flame in dull ocher, flickered slightly, seeming to "look" at Hera with invisible eyes, a look mixed with a hint of indescribable pity, before it too silently dissipated into the air.
Yes, as mentioned earlier, a group of Black Wizards gathered for personal gain, did you really expect them to not abandon everything?
Soon, the office returned to a silence, with only the ghostly blue flame in front of Hera still burning, its gentle flickering projecting her shadow onto the rough stone wall, gradually elongating and twisting...
"...Just now, what did that guy mean?"
Athena emerged from the shadows, her molten gold eyes fixed on the now-empty ebony flame basin, her brows furrowed, and on a closer look, a hint of unease, heavily concealed, could be seen deep in her eyes. She probably understood something, but evidently, she still wanted to hear the answer with her own ears, "What does 'he's bringing that guy over' mean? What did he do?"
Hera didn't immediately answer.
She turned her head to look at the former, and asked seriously, "Pallas, right now, I need your most objective judgment, putting aside fear, analyze with your proud wisdom—if we join forces, along with the 'Eagle's Nest'—you've investigated the poachers; the number of poachers now is about half of what it was before—with all our strength, confronting that Demon head-on, what are our chances?"
Putting aside fear?
Athena's body trembled imperceptibly, hell, that's the one thing she couldn't put aside!!
Just the mere hypothesis of "confronting head-on" brought her back to that night of despair, that invincible figure, the mountainous oppressive power, the man's mouth lifting in a sarcastic curve—
Although she acted extremely sarcastic when she left, judging by how she didn't have time to finish off Hephaestus, at that time, she was scared to death.
...The nightmarish memories surged like a tide.
So, she closed her eyes tightly, then opened them again, leaving only absolute certainty and residual panic in her pupils, and her voice carried a slight, almost unnoticeable dryness—
"Zero, Hera, absolutely zero, he never even fought us, Ares' full-strength strike just scratched his pet Fire Dragon a bit, that wasn't a battle, it was just... a one-sided crush... a fluke like mine, won't happen again." Her words were firm, and sound indisputable.
Upon hearing this, Hera nodded silently, fully accepting this judgment.
"Alright, now tell me, 'luring him over'..."
Athena continued to press, the ominous premonition in her heart tightening like a cold vine, "It's not what I'm imagining right now, is it?"
"Last month, one of the two major 'nests' of poachers in Europe, the Dragon Nest, was exterminated."
Hera's voice also grew lower, "So, that William Richard, is very likely on his way to the 'Eagle's Nest', which is here." She paused, then continued to explain, "This is the largest and last important stronghold for poachers in Europe. If this place gets..."
But at the same time, Athena almost instinctively interrupted the other, blurting out, "We must leave immediately!" Her voice carried urgent insistence, "These poachers, these resources, can be abandoned—only if we stay alive, will we have a chance!"
At this moment, fear made her utterly decisive, in her understanding, any risk of potentially confronting William must be avoided.
A hint of struggle and reluctance flashed in Hera's eyes.
She had spent over half a year managing the identity of "Ramsey," infiltrating and attempting to control the poachers' organization, at the cost of countless efforts, but now, Athena's almost hysterical urgency finally overcame the bit of reluctance in her heart.
"Then let's go!"
Hera said decisively.
The two walked out of the room one after the other, retracing their steps, rushing into the room upon entering, towards the burning fireplace, Hera grabbed a handful of Floo Powder, and called out loud, "Rwanda Black Market!" Then she sprinkled the powder into the flames.
As expected, the flames did not turn emerald green; the Floo Powder crackled in the orange-red flames, then... nothing.
The flames remained their original color, as if only regular sand had been thrown in.
"What's going on?"
Athena's face went slightly pale, her hand clenched instinctively.
Hera was silent for a moment, tried again, and with the same result, her heart sank, "The Floo Network has been severed."
"Apparate!"
Athena immediately said, her tone carrying a bit of fleeting hope.
Without waiting for Hera to respond, she impatiently focused, waving her right hand, yet the space around seemed forged from steel, solid to an oppressive extent, her magic power unable to budge it in the least.
"There has always been an Anti-Apparition magic circle here."
Hearing Hera's words, the fear in Athena's eyes almost overflowed, she forced herself to take deep breaths, her brain wildly working alongside the adrenaline, "Then... are there other ways to leave? Secret passage? Or some other methods?"
Hera took a deep breath, nodded, "Yes, altars, there are several ancient altars around the cave, inscribed with teleportation runes, they're used by poachers to transport large goods or animals, since you can't stuff a Fire Dragon through a fireplace—"
"Lead the way!"
Athena interrupted Hera, urging insistently.
So, Hera did not delay further, and the two quickly donned cloaks that could conceal their forms and auras, and walked through the stone door. With her head lowered, Hera led Athena, marching swiftly towards the path of the nearest altar.