Liam took a horse-drawn carriage two hundred metres from his home in the Chapena district. He had now arrived in the Tezny district, right on Ahiston Road number 12, as Leo had instructed.
As soon as he got off the carriage, he paused for a moment to remember the location of the meeting. In less than a minute, the direction of the road came back to him.
He began to walk while observing his surroundings. The row of tall buildings with dome-shaped roofs confused him a little. Everything looked different from the ordinary scenery in his home district.
Tezny was located in the city centre. It was natural that the development of buildings and technology was more advanced here. Unlike Chapena in the east, which was far from other areas, close to the sea and rarely received attention from the mayor.
After walking for a few minutes, he saw three people standing under a large, shady tree in the distance, chatting casually.
The park was spacious, filled with various neatly arranged plants and flowers. In the middle stood a shady tree; every time the wind blew, its leaves fluttered in all directions.
Liam quickened his pace and waved from a distance. The meeting was supposed to start at two in the afternoon, but he was ten minutes late. The three of them had been waiting for quite a while.
Simultaneously, they stepped closer to Liam, greeting him or, more accurately, wanting to scold him for being late.
Leo immediately patted Liam on the shoulder, thinking that his invitation had not been successful, but on the other hand, he did not expect his friend's personality to change so quickly.
"Hey, Zavi," whispered Leo, continuing, "Forn invited Zeta and she chose to come to that place."
Huh? That castle? I just remembered the cause of Zavi's death because she had just returned from that place... and why did she invite me there again, damn it! Liam muttered in panic.
"So... what do you say, do you still want to go there?" asked Leo, taking two steps back. He looked at Liam's face, which had suddenly turned pale.
The location in question was a castle with an emerald green dome that sparkled in the light. This building had a great influence and was one of the important places in Moran City, Norn Kingdom. As one of the ancient buildings, it exuded a mystical aura, especially at night.
"Eaurealis Hall, right?" Liam murmured softly. His mind suddenly went blank, and to cover it up, he smiled at Leo and nodded afterwards.
Leo turned around, walking calmly, motioning with his chin for them to follow him immediately.
Meanwhile, Zeta turned to Liam, seeing the pale look on his face, thinking that he was hiding something.
"What's wrong, Zavi?" she asked as she walked closer to him. She couldn't resist the urge to ask.
"Nothing," he replied briefly but firmly, allowing Zeta to approach him, walking behind them.
Zeta stopped and stood still, his brown eyes staring at Liam's shoulders from a distance without blinking. He sighed and tried to keep up with them so he wouldn't fall behind.
Twenty minutes later, they arrived. The main street of the district, Hava. Eaurealis Hall Castle was very crowded that afternoon. But the crowd still made Liam feel uneasy.
He stared blankly at the open iron gate, reluctant to enter. Unexpectedly, Leo touched Liam's shoulder, urging him to go inside.
"They've both gone in! Are you just going to stand here?" Leo asked in surprise, noticing his friend's strange behaviour.
But in his mind, he thought that in the past two years, something had happened that could change his personality.
Liam nodded. He put both hands in his coat pockets and stepped forward. From behind, Leo smiled as he followed him.
Eaurealis Castle had beautiful shiny marble floors. Every step taken on them produced a soft echo from the friction of shoes, filling the room with an elegant silence.
Meanwhile, Zeta and Forn had gone deeper inside, leaving the two of them alone in the castle's central hall.
"Where are they? Did they go inside?" Leo asked in surprise, turning his head to the left and looking at Liam, who was staring at something.
Leo straightened his gaze and saw a cracked pillar in the castle. The people inside screamed when they saw it, panicking and running while pushing those who were in their way.
Seeing this, Liam immediately moved forward to see what was happening there. However, he had difficulty getting through the crowd of people who were in an uproar.
Two castle guards were seen struggling to control the exit, due to several visitors pushing and shoving each other.
Meanwhile, Liam sensed that something was wrong with the castle, which suddenly collapsed when he and his friend had just arrived. He gave up his intention to go deeper inside, choosing to signal Leo to get out of there immediately.
"Don't worry about them, I'm sure they're fine," said Liam with a panicked expression.
Leo nodded, and they finally left to find a safe place. There were several people who came out with their hands crushed by debris, bleeding heads, and so on.
Through a small gate to the right of the castle, Liam caught a glimpse of Zeta and Forn carrying a middle-aged woman.
The sound of cracking was heard again from inside and outside the castle, this time louder than before. The residents of the district, who had been going about their business, stopped what they were doing and watched, murmuring to each other as they witnessed the mystical castle crumble.
Shortly after, ten local police officers arrived. They wore black uniforms complete with leather belts and silver emblems on their chests. On each shoulder was a star-shaped badge, indicating their rank.
One of them, who appeared to be the most senior, stepped forward. His eyes were sharp, and his voice was heavy as he spoke.
"We have received reports of suspicious activity around this castle," he said, pushing aside the people blocking his way, with his nine subordinates following behind him.
The atmosphere suddenly became silent. Hearing no more noise, Liam turned around and saw ten police officers in full uniform with badges and silver emblems on their chests approaching him.
Reflexively, Liam immediately pulled his friend's body to the left, about five steps away, to make way for the police.
One of the black-haired policemen winked at Liam.
Seeing this, Liam immediately shook his head, thinking that the policeman was being too friendly towards him.
The ten policemen stood in front of the castle entrance, and several policemen exchanged glances, then their senior stepped forward. They entered the castle to search for trapped people and also to investigate why the castle had suddenly collapsed.
"Be careful, senior," said the seven junior police officers.
The senior police officer nodded before entering the castle, followed by two trusted police officers.
A few seconds after entering, the senior police officer heard something on the stairs to the right.
He pointed two fingers towards the stairs, and the two police officers following him nodded, each of them pulling out shiny silver pistols.
They climbed the stairs and walked silently down the second-floor corridor. One of them saw a shadow running quickly across the intersection.
"There!" said the policeman as he pointed his pistol and immediately moved forward to check.
He ran and arrived at the hallway intersection. The policeman who had seen the shadow immediately fired at someone running behind him.
Bang!!! The bullet flew quickly, but the person easily dodged it.
"Huh, a criminal?" he muttered softly, turning to his left to look at his two colleagues who had just arrived. "Senior, John. I saw that person again."
John, who heard this, was startled and said, "Order the others to block the exit."
They both nodded, and simultaneously ran downstairs, wanting to inform their colleague who was guarding the entrance to Eaurealis Castle. Meanwhile, John did not hesitate to pursue them.
At the entrance, they had arrived and were about to inform him. However, unexpectedly, a cold voice was heard from above the castle dome.
Everyone there was startled, including Liam and his three friends. The voice came from one of the companions John had been chasing.
"I will create a sea of fire in this district," he said, pausing for a moment, then continued, "Destroy it." He jumped down, and shortly after, a loud explosion was heard inside the castle.
Boom!!!