An underground facility lay far beneath Tidewatch City.
The collapsed infrastructure, which no one would dare to explore, was now occupied by a group of people sitting around a round table.
One of the hooded individuals took out a dagger and stabbed the picture placed on the table in front of them.
SSKKK!
The dagger pierced through the forehead of the picture issued by the Association.
"Does anyone know who he is?"
The other five simultaneously shook their heads.
"Tsk… because of this amateur, we had to stop our plan…"
"The Association even prevented guild members themselves from raiding dungeons until they capture him."
"I'm pretty sure he's not one of ours…"
"If I find this motherfucker, I swear I'll skin him alive…"
"We've been meticulously executing our plan all these years, disguising ourselves perfectly in this city… We were so close to fulfilling our duty… And this rat!…"
Every one of them wore a vicious expression as they vented their frustration.
"Everyone, calm down…"
The one who spoke carefully took out a lamp that exuded an ominous aura and placed it on the table.
The lamp stood no taller than a man's forearm, yet the sound it made when placed down gave the impression that it was far heavier than its size allowed.
Its body was forged from an unknown black metal, with vein-like cracks running across its surface.
A faint white glow pulsed through it rhythmically, as if something alive was breathing within.
The handle was made from some kind of animal bone.
But the most disturbing part was the glass chamber.
It wasn't clear, it was murky, swirling endlessly with drifting particles of pale light.
"Wooooo… aaahhh… krrrhhh…"
Faint human faces could be seen within the fog, screaming and wailing as if trapped inside.
"We've already collected all the necessary soul fragments for our sacrifice… There's no need to get agitated over this small delay in our plan…"
His words calmed everyone down slightly.
The man stood up and walked toward a cage placed in the corner.
He smiled at the creature towering within it like a fallen fragment of divinity.
Its body was an unnatural fusion of a serpent and a divine bird.
Its long, coiling form was covered in flawless white scales, with faint golden veins glowing beneath them.
A powerful holy aura radiated from it, but that aura was completely suppressed by dark red chains tightly wrapped around its body, digging into its scales and restricting both its power and movement.
Clang… Clang… Clang…
Each time it struggled, the chains rattled violently, glowing even brighter.
Its golden eyes burned with endless rage and a will that refused to submit.
[Seraphic Ophidian Lv.25 (Area Boss)]
The more the monster struggled, the wider the smile on the hooded man's face became as he turned back to the others.
"Five years… It took five years for us to infiltrate this city, step by step, without alerting anyone. We gathered soul fragments from hunters who had no backing. We successfully secured all the sacrifices for our lord, Azazel's advancement."
"What remains now is to complete the ritual. We are in the final stage of fulfilling our oracle. There's no need for us to get flustered now…"
The others fell silent in agreement, but one of them spoke with a doubtful tone,
"But there are rumors that one of the Empyrean Vanguards has arrived in this city to catch us… Won't that be a problem?"
The mere mention of an Empyrean Vanguard made all of them flinch instantly, before the leading man spoke dismissively,
"So what if an Empyrean Vanguard has arrived? We've been perfectly disguised and left no traces all these years… There's no way they can find what we're doing."
"Even if they discover something suspicious, we will have already fulfilled our mission by the time they came for us and this entire city will be sacrificed to our lord."
"Y-Yeah… What can a single Empyrean Vanguard do against our lord Azazel? Once he receives his sacrifice, no one will be able to stop the destruction of this city…"
"And Lord Azazel will bestow us with demon seeds once it is done…"
"With the demon seed, we can start over once again… We might even have a chance to reach demi-god level in the future if we are lucky…"
"Yes, we can finally get rid of the Gaya system and its incomplete evolution paths… we can embrace the pure path of complete evolution…"
The more they spoke, the crazier their expressions became.
The leading man smiled at the shift in atmosphere as he spoke,
"The ban on entering dungeons won't last long… It will be lifted soon… but before that, we have to capture this rat ourselves."
Those words made everyone fall silent as their gazes turned serious.
"The sooner we find him, the sooner we can lift this ban…"
"I agree…"
"Me too…"
"Same…"
"I also agree…"
"Just tell us what we need to do…"
The leading man smiled widely in response.
***
The next morning, on the second floor of the Association, a dark-haired beauty with round glasses was going through documents on her desk one by one at an astonishing pace.
"It's not them…"
"This one isn't either…"
"No…"
"Not again…"
The more documents she went through, the more frustrated she became.
After a while, she threw all the documents onto the table with force before leaning back in her chair, muttering,
"None of these have anything to do with Netheris… Are they even in this city?…"
Staring at the ceiling with an empty gaze, she muttered to herself, but quickly shook her head.
"No… there's no way that old hag's prediction would be wrong… But where the hell are they hiding?… Am I missing something?…"
Lyssara let out a long sigh in a sluggish motion as she turned her gaze sideways.
A mirror stood to her right, reflecting her figure perfectly.
"…"
Her gaze lingered on her chest in the reflection before focusing on it.
Two soft curves slightly obstructed her view.
"They're starting to look unnaturally big… Should I reduce their size a little…?"
She lightly pressed them, checking their shape.
BoingBoing
But her little self-examination was interrupted by a sudden knock on the door, followed by a voice,
"Lady Lyssara, the witness you requested has arrived. Shall I send her in?"
CoughCough
With a light cough, Lyssara instantly adjusted her posture, her face turning serious as she said,
"Let her in…"
After receiving the order, a woman with dark hair and bruises on her face hesitantly stepped inside.
The same woman Eren had rescued from the abuse of guild members.
"Take a seat…"
Lyssara calmly observed her every movement, her eyes narrowing slightly at the bruises on the woman's hands and face.
Though they had already undergone healing treatment, faint marks still remained and Lyssara didn't missed it.
"You already know why we asked you to come. Let's get straight to the point… tell me exactly what you saw…"