Lefon, the Headmaster, and the Chief of Police had already departed from the Norvalien residence ahead of everyone else.

Each consumed by the weight of their own official duties, leaving the remaining people behind to deal with Daraka.

Meanwhile, Darius and Kugo followed after Daraka and his group as they descended into the subterranean chamber belonging to the Norvalien family.

It did not take long before they finally arrived at the designated room.

The moment the old steel door creaked open, an immediate surge of cold, damp air rushed out to greet them, enveloping their skin like a chilling shroud.

The Norvalien family's underground room was vast.

Its oppressive, suffocating atmosphere pressing down upon the chest of anyone who dared to step inside, as though the very air rejected the presence of the living.

Its walls were assembled from blocks of dark stone, several parts already moist and streaked with patches of moss.

Its creating a faint yellowish shimmer whenever the crystal torches stationed in the corners bathed them in their flickering glow.

Numerous ancient ritual symbols—carved with unnerving precision.

Adorned various sections of the chamber, etched meticulously by Daraka and his subordinates over the past several days.

Several chains were embedded into both the floor and the walls.

Each forged from a peculiar alloy of darkened silver interwoven with strands of black fibers resembling dried, shriveled roots.

The air carried the metallic tang of iron mixed with the stale odor of something old and unpleasant.

At the back, rows of iron shelves held strange and unsettling objects:

Fractured shards of crystal, sealed scrolls made of treated animal skin, and several glass tubes filled with a reddish liquid that swirled and rotated slowly inside.

Almost as if it possessed a pulse of its own.

The room felt like a vault of forbidden secrets—secrets no one should ever be permitted to touch.

And with every step taken deeper into it, the entire group subconsciously lowered their voices, as though fearful of awakening something.

Darius and Kugo exchanged glances.

Even without a single word, both men instantly understood: Daraka had transformed this place into something far beyond a simple storage chamber.

This was a space deliberately modified to perform something grand—and unequivocally forbidden.

They continued walking toward the center of the room.

There, a heavy altar resembling a block of solid black stone awaited them, as though it had been prepared meticulously long before this moment.

Not far from it, two figures were tightly bound in restrictive straitjackets, lying on a large reinforced bed.

Rudi and Jogo—now reduced to something comparable to wounded beasts—twisted, writhed, screamed, and at times burst into erratic laughter or uncontrollable sobbing.

Their eyes were vacant. Their lips were cracked.

Dark energy surged violently throughout their bodies, forcing itself in like currents of electricity being pumped into a vessel unfit to contain it.

They were confined here precisely because of their thrashing and the ear-splitting screams they produced.

Down here, no matter how loud they shrieked, their voices would never escape beyond these stone walls.

Rudi's mother stood nearby alongside several servants. The moment she saw her husband enter with Daraka's entourage, her irritation surged up once more.

She chose to leave them before her anger could fully erupt.

The only thing she did was give her son a gentle stroke on the forehead before turning away.

She was unable to bear even looking at her husband due to the overwhelming resentment boiling inside her.

Darius caught sight of his wife and could only exhale helplessly. But in his mind, this was already the path he had chosen—everything had happened, and now it had to be continued.

Darius slowly turned his head toward Daraka the moment his wife's footsteps faded completely into silence, swallowed by the oppressive stillness of the underground chamber.

"So… how exactly are we going to resolve this?" he asked, voice strained. "Are we still planning to take him there?"

Daraka did not glance his way. Instead, he bent down, lowering himself until his fingers grazed the stone floor.

His fingertips traced along the blood-painted patterns that sprawled across the altar, as though he were inspecting the precision of the symbols carved into the ritual diagram.

A moment later, he nodded, his lips curling into a smile—cold, unfeeling, utterly devoid of empathy.

"Of course," he replied, tone brimming with absolute confidence. "That place is undeniably the most optimal ground to confront someone like him."

"We will eradicate him there," he added, voice unwavering. "A location where the risk of failure drops to its lowest possible point—even if Alasia Group chooses to assist him."

Darius, who had been silently wrestling with doubts about their chances for quite some time, felt a small wave of relief wash over him when he saw the unwavering certainty in Daraka's demeanor.

"I hope so," he murmured.

Kugo could only stare faintly, gaze lingering on his son—who now behaved worse than any severe case of schizophrenia—hoping desperately that the shaman's confidence would finally yield results this time.

Daraka straightened his posture, issued a few brief instructions to his subordinates, and then turned his attention toward the two unfortunate elite fathers standing before him.

"I suppose you both still harbor doubts about me," he said flatly.

"Hmph… it's fine. I understand. But you must grasp one simple truth."

"Hm?" Darius grunted.

"All of this began with your own foolishness—and with the foolishness of your sons," Daraka replied without hesitation.

"With or without my involvement, you were already entangled with the wrong person from the very beginning. Someone who, only now, you are realizing is far beyond your ability to deal with."

He glanced back toward the altar, eyes narrowing with icy focus.

"So rather than doubting me, you should be thanking me, because I've already helped you this far… without demanding a single coin in return."

He flicked his wrist, tossing a small bottle toward the center of the altar.

It shattered upon impact, splashing its thick red liquid in every direction, staining the carved lines like blood feeding the ritual itself.

"Just concentrate on assisting me in finishing this," he continued. "Because this time—we're going all-out against him."

And then, from the altar, the symbols began to shimmer with a sinister blend of purple and black light, before igniting into roaring flames.

Those violet-black flames surged upward, expanding violently until the entire altar was engulfed—as though an enormous bonfire of darkness was preparing to burn down the entire chamber.

Kugo and Darius instinctively tilted their heads up, staring at the towering blaze with speechless expressions, utterly unsure of what they were witnessing or how to respond.

When the flames finally died down, several dark entities began to manifest atop the altar.

Massive, black-furred humanoid beasts; pale, white-robed figures with eerie red eyes; tall, robust beings wrapped in pristine cloth; small childlike creatures with ghostly skin—

And several other unclassifiable forms materialized before them.

They could clearly perceive these creatures, even Darius—who possessed no magical ability whatsoever. Terror clawed at their spines, cold sweat dripping freely down their backs.

Fortunately, at that precise moment, all the creatures abruptly dissipated, dissolving into fading, ink-like smoke.

"These are merely a fraction of the beings we will be utilizing against that child," Daraka explained calmly. "And that place is where they can be deployed most effectively."

Even from that brief display, Kugo could feel the immense power radiating from those creatures.

The glimpse alone was enough to boost his confidence that Al would be utterly annihilated.

His once firm intention to eliminate Daraka after destroying Al suddenly felt shaky—especially after witnessing Daraka control more than a dozen such formidable entities with ease.

And that was merely a portion.

Darius, who understood little about magical power, nevertheless felt a rising sense of certainty after hearing Daraka's explanation and seeing the confident expression returning to Kugo's face.

Perhaps this time, victory was finally within reach.

He stepped forward, then asked:

"You're right. We need to give you our full support," he said to Daraka. "So tell us—what exactly do you need us to do?"

Daraka did not immediately answer. Instead, he let out a low, rough laugh—hoarse and grating, like a fork scraping across steel.

He looked at both men, his expression twisted with anticipation, as if this very moment was something he had been eagerly waiting for all along.

Receiving that unsettling gaze, both men fell silent, holding their breaths. A vague sense of dread prickled along their nerves, yet they had already resolved to go all in.

Daraka noted their determination—and their growing confidence. He lowered his head slightly, his smile stretching even wider. At last, he spoke.

"I don't need much," he said. "As I've mentioned, we must go all-out, so…"

He paused briefly.

"So gather every member of your families who can still be gathered. Including Tamarvich, if you can convince him to join. And those two individuals from earlier as well," he instructed.

"All of our people?" Kugo asked, puzzled by the odd request.

Daraka nodded.

"Correct. All of them. Your servants, your helpers, even your drivers—and if possible, your business associates as well."

"For what purpose?" Rudi's father asked, utterly confused. "Why are we involving them?"

"I can understand bodyguards. But servants and business partners? They're just ordinary people," he added.

Daraka shook his head lightly.

"We are not using them for combat or anything of the sort. They will serve only as distractions—and at the same time, be kept safe."

"What do you mean?" Darius asked again.

Daraka turned around, his eyes narrowing sharply.

"At this moment, that child is receiving assistance from Alasia Group. Which means if he can use Alasia to attack you, then your families are in danger."

"Carrying the burden of protecting your loved ones will only weigh you down. Securing them removes unpredictable variables that could harm us."

The explanation seemed reasonable enough for them. Both men nodded slowly. Daraka continued:

"Additionally, we can create an illusion for that child. Because he will undoubtedly begin watching our movements from here on."

"Seeing this area empty for the next few days will make him anxious. And we will use that anxiety to capture him."

"I don't really get the strategy…" Kugo muttered. "But I'm more concerned about how you plan on transporting such a large number of our people."

Darius nodded in agreement.

"Yes. Is there even a place capable of accommodating that many people—and keeping them safe from being reached?" he asked.

Daraka nodded once more.

"You don't need to worry about that. I can even prepare a place where an entire human population could vanish from this world," he said.

"So for now… prepare yourselves and your family members. Our time is running thin."

Kugo and Darius exchanged glances. There were still many things they didn't understand, but hesitation was no longer an option—they had to choose to fight.

Both men nodded firmly, conviction burning in their eyes.

Daraka smiled at their newfound resolve.

"Good. With this, our success is guaranteed," he said encouragingly.

They glanced at each other—faces filled with ambition, confidence, and seething hatred. They truly believed victory was already within their grasp.

A moment later, Darius leaned in close to Daraka and whispered, "Oh, right… I want to request something."

"Hm?" Daraka responded.

"We will be targeting Alasia Group as well, yes?" he asked slyly. "If so, please don't kill that girl named Aiza."

"And why is that?" Daraka asked, mildly curious.

"Well… it would be such a waste for a flower like her to simply wither in the dirt," Darius replied with a twisted grin.

"I want her… broken. Ruined. But still alive. So that she can belong to me—completely. Haha."

Daraka blinked, taken aback for a brief moment. To think that even in their current state of desperation, this man's filthy mind was still functioning at full speed.

But in the end, he simply offered a faint nod. After all, such a request was trivial now.

Laughter—vile and corrupted—echoed among them.

The laughter of men blinded by vengeance, power, and a lust for destruction.

Yet none of them realized… the power they had awakened was not something that could be restrained by anything this world possessed.

Daraka lowered his head slightly, his gaze falling upon the symbols radiating that eerie purple-black glow.

This ritual… is nearly perfect.

Once these people step into the djinn dimension, those creatures will be free to invade this world, he thought wickedly.

That night, a foul plan was sealed.

And the world… unknowingly prepared itself for the coming storm.

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