The days following his haunting conversation with Will, Henry tried to focus on his routine work at the Bureau. But Will's warnings about Beleth, Mystic Sense, and the origins of the forbidden powers lingered, constantly haunting his mind.

Will's advice to "stay put in Aerion," though well-intentioned, felt like a cage, leaving him feeling trapped and helpless. He knew he was being hunted, and every day that passed in the city's relative peace only made him feel more anxious, fearing disaster could strike at any moment.

He limited his use of Mystic Sense in public places, wary of curious eyes and unpredictable aetheric scans. Instead, he secretly practiced and explored it during his solitary dawn training sessions at the old Unit 18 barracks, where the memories of Captain Jacobs and his fallen comrades were both a source of pain and a motivation to push him to be stronger.

One morning, Ragley summoned Henry and a small team of elite investigators to his office. The air in the meeting room was heavy, unlike the usual busy, hurried atmosphere, signaling a mission that was far from simple.

Besides Henry, the team included Danz and Halb, two experienced Rank 3 investigators who had faced many dangers with him in previous missions. There was also Keln, a young Rank 3 investigator who had just transferred from a remote border outpost in the East.

Keln had short, neatly cut golden hair, a constant confident smile, and eyes that burned with the passion of youth. After the attack on Aerion, many talented Rankers had been transferred here to supplement the capital's manpower.

The last person, whose presence surprised Henry but also put him at ease, was Wrack, the Rank 4 warrior with a battle-axe always on his back, who had rescued them alongside Quinz during the hunt for Vampire Vaer. Wrack's presence, as an experienced Rank 4, showed the serious nature of this mission.

"Good morning," Chief Investigator Ragley began, his voice maintaining its usual stern, sharp tone, but his eyes, when he looked at Henry, held a different look, a mix of trust and unconcealed expectation.

"We have just received an urgent and alarming report from the small, remote villages in the hills of East Aerion, near the ancient St. Elms convent. This place, according to the reports, is still an active convent, a sacred place where monks and nuns serve and support the local communities day and night. However, in recent days, the local people have continuously reported that the people from the convent have not been seen for many days, and they can smell a foul odor coming from it. A few curious villagers who dared to go closer to investigate have disappeared without a trace."

Chief Investigator Ragley spread a detailed, hand-drawn map on the oak table and pointed to a bright red spot in the middle of a hill. " Based on residual dark energy a low-level reconnaissance team risked their lives to record, our preliminary intelligence suggests a high probability that someone is taking advantage of St. Elms convent's isolation to perform a sacrificial ritual, aiming to ascend from Rank 3 to Rank 4. This needs to be verified and neutralized immediately, before it's too late."

He looked up, meeting Wrack's eyes. The warrior stood as straight as a statue. "Wrack, you will be the main commander of this special investigation team. Your extensive combat experience and strength are crucial for us to deal with a Ranker on the verge of ascending." Then he turned to the rest of the team, his voice becoming sterner. "Henry, Danz, Halb, Keln, you will be Wrack's capable support in this mission."

Henry nodded firmly, accepting the mission. At first, he thought this was just a normal cult case. The investigation team left immediately. They rode the Bureau's Great Eagles over golden fields and old forests, flying to the remote hills of East Aerion where the ancient St. Elms convent was hidden.

When they arrived, a vague sense of unease crept in. Henry's Mystic Sense didn't register the panic of sacrificed souls, but a dreadful silence. The closer they got to the convent, the clearer the feeling became. It didn't feel like a ritual.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Keln, the young investigator with golden hair, stood next to Henry. He patted his shoulder with an encouraging smile, trying to clear the tense atmosphere in the room.

"Don't worry too much, Henry. With Wrack, a Rank 4, here, we'll definitely be fine." Keln's confidence and optimism, though sometimes excessive and reckless, helped dissipate the heavy, gloomy mood, bringing a little hope.

When they got closer, a strange and scary scene appeared before them. The entire area around the convent seemed to be covered by a thin layer of mist, giving off a foul, unpleasant smell. Henry felt the abnormality of this place more clearly than ever. His Mystic Sense screamed continuous warnings. He felt traces of death energy from inside the convent, but also a vague, malicious presence watching him.

"Wrack," Henry called out, his voice low, no longer using a title. "Something's wrong with this place." Wrack stopped, the axe on his shoulder shaking. He looked around. "I feel it too. This silence... it's too fake."

"It's not just that," Henry continued. "The smell of blood, too much, and I can feel the energy here... it's not from someone about to ascend. It's stable." He looked straight into Wrack's eyes.

Wrack stopped, the battle-axe on his shoulder shaking, reacting to the hidden threat. He closed his eyes, trying to focus all his senses to feel and analyze the situation. He felt a bone-chilling cold and a strong smell of death but couldn't detect the subtle energy like Henry.

"Are you sure, Henry?" he asked, his voice a bit doubtful. "Maybe the sacrificial ritual has already started, which is why there are such strange phenomena."

Keln no longer had his usual confident smile. He also felt the abnormality in the air, though not as clearly as Henry. "I feel something's not right either, Wrack," Keln said, his voice a little shaky, his hand unconsciously on the hilt of one of the two swords at his waist. "The atmosphere here is too heavy, too suffocating. That mist is also strange, I've never seen anything like it."

Danz and Halb also agreed with Henry and Keln's observations. Henry's heightened alertness, combined with Keln's intuition and the eerie atmosphere, made them stop being careless.

Wrack saw the true concern and agreement in the team members' eyes and finally nodded decisively. He knew that in situations like this, trusting your comrades' instincts and experience was crucial. "Alright, everyone, be on high alert and get ready to fight. We'll go inside, but if there's any sign of danger that is beyond our control, we retreat immediately. The safety of the team comes first."

They cautiously entered the large but desolate grounds of the St. Elms convent. The ancient stone walls stood silently. The dark, damp corridors were covered in dust and thick, tangled cobwebs.

The stone statues of saints, once revered by followers, were now broken and worn by time and neglect, lying scattered on the cold ground. There was no one, no sound, only their heavy, cautious footsteps echoing frighteningly in the eerie silence of the once-sacred place.

The blood-red mist thickened, making the air suffocating and hard to breathe. Henry's Mystic Sense screamed more intensely than ever. He felt a dark energy, far surpassing Rank 4, concentrated in the main chapel of the convent. And the feeling of being watched was no longer vague, but clear and malicious.

The heavy oak door creaked open, releasing a strong, bloody smell that rushed into their noses. The chapel was no longer a sacred place. Among the bodies of the monks, Henry suddenly saw a small, pale hand of a young nun, still clutching a holy bible stained with blood. Purity and cruelty existed side by side, creating an image more haunting than death itself.

The corpses of the monks and nuns, with wounds and expressions of extreme pain still etched on their faces, lay scattered on the stone floor. It was a slaughterhouse. Streams of blood formed strange patterns on the stone floor, all leading to a magic circle drawn with fresh blood and ancient, sinister runes in the center of the chapel.

Inside the blood circle, human body parts - arms, legs, heads, internal organs - were arranged in a grotesque, morbid pattern. They gave off a dense, dark energy, a strong smell of death that made one want to vomit. Keln couldn't bear the sight, quickly covering his mouth, his face pale with disgust and anger, but his eyes burned with a fierce hatred for the criminals who had committed this unforgivable act..

And in the middle of the blood circle, on an old stone altar stained with fresh blood, a figure in a black, loose robe stood, his hands raised to the sky, mumbling incantations in an ancient language.

He was performing the final stages of a sacrificial ritual, and the dark energy radiating from him and the blood circle under his feet had far surpassed the level of a Rank 3 trying to ascend to Rank 4.

This was an enemy far beyond the scope of this mission.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.