Solomon slowly walked onto the street and hailed a cab.
"Mycroft Holmes has yielded," he said the moment he sat down in the backseat. The intelligence agents escorting the operation didn't know his identity, but they would relay the message through encrypted channels to Victoria Hand. Even before the gunship had launched, Victoria Hand's agents had already begun probing the defenses of the island prison, ensuring Solomon had the leverage needed to overpower Mycroft Holmes. After the message was sent, Solomon closed his eyes to rest.
The cab drove past Westminster Abbey and the Methodist Central Hall, across Westminster Bridge, and straight toward the London Eye, finally stopping in front of the famous graffiti-lined Banksy tunnel—Leake Street.
The mage paid his fare and stepped out, slowly walking into the road tunnel.
Constantine was already waiting. Despite hours of combat, he appeared anything but weary. Radiant and alert, he stood in the semi-lit tunnel with his halberd in hand and a black carbon-fiber coded case at his feet. As Solomon approached, Constantine opened the case, revealing what was inside—a sleek black power-assisted combat suit with ornate baroque-style gold embellishments. It was slimmer than the ones Solomon usually wore, and its life-support functions were minimal. The armor was designed by Malbus following the principles behind Tony Stark's Mark V portable suit—intended to provide emergency protection when time and space were limited.
Due to its transforming mechanisms, the armor's thickness had to be restricted. But to compensate, it was highly modular, capable of connecting with a variety of external systems—most notably the single-soldier giant exoskeleton suit currently in development. These exoskeletons, destined to become the Sisterhood's main assault units, could carry heavy weapons like cannons, greatswords, missiles, and thick armor, all while maintaining extreme mobility in both mountainous and urban terrain.
Inspired by Tony Stark's Hulkbuster project, Malbus stripped out every flashy but non-functional component. Stark and Malbus had even had a heated argument via hologram over this design philosophy. Malbus had explained that if they didn't remove the pulse propulsion system, a quarter of the suit's total volume would be occupied by cooling, power lines, and pulse engines—precisely why Stark's Hulkbuster had proven so vulnerable. Malbus had promised Solomon that the Sisterhood's exosuit could tear Stark's Hulkbuster apart like it was made of LEGO.
"Reduced numbers, but definitely some slipped through," Constantine said as he helped Solomon into the armor. "We don't have the manpower or time to comb every corner of London's complex sewer system, and plenty of vampires escaped before we even arrived."
"That's inevitable, Constantine. If Mycroft hadn't realized things were spiraling out of control, he'd never have come to us. Deception and concealment are instinctive for bureaucrats—even one as high-ranking as a Cabinet Secretary and MI6 chief. But that's precisely why, now that the situation exceeds his grasp, we have the upper hand." Solomon adjusted the shoulder plates, ensuring his arms could move freely.
The gunship had already transported Wanda, the Sisterhood, and the SAS from one side of London to the other at incredible speed. But they were short on personnel, and large-scale deployment of heavy weapons in London's urban environment was impossible. That was expected. After surrendering, Mycroft Holmes had granted Solomon significant privileges—such as temporary access to London's surveillance networks—allowing him to rapidly and precisely direct his armed forces.
Mycroft had grit his teeth, declaring such privileges a one-time thing, though he knew he likely couldn't kick Solomon off the network even if he wanted to. Choosing the lesser of two evils, he consoled himself with the thought that MI5 and MI6 had always been "one-way transparent" to foreign intelligence agencies—adding Solomon to the list changed little. Or at least, that's how Solomon had pitched it. It took all of Mycroft's composure not to grab his sword cane and jab a few holes into the smug mage.
Britain's defense policy was never about actually protecting the country. It was about making people believe it was protected. If the public discovered mass deaths on city streets, it would devastate the Prime Minister's approval ratings. As a civil servant, Mycroft needed that Prime Minister to remain in office. If he resigned over this, the previous Cabinet Secretary's pension and post-retirement perks would vanish. Mycroft had stressed repeatedly: there must be no gunfire audible in London tonight.
The UK had been enforcing gun control for years. Gunfire meant panic. If not for the concealed AI Solomon had deployed to disrupt communication near combat zones, he might have agreed to Mycroft's demands and fought the vampires with cold weapons only. Whether that slower method might've cost lives was not something Mycroft concerned himself with.
"To the British government, ordinary lives don't mean much. But to us, they matter," the mage said, strapping grenades to magnetic clamps on his belt while doing a final check on his plasma pistol's gas charge. He donned his helmet, synced to the command network, and holstered his Asgardian-tech longsword. "Wasting their lives on this is our failure. They deserve a higher purpose, and I must make amends. Let's go. Follow the sorcerers from Kamar-Taj's London Sanctum—they're already on the move."
The trial of Sherlock Holmes would have to wait. When lives were at stake, such matters became secondary—even Solomon, a member of Kamar-Taj, had to take part in the purge operation personally. Meanwhile, by morning, Mycroft Holmes would subtly propose public infrastructure reforms to the Prime Minister—beginning a full renovation of London's sewers. Though unpopular, Solomon trusted Mycroft to find the right spin: employing illegal immigrants, or citing outdated 150-year-old systems that failed modern environmental regulations.
Whatever the excuse, Solomon had demanded that London's dark and decaying sewers be rebuilt. Kamar-Taj's earthly front would take on the role of contractor, stationing their sorcerers there permanently.
Tonight, Kamar-Taj would drive the vampires back underground and seal them in. Then, once policy was in place, the Immortal City would cleanse the tunnels with bullets, blades, plasma, and poison—finishing the vampire purge that should have ended over a century ago and resolving the lingering sins of history.
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