Diana wasn't sure what had attacked, but her body moved on instinct. Hooking her right hand firmly around Rosa's waist, she pulled Rosa towards her bosom as her left blazed to life.
In the same breath, another point in space distorted like vibrations on water's surface and lanky humanoid visage forced its way into view. Diana's eyes narrowed further as she observed the creatures before her, poised for battle.
It was an abhorrent abomination of flesh without any features distinctive to gender and seemed to lack any form of sensory organs at a first glance. It had semi transparent head that hosted a human-like skull and brain concealed within its smooth dome. Its skin was a mixture of patchy gray and white mold, creating the impression of a degrading corpse.
'A Thrall. Now? Their timing is fucking perfect…' While Diana was aware there was a possibility for the failed offspring of the Faceless to target them, she found the timing to be rather strange considering the Akten de'Mirsha spell had already been broken. For a moment she wondered if the creature had simply been lurking nearby all along, patiently waiting until Lady Morrigan's presence had vanished.
Though the Thrall had no eyes, Diana had this sensation that an inquisitive gaze had washed over her.
'Here it comes!..' Not daring to make physical contact with creature lest her form be taken, Diana materialized a Sword of burning flames once more as the slender claws tore through the air for a second time.
A clash of bone and blazing fury ensued, but the creature was clearly at a disadvantage. Under the intense heat of Diana's flames, the thrall's palm was sliced open, creating a heated wound running up its elbow.
Seeing its attack had been countered, the Thrall reacted, quickly retracting its burned claws and In the same motion, its other hand swept towards Rosa in a brutal slash.
Twisting her body to the right, Diana shifted Rosa out the way of the incoming strike and the Thrall's claws tore through the space in front of them, passing where Rosa's head was only a few seconds ago. She then released her grip on the flames and in the next second the shape of the sword shattered, morphing into a flock of flaming birds.
Propelled forward, they bombarded the thrall's emaciated torso, quickly engulfing its entire upper half. The creature thrashed and wailed as it tried to fight the fury, but its resistance was futile, its flesh had been reduced to mere fuel for the hungry pyre.
"Tsk…you could have abandoned your assault, yet you chose death." Diana remarked, watching the flames consume the last of the Thrall. Her gaze then shifted to Rosa as she hoisted her up gently in her arms.
However, unbeknownst to Diana a third party had been secretly watching all the events that occurred after they entered the pharmacy.
"To think a gate would be opened" Staring into his cracked bathroom mirror, Li Ming nervously wiped beads of sweat from his forehead, quickly ending the spell Einen Tippfehler [Silent Watcher].
The spell allowed user to observe someone's actions from a bird's eye view using a mirror however it required the user to be in possession of an item touched by the person they were trying to observe. Li Ming had used the spell on Rosa out of curiosity using the badge she had given his mother, but he hadn't expected the situation to escalate that quickly
'It took quite a lot of effort to mask my spiritual energy the first time I met those two attendants but The visionary herself has now become aware of my existence. The real question is why she chose to ignore me…is this some greater ploy or simply a test?' His thoughts began to spiral uncontrollably, but one thing was clear to him.
"I should have avoided that cur Heng Sizhui…!" Li Ming cursed, slamming his fist into the broken mirror. It was rather laughable that such a simple mistake led him to his current predicament however after reestablishing a connection with his past life, his yearning for the power he once held clouded his judgment.
****
Elsewhere in District one.
Within the private chambers of the Baron's estate, seven cloaked figures frantically strode through the halls, all converging towards a single location. Reaching a single door at the end of a long corridor, a lone woman was pushed to the front of the group.
At first the woman's legs shook nervously, hesitant to approach. Her gaze alternated between the door and the group behind her as she contemplated running, yet she quickly abandoned that thought. In situations such these, they had a common agreement that one individual had to risk gaining the ire of baron Zhou Min in order to alert him during his secluded meditation.
Knock… Knock…
"My lord, I'm sorry to disturb, but we have an urgent situation." Taking a deep breath, the woman called out.
The room beyond the door was a meditation chamber stripped of all excess. Concrete walls lines with otherworldly runes enclosed the space on all sides, devoid of windows or ornaments, their surfaces bearing faint traces of old reinforcement marks left unmended.
While runes transformed the space into simple domain for heightening the occupants focus and blocking their perception of the outside world, the floor was engraved with a lotus pattern bearing resemblance to a ritual petagram, six petals spread out in beautiful symmetry, accentuated by burning candles.
At its center floated a middle-aged man clad in traditional white and gray robes, suspended a short distance above the ground. His wrist were adorned with silver bracelet and a similar accessory tied his long black hair up into a ponytail. The man's closed eyelids shifted with the rhythm of each knock before suddenly snapping open, his inner focus had been broken.
"I hope this is worth wasting my precious time."
The candles were extinguished at once and with a soft exhale the man descended, his feet touching the stone floor without a sound. He then raised a hand and the candle vanished, drawn away as though erased from existence. Turning, he casually walked toward the door with unhurried steps and opened it
Yet the woman dared not enter.
Instead, she took a step back, hastily performing a bow as she spoke, "My lord, forgive the disturbance," she said frantically, almost forgetting to breath. "A Sequence Two-type Gate manifestation has been detected within District three."
"What! Why have you not gone to seal it? Have you lot not mastered the technique I taught you yet?"
"I'm afraid that's not the case my lord… We have already mastered the technique, but before we could head there the nearest sensory tower confirmed the gate has already been destroyed."
"Destroyed you say? By whom? There shouldn't be any other Specters in my territory capable of such as feat." The Baron stroked his beard thoughtfully then asked, "Have you received a report of any casualties?"
"We… We haven't received a full report however the initial report shows everything within a twenty-meter radius was vaporized along with the gate" Another person quickly spoke up in response.
Hearing their words, the baron's brows furrowed as he cursed under his breath. Taking a step past the group, he turned and said,"I'll need to head to the location to confirm if the residual spiritual energy has a familiar intent, have someone send me the results from the sensory bell tower immediately."