Aurora dug her hands into the flesh of the lizard and took out four Chaos Stones. She fed it to the black cat.
Four new spheres appeared around Mater's heart. He didn't waste any time and immediately dissolved the Chaos inside it.
Mater wasted quite a lot of magic creating the Submission Seal. His Chaos reserve was running dangerously low. He didn't like that feeling.
"1,600 kilometers!"
"1,650 kilometers!"
"1,700 kilometers!"
"1,750 kilometers!"
The black cat yawned and felt the magic returning to his body. The Chaos Stones filled up his incomplete Chaos Circuit.
His Chaos Well wasn't even half full. Most of the Chaos was used to infused the new blood vessels and blood. The previous infused blood vessels were still empty and only contained ordinary blood.
"I can used some Chaos Stones to fill up my Chaos Well but that would slow down my leveling."
Currently, of all his 1,750 kilometers of blood vessels, only 500 of it contained magic.
With the Dark Grimoire, he didn't need to waste his magic. He only used it to pilot and fly the book. Most of it was used to inscribe new spells and especially, creating the Glacial Seal.
"With Aurora here and the Dark Grimoire, the amount of magic I have isn't that relevant. The most important thing is still getting to level ten and acquiring my first lock.
Aurora does need Chaos to regain her power though. But if I can construct a Glacial Shrine, she can use it as a point of regeneration. Selina maybe able to help with this."
Mater climbed onto Aurora. The pair returned to the main ritual site. There was only one tunnel left.
The tunnel that was covered with runic symbols.
Mater jumped down from Aurora's shoulders. The Wight put the Dark Grimoire next to the black cat.
Mater didn't understand what these runic symbols were. They weren't demonic nor divine. They weren't inscriptions of spell either. It was a unique aspect of this world and very likely related to the Chaos Ritual that Mater had seen.
"You go first, Aurora. Scout the tunnel for me. Report everything you see via telepathy."
"Your wish is my command, Master."
The Glacial Wight in blue and white walked inside the tunnel. Mater fully expected the symbols to come to life and attacked Aurora but they remained still.
"The tunnel is long, Master. No sight of anything weird."
"Keep going, minion."
"Yes, Master."
The naked woman ventured deeper into the tunnel. The tunnel didn't open up and stayed tightly narrowed. There were more runic symbols deeper in the tunnel.
At the end of the tunnel was a precisely constructed room.
Aurora jumped down to the room and looked around.
There were eight people lying on eight stone beds. Each of them had a Chaos string reaching out in the middle of their foreheads.
There was a ninth empty stone bed.
All of it joined together into one and formed a fourth string that was connected to the ritual site.
"There are eight people at the end of the tunnel, Master. They seem to be in a coma."
"Eight? Adding the poor fool I met at the entrance then it is nine people. That is the amount of people that have gone missing...
Is the room dangerous?"
"No, Master. The symbols do not react to me. There is also no trap nor ambush."
"Good. Stay there. I'll come to you."
Mater jumped to the Dark Grimoire and flew inside the tunnel. The breathing symbols shimmered as normal and didn't react to Mater.
"They are not defensive runes. Then why are they here?"
Mater reached the room where Aurora was. He saw the twelve stone bed placed evenly throughout the room.
Mater's eyes flashed red and he saw the complex system of Chaos strings. The black cat approached one of the victims and observed them.
The man trembled gently in his sleep. His brow furrowed deeply and he sweated non-stop. The black cat pulled up an eyelid of the sleeping man.
The pupil was dilated and the entire eye moved frantically.
"He's dreaming. I see. The symbols affect these people's minds, putting them in a non-stop nightmare.
Non-stop nightmare equals to non-stop torture equals to non-stop negative emotions...
Equals to Chaos.
This room is a Chaos farm."
Suddenly, everything made sense in Mater's mind. There was no wraith nor serial killer murdering people. These people were kidnapped to become fertilizer for the wraith.
"The existence of those creatures are a natural source of Chaos. Linking them to the Ritual will enhance whatever it births.
These people were a different technique of the same concept. They 'mine' the negative emotions within the nightmare and feed it to the ritual."
Mater extended his claws. He flew up using the Dark Grimoire and slashed all the red strings. The last connection of the ritual to these people was severed.
Instantly, the people on the stone beds settled down. Their brow relaxed and they stopped groaning from whatever horror they were seeing in their nightmare.
"I need to bring these people out of here."
Mater rolled his eyes, thinking about a suitable solution. He jumped back onto Aurora's shoulders.
The pair exited the room, found their way back to the ritual site and went to the entrance.
Mater and Aurora couldn't bring all these people out. He needed help from Selina and the police.
The black cat knew that he could ignore those people and just woke up the wraith. But that would greatly endanger their lives.
Mater admitted that he was not a good cat. But he had standards. He killed only those who deserved it and took only from those who had it coming.
When Mater reached the entrance, the sky outside was already dark. But Selina was still there, sitting at the iron gate. Her head tilted to the side and she was asleep.
The black cat admired the beautiful sculpture that is her face.
"Stupid woman. You should find somewhere to rest if you're tired." Mater meowed.
His noise woke up Selina.
"Mater? You're back! Have you dealt with whatever is inside?" Selina lit up in joy.
Her face froze when she saw the naked woman next to him.
Selina grabbed the black cat and quickly extended the distance.
"Meow?"
"Mater, attack! She must be an NCE!"
The black cat rolled his eyes. He jumped out of Selina's arms and used Aurora as a vehicle to convey his message.
"Relax, Selina. She is my minion." Aurora said.
"Huh?"