The Greenhill Mental Asylum of Tingen City was neither fancy or shabby, simply built to house patients and do its job.
As per Kenley's instructions to Daxter, Hood Eugen's window was left open during midnight hours. He made sure that no other personnel would enter the room, as that would make the madness spread like a disease.
Turning the keys around and locking his office door, Daxter Guderian started rambling to himself.
"I never thought that those Arcanists could be so useful, the Church wouldn't have listened to me."
He was already aware of the official's procedures, it became even more apparent when one of his fellow Spectators fell to the Mandated Punisher's hands.
Although they were not close, this became a life lesson for him and his fellow Psychology Alchemists. It became increasingly hard to believe in the authorities.
After realizing Hood Eugen's declining mentality and psychological problems, he came into contact with a divination expert at Tingen's divination club.
And that's how, although paranoid and careful, Daxter Guderian became acquainted with an ancient organization known as The Arcanists.
The records of the Psychology Alchemists don't talk a lot about this organization, or it might be his lower rank that does not allow such information. But nonetheless, The Arcanists are not to be underestimated as their forces span across the Northern and Southern Continents, and perhaps even the seas.
They function exactly like a church would, except mostly in the darkness of justice, working devoid of light.
He was quite impressed.
Once he made sure that the door was completely locked by pressing on the stiff handle a couple of times, Daxter removed the stack of keys and shoved them in his pocket, turning around and walking down the long hallway.
It's time to let the experts do their job.
His head shifted to Hood Eugen's room, scanning the door with a stiff expression.
He pushed up his gold-rimmed spectacles that hung on the bridge of his nose after buttoning up his brown jacket.
I'm sorry, but it's for the best.
***
Two hours later, under the window where Hood Eugen's room was located.
"Captain, I'm not that athletic! I can't jump that high!" Yelled Kenley in a whisper, looking up at the high window.
Although it was only on the second floor, it was still much too high up for someone like him.
"That's what you get for skipping Gawain's training." Commented Dunn Smith while pocketing his pipe.
Meanwhile, Seeka was already sitting on the window frame, having found the most suitable way to climb up by checking the wall indents.
"Hurry up, I don't wish to be left alone with a mental patient."
Dunn didn't say anything as he grabbed a nearby indent and forced himself up with a hand, jumping incredibly high.
Before checking the room he turned around again and leaned over the window.
"Come on, hold my hand." Dunn Smith extended his own hand to the Seer, who gathered some momentum by taking a few steps back and dashing forward.
"Hugh!" In the last moment, before the collision, he grabbed Captain's hand and jumped upwards, as if stepping on thin air.
"Well done." Said the man in a quiet breath and scanned the small, nearly empty, room.
During that time, Seeka already entered the patient's room, watching the twitching Hood Eugen under the covers.
"He's trying very hard to stabilize his condition, unfortunately it doesn't hold much. It won't be long before his body will take a new form." Seeka gave her analysis on the situation then looked back at the captain as if asking for directions.
Dunn Smith didn't say anything, as he went completely still, his soul already entering Hood Eugen's consciousness who fell beforehand into complete slumber.
"So what are we supposed to do?" Asked Kenley as he cautiously scanned the dark corners.
"We are just to sit here, watch over him and the captain, making sure nothing would disturb them."
She took out her gun from her armpit holster. "Take out your weapon and shoot incase he wakes up."
The Seer simply nodded and clutched his revolver close, watching attentively the two stiff men.
***
His dreams are all over the place...
Dunn Smith glided through the crazed man's consciousness, watching each isolated memory start and cut from different times.
He approached the standing man in the middle of his island, each dewdrop of memories plunging back into the sea.
As he got closer, Hood Eugen became increasingly aware, as if he already predicted Dunn's arrival.
Instead of backing away, Dunn Smith continued, walking forward with increased speed.
Once they stood face to face, Hood Eugen's sunken eyes narrowed as his mouth broke into a smile.
"You want to see them don't you? Do you want to see Him?"
"Him?"
"Yes, yes! Him! The one and the only!"
Before Dunn Smith could say anything, his eyes became assaulted with countless flashing memories, eidolons of passing people, empty echoing rooms and smooth statues looking from above akin to silent judges.
In his mind, only one thing rang. "Praise be to the True Creator!"
A choir rose from all around him, drowning his thoughts and scratching his mind.
"Praise be to the True Creator!"
That's right! The ones that brought this Psychiatrist to such state were none other than the Aurora Order zealots!
This hidden 'Church' was hunted down by the Arcanists for a long time. It was one of the few things they and the officials could agree on, it was that the Aurora Order should be eradicated!
Damn it! Dunn Smith's face scrunched up, he instantly canceled the ritual, choosing to immediately leave the man's dreams, but he was stopped suddenly.
A black shadow swallowed him whole, and a falling sensation took over.
Without waiting, his mouth moved as if on it's own.
He was chanting the honorific name of the Leader.
As each stanza was yelled in the gaping imense black well, he became increasingly alert.
Once His name was spoken, countless black wings enveloped the man, making his soul scatter and gather back up in his real body.
He woke up hearing a loud snap of fingers that rang ethereally, followed by two loud gunshots which sounded more like reality.
Bang! Bang!
Seeka and Kenley fired their guns one by one, the rampager that plunged at them turned stiff, his forehead exploding with a myriad of blood streaks that splashed all over the white walls.
Making sure that the body went limp, Seeka exhaled a breath of relief, while Kenley repeated a statement seven times after his pendulum went still above the body.
"Hood Eugen is completely dead."
"Hood Eugen is completely dead."
...
Only once the pendulum started spinning clockwise, did the Seer feel true relief, nearly falling over from his feet.
Meanwhile, Dunn pressed his hands in a prayer motion, repeating a name and thanking them sincerely.
Seeka and Kenley knew that this was the Leader's true name, but were not allowed to know of it, so it looked as if Dunn was whispering something unintelligible like a crazed fanatic.
"What do we do now? I mean the patients didn't hear anything but surely the staff would notice a monstrous dead body in this room." Said Seeka, while patting down dust particles off her coat.
"This shouldn't take much to clean up, let's hurry."
"Wait we have to do it? As in us?" Seeka pointed at herself.
"Of course, this isn't something I can just explain to the office, we need to make haste."
Dunn hurried the two while grabbing a piece of cloth himself.
"Kenley, Daxter offered you a map of the place right? Find the cleaning closet and bring over the supplies."
"On it!" He responded while making his way out of the patient's room in a haste.
***
That same night, at Madam Sharon's mansion on Osna street.
Using her nonexistent acrobatic skills, Amanises masterfully climbed up along the eaves and onto the balcony, landing on the other side of the bedroom.
That wasn't a problem, she crouched along it, ducking so that no passing servant would faint seeing a headless long haired woman.
Due to her outfit being completely black, Evelyn looked like a ghost one would see crawling out of a well at night accompanied by a crow's calling and crickets.
She was glad there were no cameras in this world, that way no one would record her and turn the woman into a creepypasta.
Never have I been more glad for the absence of technology.
She continued to laugh at her current situation, trying her best to forget that she was about to force herself inside another person's house.
Have I gotten too confident when I drank the potion? Although I can confidently say I can fend on my own at night I'm still too careless!
Evelyn wasn't a money lover, this situation is purely out of my own greed!
She had just realized the ridiculousness of the situation, but it was already too late.
Let's just roll with it. She breathed a nervous sigh.
Amanises turned the corner, jumping over the railing and climbing on the side of a covered window. The master of the house preferred privacy, as almost all windows were completely covered, whether by cloth or a piece of hard wood.
She continued to crawl on the brick wall, making excelent use of the indents to support herself, however—
My fingers are getting tired!
Luckily, it was just a slight discomfort, the nightly enhancement she received as a Midnight Poet helped with both dexterity and stamina, but also made her skin harder and more difficult to pierce.
So if she were to be thrown into a haystack, no needle would nip her ass!
As she continued to skillfully jump from window to window, eventually Amanises reached another balcony, peeking over uncovered glass.
Apparently the woman hid everything but her own bedroom, strange.
As Amanises was just about to search for a way to open it, a pair of hands groped her sides suddenly, accompanied by a Boo! sound.
"!!!"
Amanises was so surprised that she nearly jumped out like a cat seeing a cucumber, heart nearly stopping in her chest!
She instantly turned around to face the perpetrator, not being surprised at all at who it was.
Daly!
"Daly! What the fuck are you doing here!" She whisper-yelled at her, careful to not make a sound too high to wake up the servants.
Daly Simone, who was grinning from ear to ear whispered back. "I couldn't just leave such a heavy pouch of money on the street, now could I?"
"Yeah, right." She almost 'tsked'. "What did you get from scaring me like that?"
"A good laugh." The Spirit Medium nearly bursted out laughing, seeing Evelyn's frown.
"Alright, alright. I did some divination and the results showed extreme danger for you."
"You did divination? How? And how did you do it for someone that wasn't yourself?"
Daly fluttered her hand, brushing off the questioning. "That, that doesn't matter. What does, however is that you would've died had I not spared my precious time asking around for a divination instead of sleeping."
"So you asked someone? Who?"
"Didn't I say that it doesn't matter?! Why can't you get that into your thick head!"
"Shhht! Why don't you yell a little louder so that the servants can call the police on us for trespassing and stalking!"
"Well I wouldn't need to if you were to hear me for the first time!"
Both continued to bicker around like children for a few minutes, only when both calmed down enough and Daly stopped her silent giggles, did they turn around to face the window again.
"How do we get in? Do we go down the chimney?"
"Who do you think we are? Santa Claus and his little elf? If you think you're fat enough, go breathe the ash!"
Santa Claus? How does she—oh, Roselle.
"Down with the mocking! I'm on a mission here! If you're not going to help, might as well make yourself gone!"
"Okay, okay I'll be helpful! Don't throw me out!"
She fixed her gaze on the other side of the glass, then her gaze unfocused.
Amanises knew that this meant she was summoning a spirit.
After a few seconds of waiting, from the other side of the glass, whisps of green and almost light neon lights could be seen, slowly taking the form of a hand.
With a little bit of guidance, the spirit hand, turned corporeal, was able to press down on the metal handle, allowing for the wooden-framed window to open, letting the cool air inside.
"How useful! I can't wait till I'm able to control spirits myself!" She praised while moving to jump over the window frame, before a hand suddenly pulled her back, not even letting Amanises put a fingernail inside.
"What the—"
"Shhht! Didn't you say to be quiet? Why can't you follow your own instructions!"
Amanises watched as Daly took out a make-up powder container, and blew it inside the room.
Wouldn't that make a mess?
Before she could finish her thought, Amanises noticed countless black strings be framed by the white powder, turning vermilion under the moonlight, each silk strand carefully placed, leaving almost no room for movement without being intercepted.
"What is this?"
"I knew it!" Daly rejoiced, looks like whatever suspicions she had turned true.
"What are you talking about?" Amanises required clarification.
Daly pulled back more and ducked their heads under the frame.
"This is a demoness' Spider Silk. They're notorious for being hard to take by surprise, taking preemptive measures of protection."
"Demoness? Madam Sharon is a demoness?"
Before she could be actually surprised, her voice lowered down. "What is a demoness?"
Amanises had an idea about what a demoness was from her previous life on Modern Earth, however she wasn't sure about this world and its intricate potions and powers.
"They're Beyonders from the Assassin pathway. From sequence 7, no matter the gender, they turn into females and gain incredible abilities. Such as mirror divination, mirror substitutes, different spells, spider-like sensible hairs and incredible strength and agility.
"I heard at higher sequences they can even control diseases."
"What a busted pathway! If Assassin was an option I would've definitely taken that one!" She lamented.
"Demonesses not part of the Demoness Sect are actively, hunted down and killed by them. All of the current ones were men before and they're always followed by disasters. Even 'good' ones are killed by the churches."
"Oh."
"Plus, when we boarded the train, the beautiful woman surrounded by men was one of them."
"How did you—"
"Experience and intellect." She pointed at her temple with her pointer finger.
"Okay, I get it. Thank you. But what do we do from here?"
"Well the spider silk is very sensitive, if we touch it, even without breaking it, it will alert the Demoness.
"Moreover, this level of silk can only be made from a Sequence 6 Pleasure. If we were to be ambushed by one we would die one hundred percent." Daly gave her thorough insight as she casted one more look inside the spacious bedroom.
"Great. Just great! That widow was right. This woman is a witch!"
"Funny you say that, actually."
"Huh? So how do we avoid getting ambushed?"
"It's simple." Daly gave a smirk as if she was stating common knowledge. "We do the ambush!"
"Wha—"