The senior Mystic finished putting up the chains and began moving on. Ella followed him once again.
As they walked through the valley, they found more tunnels. Some of them hosted similar generators, some had old ritualistic carvings on the walls and altars with demonic symbols, while some were stretching and expanding deep underground. There were crates of supplies: food, fuel, medical supplies – enough to suggest a sizable settlement deeper in.
The Mystics kept their distance. The moment they saw guards or other defences, they stopped, tried to send Ki markers inward to understand the scope of the settlements, and then quietly left. This was just a reconnaissance mission. All they needed was information and they were gathering plenty of it.
Eventually, stepping out of one of these deeper tunnels, Ella stopped. "Polarity… that's the best word I can come up with."
Faris nodded, smiling. "Good. You're perceptive. A natural Mystic…"
"What?"
"Tell me more…"
Faris began moving again. Ella took a few seconds, but then rushed and caught up with him.
"The Ki I sensed at the Post and the weird energy here both have a different feel to them," Ella explained.
"How?" Faris asked.
"Tch! I don't know!"
"Articulate… you can feel it. Explain it."
"It's like… it's like this Ki is repelling my senses… or from my senses. That one was not doing anything like this."
"Brilliant!" Faris smiled and looked at her. "What you felt at the Post was Universal Ki – a concept your people believe in but don't bother exploring. And what you're sensing here, kiddo, is pure and unfiltered…" he smirked at her, "Demonic Ki."
Wide-eyed, she whispered, "What?!"
"The Lombrives Cave, the one the Seredums are checking out right now, sits atop a tectonic fault line." He looked at her. "This fault line has a spiritual side as well. It used to be a gateway to the Demonium, shut down by the masters of the Sanctum thousands of years ago."
"That's what the Demonic symbols in the caves were for!"
"Yup… Demon-worshipping Cults always find their way to these parts to try and extract some spiritual benefits or whatnot… filthy bastards."
Ella was left dumbfounded and quietly followed Faris as they kept exploring and kept finding similar tunnels throughout the Vicdessos Valley.
Elsewhere, the Seredums arrived at the Sainte Germaine thermal baths building which served as a landmark for accessing the nearby Lombrives Cave. Standing at the deserted roadside with the enormous dark silhouette of the ruined thermal building behind them, the sisters felt the Demonium leak like a cold draft bleeding from the direction of the cave mouth.
Sensing odd anomalies, blurred Ki, and shivering Demonium residue, they decided to move into the cave. They got off the official trail and went into the tree cover beside it. Avoiding the subtle magic wards and the odd wizard sleeping in the shade of a tree, they made their way inside.
In the dark, the trio relied on their metaphysical senses to show them the path. They noticed huge stone cathedrals, cold and echoing, long galleries with ancient graffiti, rare still pools, and occasional manmade walkways along the way. No trees, no plants, and no grass meadows – it was a dark, rock-and-water world.
They found a lake inside. It appeared turquoise in colour – a striking luminous, mineral-heavy cave-water shade. Erina stopped and observed for a few moments. The still water was quiet but the Ki within was contaminated.
"It reeks of Demonic Ki from the fault underneath," she commented. A few lines appeared on her forehead. "The Eye is supposed to keep such sites out of the reach of wizards at all costs!"
Eila nodded. "Those wizards must have formed settlements here bathing in this vile water to strengthen their magic."
They felt movement on the other side of the lake. So, they decided to check. Quietly blending into the dark surroundings, they circled around the lake and found a huge chamber on the other side. It was more than twenty metres high. They peeked in. It was exactly as they feared – there was a small settlement of wizards inside.
Stuck to a rock, Erina shook her head. "Look at those pentagrams." She pointed at inverted pentagrams drawn on the ground up ahead. "They are siphoning the energy from the leak."
"This is bad," Eira commented. "And these people must have spent quite some time here by now."
"Someone has to answer for this…"
Eira said, "Let's move deeper. We have to find a way to shut this down."
Erina looked back at her. "I'm not sure. Should we not move to the rendezvous point and discuss with Master Naji first?"
"I agree," Eila said, nodding. "Master Naji has more field experience than any of us. He will know what the best course of action is. And what's more unsettling is that there may be many more such settlements inside this cave. If we are spotted, we won't be able to fight off all these wizards… especially when they are in their element."
"But there is one thing…" Erina turned around and took a look at the settlement inside from over the rock once more. Sitting back down she said, "I can't sense anyone in there who is as strong as the wizards the Zeta Squad faced in the forest."
The other sisters closed their eyes and tried sensing again.
"There is a lot of disturbance, Demonium and otherwise," said Eila.
Eira added, "True, but we can't be sure… can we?"
"Then let's go meet Master Naji and Ella and see what they have to say…"
They moved swiftly, teleporting in short bursts to use less Ki and remain undetected, and soon arrived at the rendezvous point – the huge empty parking lot of the Beille station, Plateau de Beille. With dark silhouettes of ski lifts and signs advertising cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and dog sledding in the background, they waited for Ella and Faris. Erina hugged herself. The breeze felt cooler than at the cave. The temperature here was only ten degrees Celsius.
Standing next to an empty cabin, the sisters waited until Faris and Ella arrived. The Seredums waved, and the Mystics rushed over.
Erina smiled, saying, "Judging by your expressions, you found exactly what we did as well…"
Faris shook his head. "Entire settlements of the Hearth?"
"Yes."
"What else?"
"They're siphoning energy from the Demonium fault."
"Of course…"
Faris kicked the ground then removed his cap and shook his head.
"This is exactly what happens," he said, grinding his teeth. He spoke quietly, but his anger was evident in his tone. "Ambris killed the last of the Seekers and these idiots demolished the Outsiders. There's no one left to take notice! The Eye no longer has eyes to see!"
Seekers were never the strongest Martial Artists, but their senses were sharper than most Zaatsus and Mystics. And, as such, it was their duty to do regular sweeps of the entire globe, monthly or sometimes weekly, to make sure no area was recording more or less arcane activity than usual. They would match their findings with older records and keep arcane activity in check.
Erina nodded. "This is exactly the kind of activity that the Seekers would detect and the Outsiders would act against."
"And they always acted swiftly," Eira added. "This would've never happened on their watch."
The Outsiders used the Eye's outposts as bases of operation but their operatives were always spread around the globe. A family in a city, employees of a company in another state, farm owners in a certain province, shopkeepers in a particular town – the Outsiders had their people living among the population and watching for arcane activity from within.
"What about the humming and the generators?" Ella asked.
Erina looked at her with a narrowed gaze. "Generators?"
The young Mystic hesitated and looked at Faris. He waited. So, she looked back at the Seredum and explained, "That weird energy we felt, like a humming vibration, well… we found large diesel generators running inside tunnels in the Valley and… ah… the sound they were making… it resembles the humming we've been feeling here."
Eira stepped closer. "I beg your pardon?"
"The sound of the generators and the humming energy," said Faris. "The two are quite similar."
As everyone paused and thought about the possibilities, the Mystic crossed his arms and leaned against the cabin wall. "Weird hum blocking senses, blurring Ki, Demonic leak causing further distortion, and then weird generators and Cult settlements…" He shook his head and whispered, "This is messed up."
Erina smiled. "You will have to add a few more to that list."
"Go right ahead…"
"Demonic Cult, Alchemist leader, stolen remnants, and dead Keeper."
"What could a Demonic Cult want with the Xoitique Diamond anyway?" Ella asked. "They like Demonic energy, but the stone is Celestial Ki, right?"
Faris nodded. "Yup."
"So, what's their plan here?"
"Demonic Ki and Celestial Ki usually cancel each other out. You're right. It doesn't make any sense."
Erina opined, "Could they break open the barrier and open a door to the Demonium?"
"Oh, no, no." Faris chuckled. "That was an actual threat with someone like Ambris. The best these guys can do is become vessels for Demonic spirits to occupy… become demi-demons… vessels for pure Demonic filth!"
The senior Mystic looked at his younger counterpart and his smile quickly faded. "One word of advice, kiddo… don't tell anyone, and I do mean anyone, about this."
"What?" She looked at him wide-eyed. "Why?"
"Because all the Eye will do is dig up the whole place and blow it to smithereens!" After a slight pause, he said, "I'll tell Hugo. You can talk to him about it. You can talk to Camille as well, but no one else. This needs to be investigated properly."
Pushing himself off the wall, he sighed. "We have to move on now." He looked at Erina. "There's a tunnel at the corner of the Valley. We felt a Celestial Ki residue there. And I'm sure you sisters can track it better than us. That's our best bet right now of locating the Alchemist."
"Agreed." The Seredum nodded. "We must find Derek. He has all the answers."
Half-smiling, Faris shook his head. "Nah. That guy doesn't know jack-shit…"
The Seredums looked at each other then back at Faris. "How do you figure?" asked Erina.
"Think about it. If Derek had metaphysical abilities so strong that he could kill a Keeper, do you really think he would've had trouble defeating Hugo? Are you really going to believe that a guy who couldn't defeat Hugo could kill a Keeper, blur your metaphysical senses and our spiritual ones, and orchestrate the building of this nest of demonic filth?" He shook his head. "I'm not buying it…"
"What are you getting at, Master Naji?"
"There's something else at play here… I can't put my finger on it but there's definitely something we're missing."
The group went silent after that. A few moments later, Ella looked at Faris. Wide-eyed, she asked, "What about that bounty hunter – the White Bolt?"
He looked over. "What about him?"
"What's his role in all this?"
"I'm not sure." The freelance Mystic shook his head. "No matter which way you look at it, he's a variable that's just not fitting in the equation."
Erina took a deep breath. "Who is he, do you think?"
"I don't know." Faris shook his head. "Hugo has his theories, but I'm not…"
The Mystic went silent mid-sentence. His mouth hung open. He kept staring at Erina, wide-eyed.
"What is it Master Naji?" she asked, leaning closer.
Everyone's heartbeats quickened. The Master Mystic was on to something. He had known legends, he had seen wars, he had seen betrayals, and he had spent time with men who had shaped the future. However, he was having a hard time speaking. All of it was connected. But how could it be? No one could have pulled off what the legends only ever theorized. No one had the ability, no one in the world could even hope to effectively attempt it. He had known the best of the best. Yet even he could not think of anyone. An amalgamation of the worlds, an extension of wishful yet dangerous philosophies, and an inspiration… the kind that could jolt the world or usher it into a utopia.
'Could it be?' he thought. 'Did we miss it? It was always simple. Did he…? But it's not him. I'm sure. Then could it be him…?'
Ella stepped closer. "Master Naji?"
"Master Von Bergen…" Faris murmured. His voice shaking.
"What?"
He looked at her. "Master Vincent Von Bergen, the last chief Seeker… he once said that we are all standing at a junction in this post-modern era where the past is taking over the future while the present is getting erased."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
He shook his head as his expression changed. Lines appeared on his forehead, nostrils flared up, and he balled his fists. "Things we had buried are no longer dead. He's being used just like the rest of us. We must find that Alchemist son of a bitch fast!"
In the Moving Bazaar, Camille finally found Samir Haddad. She gave him three small coins and one large coin and asked him about the Devil's Hearth.
He looked around for a bit and then looked over his shoulders to make sure no one was watching.
Then, the man moved ahead and leaned closer to Camille.
In her ear, he whispered, "They are where the dead lay alive…"