After an hour, Anastasia finished the meeting.
The meeting was a routine weekly gathering attended by the heads of every significant branch in the family.
Anastasia received briefings on everything happening, whether it was related to the business world and the potential moves of the Ravencrest Consortium, or information gathered by the Silent Nexus in the human domain.
The advent of technology had made everything easier for everyone, with no need for the members to attend the meeting in person.
She left the meeting room with Arya and made her way through the estate to a large building located near the center of the estate. This building was second in size and standing only to the main mansion.
As she approached the building, a quick scan allowed the doors to swiftly slide open, and Anastasia and Arya entered.
She walked through the building with familiarity, and after a minute, she entered a room.
The room was vast, and Anastasia found herself on a raised platform, overseeing a sea of screens and operatives diligently at work.
Below her, rows of long tables filled with people in front of individual screens were arranged in a circular formation.
Each person was immersed in their tasks, not even checking who had entered.
In the center of the room, a massive wall-sized display showcased a comprehensive view of various parts of the sector. It was a mesmerizing tableau of real-time information, with maps, data, and live video feeds constantly shifting.
This room was the central control room of the whole sector, where the Ravenstein family utilized their satellites to monitor the entire sector.
Every single place in the sector could be monitored from this room. Some places in other sectors could also be monitored, although that would alert the ruling party involved.
Looking through the people in the room, Anastasia immediately found her target. He was resting his back against the wall of the room, gazing at nothing in particular, completely immersed in his thoughts.
She started walking toward him, but even after getting close, he still didn't register her presence.
Anastasia frowned, one thing women hate the most was their man not giving them attention.
"Ahem," she audibly cleared her throat. The sound seemed to bring Avalon out of his daydreaming.
He turned to see Anastasia staring at him.
"Oh, honey, when did you get here?" Avalon awkwardly asked, seeing Anastasia.
"Just now," she replied. Looking at Avalon's appearance, her expression turned sad.
Avalon looked lost for words. He had huge eye bags under his eyes, unkempt beards forming on his face, and even the clothes he was wearing were what he wore yesterday.
Even after all these years had passed, Avalon had not stopped looking for Ariel's killer.
Seeing Anastasia's sad expression, Avalon awkwardly scratched the back of his head, an action he was beginning to do often. "Don't worry, Anna, I'll be fi-," as Avalon was about to reassure Anastasia, she suddenly walked up to him, grabbed his hand, and started dragging him out of the room.
Avalon had initially wanted to protest, but he immediately stopped when he saw Anastasia's expression. She wasn't taking no for an answer.
Anastasia dragged Avalon and went outside, moving through the estate back to the main mansion, with neither of them speaking throughout.
After a few minutes, Anastasia and Avalon got to the study room. Arya remained outside, intending to stop anyone who tried to disturb them.
Anastasia let go of his hand and walked to the middle of the room, then said, "Play the last playlist."
Immediately, a robotic voice responded, [Playing…]
Soothing classical music started playing in the background, and Anastasia stretched her hands towards Avalon, making her intention clear. She was asking him to dance with her.
Avalon gazed into his wife's eyes and understood that she wasn't just asking; he had no choice but to accept. With a small sigh, he walked over to her and took her hand.
Without exchanging words, the couple began to move to the rhythm of the music, letting it wash over them and finding solace in the embrace of their partner.
After a few minutes, with her head resting on Avalon's chest, Anastasia spoke, her voice filled with longing, "I miss you, honey."
Avalon's heart immediately clenched. He knew he had been neglecting Anastasia for a while now, but he couldn't help it.
No matter how hard he tried to rest or sleep, Ariel's face would always pop up in his head. It had even worsened to the point where it affected his sleep. Despite being a grandmaster rank individual who can go without sleep for weeks, he still needed to rest eventually.
This was one of the reasons why he wanted to find Ronad as quickly as possible. But seeing how sad Anastasia was, his heart tightened.
He held her even closer, and as he was about to speak, Boman suddenly burst into the study room, startling both of them.
Before they could even ask what happened, Boman spoke rapidly, each word seeming to shatter their world.
"It's been over an hour, and the Raven camp hasn't reported in yet! All communications have been cut off, and the portal isn't responding!"
Immediately after those words were spoken, there was no response, no acknowledgment, not a single word uttered.
However, an overwhelming aura suddenly engulfed the entire room, expanding out to the mansion.
Avalon fully released his Grandmaster rank aura, and with an eruption of velocity, the floor in the study room immediately imploded, and Avalon tore through the mansion's walls as if they were fragile glass.
Anastasia, Arya, and Boman followed him closely as he cut through the air.
But before Avalon could even make it out of the estate, a streak of lightning tore through the atmosphere at a velocity that defied reality.
The swiftness was so extreme that space itself seemed to warp and tremble, struggling to accommodate such power.
The streak of lightning was followed by a deafening clap of thunder, and almost immediately, the shockwave hit the estate.
The whole estate shook, some of the buildings couldn't withstand the shockwave and immediately collapsed.
Every single person below the expert rank in the entire Ravenstein estate fainted from the sheer pressure and impact, while the expert ranks experienced burst eardrums with blood gushing from their ears.
All over the human domain, powerhouses turned their gaze skyward.
None of them were sure why, but they all knew:
Magnus Ravenstein had moved.