Chapter 267: Despair in perfection [2]
"The date of the excursion has been moved up even further. Do you all think you’re ready?"
The Section Chief spoke solemnly, his gaze fixed on the squad members standing before him. Each wore the distinct uniform of the Guild, their presence filling the cramped room with a heavy tension that pressed down on everyone present.
Sitting by the end of the table, Clara leaned back on her chair with her arms crossed, her fingers drumming over her arms.
All eyes seemed to turn in her direction in that moment.
She remained quiet, sitting with her face unchanged until she eventually turned her attention towards the Section Chief.
"You say that an abnormal energy shift was detected in the gate, correct? That if we don’t go now, there might be a chance that the anomaly hidden within the gate might escape?"
The Section Chief forced a smile.
"The choice is entirely up to you. The scouting team that the bureau has sent cannot be contacted at this moment. They’re currently stuck within the gate. I wish I could tell you more, but everything that you know is all that I know."
Clara remained seated in her seat while closing her eyes.
She processed the entire situation in her mind. In short, the gate was showing abnormal changes. These changes weren’t good. It indicated several things. The gate was unstable, and there was a high chance that the anomaly might escape the gate.
This sort of occurrence wasn’t rare.
It tended to happen from time to time.
The only issue was that this was a high-ranked gate. Allowing such a strong anomaly to escape would bring disastrous consequences to the world.
’There’s still the issue that we’re not fully ready to enter the gate. While we do have all the relevant information, it wouldn’t be worth the risk. Especially since the danger is relatively high.’
Clara’s thoughts came dangerously close to downright rejecting the offer, but before she had the chance to do so, as if sensing her thoughts, one of her teammates spoke.
"...We should accept the offer."
She was a young-looking girl with twintails, Irene Kiert. She followed a rather unique Decree, which was called ’Perophet’. It gave her the ability to foresee the future, albeit in small glimpses of it.
Holding onto a card, she tossed it on the table.
"Ace of Pentacles."
The room paused as Clara looked at Irene.
"Are you certain?"
"...Yes."
Clara took a deep breath before looking around.
Eventually, pressing her hand against the desk, she stood up.
"Get ready. We’ll depart in a few hours."
*
The Ace of Pentacles signified new opportunities.
It depicted a hand emerging from the clouds holding a shining coin, above a fertile field. As Clara knew, the card represented a gift from the universe — a chance for prosperity, success.
Irene usually had an extremely high accuracy rate. The chances of her ever being wrong were extremely low.
It was hence why the moment that she brought her card out, Clara didn’t hesitate to take on the mission.
If this was an opportunity, then they couldn’t miss it.
Stopping in the main area of the Containment Department, Clara’s steps slowed as her gaze drifted toward a particular door. The small plaque fixed to it read, <Trauma Counselor> . She lingered there for a moment, her eyes fixed on the sign before eventually moving towards the door.
She stopped right before it, and right as she raised her hand to knock on the door, the door opened by itself.
A pair of dead eyes met her gaze.
"....How can I help you?"
The eyes looked even more dead than the last time she had seen him. In fact, everything about him felt different.
He looked...
Inhuman.
His face was pale, and his expression appeared to be completely devoid of any of the qualities that made one human.
Clara’s eyes narrowed at the sight.
’There’s something really off about this guy.’
Her gaze lingered in his direction for the next few seconds. That was until she tore her gaze away and took out her phone.
"I’m about to leave on a mission. I’d like to schedule an appointment for when I come back. Do you think you’ll be free?"
"...I should be."
Seth replied slowly, his eyes and expression not changing once.
Clara yet again took note of this before nodding and passing over her phone number.
"Make sure to give me a call when you’re free. I’m really interested in taking a session."
"...Yes."
Seth nodded, and Clara moved away.
She heard the sound of the door closing not long after as she licked the bottom part of her lips.
’The more I interact with him, the weirder he becomes in my eyes. It’s a pity that I won’t get to see him for a while. I should pay more attention to him once I get back.’
Clara left the department right after that, heading for the lobby where the others were waiting. They then proceeded to take the Guild’s private jet and flew towards the island of interest before arriving at the gate of interest.
Including Clara, there were five members in total.
This was the composition that Clara had decided to bring with her.
She quickly summarized the situation to her team.
"You all should have the information about the gate. I don’t think I need to repeat myself regarding the operation. We’ve already gone through that before. I’ve also gone through the things that you should do in case the situation goes wrong or the gate rank increases.’
Following the incident a while back, Clara learned to be a lot more cautious and started to plan for anything that might go wrong.
She made sure to go through all of that with the team five times on the plane.
In the end, seeing everyone looking at her with the same nods and tired expressions, she turned her attention towards the gate. It was located inside an abandoned warehouse, and it hid right inside an inconspicuous white metal door.
Agents of the bureau stood by the side, alongside several personnel from the Guild.
"Ready...?"
Clara checked her team one last time before nodding and taking out an hourglass. The others did the same.
Her node activated, and she flipped the hourglass.
Immediately, the granules within the hourglass slipped towards the other side. It took no longer than a minute for all the granules to flip.
Her vision grew black moments after.
By the time she regained her bearings, a sharp, metallic tang of rust filled her nostrils. As her eyes adjusted, she realized she was surrounded by old machinery, their broken frames and corroded gears standing around like twisted and creepy shadows.
Clara took in the sight around her in silence.
Then—
She started to walk forward.
Severed Star Guild First Squad—
Excursion commenced.
***
I paused what I was doing, pulling my hands away from the keyboard. Staring at the door, I hesitated for a moment.
’I didn’t hear the click, did I? The click that usually comes every time that the loop restarts...’
The door...
It was open.
"But why?"
Why did it suddenly open now of all times?
Something didn’t make sense. Frowning, I walked towards the door, feeling a certain tension settle over my chest as my entire body tensed. The closer I was to the door, the tenser I felt.
It was as if whoever had been locking the door all this time had grown tired of waiting.
It was now standing right outside the door, waiting patiently for me to leave.
I pursed my lips, feeling the beat of my own heart increasing.
In the end, however—
Clank!
I still ended up opening the door, my hand holding onto the knife as I got ready to stab.
And yet...
Nothing.
The surroundings in front of me were pitch black, devoid of anything.
I stepped out and looked to my left and right.
Still nothing.
I scratched the back of my head.
What in the world was happening? Did it just forget to lock the door? I hesitated for a moment before tossing all thoughts to the side.
’There’s no time to waste. Since the door is open, I might as well start.’
Heading back into the room, I picked up the keyboard and placed it outside. Bringing a stool with me, I sat down on the stool while adjusting the mask on my face.
Then —
Basking in the silence, I pressed both my hands on the keyboard.
Dang!
The first note echoed.