Nick looked at Mundus and nodded.
He was a bit intimidated by their combined presence, but Nick knew that they couldn't afford to kill him.
It would not be worth it.
The next moment, Zarren Harrow stepped forward.
SHING!
Suddenly, a grey puppet made of steel appeared in his hand, and when Nick saw the puppet, he felt the hairs on his back standing up.
This puppet felt extremely dangerous!
"We're going to take you out of the city," Zarren said. "I'll make sure that you don't accidentally look at the Crimson Sea."
Nick took a deep breath.
BANG!
Suddenly, Nick found himself in absolute darkness, and he felt his entire head being encased in steel.
His heart rate spiked, but since only his head was encased in darkness, he didn't get attacked by the Nightmare.
Well, not with the usual intensity, at least.
Nevertheless, having one's head encased in steel was a terrifying experience, and it wasn't easy for Nick to remain calm.
The next moment, he felt some kind of force pulling at him, and an instant later, Nick felt his Zephyx drain very slowly.
He could feel that his Barrier had activated, which meant that they were probably traveling through the city's underground.
SHING!
Suddenly, all the metal vanished, and Nick could finally see where he was.
Nick could see a couple of cliffs and a lot of wasteland around him.
He knew where this was.
This was close to the shore to the northeast of the city.
In barely a couple of seconds, Nick had gone from inside the city to the northeastern shore that was around 40 kilometers away from the city.
Sure enough, the speed of a Hero was incredible!
Nick also saw the three from Anatomy beside him.
"How are you going to lure the Specter out?" Mundus asked with a neutral voice.
Nick looked at the cliffs beside him.
"Don't worry about how," Nick said.
The atmosphere became tense, but Nick kept his cool.
"The important part is that I will lure the Specter out."
"I'm not sure if the Specter will immediately bite or if it will take a couple of minutes. However, if it doesn't bite within the first ten minutes, it won't bite at all."
"I need you to stay far away," Nick continued. "Most likely, it won't send anything after me if it sees that more than one person is close to me."
"I believe the Specter has the ability to sense the surroundings and infer a couple of things. I would even bet that, by seeing me, it can see anyone close to me as well. At least, that's what I think is why it is so hard to lure it out for the city and Kugelblitz. It's perception by perception if you want to call it that."
"Perception by perception," Ariel muttered from the side with a thoughtful voice.
Nick nodded. "Because of that, I can't have all of you staying close to me. You would need to be so far away that you can't see me anymore."
Zarren furrowed his brows.
Apparently, he didn't like the sound of that.
"We can't do that," he said. "We don't want to lose two Elders and a Fanatic. We have to see you to keep you alive."
"I'm sure you'll find a way," Nick said.
Zarren looked at Nick with narrowed eyes.
Nick just looked back neutrally.
Silence.
Then, Zarren looked at the ground with a thoughtful expression.
Finally, he looked at Ariel with a meaningful glance.
After that, Ariel had a thoughtful expression.
Everyone remained silent for about five seconds.
Eventually, Ariel looked at Zarren and nodded.
Zarren nodded back.
Then, he looked at Nick. "Fine," he said. "To summarize, you are to be left alone, and nobody is allowed to look at you while you lure the Specter out. But at the same time, you have to be protected from a Demon that is going to go after you with all of its power. Is that right?"
"Correct," Nick said. "If I am right with my guess, two or more Heroes or Demons will attack me mere seconds after I start the process."
"But only if you are unable to perceive me."
"That can be arranged," Mundus said from the side.
"Good," Nick said. "Then, I'll leave my life in your hands."
None of the three of them answered, and they just looked at each other.
Nick wasn't sure if they were communicating or not.
Seconds passed.
The three of them were still there.
Nick started to feel a bit awkward.
The three of them had to leave for Nick to start doing his thing.
Why were they still here?
"So, do we start now?" Nick asked after nearly a full minute of silence.
"No," Mundus answered.
"Oh, okay," Nick answered before he became silent again.
Silence.
More silence.
Minutes passed.
Nick had no idea what they were waiting for.
Nick just kept looking around awkwardly as the three people from Anatomy just waited.
Eventually, almost ten minutes later, the three from Anatomy all collectively looked towards the southeast.
Nick also looked in that direction, but he didn't see anything.
Some seconds later, a black dot appeared on the horizon, and Nick furrowed his brows.
What was that?
Some seconds later, a black dot appeared on the horizon, and SHING!
Nick's heart nearly stopped when two people suddenly arrived in front of him!
These two had traversed ten kilometers or so in just a second!
These were speeds that only Heroes could reach!
Did they get found out?!
However, based on the lack of reaction from the three people from Anatomy, the arrival of these two newcomers was expected.
Nick took a closer look at them.
Both of them were women, and they wore uniforms that Nick had never seen before.
One of them had long silver hair and looked to be in her 20s. Her height was average, and she wore a uniform with grey and black colors, which Nick had never seen before.
Her expression was severe, and she looked very annoyed.
The other one was a middle-aged woman with short brown hair. Her height was also average, but compared to the other one, she looked middle-aged.
She wore a completely silver outfit.
Compared to the other one, she had a more neutral disposition.
When they arrived, they shared a look with the three from Anatomy.
"Sorry for the delay. We had to make a detour," the second woman said with a polite tone.
"No problem," Mundus answered.
Then, the two women glanced at Nick. "Who's he?" the seemingly annoyed one asked.
"He's the bait," Mundus answered. "He's here voluntarily and won't die."
Nick nodded.
The woman with the neutral expression looked at him. "Who are you?"
"My name is Nick Nick, and I'm the Chief Zephyx Extractor of Dark Dream."
"Dark Dream?" the woman with the serious expression repeated in confusion as she looked at the other one.
The other one just shrugged. "Probably a small Manufacturer."
By now, Nick could take a good guess as to where these two came from.
"Well, glad to meet you, Nick," the woman with the nice expression said. "My name is Kevara Borrel, and I'm the governor of Metal Works City, which is about 200 kilometers to the east of Crimson City."
Kevara looked at the annoyed woman and gestured for her to introduce herself as well.
"Name's Liera Jenkins," the annoyed woman said. "I'm the Chief Zephyx Extractor of Adamantium."
'Just as expected,' Nick thought. 'Two Heroes from another city.'
'This might actually be enough to suppress the Specter.'