Riyala was still a little hesitant, but she decided that she would listen to Jason and pray to Rumunaga about this, and Jason told her that he would leave a few subordinates with her.
"If anything happens, they’ll be there to help you out, and they’ll let me know."
Riyala smiled at Jason’s protectiveness, and she finally let out a small sigh as she felt worry filling her heart. Riyala grabbed both Jason and Gina in a hug before whispering to them softly.
"May the eternal fire of Rumunaga protect you on your journey. Please be careful out there, I beg you."
Riyala gave Jason a deep kiss, and Gina smiled softly and accepted the soft Kiss Riyala placed on her cheek. Gina kissed Riyala’s cheek as well before she spoke.
"We’ll be fine, Riyala. Just focus on buying as much time as possible from the Machina. Make sure you don’t pay them anything before we get back."
Riyala nodded.
"There are a few clauses I can invoke in the treaty to waste time. But at most I can buy about one or two months before we have no choice but to pay our half. If you’re not back by then, we won’t have any other choice."
"Two months is more than enough time."
Jason was the one who said this, and Riyala went up to her toes and gave him another deep kiss before wishing him luck again. Jason smiled at her, but then a voice came from behind the trio.
"I’m coming with you."
The three turned around to see Agiel standing there, and Gina’s eyes immediately narrowed at the taller woman. Agiel crossed her hands over her chest and spoke with an authoritative tone.
"You’ll need someone with knowledge of the Primordial Expanse if you’re going to be travelling through that many worlds. I can help you navigate."
"We don’t need any help from you."
Gina stepped forward angrily, and Agiel narrowed her eyes at her and seethed.
"Get your head out of your fucking ass and think for a moment. Do you really think that the Machina will just let you go? They’ll send soldiers to bring you back the moment they hear that you’re running. Jason, you don’t need to waste time arguing about this. You need someone who can navigate for you."
Gina stepped closer to Agiel and spoke in a low voice.
"One of these days, you’re going to get the fight you’ve been looking for. And when that day comes, Jason won’t be there to stop me, and I’ll rip you to fucking pieces."
"I’d like to see you try."
A sudden tension shot through the room as the two women glared each other down with pure venom, but Jason’s calm voice cut through the tension easily.
"I need you to go back to Earth, Agiel."
Agiel looked up at Jason with a shocked face when she heard him speak, and Jason could easily see a look of betrayal coming over her face, but Jason easily ignored that look as he continued.
"Even if I vanish, Earth still owes the Overlord a lot of money. You need to go give Cecil a proper report so he can prepare to work together with Riyala. And you also need to keep an eye on Katarina for me and make sure she doesn’t misbehave. I can navigate just fine, so this is the best way you can help me."
Agiel frowned as she realised that Jason’s orders made sense, and she eventually huffed before turning to walk away while saying that she understood.
"Just make sure you watch his back properly. If anything happens to him out there, I’ll hunt you down."
Agiel said this to Gina, and Gina just clicked her tongue at the taller woman before deciding to ignore her.
"I’m sorry, but no one is allowed to enter! The delegates are having an important meeting!"
"Move out of the way, or we will move you."
A voice suddenly came from the door leading into their room, and Jason realised that someone was trying to get past the Radagan guards! The second voice that spoke had a mechanical intonation to it that told Jason that it was definitely someone from the Machina Race! Most likely a soldier that had been sent by the Emissary! They had to leave right now!
"Go. Go. You have to go now. I’ll take care of everything here. Just go."
Riyala came up and quickly began to rush Jason and Gina so that they would leave. Jason looked around the room, and he met everyone’s eyes calmly and made sure that they all understood what they had to do before he took Gina’s hand, and they both fell into the shadows!
The moment they fell into the shadows, the door to the room was slammed open, and a Machina soldier wearing a black military uniform stormed into the room, followed by other Machina soldiers! They looked around the room with deep frowns on their faces, and the soldier in front spoke up stoically.
"We have received word that the Black Enigma, Jason Marc, is present in this room. We would appreciate any information on his current whereabouts."
"We have no idea what you’re talking about. We haven’t seen Jason since the meeting with Lord Rubik."
Riyala’s tone was smooth and regal, and the lies flowed from her mouth like she had been born for this moment! She gave the Machina soldier a blank look that showed no fear, and the Machina soldier narrowed his eyes slightly before looking around the room. The other occupants also refused to say a single word to them, and the soldier spoke.
"Very well, we would ask you to please participate with us as we conduct a thorough search of the premises."
The Machina didn’t waste a moment as they all began to move around the room with magical scanners that protruded from their mechanical arms, and Riyala took in a silent breath and said a fervent prayer to Rumunaga.
....
Outside the Stone Catacombs, the stone platform was also being guarded by five Machina soldiers who wore the black military uniform. The soldiers were keeping an eye out for any appearance from Jason or Gina because they knew that this was the only place that they could use to leave this world! There was also a single Faceless Keeper standing to the side calmly and waiting for any new visitors or exiters, and the Faceless Keeper didn’t bother interacting with the soldiers since they knew that this was perfectly within the law. The only thing that wasn’t allowed in this world was the use of force. It was perfectly legal to arrest those who go against the law in this world!
Bzzt!
A soldier felt his communicator buzz, and he pressed a button on his mechanical ear to accept the call. The person on the other end spoke in a rush.
[Sir, we searched the rooms. Jason Marc is nowhere to be found. We believe he might be on his way to the Dimensional Circle.]
The soldier hummed and said that they should continue the search. They need to find Jason before he tries to escape off-world because once he is out there, it’ll be far more difficult to find him! A hand suddenly rose from underground, and the soldier looked down in shock as it grabbed his foot and pulled! The soldier yelled as he was dragged into the shadows, and the other soldiers around him also let out shocked shouts as they felt themselves being pulled into the shadows! The Faceless Keeper at the side simply watched calmly as the soldiers vanished, and it wasn’t even two seconds later before the soldiers’ unconscious bodies were spat out from the shadows.
Jason and Gina both walked out from one of the pillars at the side. Jason had his hands in his coat pocket, and he stopped in front of the Faceless Keeper while Gina continued on towards the Dimensional Circle. Jason spoke calmly to the Faceless Keeper.
"Won’t you try to arrest me for violence?"
"You are already a criminal wanted by the Machina; therefore, I do not believe there is a necessity to expend energy to subdue you at this moment. Besides, I believe the assassin hiding behind me would kill me if I tried to stop you."
Jason glanced to the left, where Alpha was waiting in the shadows with a knife to attack the Faceless Keeper at the slightest provocation. Jason just hummed before he turned towards Gina when he felt her mana surge through the region and open a massive Dimensional Tear.