Teleporting through his shadow was a completely different experience and sensation compared to moving through space.
Compared to the comfort he felt moving through space, he was slightly uncomfortable as he and the Velari moved through their shadows.
The Velari was holding his hand as they moved through their shadows, and though Simon had a C grade shadow affinity, he knew that if the Velari were to leave him alone, he would struggle to escape the deep darkness all around him.
An unknown amount of time later, Simon suddenly saw a flicker of light in front of him and the Velari.
A second later...
He was dragged out of a shadow by the Velari, and it felt like he was being pulled out of an unfathomably dark sea.
He blinked, then he looked around.
He was slightly relieved when he perceived the familiar atmosphere of the Shadowgrave Clan.
’At least the Velari did not try to kill me or take me to a hidden location like the Grey Pact.’
Although he had this thought, he was still slightly wary because he was in a completely unfamiliar hall.
The hall reminded him of where he was taken to by a Grave Lord in order to extract the Devourer’s blood essence they thought he had.
The reason why the hall reminded him of the previous hall was because of the pillars and the fact that the pillars were placed strangely.
’Oh. I see.’
’These torches are placed in strategic locations so that the shadows of the pillars all intersect at the center of the hall, forming a large circular shadow.’
Simon looked around with a slightly fascinated expression beneath his mask.
’It’s not the same, but these pillars remind me so much of that hall. By the way, how do I get to that place again. It’s definitely a special place, and it might still be useful to me one way or the other.’
Just as Simon had this thought, he saw the Velari walk toward the door.
"Follow me. You’ll be taken in for questioning."
Simon nodded, then he followed her calmly.
They both left the hall, and to Simon’s surprise, they entered another room that had numerous clan members sitting behind desks and operating several chaos formations and chaos arrays on their desks or in the air above their desks.
’Is this where every SOS sent is responded to and received?’
Simon narrowed his eyes slightly, but he kept on following behind the female Velari.
They entered another room, and Simon instantly knew that this was an interrogation room.
There was another Velari seated on one of the chairs in the interrogation room, and Simon could not help but recall the last time he was in an interrogation room.
’I bullshited my way out of that problem and had to put on act. This time around, I’m genuinely innocent.’
’But why do I get this feeling that things are going to play out horribly wrong?’
The female Velari gestured at him to sit on the empty chair, and Simon calmly sat on it.
The female Velari left, leaving behind Simon and the Velari who was the interrogator.
The Interrogator was resting their head on his palm as he went through the demonic scripts in the air.
The demonic scripts were from his Grave Mark, and when Simon tried to read the demonic scripts, he realized that he could not.
The scripts were blurry in his eyes, and even though he tried focusing on a single letter, the letters would become twisted and distorted.
’A formation... And a powerful one at that.’
Simon’s eyes flickered with interest, then he waited.
He could keep on trying to pierce the veil the formation had placed on the demonic scripts, but that would definitely draw the attention of the Velari.
One minute passed, and Simon was beginning to get impatient and frustrated when the Velari remained silent and just kept on going through the demonic scripts hovering above his Grave Mark.
Simon frowned deeply.
"Why am I here if you’re not going to say anything?" He asked with a displeased tone.
The Velari glanced at him.
"I’m going through the details of your mission."
Simon’s frown became one of confusion.
"The details of my mission? Am I not here to tell you what happened to my teammates?"
The Velari nodded slightly.
"Yes. You are. But I don’t know what your mission is. I need to have some knowledge on your mission before I question you."
Simon’s lips twitched, then he leaned into his chair and folded his arms.
"Just be quick with it. I don’t have all day." Simon said as he leaned backward, making his chair to stand on two legs.
The Velari did not give a response. He continued going through the demonic scripts.
Three long minutes later, the Velari finally finished going through the demonic scripts.
He released a deep sigh, then he looked at Simon.
"So, tell me, how did your teammates die?"
Simon immediately scoffed, but he answered with a frustrated tone.
"They were killed by First Blade."
The Velari froze, then he tilted his head slightly.
"First Blade? Why?"
Simon leaned forward slightly, causing his chair to stand properly.
"According to him, he was ordered by Caesar to kill them."
The Velari started tapping the table.
"Do you have any proof of what you just said? And why would Caesar order First Blade to kill your teammates?"
Simon shook his head.
"I don’t have any proof, and I also don’t know why Caesar ordered him to kill my teammates."
"Hmm." The Velari hummed deeply as he tapped the table repeatedly.
Then he asked another question.
"What of First Blade? Where is he?"
Simon shrugged nonchalantly.
"He was killed with the help of Lucien Mercer and a Winter Monkey."
The Velari’s finger froze midair for a moment, then he asked another question.
"And what of Lucien Mercer and the Winter Monkey?"
"They’re alive. There was nothing I could do to them after First Blade killed my teammates."
"Hmm." The Velari hummed deeply, then he started tapping the table with his finger again.
"I see. You can leave. We’ll carry out our investigation, and we’ll call you back for a more detailed report from you in three days at most."
"Do you understand?"
Simon could not help but raise his brow with a surprised expression, then he nodded.
"I do."
The Velari nodded, then he gestured at the door.
"Good. You may leave."
Simon glanced at the door with a suspicious expression beneath his mask, but that didn’t stop him from getting up and approaching the door.
He opened the door, and to his slight surprise, there was no ambush waiting for him.
’Is that really all?’
Simon glanced at the Velari, and when he saw that the Velari was looking at him without saying a word, he left.
After leaving, he asked for directions from the clan members in the building on how to get back to the academy.
They gave him the information, and after walking for about thirty minutes, he finally reached the door of his room.
However... he could not help but frown when the wind brought a foul odour into his nose.
’What is this... Blood?’
Simon’s expression became serious and grave, then he looked to his left and right but he saw nothing suspicious.
Aside from some of his classmates and neighbors who were whispering about him and pointing fingers at him, he saw nothing suspicious.
’They’re talking about my mission.’
Simon’s eyes flashed with a cold light, then he opened the door to his room, and what he saw shook him.
Inside his room were the corpses of the Grey Pact.
"... Shit."