"Quiet."
The middle-aged man's voice was like a suppressant on all the chatter. He stood slowly to his feet, the rattling of the chains that hung from his leather jacket becoming the only sound in the room.
Flickering candlelight, ebbing in waves of orange and red, pulled across in shadows across his face, making his appearance more grizzly and worn than it would have otherwise.
"Someone is coming. Get to your stations. Now."
"What's the threat level, Old Grizz?"
"The highest."
The tension in the room reached a fever pitch and they all sucked in a cold breath. There was only one warning their head had given them before he left.
Should Old Grizz say those words… they could lose their lives at any moment.
But under no circumstances should they allow that man to make it to the weapon's treasury.
"I'll guard it personally. Reach your stations as quickly as possible and we'll establish connection through the walkie-talkies then. Go."
The atmosphere dispersed as they rushed out. They had only been here a half week or so, but in that time, they had lost count of the number of times they had drilled this exact thing.
Every three hours, regardless of sleep, food, or anything else they might be occupied by, they would come to this room and do the exact same thing.
They dispersed throughout the building, winding through hallways and rushing up and down stairwells.
Old Grizz was the last to move, and when he did, he only shifted his position in the room, standing before a large vault. Beneath his feet, an odd light flickered to life. All of a sudden, the Godsfall in the region fell into silence as his walkie-talkie lit up.
A connection was established.
Step one was to make the target believe that technology didn't work well here. Now they were on to step two…
Close in the net.
Old Grizz slowly pulled his pistol out from his hip pocket, clamping down with two hands and pointing it toward the ground. Then, he closed his eyes.
A subtle ripple came from him, causing the candlelights to flicker and almost wane before flaring back up to life.
The blueprint of the building reflected in his mind.
—
Name: [Victor Grizzler]
Role: [N/A]
Core Stats:
[Strength: F]
[Dexterity: F+]
[Intelligence: E]
[Endurance: F]
[Charisma: E-]
Talents:
[Echoing Flare: E-]
[Abilities: Map]
[The walls of the world and the flow of energies come naturally to you]
[Empty]
[Empty]
—
Every time one of Old Grizz's ripples hit a unique wall of light the various teams had gone to stand within throughout the building, his echoing methods were amplified further until he mapped out the entire building.
Then he exhaled a breath and slowly inhaled. When he exhaled again, another echo was sent out and the map was updated.
Slowly, but surely, he sent out one pulse after another, patiently waiting.
**
"You will wait here."
Priya froze, not expecting Zarek to suddenly say this.
"Zarek, you…"
"Things might get unpredictable, and I can't take you along with me. But you've reached the point where you can protect yourself, that I believe wholeheartedly. There's no ugly thing here that can lay a single finger on my girl."
Seeing Zarek's confident smile, Priya felt herself relax somewhat. But the worry didn't fade entirely.
She looked toward the building to the side and nodded. If staying here alone was what she had to do to help Zarek, then she would do that.
"Okay, I'll stay here."
Priya didn't look back, silently entering the building and closing the door of the department store behind her.
The place was ransacked, and it didn't seem to have the greatest protections with so many windows surrounding every direction. But Priya knew that this was Zarek's subtle way of telling her that hiding was never the best option in this world.
Being strong was.
If she could choose between seeing her enemy coming first and hiding away, hoping to never be found…
The choice was obvious.
Zarek grinned. He knew there was a reason he loved this girl so much.
After seeing Priya off, he continued to walk forward, his gaze becoming frighteningly chilly before akin to a spark, a blaze lit within them.
Jiade wasn't a fool. He knew how unpredictable Rebirthers could be. If he came here, he would never put all his eggs in one basket. That meant that in all likelihood, Zarek would run into one of his Heralds.
It was just a question of which Herald it would be. Given the time constraints and what Zarek knew about the Angels, it was doubtful that he would be able to gather more than just a single one.
Zarek put his gun away in its holster, letting his blood thrum through his veins with surging violence and vigor as he hit his optimal state in a few moments.
However, he settled down quickly.
If this was the case, then the way he should approach this had to take a path forward that was entirely unexpected to Jiade. What better way would there be than a useless talent no Rebirther would even give a second glance to?
Zarek stopped right in front of the skyscraper's large double doors. Looking up at the sensor above him, it wasn't too much of a surprise to him that the doors didn't open automatically.
"Let's see how rusty I've gotten."
BANG!
Zarek's foot suddenly shattered the doors. They clattered out, rebounding against the marbled ground in a dance of shattering glass and broken shards.
With confident strides, Zarek walked right in. But even after all the commotion, there wasn't a single movement.
No scouts, no guards, nothing.
It was either Jiade had lost one too many brain cells, or there was another plan afoot here.
Zarek's head turned to the side as he felt a team coming toward him rapidly. It wasn't his scouting Skill, it wasn't powerful enough for that. But in the now echoing silence after the glass doors settled, the heavy movement of their boots was all he could hear.
'… They're prepared.'