One of the officers suddenly went missing, almost as if he never was.
"Lieutenant, who was the officer that went missing?"
Michelle gave Abel a puzzled look, before turning to her men.
"No one is… missing. It was three of us that walked in together"
Abel's eyes widened as his pupils narrowed.
"The heck? I thought we were four?"
"No inspector sir. It was only three of us that went in."
Abel was beyond confused, trying to logically understand why he was the only one that remembered the other officer.
He didn't even know his name.
Something wrong is definitely afoot was the thoughts that rang in Abel's head, rejecting what he was hearing.
Abel stopped to think, noticing something fishy going on.
Just in the corner of his eye, he picked up movement from the darkness of the ceiling. It was subtle, but it was there.
He pointed his gun upwards and fired twice in quick succession.
The thumping of bullet to flesh resounded, as a body fell from the roof, as if it was ejected from darkness.
"Shit… he's dead!" The other officer exclaimed.
Michelle grabbed her gun and aimed at the corpse, before tapping it with the toe of her boot.
"Very. Who is this man, and why is he in a police uniform?" she asked as she turned the body over, revealing a headless corpse.
Abel began to confirm something. They didn't recognize the body, but he did.
This was the other missing officer. The one the others had 'conveniently' forgotten.
A transcendent is here…. This is bad…
I could sense it… something in the dark was moving, stealthily watching, waiting to strike at the slightest misstep.
"Keep your eyes open" I order, grasping a knife with my left hand whilst holding my revolver with my right.
"Inspector?" Michelle looked at me with a hint of fear and concern in her eyes. She seemed confused about what was happening right now.
Where did the body come from?
Why did it fall out of the dark ceiling?
Why can't we see anything or anyone?
Her mind was boggled with these questions as she grabbed a torch and beamed it at the empty hallway, trying to find out what was going on.
Her eyes tried to grasp an answer from Abel's confused pupils, trying to see something wrong.
Her confusion didn't seem to let her mind rest as even in her mask. Her forehead heated up as she began to sweat.
Abel suddenly felt something; like a knife was placed on his throat. He had the urge to dodge downwards, immediately.
"EVERYONE, DUCK!!!" He yelled as he activated his Time dilation, dodging downwards.
Michelle didn't even question the order, she immediately jumped down and rolled.
SWISSSSHH!!!
The sound of a knife sweeping the air followed. Then a loud thump as if a sack of potatoes hit the floor.
A cylindrical shaped object rolled into Abel's vision.
It was the head of the second officer…
He was dead…
***
Back at the cathedral, in an elevator that led underground to a section of Ouroborus belly.
Father Eric, Rathcliffe and Freya were clumped up together, going down to a secret portion of the cathedral that only specified personnel were allowed to enter.
The atmosphere in the lift was anything but uplifting.
"Freya, are you sure the artifact reacted?" Ratchliffe asked solemnly with a disturbed gaze.
Freya sighed, not answering him.
The elevator stopped, the door slid open with a loud shudder and steam.
They arrived at a large underground space with figures dressed in large dark robes and hoods that obscured their faces and figures.
Most of them were armed with guns of various calibres, whilst a few with cold weapons.
They seemed to patrol this large room that looked like a sepulcher of some sorts.
The trio walked through, the figures ignoring their presence.
"Madrian's Tomb… it's been a while" Rathcliffe sighed.
This was one of the most secure locations in the cathedral… no
The Entire City of Belmont.
This was one of the places where special grade artifacts and knowledge were stored and sealed away from prying hands, as retrieved in case of an emergency.
Coming here for him usually meant something had gone wrong.
And wrong it did.
After about five minutes of walking, they reached a checkpoint with some of the robed figures standing guard.
One of them had his hood off, revealing a young man with blonde cropped hair and a scar running across his nose.
The man seemed to be focused on a set of scrolls, writing with an old fashioned quill and inkpot.
Ratchliffe dared not show any disrespect or guile. This man was someone even he wouldn't want to offend.
Freya walked up to the man and greeted.
"Lord Enma'el, Freya Rin Bastian requests entry to the Inner sanctum."
The man stopped writing, his gaze lifting slowly as his eyes landed on Freya.
The air around them suddenly froze, and then erupted with an intense heat.
Eric groaned as he stopped himself from falling over.
Freya and Rathcliffe stood there, taking the force of his gaze head on.
A regular human would have either collapsed in fear, shit himself, or done both.
And any evil minded or having evil intentions against the goddess or the cathedral;
His gaze was a death sentence.
This was the Judgment of Lord Enma'el.
One of the few Heraldim still walking the earth.
Enma'el turned his gaze back to what he was writing and then said in a loud transcendental voice that shook the Tomb.
Al Hun Al Shun Dia Minis Mihira Ham!!!
The guards moved immediately, their hands clapping together as the air sizzled and hummed. The void around them shuddered, before blurring into a mush.
Space reverted
Time froze…
And then all things became normal.
They seemed to have entered a different dimension.
It was an empty void with broken rocks held together by chains so large one couldn't see the whole circumference.
It extended into the dark void, connecting so many broken hillsides together.
At the centre of this void was a face as large as a mountain, the large chains wrapping around it.
"When I see this, I just remember my younger days… Mother be praised" Eric sighed as tapped his chest three times.
Rathcliffe and Freya did the same as they began to walk down the hill to a small broken stone door.
Rathcliffe placed his hands on the door and recited with a cool tone.
Al Hun Al Shun Dia Minis Mihira Ham!!!
The door hummed as a magical portal appeared in the emptiness.
"Shall we?" Rathcliffe asked before walking through the door.
They nodded back as they walked through the empty portal, disappearing from sight.
***
Abel rolled as he pointed his weapon at where the shadow last moved.
Currently laying there was a second corpse, the second officer.
"Lieutenant, stay behind me and do what I tell you" Abel ordered as he picked her up and broke into a run.
Michelle had no time to think or say anything. She picked up the pace and began to run as fast as she could.
Abel couldn't sense the shadow, but he knew it was close by, watching… waiting…
"Inspector! What are we running from?" Michelle cried as she did her best to catch up. At least she had gone through officer training.
Running this long was natural for her.
"Something dangerous, it just took out two officers"
"Huh? I thought it was only two of us that came in here. In fact, who on earth thought it a bright idea to make this a two man mission?" She panted as they made their way to what seemed to be an assembly room with a large altar at the centre of it.
It was dimly lit, with candles burning peacefully, flickering due to a grate just on the roof that led to the surface.
Abel could now confer something about his opponent.
Whatever class he was, he had a weapon or ability that allowed the erasure of a person's existence from the minds of all who knew them.
And the person was of an esoteric class known for their prowess in assassination.
A Shadowmancer…
***
In a twisted hall of bookshelves, podium stands and magical contraptions, all floating in different points in space, Freya took the forefront.
The Tomb of Madrian was a separate dimension meant to store artifacts. And as a high level guardian, she had access and knew exactly where the artifact they were looking for was.
Soon, they reached a Podium with a rusted chalice sitting in the middle of a magic circle and chains wrapped in the void above it.
"Mother Guide us, so it is real?!" Eric muttered as he stood there in awe. This was the first time he had ever seen this particular artifact.
Rathcliffe on the other hand, seemed emotional.
He knew what this artifact was, and its value.
It was an object that cost the lives of so many people to find…
Many more were lost in sealing it.
A cursed object that could never be used, or allowed out of sealing except mandated by the goddess.
A cup that held a powerful and dangerous secret.
Artifact Name: Bloody Chalice/Unknowns Blood
Type: Unknown
Grade: 0 (Must remain Sealed permanently)
Number: 004
Code: 0:004