Unsealing Emptiness

“Show the way,” Ozul said to Mark, who began to lead the way again.

As they passed by the streets, Ozul sensed people of various power levels. This town had become a place specifically regulated for all the shady business. No one minded each other’s presence and hurriedly moved about for their work.

Mark brought them to the other end of the town. There was a tall building on a busy street, but there was only a shabby counter at the front entrance.

Ozul saw no one entering the building, but some people occasionally passed by the counter. Those few only did a little chit chat with the man standing behind the bar in shadow before walking away in a hurry.

“Is this it?” Ozul pointed towards it, but Mark made a difficult expression on his face.

“Y-yeah... kind of,”

.....

Ozul nodded his head in understanding. Mark was probably not allowed to tell so much, but he wasn’t keen on knowing this either, so he let it go.

The trio walked towards the counter before Mark and Cyril approached the counter.

The man behind the counter had his face hidden because of the shadow, but it wasn’t hard for the trio to see his expressionless face, smoking.

Cyril and Mark showed the tattoo hidden on their neck to the man, who stopped smoking, and hurriedly stood up straight.

“Cough, Any orders, sir?” the man asked after clearing his voice.

“Signal for protocol 1, and inform about arrival with a guest,” Cyril said in a deep voice. His demeanor was completely different from before.

This was the change in his attitude before a Rank-9 Mage and someone else.

“... I placed the signal, anything else?” the man gulped before he gave an affirmation.

The duo walked away without answering. The man behind the counter, however, did not feel insulted about it. He was just happy that he had survived talking with these two monsters just now.

After doing the talk in codes, Mark led Ozul to the center of the town.

Even when almost every street of the town was crowded, this area was surprisingly a little empty. Only a few would randomly stumble upon this place before quickly walking away.

Mark stopped in front of a shabby property. Ozul stopped behind him, letting him do whatever he wanted to. They waited for a couple of seconds, staring at the empty air.

Though he did sense something unusual, he could not quite put his finger on it.

But in the next second, he got his answer as suddenly something shook in the air. He could see a glimpse of something like a tall building in the air, but it was only for a moment before it turned back to the clear sky.

After it ended, Ozul did not have to test if what he saw was true or not since they walked forward. It was at this point when he could finally see the abnormality.

A tall building came into his view in the place of the previous shabby single-story one. Ozul realized that it was probably the work of some advanced formations since even he had been deceived with this.

‘I should study more about these formations...’ Ozul decided to search for the formations in the future as well.

There weren’t many people who could cause him trouble, but these simple formations that he ignored before now seemed to be quite crafty.

There was this huge tower built in the dead center of the town, and no one was aware of it! This formation was indeed useful.

Ozul looked at the stylish interior, which was made with a combination of black and red polished stone.

Mark and Cyril walked inside as Ozul followed right after.

As they walked inside, Ozul saw men and women alike in a whole different atmosphere. This ground floor seemed to be the lounge of sorts as many of them were chilling around as well.

Ozul noticed that all of them had varying clothing. Some were dressed in fancy clothes while others wore something as casual as it could get. Overall, it was almost like the mercenary guild but more secretive.

Most of them minded their own business at their arrival, but a few women ended up glancing at them. Just then, gasps started to resound in the area as people began to whisper while looking at the trio.

“No way! They really are the Alpha Black tattoos!”

“What is that?”

“Heh, I forgot you are new. Alpha Black tattoos represent the highest rank here!”

“Both of them are together. Does that mean...”

“Do you think they are the fire and water duo?!”

“Hey! Don’t say it so casually...”

. . .

Ozul easily heard all the whispers as he looked at the black tattoo of the setting sun on the duo’s necks.

Although both of them were still in disguise, it seemed that they were not allowed to hide the tattoos, which gave them away.

Ignoring their whispers, Cyril and Mark walked forward towards the stairs as Ozul followed behind them.

The crowd naturally made way for them, but the constant pointing got annoying after a while. So Cyril released a bit of his pressure, making most of them drop on the ground.

The receptionist was an old man dressed in a butler’s uniform. He only smiled a little with sweat forming on his forehead as Cyril and Mark went up the stairs, followed by Ozul.

Arriving on the 2nd floor, the group did not stop and continued to the 3rd floor and then to the 4th. The people on these floors were all dressed in uniforms, sorting all kinds of paperwork.

It was only on the 5th floor that the trio stopped where it felt like they had arrived at a graveyard. The whole floor only had a few couches at the side while only one person was in sight.

That person was a woman who came to greet them as they arrived.

The woman also had a uniform with a black waistcoat. She greeted them with a smile before asking, “Would you like the usual?”

Cyril was just about to nod his head when he suddenly remembered that they were here for a different reason.

“Not today. Inform the boss that there is someone who would like to meet him...” Cyril said with a nervous tone.

The women in the black waistcoat looked at Ozul weirdly. She then turned to look at Mark, who nodded his head in confirmation. Only then did she take a deep breath and get back to her counter. She picked up some things before walking up to the 6th and the last floor of the building.

Meanwhile, Cyril and Mark urged Ozul to sit down on the couch before making their way behind the counter and took our cigarettes and wine bottles.

“This one should be strong enough to do something, yeah?” Cyril asked while looking at the bottle of wine.

“I guess so... But, nevermind...” Mark muttered while looking at the cigarette in his hands in a daze.

*Sigh...* x2

Both of them sighed loudly before indulging themselves in the alcohol and the smoke.

At the same time, Ozul tried to sense anything on the top floor. Sadly, except for a strong presence, he could not pinpoint anything solid. And that too was only vague.

‘Is it because of the formations? Or is it because of the Rank-9 Mage?’ Ozul wondered. However, he could only have a definite answer once he met that person face to face.

Then again, he was not fully aware of the fighting capabilities or all the other skills as a whole of a Rank-9 Mage. And it was most certainly not written in any public book either.

He could only find out the difference after reaching that threshold.

‘But I estimate that I should at least be able to hold my own against a Rank-9...’ It was only a guess, but Ozul was confident in his abilities.

A few minutes passed before the woman returned while cleaning the sweat on her forehead with a towel. It wasn’t easy on a Rank-7 to be the secretary of an individual of that power.

“What did he say?” Mark hurriedly stood up and asked. The lazy look on his face as he smoked disappeared in an instant.

“Boss told you to come up,” the woman said while shooting a pitying look towards the duo.

Cyril and Mark were quick to notice that little gesture as they turned even more anxious.

“A-all of us?” Cyril asked with a stuttering voice.

“Yes... the three of you,” the woman affirmed and walked up to a table to pour herself a glass of water.

Ozul immediately stood up and walked towards the stairs as Mark asked the woman one last question, “Was he pissed?”

That was the sole reason that both he and Cyril were so worried. They were not allowed to show people the location of their base unless the boss asked them to do so.

And now they had brought with them a random person just to save their own lives! They were sure that Boss would not let them go so easily this time.

“...Maybe?” the woman replied, a little unsure herself. Before the duo could say anything else, she immediately added, “You know how hard it is to read Boss’ expressions. Stop asking questions now and go find yourself.”

It was quite ironic to see a Rank-7 Mage scolding a Rank-8 fearlessly as if it wasn’t anything.

*Sigh...* x2

The duo again sighed before following after Ozul.