In the rain, a group of masked men stealthily entered the Magic Tower from a window.
Once inside, Henrik uncovered his face. The other figures followed suit and took off their dark hoods.
"Here," he gestured. They followed him into a room.
"This is the core of the Magic Tower," Henrik breathed heavily. "Set up the items here."
Two of his assistants nodded and immediately took out the equipment from their bags.
"Cassidy and Romeo are setting up the interference device. You better get going."
Marianne nodded.
Sylvester dug out several jars of ink from his backpack. Yurian received the jars hurriedly and dipped his talisman pen into them. Quickly, a complicated diagram was drawn on the granite floor.
"Marianne, here you go," Alistair passed the scroll to Marianne.
She gave him a tensed smile.
"Interference device has been set up. Ready."
"The detection rune has been completed. Marianne."
Marianne made her way to the centre of the rune and started to chant. The scroll she held gradually lifted into the air, as the magical remnants of Persephone wafted off it and interacted with her magic. Slowly, her blue eyes took on a pearl colour, and she slowly raised her staff.
Just when she was about to point a direction, blood surged through her lips, staining the ground with red sparkles.
"Marianne!"
Alistair and the rest ran up to her, with the former catching her in his arms just as she fell.
She opened her mouth.
"It's strongest in Enzak. But not only in Enzak. It is spreading from Enzak, towards the capital."
"Alistair," Marianne gasped, her pearl-white eyes turning back to blue, "Enzak is in danger."
Enzak.
The Odin Hotpot House had lesser customers coming in today, thought Crystal.
She knew that her staff members have been getting ill. Even Briar, who was healthy as a horse, fell ill a few days ago. Then, the town council suddenly declared that there was a pandemic of a mysterious disease. Apparently, the disease was much more serious in upper Enzak, where the shopping streets were. The initial prognosis was that the location was one of the epicentres.
The mood in the restaurant and in Enzak was therefore very low, and the customers coming in to have a meal have naturally decreased due to fear. Since Master Odin has left, Crystal was left in charge, but she was also planning to close the restaurant for safety's sake.
A few days ago, she had sent Brian and Libby to Solomon City, a town in between Enzak and Lefu, the capital of Clomodor. They were supposed to send a Melody from Solomon City, a city close enough to Lefu to send one, to update Master Odin on Enzak's changing situation. She looked out the window and estimated that Brian and Libby would return in about a day's time.
Then, she saw something move out of the corner of her eye.
Slowly, she stepped closer to the window. It was not a mistake. The plants were moving.
Then, she stared in horror as all the plants in the neighbourhood – the trees, and shrubs, the wild weeds and the cultivated plants – swell into enormous sizes and began attacking the houses and people on the streets. One of the plants, a titan venus plant opened its gaping jaw and fell onto a nearby cottage, crushing and lifting the smithereens of rocks into the air.
And she screamed.