The Catacombs.
They were a collection of underground chambers created by the founders of the D.O.D., the Great Families, to seal away dangerous objects and/or things that had been excavated by explorers from ancient civilizations.
Dangerous objects otherwise known as Relics.
Using anti-magic imbued enchantments to seal them and Golems to stand as guards that kill on sight, it was safe to say that breaking into a Catacomb was a more than deadly affair.
In the history of the Catacombs since its creation, no more than 10 break-ins had been recorded.
This was partly because of the amazing security put in place by the Great families and also because not many people were insane enough to consider unleashing a Relic on the world.
Even the lesser-known Relics were enough to be capable of wiping out entire towns while the worse ones had enough power to threaten a nation.
Though there had been times when the D.O.D. made use of a Relic, generally, Except if one was looking to commit genocide, they would not go after one.
The presence of the Watchers was merely a formality as there had to be people that watched over the workings of the tombs to ensure everything was okay.
Even Watchers would not arbitrarily enter a Catacomb without reason since the golems killed on sight.
Of course, with how heated things had been in BoneHaven, the possibility of the Catacomb placed there being raided was there but never would they have imagined that it would indeed be attacked and what's more, by one of their own.
"What the hell is this?!" Ambrose bellowed in annoyance as he stood just outside the entrance to the Catacomb.
Imagine waking up early in the wee hours of the morning to find out that the Catacomb had been raided and not just any Relic was stolen, but an S-Grade Relic.
The Relics were graded in descending order from S, A, B, C, D, and E.
E-Grade relics were capable of destroying buildings and S… entire kingdoms could be lost just by unleashing it.
Ambrose felt a headache as the veins on his forehead throbbed.
The Watchers in charge also gave off a feeling of distress as they listened quietly to Ambrose's rantings.
"Sir, you should calm down." A female Enforcer said from behind him.
Glaring at her, Ambrose sighed as he massaged his temples.
"Which Relic was taken away?" He inquired after barely calming his nerves.
"Angel Wing, an S-Grade Relic." One of the Watchers replied.
"Do we have any information about what it is and what it's capable of?"
Yet another Watcher shook his head. "Most Relics have been here for so long, records on it are not clear. However, the fact that it's an S-Grade…"
"I understand," Ambrose said.
Staring at the Catacomb gates, he couldn't help but wonder why anyone would be crazy enough to take anything out of there.
"Sir!"
Someone called from behind.
Ambrose glanced back to find a blonde-haired man standing there. "Okay?"
"Yes sir."
Nodding wordlessly, Ambrose followed after the Enforcer, not even sparing the Watchers another glance.
He walked for a bit before getting to a location not too far from the gates of the Catacomb.
There, Natasha stood over a body, a solemn expression on her face.
Ambrose walked over and glanced down at the body before revealing a complicated look on his face.
"It is Madeline." He muttered softly.
The body…or at least what was left of it was covered in blood with claw marks on the torso and neck.
A physician who stood nearby spoke up. "This was the best we could do after retrieving what was left of her body. Her legs and arms were crushed beyond recognition."
"She didn't deserve this," Natasha said while biting down on her lower lip.
Ambrose sighed. "The golems attack on sight and don't stop until the intruder is dead. Madeline would have never survived."
"..." Natasha was speechless as she closed her eyes and raised her head to prevent the tears welling up in her eyes from falling out.
Glancing at Natasha, Ambrose felt a sharp pain in his chest but shook it off as he asked. "Alright, I need information. How did she manage to infiltrate the Catacomb?"
"She didn't, sir." An Enforcer replied.
Standing with a pile of files in one hand, he seemed to serve as a replacement for Madeline.
"What do you mean by that?" Ambrose scowled.
"Exactly what I said, sir. The Watchers that kept watch last night were interrogated and they said that you had sent her here with an official document to retrieve a Relic for the upcoming mission."
"What nonsense are you spouting?" Ambrose remarked in annoyance. "Why would I agree to such a thing when we don't have a Controller in our midst?... It's common sense that Relics are objects of mass destruction."
"Uhmm sir…you did tell her to get a Relic."
"What?" Ambrose stared in confusion as yet another Enforcer spoke up.
At this point, Natasha had opened her eyes and had her brows furrowed as the situation quickly became complicated.
Frowning deeply, Ambrose questioned. "What did you just say?"
"Ahem… sir, you had been talking about getting a Relic for quite some time in secret. It's something you discussed extensively with Madeline."
"This… I don't remember."
"I remember since I normally stood guard outside your door. You even handed her the keys to the locker room to retrieve a dial."
"... Are you joking?"
"No sir." The Enforcer remarked with certainty.
"And you never said anything?"
"Uhmm… due to the events happening in the city, I understood that it might be necessary to take such drastic measures to take down our enemies."
Ambrose was left speechless and after careful consideration came to understand that in some convoluted way, the Enforcer was right.
"What is going on?" Ambrose remarked in utter confusion.
Pondering on something, Natasha casually walked up to Ambrose and grabbed his hand, catching him off guard.
Before he could say anything, she unleashed her anti-magic on his body.
As Ambrose shook from the energy that flowed into his body, his eyes quickly became clear.
From the very moment, Madeline became his secretary to her sudden death at the hands of the golems.
"... You were under an Enchantment from the very beginning," Natasha remarked after sensing what Ambrose had experienced.
"When did Madeline become my secretary?" Ambrose asked wide-eyed.
From the Enforcers present, none could answer as their minds entered a lull.
However, Natasha replied. "Wasn't it late last year?"
Ambrose nodded. "Around the same time as when the Butcher case began."
"... Madeline was a mole."
"... How did this happen?"
At that moment, it dawned on the entire D.O.D squadron in BoneHaven that they had been playing in the hands of Basar for a very long time.