It was a rather awkward situation.
Douglas had summoned his master's familiar and given her a message to deliver.
As she walked away with a majestic gait, she met eyes with Alex and as though she had seen a ghost, she screamed her lungs out and ran with her tail between her legs.
It was truly strange… and awkward.
"What just happened?" Alex couldn't help but ask.
Douglas revealed a complicated expression. "I have no idea. Mirren has never done that before."
"... I see," Alex muttered.
'Am I that scary looking?' he pondered inwardly.
"Anyway, what we can do now is wait," Douglas remarked.
Raising a brow, Alex replied. "Is that it?... We wait for your master to help us save Emily?"
"Is something wrong with that?"
"Is that what you do?"
"Huh?"
"You fight and then when you can't beat the enemy, you either go berserk or wait for your master to come to help you?"
"You make it sound like a bad thing."
"... You are hopeless." Alex got to his feet and slowly made his way back to Townsend.
Douglas was left confused for a moment before he got to his feet and followed after.
"Where are you going?"
"If your master getting here is Plan C, we need a plan A and B."
"Who said it's Plan C?"
Alex paused and glanced at Douglas with a most demeaning gaze as he replied. "I did."
"... Okay." Douglas found himself unable to say anything in retort.
"Hah, we can't rely on your master to solve all our problems for us. What if, just like us, she can't do as she pleases?... Will she call her master as well?"
Douglas pursed his lips. "You have a point."
"I know," Alex remarked as he continued on his way.
"So what's Plan A and B?"
"Well, based on what we know so far, we can be certain that taking down Mrs. Granger would solve the problem plaguing Townsend."
"True but we can't beat her. I have no way to counter the ghost children and you can't fight her head-on."
"Well, what if I don't?"
"Hmm?"
"What if I don't fight her head-on?"
"... Well, most Abilities have a certain range based on the Lock a person has reached so, we can assume Mrs. Granger as an Abyssal should be able to reach anywhere within 50 meters of her home."
"Good. So that means if I stay far away, I won't need to worry about anything."
"... What's your range?" Douglas felt compelled to ask.
Alex furrowed his brows as he couldn't help but question as well what his range was.
Taking a moment to ponder, he replied. "I have no idea."
"That…"
"Well, I guess we'd find that out now, no?"
"What do you plan to do?"
"Simple," Alex said. "I will deal with the ghost children while you take care of the crazy lady"
"So we switch roles?"
"Quite easy to do, yeah?"
"What if I can't beat Mrs. Granger?"
"Then we retreat."
With that, both men soon got to the village entrance.
Just like the night before, the silence was deafening.
"Let's go." Alex tapped Douglas's shoulder and took the first step forward only to bounce back as he struck something with his body.
"Uh…" Douglas reached out with his hand and tried to cross the entrance only to stop as his palm rested on something.
"A barrier."
"She used an enchantment to cover up the village during the day." Alex quickly deduced.
Douglas could only nod in response as he retracted his hand.
"What now?"
Alex sighed as he replied. "Now… we wait."
***
Ana forcibly quelled the ensuing chaos in BoneHaven with sheer force.
Anyone that dared to go against her died without knowing why.
By the time she was done, the rebels and dissident middle-class men had all left the mortal plane.
Of course, problems remained like how they would assist Ambrose and the Enforcers trapped in the underground tunnels and also, where Basar currently was.
"What's the report?"
"150 citizens dead, 200 injured, and 50 missing." Carl read out loud for Ana.
She was currently in the Parliament building where the remaining nobles had gathered to judge how to handle current affairs.
Murmurs broke out upon hearing Carl's report, with some revealing their outright disdain for what was happening.
"Lady Ana, we thank you for quelling the immediate problems we are facing but we still haven't taken out the root… Any luck on catching the madman that orchestrated all of this?" A member of Parliament asked.
Ana sighed. "Basar is a cunning man. He has been planning this for so long, it's tough to say if we'd be able to catch him before he plays his final card."
"But you are the Guardian of the Empire, are you saying this occultist is more powerful than you?" Another member of Parliament questioned.
"... It's not about titles. Basar's powers of sight directly counter mine and his authority is at a similar if not greater level than mine since he is connected to not just an Evil god but a Fallen Angel."
"You can't expect us to understand those concepts, Lady Ana. We don't waste our time studying mystical knowledge. We just need to know… can you solve this before it gets out of hand?... If you can't, we can consider evacuating as soon as possible."
"Will you take those of the Southern, Western, and Eastern districts with you?" Ana asked back.
"Are you asking such a preposterous question, Guardian?"
Ana glared at the fool that dared to speak, causing him to immediately shut up after which she replied.
"We can indeed consider evacuation…"
"Where do you plan on going?" A voice suddenly questioned, cutting Ana off.
Gritting her teeth, Ana glanced at a corner of the room to find Basar seated there leisurely.
"You bastard!"
Basar chuckled. "I heard there was a meeting and decided to tag along. Hope I'm not too late."
Ana immediately spread out her authority in a bid to trap Basar but the latter remained poised causing her to recall it.
"A clone…"
"Glad to see you didn't waste your energy." Basar teased as he rested his chin on his palm before adding. "Now then, where were we?... Ah yes, something about an evacuation."