Heindrik's brows furrowed. He strode to Secretary Lee, who remained looking up at Night while on the floor. He helped the man up and held his arm. As his palms felt the coldness of Secretary Lee's body, his eyes flew towards Night.
"What are you talking about?"
Night stared at Heindrik for a few seconds before sighing. He gestured to the sofa and walked towards it.
"I also have no idea about what is happening. But based on what you told me, the announcement from earlier, and what we saw, I don't think that we'll be able to spend our days as peacefully as we do right now."
Night turned to Secretary Lee. His eyes were still unfocused as they stared down at his fidgeting hands resting on his knees.
"Secretary Lee, would you do the honor of telling Heindrik what you saw as my vision is at a lower level than yours."
His eyes flew to Night. And with much uncertainty, he opened his mouth:
"There was a mana fluctuation a few kilometers away."
"A mana fluctuation? Could it be a rift?"
"It is a rift, but a different kind. Normal rifts were like a one-way door for the Chaos Creatures, but that rift was a two-way door. I don't really understand how it is structured as the rift has not appeared yet, but that rift... we might be able to get inside of it."
[Haa. I guess it's finally that time.]
Night flinched after hearing Rafael's voice echo in his mind. He had been hearing her talk less and less as hours passed. But fortunately, she doesn't seem to have the heart to not talk completely.
'Elaborate.'
[Well, you know how there are other worlds experiencing the apocalypse and there are sages governing them. Even if you think that you have a lot more information that is normally not known by the general population, you shouldn't assume that you know everything.]
"I'm not."
He didn't realize that he had spoken out loud and made Heindrik and Secretary Lee pay attention to him.
[Whatever. I'll give another piece of information. Well, this will be known in this world sooner rather than later but I'm giving it to you now so you can take quick actions.]
'Get to the point.'
[Yes, yes. The rifts that all of you have known were not the only type of rift there is. There are two kinds of rift. It's just like what those guy over there said, the rift that you have only ever seen is a one-way gate to another dimension. It is what we sages like to call exclusive rifts because one can come out but not go in. There is also the two-way rift mostly known as gates. Unlike the exclusive rifts, entities could enter and exit these.]
'For sure there is a catch. Don't leave the most important information unsaid.'
[You don't have to be so impatient, master. Ahem! Just like what you said, there is a condition for an entity to leave and enter the gate. Usually gates finish forming in one or two weeks. It depends on its size. The smaller the size the faster the forming completes. Once the gate finished forming, Beings, who are not inside the enclosed dimension can enter. The time span is a week before the Chaos Creatures go out just like how they do in the exclusive rifts.]
'The gate doesn't close as long as the Chaos Creatures inside haven't gone out or been killed, am I right?"
[That's right.]
Night's head bobbed up and down.
"Are you alright, Legion Night?"
Heindrik's voice made him snap out of his own thoughts.
"Ah, yes. Of course. There is something that I need to inform you. Can we call the healer here?"
"... Sure."
Secretary Lee was about to get up from his seat, but Heindrik stopped him and pulled out his phone from his pocket.
"Come to the third floor. There is something we need to talk about."
Heindrik uttered as soon as the person on the other line answered and immediately ended the call without waiting for the other party's response.
Soon, Samuel was invited inside the office after knocking twice.
"Now that we are all here. I want you to know that this information is something that only the people inside this room should know. So, if there is even a slight chance that we are being watched or if there is a bug somewhere we must obliterate it. I don't want precious information leaking out like sand cupped in hand."
Heindrik walked over to his desk and pressed the button under it. Night's eyes sparkled. Even without his mana perception activated, he saw how a dark transparent curtain was drawn encircling the area within ten meters around the room.
There were no visible changes in the atmosphere, it was as if a literal curtain had been drawn, the room only dimmed and nothing more.
"What was that?"
"It was a veil. People outside would see nothing of what is happening inside."
Secretary Lee answered his question. Night might be mistaken but for a moment he looked proud.
"It's like letting them see an illusion."
Heindrik sat back down on the sofa. Samuel's eyes switched from the three of them with a hint of confusion. His head hung low by a few inches while his eyes looked up.
"I shouldn't be worried about any rats, do I."
"A trap has been put. You don't have to worry about anything."
Heindrik smiled and Night shivered.
'What a vicious smile.'
Heindrik looked like a master schemer with the sly smile creeping on his face.
Night could only sigh inwardly and shook his head sideways. He saw something he thought he shouldn't have seen.
'I hate the fact that that face might pop up in my mind whenever I have free time.'
"What's wrong?"
Heindrik tilted his head as he studied Night's troubled face.
"It's nothing. Please explain what you have seen to Doctor Samuel, here, Secretary Lee."
"Samuel is fine."
Night nodded his head and leaned back on the couch waiting patiently as Secretary Lee told everyone what he had seen for the second time.
"T-that... There is no possible way that could be true."
Samuel's reaction was much similar to how Secretary Lee reacted when he saw the gate forming at a distance. Night gave him time to adjust and sort out his thoughts before proceeding to tell them what Rafael had told him.
"Samuel, seeing that you were the one Secretary Lee called when I was in the brink of death. It must mean that you have known them for quite a while now, don't you?"
"Yes. I have been their healer since I first met Heindrik."
"That means that they trust you. And right now, it's time to return that trust."
Although Night had stated it nonchalantly, he touched a nerve on their hearts. Unfortunately, he didn't know any of the feelings which were changing because of what he said in passing. He wouldn't want to know.
'It's settled then.'
"There are two kinds of Rifts. The one that we knew is called the exclusive rift, which is a one-way portal for the Chaos Creatures to invade our world. The second one is called a gate. This time it is a two-way portal that we can enter and exit under a few conditions..."
"Wait, wait. Wait!"
Heindrik leaned forward from his relaxed position and raised his hand. If Night knew any better he would have thought about how Secretary Lee and Samuel were distant relatives as they always have similar reactions.
"You're pouring out too much information without giving us time to process it!"
'But I explained it easy enough for grown-ups like you to understand?' Night thought.
"How did you even get such information? Is it even credible?"
"Ah, so that's what you're worried about. Well, you don't have to worry about its credibility. You can think of it as something that I learned through a skill."
Confusion appeared on their faces in unison, but Night just cleared his throat and changed the topic.
"What Secretary Lee saw was a gate forming. A gate usually finishes forming after one or two weeks. The forming time varies from the size of the gate; the bigger it is, the longer the forming time is."
Night stood and walked over to the window and activated his mana perception. Contrary to his reaction before, Night stared at the gate forming in the distance with emotionless eyes.
"That gate... If we consider the recent announcement from the Sage, it might finish in a week."
Heindrik walked over to Night and muttered under his breath:
"A week. We've still got time."
"Not enough. Secretary Lee, please come here."
Night made way for Secretary Lee to view the window. Samuel followed behind them and took a glance at the mana fluctuation.
"Tell us what you see in detail."
Night pointed towards the forming gate as he ordered him. Secretary Lee cleared the lump in his throat and switched his gaze from Night's stoic face to the forming gate as a single drop of sweat rolled down to his chin.
"The mana fluctuation is stronger and a little denser than before..."
Secretary Lee paused and took a deep breath. He gripped the window sill and activated his clairvoyance once more. The sight of the murky mana fluctuating and mixing with the natural mana which could be found everywhere was something that he had never seen before. But that was not what made his grip on the window sill grow tighter.
It was the sight of how Chaos Creatures were slowly forming as the murky mana and natural mana mixed together.
"Th-there are more than before."