In a dark place, Eunithus appeared with Ashley in hand. He hastily cuffed her and threw her at the wall.
"Finally, you're ours."
"..."
Ashley glared at the man with her wand still in hand. As she was about to cast a curse, Eunithus kicked her face. She fell on the floor, dropping her hand. The purple-haired man picked it up and broke her wand.
"With that, you'll no longer be able to control curses. Wands are catalysts for curse control. Now, you're defenceless."
Ashley looked up at Eunithus.
"What are you planning?"
"I thought you already knew. We're going to use your curse to destroy London."
"Why?! Why destroy London?! You're the ones who started to kill those people! Why?! This isn't revenge so—"
Eunithus grabbed Ashley's hair and pulled it up. He punched her face. The man had no interest in entertaining Ashley but he did so simply to make her despair.
"You have no idea of the Queen's true nature."
"Huh?"
"Queen Ilistria is the real villain but nobody knows about it. That's why, we'll destroy London. With London destroyed, Queen Ilistria will reveal her true colours."
Ashley couldn't understand. The evil person in front of her was calling the leader of this country the 'real villain.' The man who wanted to crush London under a meteorite.
"Are you serious? The woman who leads everyone. The woman who cherishes her country. The woman who saved me is evil? Get off your fucking high horse."
She cursed at the man. Eunithus smiled in irritation. He slammed her head against the wall. Blood seeped from the back of her head.
"You three are the real villains. The ones who started killing for the fun. Just go kill yourselves and be done with it! Don't involve the citizens of London!"
"You already know that you have no control over your curse, so I don't know why you're talking all of this nonsense. London Bridge and Tower Bridge are the main attractions of Halloween's Stellar Night. We'll unleash the meteorite at South East London, and the rest will be destroyed by the impact."
Ashley spat in his face. Eunithus wiped his face before slamming her head into the wall once more. She fell onto the floor unconscious. Her blood painted the wall.
"Shit, I can't have you dying now. I don't want a meteorite dropping on me. I'll have to call that witch. If you die now, it'll ruin everything. I want that Queen to despair."
He spoke to himself while grabbing a Seeker.
·———·
"It's no use, I can't sense her."
Morgan said to the Queen. This was naturally a lie. Morgan could sense Ashley but didn't tell the Queen. This was the extent of her own plan. Telling the Queen would ruin it.
The Queen had no reason to suspect that she was lying. She didn't possess even the slightest inkling.
"Fuck, then we've lost Ashley. That was careless of me."
Akari swore, biting her nail. Morgan silently stared at the Councilwoman.
'Out of the three of them, one was eliminated and another was captured. I chose useless pawns. At least one got the job done.'
She thought to herself.
"I'll ask Anti-Magic to search for Ashley and Eunithus. I'll also involve the President of the United States, Mr Zarian and Mr Zhao. This is top priority."
"By the way, Your Majesty, Ashley mentioned that they want to release the curse within her to destroy London."
"...!"
Both Morgan and the Queen looked shocked. The Queen looked at the table meanwhile Morgan grimaced, tightening her grip around her staff.
'Is he crazy? He wants to unleash that meteorite over London. That was his part of the plan? I only wanted Ashley Renthral to use as a catalyst for the summoning but...'
Even Morgan believed Eunithus' plan to be stupid.
"We cannot let that happen. Morgan, alert the rest of the elite guards!"
"Yes, ma'am."
The witch walked out of the room and closed the doors behind her. She gently tapped her staff against the ground. A symbol of a star appeared before her. It was the use of a curse.
She disappeared, reappearing in the room where Eunithus had Ashley held captive. The man smiled upon seeing Morgan.
"You're here, Witch. Could you heal her? She'll bleed to death."
"..."
Morgan stared at Ashley's unconscious body and the bloodstain behind her. The anger within her flared. She pointed her staff toward Eunithus.
"Hm?"
The symbol of a forward arrow appeared. Eunithus was pushed into the wall.
"Ngh?!"
He couldn't move. It was like gravity was acting against him.
"What's... the meaning... of this?!"
"That should be my line. This is the first time I'm hearing about you wanting to use the curse from within the girl. That isn't what we agreed to."
Instead of bursting out into a fit of rage, Eunithus narrowed his eyes in confusion. It wasn't just Morgan who didn't understand the situation, it was him as well.
"What do you mean? On our second meeting, you agreed to it...!"
"Second meeting but..."
Morgan pondered for a second. She lowered her staff, deactivating her curse. She facepalmed.
"I thought you would capture her earlier. Why didn't you?"
"Witch, do you seriously have a case of amnesia? You told me to wait a week but I waited two to make sure."
"I see... That stupid woman..."
The witch uttered under her breath.
"What?"
"It's nothing. Forget about it, I seem to be out of it today. Anyway, do not kill her. I will keep her with you. We'll talk more about it on Halloween."
Morgan said, turning to Ashley. She healed Ashley with a curse. It didn't heal the wound completely but closed it off, for the most part.
The witch clicked her tongue and walked away like an old witch, tapping her staff on the floor at every stride. Morgan was disgruntled. Vexed would be a better way to describe it.
The witch's perfect plan had been led astray. Currently, unknown factors have interfered. The most dangerous unknowns were the Japanese Councilwoman and the boy.
It was also unprecedented that Joker would appear but even Morgan made a contingency plan for her.
"The boy probably won't hinder me. The Councilwoman on the other hand... I better get back and tell the rest of them before Alice finds something out."