“Are we clear?” Rose observed her surrounding one more time. The huge vine-covered warehouse in the middle of nowhere, the dozens disabled surveillance camera, the thick steel door in front of her, the dark sea of stars, the team of black-suited personnel behind, and Pris opposite of her, also in black military gear.

“All clear.” Arthur answered from the comms.

She gave a nod at Priscilla and touched the door under its handle, where the lock mechanism was. The area she touched turned red hot and melted.

“Entering.” Pris opened the huge steel door without making a sound. From her left arms, a translucent square barrier appeared. “Clear.” Rose followed, then her team with Albert at the very behind.

“All clear here.” Rose reported after further checking her surrounding. The inside did not differ from a regular warehouse. Though it looked like the owner had abandoned it for years.

“All clear here too. No sign of trap or enemies.” Clara, the team leader for the other door, reported back.

“Sweep the area. Pris, with me. You two, go the other way, you two-“ Rose signaled with her finger.

With a snap of her fingers Rose cast a night-vision magic for the whole team. Everyone carried a flashlight and other light source, but in case their enemy was monitoring them visually, it would be better not to draw unnecessary attention to themselves.

“There must be a secret entrance.” Arthur answered after Rose gave the report of the situation. “Look for something leading down.”

Rose thought about it a bit. If it was only a normal secret entrance, finding it with magic would be a piece of cake, but there’s no way their enemy would be so careless. They must have concealed it using layers of magic.

“And be careful, Rose. They should start noticing something now.”

“Should we abandon our secretive approach and just blast our way through?” Staying secretive would take longer than just blasting their way through, but rescuing the hostages was their number one priority. With their enemies planning to sacrifice the hostage, time was of the essence. But there came the dilemma. If she blasted through everything, it would only make the enemy afraid and desperate. On the other hand, if their enemy knew of the situation, then blasting their way through with overwhelming power and rescuing the hostage as soon as possible would be the best. Right now, the enemy should realized something was wrong. The question became whether the enemy understand the situation fully.

“You’re the one leading, Rose. You’re the one to decide.”

Ugh! She wanted to complain, but held it within her. From his light chuckle at the end of his sentence, he already knew this dilemma would happen, and he most likely knew what the best approach to this situation was. She had no right to complain though. She had decided before that she won’t ask for his help. Now she had to take responsibility for her decision.

Now that she thinks about it, even with the surveillance camera taken down, it was likely the enemy had other means to know what’s happening. “We’ll force our way in.”

“What?” Albert exclaimed. “What about Iris, Friede, and the hostages?”

“That’s exactly why. I’m afraid our enemies have no intention of keeping the hostage alive and well. The longer we wait, the more we give our enemies time to do whatever it is they are trying to do.” She looked down. “Down, huh?”

Rose put her palm on the ground. She exhaled long and hard.

The ground cracked and turned red hot. ”Everyone, get back.” Everyone walked and jumped back, getting out of the growing red circle under Rose.

She raised a hand and pointed at one part of the red circle. ”Pris.”

Pris nodded, walked to the place Rose pointed and smashed the floor to smithereens. A huge hole appeared on the ground, revealing a tunnel underneath the thick floor of concrete.

“Arthur, we make an entrance, but I’m afraid the enemies can run away to other exit we don’t know about.”

“You’re the leader here, Rose, you’re the one making the call. Remember what you said earlier, I’m just a spectator and supervisor.”

“Fine! Don’t rub it on me.” She wanted to smash the comms. It wasn’t her intention to ask him for help or answer, it was just her reflex and habit to ask Arthur in a situation like this. The worst thing was, he knew very well it was just her habit, yet he had to tease her for it. She took a deep breath. “Arthur!”

“Yes?” Noticing the seriousness of her voice, he assumed a serious tone too.

“Search for any side entrances to the basement and report any suspicious movement outside. “

“Roger, My Lady.” Rose couldn’t see it, but she imagined Arthur having a different smile on his face. A prideful smile maybe? Maybe it was just her wishful thinking.

By the time she finished her conversation with Arthur, Pris and everyone already stood before the hole, ready to jump at her command. “You two, guard our exit up here. The rest, come with me.”

“Keep your eyes open. Enemies and traps will be waiting for us.” Pris was the first one to jump down. She always assumed the role of vanguard on a mission like this and the rear-guard during retreat due to the nature of her ability.

When she touched the floor of the tunnel, a strong unpleasant sewage odor greeted her. Not only that, the room she entered was basically a sewer, with sickening stagnant green water flooding up to the ankle and moss and green slime covering the walls and ceiling. There was no sign of activity in her immediate surrounding. “Everything’s clear, but prepare your nose.”

After everyone but the guards jumped down, they explored the place. There was only one direction to explore as the other direction was a dead end.

“Wait!” Pris raised her arms to stop the advance of those behind her. She placed her finger on her lips and “Shh!” The sound of water being sprayed and clapped around. Something was moving in the water, dozens in number and coming straight at them. “Looks like the enemy already know we are coming.”

Relief washed over Rose heart. That the enemies already knew they were coming meant that her decision to blast through was the right one. At the same time, the fact that enemy already knew the attack didn’t bode well for the success of the operation. She hoped they rescued the hostage in time.

The bark of dogs entered their ears before their form entered their vision. The end of tunnel turned bright red as a swarm of black dogs passed through, bigger and more fearsome than German Shepherd. Their eyes blazed red, open wounds littered their bodies, and smoke and mist burst in their wake.

“Hellhound.” It came as no surprise for them since the Dollmaker was dabbling in summoning magic. Albert prepared his armor, Pris her barrier, and the rest their weapon.

Alone, hellhound wasn’t a dangerous monster, for a normal mage that is. Their physical abilities weren’t that stronger from a police-trained German Shepherd; their fire breath could easily be avoided as long as you pay attention. The only problem with them was they exploded when they die or about to die, effectively becoming a mobile homing explosive. With the explosive power of a dynamite, it didn’t possess much threat, but in a pack they became one, especially to those without the means to fight them from range. Not to mention the battleground inside a tunnel gave them a risk of cave-ins.

“Don’t panic.” Rose stepped in front of the group and raised her gloved hands. It was white on her left hand and black on her right. On the back were steel plate with hole where a huge ruby sat.

She twisted her right hand like plucking an apple from a tree. And closed it shut.

The hellhounds on the front tripped. And Rose’s magic prevented the rest from jumping over the fallen, creating a domino effect for the rest of the pack until they all piled into a mound.

Now she saw them in a pile, she realized their number was greater than what she originally thought. “Pris,” she called.

Pris erected a barrier around it. The hellhound barked and spat out fire, struggling to get up to no avail. They stick together and to the drowned floor like a glue.

Rose clenched her fist even tighter and tighter and tighter. Each time, the hellhounds wailed and cried. Gravity pulled them to a ball of flesh and fire until it crushed them, setting a chain of explosions that consumed the pile of bodies in a blazing wrath.

Pris’ shield took the brunt of the explosion and Rose’s magic kept it localized, but it was still enough to shake the whole sewer like an earthquake.

“W-what was that?” Rose magic amazed even Albert, who knew magic since the moment him was born,. Nothing like he ever seen before. And he had seen a lot.

“Gravity magic,” She answered in a point-of-fact manner like it was nothing. “Let’s go.” She continued walking, leaving the still mesmerized Albert behind with his gaping mouth.

“Don’t be so surprised.” Pris voice woke Albert from his daze. “If it come to magic, there shouldn’t be anyone who can beat her in terms of pure talent.” Pris spoke after Rose couldn’t hear them. Rose would have stopped her if she heard it. “Her late father talked about her talent and potential as a wonder of this world.”

“Her late father?”

“Search about it in your mind. The magic of house Arcturus should let you know about it.”

Albert was confused at first. All he knew was their father were acquaintances, one of the few reasons they decided to take refuge in this city. But after searching in his own memory, a knowledge about Arcturus family suddenly popped up. One he shouldn’t have known.

Suddenly Rose touched the earphone on her left. ”What? Are you kidd- HOW?!” She took off the earphone, raised it high above her head, and almost smashed it to the ground if she didn’t hold herself in the last moment.

”What is it?” Albert and Pris asked at the same time. For a moment Pris looked weirdly at his direction as if wanting to say something, but she didn’t bother and turned back towards Rose.

”That bastard! Rein… The Dollmaker got him.”