The mages followed a tunnel and arrived inside an underground car park. They were at the Southwest City, where Jenna had trapped Snoid in VR.

After parking the vehicle, they descended an elevator, arriving in the soul transportation machine’s room. The Cursed was still inside the STM’s ring, his soul absent from his sleeping body.

Jenna accessed the computer and typed the password to release him. Snoid woke up in shock, screaming at the top of his lungs.

“Wha- I’m back?” After repeated attempts, he finally got to his feet.

Seth Rayn was standing directly before him. “Don’t move. I won’t hesitate to kill you since the intel you gave my colleagues was already good enough.”

Snoid caught his breath. “Where will you take me?”

“We’ll take a trip to the DA,” said Ejiro, who stood beside his master.

They got ready to leave. Jenna shut down the system, Ejiro handcuffed Snoid, and Aaron began walking towards the elevator.

“Wait!” The voice was strained and shaky.

Everyone turned toward the speaker. It was Gabriella.

Gabriella wanted to close her mouth, not to utter another word, but a deep sense of responsibility had given her courage. Twiddling her thumbs, she declared that she wouldn’t go with them. She wanted to stay.

“Huh? Why?!” Isaac tilted his head slightly and furrowed his brows as he stepped forward.

Snoid smirked. “Ha! I see. It isn’t a bad idea, Gabriella Rivampe.”

Seth sighed, but he didn’t say anything.

Ejiro noticed Isaac’s confused expression.

“Is there something I didn’t catch?” The young mage asked everyone.

“Isaac,” said Gabriella. “At the moment, the vampires don’t have a ruler. It’s my duty to-”

“Your duty? Haven’t you abandoned it already?” Isaac felt betrayed. “You aren’t evil. You could do some good now, Gab. You could come with us. We’d grow stronger and take back the Obscure Guild, the Amon Guild and the Tremblay Guild one day. Do you want to give that up? Do you really want to become evil like the other dictators?”

Putting his hand on Isaac’s shoulder, Aaron intervened. “You want to rule the vampires to do some good, to reform the Obscure Guild, right?”

“That’s right,” Gabriella answered, feeling a knot tighten in her stomach.

“That’s admirable, but it’s too risky, Gabriella. Will the vampires really accept you as their ruler?” Aaron paused a brief moment, taking a deep breath.

He spoke louder. “They need a pure-blood vampire to continue the lineage, but there are other means to continue the bloodline than making you the queen…”

“Stop it. I’ve made up my mind. None of you can stop me. You’d do the same in my position. Aaron, you also want to revive the Amon Guild. And Isaac, you’d risk your life for the Tremblay Guild.”

Aaron and Isaac stopped arguing. Gabriella was right. She wanted to take control of the vampires and reform the Obscure Guild. They’d do the same in her situation.

Jenna walked to her side. “It’s not a bad idea, Gabriella. Luo and I will accompany you. You’ll need strong mages by your side.”

Luo also came next to her. He looked at the retired magician. “Having beaten three Cursed, only two Seats still remain. We might have a shot at overtaking the Obscure Guild. Seth Rayn, we’ll form an army from inside the guild, and you’ll get your own from outside these walls.”

“Wait, but what about the Dark Faction?” Ejiro suddenly asked from the other side of the room. Obviously, the Obscure Guild was still under the Dark Faction’s influence.

Seth nodded. “The Dark Faction is a significant variable. It’s already been over a century since the Second War ended. We don’t know how many cultists there are, nor who they are and where they are. And Isaac’s red magic is the living proof that they’re preparing for something big.”

“That’s true, but look. In my opinion, the Third War has begun, and if we don’t do something soon, the entire West Continent will become DF territory. We need to take the offensive.”

Luo convinced Ejiro and Seth to help them.

Finally, Isaac approached Gabriella. “I’ll go with you, Gab. I also want to help.”

“Alright.” Seth tapped the ground with his staff. “Once we leave the Obscure Guild, we’ll reach out to the Western Alliance. And with the secret passages, we might be able to send some people to support you and inform you of any plan we come up with.”

They headed to the garage and decided that Seth’s group would take the armoured vehicle.

“I’ll be lonely for a while, I guess,” Aaron said mockingly. He really wanted to join Gabriella and Isaac but chose not to. He wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was because he wanted to learn more from Seth. Perhaps he just feared the Obscure Guild. But he knew that he would feel alone for a while.

“Goodbye, Aaron,” said Gabriella.

Isaac smiled. “See you later.”

Aaron entered the vehicle. “Bye-bye. Stay safe, my friends,” he smiled back at them.

The door shut, and Aaron, Ejiro and Seth left en route to the Wandering Lands.

Gabriella, Isaac, Luo and Jenna departed oppositely, towards Vamp City in the inner layer.

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End of Part 6 - Obscure Guild

Part 7: Obscure War

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