Outside the building, a crowd of onlookers converged, their murmurs and expressions of concern echoing through the air.
As the sky darkened, casting an ominous sign over the scene, a sense of foreboding enveloped the surroundings
Amidst the gathering crowd, police officers stood guard. However, none of them dared to enter the building. After all, they saw the Torrent Squad fleeing the scene, making them realize the danger.
***
'Why are those people taking so long?'
Denise stood alongside her squad, anticipating the arrival of the Official Arcanists from other Factions. She was keenly aware of the formidable entity within the building and knew that the two individuals who had ventured inside must be facing a daunting predicament.
As she felt irritated that the Official Arcanists hadn't arrived yet, several figures arrived at the scene, adorned with blue and white patches on their right arms, each bearing a Grimoire attached to their belts.
Denise furrowed her brows in surprise upon sighting them.
She recognized these individuals. They were Summoners from the Order of the Enlightened Threads, and it made her confused for a moment. She had anticipated the appearance of the Lore Hunters or the Illustrious Liquidators since they had a larger presence in this area. As for the Summoners, there shouldn't be many of them in this city, according to the information given by the Guild.
Nevertheless, these people had also stopped outside the building.
It was contrary to her expectations of immediate intervention upon their arrival.
'Are they scared to enter the place?' Denise frowned seeing how the Summoners halted, appearing perturbed by the situation unfolding before them.
"The two who had helped us had set up a barrier... I don't know what barrier this is, but it's more than ten times stronger than my Wind Barrier." Thorne, the Defensive-Elementalist of their Squad, said in a subdued voice, reflecting the perplexity shared among their team.
"Ten times?" Leonel repeated as he knew how strong Thorne's barrier was. Thorne had specifically mastered this technique for their squad's operations and reached the peak of the Intermediate Realm. With the addition of his two Mystical Artifacts, it wouldn't lose against Advanced Realm barriers.
"That's right Those two who helped us were on a different level." Thorne replied.
Upon comprehending the staggering potency of the barrier erected by the two unknown individuals, Leonel, Denise, and their comrades could only nod in acknowledgment.
The sheer strength of the barrier left them in awe.
Denise mused inwardly, pondering whether the barrier had already transcended into the Perfect Realm, a notion that lingered in her mind as time elapsed.
As additional Arcanists from various Factions arrived, an even more astonishing development unfoldedthe unexpected appearance of the Archbishop of the Church of the Fortune Goddess.
***
The arrival of the Archbishop left Denise and her companions feeling surprised and a little anxious. They knew that someone as important as the Archbishop usually stayed in the capital city and didn't often venture to the kingdom's border unless something very serious was happening.
"Why would the Archbishop be here?" Denise wondered aloud.
Leonel leaned in and whispered, "Maybe he's here to deal with the evil entity. It could have come from the central part of the kingdom, and the church sent him to exorcise it."
The others nodded in agreement, their expressions reflecting concern and anticipation.
As they waited for further developments, they sensed the lingering presence of dark and evil energy around the building.
Suddenly, the barrier that had been blocking their Magic Zones disappeared, prompting the others to question what they were sensing.
"Where are they? My Magic Zone can't detect the Evil Entity or the two mysterious Arcanists."
Leonel's concern was mirrored by his companions as they approached the building to investigate. However, before they could take action, they were intercepted by two Summoners from the Enlightened Threads.
A female Summoner with a long braid addressed them.
"Torrent Squad... I have a few questions about your encounter with the entity and the people who intervened."
She spoke with a hint of authority, as if she had the right to stop them.
Leonel and the others didn't like how she just stopped them, but seeing so many people around them and that the other Summoners from the Enlightened Threads were looking, Leonel decided to cooperate and let them know what had transpired inside.
***
In the meantime, while all the others were investigating the devastated scene, Eustace and Constance were already heading to a nearby hotel.
At this time, Eustace was using his Lightspeed Spell while Constance was using her incredible control of Divinity to hide their presence.
It was a really useful ability, and Eustace couldn't wait to learn how to use it properly.
"You'd probably need five years to learn it seamlessly or three years if you're a genius. You do not need to rush learning the control of Divinity since you have the Celestial Physique. Actually, you will probably learn how to use it naturally in ten or so years, even if you don't train." Constance said as if she could read what was in his mind.
"Five years is already too much. If possible, I want to learn the method to control in just a few months or weeks." Eustace said what really was in his mind.
However, Constance just shook her head after hearing this, thinking that Eustace had gone crazy.
"Dream on The way you used your Divinity against Gluttony just now wasn't even that impressive. You simply channeled it to the Force coming out of your body. That was extremely wasteful. I felt a continuous flow of Divinity coming out of your body during that time. You shouldn't have done that You probably thought that you only collected a tiny amount of Divinity, but in reality, you took a huge amount and even failed to close the source of Divinity, so some of it started leaking out Then---"
"Ahem You're right, Constance. I'm wrong. I'll probably take 20 years to learn it." Eustace immediately said as he felt that she would continue talking for a long time before she would be satisfied.
Constance couldn't resist smirking upon hearing his words of resignation.