CHAPTER 35~GABRIELLA'S POV~“This way,” Gregory said as he made a turn in the tunnel. We both held lanterns, but he was the map reader, as I knew nothing about maps.“This place is really creapy. It looks like no one's been down here for years,” I said, using my hand to push aside all the cobwebs along the way.“Well, yes, only the Mortimer family knows of these underground tunnels, and Steven is the last Mortimer. He's only ever told me about his studies in these tunnels. He's mastered every single route and knows where all the traps are in his head, but unfortunately he can't explore them because they also count as outside the mansion,” Gregory replied.“So, you've never seen Steven try to leave the mansion before?” I asked.“Well, no. Why do you ask?” Gregory asked back.“I'm just a bit curious; it's possible that he got a little bit curious at some point in his life; maybe he went out and came back without the knowledge of anyone,” I said, trying not to sound too suspicious.“Wel
CHAPTER 36~GABRIELLA'S POV~The ingredient sat inside a box on a tall podium. I walked forward to pick up the box, and as I wrapped my fingers around it, two large metal mallets swung from both sides of the room we were now in.Gregory grabbed my hair and pulled me back immediately. The two mallets clashed, creating a defending sound that echoed throughout the room and lasted for a few minutes.“That was a close one,” I said."Yup, too close,” Gregory replied, letting out a sigh."It seems like there are more traps in here than we expected. And they will all activate every time we try to lift the box. Therefore, we'll have to find a way to replace the box with something equally heavy,” Gregory said, stroking his chin.A smile grew on my face, and I raised the lanterns we brought with us. We didn't need them anymore now that we had activated our werewolf abilities, which let us see clearly in the dark.“I'm still amazed by how you were able to carry those with you while you danced aro
CHAPTER 37~GABRIELLA'S POV~We ran as fast as we could through the loop. As the loop became more and more evident, it started to feel like I was running in circles. This feeling was a sign that I was right—we could break the barrier this way.The moment I and Gregory would cross each other's paths, the barrier would lose control over both of us, and we would break free from its hold. There was also a risk, though, that I and Gregory would end up in two separate loops.I increased my pace, continuing along my path, and soon I saw Gregory coming toward me.“Run faster!!” He yelled. “Huh, what do you do?" I was about to ask when I noticed that the walls were desintegrating into nothingness. I looked around and found the entire tunnel had turned into a white, empty space.“What the hell!" I yelled as my speed increased subconsciously. Before we knew it, I and Gregory crossed each other's paths, and the entire tunnel vanished.“What the hell is this place?” I asked as we floated around i
CHAPTER 38~GABRIELLA'S POV~The huge stone door shifted open, and both I and Gregory rushed out, breathing heavily. The air inside the room was starting to get really hot, and breathing became really difficult. We panted heavily as we both sat on the ground.We turned to each other and burst into laughter.“That was really close,” I said, using my apron to wipe the sweat off my face.Gregory kept staring at me without uttering a word.“Hey, snap out of it,” I said, snapping my fingers in front of his face.He giggled a bit, then turned to the ground.“Is something wrong?” I asked.“Umm, not really; your face just reminds me of someone, someone really beautiful and special. That's all,” Gregory said.From his voice and the look he had on his face, I could tell he was sad. I crawled to his side and sat by him.“If you want to talk about it, I'm here to listen,” I said softly, staring at him.Gregory stared into my eyes for a few seconds, then said softly, “Don't worry about it; let's j
CHAPTER 39~GABRIELLA'S POV~“It was only a few years ago. The sky was bright, and kids from the pack played around in the gardens of the mansion. The air filled up with their laughter, and everyone was joyful.She was among them—my little sister. We were the only ones left of our family, and she was everything to me,” Gregory spoke, staring at the numerous boxes spread across the room.I remained quiet, listening to him with my head resting on his shoulder."Suddenly, the sky went dark. The gates broke open, and black smoke spread through the mansion compound, swallowing everything it touched. All the kids disappeared one by one as the smoke spread, and then the rogue king and his dozens of rogue wolves walked into the mansion.I and many warrior wolves rushed out, some trying to protect the maids and kids, and others shifting into their wolves and diving into battle.We fought for hours. The mansion had caught fire, and our warrior wolves had reduced greatly in numbers. I fought wit
CHAPTER 40~GABRIELLA'S POV~“Did we just travel back to the past?” I asked with fear written all over my face.“Uhh, let's not jump to conclusions; maybe we're just seeing things. The other tests were pretty mentally demanding, so it's not out of the ordinary to hallucinate at this point,” Gregory said, scratching the back of his head.I turned to him slowly. “So we're hallucinating the exact same thing?” I asked softly.Gregory stared at me for a moment, then said, “Let's just find the last box and find a way to get out of here."I turned back to the passage's entrance. “Wait, now that the door is gone, how are we supposed to get out of here? And how are we supposed to find a small box in this huge mansion?” I asked.“The door will probably appear when we find the box, just like the others. For a test like this, the box should be in plain sight, some place people see every day but pay no attention to, but where could that be?” Gregory said.“You two, what are you doing?” A voice sud
CHAPTER 41~GABRIELLA'S POV~“It's not a problem, my lady; we're happy we were able to assist you." Gregory replied with a smile and bowed slightly.“Now, the only matter that's left on the ground is protecting the watcher until he's old enough to assume the position,” Myrid said as she started to walk around.Hearing what she said, I decided to use the opportunity to inquire about the watcher. “What do you mean by watcher? Who is it?” I asked.Myrid turned to face me and said, “The Watcher? Haven't you heard? The old witch has requested a watcher come from the Teragon family. The next child born into the Teragon family will be destined to stand and watch the doors until the holy event happens,” she replied.“What? And it's a boy?” I asked again with a look of surprise on my face.“Well Yeah. The child is a boy, unless we didn't check well. The watcher will be trained to withstand the harshest of conditions and to resist any distractions. The old witch says his role is the most import
CHAPTER 42~GABRIELLA'S POV~“So, what now?” Gregory asked as we both stared at the wall quietly.“Hmmm, just like the others, there's probably some kind of loose brick somewhere that serves as a door opener; we just have to find it,” I replied, sounding a little optimistic.I and Gregory stared at the wall for a moment, then started touching different parts of the wall to find the loose brick. We searched and searched for a couple of minutes, but it was to no avail."There's nothing here; what do we do now?” Gregory asked.I stared at the wall before us for a few more seconds, hoping an idea would pop up in my head, but nothing came.I let out a sigh and replied, “I've got nothing, Gregory. I guess following those maids was just a waste of time; we should probably head back and look for another way."Gregory remained quiet as I walked past him. I took one more step forward, and my foot suddenly sank into the ground. A wall suddenly descended, blocking the passage we came in through,
CHAPTER 310~GABRIELLA'S POV~Just as Clarabelle warned, the entire world forgot that there was such a thing as the alpha-J drug, and every trace of it vanished from the face of the earth after she reversed the fate of everyone who consumed it and became an artificial. Things went back to normal so quickly that it almost seemed like nothing happened at all—like all the struggles my friends were put through by Episteme, Evelyn, and Agnes were just a dream. People forgot that a company like Higher Wellness Pharmaceuticals existed and that Governor Gerald was a criminal.Newspapers and written reports about the matter disappeared without a trace. Because of this, Steven’s company was unaffected by Evelyn’s actions, and the criminals involved were convicted secretly by the council. Questions were asked about Governor Gerald’s and Queen Elizabeth's disappearances, but people soon got distracted by other things and lost interest in the matter. Steven offered to hand over the position of h
CHAPTER 309~3RD PERSON’S POV~Maria and Clarabelle stood in front of the gates of the Dragnon mansion with umbrellas above their heads and worry on their faces. They had been waiting for Marie and the others to return for hours, but there was no sign of them returning at all.Clarabelle did well to protect everyone from the intense heat, and now that the sun had moved away from the earth, she was sure that Marie and her friends had won the battle. In fact, as the Immortal of Fate, she already knew they would win, and she already knew who would bring that victory, but she wasn't allowed to say a word to anyone. What she wasn't sure of was if they had survived or not, because she refused to look that far into the future.“Do you think they'll return safely?” Maria asked with worry in her voice. She has lost her husband before and was very afraid of losing him again.Clarabelle turned to her and saw the worry in her eyes, then turned away. “Let’s just be hopeful,” she said softly. A f
CHAPTER 308~3RD PERSON'S POV~~Earlier~“Huh?” Gabriella blinked repeatedly in confusion as she stared into Lunaris's eyes. They both sat in a pool of water in the black, empty void that was Gabriella's mind. “What’s going on? I thought I died already,” Gabriella asked softly.“You did—well, not exactly. I put you to sleep for over four months to get some things done in your world. Now that my plot is complete, I'd like you to return and continue living the life you've always wanted,” Lunaris said with a smile.“Oh, you mean I didn't have to die for you to take my body?” Gabriella asked.“Yes, Gabriella. If everyone knew that you were still alive, they would not have grown as much as they have now... especially Marie. I had to make everyone believe that your death was necessary for me to come to this world, so that the plot I couldn't finish years ago would finally be completed,” Lunaris responded.“Oh, I can't believe it's been four months already. How's Marie and the others doing?
CHAPTER 307~3RD PERSON’S POV~Marie and her sisters, Cortana and Yuna, sat inside a large metal dome created by Angela. Angla had created multiple domes like this to accommodate the entire army of Vedantya, and this was because the temperature of the atmosphere has risen to an unbearable level. Daniella used her manipulation of heat to cool down the domes so the occupants wouldn't die of heat stroke.The air around the domes looked like it had been stained with gasoline fumes, and rocks around them had begun melting.Valerie tried again and again to open a portal but failed every single time. The spell that blocked her ability to use spatial magic wasn't very powerful but was somehow too complex for her to undo. It was like the spell reformed itself at light speed every time she broke it, and there was no way of stopping it.“This is bad. If we stay here longer than this, the whole world is going to melt down,” Angela said with worry on her face.“No, we can't give up yet; I'm sure I
CHAPTER 306~3RD PERSON’S POV~“What have you done to me?!!” Agnes yelled with a gory voice.“I poisoned you, Agnes. Ordinarily, poison wouldn't be enough to kill a witch like you, but depending on how powerful the poison is, it would be enough to weaken you. The souls of the fallen Immortals despise you, Agnes. But as much as they want to escape, as souls, they're not nearly strong enough to go against the spell you put on them. It's just like Sabbath and Mary; without Mary's body, Sabbath can't use his power. So, without Agnes's body, the immortals are weak to her spells. But spells require serious mental concentration and physical reinforcement to hold together, and once those two things weaken, the spell comes apart and the souls of the Immortals have their chance to escape.” Agnes gripped her stomach tightly as she felt an agonizing pain coming up. She bled from her nose and mouth as the souls of all the Immortals began seeping out of her body and flying off. “After the Immor
CHAPTER 305~3RD PERSON'S POV~~years ago~“You idiot, don’t go playing with sharp objects if you’re going to lose your mind like that; you know how dangerous that power of yours is,” Agnes queried.“I’m so sorry, I was only trying to get over my fear of blood; it’s really hard,” Mary replied nervously, stroking the back of her head slowly.“Don’t do that anymore. You’ll end up hurting everyone around you,” Agnes said. “But I’ll have you to slap me back to my senses before that happens, right?” Mary said.Agnes smiled. “Yeah, but next time I’ll make sure to slap you even harder so you get knocked out before coming back to your senses.” Both she and Mary laughed together, and the four teachers just stared at them with confused expressions on their faces.~•••~“I lied to you the other day, Mary. I’m not friends with you because you’re a good person or make life interesting for me. I mean, you do, but that’s not the reason.”“Then what is?” Mary asked.“It’s because I feel very ashamed
CHAPTER 304~3RD PERSON’S POV~Mary was accompanied into the building by a group of four people. Two of them were maids, and the other two were Agnes’s soldiers. All four of them still had that eerie smile on their faces, and their eyes still glowed bright red, making them look like their minds were being controlled. They walked into the glass building and led Mary to a magical elevator that didn’t require electricity to work. Mary had her guard up, prepared to launch an attack at anyone who tried to annoy her. At this moment, she was already very pissed off, and anyone who tried to attack her now would be walking into their grave.The elevator door closed and started to rise up the building. Everyone was unusually quiet, and none of Mary’s escorts wanted to make eye contact with her. Mary watched them through the glass wall in front of her—they looked like dolls, stiff and lifeless, like they had been programmed to only move when they were given orders.The elevator rose for over tw
CHAPTER 303~3RD PERSON’S POV~The team of eight continued to fight against the Asuras, cutting through and destroying their forces with as much speed, strength, and precision as they could. They all fought with rage in their hearts, determined to end the battle as quickly as possible, but the Asuras were just too many. It didn't matter what the team did or what amount of power they used; the Asuras just kept coming like an endless sea of stars.The Asuras armor-like skin had become so strong that Edith's blade and Anima Morning Star both broke on impact. The two Immortals had to summon their weapons again and again during the fight just to avoid getting killed. They had to look for a new way to kill these Immortals, and that way was to attack them at points where their armour didn't cover—the gaps in the skin that revealed their glowing orange flesh. Targeting these parts was especially difficult for the werewolves because they didn't have long-range weapons, and getting too close t
CHAPTER 302~3RD PERSON'S POV~Nicole and Melody moved swiftly through the forest, toward the area where the forcefield was located. Nicole hovered using a glowing, orange, magical disc, and Melody just flew around, dodging the trees and large rocks in the way. They both had already seen the helicopter fly off, so they knew Mary was already going against her parents. Their only problem was getting to the forcefield, as the distance it was from where they opened their portal was too much. “Hey, couldn't you just use spacial magic to take us there? It's starting to look like this forest is playing tricks on us,” Melody asked, turning to Nicole.Nicole looked around, her eyes scanning past each tree, shrub, and rock. “I can't use spacial magic or any other kind of magic. Something is blocking me from doing it. This is bad; it means we can't teleport home unless we can find a place where I will be able to use spatial magic,” she responded. “But you're right,” she continued, then stopped