At Stark Industries...

Ethan at the head of the table, with a stack of documents spread neatly before him. Valerie stood across from him, holding a few files in hand as she answered his questions.

Ethan glanced up from the papers. "Stark City. What’s the situation there now?"

Valerie replied immediately. "I was there yesterday, Master Ethan. Progress has improved significantly. Mr. Chang has increased the workforce, and the overall pace of construction has gone up. With the current rate, I’m confident the industrial sector will be completed in a little over a month."

Ethan gave a slow nod. "That’s good... that’s good."

He leaned back slightly, tapping the edge of the file once before speaking again. "Continue your inspections today. Make sure everything keeps moving accordingly."

"Yes, Master Ethan," she replied, then added after a brief pause, "perhaps I should leave now if I want to catch a taxi on time."

Ethan turned to her again in mild surprise. "Taxi? What about—" then stopped himself as the realization hit almost immediately. "Ohhh."

Valerie nodded with an amused smile. "Yeah."

Ethan let out a short laugh of his own. He had almost asked about the other car before remembering; it was practically Eduardo’s.

And unless Ethan specifically requested it, Eduardo never liked sharing that car in particular. It was something he treated like a baby.

The Stark household still only had two cars.

Ethan shook his head, reaching into his pocket before pulling out a set of keys and tossing them toward her. "Alright. Use mine."

Valerie caught them instinctively, lowering her head in a bow. "Thank you, Master Ethan."

She was about to turn when—

"Hold on."

Ethan reached into his other pocket, pulling out a folded bill note, something he preferred carrying around to coin grits.

He scribbled a few figures onto it before handing it to her.

Valerie took it, her expression shifting into confusion as she glanced between the paper and him.

"In your free time," Ethan said casually, already half-looking back at his documents, "go to Roysten and get one more ride."

Her eyes widened.

Roysten, the family that manufactured most of the cars used across Gritnia. They also turned their family’s name into the Brand itself.

"I didn’t realize you had to taxi on some days," Ethan continued, "and we need another car in the house anyway."

He added, almost as an afterthought, "you can have your name on the papers if you want. It’s yours."

Valerie froze for a moment, genuinely unsure how to respond. Her face had gone noticeably red as she looked down at the bill note again, then back at him, who had already returned his attention to his work.

"Master Ethan... this is—"

Ethan clapped his hands once, sharply, as though cutting her off. "Valerie, you should be on your way already."

She nodded quickly. "Yes—yes, Master Ethan."

She bowed again. "Thank you so much, Master Ethan, I don’t know what—"

"Valerie, go." He said again.

"Yes!" She turned immediately, a smile breaking across her reddened face as she hurried out.

Ethan shook his head, an amused expression on his face as he returned fully to his paperwork.

—

A few minutes later, the door opened again.

"Master Ethan," Eduardo’s voice came as he stepped in, bowing slightly. He had just returned from a duty at the Airship area.

Ethan looked up. "Eduardo."

But right then, they both gained the expressions of widened gazes.

Their eyes met and they realized two things; the interference sealing barrier set up around Stark Industries had gone and certain magic presence had enveloped the place.

The Interference Sealing Barrier spell, also known as the Sealing Barrier spell, was the same technique that had been used to seal off the Stark Mansion over two months ago, when they had wanted to keep members of the League away.

Its effect in the industry was to allow entry to those the caster acknowledged, which included every worker currently inside the facility.

Given the dangerous times they were in, Ethan had implemented this measure about a week ago.

"She’s here," Ethan said, already pushing himself to his feet.

They both vanished from the room in the next instant, moving with such overwhelming speed that it felt less like movement and more like disappearance. The chair behind Ethan tipped over from the force he left behind.

—

Their next emergence was outside, hovering above ground.

Eduardo was already fully transformed, his wings spread wide, flapping slowly as he maintained his position in the air. His gaze locked downward with a sharp, unwavering focus.

Beside him, was Ethan with lightning coursing along his body and through his eyes.

Below them, were two figures who had only just walked through those gates.

"You have some audacity coming here," Ethan said to Audrey, before his attention moved toward Anton.

No one had seen that popular face in years, and it was unfortunate that his return back to the society, was beside that woman.

Then his eyes turned toward the gate post, where anchors had been placed to hold the power of the interference spell.

The wooden totems were still there, and magic still flowed from them.

But somehow... the interference itself was gone.

Even if the spell would not completely hold against members of the Grand Class, especially not two of them, there should have been signs of forced entry. The barrier would have resisted. The totems would have fractured under the strain.

That was how it worked.

But none of that had happened.

Ethan also noticed that the security personnel stationed at the gate post were no longer there.

His focus returned to the two before him, but in realization that someone between them had done something to simply make the barrier and his security disappear.

Audrey stared upwards at them both, looking rather calm. There was even a smile on her lips. Anton on the other hand didn’t seem like he cared.

Several meters behind Ethan and Eduardo, near the parked vehicles, Valerie had just settled into the vintage sedan and had been about to leave, but had to stop when she noticed the sudden shift in atmosphere, which also brought forth the presence of unfamiliar figures.

However, unlike Ethan, she had a slightly better idea of what had happened.

In fact, she had just started the engine and was staring toward the gates when she noticed those figures there.

The blonde-haired Grand Caster, Anton, had placed his hand over the invisible barrier, and with that, it disappeared.

When the security men quickly moved to check how someone had just gained entry through their gates, they too disappeared after Anton made contact with them.

This very occurrence made Valerie’s eyes widen with fear and caution as she stayed quiet behind the wheel, sensing that both of them were Grand Casters.

Audrey’s gaze turned to Eduardo for a moment. "Fancy seeing you again... Mikael."

Although it was due to his transformation that she did not realize the aging spell effect on him had already been undone.

She then returned her attention to Ethan. "I’m not going to waste any more time."

"Ethan... you’re going to come with me. I want a private audience with you, and I want it now."

Ethan didn’t respond. Instead, he stretched his hand to the side, and in the next second, Ragnarok formed within his grip.

He had not called forth his beast summons yet for two reasons.

First, this was the main company. He could not afford any large-scale destruction here. Every part of him wanted Audrey dead. In fact, he had been waiting for her to show up all this while. But Stark Industries was the worst possible place for that kind of confrontation.

He could already feel it. A certain spell emanating from Audrey had spread across the entire compound. That alone told him the scale she was operating on, and that her abilities could easily affect everything within this space.

Second, unless they were absolutely certain this would turn physical, he had no intention of revealing his hand just yet.

His hand being the fact that he possessed more than one beast-class summon.

Audrey sighed. "Listen carefully," she said, her tone shifting more seriously. "I’m sure you can feel it... my magic."

She spread her hand slightly, as though presenting the space around them.

"You can feel the range of it around your facility, can’t you?"

Neither Eduardo nor Ethan answered her, but it was one of the two things that had alerted them.

Audrey nodded, as though confirming his silence. "Good. My Time-zone spell is in effect right now. Within this rangeI can manipulate the effects of time as much as I want. And anyone within it... falls under that influence."

Ethan’s grip on Ragnarok tightened.

Audrey continued. "I’m also sure you have a facility full of lives you would prefer not to see wasted."

Her smile returned. "All it would take is one flick of my fingers, and every single one of them could age ninety years in seconds."

"Some of them might not even make it that far."

She then gestured at Eduardo. "And perhaps, Mikael here might survive that kind of effect... considering what he is."

Her gaze returned to Ethan. "and you...I hear you’re a dragon. The amount of magic coming from you suggests you might have the status to endure it."

She had gotten this information from Casper, member of the league that Ethan had fought against two months ago.

"But what about them?" She continued. "What about the girl in that car right now?"

"Do you know that even this facility itself is not exempt?"

Ethan didn’t let his composure falter in front of Audrey, but he couldn’t help but think of it that Valerie was the closest in their proximity to get fucked up if this woman targeted her.

Even Eduardo was being careful not to lunge at them both right now, due to the exact same factors. Stark Industries and the people in there.

Then Audrey exhaled softly. "You have thirty seconds. Come down here... and come with me."

Ethan remained suspended in the air, staring down at her, but beneath that was a building Frustration concerning his scenario.

He was in a bad position.

However, regardless of the hesitation, the silence had been for another reason.

At that very moment, he was speaking through a mental link that connected him into Percival’s mind.

His best-friend was marked with the Sigil Of The Spirit King, and as such was his Blessed. It was on that basis that they could communicate when any of them initiated it.

Ethan was issuing specific instructions that he hoped was going to be followed a lot sooner

Unfortunately, Audrey’s patience thinned.

She let out a sigh and raised her hand and the environment around them began to change.

Rust bloomed across the gates instantly, spreading like a parasite eating through the metal. In seconds, the structure lost its integrity, collapsing under a sudden, unnatural age.

The pillars holding them followed. Cracks tore through their length, splitting them apart as decades had been forced into them all at once.

The vehicles around weren’t spared either.

Valerie saw from inside the sedan how the metal frames lost its rigidity, and suddenly even the engines went off.

Her eyes widened as one of the cars nearby changed unnaturally, as though the strength had been drained out of it.

Her instincts told her that staying inside anything affected by that force was a mistake.

And with that fear, she stepped out immediately, and moved away

Audrey was forcing things toward their end state, pushing them past wear and decay and straight into collapse.

Ethan saw this and realized she would go through with it. There wasn’t time anymore.

He sighed and said. "Stop."

Audrey’s hand paused, the spread of decay halting just enough.

Ethan exhaled. "I’ll come."

Eduardo turned to him sharply. "Master Ethan—"

He looked at Eduardo. "Listen, Go back and get everyone to leave immediately."

Even though Eduardo understood why, every part of him resisted that command.

He turned his head back to Audrey and roared out in readiness to have a go, that even Anton adjusted his posture accordingly in preparation.

"Eduardo, stop!" Ethan’s voice came again.

The furious looking Butler turned back to him.

Ethan had a smile and gave a nod before returning his attention to Audrey. "I got myself handled already"

He turned back to Eduardo and gave a knowing wink, then motioned his head sideways toward the company’s building.

Eduardo suddenly stopped, then nodded and flew back. The sudden calmness he felt was from realizing that Ethan had arranged a plan already.

Like times before, he chose to trust his young master.

——

A/N: Hi Guys! Author here!

I have to defend my client in court tomorrow, so I’ve been taking some time to prepare.

The Judge presiding over the matter is very strict, so I can’t fuck it up. Not for myself, and especially not for the life of the client.

But Good thing is, I have an outline that would see to the end of Volume 2, already prepared. If i get some free time tonight, i’ll post a few more Chapters in 12hours.... but if i don’t, then tomorrow