Night fell in the city, the FBI agents who were masters at espionage, subterfuge and had strong connections to various mystical factions- all of them... dropped like flies.

They vanished off the face of the earth one after the other and Robert, sitting inside the unmarked bullet proof van could only watch as Damien led his men into alleys before all their vitals turned black.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING!"

Robert demanded towards the operator who calmly responded.

"It appears that the target has obtained a mystical power or support of some kind"

But the answer he got was not what he wanted to hear as Robert replied with a berating tone-

"OBVIOUSLY! How the hell could a normal person appear and disappear through alleys miles apart?!"

His angry words did not bother the operator though as the van started to move.

"What?"

Robert was confused, he didn’t order for the van to reposition but the operator gave him a curt answer.

"The movement of the target is closing in on us, his movement pattern is obvious. He’s not trying to enter the office-"

The operator turned to Robert, his face serious as he said, "He’s looking for us"

"FUCK!"

Robert shouted as slammed his hand on the table next to him, the wine glass he drank from was crushed but his hands were unharmed.

The operator looked at that for a moment before turning back to his job.

Robert did not bother with the look the operator gave him.

He was simply jealous that his years of loyalty and hard work were barely rewarded while he was able to get the mystical strength that those in the division the operator worked for could only dream of.

Robert was an idiot, but he was an idiot with good connections. While his career started from the help he got from his dad.

The moment he connected with that mysterious woman was when his life started to change.

He was able to do many things, illegal acts and abuse- all of it were hidden and manipulated to go undetected by the world.

All he had to do was make a way for the mysterious woman to get into Damien’s life.

After that, he got everything he wanted, but the fun only lasted for a moment as things started to get worse and worse for him the more time passed.

Slowly, he became a puppet of the woman he thought was his co-conspirator. He tried to seduce her but the b*tch was like an ice queen that ignored all his advances.

"Better call Andrea"

He said as while dialing the number of the b*tch who caused this whole commotion.

"..."

But the number was not answered, Andrea did not respond and the call cut off after a few minutes.

"The hell?"

Robert dialed again but there was still no answer.

"Should I head to the headquarters?"

The man asked but Robert paused as he thought for a moment.

His mind raced with countless possibilities but his thoughts- as if controlled by a mysterious force decided to do something else.

"No, head towards Paradise"

The operator went silent, he showed a disgusted expression as he replied.

"This is not the time to revel in lust and desire, we have a-"

"SHUT UP AND FOLLOW ORDERS!"

*BANG*

Robert did not take no for an answer, the operator could only shake his head before ordering the driver to head towards the location which Robert demanded.

The armored van sped through the quiet streets making not a single sound despite the speed it was driving with.

"They’re not even trying to hide it, but somehow... I have a feeling that the Freemasons aren’t involved"

Cindy muttered as she watched the van speed towards the direction where many warehouses were.

"Funny, I also have the same feeling"

Richard appeared next to Cindy as he responded to her words.

"I’ve already met with some members of Salem, Nova Munda is unaware of Robert and Salem is known for having strong bonds with their members and have no recollection of any witch named Andrea. But this afternoon..."

Hana also appeared and gave her report but she suddenly paused.

Richard turned to her and showed a curious look as he asked.

"This afternoon what?"

Hana showed a difficult face but still answered Richard’s question.

"They all suddenly received calls from the Freemasons, I didn’t get any details but they were apparently caught up in a huge matter that threatened the exposure of the mystical world. Though from what I gathered, the witches were a bit too busy with increasing their numbers"

Richard turned to Cindy who shook her head and added-

"It’s a tightly knit but loose organization, we monitor each other and ensure none of use are doing "crazy things" but the recent Walpurgis had all the witches focus on passing on their knowledge and creating successors. The leaders became even more paranoid of our dwindling numbers after my grandmothers generation passed away"

"I thought you were quite numerous?"

"Compared to other organizations, the number of mystics, yes. But our rules focus on having only the "true mystics" in the know. We’re not like Nova Munda or the Freemasons that drag non-mystical folk in to inflate our numbers"

The information Richard got was important because the inputs from Cindy and Hana gave him enough reason to truly chase after Robert.

With the things he learned and the "gut feeling" he had. Richard was sure that the answer to the questions he had would be answered after he subdued Robert.

Moreover-

’He knows where Andrea is’

It was a small hope, a tiny wish that he kept in his heart but he didn’t let it control him.

The outcome should his hope be met with the "worst possibility" was something he can’t allow.

Especially now that Robert had lost his mystical support, there was a high chance that the true Freemasons would appear to deal with this problem, not the fakes that were locked up in his workshop’s basement.

Before he lost his chance to make a move, Richard rushed forward.

"Let’s go, I’m gonna need your help"

He called out to the group but the only one happy was Ragnar who now had his true appearance on.

"Finally! Let’s get this raid started!"

The viking berserker roared, forcing Richard, Cindy and Hana to desperately work together just to make sure that his wild voice did not echo in the night.