Nicholas looked at Prenelle and saw her similarly shocked.
Their eyes soon locked, Prenelle's lips trembling along with her eyes as she looked at Nicholas for advice.
But he seemed equally shocked.
His mouth only opened and closed lightly before he asked softly, "They can't be used as sacrifices!?"
Prenelle shook her head, her eyes reddening rapidly in annoyance and anger as she said, "They can't! I don't know what it is about, but 'He' detected that we were going to involve 'Her' and managed to fight back against 'Her' intrusion!"
"But…but 'He's' mad!!" Nicholas shouted, causing Prenelle to laugh with pity and self confusion.
She couldn't understand what had just happened too.
Like Hermione had predicted earlier, she did want to move the entire Launch Facility somewhere else.
But not just to keep them safe.
No, Prenelle's plans were much bigger.
Deserving of an Angel of the White Tower pathway.
As a Wisdom Angel, she had foreseen the possibility of the True Creator interfering directly in this battle by sending a flood of Shadow Creatures.
It was why she was able to plan ahead.
Plan to break into the Launch Facility which was surrounded from all sides both in the spirit world and the real world by death eaters or an outer god's supporters which included corrupted spirits and beyonders of various pathways like the Chained Pathway.
Her wisdom told her that there would definitely be a moment that she could exploit to enter the facility, it was triggered by the fact that Loki in spite of being trapped inside had been able to send a message for help.
Or rather, someone was able to observe his situation and send them to help him.
So there was hope to break in.
That only left breaking out.
No matter what method they used to break into such a heavily guarded place unnoticed, getting out was going to be much harder.
Firstly because their means of entry could be blocked and obstructed so they couldn't use it to exit, and secondly because whatever they did inside the Launch Facility would put the full focus of all the Beyonders in the area on them.
And so she'd planned further ahead by making an exit plan.
And in doing so, she settled on the most basic but reliable plan.
Hit your enemy where it hurt the most and then dip the moment you had your chance.
What? It would rile up your enemy? Oh please, she'd riled up an outer god and lived to tell the tale. Although it had left her a little shaken, this wasn't an outer god. Only a few measly Shadow Creatures and possibly an Angel.
Nothing to sweat about.
And what better weapon to use than the one provided to you for free?
Specifically, Prenelle wanted to make the Launch Facility the carrier of the ICBM and then watch as it detonated in their enemy's face giving them her personally 'frosted' gift of purification before dipping away with everyone else she could save.
How would they survive a nuclear explosion?
Nicholas would take care of that.
His ability to manipulate physics wasn't for show after all.
But it seemed like none of it would ever see the light of day, since their enemy had suddenly included the True Creator 'Himself'.
…
A few minutes earlier…
Loki felt something touch his soul, he reacted near instantly to push out whatever was feeling him up until he felt it wash over without harm.
In the same instant he felt the inherent 'value' of the entire place around him rise. It almost made him feel like stealing the entire place and pocketing it before vanishing to leave the aftermath for the Muggles and the Ministry to handle.
And so Loki activated his spirit vision to examine what had happened.
'Hmm…?'
'Nick?' Loki thought, he activated his spirit vision once again and noticed something rather peculiar.
'....?'
Firstly he noticed the mass of shadowy creatures who strangely had vague forms in his spirit vision on the upper floors, all moving rapidly towards the top.
But more importantly and more glaringly, he noticed-
Runes floating all around him.
Not just him.
Every wall, every brick, every pipe, every wire.
All of it was slowly being coated with a dense layer of runes.
Loki quickly studied the ones near him as his brows raised.
'Too many holes…this is probably Prenelle's old archived work…'
'They're trying to take this entire launch facility somewhere else?'
'But where? How would that even help? Since they seem to be taking everyone inside it along with them too…'
'A prepared battle ground?'
'Hmm…'
Loki calmly broke into Prenelle's densely intertwined system of runes, spotting errors effortlessly without even using his mentor of deceit characteristics.
'Where….'
'There are no relative coordinates…'
'So it isn't anywhere on the planet.'
'Random point in the cosmos? No, that would be way too risky.'
'The astral realm?'
'Hmm…where in the Astral realm? Surely neither Prenelle nor Nicholas have a Divine Kingdom to lean on?'
'Do they have help from the gods of their pathways?'
'The White Tower and the Paragon…'
'So either Helga if she has accommodated the White Tower pathway, or Rowena if she has accommodated the uniqueness of the Paragon pathway?'
'But would either of them have the time to do anything regarding that?'
'Aren't they busy? With Mother Tree of Desire interfering with the rest of the world currently? Trying to strengthen the barrier using their divine kingdoms?'
Loki frowned.
Going to the astral realm physically wasn't a simple trip that one could take as a joke.
The spirit world itself was easy to get lost in without the right anchors for Beyonders not of the Door pathway, but the Astral Realm where the Divine Kingdom of Gods resided? Going there was like suicide.
Simply glancing at the 'wrong' thing could kill you because 'you must not look at a God.'. Let alone the manifestation of their pathway and will.
Only someone crazy would go there.
But even if you had the permission to take refuge in a God's Divine Kingdom, why would a well thinking person go to the closest point between the earth and the cosmos when Outer Gods are currently attacking the planet!?
Loki's eyes scanned for more of the runes trying to figure out what Prenelle actually wanted to do until he suddenly spotted a rather strange rune pattern floating about.
The pattern itself wasn't small which was why it had taken him so long to find.
It was formed out of the runes spread all over the Launch Facility, with several tiny runes connecting with each other to form the larger Sun.
Yes. A Sun.
Prenelle had painstakingly painted the entire Launch Facility into the Symbol of the Sun.
'So we're going to Helga's domain after all?'
But Loki abandoned that thought without hesitation.
They wouldn't just get a little 'tan' if they did that.
He doubted even their bones would be left if they did that.
Then what were they going to do?
Loki studied the runes a little and found himself coming to a block.
'....there's no direct location here…'
'So is it not the Astral Realm after all?'
'Only the runes for the sacrifice…'
'Wait…sacrifice?'
'That soul sucking thing earlier then…'
'The Shadow Creatures?'
Loki's all round vision focused back up to look at the shadowy creatures that were writhing around, flailing as they tried to fight whatever was pulling away their souls.
It caused Loki to instantly frown.
'Nicholas failed to steal their lives?'
'The lives of puny Shadow Creatures?'
'...how?'
'Or…did he stop stealing their lives once they got out of the shadow realm?'
But Loki paused that thought for now as his earlier questions were answered.
'The Shadow realm? To the True Creator?'
'She wanted to let the Sun Goddess show a manifestation of her will in the Shadow realm?'
'...'
Loki shuddered and thought with a soft smile, 'And she told me not to do reckless things…'
However the smile vanished just as quickly as it arrived.
'But Nicholas failed to use their sacrifices as an anchor to break into the shadow realm and allow for the 'destination' part of Prenelle's spell to be complete…'
'Instead of dying in the Shadow Realm, those creatures were instantly pushed outside.'
'As if whatever had sent them detected Prenelle's ideas immediately and acted without hesitation…'
'So Mr. Rap God?' Loki thought with a short puzzled expression. 'If only antiviruses worked so fast they could've made a magic system of their own without the need for my perfection…'
'But I guess there can only be one Mr. Perfect… Perfect Error.'
While it wasn't unimaginable that a god was in charge of everything in their domain and could immediately expel bad actors within it…
It was a little hard to imagine that 'He' could act so fast while 'He' was mad because 'He' only has a pity filled handful of believers who can't even help maintain 'His' sanity…
'There's something else going on here…right?'
'No way the True Creator of this world is actually the inheritor of the will of God Almighty and has been 'hiding' behind the facade of madness all this time…'
'No…No that can't be the case… Helga would've noticed it much earlier.'
'And isn't there no god in the Visionary Pathway? So how could the True Creator be such a good actor?'
Loki's frown however only deepened.
But he pushed aside the question for now.
Instead Loki frowned as he thought of something rather unpalatable.
'If I'd actually been a Mentor of Deceit I could've taken over and helped them by exploiting the Shadow Creature's inherent connection to their domain…'
'But without doing that, it'd be hard to send a couple of people, forget an entire Launch Facility.'
It was a long time in the coming.
But Loki felt the wall again.
A wall that he could only cross by becoming stronger.
By rising in sequence.
And so, Loki ignored everything that was happening above him.
He knew what he was doing right now would help him digest his Potion faster than anything else he'd done.
And if he could somehow complete parasitising the magic system, he'd have the perfect ritual to advance to Mentor of Deceit.
'Parasitising the modern system of magic…'
Loki paused at the thought.
He'd spent several months on this problem already.
But they'd all led to the same dead ends.
The only promising lead he had been pursuing had come to him only recently.
Studying the patterns of connection to the Chaos Sea that Rowens had left behind in the Room of Requirements and the Hogwarts Wards to figure out any of the errors she'd left behind in the entire system for him to exploit.
But things were proving to be rather difficult.
Everything seemed...perfect.
Not that there weren't loopholes to exploit.
No.
The runes all around the school and in the Room of Requirements were self contained.
Almost like the school was a living breathing singular entity that could command those runes like they were parts of its body.
And so to find a loop hole that connected it to the Chaos Sea? Loki couldn't find any.
Not because he couldn't see it, but because they didn't seem to exist at all.
How could you find a 'fault' with a living 'being' after all? Where would you even start? It wasn't like a living being had a mechanical mind where you could exploit their thoughts or a body which could be used to make them hit their head.
And Hogwarts seemed like one like that.
It seemed alive in every way other than having a normal body or a mind like a human being, almost as if the castle was but a character it controlled somehow while hiding inside itself.
'Of course, if it were so easy…Dumbledore would've probably figured it out as the headmaster of the school for so long…'
'Given that even he hasn't figured anything out yet…'
Loki frowned.
'Is this really not the time for me to advance?'
'Will I digest my potion fully and have to search for another chance?'
Loki's frown deepened.
It left a shitty taste in his mouth.
'Chaos sea…'
'Hogwarts…'
"Something wrong?" Loki found his concentration broken as Chadwick tapped his shoulder.
"Hmm..?" Loki asked, his eyebrows raised as he looked up to notice that they were going to arrive at the MCCC's office.
"Oh, nothing. Just thought of something strange…"
"Well…" Chadwick didn't look convinced since Loki was frowning pretty deeply, his guard was fully relaxed, busy in his own world as he walked while simply following him around.
But he didn't pry too much. Instead Chadwick spoke quickly, "...whatever it is, I hope it won't distract you anymore. Since we're at the MCCC's office it's about time for the rest of them to show up."
Loki nodded.
The plan had been laid.
All he had to do now was to wait for the prey to take the bait.
And to do that he had a single idea.
Funnel them to the king's throne and behead them ruthlessly.
…
"We'll try again later…" Nicholas said, his gaze turning sharp again as he looked at the new arrival.
Prenelle nodded similarly.
Everyone, Ron, Hermione, Belmont and even Tonks along with Prenelle all eyed the newly arrived person with varying degrees of fear.
Nicholas' gaze, like the others, was just on the strange calmly robed man, dressed like a Templar, in front of him.
The Low sequence Beyodners apart from the fact that their heads felt like they'd burst if they even looked a little bit longer in the Templar's direction were also afraid because he radiated a natural aura of true madness.
A Maddening Divinity which seemed to be barely contained within his body.
Random twitches, soft cracks, and the wriggling underneath his smooth skin all put them on edge as they wondered with fear if the man would release everything contained within him soon and crush them with it.
Prenelle was worried since the very fact that a Beyonder could repel the spell she'd prepared for the situation meant that he wasn't as simple as he seemed even if he did it with the help of a True God.
She didn't know if that was a one time thing or if the True Creator could spread his influence further and if so what he was waiting for, but the Templar didn't seem like a Sequence 3 at all.
At least definitely not a simple Sequence 3.
And given that she had to protect the children along with Loki who was buried underneath and was moving down faster put her on edge.
Suddenly however Nicholas' eyes widened as he whipped his wand.
Except the blinding spell that torrent out of it seemed to miss its target's head.
'Hmm…?'
'He's getting old…'
'No! It was the Lord's grace that did it!'
Three voices in the Templar's head ran out at once as he struggled to figure out which one was his.
Even Prenelle and the other Low Sequence Beyonders seemed surprised by Nicholas' spell shooting slightly away from the Templar's head.
It shot past, naturally, however it didn't fly further into the corridor.
Instead there was a soft flash of light as a random mirror appeared in between the corridor.
The spell hit the mirror and instead of shattering it, rippled the surface of the mirror like a stone dropped into a still pond before sinking into its depths, vanishing just like the stone sinking.
The Low Sequence Beyonders were all still surprised since they didn't see much of anything apart from the mirror.
Even the Templar seemed alarmed as he made way to the edge of the corridor where he backed himself up into a wall.
"A member of the Reader pathway!?" Prenelle whispered, "...unbelieavable…how…?"
Nicholas stowed away his wand.
It was only a hunch earlier since he'd felt the shift in the movement of the molecules in the air around him.
He'd almost ignored the shift too. Considering it simply something being caused by the shadow creatures hidden in the Templar's shadow.
But the very fact that he'd 'conveniently ignored' it caused him to raise an alarm!
Ignore a key fact in battle?
When did he get so sure of himself!?
The only conclusion was that someone was manipulating his Body of Heart and Mind through the Sea of Subconscious.
And there was only one other person who could currently do it in the world.
Albus Dumbledore.
But would Dumbledore be so sloppy in his work?
Would a Sequence 1 King of Angels be sloppy enough to get caught by a measly Sequence 2?
And that was where Prenelle's conclusion came in.
"Grindelwald…" Nicholas mumbled.
There was a moment of silence before claps rang out.
ClapClapClapClap
"....Wonderful."
The clapping only got faster as the voice turned joyful!
CLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAP
"How wonderful. We finally meet!! At long last! I did bring you out of your hiding hole during the war on Paris…but never met you then…what a surprise meeting you today Mr. Flamel…I've heard a great deal about you from our…common 'friend'."
And then the clapping stopped.
"But how are you going to leave from this meeting alive Mr. Flamel? You lived the last time because you didn't dare face me…this time…there's no Albus around…to warn you not to cross me."
"Zip it!" Nicholas retorted, "I only stayed out of it the last time because Albus wanted to take you down himself…your presence here is definitely a surprise…but only for long enough for me to truly put your name into the annals of History. Since adding another ant to a battle of elephants doesn't make much difference…"
Grindelwald's face slowly appeared.
His hair first, his body after, and finally his face, glowing inwards as they settled on his mismatched eyes before vanishing into them, revealing a deathly pale man looking at them with a deathly smile.
"How wonderful…then I wish to see if you can truly drag me into death." Grindelwald said and revealed his hand.
It held a simple bone white unremarkable wand other than its pointed tip, but Nicholas and Prenelle instantly felt a thump of danger spread through their very souls.
"Of course, if you wish to take me to death…then let me just give you a taste of it first…"
Grindelwald's wand fell casually, its tip drawing a straight line in the air as a thin stream of mist slipped out of it.
"This is one of my favorite spells…" Grindelwald said, his face breaking into an eerie smile as he completed the incantation, not out of necessity, but out of the impulse to act as an artist, "...Speculum Mundi…"
The ethereal mist spread into the air around them as Nicholas immediately reacted, knowing that whatever the spell was it could not be allowed to complete.
A sudden tornado formed in the air, howling the winds as it bent unnaturally and fell directly upon Grindelwald like a wave on the sea.
Except, Grindelwald's figure only distorted in response before it smiled while speaking, "Hmm…? Am I here? Or am I not?"
And before anyone could respond, the smile on his face vanished as did his body, leaving behind only a few words to echo as his entire being seemingly vanished into thin air.
"Too bad you have more important things on your hands…or your minds...."
No one was left waiting after that.
The Low Sequence Beyonders instantly collapsed, their eyes rolled back as they stared off into the depths of their hearts.
…
"Huh?" Tonks said, getting up out of her bed slowly, her head ached for a split second but she didn't mind it, chalking it up to having stayed up late last night to help out Professor Sprout sort the ingredients she'd help collect in the Greenhouse.
"Hmm..? What day is it today?" Tonks asked herself, checking the timetable she'd copied and kept in her Charm's book since that was her favourite class.
But a note slipped out of the book, causing her to bend down to pick it up.
"Hmm…?"
On it were the simple words-
'CONSTANT VIGILANCE!!!!'
That was all she read before her room went 'BOOM!'.
…
Belmont looked up at the large manor standing on the mountain peak.
Thunder roared around it as he stood nervously at the foot holding a letter.
He glanced at the name on the letter and gulped.
'Will they accept Professor Snape's response?'
'After all…we don't allow our kind to exist unless turned by one of us…'
'Will they truly accept someone that's not a slave growing stronger than them?'
…
Ron sat in his bed puzzled and slightly pale.
"What're spiders doing in my bed?"
…
Hermione looked at Daphne's exploded body with disgust.
"Who made this nonsense…it isn't scary at all…it's clearly an illusion…and here I thought the Greatest Darklord who terrorised Paris would be scary…Voldemort is much…scarier…at least he doesn't rely on party tricks…"
…
Nicholas looked up at Prenelle lying in bed in front of him, coughing up blood as thick branches grew around her hand.
"This is a dream Nick…" Prenelle on the bed said softly, stroking Nicholas' face with her proper hand.
"I know…"
"Then break it…" Prenelle said with a smile.
Nicholas paused and looked around the room before looking back at Prenelle on the bed, "...you've told me that about three hundred times now…and I've 'broken' the dream a hundred more…and all I've ended up at is back right here…"
…
Prenelle kept her eyes closed.
Her mind was blank.
And her heart was cold.
She stood like a mechanical puppet.
She knew exactly why she was like this.
She was in the Abyss.
Or at least she was reliving her memories of it.
But she was different from the rest, in that she didn't seem to have figured out that it was all a dream anyway, or was it?
…