"Shit."
Lucian cursed out loud as he stood in front of an old shrine with his phone pressed against his ear.
Since this wasn’t a proper, official mission, he was allowed to keep his phone, not that it was helping.
He tried to call.
But after three beeps, the call disconnected on its own without ringing.
He couldn’t reach her.
Lucian lowered the phone and stared at Naomi’s name on the screen.
He called again, the same thing happened again, so he started texting instead.
Where are you? —Lucian.
No reply.
Naomi, answer your phone or I’ll delete all your saved anime. —Lucian.
Still nothing.
He clicked his tongue as he looked around, his eyes falling on the shrine. It was surrounded by old trees and low stone walls. It looked almost exactly as he remembered. There was nothing about it that suggested an Ancient Spirit was inside.
But here he was.
Guarding this place together with hundreds of Hunters.
Lucian snorted, his attention remaining on his phone.
Today was Sunday.
Naomi visited the shrine on Sundays, not every single week, but often enough that it worried Lucian, especially now that she wasn’t picking up her phone.
Lucian called again but again—
No answer.
Two Desire-class women from the truck walked over and looked at his phone.
"Still nothing?"
Lucian didn’t say anything.
"Girlfriend trouble?"
The other one chuckled.
"As if someone like him would be loyal to a single one."
The Envy-class woman snorted.
"I don’t know, this is the sixth time he has called her, sounds serious."
"Seven."
The Sloth-class man corrected from the side.
The girls looked at him.
"What? I was counting, okay?"
"Righttt. That’s completely normal."
One of the girls nodded.
"Do you guys not have things to do?"
Lucian turned towards them.
"We do, this seems more interesting, though.
I enjoy watching attractive men suffer."
"You know, I would never ignore your calls."
The Desire-class woman smiled as her eyes shimmered.
Lucian stared at her for a moment.
"She doesn’t ignore me either."
’It is usually me who does that.’
Of course, he didn’t say the second part out loud.
"Oh, then she is definitely angry."
The woman laughed as she leaned closer.
"Or ignoring him."
The Envy-class woman added.
Lucian stared at them.
"You people really have nothing better to do, do you?"
Lucian snorted as he texted her again.
I’m at that shrine of yours, call me immediately.—Lucian.
Again.
No reply.
"If she is near this place, she may have already been evacuated."
The Sloth-class man spoke calmly.
"Then she would answer."
"Maybe her phone lost signal."
"Maybe."
Lucian nodded, though he did not believe it.
He was using his normal phone and it hadn’t lost its signal, it was highly unlikely hers had lost signal.
Wee Woo Wee Woo
That was when a sharp siren sounded from one of the Enclave vehicles and a nearby officer raised his voice.
"Outer evacuation begins now.
Move every civilian beyond the third circle."
The Blood-Altered Humans immediately began moving.
Lucian, too, placed his phone in his pocket and started moving. Calling her was useless, so he would use this chance to find her instead.
The official warning had already been sent throughout the neighbourhood.
A lethal gas leak had supposedly been detected beneath the street, near the shrine area, and the residents were ordered to evacuate immediately.
The Enclave worked with the police to control the outer roads, while Enclave members personally moved through the inner area, checking every house and building.
To make the cover story more believable, the Enclave had released a harmless gas into several empty streets.
It was not poisonous.
But it had a strong chemical-like smell that burned one’s nose and throat. It was more than enough to make ordinary people believe something had gone terribly wrong and made them far more cooperative than they normally would have been.
So with that cover helping him, Lucian moved around, knocking on doors, checking houses, guiding frightened families towards the waiting vehicles.
Lucian smiled and joked, assuring the people and explaining that the situation was under control. He helped them carry bags, he even lifted a man who had injured himself in panic and placed him inside an evacuation vehicle, all while he continued expanding his senses, trying to find Naomi.
"You really are worried, huh."
The Desire-class woman noticed his growing worry.
"I told you, she usually answers."
"Who is she?"
"A friend."
"Only a friend?"
The Envy-class woman raised an eyebrow.
"Yes."
"Then why do you look like you are about to tear the street apart?"
"I care deeply about all my friends."
"Do you call all of them ten times?"
"No."
Lucian shook his head.
"Most of them are smart enough to answer the first time."
He snorted, the women laughed, but Lucian’s eyes continued scanning the surroundings.
Once the last houses were cleared, Enclave officers moved the civilians farther back, the inner road became almost empty and that was when it happened.
The panic spread throughout the street disappeared, the air changed and soon, more and more people walked in.
A group of pale Vampires arrived in dark vehicles. They stepped out wearing formal clothing, looking more like young nobles attending a private event than people entering an Ancient Spirit’s Trial.
Several Werewolves arrived together on foot. They were still in their human forms, but the pressure around them was far, far different from the six Werewolves Lucian had encountered before.
These were... True Werewolves, ones who belonged to a strong Pack.
There were also Witches, those women carried bags, staffs, sealed books, and boxes of different ingredients. Clearly, they were very prepared.
There were more. Independent Hunters arrived wearing mismatched Armour and carrying weapons from several different cultures, even Enclave Hunters who were going to participate in the Trial.
These were all the people Lucian would normally be eyeing with a strong glint in his eyes, people whom his Teacher had specifically told him to observe. Right now, however, he barely looked at them.
He called Naomi again.
But again.
There was no answer.
The Supernatural continued walking into the shrine one after another. The moment someone crossed the doorway, they disappeared, not swallowed by darkness or something like that—
They actually disappeared.
They were taken somewhere else.
The place where the Trial would take place.
More and more supernatural beings walked in, vanishing the moment they passed the entrance.
Lucian did not care, he kept looking around, and then his eyes fell on two people forcing their way towards the shrine.
He looked and saw a middle-aged man arguing with a police officer, a woman stood beside him, holding her phone with both hands, her face pale with fear.
Lucian recognised them immediately.
Aunt Dianne and Uncle Martin.
Naomi’s parents.
Lucian rushed towards them.
"Uncle!"
He called.
Martin turned, the moment he saw Lucian, his expression changed.
"Lucian!"
Dianne hurried towards him.
"Have you seen Naomi!?"
She asked.
"What happened?"
Lucian asked directly, without wasting any time.
"She isn’t answering her ph—"
"Aunt, just tell me what happened. Why are you here?"
Lucian asked again.
He wasn’t interested in the entire story, not right now.
"Naomi told us she was coming to the Shrine, then we heard about the gas leak on the news."
And Lucian’s expression changed.
"So she’s here?"
"Yes!"
Dianne nodded quickly.
"She left after lunch, a little over two hours ago."
"When did you last speak to her?"
"She sent me a message when she arrived."
Dianne immediately opened her phone and showed the message to Lucian.
I am in the shrine. I’ll be home before evening. —Naomi.
Lucian stared at the screen and his expression changed.
"You two should go.
I’ll bring her back."
He spoke with the last bit of sanity he had left, then, the moment he was farther away from them, enough that they and the other civilians could no longer see him—
He dashed right into the Shrine.
"Cross!! You aren’t supposed to go in—"
The Desire-class woman tried to say something, other Enclave members rushed towards him, wanting to stop him, but he moved too fast for anyone to stop him in time and he—
He rushed into the shrine and disappeared.