Conrad stared at the image he saw on the laptop screen. The image immediately reminded him of what Eliriel had said at that time when they were still together.
Thomas couldn't hear what Conrad was saying, but he could hear him mumbling something. Thomas could also see that Conrad's expression had changed.
"What are you saying?" Thomas asked, feeling intrigued. If Conrad realized something it must be because what he saw had to do with his knowledge of Magic or some kind.
"This place... Do you know where this is situated?" Conrad asked a question in return.
"'Why? What's in those places? What do you know?" Thomas said that in a rushed tone.
Conrad sighed. "I'm not sure about this yet. But maybe these incidents happened in these places for a reason."
Conrad pointed at the laptop screen. His finger pressed against the image of the circular rock formation. "You know what this is?"
Thomas just shook his head in response.
"I don't know for sure either but there must be a reason why there is a rock formation in this remote place. This place might be a point of power."
Thomas looked at Conrad with a confused face. "A What?"
Conrad then proceeded to explain what Adaeram was. After hearing that explanation Thomas became even more confused.
"Don't places like that only exist in other worlds where the Elves live?" Thomas asked.
"I thought so too." Conrad's eyes returned to the laptop screen. His forehead is wrinkled, and many questions are spinning in his head at this time.
Thomas was just as confused. But his brain, which is used to thinking, can collect itself faster than Conrad's.
"So, the Adaeram are points of power that store some kind of ancient power in this world," Thomas said. "Let's put aside why there are points of power in this world, let's take that for later. Now, why did there happen to be an explosion and many animals died in that place?"
"I don't know." Conrad shook his head with an unfocused look.
"Is... because of what happened recently those points of power are starting to somehow activated?" Thomas asked.
"That's possible. But, all of these animals died from some kind of fight," Conrad said.
"A fight?!"
Conrad pressed a few buttons then the digital map zoomed in again. No one had ever been to this place so it was impossible to use street view so they couldn't see everything in detail. But this is enough for now.
Thomas leaned closer to the laptop screen to see more clearly.
The lifeless bodies of the animals in the area bore the marks of a fierce battle, evident from the gruesome injuries they displayed. Countless cuts, burns, and other wounds adorned their once forms, an indication that they had fallen victim to predatory attacks rather than succumbing to natural causes.
"Something else is killing all these animals," Thomas said.
"Right," Conrad replied. "We have to go there to find out for ourselves."
Thomas felt hesitant to leave this place when the situation in this world was still looking dangerous. Even though it looked like everything was winding down but they could never really be sure.
"What do you think?" Conrad looked up and looked at Thomas. But his gaze was not that of someone asking but rather that of someone demanding.
"I don't know, man. What if the monster that killed all the animals is still there? Or what if we suddenly get ambushed on the street by those madmen?"
Conrad sighed. "You can see that everything is much better now, right?"
Thomas shrugged. "We never know, right?"
"Everything is fine. Trust me."
Thomas eyed him skeptically. "You've lost your Magic power, though."
"I still have a little sense to feel everything that happens in this world. Trust me, Thomas," Conrad said with determination.
Thomas stared at her for a few moments. But then he sighed.
"Alright. Let's go there."
Thomas's guts feel as if to say that he should go to that place with Conrad. He was indeed a scientist but Thomas knew not to ignore his gut feeling. Especially for something like this.
~~~
Erend thought of everything by himself. It keeps him quiet. The other soldiers didn't think if anything is wrong and thought that Erend was indeed a daydreamer. However, Adrien and Billy knew that Erend was thinking of something else.
When the evening come, President Julius gathered them all and said that he would apply shifts to all of his personal bodyguards. They don't need to always be here at night. He only asked 3 of the soldiers to guard him tonight, 3 soldiers the following night and 2 soldiers the each following night.
After hearing the announcement the soldiers heaved a sigh of relief. That means they don't have to be here twenty-four hours every day.
For tonight Adrien, Erend, and Billy will be first in line. They are not complaining because it has become their duty since they decided to join this unit.
A few hours later the other member of the personal guards returned home. The time was 11.00 pm, and the streets of Ascan which were usually still busy now felt quieter after all the rioting that had happened. The residents of this city still feel scared and traumatized by everything they experienced a few days before.
President Julius had gone to his room, he said that he wanted to sleep after a long day. Adrien, Erend, and Billy are now free if they want to talk.
It should be so, but because Erend knows that a creature has entered Julius's body and thinks that the creature is still there, he thinks that talking about what he knows is still not safe. They had to get away from this presidential palace first before they could talk about that.
The three of them are now in the courtyard outside the presidential palace. This yard is very wide and filled with shady trees. During the day all these trees would create a shade to cover themselves from the sun but when night fell what they saw were trees casting dark shadows.
"You don't want to say that now?" Billy asked.
Erend just answered with a short shake of his head.
Billy sighed. "Argh, you got me really curious, dude."
Erend just shrugged at his words. Unlike Billy, Adrien was much calmer because he knew that Erend must have had a clear reason why he couldn't say what he was thinking right now.
Meanwhile, from above them a curtain on the window opens. It was the room where Julius lived. Now while his wife and children are still at the military headquarters for security reasons, Julius is alone in this room. That makes Ozynk, who now controls part of his mind, more free to do what he wants.
From the gap where the curtains were open, Julius glanced at his three bodyguards who were standing in the courtyard. They seem to be enjoying the view of a quiet night.
Luckily, Ozynk already knew which of them were the Dragonborn so he had no trouble identifying them. Now what he has to do is how keep the Dragonborn away from this world or make him unable to move freely so he can continue his plans in peace.
Even though Ozynk now possesses the body of a president, he can't do anything because his power will not affect the Dragonborn once he has used his real power.
However, the Dragonborn has a family.
Suddenly, Julius felt contact from the Chaos Realm. Julius gritted his teeth cursing whoever had contacted him now that the Dragonborn was nearby.
But Ozynk who is inside Julius's body has a hunch that anyone who wants to contact him is an important message to convey. So he immediately came out of his room and headed for the rear of his palace; as far away from the Dragonborn as possible so that the Dragonborn cannot sense that he is using Magic.
After Julius reached the back of his palace and confirmed that he was alone, he started concentrating on summoning a bit of his Magic to accept the call.
'(Who is this?)' Ozynk asked.
'(This is Isadora.)'
'(What do you want?)'
Isadora then said that she and Svaros had decided to unite their forces. This development made Ozynk frown because it was unusual for Svaros to listen to another god's words. That is also the reason why Ozynk prefers to work alone.
'(Are you serious?)' Ozynk asked.
'(Yes. And I have even better news.)'
Isadora spoke of their plan and of Svaros having managed to possess most of the souls of a young man in this world. Turns out, their plan is not half bad; the fact that Svaros had possessed the man's soul enough to bring out half of his full power was a nice addition.
A grin appeared on Ozynk's mouth. ('That is indeed a good news.)'
'(Do you agree if we combine our forces?)' Isadora asked.
Ozynk immediately accepted the offer. But he is still not too sure that everything will go smoothly. So Ozynk will think of his own backup plan.
~~~
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