Her eyes widened as she took in the obsidian walls, the radiating corruption, and the presence of thousands of demons maintaining their work stations despite the intrusion.
Her grip on her sketchbooks tightened fractionally, not from fear, but from the instinctive need to protect her art from the oppressive atmosphere.
"Jack," she said, her voice steady despite obvious disorientation. "Where am I? This place feels like sothing’s trying to suffocate everything alive inside it."
"The Tartarus Spire, the dungeon I go to train," Jack replied, his tone acknowledging neither apology nor explanation. "I need your artistic skills for sothing. It requires precision that I can’t achieve alone."
Annabelle’s eyes moved from Jack to the ancient skeletal form of Loryn, then to S, still casually eating a tangerine, and finally to Faye. She was bouncing slightly on her heels from all the excitent she was experiencing.
"Is she the reason you needed soone with artistic skills?" Annabelle asked carefully, her gaze fixed on Faye’s voluptuous form and divine aura. "Because she looks like she requires very different kinds of attention."
Faye’s bubbly expression shattered.
"Who is this?" she demanded, her voice losing its cheerful edge as she stepped between Jack and Annabelle. "Why is there another woman here? Jack, who is..."
"His older sister," Annabelle interrupted, stepping around Faye. She extended her hand toward Jack and grabbed his arm. "Annabelle Kaiser. And you are?"
Faye’s entire deanor transford instantaneously.
The territorial aggression evaporated, replaced by such intense bubbly enthusiasm that she practically vibrated with excitent.
She grabbed Annabelle’s hand, shaking it with enough force to express joy through pure kinetic energy.
"Your Jack’s sister?!" Faye practically shrieked, her green eyes glowing with excitent. "Oh my god, that ans we’re going to be sisters! I’m Faye Vesper, I’m Jack’s destined wife, and we’re going to have the most amazing life together, and I’m going to be the best sister-in-law ever, and..."
"Jack," Annabelle interrupted smoothly, her expression remaining perfectly composed despite obvious internal processing occurring behind her eyes. "Is she... always like this?"
"Unfortunately," Jack confird flatly.
Annabelle glanced at S, who was watching the interaction with obvious amusent while eating another tangerine segnt.
"We need to proceed," Jack stated, cutting through the introductions. "Annabelle, I require your artistic precision for a ritual. You’ll be tracing an intricate pattern directly onto my back using a specialized ink. Loryn has prepared everything in the laboratory."
Annabelle’s practical nature reasserted itself, overriding any remaining confusion.
"Dark ink," she said carefully, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Jack, what are you getting into now?"
"Just what should have always been mine," Jack replied.
Annabelle studied her brother’s expression. The absolute certainty, the lack of hesitation, the way his golden-orange eyes carried confidence that transcended arrogance.
She had seen that expression before. It always preceded Jack doing sothing catastrophically dangerous and succeeding through sheer force of will, just as his father had.
"Yes," she said.
As they moved toward the laboratory, S maintained his dignified composure, Annabelle maintaining her practical assessnt, Faye bouncing alongside them with endless enthusiasm, and Loryn following with concealed rage.
The laboratory was a cavern of dark stone and flowing channels of demonic essence. Crystals hung from the ceiling like inverted stalactites, each pulsing at a different interval.
The air itself felt thick, weighed down by centuries of corrupted magic seeping into every molecule.
Demons maintained their positions throughout the chamber, working at various stations. But the mont Faye entered, every single one of them froze.
The tension was suffocating. Loryn positioned himself between Faye and the assembled demons.
The other creatures watched with the kind of wary attention that ca from beings who understood they could be eliminated without warning if their master deed it necessary.
Faye, completely oblivious to the danger, waved cheerfully at them.
"Hi everyone!" she called out, her bubbly voice cutting through the oppressive atmosphere like sunlight piercing dark water. "I’m Faye! Jack’s fiancée! It’s so nice to et you all!"
The demons exchanged confused glances. A human was greeting them as if they were normal creatures. As if she wasn’t standing in the heart of their fortress, surrounded by beings that her kind hunted relentlessly.
Tharaxis’s presence stirred in Jack’s soul space, his analytical voice carrying disapproval: ’The Chosen One demonstrates a fundantal misunderstanding of demonic hierarchy. Her comfort with creatures her kind hunts relentlessly. She either had supre arrogance or genuine disconnection from how mortals feel about demons. Most likely the latter.’
Emberion’s response was far more direct: ’She’s attractive. And she’s clearly interested in you. Why not claim her now? She’s already offering her body to you. Take what’s being given.’
’No,’ Tharaxis interrupted sharply, his voice carrying absolute authority. ’Jack is already engaged. The honor of that commitnt supersedes any montary physical attraction. Such behavior would be beneath his station.’
Faye continued waving at the demons, her divine aura seeming to dismiss their entire existence as insignificant compared to her own authority.
To her, they were simply creatures existing in the sa space. Nothing more, nothing less. Demons weren’t a forbidden taboo to a Chosen One backed by a god of chaos and fertility. They were rely lesser beings operating under a different cosmic hierarchy.
S observed the interaction with mild amusent, his crimson eyes tracking the demons’ reactions. He took another tangerine segnt and popped it into his mouth with the casualness of a butler waiting for tea to brew.
"Young Master," S said, his tone carrying refined observation, "The Chosen One’s presence does create certain complications regarding security protocols. However, her demonstrated power shows she is more than capable of protecting herself from any terrestrial threat."
"Faye," Jack said flatly, "stop waving at the demons."
Faye imdiately complied, lowering her hand with the obedience of soone who had decided Jack’s word was absolute law, regardless of circumstance.
"I have a question, though," Faye said, her bubbly tone sohow managing to sound innocent despite what she was about to ask. "Are you the one killing everyone in the capital? Taking the liquid from their blood to make the drug?"
The silence in the laboratory beca absolute.
Jack’s golden-orange eyes fixed on her with cold precision. "No."
"Oh, good!" Faye said happily, completely unbothered by the accusation she had just leveled. "I just wanted to check. My family ntioned it to . They said people have been disappearing, and soone’s been making a combat drug from blood essence. It’s supposed to enhance your body and mana. My mother asked if I knew anything about it since I’m so important, and I rembered you were here doing important things, so I thought maybe it was you!"
She giggled, genuinely amused by her own logic as if the possibility of Jack being a serial killer was simply a minor curiosity rather than a serious accusation.
Annabelle’s expression darkened as she processed the implications. "Jack, if people are being murdered for a drug, that’s a serious problem."
"I’m aware," Jack replied. "We’ll address it after the sigil is complete."
S continued consuming his tangerine with unflappable composure. "A most concerning developnt, though hardly our imdiate priority. Imdiate action on the dark mana binding takes precedence."
Jack turned toward Loryn. "Begin preparation. We’re running the ritual now."
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