Shaan's face turned pale. His entire body froze the mont he saw the serious expression on Miss Khaya's face. Whatever she wanted to show them had to be important—but what could make her look that serious?
"Uhm… alright." Chelsie nodded, then glanced at Shaan. "Shaan, we need to move," she said as she snapped her fingers lightly. "Did you hear what Miss Khaya said?"
"Oh—yeah, yeah." Shaan nodded quickly. "I heard her."
As they stepped inside the vehicle, several wooden boxes greeted them. However, sothing about those boxes felt strange to Shaan. Every single one had a large lock attached to it, and oddly enough, soone had placed all of them on the passenger seats, as if they contained sothing valuable—or sothing fragile.
'I'm just curious—what's actually inside it?'
"Uhm... Miss Khaya." Chelsie looked around. "What's inside all these boxes?"
"Good question." Miss Khaya smashed the lock and shoved the lid off one of the wooden boxes beside her. "I already opened one of these, and this is what I found," she said as she pushed the cover aside until it hit the floor. "Have you ever seen sothing like this before?"
The mont Shaan saw it, he frowned. Confusion filled his mind as he realized the boxes contained objects that looked like small rockets. Not only that, but each one had a long cloth fuse attached to its tip, hanging loosely downward.
"Huh? This… aren't these firecrackers?" Chelsie scratched her head. "Uhm… but why would the Resistance make so many of them?"
"You're right. These are firecrackers." Miss Khaya nodded without hesitation. "I don't know why the Resistance uses them, but one thing feels certain—these aren't ordinary firecrackers."
"Huh? I don't get it. What do you an by—"
Before Chelsie could finish her words, Miss Khaya tore open one of the firecrackers. Inside, a small tube filled with a strange liquid appeared. At that mont, Shaan's expression turned tense. He imdiately recalled the potion he had once found in the laboratory with Theo.
From the texture and its glowing crimson color, Shaan knew this liquid had to co from the sa kind of potion that the mad scientist had created—the man who had nearly killed him and Theo. Even now, he still didn't know what kind of substance it actually was.
"Do you know what kind of liquid this is?" Miss Khaya asked.
Shaan quickly shook his head. "No. I've seen sothing like this before, but I have no idea what kind of liquid it is—"
"…Project Eclipse." Chelsie's face turned pale, and her entire body trembled. "Uhm… y-yes, I'm sure. That's Project Eclipse."
"W-wait, what?" Shaan's eyes widened, his face losing all color. "H-how can you be so sure that—"
"…Miss Khaya, I've taken care of the guard. For now, we should—" Nalira stopped mid-step, confusion crossing her face. "…Shaan, Chelsie? Why do you both look so tense?"
Miss Khaya shrugged. "I don't know what's going on with them, but it seems your friends know sothing about this liquid."
Nalira imdiately turned to Chelsie. "Elsie… is that true?"
Chelsie nodded. "Uhm… yes. This liquid is called Project Eclipse."
"Project Eclipse?" Nalira rubbed her chin. "I've never heard of it."
Chelsie hesitated. "That potion… It's not normal. " She clenched her hand. "It can… change a dark creature instantly. Ma-make them stronger." Her voice was trembling. "If soone mixes their blood into it, that person can control those creatures."
"…So all those mutated dark creatures exist because of Project Eclipse, created by the Resistance? And they use it to control them?"
"Uhm… yes, that's right." Chelsie nodded without hesitation. "Not only that, the gas produced by this substance can block a daemonist's power. The longer soone inhales it, the more their consciousness weakens until they eventually pass out."
'Damn… so that gas I inhaled back then ca from Project Eclipse…'
"Chelsie, how do you know all of this?" Miss Khaya asked, her gaze fixed on her with clear curiosity.
"Uhm…" Chelsie fidgeted with her fingers nervously. "Before I lost consciousness, the leader of the Resistance explained everything to ."
"Huh?" Confusion deepened on Miss Khaya's face. "I still don't fully understand what you're saying, Chelsie." She paused, trying to process it. "How did you even et the leader of the Resistance?"
"That's… because my father…my father is the leader of the Resistance."
In an instant, silence filled the air. Shaan couldn't say a single word. His emotions twisted into a chaotic mix. He never expected that the person behind all this—this massive threat to them and to the entire Twilight Sanctum—would turn out to be Chelsie's father.
"Uhm… b-but I swear, that's not my father," Chelsie said, her voice shaking. "Soone brainwashed him and controlled him, that's why he—"
"Elsie, open your eyes." Nalira let out a long breath, trying to stay calm. "Your father… he clearly caused all of this. Why do you keep denying it?"
"No. You're wrong." Chelsie shook her head firmly. "I know that's not my father."
"Then… how can you prove that?" Nalira asked.
Chelsie fell silent for a mont. "Uhm… I saw it with my own eyes. My father suddenly cried out in pain when I tried to explain the crystal in my necklace," she said with conviction. "Believe . My father would never think like this. Soone must have manipulated his mind."
'Is Chelsie said was true?' Shaan stroked his chin slowly. 'But... for so reason, I still have my doubts about what she said.'
"…."
"We should discuss this later," Miss Khaya said, breaking the silence. "Right now, we need to move this vehicle and chase the Resistance before they destroy the Twilight Sanctum."
"We understand," the three of them said in unison.
"Nalira, what about the key? Did you manage to find it?"
Nalira pulled the key out of her pocket. "…It's safe with , Miss Khaya. I got it when I took down the remaining guard."
"Good. In that case, we need to chase after the resistance group as quickly as possible."
"…But still, we have a problem." Nalira's grip tightened on the key. "The vehicle... it didn't work. "
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