Jack and Seth found an area more secluded, suitable for the interrogation that was about to commence.

The body of the cult member was flung to the ground, rolling through the cracked, dry soil of the earth.

And before he could even catch his bearings, a shadow was already over him, a hand landing upon his chest.

Immediately the cult member’s pupils constricted and quivered as he felt tendrils of foreign essence crawl through his pores and into his veins from the hand.

His muscles clenched, his eyelids widened. He tried to escape, only to find himself unable to muster strength.

His windpipe let out a sharp hiss of air and gurgles from streaming blood, from a failed attempt at a scream. His eyes were drenched with terror as he stared at the cold purple orbs looming over him.

Each second he found himself staring into those amethyst depths, he could see the shadow of his enemy grow larger...

’A monster!’ That was the only thought he could muster.

One might assume that with Jack ripping off the enemy’s jaw, communication would be impossible — but that was wrong, very wrong.

An Awakened-rank creature had long evolved past the communication barrier of words and language. They dealt in the realm of wills.

A mild royal purple tinge began to infiltrate the atmosphere as Seth’s will slowly bore down on the captive.

Even though it was in sparse amounts, for a Shackled creature it was still too overbearing.

Slowly, a series of foreign words crawled into the captive’s mind.

"Where is your base located?"

The cult member’s eyes widened in horror. Fear crawled through his veins, a cold quiver trickling down his spine.

And unconsciously, he thought of the location. Seth’s eyes narrowed, intercepting this.

"How many captives are left and where are they being kept?"

The cult member couldn’t help himself. If he was being interrogated with words, he could at least try to endure in silence no matter the torture. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

But the moment he heard these questions, it was as though his brain willingly projected a reply.

He couldn’t suppress it, he couldn’t resist it. His eyes filled with even more terror for the enemy.

The realization sank in: ’I’m going to die!’

With no form of leverage over information or anything, this would be his fate. And that was the most terrifying part — he knew what was coming and he could literally do nothing to resist.

He could only lie there, counting his seconds, waiting for what would inevitably come.

And indeed, Seth milked out info after info. Each second, the captive’s eyes darkened from terror until his gaze went vacant.

And after Seth was done?

Seth slowly rose, lifting his hand from the cult member’s chest...

The captive blinked for a few seconds, stunned. But he was quick to collect himself. His eyes flashed — this was a rare opportunity, and he was going to take it.

In a series of blurry movements fueled by the raging streams of adrenaline pumped into his system, his eyes glowed, his racial trait activated to the brink. He got to his feet and tried to dash right into the clusters of withered trees.

Unfortunately for him, no matter the amount of boost he got from the adrenaline rush, it could never come close to bridging the gap of ranks.

A foot plowed right into his back. His skin stung and creaking cracks ran through his spine.

He fell face down, choking on the dry earth. Around Seth’s hands, void pulsated, spitting out a short sword with serrated edges.

Slowly, words dug into the mind of his prey. "Why the rush?"

The captive trembled, but he was unable to muster any more movement from his lower half, so he tried to crawl away.

But the moment a series of too familiar haunting words rang in his mind, he froze, his eyes wide in terror.

"How do you say it? To honor the Descent? Forgive me, I’m new."

The teeth of the cold blade kissed the back of his neck. The captive couldn’t scream, couldn’t struggle, and only drowned in the pain of slowly being decapitated.

A few seconds later, a jawless head — eyes wide from terror and contorted from pain — rolled into the distance.

Seth rose, straightened his back to his full height, met Jack’s gaze, and nodded, signaling he got all they needed.

Both parties didn’t even acknowledge the death of the cult member. In their eyes, his death was even too merciful.

How many people had the vile bastard murdered with the same method? How many children, how many elderly?

With that, both Jack and Seth returned to meet up with the rest in order to commence their next move.

Due to Seth directly extracting information from the mind, he got picture-perfect details about the hideout location.

Mapped-out paths and directions to where the captives were being held.

And he also got very sensitive information about a so-called Descent that was to happen this night at the peak of the full moon.

Dusk had already come, and the sun was dipping into the horizon, meaning they had no time to tarry.

Because, by exactly midnight, the entire refugees — the stars they were here for included — would be sacrificed in cold blood.

And for what this ’Descent’ was, Seth wasn’t sure, since the cult member was too low in rank to know.

But inferring from the fact that they called it The Descent, Seth was keen on not letting this ritual commence.

"I suggest we split up, with one person accompanying Trisha, so we can deal with this more effectively," Uriel immediately suggested once they were briefed on the information.

Everyone stared his way, all ears with his suggestion.

"With what Seth has explained, we don’t have time to waste. We will divide the task amongst ourselves. Four people will be tasked with eradicating the entire Blood Order cult, the last two will be rescuing the refugees.

This way we can utilize the element of surprise we have over them to the fullest, while also crushing them in one fell sweep."

Silently, they pondered his words...

Uriel’s proposal did make sense. It incorporated efficiency while giving them the speed they would need to execute all this before midnight.

After all, it would be best if they could avoid any unnecessary trouble. Who knew what this so-called Descent ritual was for?

Seth’s leading conjecture was that it was to welcome the members of the Bloodborne race...

But he couldn’t be sure. Either way, the goal was clear.

"Me and Trisha will rescue the refugees," Elaine voiced, and no one argued.

Among them, she was the only one with a crowd-control skill that could be utilized. And since she could also use the corpses of the Shackled Rank creatures she had amassed so far from the clearing of corruption zones...

It was safe to say among them all she was the least affected by the restraint situation they were in.

She was a perfect choice. The four guys glanced among each other — that meant they would be in charge of ridding the Blood Order off the earth.

Brandon smiled and cracked his knuckles. "Hehe, I hope I get to meet these so-called Variants."