The Vengeful Extra's Ascension-Chapter 218: Informing Raven!

The night swallowed him whole as Albedo emerged from the ruins of what he had done. The collapse behind him was extremely clean. Tons of stone, molten glass, and warped enchantments folded inward on themselves, sealing the aqueduct hub like a tomb never meant to be reopened.

To anyone who came later, it would look like structural failure accelerated by age and neglect. A very common occurrence for ancient buildings, it would probably be rebuilt quite soon with no-one suspecting a thing.

Just an inconvenience, nothing more, nothing less.

Albedo stood on a half-cracked rooftop overlooking the glassworks district, cloak fluttering softly in the wind as distant city lights shimmered against the horizon. Below him, the first echoes of alarm were already beginning to stir, guards, patrols, and emergency constructs reacting to anomalous mana spikes.

Too late. He reached out with his senses, tracking the survivors he’d released. The mana constructs he’d woven around them were gentle but firm, guiding them toward populated streets, patrol routes, temples, and guild checkpoints.

Places where people disappearing would suddenly matter. Hospitals would ask questions. Clerics would file reports. Adventurer guilds would log names. Families, some of them, at least, would be found, and that was important.

Albedo exhaled slowly, letting the last of the tension bleed out of his shoulders. Then the world around him... shifted.

There was no dramatic distortion this time, no crushing pressure or violent spatial tear. Just a quiet, absolute assertion of authority.

Reality folded inward, blood-aspected mana flowing like silk threads being drawn together by an unseen hand. The city blurred, sound vanished, and for a brief, weightless moment, Albedo existed between places.

Then, Albedo’s boots touched polished stone, as warmth was replaced by the cold night air, along with the faint scent of tea leaves, old parchment, and blood-aspected mana held under perfect control. Tall windows framed a crimson-lit skyline, familiar in its dominance and elegance.

Raven BloodHaven’s office.

Albedo straightened instinctively, posture alert but unbowed.

Raven stood near the window, hands clasped behind her back, gazing out over the Northern Capital like a sovereign surveying her domain. Her presence filled the room without effort—calm, precise, and infinitely dangerous.

"You’re efficient," she said without turning. "I felt the collapse from three districts away."

Albedo snorted softly as he saw her, wondering how long she’d just been stalking him, "Could’ve been subtler. But subtle doesn’t save people."

That earned her attention.

Raven turned, red eyes sharp as scalpels as they settled on him. For a heartbeat, she said nothing, simply assessed. The faint scorch marks on his coat.

The lingering heat signature of Infernal Mode. The subtle mana strain beneath his calm exterior, and then her lips curved faintly.

"Report," she said.

Albedo walked forward and stopped a respectful distance from her desk. With a flick of his wrist, the recorder crystal activated, projecting layered mana-images into the air between them.

Blueprints.

Sigils.

Blood reservoirs.

Cages.

Ritual arrays.

Raven’s expression didn’t change, but the temperature in the room dropped perceptibly as her eyes glazed over all of the evidence Albedo had brought to her.

"Eastern border," Albedo began to speak calmly, "Abandoned glassworks district. Old aqueduct hub beneath a collapsed cistern warded with triple-sigil filtration, sound suppression, perception bending, mana redirection. Mid-tier vampire craftsmanship. Everglade standard."

Raven nodded once, "I suspected as much. Good thing I had you to go solve everything,"

"I neutralized the site," Albedo continued, ignoring the last part of Raven’s sentence, "Contractor-run. No Everglade guards. Mercenaries of mixed races, humans, beastkin, demons, even a dark elf. All dead."

The projected images shifted, showing rows of cages.

"They weren’t killing the captives," Albedo said, voice tightening slightly, "They were harvesting them. Slowly. Controlled blood extraction, mana conditioning, long-term viability."

Raven’s eyes flickered.

"Preparatory acquisition," she murmured.

"Yes," Albedo replied. "They’re not summoning the Abyss. They’re preparing vessels. Blood refined and aligned to withstand Abyssal influence without immediate collapse."

Silence fell in the room. Not shock, but recognition from Raven as she understood what Albedo was insinuating.

Raven moved closer to the projection, fingers lifting as if to touch the hovering image of the ritual array. Blood-aspected mana traced the air, analyzing, dissecting.

"Infrastructure," she said softly. "Not a side project."

"Exactly," Albedo replied. "Which means there are more sites. And a primary facility I haven’t located yet."

Raven straightened slowly, eyes gleaming with interest.

"And the captives?"

"I freed them," Albedo said simply. "Reinforced their vitals. Guided them to populated areas. They’ll survive. And they’ll talk."

That... intrigued her.

Raven turned fully to face him now, studying him with renewed intensity. "You chose to create ripples," she said. "That wasn’t strictly necessary for the task I gave you."

"No," Albedo agreed. "But it was necessary for the aftermath. Everglade’s been operating in silence. I figured it was time someone made noise."

For a long moment, Raven simply stared at him.

Then she laughed, soft, controlled, and dangerous.

"Well," she said, "you certainly don’t lack initiative."

She walked back to her desk, lifting her teacup and taking an unhurried sip as if they were discussing trade routes rather than mass abduction and Abyssal preparation.

"You found a holding site, confirmed Abyss-adjacent preparation, destroyed infrastructure, eliminated contractors, and saved assets that will now destabilize Everglade’s secrecy," Raven said. "All within a single night."

She set the cup down.

"And you did it without tying anything directly back to BloodHaven."

Her gaze sharpened. "Or to me."

Albedo shrugged lightly. "You said discretion didn’t mean passivity."

A faint, genuine smile crossed Raven’s lips.

"Correct," she said. "And you’ve exceeded my expectations."

That was high praise, coming from her.

She waved a hand, dismissing the projection. "I’ll have my people intercept the survivors. Not to silence them," she added, eyes flicking to him knowingly, "but to ensure they’re protected. Their testimonies will be... useful."

Albedo nodded. "Good. They didn’t deserve what happened to them."

Raven tilted her head slightly. "Most don’t."

A pause.

Then, quietly, "Magnus Everglade has overreached."

"Yes," Albedo said flatly. "And he’s planning something big."

Raven’s fingers drummed once against the desk.

"Which means," she said, "we continue."

Her eyes met his, sharp and calculating—but beneath that, unmistakably pleased.

"I like how quickly you get things done, Albedo," Raven said. "If this pace continues, Everglade won’t even realize they’re bleeding until they collapse."

Albedo’s lips curved faintly. "I aim to be thorough."

Raven smiled.

"Oh, I believe you."

Raven’s smile lingered for a moment longer before it softened into something more measured, more deliberate. She turned back toward the window, gaze drifting once more over the Northern Capital, the city’s lights reflecting faintly in her crimson eyes.

"Go," she said at last, lifting one elegant hand. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

The air thickened.

Blood-aspected mana coiled around Albedo’s feet like living silk, forming a precise teleportation circle etched in transient sigils that burned briefly before stabilizing. It wasn’t violent, wasn’t rushed. Raven never hurried power.

But she didn’t release him immediately.

"One more thing," Raven added calmly, her voice cutting cleanly through the hum of gathering mana. "Magnus Everglade isn’t stupid. Arrogant, yes. Ambitious beyond his station, certainly. But not stupid."

Albedo looked at her, eyes sharp.

"He’ll know something went wrong," Raven continued, "Even if he doesn’t know it was you. A holding site doesn’t vanish without someone asking questions, and the survivors you released will create... complications."

Her lips curved faintly again. "If he decides to move directly, you are the most convenient pressure point."

Albedo exhaled through his nose. "So you think he might take a swing at me."

"I think," Raven corrected, "that if he believes you’re close to unraveling his preparations, he’ll try to test you. Provocations. Probes. Perhaps even a direct confrontation, masked as coincidence or noble outrage."

The mana circle brightened.

"Do not let it spill into the streets," Raven said, tone cool but absolute. "If Magnus loses control and civilians are harmed, it complicates things for me. And I do not like complications."

Albedo nodded once. "I won’t endanger citizens."

"I know," Raven replied. "That’s why I’m warning you instead of assigning you guards."

She finally turned to face him fully, eyes gleaming with something sharper than approval.

"If he comes for you," she said softly, "you are authorized to defend yourself. Thoroughly. Just don’t turn my city into a battlefield."

A beat.

"And Albedo," she added, almost idly, "don’t underestimate how personal this may become. Everglade didn’t just lose resources tonight. He lost control."

The teleportation circle pulsed.

Albedo straightened, adjusting his coat as if preparing to step back into something mundane rather than a brewing noble war. "I’ll be careful," he said. "But if Magnus wants to play..."

His eyes flickered faintly purple.

"...I won’t hold back."

Raven’s smile returned, sharp and satisfied.

"Good," she said. "I would hate for this to be boring."

The world folded.

Blood-aspected mana surged upward, enveloping Albedo in warmth and pressure as space bent obediently around Raven’s will. The office vanished, the city’s distant hum dissolving into silence as reality inverted itself once more.

An instant later, Albedo stood back in his hotel room.

The illusion on the bed still breathed softly, chest rising and falling in a perfect imitation of sleep. The bottle remained on the table. The folder rested exactly where he’d left it.

Nothing appeared disturbed.

Outside, the Northern Capital continued on, blissfully unaware that an ancient noble family had just been marked for dissection.

Albedo walked to the window and looked out, eyes narrowing slightly.

"Magnus Everglade," he murmured.

"If you’re coming for me..."

A faint, dangerous smile tugged at his lips.

"...make sure you don’t miss."