— Lombard Street - Greed's Mansion —
— 5 Minutes Before Scylla Appear —
Within the cozy living room of the mansion, little Sylvana was feeding Mammon the iguana with some cherry tomatoes, sneakily offering him bits of the 'Chromatic Philosopher's Stone' that her daddy had left as a treat for both her iguana and the dog.
Mammon happily munched on the cherry tomatoes and the Chromatic Philosopher's Stone, relishing the flavors to the fullest, while Sat sat beside little Sylvana, his puppy eyes glued to the box containing the treats.
"Sweetie, please stop giving them treats. Papa will be upset if he finds out, and he might put them on a strict diet when he returns," Koyuki gently scolded her daughter before turning her attention back to the TV, where a Korean drama was reaching an intense scene.
"Yes, mama~" Little Sylvana
The Korean drama on the television had reached a peak moment. The male lead, looking pale and frail, lay listlessly on a hospital bed, his suffering accentuated by the sterile surroundings and the rhythmic beeps of the heart monitor. The female lead, her face etched with despair, clutched his hand, tears streaming down her cheeks as she delivered a heart-wrenching monologue.
It should be said that the actress is very good at her job.
"Why didn't you tell me you were sick? Was it to push me away, to spare me this pain? But how can you think I could ever truly hate you? We should be cherishing every moment we have left together!" The actress spoke in Korean, admonishing the male lead. The English subtitle below translates the heart wrenching dialogue.
"Ah... Song He... I..." Suddenly, the scene was plunged into darkness. The television flickered and died, followed by the entire mansion. A blackout had swept through the area.
"Ah! Noooooooo!" The agonized howl over missing the ending of the drama series didn't come from Koyuki but from Michaela. She's a devoted fan of "The Love Under The Rain," a love story of a young heir from a wealthy family (the male lead) and a regular office girl (the female lead).
Michaela was so invested in the series that she even flew to Korea to do the pilgrimage of the real locations featured in many scenes portrayed in this series.
Koyuki tilted her head in confusion. She was certain that Greed's Mansion had an emergency power supply capable of sustaining all the electronic appliances in the house for at least 24 hours. They even had a power generator in the basement! It seemed impossible for a blackout to affect them like this.
"Koyuki Mori No Tokugawa! I know you're in there! Come outside if you don't want us to destroy the entire mansion! Also, bring your daughter with you!" The unfriendly shout from outside carried with it a surge of mana fluctuations in the air.
It was clear that the other party had come prepared. They had already cast a bound field all over Lombard Street to repel anyone attempting to come to their aid.
"The first group is wiped out! They had an archangel with them! What's our next move?" the observer asked.
"We observe and wait... They'll need to send reinforcements to aid Envy; otherwise, they won't be able to stop Scylla," one of the shadows within the room remarked, analyzing the unfolding situation.
As predicted by the last shadow, within a few minutes, Michaela emerged from the mansion carrying Koyuki in a princess carrying, heading towards the Golden Empire Tower where Envy was maintaining the protective spell over the city.
"See? They've come out! Send in team two. The mansion should only have Greed, the weakest witch, a dog, and a child! Hurry, before that archangel returns!" The last shadow commanded, a smirk creeping across his face as he thought that he had already won the bet. This operation is very risky and costly, but the reward is worth the risk!
—
Another mage team swiftly advanced from their nearby hideout toward the mansion. This time, no one impeded their progress—no guards, no traps, and especially, no bloodthirsty archangel emerged from the mansion to purge them. The path was clear.
Comprising 13 members, the second team was led by a Grand Master Rank mage, a level stronger than the previous team that had encountered Michaela and now lay around in agony or as cold corpses.
To prevent any information leaks, the team leader commanded his teammates to eliminate all survivors lying on the ground. They couldn't risk these individuals being interrogated, as it would expose their identities and affiliations.
However, since all the mages involved in this operation had insurance with the Alchemont clan, death was merely a temporary state for them; they would return in the form of Homunculi once again.
They cautiously stepped onto the mansion's lawn, where a mongrel dog with a humorous mix of black fur covering one eye, giving it a comical appearance, emerged from the mansion. The dog remained calm, lying down in front of the door as if silently warning them not to enter.
"What's with this mutt?" one of the mages muttered in confusion. Another decided to act swiftly, channeling a fireball and hurling it at the dog.
Boom!
The fire blast struck the dog directly with no shield or resistance, hitting its mark. The mages anticipated the dog would be severely injured or dead, but to their horror, once the smoke cleared, they found the dog completely unharmed, not even a singe on its fur.
The dog glanced at them before letting out a sigh of disdain. Its face clearly displayed unmasked contempt, as if it were regarding a lower life form or a lesser breed of dog while looking at the group of mages.
The disdain evident in the dog's eyes immediately angered one of the men from team two. He was clearly upset by the dog's condescending gaze.