Chapter 54 Face Off

Xavier and Eulene strolled past the top of the hill and arrived before the main structure of the Art Gallery.

The building was massive. The only buildings with comparable size they had witnessed in Derbury was the warehouse back at the slums where the gunfight took place, and the Detectivete complex at the centre of the town.

And this building was brighter than both of them. It looked like a intricately designed castle with a triangular roof at the top. The walls, the exterior pillars were made of expensive marbles that reflected all the stars and the moon above.

They looked at the massive entrance of the structure- the two storey tall door made of ancient wood. Above the door, a few words were calligraphed in pure gold.

'The Heavenly Wings Protect'

Xavier stared at the golden words. The red smile on his mask straightened.

His actions did not escape Eulene's sight. She could tell he was reminiscing something. But before she could say anything, Xavier looked down back to the entrance and the smile returned.

"Let's go in, shall we?" Xavier turned to Eulene.

Eulene nodded.

Xavier snapped his fingers. But nothing happened. "Looks like we are already into the second test. We need to open the door, and the hinges aren't paying heed to my orders." He turned to Xavier. The red smile turned kind.

Eulene clicked her tongue, but did not retort. She stepped forward and put a finger on the door. After a second, a ripple formed on the place she touched, and the door opened at a break neck speed.

Oddly, the door was unscathed despite the overwhelming force applied by Eulene. She gave Xavier a look, with eyes expressing curiosity.

"It's exactly what you are thinking," Xavier replied. "The authority of the has rendered the objects in this zone 'indestructible'. Though that won't be the case anymore if you decide to use your real strength."

Eulene nodded and both of them stepped inside. They were soon met with a corridor. The corridor was wide as the roads of Derbury, wide enough to easily support two lanes of carriages. The floor below was made with marble, ones which seemed even more shiny than the ones on the outside.

There was a checkered pattern on the floor that reflected all the lights the chandeliers were giving out. The walls on the two sides were white, decorated with beautiful paintings and taxidermal heads of beasts.

But none of these grabbed the attention of the duo. What caught their interest was the fact that the corridor was as long as the eyes could see, or at least it seemed that way. However, their discerning eyes discovered something.

The decorations- the paintings, writings, and the beast heads- 'reseted' after every interval. Undoubtedly, this was a loop. And there was only one way, or rather- two ways to escape the loop.

A few meters before them, there were two doors- one on the left and the other on the right.

Eulene had her gaze fixed on the door to her right. "How about we deal with the 'guests' first?"

The smile on Xavier's mask widened and the sharp corners returned. "Of course!"

Unlike the massive door they just passed, this door was more average and did not harbour any tests of sorts. However, both Xavier and Eulene were confident there was one behind the door.

Eulene pushed the door and the duo entered.

They entered a hall- a massive one. The marbles on the floor looked even more expensive and shiny. Instead of the checkered pattern outside, there were now artistic curved lines on the floor. All of those scrambled lines created a mosaic of sorts below.

There were no sources of light. The curtains on the windows were wide open. And the special window glasses refracted the incoming moonlight- defusing the mystifying silver light everywhere.

The light fell on the tens of sculptures and instruments encased in glasses, the amazing paintings- big and small- hanged on the wall… and the two conspicuous veiled men standing at the centre of the room.

The taller man was wearing a loose black robe and a obscure black veil that hid his entire face, but could not hide his greying hair. On the other hand, the shorter one was wearing a black pant and a black shirt. A bandana hid his hair, and the identical veil hid his face.

The two parties met. Silence ensued as nobody from either side spoke a word.

[Follow my lead] Xavier transmitted to Eulene. [Let's scar their soul] The corners of his red smile almost broke through the borders of the mask.

Eulene did not retort. If she welcomed anything in her life- that would be free fun.

Xavier's feet left the floor. He began to levitate. Eulene followed.

The duo hovered forward. The objects standing in their way- the sculptures and the showcased painting instruments levitated up from their spots and moved away, giving way to the duo.

The two unknown men exchanged a glance. Levitation means the newcomers were at the very least- level 2 Aeromancers. But this did not faze them. The newcomers' auras were the troubling part. They had never witnessed such enigmatic auras before.

Moreover, the black suited man's mask was menacing. It gave them the creeps.

"Greetings!" Xavier put his hand on his chest and slightly bowed. "May I know what you two gentlemen are doing at this ungodly time in this even-more-ungodly place?"

The two mysterious men remained silent for a second before the taller man replied, "Where are you from?"

Xavier let out a gentlemanly laugh and responded, "You jest. Of course I originated from my mother's womb."

A muffled laugh escaped Eulene's lips.

Anger struck the man's heart. "Which organisation are you from?" The tall man asked with a sterner voice. "Which Secret Society?"

"The answer is in your question," Xavier replied as he tilted his head to the side- the red smile still plastered to his mask. "It's a 'Secret' Society."

"You!" the tall man took a step forward, ready to attack. But the shorter man grabbed him by his shoulder, stopping him.

"Friends," the man wearing the bandana turned to Xavier, "We are members of Walpurgis. We are here to investigate the haunted zone. Why are you here?"

[Quick] Xavier transmitted to Eulene. [Ask me about Walpurgis]

"Walpurgis?" Eulene asked. She used her body's constitution to reinforce her tone. She sounded like she was the empress of the world, commanding heaven's decree.

Her tone clenched the hearts of the Kinetics who revealed to be from Walpurgis.

[Nice!] Xavier sent Eulene an invisible thumbs up.

"It's a Secret Society based in Avarynth," Xavier answered. "It doesn't have a licence permitted by the Thirteenth. But since the organisation is so pitifully weak and are the dogs of few Electal Lords, the Thirteen doesn't even bother to investigate them."

"Is that so?" Eulene asked. "No wonder I can't feel an iota of danger from the two. They are… weak."

The taller man wanted to charge forward, but once again, he was stopped by his comrade.

The shorter member of Walpurgis looked up to the duo. "It's not wise to make an enemy out of us." The earlier friendliness from his tone disappeared. "Throughout history, countless men- kinetic or not- made an enemy out of us, and-"

"You are here on the orders of Electal Lord Silverman, aren't you?"

Silence ensued. Even Eulene turned to Xavier. But before she could ask anything, Xavier continued.

"Electal Lord had delved into mysticism for years and even had access to resources of Walpurgis. He definitely had knowledge of the existence of Paranormals and Curses. And during one of his trips to Aramon, he discovered an artefact that housed a Curse. And being the superstitious man he was, he needed a powerful tool to fight against his enemies after his term was over.

"He needed the artefact- the Curse jailed by it. Hence, he used his connections to transfer the piece from the museum of Aramon to this Gallery- which is more or less his own property. But fate had other plans. The arrival of the artefact incurred paranormal activities here and forced the galleries to a close.

"And worst of all, before he could take the artefact all to himself, it was stolen. He had spent all of his last five years, both through rational means and rituals to take care of the situation- to recover the piece and its curse. And finally, he found out that the artefact is back where it came from.

"He also discovered that he was too late. Someone already hosted the Curse and used it to haunt this place. Hence, he contracted you- Walpurgis- to 'investigate' this.

"Am I right?" Xavier asked with a smile.

Once again, silence ensued. Nobody spoke a word.

After a few seconds, The shorter member of Walpurgis finally let go of his colleagues shoulder.

A whirlwind formed around him.

"You should have remained silent. You know too much."