"What do you mean by that?" Cormac asked, his concern growing.
"With everything you've told me and what I've seen for myself," Helen explained, "I'd say they'll only become bolder as time passes, and it'll get harder to control. As the guild master, even I wasn't informed about the chimeras. I discovered it on my own, which means the guild now has some bad apples. It'll be challenging to separate the wolves from the sheep."
"We need to do something about this before it really gets out of hand," Devin said, his frustration clear.
"Yes, we will," Alex agreed, "but we can't do it openly or make an announcement. We don't want to alert the organization we're closing in on, or cause panic among civilians and other adventurers."
"And what did the king say about this?" Cormac asked.
"He said Verena will work with the other nations and Clarendon to finally rid ourselves of this nightmare," Helen replied, her expression showing disappointment.
"But you're still having second thoughts, aren't you?" Cormac said with a sigh.
"Oh, you can see right through me," Helen smirked. "In times like these, it's better to keep your circle of trust smaller."
"That's understandable. I'll be sure to pass this message to my Lord. But in the meantime, what will you do about this artifact?" Cormac asked with a serious tone.
"Psst... Hey, is he always that uptight?" Leroy whispered, but he quickly received a jab to the gut. "My bad, sorry I asked."
Helen, undeterred, continued, "Based on what you've told me, I can safely bet that they haven't given up on summoning their master back into this world. Now that the seal is about to break, they won't need to use the altar at Lagia anymore."
The gravity of the situation was so intense that everyone momentarily forgot they weren't alone. The room fell silent as the weight of Helen's words sunk in.
"What do you mean by that?" Lay asked, breaking the silence.
"You lost me at smaller circle," Devin added, his confusion apparent.
"What seal? Do you know what she's talking about?" Nerissa asked Cormac, her curiosity piqued.
"Can you please not interrupt?" Alex said, a bit annoyed by the abrupt questions.
Carmac sighed, realizing he had forgotten his companions were with him. "Right, I forgot I came with them," he said, looking at his friends. "I also don't know what she's talking about."
Helen's expression grew more serious. "Well, obviously you don't, not even Alex does. It's something that happened a very, very long time ago. Only a select few knew about it, but it seems the information still leaked out."
"So what do we do now?" Nerissa asked.
*****
An hour earlier in Clarence's office, a small portal had suddenly opened next to him as he sat down to write something.
Without warning, an object shot out of the portal at great speed, heading straight for Clarence's head.
The impact sent him crashing backward, leaving him momentarily dazed and stunned as he struggled to regain his composure.
'That damn witch, she did it on purpose,' Clarence cursed silently to himself.
Jett activated his [Diagnosis] skill, his doubts fading as he saw the true nature of Clarence's condition. A grin spread across Jett's face. 'Doesn't look like a headache to me,' he thought.
"So what's the item for?" Jett asked, trying to keep the conversation light.
"Well, I can't tell you, but it's very sinister," Clarence replied, dropping the artifact on his desk with a sigh. 'Well, I'll continue later,' he thought, shifting his attention.
Jett's mind raced. 'On closer inspection, I think I've seen that somewhere in the game. What's it doing here?'
Clarence sat down, turning his attention to Jett. 'He's already learned how to suppress it this much? I might be able to learn a lot from him,' he thought, intrigued by Jett's demeanor.
"Jett..." Clarence began, "What do you know about Lumix?"
Jett's mind raced. 'Why is he asking me? I better act dumb,' he thought, putting on an innocent expression. "Lumix? What's that?"
"You can't fool me, child. There's no way you can possess that much Lumix without knowing what it is," Clarence said, his tone serious and irritated by Jett's attempt to deceive him.
'Crap, he knows?' Jett thought, feeling a twinge of anxiety as he tried to maintain his façade.
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Hope everything works out
You can finally check out Cormac from the character list