Chapter 210: Aria Sourney

"Sister!!"

Ai immediately stood up.

Without a second thought, she rushed over to the woman and wrapped her arms tightly around her.

All the obedient attitude she showed around Al, as well as the elegant and cool demeanor she maintained in front of her subordinates, disappeared once again.

In its place was her clingy, girly side—the one that suited a girl her age far better.

At the end of the day, she was still just an eighteen-year-old girl with plenty of youthful energy left in her.

The woman gently returned the hug, her hand softly stroking Ai’s head.

"Uhh, my Ai..."

Her smile was filled with affection.

Her eyes then shifted toward Al before she muttered,

"Ai..."

Her tone became slightly more serious, though the teasing undertone was obvious.

"...Did he hurt you again?"

She even put on a deliberately serious expression.

Ai could only giggle.

"Hehe~ No way."

"No?" the woman asked again, pretending to be surprised.

Ai shook her head.

"Are you sure?"

Ai nodded repeatedly.

"That’s unusual... Usually, all he knows how to do is bully you."

Al could only click his tongue from his seat.

The woman smiled in satisfaction before taking Ai by the hand and leading her toward Al’s private table.

A subordinate quickly prepared a new chair directly across from Al.

The woman pulled Ai down beside her instead of letting her cuddle up to Al, leaving Al sitting there alone with a frown on his face.

The woman sat gracefully, crossing her legs without losing any of her elegance.

Everyone seemed genuinely happy to see her, yet at the same time, there was a certain tension in the air.

They all knew that this woman held an important position within their organization.

Her name was Aria Sourney, the owner of the Aria Group—a multinational company specializing in premium hospitality and tourism.

Luxury hotels, malls, restaurants, and high-end tourist destinations could be found across various parts of the world, all developed under her company.

But more than that, it was her role within the organization that had helped drive the company’s global expansion.

She was the organization’s intelligence operative, the one responsible for gathering information and making connections with the world’s elites.

Because of that, her name carried tremendous weight, both in the public eye and within the organization itself.

It was a name that commanded genuine respect.

Aria’s gaze remained fixed on Al.

"It’s unusual for all of you to gather like this. Especially you... I didn’t think you’d actually show up to something like this."

Al leaned back casually in his chair.

"Maybe doing this once in a while isn’t so bad. At least..."

He picked up the glass of juice in front of him and took a small sip.

"...it reminds us that we’re still... human."

His words struck something in everyone’s hearts.

Perhaps he was right.

Every once in a while, they needed to live like normal people too.

Aria simply smiled and nodded.

Their conversation continued without much formality, flowing naturally between casual topics.

Until eventually, it shifted back toward something far more serious.

Back to the abnormal side of their lives—and all the threats they had been discussing earlier.

"Anyway, Sister... I’m planning to meet Shae and Sa-Ya after this. But it seems like you already know enough about them. So, what’s your deduction from all of this?"

Aria nodded before explaining the information in greater detail.

Shae had witnessed Daraka and several djinn moving toward a massive ravine in Almakubar, where countless creatures had been piled up.

They appeared to be corpses.

Shae had also accidentally overheard that those corpses were their actual target—and somehow, they were connected to the medium they were looking for.

Aria then presented the intelligence records her team had uncovered regarding Almakubar.

An ancient text had been discovered containing a peculiar description:

The flesh trapped within Almakubar was said to be the finest flesh.

According to the interpretation of their intelligence team, there was a possibility that anyone—or anything—trapped within Almakubar would have their body restored to its "best" state.

And considering that Daraka was specifically targeting the corpses there...

He’ll probably use those corpses as substitute mediums for dimensional resonance.

Because if those bodies were truly in their peak condition, they might be capable of housing and optimizing the power of those dark entities without requiring them to perform resonance themselves.

"So... basically a possession method?" Michaelis asked.

"I suppose that’s the simplest way to put it. Though, this is still just an assumption. I only hope it isn’t something more complicated."

Aria’s expression turned slightly more serious.

"Especially if there’s a chance that it could make them even stronger."

She paused for a moment.

"Because in the end, that’s still possible. As we know, Daraka is quite a skilled shaman when it comes to experimenting."

Al and the others nodded.

They were beginning to realize that this situation was truly beyond—and fundamentally different from—anything they had faced before.

By then, preventing the dimensional breach had become their highest priority.

But there was another problem.

No one had expected such a massive threat to emerge in some obscure city like this.

It was a city that had never been considered important enough to warrant a heavy deployment of their forces.

And now, that decision had become a major problem.

Their numbers were limited, and they had no direct connections with any of the local agencies or forces in the area.

But fortunately...

"Don’t worry about that. Over the past three months, we’ve managed to put together a team that should be able to help you."

Aria’s words immediately caught everyone’s attention.

"Is that the team I asked you to prepare three months ago?" Al asked.

Aria nodded.

As several curious gazes turned toward them, Aria asked Al to move to another room where the mysterious special team was waiting.

A few of the subordinates immediately looked dissatisfied, their curiosity getting the better of them.

But neither Al nor Aria offered any further explanation.

With a simple teleportation spell, Al brought Aria with him to the room they were heading toward.

They left the others behind, still wondering what was going on.

Though Ai and Sebastian remained surprisingly calm.

Judging by their expressions, it seemed like they already knew.

They simply chose not to say anything.

---

Inside another luxurious private room in the restaurant, four figures sat side by side.

Three men and one woman.

They all looked relatively young, yet somehow carried a mature, elegant, and unmistakably... powerful presence.

They wore dark grayish-black cloaks that covered their bodies, concealing the special uniforms underneath. A small emblem was attached to each of them.

They were none other than Clara and her group—a local team of fighters who had recently risen in popularity under the name...

The Phantom of Bantiamur.

Clara was staring at her phone, fiddling with the message she was trying to write while thinking about what words would sound right.

"Being part of this really means our normal lives aren’t going to be normal anymore..." She muttered in complaint.

Malik immediately nudged her, snapping her back to reality.

She probably shouldn’t be saying things like that, especially not complaining about their own organization.

Clara jolted and quickly covered her sweet lips, glancing around the room to make sure no one had heard her.

She eventually relaxed after confirming everything was safe, though she still felt a little uneasy.

She knew Al had just finished his national exams today.

And thanks to the good impression he had made, along with the potential relationship between him and the Virellano family, she felt bad about not giving him anything—even if it was just a simple congratulation.

But well...

Their relationship wasn’t exactly that close.

Even sending a simple congratulatory message felt strangely awkward.

She had actually planned to invite Al out for dinner tonight to celebrate.

Unfortunately, a sudden summons from the organization had gotten in the way.

In the end, she couldn’t refuse.

This wasn’t even a call to deal with some dangerous situation.

This time, they had been summoned to meet the highest-ranking figure in their organization.

"Don’t look so gloomy, Clara," Malik said. "This is a sacred summons. Don’t you feel at least a little awed?"

"Because if you ask me... I never thought our group, which is still practically a bunch of novices at the bottom of the ladder, would be summoned to meet the organization’s leader." He added.

He grinned.

"That’s... wow."

"I do too," Clara replied genuinely. "But I’m just conflicted because... did it really have to be tonight?"

She sighed.

"I just hope this isn’t the kind of summons that’s going to make our lives ten times busier for the next few months."

At those words, someone in the room immediately shuddered.

Raka. The indifferent one.

"Argh... Don’t say something like that!"

He looked genuinely worried.

"That’s bad luck. Don’t jinx us!"

The three of them tried to push the thought out of their minds.

But honestly, the possibility was way too high whenever something like this happened.

A sudden summons... Usually meant a difficult mission.

A difficult mission... Usually meant a long assignment.

And a long assignment... Meant their normal lives getting completely shackled.

The three of them immediately looked gloomy.

Except for one person, of course.

Daus.

Behind his massive build, his eyes were practically sparkling. He looked like he was eagerly waiting for some brutal mission and a massive battle to come his way.

The other three could only curse him silently in their minds.

What a maniac!!!

Clara temporarily put her message aside and turned her attention toward the door, wondering when this important figure would finally arrive.

Only then—

Something suddenly startled her.

"What was that?!"

Her voice came out slightly panicked.

The other three immediately turned around.

A shimmering wave of magical energy had suddenly begun forming around the room, gradually spreading across the entire area.

"That’s... a Magic Barrier?" Raka muttered.

All four of them immediately became alert.

They had no idea what was happening.

But they suspected it had something to do with the important figure they had been summoned to meet.

And then a surge of energy suddenly erupted in the center of the room.

They turned toward it again.

A massive magic circle had appeared right before them.

A powerful gust of wind burst from the center of the newly formed circle.

WUUUSSHH!

The cloaks of all four figures immediately whipped violently in the wind.

Clara’s hair was blown backward, while several chairs around them slid across the floor from the sudden pressure.

"Ugh—!"

Clara and the others instinctively raised an arm to shield their faces.

But it wasn’t just the wind.

An enormous amount of magical energy was beginning to fill the room.

The pressure was so dense that the air itself seemed to become heavy.

Even without understanding what was actually happening, the instincts of all four of them immediately kicked in.

They released their own magical energy—not to fight, because they knew there was no way they could win against whatever was coming.

They simply needed to keep themselves steady.

BZZZTT—!

Another wave of energy exploded outward.

Fine dust from the floor and corners of the room was lifted into the air, swirling around as the wind grew increasingly violent.

Not a single one of them understood what was happening.

They only knew one thing.

Something was coming.

Then—

BZZT!

The magic circle suddenly lit up brightly.

From its center, two figures slowly emerged.

One was a man.

He was tall and well-built, wearing casual yet trendy clothes. His entire face was hidden behind a plain, expressionless mask, making it impossible to read even the slightest facial feature.

Standing beside him was a woman with a far more elegant appearance.

Her face was also covered by a mask, though the lower part around her mouth had been left exposed, allowing her lips and expressions to remain clearly visible.

The moment the two appeared, the atmosphere in the room completely changed.

There was no trace of relaxation anymore.

Only a heavy silence remained.

Dust was still floating between them.

The wind slowly died down.

The plain-masked man looked around the room, as if only now realizing just how dramatic his entrance had been.

"Did I make my entrance a little too dramatic?"

The woman beside him immediately shot him a sharp glare.

"Are you seriously asking that, huh?!"

Her voice sounded genuinely annoyed.

The man went silent for a moment.

Then—

"Hehe."

He simply chuckled.

As if the explosion of energy, the barrier, and the violent vortex of wind that had just filled the room were nothing worth worrying about.

After that, he shifted his gaze toward the four young fighters standing stiffly before him.

His eyes slowly moved from one person to another.

Until finally...

They stopped on Clara.

For a moment, the man remained silent.

Then a faint smile appeared beneath his mask.

Slowly, he raised one hand.

His fingers touched the side of the plain mask covering his face.

Then—

Click.

He began to remove it.

Little by little.

The mask lifted, revealing part of his forehead.

Then his eyebrows.

And then—

His eyes.

Clara, who had been watching him intently from the very beginning, suddenly widened her eyes.

Because the face slowly being revealed from behind that mask...

Was a face she knew should be impossible to see here.

Clara’s lips parted slightly.

And only one word managed to escape her mouth.

"You!"