Chapter 155: The Haunted Heist

Cyrus parked the Lamborghini two blocks away, concealed behind a rusted shipping container.

The hospital loomed ahead, its shadow stretching across cracked asphalt like reaching fingers.

Before they approached, Cyrus stepped forward and released his dragon aura—not the explosive fury from Mochi’s shop, but something far more controlled.

Crimson energy rippled outward in waves, invisible to human eyes but devastating to spiritual defenses.

The residual spirits haunting St. Mariel’s scattered like leaves before a hurricane.

Ghostly shapes fled through walls and windows, their anguished moans fading to terrified whispers.

"Coast is clear," Cyrus murmured, the crimson glow fading from his gaze.

"Show-off," Mochi chirped, completely unfazed by the display of raw power.

He pulled glowing charms from his tactical vest, tossing them ahead like party favors.

The enchanted objects revealed shimmering tripwires stretched across doorways and dormant ward stones embedded in the cracked concrete.

"Ooh, nasty little ankle-biters," he chirped, marking each trap with spray paint. "Someone really doesn’t want visitors."

While Mochi treated the deadly security like a carnival game, Ginsei moved with serpentine instincts.

Pale mist flowed from his body, coiling around his limbs as he shifted between human and spirit form.

He slithered soundlessly through broken glass and rubble, his serpent nature allowing him to scout ahead without triggering weight-sensitive alarms.

"Clear to the emergency entrance," Ginsei’s voice carried back on the wind. "But there’s fresh wolf scent. Multiple guards passed through recently."

Mochi darted forward, his tactical vest jangling with tools and charms.

He approached each trap, humming off-key show tunes while defusing lethal enchantments.

"This one’s extra nasty," he whispered, examining a ward stone that pulsed with malevolent green light.

"Trip this baby and boom—your organs become modern art."

His nimble fingers danced across the stone’s surface, unraveling the magical threads with practiced ease.

The deadly glow faded to harmless gray.

"And... done! Next victim, please."

They moved deeper into St. Mariel’s skeletal remains.

Broken fluorescent lights hung like dead snakes from water-stained ceiling tiles.

Their footsteps echoed despite their efforts at stealth, the sound bouncing off cracked walls painted with decades of decay.

The smell hit them first—wet concrete, rusted metal, and something organic that shouldn’t exist in an abandoned building.

"Fresh food scraps," Ginsei murmured, his serpent senses picking up traces the others missed. "This place isn’t as empty as it looks."

Cyrus’s jaw tightened, crimson energy threatening to leak from his controlled facade.

Every second they spent sneaking through rubble was another moment Kane remained in Elias’s clutches.

His dragon instincts screamed to burn everything in his path until he found his fox.

The first patrol rounded a corner thirty yards ahead—three wolf spirits in tactical armor, their amber eyes scanning systematically.

Moonfall Industries sigils glowed on their chest plates like burning brands.

"Let me—" Cyrus started, his hands beginning to shift into claws.

"Noise here means reinforcements," Ginsei hissed, grabbing Cyrus’s shoulder. "You’ll bring the entire facility down on us."

Mochi was already moving, pulling a jade talisman from his vest.

He lobbed it past the wolves, where it exploded into a perfect illusion—a massive tomcat spirit, back arched and yowling with supernatural volume.

The wolves spun toward the sound, confused by the feline challenge echoing through the corridors.

"What the hell—"

"Behind us! Intruder!"

"No, it’s coming from the east wing!"

Ginsei struck while they argued.

Pale mist flowed from his body, coiling around the nearest wolf’s throat in translucent serpentine coils.

The wolf’s snarl froze mid-sound as ice crystals formed along its windpipe.

Ginsei’s hypnotic power invaded the creature’s mind, snapping its consciousness into magical sleep.

The wolf collapsed without a sound.

Cyrus couldn’t wait for subtlety with the remaining two.

He moved like death given form—one fluid motion that brought his clawed hand to the second wolf’s throat.

Crimson energy poured from his touch, snuffing out the creature’s spirit light like a candle in a hurricane.

The wolf crumpled, its amber eyes fading to empty glass.

The third wolf opened its mouth to howl an alarm.

Mochi’s throwing knife found its throat first, the blade wreathed in silencing charms.

The wolf made no sound as it died.

"Teamwork makes the dream work," Mochi chirped, retrieving his blade and wiping it clean on the dead wolf’s armor.

They moved deeper, past collapsed medical equipment and water-stained walls that reeked of abandonment.

The decay was a perfect mask—who would think to look for a high-tech facility beneath a condemned hospital?

Cyrus’s pendant thrummed against his chest, the tracking spell pulling him forward with increasing urgency.

Kane was close. Very close.

"There," Ginsei hissed, pointing toward a section of wall that looked identical to every other cracked surface they’d passed.

But his serpent senses detected the subtle difference—fresh air currents flowing from behind rusted surgical doors that should have led nowhere.

Mochi skipped ahead, running his hands along the doorframe until he found the hidden seam.

"Ooh, sneaky sneaky. Someone’s been very naughty with their renovations."

Behind the false barrier, a pristine elevator waited, its polished steel surface gleaming under emergency lighting.

A biometric scanner glowed red beside the call button, demanding authentication they didn’t possess.

"My turn to show off," Ginsei murmured, his form already beginning to shift.

Pale mist flowed from his fingertips, condensing into a translucent serpent tail that slithered toward the scanner.

The scanner’s red light flickered as Ginsei’s spirit energy touched the sensors.

His mist-form tail shifted density and resonance, mimicking the wolf signatures that had passed through recently.

The device hummed, processing the false data.

A green light flooded the scanner as it accepted the deception.

The elevator doors slid open with a soft chime, revealing an interior that belonged in a luxury hotel, not an abandoned hospital.

"Going down," Mochi chirped, bouncing on his toes as they stepped inside.

The elevator descended smoothly, far longer than should have been possible given the hospital’s foundation depth.

They were traveling deep underground, into Moonfall’s true facility.

Cyrus’s hands clenched as the pendant’s pull intensified.

Kane was here, somewhere in this hidden maze of steel and shadows.

The elevator slowed, preparing to reach their destination. Just as the doors began to part, piercing alarms shrieked through the facility.

Red emergency lights bathed the elevator car in hellish crimson as a mechanized voice echoed from hidden speakers.

"Containment breach in ward seven. All units respond. Lethal force authorized."

Cyrus’s lips curved into a smile, crimson energy flickering in his eyes.

"That’s my fox."