"Hm?" Pearl Anders frowned as she felt a subtle increase in mana density.
My hand twitched slightly as I comprehended the situation.
'One person on a rooftop outside… about a kilometre away… they aren't a Djinn, maybe affiliated with them though.'
I used [Starlight Seer] to look at the person who was staring at me but only saw a shimmering glow which was no help when I needed details.
'A Djinn portal has opened from… somewhere. It seems Pearl felt it too, seeing how she suddenly frowned under her membrane…'
"Uso, you felt it too right? I'll head to the east wing." She spoke in a serious tone but under her membrane, she was smirking.
"I'll go too. There's a reason we were hired as a pair."
I reached into the air to pull out Omen but hesitated as I remembered my fellow cadets were also in the castle. Both of which had seen my weapons in action.
"Sure, just make sure to keep up." Pearl reverted to the personality she first greeted me with.
I nodded and made my way to the door, placing my hand on the handle and pushing it open.
Pearl walked past me and I followed close behind, shutting the door behind us quietly.
I then fished a radio out of my pocket and clicked the button.
"A Djinn portal has opened up inside the castle. We'll take care of the west wing."
I didn't wait even a second before hearing a response.
–Roger that. Commence search and destroy. Don't let anyone know.
Hearing the response, I put the radio away and looked at Pearl who was staring patiently. Though, beneath the membrane it looked like she wasn't exactly pleased at my decision to radio in the break in.
I acted as though I didn't pick up on it before lowering my centre of gravity.
"Alright, let's go." I spoke calmly.
"I was hoping you'd say that." Pearl took off her butterfly mask with a grin.
…
The two rushed to the vault, turning through the corridors and stairs with ease before making their way to a steel door guarded by no one.
There wasn't a single person guarding the door. It was a clear oddity, considering how cautious their employer seemed.
"..."
Uso, acting professional, checked the corridor using the stars and found traces of battle.
Covered up bloodstains and gashes under the carpet glowed brightly in his eyes.
"There's been an attack…someone was able to get in and out of the vault. They also had enough time to cover their tracks… the door doesn't appear damaged in any way though."
As he muttered under his breath, Uso pushed the stars away and looked at Pearl.
"It doesn't seem like anyones broken in."
"Is that so, captain obvious?" Pearl scoffed before walking up to the steel door and placing a small mechanical disk on the lock.
"What are you doing? Didn't I just say that no one had tampered with the door? Shouldn't we head back, if they aren't heading to the vault they're obviously going to the dance."
With a smile, Pearl flicked her red hair.
"Go ahead, I'll catch up."
Her tone of voice was deliberate and made no room for argument.
The steel doors opened with a hiss, the mechanical spider fell onto the floor and returned into a disk. Pearl didn't enter and simply stared at Uso, waiting.
Uso didn't need his intuition to tell him to get the hell out of there. He wasn't stupid enough to follow a clearly shady, clearly dangerous individual into the vault.
Although said lady would definitely be the reason Uso gets his pay cut, it wasn't very smart of him to fight someone without preparations.
So without a second thought Uso returned to the dance hall.
The moment Uso stepped into the room, he could tell something was off.
People were still dancing, mingling and eating. The guests were still enjoying their time here.
Only that, Uso couldn't quite make out any of the words. The chatter of guests merged together in an unharmonious grating noise.
The music from the band had become off tune and slow.
From experience, Uso immediately dragged the stars out of the shadows to buy himself time to investigate without disturbing reality.
"Alright, I have two minutes to figure out what's happening."
Uso leapt onto the VIP section and cast his gaze around. The silhouettes of the guests were all shaded in black, their jewellery outshining them by leaps and bounds.
"That's strange… Kim Suho, Yoo Yeonha and Yun Seung-Ah should've immediately popped into colour…"
Uso looked back at the VIP's who stared at him with bewilderment.
They too were shaded in black.
It was then that his perception snapped back into the coloured world, reality.
'Shaded black…'
Uso looked around, specifically at the threads on mana. They had been dense ever since the portal opened up, but could a portal opening really have this large of an impact on the thread density?
Obviously not, which is why it was likely that as soon as the djinn showed up, they cast another spell.
"Ah.." Uso's voice left his mouth as he suddenly had an epiphany.
A smile crept up the sides of his face, going unseen under the mask.
"So that's how it is…"
…Kim Hajin POV…
I cast my gaze at the magical portal that had opened up. Three djinn stood at the mouth of the gate before waving it away.
"Of course it isn't that simple…"
[Modified Setting - The Djinn Group, Evil Society, has identified the origin of the Homer's Ring and will interfere in the story.]
The three Djinn from the Evil society immediately form a circle in the room they had appeared before lifting their arms and chanting, the magic power emanating from it was around the same level of the portal.
It looked like they were charging up for something big.
'This was that goddamn co-author again. That sadistic bastard was going to do something this early in the story! Does he not care about the continuity?'
I complained in my mind before transforming my gun into a sniper rifle by fusing aether into it.
I took aim, looking at the three through my sniper scope.
But then I paused.
There were three Djinn, if I shot one the other two would immediately lock onto me.
Could I get away in time?
What if it doesn't even kill the first Djinn?
And if it did kill them, would it stop the spell?
There were too many uncertainties in this. I had to look for another way.
Realizing this, I forced my eyes to perceive the mansion in its entirety.
The perceptive ones obviously caught onto the Djinn portal opening. Minori, who was masked and Jain who was covered in a membrane, made their way to the vault.
It looked like they knew the path well.
'Were they hired as bodyguards?'
I then cast my gaze to the heroes. Yun Seung-Ah, who didn't know the layout of the castle, was making a beeline to the location of the magic.
Kim Suho and Yoo Yeonha had also noticed something but didn't seem to act just yet.
"Yun Seung-Ah will definitely come into contact with the Djinn." I concluded as I raised the scope of my gun to my eye.
I made a decision then and there to support Yun Seung-Ah in her fight. I didn't know exactly how strong the Djinn were but as long as the spell was interrupted the rest would be handled by the main cast!