Chapter 209: A Rare Night of Peace

Aria Dining — VVIP Room

The thick mahogany door blocked out almost all the noise from outside. The soft music that had once echoed through the restaurant was now nothing more than a faint whisper, leaving the room wrapped in a calm, peaceful atmosphere.

Warm light from the crystal chandelier bathed the room, reflecting gently across the long dining table prepared with meticulous care.

Crystal glasses stood in perfect rows. Every piece of silverware gleamed without a single flaw.

Everything about the room made it clear that this wasn’t an ordinary private room.

And tonight wasn’t an ordinary gathering. It was a place where people who truly knew one another came together.

Al, Ai, Sebastian, Michaelis, Hans, Reina, along with their respective teams, had all gathered for the evening.

They sat at different tables, almost as if their seating reflected their positions within the organization.

Al and Ai occupied one of the grandest tables, slightly separated from Sebastian, Michaelis, Hans, and Reina’s group. The distance maintained a sense of status, yet they were still close enough to chat without raising their voices.

Even so, the warm interactions between everyone made it obvious there were no formal barriers among them.

Premium dishes and drinks had already been served.

The only thing missing was wine—the one drink that usually completed the atmosphere of luxury.

Not because they couldn’t afford it. But because of who they were.

DIAR... Or more specifically, Cursed Humans.

There were certain things they simply had to avoid.

Just like anger, anything capable of pushing their emotions to the extreme—whether positive or negative—could send them into a berserk state.

Alcohol was one of them, since intoxication lowered self-control. Highly addictive foods were another.

And perhaps the most unfortunate restriction of all...

Sex.

Anything capable of driving desire to its peak was considered dangerous.

Of course, people who had reached higher levels—like Al, Ai, Sebastian, and Michaelis—could endure it much better. Even so, it was still wiser not to take the risk.

Among everyone present, Michaelis was by far the most excited.

After spending the past several weeks dealing with security for the National Entrance Examination, he had finally returned.

"Congratulations, Master! You finally got through it!"

"Which also means... I don’t have to keep doing that job anymore! Hahaha!"

His energetic voice instantly filled the room with laughter, and one after another, everyone congratulated Al.

Ai was naturally the last to speak. As if saving the most important congratulations for last.

"You did an amazing job, Master," she said warmly, her eyes sparkling as she looked at him.

Al simply raised one hand lazily. It was such a minimal gesture that it almost looked like he couldn’t even be bothered to respond.

"You guys..." he muttered. "You know I hate celebrations like this. Though, I have to admit... the food’s pretty good."

Everyone chuckled. They all understood. That was just how their master was.

The celebration continued in high spirits, especially for the lower-ranking members who rarely had the chance to spend relaxed time with their master outside their nightly patrols.

Of course, not everyone could make it.

Kian, Bata, and their teams were still monitoring Daraka’s movements. Meanwhile, Shae and Saya remained stationed in Ataris... a place Al happened to be visiting later tonight.

Not long after, Al leaned back in his chair with a satisfied sigh as Ai continued feeding him.

"Ahh... that was delicious," he murmured.

"Are you full, Master?" Ai asked.

Al shook his head without opening his eyes.

"Of course not. I’ve just been way too busy lately—for someone like me, anyway. My relaxation time has practically disappeared. Especially today."

"Fortunately... it’s finally over."

He let out a long sigh before straightening himself and turning toward Ai again.

"Anyway... You should enjoy the food too. Eat and stop focusing so much on taking care of me."

Ai simply smiled and shook her head before picking another dish for him.

"But you know I’d rather take care of you."

The others could only smile helplessly at the two of them.

Not long after, Sebastian broke the comfortable silence.

"Do you think it’s really safe for us to relax like this tonight?" he asked. "With... everything that’s happening."

Everyone fell silent for a moment.

There were simply too many problems surrounding Makazhar City.

Their nightly patrols were still under control.

The WMA and the Spiritual Police had tightened their surveillance even further after the Rudi and Jogo incident.

The Norvalien and Karagara families, who had previously been in legal conflict with Al, had finally backed down and apologized. That issue was settled. Even so, they still had to keep a close eye on their next move

Ordo Ferox, another DIAR faction that had been constantly interfering with them, had also gone unusually quiet.

The mysterious group that had targeted Ai and Aurielle—suspected to be connected to a demon-worshipping cult—had shown no activity lately.

The cannibal group and the foreign assassins were still being hunted down.

And then there was the one person who made all of their instincts scream in warning. Daraka. He was still under surveillance.

"If you ask me..." Al said calmly, "there’s never really a right time or a wrong time."

"For people like us, who spend every day standing on the edge of a cliff... Relaxing while staying alert... Enjoying ourselves while continuing to fight... that’s just part of our everyday lives."

"So..." He shrugged. "Just do whatever you still can, while handling what you have to."

Sebastian and the others nodded.

The atmosphere naturally became more serious.

"By the way..." Al continued. "How have the patrols and surveillance been lately?"

A man from one of the nearby tables immediately stood up and walked over.

It was Irvan, the commander responsible for operations throughout Makazhar City.

"About that, Master..." he began.

"Recently, spiritual and occult-related activities have dropped significantly without any clear reason."

The others exchanged glances.

Now that he mentioned it, they had noticed the same thing. During the last few patrols, they had only encountered two to four incidents each night. Normally, there would be seven to ten.

"It looks like someone’s pulling the strings behind the scenes," Irvan continued.

"We also uncovered recent intelligence regarding large-scale black market transactions involving Dimension Stones and Teleportation Stones."

"And when we compared that information with Daraka’s recent movements... the connection was hard to ignore."

Al frowned.

It made sense. He already knew Daraka possessed an unusually large number of those stones—far more than anyone could obtain within Makazhar itself.

So he got them through the black market... But why?

"Based on that assumption," Irvan continued, "we intensified our surveillance on Daraka and tracked every location where he’d been spotted."

"And at two of those locations... we discovered nearly identical altars. They appear to have been prepared for a large-scale ritual."

Hearing that, Al and Sebastian exchanged a sharp look. They both recognized the pattern immediately.

"...Is it what I think it is?" Al asked.

"It seems so, Master." Sebastian nodded. "The pattern is too obvious."

"Could it be...?" Ai asked hesitantly.

Al nodded, his fist slowly tightening. His expression darkened.

"They’re trying to open a large-scale dimensional rift... right here in the city."

The room instantly fell silent. Everyone’s expressions turned grim.

Unlike ordinary people, they understood exactly how terrifying dimensional threats were.

Almost every night, they dealt with small dimensional rifts before they could become a problem. But a large one... that was an entirely different story.

The massive, powerful monsters they had encountered in Azzaleth could potentially cross into this world.

"But... why a small city like this?" Reina murmured.

"Because Makazhar isn’t an ordinary small city," Sebastian replied.

"...?"

"It may be small, but its population density is surprisingly high. Spiritual activity is also much stronger than most cities of its size. So it’s a suitable location."

Irvan nodded in agreement.

"On top of that, this city’s magical combat strength is relatively low—both in quality and in numbers. If someone wanted to carry out a large-scale ritual... this city would be an ideal target."

"Does that mean..." Reina swallowed. "...they’re trying to bring chaos to Makazhar?"

"Does this mean..." Hans asked with a grim expression, "...we’re standing on the brink of war?"

"If that’s the case, we should mobilize all our troops and focus everything on this city."

"Maybe," Sebastian answered. "But we’re still missing too many pieces."

"We don’t even know if their objective is truly to bring powerful creatures into this world."

"And if a war really is coming, we still don’t know what role we’re supposed to play. Our priority right now is gathering intelligence and quietly informing every force operating in and around the city."

"Exactly," Ai agreed. "Mobilizing our forces on a large scale would be extremely risky with the WMA watching us this closely."

"Getting our people into this country is already difficult. Moving them here in large numbers would be even harder."

"Yes, Queen," Reina replied with a nod. "The WMA would notice immediately. We’d only be exposing ourselves."

"And the other DIAR factions would definitely use that opportunity to disrupt our patrol territories elsewhere," Hans added.

"Especially that Gray Robe faction. They’ve been targeting several of our territories for a while now."

"Everything you’ve said is correct," Al finally said, taking over the discussion.

"This is undoubtedly a threat we have to deal with. But before anything else... we need to understand exactly what we’re facing."

He rested a finger against his chin, deep in thought.

"But still... bringing powerful creatures into this world isn’t that simple. They still have to deal with dimensional resonance."

"No matter how powerful those monsters are, if they fail to synchronize with this dimension before they’re discovered... even a team of E-Rank Hunters could eliminate them."

"So... Why?"

"I think Sa-Ya and Shae can answer that."

A voice suddenly came from the doorway.

The door slowly opened.

An elegant woman stepped inside with graceful confidence.

Her black evening dress hugged her figure perfectly, giving her an air of elegance without sacrificing warmth. Her long hair was neatly arranged, and the faint smile on her lips somehow made the room feel more welcoming.

Other than Al...

Everyone immediately rose to their feet.

It was as though the woman who had just entered possessed a status comparable to his.

She smiled confidently as her eyes met Al’s.

Al had sensed her presence long before she entered. Even so... there was still something about her that gave him a strange, indescribable feeling.

"...You’re here," he said.