Lord Shadow

Chapter 1562  Hell is Open

The Lockpick Master sighed

The Lockpick Master's exhalation carried a tinge of impatience, his nod acknowledging the sentiment of the Oracle.

He was never that close to her. But he had dealings with her in the past

"Impatient as ever," he murmured, his words almost lost in the air around them.

From the void space, he retrieved a key, its existence ethereal until brought into the material world.

Carefully inserting the key into an invisible cavity, a peculiar transformation began.

Though nothing is visible initially, a subtle distortion marked the key's advancement.

Then, as the key pushed forward, reality itself seemed to ripple and split, birthing a gate before them.

The atmosphere grew dense, a pall of darkness enveloping the surroundings.

Even the distant geyser's frenetic activity quelled, and the once-vibrant grass drooped, its vitality drained.

Overhead, storm clouds converged, their ominous presence punctuated by resounding thunderclaps and jagged bolts of lightning.

And then they could see it. There is a gate appearing in front of them, appearing like a mirage in the desert

Among this eerie spectacle, the Seven Warlords, Antonius, and Erika turned their gaze to the newly formed gate.

Its obsidian surface bore crimson trim, creating a striking contrast and adding the fear factor of this gate

To traverse the threshold, one had to step onto a patch of dark red soil, a stark demarcation against the backdrop of foreboding darkness.

The Lockpick Master had fashioned an expansive portal, a gateway that bridged Earth's dimension with a distinct realm compressed and parallel to their own.

Though palpably present, this portal existed within the interstice of space, a concealed passage tethered to the very fabric of reality.

Erika's perceptive gaze traced the inscription etched onto the gate's surface, her lips curling in a wry smile.

"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here. Boris sure does have a wicked sense of humor. Though, I guess when he created this prison, he must have never thought that he would be the one inhabiting it"

Yet, the gravity of their mission overshadowed any jest. Erika's sojourn in this alternate dimension remained brief, her resolve unswerving.

"Let's go. We have someone to save"

"Time is of the essence," she declared, a tinge of urgency underlining her words.

The Seven Warlords moved forward in unison, followed by Antonius who stepped purposefully into the space beyond.

However, the Lockpick Master's demeanour suggested a lingering doubt, his figure hesitating at the threshold.

He looks at Erika and then ask

"I fulfilled my Price. I could go now, right?" The Lockpick Master said

Erika only smiles and shakes her head.

"The thing you asked me, how could it so easily be redeemable? I told you that if you are asking for the future, especially the kind of future you are asking for, the Price would be steep. At that time, you agree"

Hearing this the Lockpick Master sighed. He did agree at that time. He just never thought that by agreeing he would now be involved in a prison break

And not just any prison but the black site of all black site in the Republic.

He knows Tartarus because he knows keys and lock.

And he knows that if the Republic knows that there is someone like him who could unravel the security of Tartarus, he would be hunted by them in the future.

But what could he do? Renege on the Price?

He knows that the Price of having your fortune read by the Oracle is a price of Karma, of cause and effect and that kind of price is like a curse.

Ask anyone on the street? Do you want to get curse by fate and destiny itself?

He sighed.

Erika could sense the unease feeling that the Lockpick Master is feeling. If Erika is any other person, she might think of a word to consoled him. But Erika has always been a bit mischievous sometimes

"And if you go now, how do we get out if the Nine Guardians all come towards me?"

Hearing this does not dispel any of the unease that the Lockpick master is feeling. Instead, he feels even more stressed

This is basically reminding him, that breaking in is one thing, breaking out is another.

The Lockpick Master frowned and sighed

"Fine" And then he enters that area that leads to the gate of Tartarus.

Erika however did not immediately walk inside that area

Instead, she looks around, her eyes seem to be seeing something that others could not. She smiles and spoke

"You're here, right?" no one answered her.

But Mister Moscow heart is beating fiercely. Even though she could not have seen through his concealing formation, Erika is right now looking right at his direction

There is a smile on the Oracle face and then for a moment, she just stares at his direction. And then she shakes her head and then enter the portal. The moment she enters the portal, The portal immediately close up on itself.

Mister Moscow seeing this could not help but frowned.

"This would be a big deal after all. today would not be a good day for the Republic " he thought to himself and then quickly go away from this place of right and wrong.

He could already feel that something big will happen if he keeps staying here.

Flying away, a streak of golden light streaks across the skies

All he knows is that Tartarus now is going be fully wrecked.

With the Magician pulling the strings and Erika entering Tartarus, today would be the day where there would be chaos in the Republic.

And Mister Moscow had to keep his safety first before he could save anyone else

"You all have your plans and schemes. I just want to survive" he thought to himself as he was flying away from this place

In the back of his mind, he could not help but hope that those two factions would kill themselves to death fight against each other and don't involve him.

Even a week after the battle the aftermath of that battle is still reverberating across the world

And one would wonder while the whole world is scheming and plotting against each other, what is Death Monarch is doing right now?

That person himself seems very much at ease.

Amidst a world ruled by god-like figures, each move he made was akin to casting a stone into a placid lake, creating ripples that grew into devastating waves, threatening to breach the once-stable shores.

He is the master orchestrator of turmoil, and his demeanour suggested an almost eerie composure in the face of the mayhem he sowed.

head.

"No wonder the Magician had such thoughts" Then he shakes his head.

"But the Magician goes too far. Living in a world that he desired would not bring peace at all"

Mister Moscow is no stranger to violence; it coursed through his veins like an old friend.

 Yet, he wielded violence with precision, a means to an end, a tool to carve a path through the thorns of adversity.

To most, violence is an unforgivable sin, a brutal force that is abhorred and they pretend like they would never use such power.

Those same people are either weak enough that they are afflicted by violence, a product of violence or person who sat so high on top of his own pedestal that they could not see, that the ideals they thought in their head would crumble the moment it is faced with reality.

In the real world, force has always win. Whether it is wielded by the righteous or wielded by evil, force and strength rules the world

Right now, Justice prevailed. The world power won the war and so justice win. But of course, justice wins.

Whoever wins, they are justice.

For these individuals who denounced violence, the chasm between their lofty thoughts and the harsh reality below was an abyss they refused to acknowledge.

Though he occasionally enjoyed the chaos sown by his own hand, the Magician vision of the world was like a descent into hell.

It was this perspective that left Mister Moscow wary of aligning with the Rat or the Magician.

And so, the first moment he got, he ran away.

After all, he had held up his end of the bargain. He promised the Rat that he would open the doors of Tartarus to him.

In truth, his vigilance over the area surrounding Tartarus was a mere token of post-service, a half-hearted gesture.

However, with the arrival of the Oracle, the Seven Warlords of Greece, and even the Lockpick Master, the situation now contradicted his cardinal principle of steering clear of trouble.

The need to maintain his cover as Alexei weighed heavily more than ensuring that the Rat could escape the net that is now surrounding him

 As for the unfolding drama within the abyss of Tartarus, who would emerge victorious, and who would succumb to the shadows, no longer held Mister Moscow's interest

BOOOM!

A deafening BOOOM erupted with earth-shaking force, splitting the tranquillity of the surroundings just moments after Mister Moscow's hasty departure.

Anyone within the vicinity of the geyser valley was suddenly thrust into a spine-chilling spectacle that would haunt their memories forever.

Many of the levelers in the Republic had already flown toward the Valley of Geyser and when they hear the explosion of course they would look toward the area.

Before their disbelieving eyes, a colossal gate, soaring to a staggering forty feet, seemed to reach for the very heavens, its imposing presence eclipsing the skies.

A malevolent, dark-red aura oozed ominously from the gate's core, as if it held within it all the malevolence and terror of the world.

With a dread-inducing slowness that sent shivers through the spines of those who watched, the massive gate began to creak open.

The sound, a haunting, echoing wail, reverberated across the landscape, sending waves of fear cascading through the hearts of all who heard it.

The Doors of Tartarus, now yawned wide, ready to unleash an enigmatic horror upon the unsuspecting world.

The scene was alive with anticipation, a chilling dance of malevolent forces on the precipice of release.

ROAR! And a roar that shakes Europe echoes endlessly.

Tartarus is now open!

…