The world fractured into hundreds of segmented views. There was no single perspective anymore, only the collective hum of the hive mind Reidar was connected to through his skill and the summons themselves. The ground was a landscape of jagged mountains from the tiny point of view of the Vorathid Foragers.

The order Reidar gave was simple: infiltrate, Observe and do not engage.

The metal wall loomed ahead, a mountain of rusted iron and welded scrap. It was impossibly tall from the Foragers' tiny perspective, stretching endlessly toward the sky, even more than a mountain would.

For a human, it was an obstacle. For the ants, it was like climbing the sky. Luckily, they found the spaces where the corrugated sheets met the earth, squeezing through openings no wider than a coin.

Inside, the ground hardened into packed dirt and cracked pavement. The vibrations of heavy footsteps thudded through their chitinous legs. Giants walked above. The Zealots.

Then, the pull of mana manifested itself from the center of the settlement.

The swarm didn't need to search; they simply followed mana until the makeshift cathedral rose above them.

The structure was filled with pipes and vents twisting like snakes and vines, and the mana leaked from beneath it. The ants found a ventilation grate near the foundation. They poured through the mesh, dropping into the sublevels.

Down here, everything was quiet. The sound of footsteps from above got distant and muffled, but it was undoubtedly there. The swarm crawled down rusty pipes, holding onto the ceilings as they went deeper underground.

They reached the basement.

It was a cavernous space, and the concrete floor was engraved with complex geometries.

Reidar took it all.

<The magic circle.>

The circle spanned the entire floor, featuring bones of monsters, identifiable as high-tier beasts by their residual mana energy. These were arranged in patterns whose purpose remained a mystery to Reidar.

It wasn't just a drawing. It was a machine. Based on what Reidar saw, it wasn't the almost completed, world-ending version Silas was trying to create. Even the size wasn't as big. But as far as a reproduction went, it was a hell of a reproduction.

Though the result would be the same. Then, the shadows moved. A man stood within the circle.

He hadn't walked there. He had simply detached himself from the darkness of the corner. He wore the vestments of a Deacon, the same ones that Aaron wore, but the fabric seemed to bleed into the surrounding area, and it was entirely black.

He was pale, his skin possessing the same quality Aaron and Silas's did.

He raised a hand. The shadows around his fingers lengthened, twisting into solid tendrils.

<Shadow magic.>

Reidar had to be cautious here, because as far as he had seen until that point from some of the monsters he fought, shadow magic was nasty, and it often came with presence-sensing abilities.

The man, Mikko Viren, tilted his head. He didn't look up at the rafters where the main body of the swarm hid. He looked at a single Forager that had ventured too close to the circle's edge.

"Rats," Viren said.

He didn't cast a spell. He didn't shout. He simply twitched a finger.

The shadow beneath the stray Vorathid Forager surged upward. It became a spike that skewered the summon instantly. The connection to that specific creature snapped.

Viren turned around, scanning the room. The shadows around his feet writhed like living snakes since they felt something was wrong. He sensed them moving but didn't see anything yet, but he knew something was there.

The ants on the rafters remained still, suppressing their mana as much as they could as per Reidar's order. They focused their hundreds of eyes on the man, waiting for the name tag to be clearly visible.

Until it did.

—[Mikko Viren—Level 335]—

This dude was stronger than Aaron. It made sense. Havenwood wasn't the only place where the church went, so this dude must have done something significant to get the deacon title and had to be strong enough to be appointed as a settlement leader.

This clearly wasn't just a manager or a bureaucrat left behind to watch the shop. This was a fighter.

Viren took a step forward. "I know you are here," he said to the empty room.

"The question is, what are you?" He was talking to himself.

He raised both hands. The darkness in the corners of the room began to detach, rising like a black tide. He was going to flood the room. He was going to suffocate everything in it just to be sure.

<Get out!>

Reidar ordered the Vorathid Foragers to retreat. The swarm had to leave immediately. If Viren killed too many ants at once, the sudden release of mana would make Reidar's presence obvious.

The man would detect it. He would know someone was controlling the creatures or even have proof the creatures were there.

Right now, Viren only suspected something was in the room. He didn't have confirmation. He didn't know if it was rats, insects, or something worse.

Reidar needed to keep it that way. The moment Viren confirmed an enemy was watching him, the element of surprise would be gone.

The swarm didn't hesitate. They abandoned stealth for speed, streaming back into the ventilation shafts just as the wave of solid shadow slammed into the ceiling, crushing the pipes where they had been seconds before.

On the ridge, Reidar cursed as his eyes snapped open.

"Fuck!"

"Shit!"

He lurched forward, bracing his hands on his knees as a wave of nausea rolled through him. The sensation of being crushed—of the shadow spike piercing the ants—was overwhelming.

It wasn't just the death of the ant. The shadows themselves had distorted his perception. They moved in ways that defied normal ways, folding and unfolding like living geometry that his human mind wasn't clearly made to see.

Every shadow Viren controlled carried that same disorienting quality, and experiencing it through dozens of compound eyes at once had left Reidar's brain struggling to process what was real.

"Reidar?" Lena got beside him. "What happened? Did they see you?"

Reidar took a breath. He wiped sweat from his forehead.

"They didn't see me," Reidar said. "But they sensed the summons. We got out just in time."

Jake leaned in. "Did you find the circle?"

"It's there," Reidar said. He looked down at the town, the gray industrial plant now looking far more sinister than before.

"It's a smaller version of the Mana Siphoning Array Silas was making. I assume that was to make it easier to make." He paused. "It is not active yet, but I don't have a single idea of when it will be completed."

"Can we destroy it?" Lena asked.

"If we can get to the basement, yes," Reidar said. "But there's a problem."

He looked at them. "The Deacon. Mikko Viren."

"Is he strong?" Jake asked.

Reidar nodded. "He's Level 335."

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