Chapter 337 An Unexpected Successful Escape
Elder Astra felt a slight reduction in his psychological burden after confirming that Shadow Celestial had left.
Furrowing his brow, Elder Astra pondered for a while before ultimately deciding on the course of action he should take. He did not intend to directly rescue the Envoy of Filth from the Angel Guild's headquarters. He knew that the risks involved in such a move were substantial, and even if he succeeded, the Envoy of Filth would certainly not express any gratitude towards him. After all, his appearance before the Envoy would mean that Irving could act freely.
Instead, Elder Astra resolved to target Irving's allies. The first target he chose was, of course, James, someone he knew very well. After all, Elder Astra had previously made contact with James using members of the Night Blades from the real world.
Having made his decision, Elder Astra swiftly used a Dark Portal to head to a building located in the suburban civilian area. He had previously placed a powerful scroll within that building. For his upcoming plan to proceed smoothly, he needed to take this scroll with him.
Meanwhile, Irving and his allies were also on the move. After leaving the headquarters of Ocean Group, Irving quickly arrived at the Angel Guild's headquarters. Upon seeing that the Angel Guild's headquarters remained intact, Irving finally let out a sigh of relief.
"It seems the Night Blades were unable to launch an effective attack on the Angel Guild," he remarked before entering the headquarters.
Before long, he met with Aron, Anna, and Nick. The three were currently gathered in a conference room, discussing whether or not to collaborate with the Envoy of Filth. The Envoy had been confined within a cursed mirror by Nick. They could converse with the Envoy, but they had no way to trust what he said, nor did they possess any means to ascertain the truth of his words.
Irving's arrival sparked a new line of thought for Aron and the others. Aron directly recounted the events that had unfolded to Irving. After finishing, he slowly turned to Irving and asked, "Do you think we should trust the Envoy of Filth? If we agree to cooperate with him, can he really provide us with significant help?"
Faced with Aron's inquiry, Irving hesitated slightly. Under normal circumstances, he would be unwilling to cooperate with anyone from the Night Blades.
Moreover, Irving now knew that the Envoy of Filth had very close ties to Shadow Celestial, which meant that the Envoy was part of the Night Blades' internal faction most hostile to him and his allies. However, without collaborating with the Envoy of Filth, Irving had no way to gather more intelligence.
After a moment of calm reflection, Irving slowly spoke up. "I can't make a decision right now. Did you gather any additional intelligence during your previous battles? If the information we currently have is insufficient, we may need to consider collaborating with the Envoy of Filth."
As he spoke, Irving's tone was filled with hesitation.
After hearing this, Aron's expression grew somewhat grave. "You're right; it seems we have no choice but to cooperate with him. We need to free him from the cursed mirror, but we must also be prepared for unexpected situations."
Although Aron did not possess strength equal to Irving's, he had encountered far more members of the Night Blades than Irving had. Therefore, Aron had more experience in collaborating with Night Blades members while keeping mutual caution in mind.
Irving agreed with Aron's assessment. Once they reached a consensus, they returned to the conference room. Aron turned to Anna. "You should break the seal on the cursed mirror."
Anna's expression showed a hint of surprise, but it was only a fleeting moment. Her face quickly returned to a calm demeanor. Nodding without expression, she began to open the seal of the cursed mirror.
To break the seal on the cursed mirror, it was essential to use the correct spell. As Anna cast her spell, Nick glanced at Irving. He had many questions he wanted to ask Irving, but he wasn't sure if he had the standing to do so.
Just as Nick hesitated, Irving smiled and said, "Is there something you want to ask me? If you have something to say, go ahead. I believe no one will object, and I also have the time to answer your questions."
Since Irving had encouraged him, Nick directly asked the question that weighed most on his mind. "Have you been attacked by members of the Night Blades?"
"Of course, I was attacked by members of the Night Blades! They even targeted my home directly. If I hadn't rushed back in time, Wendy might have been in serious danger."
Upon hearing Irving's response, Nick couldn't help but let out a sigh. "It seems the Night Blades' actions this time are on a large scale. We may need to remain vigilant."
Nick's statement was rather superficial; he was merely reflecting on the current situation. However, when Irving heard Nick's words, he suddenly realized that he had overlooked a crucial piece of information. What was Elder Astra, the one who had previously attacked him, doing now?
Irving was completely unaware of Elder Astra's current actions. Although Astra had previously sought to collaborate with him, after an intense battle, Astra would undoubtedly view Irving as an enemy. Therefore, he would not simply wait for Irving and his allies to succeed in their plans; Astra would surely be looking for a quick opportunity to launch an attack against them.
Realizing this, Irving lowered his voice and spoke to Aron. "The Elder from the Night Blades who attacked me before is quite powerful, and he possesses a very formidable weapon. We need to establish cooperation with the Envoy of Filth as soon as possible; only then can we discover a way to defeat Elder Astra."
Upon hearing Irving's words, Aron nodded gravely. Just as their conversation came to an end, the seal of the cursed mirror was finally broken. Irving was prepared to question the Envoy of Filth.
However, what neither Irving nor Aron expected was that the moment the cursed mirror was opened, Anna suddenly let out an incredulous exclamation. "How is this possible?! The Envoy of Filth has escaped from the mirror! He's not in the cursed mirror at all!"
Anna's revelation left everyone in shock. Aron and Irving rushed to Anna's side, their gazes fixated on the cursed mirror.
At that moment, the cursed mirror had been completely opened by Anna's spell. The unique space within the cursed mirror was fully revealed to everyone. The special space contained numerous cursed souls, but not a single one belonged to the Envoy of Filth.
Seeing this scene, Aron's expression turned grim. He banged his hand on the table. "We were far too careless! We should have known from the very beginning that the Envoy of Filth cannot be easily trapped!"
Unlike Aron, who was seething with anger, Irving, though equally shocked, managed to remain calm. He carefully observed the unique space within the cursed mirror and noticed residual chaotic energy. Upon seeing this, Irving immediately understood that it was entirely normal for the Envoy of Filth to escape from this place.
"This isn't the time to get angry! It's perfectly reasonable for the Envoy of Filth to have escaped, as the primary power of the cursed mirror is also the powers of chaos. And as a confidant of Shadow Celestial, the Envoy of Filth wields chaotic energy as well. What we need to do now is find the Envoy of Filth as quickly as possible! I believe he couldn't have escaped from the headquarters of the Angel Guild; the defensive magical formations around the headquarters are still quite intact."
Irving's words snapped Aron and the others back into focus. Aron turned to Nick and shouted decisively, "Immediately seal off all internal passages of the headquarters! And put all members on high alert!"
Nick nodded emphatically and pressed a red button on the conference table. The moment the red button was pressed, all defensive magical formations within the Angel Guild headquarters were activated, and every passage within the headquarters was sealed off. Every member of the Angel Guild inside received the appropriate warnings.
"Now we can take our time searching for the Envoy of Filth within the headquarters. Even if he managed to escape from the cursed mirror, his strength will diminish over time. We've deployed many magical formations designed to weaken intruders, and they are still actively working."
Though there had been some missteps in the Angel Guild's actions, the members were seasoned fighters, well-versed in handling emergencies. Irving smiled and nodded, saying, "You are the most professional among my friends. If this had happened to my other allies, they would have handled it in a far more chaotic manner."
Irving's praise brought joy to Anna and Nick, but Aron didn't seem to care much about the compliments. In his view, the most important task was to locate the Envoy of Filth. "We can discuss those things later! We need to take immediate action. We must split up; it's the only way to save time!"
Under Aron's command, he, Anna, Irving, and Nick began to act separately, each heading in a different direction to search. Given their considerable strength, they believed they could cover the entire Angel Guild headquarters in a relatively short time. By the time the search was completed, the Envoy of Filth would surely be found.