CHAPTER 84: VOICE BEYOND THE GATE

Six hours after the luncheon ended, alone in his office, Ryan Blackwood is cursing his aunt, Margareth Blackwood, into the depths of the abyss.

He has just finished listening to Silvia’s verbal report on the disaster she called "a luncheon," and he is sitting on his sofa with his hands gripping his head.

Oh Aunt Margareth. Why did you have to do that? You hate the Montroses, fine. Scream at them, spit at them, push them into a ditch. I do not care. But why did you have to drag the Baroness into it?

He drags a hand down his face.

"We cannot afford to offend the Baroness. We really, really cannot. She has networks everywhere. Everywhere."

He leans back, staring blankly at the ceiling. His mind feels like mud. Every attempt at thinking just slips.

"I can only ask for more time. What else can I do?" His voice cracks a little.

He reaches for his phone. His fingers hover above the screen. He cannot bring himself to call. If he calls and disturbs her when she is already angry, she might double the amount.

He takes several slow breaths. He keeps staring at the phone, like he can wish a miracle into existence.

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Your Ladyship, I– I don’t understand. Your Ladyship wishes for me to not hinder the mining? Am I right, Your Ladyship?"

Chief Stille is annoyed. Yuki Noritsu of Monfort Industries had warned him over the phone, with a subtle hint of threat, to stay away from the Beachwalk mining site, because Monfort Industries is also mining there.

He had been extremely proud of himself for standing up to one of the biggest companies in Altheon.

His heart had been pounding hard and he’d been sweating buckets when he said,

"I’m sorry to hear that, Ms. Noritsu. But as Chief of the Dungeon Emergency Unit of Arvion, I cannot ignore the safety misconducts that have been neglected at the mining site. I will keep monitoring and inspecting until the site has fulfilled all of the safety measurements clearly written in the guidebook."

He felt like he was fighting a giant, which, in a way, he was.

By the end of the call, he’d been delighted that he managed to ’thwart’ the enemy. He was sure the Baroness would be proud of him and that he would be rewarded.

But now the Baroness has just told him to let them mine?

What happened?

"Not only do I want you to lift any bans or restrictions you’ve imposed on them, I want you to make sure the mining goes well. I want it to go very well." The Baroness stares straight into Chief Stille’s eyes.

"You do know that I don’t like to explain myself more than I want to, and I do not repeat myself, don’t you, Harrison?"

Her eyes narrow, her lips barely move, and her voice is cold and low.

Chief Stille swallows hard. He knows very well that the Baroness is not someone he can cross. He’s been begging her to teach him how to use mana. He’d been thrilled when the Baroness agreed to teach him.

But that was over a year ago.

Up until now, she hasn’t taught him anything except how to meditate and feel the mana inside and around him, which he cannot do. Not even a little.

"I understand, Your Ladyship." He has no choice but to obey.

"Excellent." The Baroness smiles, though her eyes stay flat and cold.

"Now, we continue our lesson. Close your eyes and tell me what you feel."

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Liam steps out of the shower in Theo’s private gym. He’s been training all day and didn’t realize the time. When he finally checked the clock, it was almost seven.

He’s wearing nothing but a towel around his waist.

It’s almost seven. Why is no one calling me for dinner? Not even snacks. Aunt Leila always brings something. Are they still not back from the luncheon? It’s nearly dinner time. Where are they?

He grabs his phone. No messages.

He puts on clean training pants and a T-shirt and is about to head out when his phone vibrates.

ARTHUR MONTROSE.

He answers. "Yeah, Arthur. Hm? Julian? No, I haven’t seen him today. He’s not at his lab?"

"I don’t know. I’m still at the office, I don’t have access to the lab’s security feed. Julian’s the one who usually monitors that. He texted me this morning and then nothing. It’s weird."

Arthur’s trying to sound casual.

"Well, I’m still at the HB gym. I can go check his lab," Liam offers. His Sentinel instinct tells him Arthur is worried — and Arthur does worry, but usually over Thea, not Julian.

"Can you? I’d appreciate it, Liam."

"No worries, man. I’m done training anyway. Waiting for dinner invitation from Aunt Leila." Liam chuckles, trying to distract him.

Arthur actually laughs.

"Yeah, Mom’s cooking will do that to you. Thanks again, Liam."

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"He’s out since this morning?" Liam asks Julian’s lab assistants.

One of them nods.

"And he hasn’t contacted any of you?"

They all shake their heads.

Liam exhales through his nose. Something feels wrong.

"Okay, thank you."

He steps out, pulls out his phone, and dials Julian.

No connection. The phone is either off or out of range.

His stomach twists. This is Julian. A man who upgrades his devices for fun. Going completely dark is not normal.

"Young Master Monfort."

Liam turns. One of the assistants is standing there, looking uneasy.

"I think you should see this."

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"A what?" Arthur asks. He is already in the Horizon, heading home. That uncomfortable tightness in his gut has been building since afternoon.

"A delayed audio message," Liam says. "Julian must have scheduled it to send at a certain time. His assistant just told me. I haven’t played it yet."

"And he sent it to his assistant? Why not me or you?" Arthur’s confusion sharpens his voice.

Liam hears the assistant answering the same question beside him.

"It’s okay," Liam says. "You’re on speaker. Arthur can hear you."

The assistant clears his throat and explains, "Master Julian has been trying to develop a new way of communication. Every time someone enters a dungeon, all signals vanish. He has been trying to find a method to bridge that."

"Recently, he found that the energy produced by heartstones is present in the air too. He believed he could use it to transfer messages or audio and video files, maybe even replace regular signals or act as a backup when signals fail."

"So far, he hasn’t succeeded. But two days ago, he said he was close, and he asked us not to disturb him."

The assistant lifts a small device from the desk. "This audio message was sent using that experimental method. This device is the receiver. We do not know how to extract the data from it, so we cannot determine when or from where he sent it. So we do not know how long ago this recording was made."

"We noticed it was blinking. And as you can see," he hands the device to Liam, "it says one audio message."

The device looks like an old pager, with a single tiny screen that only displays basic text. The technology feels crude and forced, clearly still in its experimental stage.

"Play it," Arthur says through the phone.

The assistant presses the only button available.

There is low buzzing static, then a faint voice, distorted and hard to catch, but unmistakably Julian’s.

"—know if— message— through— inside... dungeon... Hel— ga— Please— help— haelions— organized— someone— order—"

Even with the broken sentences, Julian’s tone is impossible to miss. Urgent. Panicked. And then the message cuts off completely.

"Arthur, you catch that?" Liam’s voice sharpens.

"Yes. He’s in the dungeon and he needs help." Arthur’s answer is clipped. He accelerates hard, weaving through the evening traffic toward home.

"Liam, I need your help. Go find where this dungeon is. I’ll send you the last text he sent me this morning. I’ll be there in twenty minutes." He hangs up.

Liam moves instantly. A missing person in a dungeon means one thing: life or death. Time is everything.

Arthur wants him ready. That means Liam needs to find the dungeon, gather intel, and prepare before Arthur arrives.

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Theo steps out of the car with a long exhale. He and the ladies spent hours shopping after Claudia dramatically called the luncheon "a gathering of witches."

He wants nothing more than a hot bath, a comforting dinner, and then sleep.

Leila is already bolting to the kitchen, muttering about being late for dinner prep.

Theo closes the car door and sees Liam sprinting out of the Montrose Mansion, heading straight for him.

One look is enough. Theo senses the urgency.

"What happened?" Theo asks before Liam even reaches him.

"I need you to contact Aldriana. Now. Julian’s missing. He’s inside a dungeon about fifty minutes from here, somewhere on Mt. Helene. Arthur and I are going. There’s no time to assemble a full Sentinel team. If Aldriana comes with us, our chances go way up."

Liam pushes the words out in one breath.

Theo blinks once. "She’ll be here in a few minutes."