Whooooosh!  

  

  

The wind howled as a figure suddenly appeared from the sky above a desolate harbor town. It was a tall man in flowing blue robes that were embroidered with lightning patterns; a timepiece hung from his lapel. He looked to be in his mid-40s with piercing blue eyes and windswept brown hair.  

The very air surrounding him seemed hazy and the pouring rain seemed to both recede and surge around him.  

 As the man slowly approached the ground, the raging wind blew even harder with forks of lightning that began to streak across the ground. Massive waves pounded over the low-rising seawall as the lampposts of the nearby streets flickered out —the gas was cut off.  

 The man stared at the town; its pointy chimneys and smoking smokestacks seemed to warp and twist to the ordinary eye, the longer one stared at it. Even to him, a deep and chilling killing intent seemed to permeate in the air.  

The shadows around the buildings began to pool and congeal together as they formed a mass of darkness with glowing deep red eyes. They glared at the man, with eyes full of malevolence.  

DO… YOU…KNOW…WHO…I…AM?

The voice was low but wrathful; it seemed to come out of nowhere. Time froze as the shadow extended out twisted tentacles that spiraled towards the man.  

Instead of answering, the man simply raised his hand, and a silver forest of lightning bolts arced across the sky. The nearby buildings shook as a massive crater formed in the middle of the cobblestone road where the center of the flowing shadows was.  

The blue-eyed man let out a mighty roar that blew apart nearby buildings and sent tremors throughout the ground. The mass of shadows split apart but did not disintegrate in the now-smoking crater.  

A chilling laugh echoed through the desolate piers, it was faint yet even to the listener it invoked a sense of madness. The cobblestone road began to distort and twist around a singularity. The man took out his timepiece and began twisting the front dial.

Then, the cold intent disappeared, and the shadows with eyes seemed to fade away into nothingness.  

…   

Elsewhere in town …

  

A young man and woman lay cowering in the basement of a house. The wooden beams that held up the upper floor of the house had cracked, and several parts had deep black scorch marks. The beautifully crafted wreath of iron bars on the windows had warped into strange shapes.  

Even from the basement, they had borne witness to the sounds of the storm outside. However, they felt infinitely much safer ensconced in the mottled walls of the house. 

The relative interior of the basement was well-lit from several gas lamps. A few paintings lay askew on the walls and several chestnut cupboards had fallen from their normal position.

"Everett," whispered the woman, "do you think it's safe to head out now?". Her eyes rapidly darted towards the man and then the ceiling of the basement. The wooden door that was locked with a latch seemed woefully inadequate for whatever was happening outside of their house.  

“Don’t worry, Alice” The speaker, a man called Everett, confidently spoke. “I doubt we are in any sort of danger.” 

. He looked to be in his mid-20s, with dark eyes and light brown hair. Despite his tone, he clutched a large revolver in one hand and held an iron key in his other hand.  

The hand holding the key began fiddling with an iron box that lay beside them. “Archbishop Clark wouldn’t abandon any of us,” he continued. “Besides, who would be foolish enough to anger the Church of Storms and the other orthodox churches? Who had the power to threaten the city ?”  

“Why are you handling the steam rifle then?”   

“I have the utmost faith with the police department and the Church of Storms; however, you can never be too sure about what slips through their forces,” Everett said. “Anyways, we need to protect what’s ours,” he said as he reached over to hug Alice’s swollen belly.   

She gave a weak smile before sitting down behind Everett. Suddenly, the whole house shook as a sonic boom roared through the pouring rain and peals of thunder.   

However, after that second blast. The winds seemed to die down and the constant pounding of thunder began to be more intermittent.   

Knock Knock Knock  

 

The couple jumped when the sudden sound of the door being used pierced through the noise of the storm outside.  

 

Everett leaned down and handed the steam rifle to Alice. “Stay here” commanded Everett. “I’m sure it's the military or the police here to check up on our statuses, but you can’t be too sure at this moment.  

She nodded,“Be careful.” He smiled at her before racing upstairs to the main door.

“Who is it?” he called out nervously through the door. He tried looking through the windows to the streets outside without any luck. The storm had knocked out all the gas lamps and the only figure he could see was the faint outline of the Cathedral of Storms. Its twinkling tower lights and imposing dome had held firm throughout the duration of the storm.   

The knocking ceased, and a soft but deep voice answered.  

“It is Lieutenant Marshall Cavant, I’m here to conduct a welfare check.” 

Everett’s shoulders dropped and he placed the revolver back into his pocket. The Conant Police Department!  

When he opened the door, he was greeted with the sight of a familiar face and another unfamiliar face. Both men wore a dark blue coat with black trousers. While Lieutenant Marshall wore a soft peak hat, the other man wore a cane-reinforced black top hat. In addition, he had noticed that while Lieutenant Marshall had a badge with four stars, the other man had a badge with five swirls. Everett straightened his posture and faced the stranger. 

“This is Chief Inspector Brunos Lelej of the Department of Securities here at our station.” Marshall introduced deferentially. 

Everett opened the door further to invite both men in before he stopped halfway. Captain Brunos was a massively tall man, almost bearlike with grizzled pepper gray hair and deep brown eyes. He held a massive cutlass that was stained with a deep reddish liquid that still dripped onto the wet pavement.  

Blood!  

Everett's mind fought the urge to retch up the contents of his stomach. He quickly grabbed onto the door frame. As he looked back up, he noticed that behind Inspector Brunos and Lieutenant Marshall, were six other black uniformed men carrying other weapons that seemed to have been recently used.  

“What is going on right now, Lieutenant?” asked Everett anxiously, “I’ve lived here for over five years and Conant City’s Azure alarm has never been activated like this.”   

“Do not worry about that right now, '' Inspector Brunos said calmly. “All we are here to do is to confirm your safety and tell you that the alarm has been lifted.” He nodded to one of the men, who surreptitiously took out a dowsing rod and a chain. “You may now leave your establishment,” as he watched the man with the rod.  

   “Lieutenant Marshall, I must trouble you to check the back of the house to see if the storm has damaged any of the supports.”, Inspector Brunos laid his cutlass against the door frame.

“Of course, Inspector Brunos, I will do that right away.” Lieutenant Marshall quickly hurried away to the back of the house.  

The black uniformed man started to wave and point the rod and chain at various parts of the facade of the house out of Everetts view. While the man moved, he would watch the end of the chain very carefully. After a few seconds, the man shook his head and moved back behind the other men.  

At that point, Lieutenant Marshall had also come back to the front of the house after confirming that there was not any serious structural damage.  

“Make sure your doors are locked tonight to prevent any looters,” warned Inspector Brunos before taking out a sheet of paper and marking it down. “The streets tend to be rather unruly after a mandatory alarm like this, and I cannot spare enough men to guard every single block.”  

“Thank you, Inspector!'' Everett said in relief. He watched the bearlike man step back and begin barking orders at his men to head towards the next house to conduct another welfare check.  

He took one final sweep of the street in front of his house before quickly slamming the door shut and locking it.  

Inspector Brunos looked at the front door and took out a piece of paper from his coat pocket. He started writing and then stopped at a section. Then, he called over the man with the dowsing rod. “Ethan, why did you pause before confirming that no corruption seemed to have infested the house?”  

“I thought I sensed a strange tremor from the artifact. When it hovered over the basement.” The man replied before slipping the dowsing rod back into his cloak.  

Brunos nodded, before filing down the location of the house while he began to pound on the next door.  

 225 Necker Street, Detlev Borough, Conant City  

  “Open up the door!” 

…  

Back at Conant Harbor…

  

  

The man in the flowing blue robes gazed at the spot where the last shadows disappeared. The ground where he had fought had deep cracks, evident of the firepower that he had used during the clash. The desolate streets next to the harbor had been immediately cleared once he had sensed a malevolent presence with his Spirituality.  

“I can’t sense any more spots where the corruption had originally settled in,” he muttered to himself. The storm-like conditions began to weaken in intensity, even the sea level receded after he finished that sentence.  

“Archbishop Clark!” 

The blue-robed man turned around and faced the speaker; he was struck with a sense of looming intensity before swallowing and taking out a piece of paper.  

Archbishop Clark's acknowledgement was brief; only a dismissive glance before his gaze returned to the spot on the cobbled street.

“Our men have finished surveying the surrounding streets around Conant Harbor,” the man stated while he read the paper. “Necker Street and Abraham Street had some residual corruption. However, it is not yet confirmed to be related to the current situation.”    

“Continue surveillance over the subjects involved and report back to me as soon as anything happens, Deacon Roy, "Archbishop Clark ordered as he took a glance at his hanging timepiece. “If the situation becomes too dire, tell the Mandated Punishers that they are authorized to use lethal force immediately.”  

Deacon Roy saluted. “May the Storm be with you.” He quickly hurried out from the street towards the Cathedral of Storms.

Archbishop Clark watched the sun fade below the horizon of the ocean, the normal sky blue water changing into a more murky dark color. His gaze was pensive as he turned around;sensing another presence beside him.

It was an old man with silver eyes and white hair. The man wore a black flowing robe with a lightning pattern embroidered on it. He carried a scepter with a crystal embedded at the top.   

The archbishop regarded the man coolly. “Cardinal Ace, were there any disturbances at the Azure Gate while I was fighting the intruder?” he asked. “If there was any moment to attack the Church, it would have been then.”  

“No living presences were detected entering the Azure Gate during the skirmish.” Cardinal Ace clapped his hands together. “The Keepers also haven’t reacted to any intruders.”   

“What about the sealed artifacts in the cathedral? "Archbishop Clark looked back at the darkened outline of the Cathedral of Storms. “I can imagine quite a few that would entice a fool brave enough to attack us directly.”   

“I took the liberty of guarding the doors to Sealed Artifacts 0-20 and 0-04 myself,” responded the cardinal, “If anything slipped past my view it could have only been a High Sequence Beyonder, or at the very least a demigod like me.”  He paused. “Either that or a powerful artifact. Other than that, have any of the other Churches reacted to your battle?”   

“The Church of the Evernight Goddess and the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery both remain on alert, but their bases haven’t been attacked either.” Archbishop Clark scowled. “Those fools at the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun also seem worried, though as far as I know, they could have been the ones who lured that Angel to provoke us.”  

 Cardinal Ace carefully placed his scepter down. It remained floating in the air as he peered off into the horizon. “If it wasn’t the orthodox churches, have we considered the secret societies?” He laughed derisively, “I know quite a few that have buried themselves deep in the crevices of this city.”  

The Archbishop rubbed his chin. “The characteristics of that particular Angel were of the Hanged Man pathway, but I doubt Aurora Order would have sanctioned only this action without any follow-ups.” The Archbishop rose above the ground. “Regardless, continue surveillance at your post. I will personally send a message to the pontiff about the current situation.”  

Why did that avatar of the Sequence 2 Angel leave the city? Archbishop Clark wondered to himself, giving one look back at the harbor before flying back towards the cathedral. What was his goal in angering the Lord of Storms?