Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit
Chapter 215: Anima(Part 14)

Chapter 215: Chapter 215: Anima(Part 14)

"Come on, pick up the pace, stop dragging your feet," Sighed Jules in exasperation, as she returned to the police station with Tacitus in tow.

"I’m not, you don’t have to be so snippy all the time, you know," He sighed in response, reluctantly picking up the pace a bit as she glared at him, following after her.

She’d just returned to the police station after going back to the hotel to bring him here. They were currently heading through the building, making their way to the basement.

She led him down the stairs to the basement, before heading through the corridor and to the room the captives were in, opening the door and entering.

"Sorry to keep you all waiting. This is Tacitus Drake, he possesses a form of Arcane Magic called Nullification Magic," Jules introduced him as she shut the door behind her.

"Hi," Tacitus greeted the policemen with a nod.

"Yes, hello."

"Nice to meet you."

"You can tell when your Magic nullifies other Magic, can’t you?" Jules asked him.

"Yeah, I can sense when I’ve nullified a Spell or Magical effect. That’ll also block the effect of the Mana-blocking collars...but that won’t matter since my Nullification will prevent the use of any Magic anyway. Anyway, here I go...[Nullification Zone]."

"Well? Did it work?" Inquired Jules nervously.

"Mhm, it sure did. I definitely felt something get nullified in each of them. Whatever enchantment was placed on them should be gone now," He nodded, before deactivating his Spell.

"Are you sure?" Responded one of the APF members uncertainly.

"Well, only one way to find out," Replied another of them, before approaching the captive who’d told them about the betrayal-preventing effect.

"W-Wait, please...! Don’t...don’t do it...!" He yelled in desperation, closing his eyes as the APF member activated the Spell, before he opened his eyes as a few seconds passed and nothing happened, a look of surprise on his face as he stuttered, "I-I’m...I’m alive? I’m alive!"

"N-No, impossible! The boss’s Spells should be flawless, there shouldn’t be any way to deactivate them!"

"Damn it, you better not tell them anything!"

"Shit, it’s no use, he’s under the effect of that truth Spell, he won’t be able to keep his mouth shut!"

The APF began questioning the captive, who took a while to get to the point, just like how it went with Akila when the Spell was used on him. The other captives were promptly moved to a different room since they kept trying to interrupt and talk over him.

The one being interrogated kept going off on unrelated tangents, frustrating the APF and Jules. But eventually, he finally started giving them the information they were looking for.

"And, like, humans can’t be trusted, you know? Like, history clearly indicates as much, so yeah. We’re doing this for the benefit of Anima, this is for the sake of our nation’s future. If we killed enough of the humans who came here, we could prevent the alliance from going through. But also, like, I don’t want to die for the sake of that goal."

"How foolish, do you not realize that your actions could instead have resulted in a war, where thousands upon thousands would be killed?" Responded one of the APF members.

"Nah, the boss said that won’t happen. Humans are, like, really selfish and cowardly, right? So, unless we killed someone really important, like their Queen, they probably won’t start a war. At least, that’s what the boss told us."

"Hm...either their leader is a fool, or he’s deliberately misleading them," Frowned Jules warily.

"Tell us, this boss of yours, is he the same person who made your Spell Cards?" Chimed in Tacitus.

"Yeah! He’s totally amazing, his Spells are, like, incredible!"

"If you ask me, I’d say their leader is almost definitely deliberately misleading them. There’s no way someone who could create such advanced Spells would be so stupid. Well, I suppose it’s possible, but it has to be highly unlikely at the very least," Surmised Tacitus thoughtfully.

"Yes, I have to agree. Let’s keep questioning him, we need to find out the identity of their leader, as well as that of their other members, not to mention the locations of their hideouts," Reasoned Jules objectively.

It took a while to get the rest of the information they wanted out of the captive, but they eventually got the answers to all their questions.

What he knew was fairly limited though, it was clear that he was just a lackey, and didn’t know anything beyond the basics.

"Excellent, this went well. Finally, we can bring this matter to an end," One of the APF members sighed in relief.

"Hm, we’ll have to strike as soon as possible. If the enemy catch on to the fact that we’re onto them, they could easily shift to a new location," Pointed out Jules.

"Rest assured, we’ll deal with this as fast as we can, we have no intention of letting them run free for much longer."

"I would like to request that my Knights and I be involved in this as well. They killed one of our own, so we have a responsibility to avenge him," Stated Jules firmly.

"Hm...very well, we shall run it by our superiors."

"Thank you. Now, then, Tacitus...I’d like you to make some Spells to counter the enemy’s Spells, particularly one to prevent them from escaping. Can you do it?" Jules asked him.

"Hm...it’ll be really tough, conventional Spell formulation won’t be enough to counter these advanced Spells. But if I analyze the Spells a bit more, I should be able to come up with some counters. And, I have to admit, these highly advanced Spells are pretty fascinating, so I’m not entirely opposed to the challenge. I’ll need...three days, I think?" He estimated uncertainly.

"You have two. We can’t afford to take too much time, so the faster you complete the Spells, the better."

"Yeah, obviously...not sure how realistic it is, I can’t say for certain until I actually begin. But I suppose I’ll give it my best shot, at least," He replied with a sigh.

...

...

"Alright, it’s been confirmed, our involvement in taking down this enemy has been approved. They call themselves Anima Shield, and they intend on preventing us from forming an alliance with Anima. We’ll be making our move in two days, we’ll join forces with the APF and a number of Adventurers, and then raid their hideout," Remarked Jules, as she looked around at the others.

A few hours had passed since the interrogation, Tacitus had promptly been sent back to the hotel to get started on creating counters for the enemy’s Spells, while Jules stayed to hash out the details.

Aster had briefly headed back to Persona to transport Lloyd’s remains and have them sent to his family, before returning back to Anima.

"Sounds good, they attacked us unprovoked, let’s make them regret it," Nodded Raven with a grimace.

"Yeah, we can’t let them hurt anyone else," Spoke up Akila.

"U-Um, do we know how many of them there are?" Inquired Kia, raising her hand timidly.

"Yes, there are approximately three hundred of them, or a bit less since we’ve killed and captured a number of them. Their leader, the one who makes their Spells, is the biggest threat, and there are a few others who are quite powerful and can’t be taken lightly either, according to the one we interrogated," Jules informed her.

"We’ll have to count on Tacitus to pull through with the Spells. Considering how advanced their leader’s Spell formulation is, their hideout could well be rigged with a number of Magical traps," Aster pointed out warily.

"True, we can’t rush in recklessly, that could be playing right into the enemy’s hands," Nodded Wistari in agreement.

The Elves had also agreed to help with the raid on Anima Shield’s hideout, though Wistari wouldn’t be participating since she was an Elder of Sylph, and it could mean serious political consequences if she ended up getting killed.

While she’d wanted to get involved, Nero and Feno talked her out of it, convincing her to stay behind. Feno would stay with her since he was assigned to be her bodyguard, while Nero would be helping the others in attacking the enemy hideout.

"Exactly, it would be foolish to attack them blindly, we need to take as many precautions as we can. But we also can’t take too much time since we can’t afford to tip them off...that’s why, we’ll be making our move the day after tomorrow. The conferences regarding the alliance have temporarily been put on hold until this matter is resolved, understandably so.

And on that note, Queen Lyra will remain in Persona for now, we can’t afford to have her here with this threat looming over us. For the sake of the future and prosperity of our nation, we must deal with this threat and ensure than the alliance talks get back on track as soon as possible," Declared Jules, a determined look on her face.