Both maids began methodically checking the warehouse filled with corpses. What they were truly searching for were traces of mana—any small, traceable remnants. But...


    Novah stopped for a moment, leaning down to pick something up off the ground.


    A fragment of a broken runey in her hand, faintly glowing with remnants of dark energy.


    "This isn''t just a message," Novah said, studying the rune fragment with sharp eyes. "This... was deliberate. They knew exactly what they were doing."


    Vi approached, her brows furrowing as she examined the object in Novah''s hand. "Runes? Radiating dark magic? That''s not typical of werewolves or vampires... Curse Masters, perhaps?"


    "Could be..." Novah murmured, closing her hand around the fragment and carefully cing it in a small leather pouch. "This was done by someone... more refined. Whoever did this wasn''t just trying to spread chaos. They were testing something."


    Her eyes turned to the grotesque pile of bodies, her expression serious as she analyzed the scene more intently. With cautious steps, she approached the corpse of a werewolf, whose frozen expression was a mix of absolute horror and unbearable pain.


    Crouching beside the body, Novah extended her hand and spread a thinyer of her demonic energy over the corpse. For a moment, nothing happened, but then she felt it.


    "This... is demonic energy?" Novah asked, surprised, her hand hovering over the lifeless body.


    Across the scene, Vi moved closer, her expression uneasy. "Yes... I found simr traces here as well." She looked around at the surrounding bodies with disgust. "You realize what this means, right? They... were trying to create demon-monster hybrids."


    Novah stayed silent for a moment, processing Vi''s words. She looked again at the werewolf''s body, now noticing the details she had previously overlooked: the ck veins running beneath its pale skin, the facial features partially transformed, as if the creature were trapped in an iplete metamorphosis.


    "This is insanity," Novah muttered. "Mixing demonic essence with monsters... It defies all naturalws. It''s dangerous, unstable... and cruel."


    "Not to mention arrogant," Vi added, adjusting her gloves as she examined another nearby corpse. "Whoever did this thinks they can manipte demonic essence like it''s just another tool."


    "That''s not all," Novah said, standing up and crossing her arms as she observed the scene with a sharp, disdainful gaze. "If they were testing hybrids, it means these bodies are just rejects. The results of failures."


    Vi shuddered. "So... they''re not done yet."


    "No. They''re only getting started," Novah replied, her voice icy, making the air around them feel heavier. She narrowed her eyes, assessing every grotesque detail around her. "This is doomed to fail, unless... they''re after something more than just creating hybrids."


    Vi, her expression serious, approached a heavily dposed carcass, lifting it with visible disgust. "I don''t think they''re trying to create true hybrids. In fact..." She let the body fall to the ground with a dull thud and wiped her gloves on her legs. "I''m starting to suspect something else."


    Novah raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"


    "They''re studying our energy," Vi said sharply, her voice cold as she pointed to the fine, intricate markings carved into the corpse''s skin. "Look at this. These runes aren''t for containment or summoning. They''re for extraction. They''re dissecting every trace of our demonic essence."


    Novah stood in silence for a moment, analyzing the bodies with more attention. Finally, she let out a heavy sigh and allowed a bitter smile to escape. "This reminds me of the witches'' experiments... but here, there''s no trace of mana."


    Vi frowned. "So... what does that mean?"


    "A new group," Novah replied firmly, her eyes glowing with determination. "Someone who''s not just ying with forces they don''t understand, but is deliberately preparing for something bigger. If they''re trying toprehend demonic energy to the point of disassembling it and studying it, it can only mean one thing."


    "They n to use it," Vi whispered, finishing Novah''s thought.


    Novah nodded, the bitter smile fading into a look of absolute seriousness. As they stood there, a strange sound came from the back of the warehouse, where the light did not reach.@@novelbin@@


    The sound was low, almost imperceptible, but its resonance made both of their instincts kick into high gear. Novah turned her head toward the darkness, her posture stiffening as her hand moved directly to the hilt of the de at her waist.


    "Did you hear that?" Vi asked, her voice barely a whisper, her eyes anxiously scanning for the source of the noise. She felt the energy around them growing denser, as if something were moving in the shadows.


    "Yes," Novah replied, her voice firm and sharp. "Stay alert."


    The two of them advanced slowly, stepping carefully between the piled bodies. The sound continued, now clearer: a mixture of scratching and something resembling a muffled growl. Novah narrowed her eyes, trying to distinguish what was hidden in the darkness.


    "It could be a trap," Vi said, her voice tense as she conjured a small sphere of light with her demonic energy. The sphere floated ahead, partially illuminating the shadowy space.


    Suddenly, a figure leapt from the shadows with a fierce jump, going straight for Novah. She reacted quickly, drawing her de and blocking the attack with surgical precision. The sound of metal against ws echoed through the warehouse.


    "What the hell is that?!" Vi shouted, retreating as she summoned an energy whip to push the creature back.


    What stood before them was grotesque—an horrifying fusion of flesh and demonic energy. It was a hybrid, but it seemed iplete, as if it had been torn from a failed experiment. Its skin was deformed, with exposed, pulsating muscle tissue, and its eyes glowed an intense red, filled with irrational fury.


    "Failure or not, it''s far from harmless," Novah said, pushing the creature back with a powerful strike that severed part of its arm. However, the creature didn''t retreat; instead, it seemed to regenerate slowly while growling even more fiercely.


    "These things shouldn''t even be alive!" Vi eximed, attacking with her whip, which coiled around the creature, burning it with concentrated demonic energy. Explore more at empire


    "They''re not alive," Novah replied coldly, dodging another attack from the creature. "They''re being controlled."


    "Controlled?!"


    "Yes," Novah said, her voice firm as she delivered a precise strike to the creature''s leg, knocking it off bnce. "The energy keeping it moving isn''t natural. It''s as if it''s... a demonic puppet."


    The creature let out a deafening scream, and other responses echoed from the back of the warehouse.


    "More of them," Vi said, panic beginning to slip into her voice.


    "Prepare yourself," Novah ordered, spinning her de into abat stance. "If these things are just the scraps, I don''t even want to imagine what''s behind this."