Chapter 96: Rescue Mission
Lucy stared at the computer, frozen for a moment after the call ended.
Her screen showed a faint blinking dot.
She quickly calmed herself, and leaned closer.
"The call was from Drama, Greece, but the exact location can’t be pinpointed."
Her tone had turned serious.
An untraceable signal usually meant one thing: the call came from somewhere deep inside an organization that knew how to hide.
She opened another tab on her console and pulled up the latest records of missing children.
Her fingers moved quickly across the keyboard.
Then her eyes stopped.
"Found it," she muttered. "Twin Harpies" Eri and Lira. Missing for two weeks."
She scrolled down.
"An Ash Elf boy too... Kael, eight years old."
Her stomach tightened.
These were the same descriptions the boy had given.
The door behind her opened.
The Chief of the Exorcist Police Emergency Response walked in, his coat still half-buttoned.
"What’s the situation?" he asked.
Lucy stood up. "Sir, we got a rescue request. It looks like a child trafficking case."
The Chief frowned. "What’s the probability that this call is real?"
"Over ninety percent," Lucy said without hesitation.
He nodded once. "Where’s the location of the crime?"
"Drama, Greece. But we can’t pinpoint the exact spot."
The room went quiet.
Everyone understood what that meant.
Searching an entire city would take too long.
If the boy who called them got caught, it would be over for him, and the criminals would relocate before anyone arrived.
Lucy’s hand trembled slightly. "The child said the word ’Dusk’ before the call cut off. Do you think it could mean the Dusk Hand Clan?"
Before the Chief could answer, the technician beside her spoke up. "Sir, earlier today we had an incident related to the Dusk Hand Hidden Clan. It’s also in Drama."
The Chief turned to him sharply.
"What kind of incident?"
"Their House Head died suddenly. The report said it was a heart attack. We already sent people there to investigate."
The Chief narrowed his eyes.
"Who did we send?"
"Detective Barns and Nisha Hall, sir."
"...!?"
The Chief’s eyes widened.
"Nisha Hall?"
"Yes, sir. You know her story. She was kidnapped when she was a child. That incident was also where the Sword Dragon first became famous."
The Chief nodded slowly.
Everyone in the Exorcist world knew the incident.
Twenty years ago, during a Round Table combat tournament, several children—including Nisha Hall and Adrian Daelthorn—were kidnapped by an illegal Exorcist group.
They suffered for twenty days in captivity.
Many were scarred for life.
Adrian Daelthorn had fought the kidnappers, risking his life to give the others a chance to call for help.
The Exorcist Police Emergency Response traced that call and rescued them.
Nisha Hall had helped him during that fight.
Ever since, she had been known for leading operations against child trafficking groups.
The Chief crossed his arms.
"Nisha Hall is in an area where a new kidnapping is happening. That almost feels like... Fate’s doing."
The technician nodded. "Yes, sir. Maybe Fate brough her there. The House Head’s death might’ve been fate’s work too. It’s like everything lined up to bring her close to those kids."
No one questioned it.
Fate was unpredictable.
Sometimes it helped, sometimes it destroyed.
The Chief looked at Lucy.
"All right. Call Detective Barns and Nisha Hall. Tell them to check the Dusk Hand mansion for any signs of child trafficking.
"Tell them not to act rashly until they confirm it’s the Dusk Hand behind this.
"Also, prepare another team to search the rest of Drama for missing children. There’s still a chance the Dusk Hand Clan isn’t involved."
"Understood," Lucy said. She picked up the communicator and dialed.
...
Nisha’s POV
The room was dimly lit.
Nisha and Detective Barns were watching CCTV footage on a large screen.
The security staff stood near them, quiet and tense.
Nisha noticed that Barns had been staring at one monitor longer than usual.
He had found something, but he said nothing.
Then his button phone buzzed.
He pulled it from his pocket, answered, and listened silently for a few seconds.
"Understood. We’ll proceed with the mission," he said finally.
He hung up and turned to Nisha.
"Knock out everyone in this room."
The head of security froze.
"What did you say?"
He looked from Barns to Nisha, suddenly on guard.
His instincts told him something was wrong.
He moved into a fighting stance, ready to defend himself.
Before he could move, Barns grabbed the back of his head.
A thin black smoke flowed from Barns’ mouth into the man’s nostrils.
The head of security, who had been expecting an attack from Nisha not Barns, went limp.
His eyes rolled back.
"You... tricked me..." he whispered before collapsing.
Barns let him fall to the floor.
Nisha moved to the watchguard standing near the corner at quick speed.
Before he could even react, she struck the back of his neck with her hand.
He fell unconscious immediately.
She turned to the detective.
"Why did we do this?"
"Come to the cleaning room with me," he said.
Although she was confused, Nisha didn’t waste time asking questions.
She followed him out of the CCTV room.
The guard outside nodded at them.
The detective spoke calmly, "No one is allowed inside the CCTV room. It’s an order from the head of security."
The guard nodded again, his expression serious.
Since the House Head had died, everyone was tense and careful.
The guard had no intention of going against the words of head of security, or being negligent in the job.
Nisha and the detective walked down the hallway toward the cleaning room.
The detective glanced out of the corridor window as they passed.
The courtyard looked quiet, but he spoke under his breath. "Good. The Exorcist Police have surrounded the area. If anyone tries to run, they’ll be caught."
Nisha frowned. "What’s happening here?"
They entered the cleaning room.
The detective started moving things around, checking behind shelves and under tables.
"We received a rescue call from a child," he said. "He said other children were kidnapped with him.
"From how it sounded, this is a professional group. The Dusk Hand Hidden Clan might be behind it.
"We’re here to confirm it."
As he spoke, he pressed a spot on the wall.
"Found it."
A soft click echoed, and part of the wall shifted open.
A dark tunnel appeared behind it.
The detective’s body turned into shadow and began to fade.
His voice echoed softly, "Search for the children. Be careful to not let them be used as hostages."
Nisha asked, "And if the Dusk Hand isn’t behind this?"
"Then the Exorcist Union will compensate them for the trouble."
She nodded once.
Turning back to the tunnel, she stared into the darkness.
She cracked her knuckles and drew the two swords at her waist.
She whispered three quick spells.
One to make her faster, one to silence her steps, and the last to sense mana around her like echolocation.
Then she entered the tunnel.
Two guards stood inside.
They barely had time to move before she struck both down with clean blows.
She noticed several detectors along the walls, but none of them had triggered.
"The lights are off too. Is the power down here?"
She followed the passage deeper until she reached what looked like an underground palace.
Her expression turned grim when she sensed the mana around her.
Most of the people here were Rank 2 Exorcists.
"How does a small clan have so many Rank 2s? And why were they hiding like this?"
She realized they had stumbled onto something far bigger than expected.