191 Chapter 191: Forces At Work Part 3

Upon receiving Arias's instructions, Rose quickly retrieved the drone and packed up her gear in a bag before leaving the building she was in.

She used the cover the night provided to quietly sneak toward the building Raven was in.

With the many ruined structures and even vehicles present in the area, it wasn't a hard thing to do.

Soon enough, she managed to successfully make her way to the back where she snuck in through an already broken window.

Immediately she entered, she halted to a stop as the floor was extremely creaky and rotten.

"Shit, well I guess this is close enough," she whispered to herself before choosing to settle right by the window, once again taking out her miniature drone to observe the situation.

She was both relieved and unsettled to find that nothing had changed so far but she couldn't help but keep feeling uneasy about the situation as a whole.

…

Not far from her, Arias's private vehicle was cruising through the streets of Gotham, rushing him towards Rose.

Inside, this sudden change in direction sparked curiosity in Cheshire.

"Where to boss? That creepy place you were looking at on the monitor?" She asked with tone carrying both curiosity and unconcern, like she was just bored.

Arias simply gave Cheshire a nod, not wanting to speak much on a subject that he himself barely understood.

'An occult threat. The real question now really is, just how much of a threat?' Arias's mind lingered on how big the situation could turn out to be.

He could've passed it off as small or negligible earlier but given the fact that Raven was being specifically targeted, it showed things were not simple.

Now he wondered just what it was that made her special, and was intent on finding out himself.

Before long, the car began to drive slowly into the abandoned former criminal den, its silent streets and finished buildings giving off a chilling atmosphere.

"Right here is fine." Arias ordered the driver to a stop a few meters away from the target building and stepped out, his action then soon mirrored by Cheshire.

Upon exiting the vehicle, she couldn't help but look around and shrug. "This place just spells out creepy, not the type of place even someone like me would be."

Ignoring her scenic comments, Arias began to walk forward and she simply rolled her eyes before following along, "going silent it is."

Cheshire no longer spoke as they approached the building and instead began to look somewhat serious, like an actual assassin from the league.

Her eyes darted around for any threats and she moved without incurring any sound.

Perhaps the only real oddity she saw was that as Arias walked, not a single sound was produced from his movement.

She couldn't even begin to imagine his figure was simply ignoring the laws of sound, practically making the little space around him nothing less of a vacuum.

Cheshire was a keen observer and couldn't overlook such a unique thing, but before she could ask, Arias broke the silence and ceased used his ability.

"Over there," he pointed, his hand directed at the window where Rose had stationed herself.

Rose also noticed the two stopping not far from her and she waived them over, giving a signal that it was all clear.

Upon arrival at the window, Rose quickly explained the situation. "You're just in time, I just lost the feed from my drone. Some sort of weird energy pulse fucked up the camera but I can still hear the weird chanting in the basement. I couldn't get any closer cause the floorboards are extremely creaky."

Arias nodded at the brief summary given before climbing in.

"You two secure the exits, I'll be heading down. If anything that isn't me comes up, kill it, if you can that is." Arias instructed while moving into the building, his steps not even releasing the faintest of sounds.

Cheshire leaned over the window and showed somewhat of pout. "Aww, and I here I was ready to kill some weird voodoo thing, cross it off my bucket list. Oh well."

Rose had initially ignored Cheshire's presence but seeing her there, she couldn't help but inwardly frown.

"You cover the front, I'll keep the back secure." Having been hired first, Rose felt she had greater authority over new subordinates like Cheshire… but she couldn't be anymore wrong.

"How about you get the front and I get the back, I'm so much better from that position." Cheshire provocatively teased, but at the same time her gaze showed she wouldn't be willing to move.

Rose though wasn't about let the new girl walk over her and she spoke more sternly. "I wasn't asking. It was an order."

"Gee, can't take a joke huh. Fine, whatever, I'm good from there too." She teased again before walking away seemingly without a care in the world.

…

Meanwhile Arias had found the door leading to the basement. Right from there he could already see some chilling signs.

He crouched to the floor and saw that the floorboards had scratch marks, as if someone had been dragged through forcefully.

Along with the scratches were stains of blood, some brighter and others darker, showing a difference in time.

'Sacrifices… but for what?' He wondered, before standing and looking around himself.

With no one in sight, his figure ignored the laws surrounding tangibility, in other words, the matter he was composed off could no longer be interacted with physically or perceived by the senses.

He then used his telekinesis to move his own figure forward, passing through the door and descending into the basement.

There he found the disturbing scene that was taking place, but unlike the feed he had received, the alter on which Raven was leaning against now had a bright red ball hovering above it.

This ball shook and trembled with immense energy surging around it as it showed signs of expanding.

Even stranger, it's glow resonated with that of another glow, coming from the unconscious Raven whose eyes soon shone to life.

"Argh!!" She yelled in seemingly intense pain as her body hovered into the air and the glow on her forehead burned brighter.

"Leave me alone! Stop this! No!! I won't let you!" Her yells now echoed in the eerie room as her face contorted into pain.

The two creatures gave little care and continued to chant as the ball of energy grew wider.

Pa!~ it suddenly surged again, sending a small shockwave through the room as a sort of tear in reality appeared.

Arias who was observing this entire scene also furrowed his brows as he watched an extremely large crimson red finger appear from the tear.

It's long pointed nail moved slowly towards Raven, it's very movement causing the whole building to shake uncontrollably.

'That's enough.' Feeling he had witnessed enough, Arias no longer kept his body in a non-tangible form, which immediately alerted the unknown creature to which the hand belonged.

"Who dares disturb the coming of Trigon." It's voice shook the entire building with an overwhelming amount of power, it's very presence even causing the creatures who were once chanting to stop and bow pitifully.

"Forgive these incompetent ones Lord Trigon, we will handle- ick!" Before the creature could give reassurance, its head was stabbed through by jagged pipe Arias manipulated with telekinesis.

The other creature soon suffered a similar fate, their bodies thumping to the ground in quick succession, which angered the owner of the large finger, Trigon.

"Your insolence shall be punished mortal!" It's voice was truly ear piercing, even Arias could feel his immortal body constantly being in a state of self healing.

As Trigon spoke, Raven only felt more pain.

"Argh! Make it stop!! Just stop!!" She pitifully cried, her pleas receiving no attention from the one called Trigon, whose finger now moved toward Arias with malicious intent.

It was clear it couldn't see but the finger simply began to crush and destroy anything it touched, with Arias being the next target.

However…

"What…" The once vicious tone of Trigon now carried confusion as it's finger was stoped by Arias's palm.

'It's stupidly strong.' Arias thought to himself, using instead his power to ignore laws rather than his physical strength, which he now felt was the right move.

Right now his body was impervious to all forms of energy, ignoring their very presence.

To outside viewer, it would look like Arias was the stronger party, but to one imposing the force, they could see the oddity behind Arias, hence the confusion in Trigon's voice.

It could feel it's power dismantling the weak and feeble structures of man, but it's force suddenly halted in front of Arias, no matter how much it pushed, his finger could not budge.

"Hehe," Trigon's laugh reverberated around creepily, seemingly unfazed by the strangeness that was Arias. "You are no mortal… what are you… speak!"

Despite this clear stalemate in power, Trigon wasn't the least bit moved. It had encountered many powerful beings before and even now, he was far from his full power, so Arias's display was nothing more than noteworthy and only that.

"I'd rather not." Arias could see that Trigon wasn't fazed so he chose not to risk the situation.

Even if he could survive, there was no telling what could become of Gotham if Trigon went all out.

Despite having questions, he chose to not pursue them carelessly, and so he began moving the finger back into the tear it came from.

Which angered Trigon. "Stop! You dare ignore my words?! You are only delaying the inevitable! Your world shall be Trigon-!"

It's imposing words were brought to a halt when Arias pushed away the hand fully and tear closed shut.

This immediately caused Raven to fall to the ground hard, her body trembling, blood leaking from her nose and eyes while fear plastered across her face.

Her eyes flickered open and she saw a blurry figure, this instantly made her move back and yell, "Stay away!"

Arias met her bloody and frightened gaze while showing a concerned expression.

"Easy there, it's ok, everything is fine now, do you remember me?" He asked in a soft tone, causing Raven's haggard breathing to slow as the light on her forehead completely dwindled and her mind gained some clarity.

"You're… you're him, Arias Markovic…" she answered weakly and less fearfully.

Arias gave a nod and approached, his hand reaching out and touching her shoulder.

"That's right, you're safe now. Trust me, okay?"

Raven, still shaken by the experience, could only nod at Arias, now feeling safe and saved from what could've been a nightmare.

"Okay… thank you…"