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The tavern was devoid of any vengeful spirits, as they were all gathered in the square, attempting to wear down the shadow morphs. This was of course, a foolish endeavor, as the shadow morphs were essentially similar to vengeful spirits and would not tire unless their sustaining mana was depleted.

Jack rushed towards the square to inform his lord of the situation and protect him, as it seemed events were escalating out of control.

—

At the square, Daniel observed the escalating situation, the ground shaking and trembling with increasing violence as if an earthquake were imminent. He didn\'t know what was happening underground, only that Jack had infiltrated the mage\'s secret laboratory.

"My lord," Albert said, "it seems the Sanctum Sanctorum\'s ley line control wasn\'t severed when the mage died. It appears he connected it to a natural mana font, a massive one at that. The magic triggered by his death must be active now."

"Alright, let\'s retreat," Daniel responded, leaping onto the roof and jumping from building to building to escape, followed by Albert and the shadow morphs.

Jack followed close behind, arriving just in time to see them leave.

The earthquake intensified, and the old, decrepit buildings collapsed into piles of rotten wood. Suddenly, the ground in the town square gave way, forming a massive sinkhole that consumed half the district. Debris and buildings vanished into the abyss.

Daniel, Albert, and Jack the Ripper watched the landscape transform from the roof of a nearby building. The vengeful spirits hovering around were pulled into the sinkhole, their screams and shrieks echoing with despair.

People outside and those living nearby felt the tremors and began evacuating under the guidance of civilian volunteers, later supported by police and firefighters. Reporters rushed to the scene, eager to uncover the mystery.

Daniel, scrolling through news updates on his phone, let out a weary sigh. The media was already at work, and people demanded answers. But how could he explain that a mage had caused half the district to collapse into a sinkhole? This was supposed to be a simple trip for him and Albert to choose a location for the Whispering Hall\'s headquarters. How had it turned into this?

"Albert, can you set up a bounded field to divert the attention of the ordinary people outside?" Daniel asked, concerned about the exposure of magic.

"It\'s already done, my lord, 15 minutes ago," Albert replied confidently. He had instructed his subordinates to establish a diversionary bounded field to prevent ordinary people from entering the area. This bounded field not only blocked physical access but also concealed all paranormal and supernatural activities within, ensuring no information could leak to the outside world.

This was standard operating procedure for the Whispering Hall; they always prioritized discretion and took precautions to prevent any potential leaks of sensitive information.

While Daniel assessed the damage and considered how to proceed with establishing the Whispering Hall, the trio sensed a massive mana reaction. They focused their attention on the sinkhole, curious about its cause.

Daniel sent several metal scarabs down the sinkhole to investigate the source of the mana surge. The small screen on his wrist displayed a dark tunnel leading deep into the earth, even revealing an underground river as the scarabs descended further.

At the end of the sinkhole, standing atop a large stone, was a figure clad in simple clothes unlike the luxurious attire usually worn by mages. However, he was undoubtedly a mage, and a powerful one at that. A large hole marred the left side of his chest. The man seemed to be examining his body, focusing on his hands and torso, as if he were someone else inhabiting this mage\'s form.

Suddenly, the man noticed the metal scarabs and quickly waved his hand, pulling one towards him. The micro camera on the scarab remained active, revealing the mage\'s face.

Jack the Ripper, watching the screen on Daniel\'s wrist console, was shocked. The man on the screen was the same necromancer he had killed earlier. He was certain the necromancer was dead! No one could survive without a heart. But the man\'s chest appeared to have healed completely.

"Hm... this is interesting, this... artifact..." the man on the screen muttered, his interest piqued by the metal scarab.

Seeing this, Daniel immediately commanded the scarabs to self-destruct, and the camera feed cut off as they exploded.

"I don\'t know if that guy will immediately attack us or not, but prepare yourself." Daniel said as he prepared his weapon and he contacted both Oceanos and Atlanteus base just in case, as for the god slayer cannon, he will leave it at that as this is his territory and he doesn\'t want an orbital cannon to fire on his land.

A few minutes passed, and the mage emerged from the sinkhole, hovering in the air and observing the trio. He remained silent, studying them and their surroundings.

"That metal bug," the mage finally spoke, his gaze fixed on the group. "Who created it?" he asked, his eyes scrutinizing each of them as if trying to discern their secrets.

No one answered; the trio remained silent. Only a fool would divulge information to someone who was most likely their enemy. Jack the Ripper, in particular, was certain this unknown mage was hostile.

"Hmm... I don\'t know what transpired here, but... do you not recognize me? Or is the \'me\' in this dimension not that significant? At the very least, you three are mages, as am I. Surely, you should show the basic decency of not ignoring a fellow gentleman\'s question?" The unknown mage persisted, but the trio continued their silent observation.

After waiting for a few minutes without a response, the unknown mage seemed to lose patience. He waved his hand and unleashed a kinetic spell, attempting to lift the trio, but Albert easily resisted the force.

"Oh? You\'re quite powerful, aren\'t you? I\'ll let you know that no one can ignore me!" the mage declared angrily, gathering his mana and unleashing another spell. This time, he telekinetically lifted rocks and debris, hurling them at the trio.

The large projectiles flew toward them, and the two mages quickly dodged, unable to block them. However, Daniel calculated that the projectiles would pass through the bounded field and endanger the ordinary people outside. He immediately activated his power.

A colossal mana construct materialized around Daniel, enclosing him within its chest. The red construct, over 30 meters tall with hundreds of hands converging into a wheel-like object on its back, smashed the projectiles with its enormous fists, destroying them before they could cause harm.

"What!? You have the blood of an ancient Titan!? Interesting. In my world, I didn\'t encounter anything like that," the unknown mage blurted out in surprise, but he showed no fear towards the mana construct Daniel was using.

This meant the mage was confident in dealing with it, a troubling realization for Daniel, Albert, and Jack the Ripper. This unknown mage was proving to be quite powerful.

"You said \'my world\'... perhaps you come from a different dimension than us?" Daniel asked, breaking his silence for the first time in the encounter.

"Oh? Now you want to know something from me? You haven\'t even told me who created those Atlantean artifacts, and yet you expect information from me?" the unknown mage retorted.

"Would you share information about how to create an artifact if the creator happened to be your friend?" Daniel retorted. "Especially if you intended to extract that knowledge from their brain?"

"What!? We\'ve just met, and you already know me so well," the unknown mage chuckled at Daniel\'s remark, as it mirrored his own intentions. "Are you sure you don\'t recognize me?" He believed that such precious knowledge rightfully belonged to him.

"You speak as if you\'re someone renowned, as if we should know who you are," Daniel responded, trying to discern the mage\'s identity and glean more information.

"Of course," the mage declared. "I am an Archon-rank mage and one of the five Grand Elders of the Ivory Tower. My name is Thomas Anderson, the Archon of Time."

"Archon of Time!? Ha! That\'s ridiculous!" Albert scoffed. "The only Archon-rank mage I know is Lady Envy, the Witch of Envy."

This earned Thomas\'s ire. He swiftly waved his hand, launching another projectile towards Albert. Daniel quickly maneuvered one of the mana construct\'s arms to block, but the projectile teleported behind it and struck Albert, who managed to raise a shield just in time.

The impact sent Albert flying before he used a floating spell to stabilize himself, brushing off the dust and splinters that clung to him.