Ariel was walking around various neighborhoods to look for any sign of the house Weber bought, but none led to it.
She sighed and turned back, then saw a street with similar buildings that resembled the one she was looking for, which was a two-story building with a flat roof, the house painted white with black stained glass windows.
Going around, she noticed one had something different that the others didn't.
The doorknob was a black skull with red tears.
Ariel squinted at it, "people must have thought the people here are creepy..." she said and knocked, but there was no response.
As she tried opening the door, it wouldn't open.
But as she sent her mana to it, it opened, and she widened her eyes.
Inside was eerily quiet and devoid of life, the floor covered in dust.
In front of her was a tall figure in a brown cloak, and from its aura, it was clearly a contracted wraith with Weber.
Ariel took several steps back as it quickly flew to her, then several feet away, it bowed, and Ariel looked at it in askance.
"What are you?" she said, looking it over.
It raised its head, "I am the guardian of this place. I've made sure no one comes near enough to cause harm here."
Ariel nodded, "can you... vanish? I'm not like your master, who's immune to fear of paranormal," she said, stepping back.
It nodded and became invisible.
Ariel began going around the house, and there was no furniture except for beds in rooms and couches in the living room.
Ariel sighed, "I'm going to get some rest then."
She returned to the parking garage where her car was, drove back home, kept her luggage in a corner, and fell flat on the bed.
She closed her eyes, and everything went pitch black.
---
Seven hours later.
Ariel felt a tapping hand on her, and as she opened her eyes, there wasn't anything there.
She shrugged, too tired to care, took a shower, and suited up, then got a small loaf of bread for breakfast.
She looked at a dagger in its sheath from the luggage, picked it up, then put it back, "I'm just going around for Josh, I don't think I'll need this," she said and dropped it.
"I think you will," the chief of the dead villagers said while manifesting.
Ariel jumped and straightened up, "don't ghosts ever get tired of scaring people!" she yelled.
The chief shrugged, "don't the living ever forget that it's not all ghosts that terrify are malevolent?"
Ariel crossed her arms, "spooky is spooky," she said and looked away from him.
"Well, I have come to tell you that our job is done. We have found the human," the chief said, and Ariel looked at him.
"Where is he?" Ariel asked.
"Our promise to you was to find Josh, so we will lead you to him. Be prepared with weapons," he said, and a smoky line on the floor appeared.
"I'm guessing this is how I follow his lead," she said and rushed outside.
She walked for hours, paused and rested at a park, then continued the journey.
She noticed that the place she was being led to was developed, but not as glamorous and flashy as the other half of Crystal City.
The chief appeared before Ariel as they stopped at a private hotel.
"Personally, I would have liked to help you and the Wraith Keeper without asking this in return. But the Abyss is a strange entity that left me with no choice."
Ariel looked around and saw that the trail of smoke stopped at the hotel and she bowed her head, "thank you for your help. But how might I get in? This place is private," she noted.
The chief, always with a straight face, grinned and his eyes shone white, "my people are right behind your back."
Ariel looked at him in askance, and he vanished.
She looked up at the luxurious hotel and took a few steps forward, but before she went in, people were running out for their lives.
The staff were hearing screams and seeing visions of ghosts, which drove them mad.
"When the Wraith Keeper doesn't keep his promise, his ghosts leave him. When the ghosts do more or less than we're contracted, we're permanently locked in the Abyss," the chief noted next to Ariel as she watched the chaos.
Ariel looked at the chief as he was turning to dust, "so don't waste time now. We did this because you'll need help for what you'll face down there," the chief said before turning into dust.
Ariel's eyes widened, and she held the dust before it vanished.
The hundreds of ghosts, too, were slowly leaving one by one.
Ariel clenched her fists and rushed into the hotel while the ghosts were distracting anyone that would stop her.
She noticed that the top floor was just a large empty hallway, no rooms except one at the edge, and she felt an ominous energy.
She also sensed mana.
Users of the mana-revealing mana art weren't great in combat like combat mana art users, so Ariel relied on mana-infused weapons.
She brought out a shotgun that was sleek, with tubes of blue capsules at the end that contained tiny pebbles explosive with mana power.
She rushed into the room at the corner and opened the door, which led downstairs, the path dark.
She jumped down, skipping the stairs, and put on a black mask covering her mouth and nose.
Another open door showed Josh strapped on a bed next to a woman with red hair, ash eyes, and a tall figure, with her too in the same problem as Josh.
Feign, a member from the Ones of Rite, clad in a cloak of red embroidered with gold, knelt before a figure that was pure gold, bowing to it.
A tall woman with purple hair and a built figure, with an air of authority, was unmistakable to Ariel.
It was Captain Esther of Vespera.
"If we can no longer offer dead sacrifices so you keep telling us the future to know how to keep Vespera safe, what shall we do now?" Esther asked, bowing to the being.
Ariel gasped and shuddered at the presence of the being.
"I definitely can't fight anyone here, so I just need to rescue Josh," Ariel thought and looked at Josh.
The entity pointed in Ariel's direction, but she had hidden just in time.
"I need to be contained inside a human, and you, Esther, and Feign cannot do that. And if you don't get rid of that woman hidden there in a minute, a war will break out."
Esther's eyes widened, and she rushed to the place Ariel was hiding, but she was gone.
Ariel was running towards Josh and unstrapped him, "what's going on?" she asked.
"Behind you!" he yelled, and Ariel turned back to see a huge purple mana sphere being sent towards her, and she caught it with a gauntlet that absorbed it.
"You will not take away Vespera's peace," the Captain said and effortlessly conjured a dozen more blasts.
Ariel looked around and saw corpses of people scattered around.
"What is all this? You're the Captain of Vespera! Where is your honor!" she yelled.
Esther glared at her, "I must sacrifice fallen people to the Enigma so that the way of peace for Vespera is revealed."
Ariel stepped back and brought out her shotgun.
"How is that even possible?" Ariel asked, holding her gun tight.
"As Captains, we know and do things you weaker ones will never understand."
Josh unstrapped the woman next to him, "you okay, Charlotte?"
Charlotte nodded affirmatively and saw the clash between Ariel and Esther take place.
But thanks to the immense power Captains had, Esther quickly pinned Ariel down with one strike, and Josh and Charlotte shuddered.
Ariel staggered to her feet and sent a sonic blast towards Esther, which slowed her down.
"No one move," the being said, standing up as Feign was about to join the fight.
"Esther, a disaster is coming, and if you don't get rid of it, this world will never rest!" the ominous being said, then the building began shaking.
Feign shuddered as he knew the familiar energy he was sensing.
A person broke through the roof and slammed his fist to the ground, causing a great chasm.
Weber's burning white eyes looked at Esther and Feign, and they shuddered.
"I now know you're here," he said, his voice iced and deep.
The being pointed at Weber, "kill this man! He uses the power of the Abyss!"
As Esther and Feign closed in on him.
"Andrej, Gabrielle!" Weber yelled, and they appeared in time to stop Feign and Esther.
Esther caused rains of bullets to be blasted at Weber.
"Wail," Weber began, and the being stomped its foot on the ground.
"Don't let him finish that statement!" the being said.
"Of the," Weber said while dodging a punch from Feign that nearly took off his head.
Esther grabbed Weber, but he became intangible, and Ariel smiled as he ducked and put his palm on the floor.
"Abyss," as he finished speaking, Andrej and Gabrielle manifested, but this time they were more menacing with their aura and their strength greatly increased as he touched them with Grasp of the Unmourned.