"You have to open it like this," Nick said as he opened the small door hiding the Zephyx containers of a Containment Unit.
"Then, you take out one container," he said as he took one out.
"And replace it with one of the empty ones lying here. You just have to do that once a day. Take them to your office, write down how much is in there, and write on a sheet the Extractor who produced it. Marion is willing to help you for the next couple of days if you have any questions."
Jenny nodded. "I can do that," she said. "How long do you think you will be gone?"
"I don't know," Nick said. "This is a good opportunity to finally do some good for humanity. If Aegis is willing to have me, I am willing to join."
"But you don't need to be worried. Even if I get taken, I will get some time to deal with my matters here. For the next couple of days, agents of Aegis will be stationed in Crimson City to make sure that nothing crazy happens."
Jenny sighed. "You're really going to leave, huh?" she asked.
"Probably," Nick said. "Or maybe I return. It depends on what task I get."
Nick showed Jenny what she had to do for the next couple of days.
Since she only had to keep Dark Dream running, she didn't have that many extra tasks. The other tasks could wait.
About an hour later, Nick said his goodbye to Jenny and Taren before leaving the building.
The Extractors of Dark Dream watched as Nick approached the tall man in white, Simon Francium.
They didn't want to say goodbye, but they had to.
Nick had been an amazing boss to them.
"I'm ready," Nick told Simon.
"Good," Simon said. "This is not a step back but a step forward. Leaving you in one single city is a waste of your potential."
Nick nodded.
Then, he turned to his Extractors. "Well, everyone, it's been an amazing couple of years. I will return to deal with my affairs, but I most likely won't be your Chief Zephyx Extractor for much longer."
The Extractors all came up to Nick one at a time and said their goodbyes.
When everyone was done saying their goodbyes, Nick turned to Simon and nodded.
Simon nodded back, and a moment later, Nick began to float beside him.
A Protector could easily control their Zephyx to make someone else fly.
Then, Simon and Nick flew out through one of the holes of the megastructure.
Nick wanted to turn around to look at the city, but he was scared of accidentally seeing the Crimson Sea through some random hole.
Because of that, he didn't turn around.
Simon and Nick began to fly faster and faster.
In the beginning, Nick would have still been able to keep up with his ability, but that stopped very quickly.
In almost an instant, they broke through the sound barrier, and they were nowhere done accelerating.
The entire world below Nick started to become blurry, and it became incredibly difficult for him to come to terms with the speed they were flying at.
It was unreal!
Kilometers of land appeared and vanished in less than a second!
"How fast are we?" Nick asked.
"Around 50 kilometers per second," Simon answered casually.
Nick had to take a deep breath when he heard that.
That speed was unreal!
The two of them flew toward the southwest, and they reached the ocean almost immediately.
When Nick looked at the ocean, he was shocked at just how big it was.
There was so much water!
The two of them flew for a couple of seconds before they flew above land again.
"Crimson City is located on a big island to the northeast of the desolate continent," Simon said.
"The desolate continent?" Nick asked, feeling how the air became hotter and hotter.
"The desolate continent could also be considered to be an island, but it is so big that we consider it a continent. The desolate continent has almost no humans living in it since its high temperatures and dry air make it difficult for normal humans to survive. Almost all the cities are located around the coast to the south or the north."
"Oh," Nick said as he looked at the wasteland below him.
The places here were covered with more sand than dirt, which was different from Crimson City's surroundings.
"You know what happens if you lie?" Simon asked.
"I will die," Nick said. "I didn't lie."
Simon narrowed his eyes without looking at Nick.
When Nick told him that he had seen the Nightmare, Simon didn't believe him.
However, Nick was adamant that he had seen it, and he had also told Simon how he had seen it.
In the end, Simon decided that he needed to bring Nick to Aegis' headquarters.
There were ways to verify if Nick was lying, and if he actually spoke the truth, Simon would need to tell the higher-ups anyway.
No one had ever seen the Nightmare.
Not even a single person.
But there were plenty of people claiming that they had seen it, and all of them had been wrong.
If Nick weren't so outstanding in so many departments, Simon wouldn't even have entertained him.
However, Nick had the Null's ability, and he had become an Expert extremely early while also leading a small Manufacturer.
Someone like that knew how stupid it was to lie to Aegis.
After some more seconds of flying, Simon started to slow down, and Nick could see something.
Nick could see the ocean again, but that wasn't the important part.
The entire coastline was covered in ruins of majestic buildings.
Around the ruins were gigantic buildings that were not ruins, and they had Aegis' symbol plastered all over them.
A sun in the middle of a shield, surrounded by six stars.
"Are these the headquarters?" Nick asked.
"No," Simon said. "This is where I am stationed. Do you see that huge hole?"
Nick looked over and saw a gigantic crater surrounded by ruins.
"Yes," Nick answered.
"This is where Envy is," Simon said.
Nick took a deep breath.
"Envy is many kilometers underground, and we know where it is based on the Zephyx it releases. From time to time, we also enter to battle with it just to confirm that it is still there."
"Sadly, we can't battle with it for long due to the deep darkness. It has many abilities that can snuff out the light, and our people are not strong enough to battle Envy inside the darkness. The Nightmare's influence is just too devastating."
Then, Simon turned to Nick. "You said you are immune to the Nightmare's influence now?" he asked.
Nick nodded. "I am."
Simon looked at the dark crater.
"If you manage to become powerful enough, maybe you can get rid of Envy for good. Aegis has ten Protectors stationed around Envy during all times. Envy is just that powerful. If we manage to get rid of it, these ten Protectors can help in other battles."
"What about the Shields?" Nick asked.
"They could deal with Envy," Simon said, "but they are too busy dealing with Famine, Pestilence, and War."
"I presume they are Adversaries?" Nick asked.
"They are the Trio of Destruction, and they follow the orders of Death, humanity's nemesis."
"Death is staying hidden somewhere, but it is never too far away from our headquarters."
Simon furrowed his brows. "Death is keeping the Champion of Light locked inside our headquarters. Death can win against the Champion of Light in a duel, which is why we have two Shields always by his side."
"These three people can never leave Aegis' headquarters, and while they are held up by Death, its three servants cause chaos all over the world."
"Famine, Pestilence, and War are so powerful that no Shield can take them down on their own, which is why we always need a numbers advantage. That makes deploying people very difficult."
"If Envy were any further away from this spot, I wouldn't have been able to leave to help Crimson City."
Nick just looked at the crater.
Envy was in there.
The Fallen that wanted to consume him.
"We can't get too close," Simon said. "Envy has many mental abilities, and someone with your power wouldn't be able to resist."
Nick didn't answer.
The next moment, Nick felt his body move towards the north, to the biggest building that was still standing.
The two of them landed on top of the building, and Simon swiped his hand over a console, which opened the doors.
Simon led Nick through the empty hallways.
The building was massive, but almost nobody was in there.
However, that was to be expected. After all, there were no Specters in here, and Aegis only employed Extractors.
"I have to give a report to my supervisor and ask for his permission to leave," Simon said as he stopped in front of a door.
"You wait here," he said.
Nick nodded.
Simon opened the door without knocking, walked inside, and closed the door behind him.
"You have to open it like this," Nick said as he opened the small door hiding the Zephyx containers of a Containment Unit.
"Then, you take out one container," he said as he took one out.
"And replace it with one of the empty ones lying here. You just have to do that once a day. Take them to your office, write down how much is in there, and write on a sheet the Extractor who produced it. Marion is willing to help you for the next couple of days if you have any questions."
Jenny nodded. "I can do that," she said. "How long do you think you will be gone?"
"I don't know," Nick said. "This is a good opportunity to finally do some good for humanity. If Aegis is willing to have me, I am willing to join."
"But you don't need to be worried. Even if I get taken, I will get some time to deal with my matters here. For the next couple of days, agents of Aegis will be stationed in Crimson City to make sure that nothing crazy happens."
Jenny sighed. "You're really going to leave, huh?" she asked.
"Probably," Nick said. "Or maybe I return. It depends on what task I get."
Nick showed Jenny what she had to do for the next couple of days.
Since she only had to keep Dark Dream running, she didn't have that many extra tasks. The other tasks could wait.
About an hour later, Nick said his goodbye to Jenny and Taren before leaving the building.
The Extractors of Dark Dream watched as Nick approached the tall man in white, Simon Francium.
They didn't want to say goodbye, but they had to.
Nick had been an amazing boss to them.
"I'm ready," Nick told Simon.
"Good," Simon said. "This is not a step back but a step forward. Leaving you in one single city is a waste of your potential."
Nick nodded.
Then, he turned to his Extractors. "Well, everyone, it's been an amazing couple of years. I will return to deal with my affairs, but I most likely won't be your Chief Zephyx Extractor for much longer."
The Extractors all came up to Nick one at a time and said their goodbyes.
When everyone was done saying their goodbyes, Nick turned to Simon and nodded.
Simon nodded back, and a moment later, Nick began to float beside him.
A Protector could easily control their Zephyx to make someone else fly.
Then, Simon and Nick flew out through one of the holes of the megastructure.
Nick wanted to turn around to look at the city, but he was scared of accidentally seeing the Crimson Sea through some random hole.
Because of that, he didn't turn around.
Simon and Nick began to fly faster and faster.
In the beginning, Nick would have still been able to keep up with his ability, but that stopped very quickly.
In almost an instant, they broke through the sound barrier, and they were nowhere done accelerating.
The entire world below Nick started to become blurry, and it became incredibly difficult for him to come to terms with the speed they were flying at.
It was unreal!
Kilometers of land appeared and vanished in less than a second!
"How fast are we?" Nick asked.
"Around 50 kilometers per second," Simon answered casually.
Nick had to take a deep breath when he heard that.
That speed was unreal!
The two of them flew toward the southwest, and they reached the ocean almost immediately.
When Nick looked at the ocean, he was shocked at just how big it was.
There was so much water!
The two of them flew for a couple of seconds before they flew above land again.
"Crimson City is located on a big island to the northeast of the desolate continent," Simon said.
"The desolate continent?" Nick asked, feeling how the air became hotter and hotter.
"The desolate continent could also be considered to be an island, but it is so big that we consider it a continent. The desolate continent has almost no humans living in it since its high temperatures and dry air make it difficult for normal humans to survive. Almost all the cities are located around the coast to the south or the north."
"Oh," Nick said as he looked at the wasteland below him.
The places here were covered with more sand than dirt, which was different from Crimson City's surroundings.
"You know what happens if you lie?" Simon asked.
"I will die," Nick said. "I didn't lie."
Simon narrowed his eyes without looking at Nick.
When Nick told him that he had seen the Nightmare, Simon didn't believe him.
However, Nick was adamant that he had seen it, and he had also told Simon how he had seen it.
In the end, Simon decided that he needed to bring Nick to Aegis' headquarters.
There were ways to verify if Nick was lying, and if he actually spoke the truth, Simon would need to tell the higher-ups anyway.
No one had ever seen the Nightmare.
Not even a single person.
But there were plenty of people claiming that they had seen it, and all of them had been wrong.
If Nick weren't so outstanding in so many departments, Simon wouldn't even have entertained him.
However, Nick had the Null's ability, and he had become an Expert extremely early while also leading a small Manufacturer.
Someone like that knew how stupid it was to lie to Aegis.
After some more seconds of flying, Simon started to slow down, and Nick could see something.
Nick could see the ocean again, but that wasn't the important part.
The entire coastline was covered in ruins of majestic buildings.
Around the ruins were gigantic buildings that were not ruins, and they had Aegis' symbol plastered all over them.
A sun in the middle of a shield, surrounded by six stars.
"Are these the headquarters?" Nick asked.
"No," Simon said. "This is where I am stationed. Do you see that huge hole?"
Nick looked over and saw a gigantic crater surrounded by ruins.
"Yes," Nick answered.
"This is where Envy is," Simon said.
Nick took a deep breath.
"Envy is many kilometers underground, and we know where it is based on the Zephyx it releases. From time to time, we also enter to battle with it just to confirm that it is still there."
"Sadly, we can't battle with it for long due to the deep darkness. It has many abilities that can snuff out the light, and our people are not strong enough to battle Envy inside the darkness. The Nightmare's influence is just too devastating."
Then, Simon turned to Nick. "You said you are immune to the Nightmare's influence now?" he asked.
Nick nodded. "I am."
Simon looked at the dark crater.
"If you manage to become powerful enough, maybe you can get rid of Envy for good. Aegis has ten Protectors stationed around Envy during all times. Envy is just that powerful. If we manage to get rid of it, these ten Protectors can help in other battles."
"What about the Shields?" Nick asked.
"They could deal with Envy," Simon said, "but they are too busy dealing with Famine, Pestilence, and War."
"I presume they are Adversaries?" Nick asked.
"They are the Trio of Destruction, and they follow the orders of Death, humanity's nemesis."
"Death is staying hidden somewhere, but it is never too far away from our headquarters."
Simon furrowed his brows. "Death is keeping the Champion of Light locked inside our headquarters. Death can win against the Champion of Light in a duel, which is why we have two Shields always by his side."
"These three people can never leave Aegis' headquarters, and while they are held up by Death, its three servants cause chaos all over the world."
"Famine, Pestilence, and War are so powerful that no Shield can take them down on their own, which is why we always need a numbers advantage. That makes deploying people very difficult."
"If Envy were any further away from this spot, I wouldn't have been able to leave to help Crimson City."
Nick just looked at the crater.
Envy was in there.
The Fallen that wanted to consume him.
"We can't get too close," Simon said. "Envy has many mental abilities, and someone with your power wouldn't be able to resist."
Nick didn't answer.
The next moment, Nick felt his body move towards the north, to the biggest building that was still standing.
The two of them landed on top of the building, and Simon swiped his hand over a console, which opened the doors.
Simon led Nick through the empty hallways.
The building was massive, but almost nobody was in there.
However, that was to be expected. After all, there were no Specters in here, and Aegis only employed Extractors.
"I have to give a report to my supervisor and ask for his permission to leave," Simon said as he stopped in front of a door.
"You wait here," he said.
Nick nodded.
Simon opened the door without knocking, walked inside, and closed the door behind him.
