Olivia made her way to the place described by the girl. It wasn’t really hard to find. The totems stood out like a girl wearing rags at a wedding party. When Olivia got closer to the totems, she saw used ritual candles and dead flowers scattered around the three totems. The place made her feel uneasy.

Mezolas appeared. “This area is a sacred ground where dark spirits thrive. Curses are often offered up here. Stay vigilant, my Lady.”

Olivia nodded. “Thanks for the warning.”

She walked around the area searching for any strange jars. When she came across a bunch of boulders, she found objects underneath them wrapped in cloth. She carefully bent down and took them out. She unwrapped one bundle and saw a gruesome sight inside a jar.

“Yeah. These are probably the right ones.” Olivia could barely stand looking at its contents. If the evil and perversion in humanity could be represented in some way, these jars were probably the best examples.

“Gather them up, my Lady. We’re going to have to burn them to dispel the curses.” Mezolas seemed unaffected by the sight of these jars. He probably saw things far worse than them.

Olivia didn’t even bother opening the rest of the bundles. She didn’t want to know what was inside the other jars. As she was moving the bundles to one corner where they could be burned, one jar fell out of its packaging. She was quick to notice one item inside the jar.

A photograph of Adrian Icarus.

Olivia picked up the jar containing a photo of Adrian, a black feather, a severed snake head, and a rolled up piece of paper with incantations written in black ink. A fourth of the jar was covered in blood. Olivia hesitated before opening the jar. She shielded her nose from the putrid smell of decay and fished out the photo of Adrian. She carefully wiped the photo clean using one of the pieces of cloth from the bundles.

“How intriguing. Looks like someone wanted the Icarus boy dead,” Mezolas remarked.

Olivia wasn’t sure what to say. She was much too speechless to find out that Adrian was a victim of this horrifying practice.

“Gather it all up, my Lady. We must burn all these as soon as possible. I’ll make the fire extra hot to melt the glass.”

Olivia followed Mezolas’ instructions and covered the jars with branches and leaves. She summoned fire through Mezolas to turn every jar of curses into ash. The pile burned before her. Everything gradually transformed into ash.

“The photo too, my Lady.” Mezolas pointed at the photo of Adrian that Olivia was still holding.

As Olivia was about to throw the photo into the flames, something invisible threw her to the ground. She was pushed down with such an incredible force that she was unable to breathe. She felt like she was being crushed under a heavy weight. Even Mezolas was helpless. Whatever attacked her, it was invisible to the eye and untouchable by a being such as her familiar.

“My Lady!” Mezolas shouted and blew flames above her. For a brief moment, a silhouette was visible.

Olivia was trying to stay conscious. She couldn’t go on any longer being suffocated like this. Just as she was about to give up, a sudden rain of white powder showered her.

“Ancient Ones, begone!”

Someone else was there. More of the white powder was thrown at her. A plant stalk was waved above her. She was covered by its leaves.

Who was it…?

Once the weight was lifted, Olivia turned her head. She finally saw the face of her savior. It was Leonel Aelius.

“Are you crazy? That could have killed you!” The brute of Royal Red roared like a majestic lion. Eventually, his expression turned to that of relief.

Olivia was glad to finally breathe again. She couldn’t answer him while still catching her breath.

“These dark creatures are different from those we fight with our familiars. They’ve been here for centuries and have adapted to the environment. They’ve lived in the city under the protection of the witch doctors in exchange for their services. They’ve been nourished for years through these curses that offer up the life energies of the victims. That’s why they are much stronger. I’m sure you can take on one. But a whole bunch of them? You will only be overwhelmed.”

Leonel handed her a bottle of liquid with leafy bits. “Drink up.”

“What’s this?” Olivia stared at the bottle’s contents.

“Nothing suspicious. Just cucumber, lime, and basil. Shina made that.”

“Thanks.” Olivia drank the liquid.

“You’d better get out of here as soon as you regain some of your energy. That blessed salt won’t keep them away for long.”

“What were you doing in the alley?”

“Adrian asked me to pick up some books. I ended up buying some more of these protective materials. Good thing I did. Otherwise, you’d be dead.”

Olivia weakly held up the photo of Adrian. “Tell him… Tell Adrian… someone was trying to curse him.”

Leonel was shocked to learn of it. “One of the curses was for Adrian?” He looked like he didn’t know who would do such a thing. “What did the jar look like?”

“A photo with a black feather and a bloody snake head. There was a rolled up piece of paper too with symbols written in black ink.” Olivia did her best to describe it.

“That’s a mark for death. Someone wanted Adrian dead. I know who performed the curse too. Come on, we’re going to investigate this.”