St. Clare's abandoned church stood like a massive, silent wound on the fringes of London's East End docks. Isolated within a chain-link-fenced wasteland of derelict warehouses and stacked shipping containers, its spire was half-collapsed. Weathered stone saints gazed down with hollow eyes from crumbling facades choked with ivy. Dusk bled into night, the last light devoured by thick clouds, leaving the area shrouded in an ominous silence, broken only by distant ship horns on the Thames.
The team avoided the main entrance. The Mole's warning and previous attacks screamed trap. Two blocks away, they abandoned their transport, slipping through the shadows of buildings and containers.
"Energy scan… no life signs outside. But internal… faint, unstable Anima flux. Like… incomplete ritual residue?" Simon's voice crackled over encrypted comms, laced with tension. His tablet screen showed the church interior overlaid with a shifting, sickly crimson haze.
"Structure scan shows the crypt entrance behind the chancel was forced open recently. Door compromised." Lena added, sharp eyes scanning the perimeter. "Advance with caution. Fenrir, watch for ambush near entry. Alan, sense energy flow."
Fenrir grunted, crouching low, senses probing the wind and ground vibrations. Alan focused inward. His suppressor cuff warmed; the twisted, foul, alchemy-tainted Anima radiating from the church felt like invisible tendrils, inducing nausea. He strained to discern the energy's flow through the interference.
"Chaotic… like… burnt yarn," Alan murmured, brow furrowed. "Focus underground… crypt. Strongest, most… distorted. Something struggling… or incubating. Main hall… residue. Faint. Like the 'Entropy Gel' from Bai Cao Tang." He confirmed the familiar decay signature.
"Crypt is primary." Lena decided. "Target likely exfiltrated, but may have left clues… or traps. Simon, prep to bypass physical/energy locks on crypt access. Fenrir, Alan, cover."
They ghosted over the rusted fence, through weeds choking the overgrown churchyard. The massive oak doors were rotted ruins, leaving a gaping maw. Stepping into the nave, cold air thick with dust, mold, old wood, and a faint coppery tang hit them.
Headlamps speared the gloom. The nave was a wreck. Pews lay shattered under dust and guano. Stained glass was gone, leaving skeletal lead frames. The altar was half-collapsed, a large crucifix hanging askew, draped in cobwebs. Walls bore cryptic graffiti and dark, dried stains.
"Recent activity confirmed." Lena's beam traced footprints (not rodent) and drag marks leading towards a heavy, flagstone-covered corner behind the chancel. The rug over it was torn aside.
"Crypt access." Simon crouched by the slab. Faded religious reliefs were marred by a ragged, person-sized hole burned through the center—energy cutter residue. The edges glistened with cooled, waxy slag emitting the faint "Entropy" signature Alan sensed.
"Brute-forced. Lock destroyed." Simon scanned the opening. "Internal… residual energy field? Like a failed ward? Structure unstable. Careful."
"Fenrir, point." Lena ordered. His night vision and brawling prowess were vital in the confined dark.
Fenrir snarled and ducked through the jagged hole. Moments later: "Clear! For now. Down ya come! Stinks worse than a troll's armpit!"
Lena followed, then Alan, Simon last. They descended slick, mossy steps into the crypt proper.
The air grew colder, damper, thick with loam, stone mildew, and… a faint, unsettlingly sweet chemical tang. The space was larger than expected—vaulted stone passages lined with burial niches. Many coffins had crumbled, revealing bones. Debris littered the floor.
But it wasn't the ancient dead that drew their eyes. It was the crypt's center.
A roughly three-meter diameter alchemical circle was etched onto the stone floor! Lines drawn in a dark, blood-like substance pulsed with faint, unholy light. Strange, dimly glowing ores (likely catalysts) sat at its center, surrounded by charred herb ash and shattered animal bones. The pattern was twisted, blasphemous—sharp angles, inverted sigils, and the coiling serpent symbol of Ouroboros!
"Energy residue… match confirmed! Bai Cao Tang attack, the Mole's 'Blackwater Paste'!" Simon's scanner shrieked, screen flashing a match alert. "The circle… incomplete? Core energy conduits are severed! Like a ritual was aborted mid-cast!"
Alan's perception sharpened. The foul energy radiated from this unfinished work! The circle's center felt like a festering wound, leaking decay. The earlier sense of "struggle" seemed to emanate from *beneath* the circle… deeper earth? Something disturbed by the aborted ritual stirred uneasily.
"Document the pattern. Collect residue samples!" Lena snapped, vigilance maxed. "Stay sharp! 'Gifts' likely waiting!"
Simon cautiously approached the circle's edge with specialized tools and a camera. Fenrir paced near the entrance, nose twitching, a low growl rumbling—agitated by death and twisted energy. Alan hung back, fighting dizziness, expanding his senses for hidden threats.
Suddenly, as Simon's tool neared a dark red crystal at the circle's edge—
Click!
A tiny, metallic snick, impossibly loud in the silence!
"Trap sprung!" Lena and Alan shouted simultaneously!
WHOOSH!
Grey stones embedded above the jagged crypt entrance exploded! A torrent of viscous, acrid, yellow-green fog surged in like a flood! It sank rapidly, filling half the crypt in seconds! The air turned searing, corrosive!
"Alchemical acid mist! High corrosivity! Fall back! Cover!" Lena yelled, activating her micro kinetic barriers. A faint blue aura protected her vitals, but the mist hissed and spat against it, visibly eroding the field!
"Argh!" Simon, closest, recoiled too slow. Acid splattered his arm and shoulder, instantly eating through his suit. Skin sizzled, smoke rising! He screamed, tools and camera clattering to the floor!
Fenrir roared, surging towards Simon, but the fog wall forced him back! He shielded his face with thick arms, fur and suit hissing where droplets landed!
Alan was driven into a corner by the encroaching fog, barrier flaring. The stench burned his lungs; heat prickled exposed skin. He instinctively wanted to harmonize, to neutralize the mist, but his suppressor cuff vibrated violently, warning of overload! Forcing it risked catastrophic backlash! He gritted his teeth.
The nightmare wasn't over.
Screee… Craaack…
Stone eyes set into the vaulted ceiling and walls—gargoyles frozen in grotesque poses—suddenly ignited with hellish red light! Dust and lichen flaked away! With grating stone shrieks, the heavy sculptures began moving, tearing free from their perches!
"Gargoyles animated! Energy-driven! Beware!" Lena's voice held unprecedented gravity. She dodged the thinning but still dangerous mist, baton crackling at maximum, eyes locked on the stone monsters turning their burning gazes upon the team.
The gargoyle directly above Simon struck first! It unleashed a silent shriek (Anima shockwave), staggering Simon! Then, unfurling stony, spike-studded wings (though flightless), it launched itself like a boulder from the ceiling, stone claws glinting lethally in the lamplight, aimed at the injured technician!
"SIMON! MOVE!" Fenrir bellowed, straining to reach him, but a second gargoyle lunged from a side niche, swinging a massive stone fist at his head, blocking his path!
Lena tried to intercept Simon's attacker, but a third and fourth gargoyle crashed down from different angles, cutting her off! They moved with ponderous strength, stone bodies unnaturally tough. Her baton's arcs sparked against them, leaving only scorch marks, driving her back!
Trapped in his corner, barrier hissing under corrosive mist, Alan watched Simon about to be crushed, Fenrir brawling, Lena overwhelmed. Desperation surged. He ignored the suppressor's screaming vibration! He slammed his hands onto the cold, wet floor, abandoning finesse. He unleashed the pent-up, danger-spiked Harmonizing energy bottled inside him—a raw, uncontrolled surge—directed at the crypt's chaotic Anima field, specifically targeting the incomplete circle and the gargoyles' power cores!
HUM-WHAM!!!
An invisible shockwave erupted from Alan, rippling outwards! The acid mist billowed violently, thinning! The gargoyle diving for Simon froze mid-plunge, eyes flickering madly! The others attacking Lena and Fenriel also stiffened momentarily!
"Ugh!" Alan gasped, blood trickling from his lip. The backlash and suppressor's counter-surge hit him like a hammer blow, causing internal injury! But he'd bought precious seconds!
"Now! Hit their cores! Chest cavity!" Alan rasped through pain and dizziness, the surge revealing the dark red, crystal-like energy hearts pulsing within the stone chests!
Lena reacted fastest! Exploiting her opponent's freeze, she lunged low and fast. Her baton switched from arcing electricity to high-frequency vibration, shrieking like a drill as she drove it towards the gargoyle's core!
CRUNCH-THUD!
Hard stone yielded to focused force and tech! The tip pierced the dark red crystal!
CRACK!
The core shattered!
The gargoyle's eyes winked out. Its body collapsed into inert rubble!
Fenrir roared, taking a glancing blow from his foe (staggering him), his alloy claws tearing into the chest of his gargoyle, pulverizing its core!
The gargoyle above Simon recovered from its momentary stasis, deadly claws descending! Simon squeezed his eyes shut, awaiting impact!
At the last possible millisecond—
A blur shot across the crypt! Lena! After destroying her gargoyle, she hadn't paused. Channeling blinding speed, she slammed into the paralyzed Simon, tackling him aside just as the stone claws raked down!
RIIIIP!
Claws tore through Lena's tactical suit, drawing blood across her back! She grunted in pain, momentum carrying her and Simon clear in a desperate roll!
"LENA!" Alan cried out.
"I'm functional!" Lena's voice was tight with pain but controlled. She pushed a dazed Simon aside, rising quickly, her back burning. Her cold gaze locked onto the thwarted gargoyle, baton flaring anew.
The crypt was still hazy with residual, stinging mist. Three gargoyles remained. They unleashed silent roars of fury, eyes blazing hotter, surrounding the team once more with ponderous, deadly intent. Backs together, the four faced the tireless, stone-skinned killers. The air reeked of acid, stone dust, and blood. Every second stretched into an eternity of desperate struggle.