Chapter 189: Forces At Work Part 3

Upon receiving Arias's instructions, Rose quickly retrieved the drone and packed up her gear in a bag before leaving the building she was in. She used the cover the night provided to quietly sneak toward the building Raven was in. With the many ruined structures and even vehicles present in the area, it wasn't a hard thing to do.

Soon enough, she managed to make her way to the back, where she snuck in through an already broken window. Immediately after entering, she halted to a stop as the floor was extremely creaky and rotten.

"Shit, well, I guess this is close enough," she whispered to herself before choosing to settle right by the window. Once again, she took out her miniature drone to observe the situation.

She was both relieved and unsettled to find that nothing had changed so far, but she couldn't shake the uneasy feeling about the situation as a whole.

…

Not far from her, Arias's private vehicle was cruising through the streets of Gotham, rushing him toward Rose. Inside, this sudden change in direction sparked curiosity in Cheshire.

"Where to, boss? That creepy place you were looking at on the monitor?" she asked, her tone carrying both curiosity and unconcern, as if she was just bored.

Arias simply gave Cheshire a nod, not wanting to speak much on a subject he himself barely understood. 

*An occult threat. The real question now is, just how much of a threat?* Arias's mind lingered on how big the situation could turn out to be. He could have passed it off as small or negligible earlier, but given the fact that Raven was being specifically targeted, it showed that things were not simple.

Now he wondered just what it was that made her special, and he was intent on finding out himself.

Before long, the car began to drive slowly into the abandoned former criminal den, its silent streets and dilapidated buildings giving off a chilling atmosphere.

"Right here is fine," Arias ordered the driver to stop a few meters away from the target building and stepped out, his action soon mirrored by Cheshire. 

Upon exiting the vehicle, she couldn't help but look around and shrug. "This place just screams creepy—not the type of place even someone like me would be."

Ignoring her scenic comments, Arias began to walk forward. She simply rolled her eyes before following along. "Going silent it is."

Cheshire no longer spoke as they approached the building and instead began to look somewhat serious, like an actual assassin from the League. Her eyes darted around for any threats, and she moved without making a sound. 

Perhaps the only real oddity she noticed was that as Arias walked, not a single sound was produced from his movements. She couldn't even begin to imagine how his figure was simply ignoring the laws of sound, practically making the little space around him a vacuum.

Cheshire, a keen observer, couldn't overlook such a unique thing, but before she could ask, Arias broke the silence and ceased using his ability. 

"Over there," he pointed, directing his hand at the window where Rose had stationed herself.

Rose noticed the two stopping not far from her and waved them over, giving a signal that it was all clear. Upon their arrival at the window, Rose quickly explained the situation. 

"You're just in time. I just lost the feed from my drone. Some sort of weird energy pulse messed up the camera, but I can still hear the weird chanting in the basement. I couldn't get any closer because the floorboards are extremely creaky."

Arias nodded at the brief summary before climbing in.

"You two secure the exits. I'll be heading down. If anything that isn't me comes up, kill it—if you can, that is," Arias instructed while moving into the building, his steps not making the faintest sound.

Cheshire leaned over the window and pouted. "Aww, and here I was, ready to kill some weird voodoo thing. Cross it off my bucket list. Oh well."

Rose had initially ignored Cheshire's presence, but seeing her there, she couldn't help but inwardly frown. 

"You cover the front, I'll keep the back secure," Rose said, feeling she had greater authority over new subordinates like Cheshire. 

But she couldn't have been more wrong.

"How about you get the front and I get the back? I'm so much better from that position," Cheshire provocatively teased, her gaze showing she wouldn't be willing to move.

Rose wasn't about to let the new girl walk over her and spoke more sternly. "I wasn't asking. It was an order."

"Gee, can't take a joke, huh? Fine, whatever, I'm good from there too." Cheshire teased again before walking away, seemingly without a care in the world.

…

Meanwhile, Arias had found the door leading to the basement. Right from there, he could already see some chilling signs. 

He crouched down and saw that the floorboards had scratch marks, as if someone had been dragged through forcefully. Along with the scratches were stains of blood—some brighter and others darker—showing a difference in time.

*Sacrifices... but for what?* he wondered, before standing and looking around. 

With no one in sight, his figure ignored the laws of tangibility. In other words, the matter he was composed of could no longer be interacted with physically or perceived by the senses. He then used his telekinesis to move himself forward, passing through the door and descending into the basement.

There, he found the disturbing scene that was taking place. Unlike the feed he had received earlier, the altar on which Raven was leaning now had a bright red ball hovering above it. This ball shook and trembled with immense energy surging around it as it showed signs of expanding. 

Even stranger, its glow resonated with another glow coming from the unconscious Raven, whose eyes soon shone to life.

"Argh!!" she yelled in seemingly intense pain as her body hovered into the air, the glow on her forehead burning brighter.

"Leave me alone! Stop this! No!! I won't let you!" Her yells echoed in the eerie room as her face contorted in pain.

The two creatures paid little attention to her and continued to chant as the ball of energy grew wider.

*Pa!* It suddenly surged again, sending a small shockwave through the room as a sort of tear in reality appeared. 

Arias, who was observing the entire scene, furrowed his brows as he watched an extremely large, crimson red finger appear from the tear. Its long, pointed nail moved slowly toward Raven, its very movement causing the whole building to shake uncontrollably.

*That's enough.* Feeling he had witnessed enough, Arias no longer kept his body in a non-tangible form, which immediately alerted the unknown creature to which the hand belonged.

"Who dares disturb the coming of Trigon?" Its voice shook the entire building with an overwhelming amount of power. Its very presence caused the creatures who were once chanting to stop and bow pitifully.

"Forgive these incompetent ones, Lord Trigon. We will handle—ick!" Before the creature could give reassurance, its head was stabbed through by a jagged pipe Arias had manipulated with telekinesis. 

The other creature soon suffered a similar fate, their bodies thumping to the ground in quick succession, which angered the owner of the large finger—Trigon.

"Your insolence shall be punished, mortal!" Its voice was truly ear-piercing, and even Arias could feel his immortal body constantly in a state of self-healing.

As Trigon spoke, Raven only felt more pain.

"Argh! Make it stop!! Just stop!!" she cried, her pleas receiving no attention from Trigon, whose finger now moved toward Arias with malicious intent. It was clear the being couldn't see, but the finger simply began to crush and destroy anything it touched, with Arias being the next target.

However…

"What…" The once vicious tone of Trigon now carried confusion as its finger was stopped by Arias's palm.

*It's stupidly strong,* Arias thought to himself, using his power to ignore laws rather than his physical strength—a move he now felt was the right one. 

At that moment, his body was impervious to all forms of energy, ignoring their very presence. 

To an outside observer, it would look like Arias was the stronger party, but to one imposing the force, they could see the oddity behind Arias, hence the confusion in Trigon's voice.

It could feel its power dismantling the weak and feeble structures of man, but its force suddenly halted in front of Arias. No matter how much it pushed, its finger could not budge.

"Hehe," Trigon's laugh reverberated creepily around the room, seemingly unfazed by Arias's strangeness. "You are no mortal… what are you… speak!"

Despite this stalemate in power, Trigon wasn't the least bit moved. It had encountered many powerful beings before, and even now, it was far from its full power, so Arias's display was nothing more than noteworthy—nothing more.

"I'd rather not." Arias could see that Trigon wasn't fazed, so he chose not to risk the situation. 

Even if he could survive, there was no telling what could become of Gotham if Trigon went all out. Despite having questions, he chose not to pursue them carelessly and began moving the finger back into the tear it came from.

This angered Trigon. "Stop! You dare ignore my words?! You are only delaying the inevitable! Your world shall be Trigon—!"

Its imposing words were cut off when Arias fully pushed

 the hand away and the tear closed shut.

This immediately caused Raven to fall to the ground hard, her body trembling, blood leaking from her nose and eyes, fear plastered across her face. Her eyes flickered open, and she saw a blurry figure, instantly causing her to move back and yell, "Stay away!"

Arias met her bloody and frightened gaze with a concerned expression. 

"Easy there, it's okay. Everything is fine now. Do you remember me?" he asked in a soft tone, causing Raven's haggard breathing to slow as the light on her forehead completely dimmed and her mind gained some clarity.

"You're… you're him, Arias Markovic…" she answered weakly, less fearfully.

Arias gave a nod and approached, his hand reaching out to touch her shoulder. 

"That's right, you're safe now. Trust me, okay?"

Raven, still shaken by the experience, could only nod at Arias, now feeling safe and saved from what could've been a nightmare.

"Okay… thank you…"