Chapter 4: The Masquerade
Before the entire Secret Unit got out of the armored smart car, the double agent gave each of them a badge, then he gave them a small pep talk before leaving the car.
"Listen, I'm not sure if I can manage to escort you back to safety if something unpredictable happens. I know that you're all elite mages. There are a lot of double agents inside the mansion, and they're already aware of your presence. They'll contact you if anything happens. Keep your lines open. Do your thing, and good luck."
Then he escorted them to a side door and went on his way.
They entered the side door, disguised as butlers/bodyguards of the top leaders of various factions.
Aside from the top-ranking officials of the various factions of The Renegades, only the most trusted aides, and assistants of top-ranking aides and leaders had access to the top-secret meetings, transactions, and operations that are considered classified info.
That naturally included vital information.
The entire Secret Unit split up as initially planned, then went inside the side door to commence the mission.
Rose looked left and right to make sure the coast is clear.
She is right outside the security control room of the mansion, preparing to spring into action.
Then she silently entered the door.
There are two security control operators transfixed on the screens, each wearing a headset and typing and giving orders.
They're distracted. Good. This makes the job easier.
To kill them now will blow up all our covers this early.
So, she put them to sleep through a sleeping spell. A few minutes passed and both of them fell asleep.
"This is Unit Rose speaking. I managed to gain access to the security control room. I'll try to hack into the security system of this mansion. This place is bugged. I don't know if I can fool the security system installed inside this mansion, but I'll give it a try. Be on alert. "
She said through the headpiece to the control team at the Premier's Residence.
"Operator, this is Unit Rose. Do you read me?"
"Yes, I can read you loud and clear. Can you send us a live feed of what's going on right now in the mansion?"
"Wait a minute. I'm working on it."
Rose nimbly typed and clicked away until she successfully sent a live feed to the Operator.
She also hacked the security system and successfully fooled the system.
Then she whipped out her tablet and synced it to the security control computers.
Then she continued to monitor in the Security Control Room while uploading all the vital info into her tablet and into the Premier's residence.
"I've deactivated pretty much everything except for the Security Sensors and Alarm."
Tashiro is in the meeting room.
Time to wreak havoc.
He listened to heated debate going on about the next plan of The Renegades while seated in the corner, sipping a hot cup of coffee while eating doughnuts.
The leaders of the Renegades are too busy debating to even take notice of him, and the rest of the bodyguards/butlers also sitting at a corner table.
He remained emotionless.
He sensed someone more powerful than him is after him. Might as well give them a hard time by not being obvious.
They may even be in this room without him knowing.
After he finished his cup of coffee and doughnuts, he politely excused himself and then went outside.
He found an empty room. Good. He needed to cover his presence.
Then he set up to work doing an advanced cloaking spell to mask his presence.
He didn't dare try to remove the tracker his pursuers somehow managed to plant on his clothes to avoid suspicion.
Then he went back to the meeting room.
Kokoro is at the Masquerade Ball held in the Function Hall.
She mingled with the high officials of the Renegades, who were there to dance, eat, drink, socialize, and be merry, or so it seems.
The majority of the high officials of The Renegades are here.
Something is definitely off.
They must be here to provide a cover for whatever the leaders are plotting.
This is a facade. She thought. They must be plotting something dangerous.
She just had her second glass of tequila.
Good thing she has a high alcohol tolerance.
She found herself dancing in the arms of a tall, handsome, and muscular double agent she didn't even know personally.
She couldn't resist looking into his handsome face.
"Kokoro." he whispered into her ear.
She tried her best to hide her surprise.
The guy must be from the Elorian Secret Service, or perhaps the equivalent in the Renegades.
Approach with caution, her instincts told her.
She followed him outside the function hall into an empty room.
She saw the name tag on his suit and tie earlier and did a quick search on her phone to dig for info in the Elorian Secret Service database.
"Reynold Janssen, what were you thinking earlier? You should be grateful you're aligned with the Elorian Secret Service, or I'd have blasted you to death without warning."
"Kokoro, relax. There are a lot of Double Agents in that room. I know you've got some sinister plan brewing."
"There is. An alarm will ring later. You and the other double agents there have to be outside the function hall by the time I activate the traps. Any other questions? No? Then let's resume dancing in the function hall."
And they went back to the function hall to dance.
Takeshi is in the hidden room right below the storage room.
He is shocked by what he found when he pried the cabinets, drawers, and boxes open.
There are loads and loads of smuggled illegal drugs used to drug and intoxicated people in one corner of the room.
Workers are placing them in ordinary boxes and intentionally mislabelling them as ordinary medicine.
He even saw exotic beasts and animal parts only found on the black market.
Spell-books filled with banned curses and incantations, summoning manuals for dreaded archfiends of the past, drawings of ancient and cursed magical lines.
Finally, he managed to find his voice after he is stunned and speechless at what he saw.
"Unit Takeshi here. Operator, are you seeing the same as me? Respond."
"Yes. These are quite shocking."
Then the line went silent again.
He could even hear the screams for help in the room right below him.
They sounded female and looked like minors at that.
Riku is in the secret basement of the mansion.
He couldn't believe what he saw.
In one corner of the basement are cages.
Inside those cages are girls who appeared to be teenage minors.
Those girls are stark naked and screaming for help.
What's between their thighs had signs of being violated and still dripped wetly.
He saw a pentagram with delicate inscriptions in Latin right in the center of the floor.
The pentagram was already starting to glow with a faint yellow color.
"Oh my god. I know what they are plotting."
Riku said in a whisper to the operator.
"Tell the Premier that this should not be allowed to happen. She should do something about this. Right now."
Meanwhile, at the Premier's residence, is busy and bustling with activity.
You could feel the tense atmosphere as they monitored the situation.
The Premier is a middle-aged woman that could pass for 20 years old because of her strict regimen and exercise.
She was a former double agent who has long since entered politics.
"We await your commands, Premier."
A middle-aged man, a gruff but handsome war warlock hardened by years of combat, spoke up.
"Initiate Operation Fujiwara Mansion. Right now."
The Premier said in a calm but authoritative tone.
Right at this moment, an elite army of Mages materialized at the Fujiwara mansion out of nowhere and attacked without warning.
It turned out that the sole kill switch in the whole mansion for the lighting system is also located in the security control room.
Rose pressed the kill switch and the whole mansion went dark.
Then she pressed the security alarm and killed the two operators with two point-blank shots to their heads with my anti-magic pistol.
She trashed the security control room to throw the Renegades into confusion afterward.
Good thing she finished uploading all the vital information needed to the Premier.
The whole mansion soon erupted into frenzied bursts of fighting, both inside the mansion and on the mansion grounds.
She fought her way into the Secret Basement, where Riku is.
They needed to stop the ritual and prevent the summoning from happening.
She nimbly slashed at her enemies with her daggers, counter-attacked, then fired spells left and right until she arrived at the Secret Basement.
His poison traps, smoke bombs, and celestial magic barrier also activated at the same time the security alarm blared, dealing serious double damage to the leaders of the various Renegade factions.
Mix it with the fact the whole mansion suddenly went dark.
The traps he set up inside the meeting room in advance gave him enough time to get out of there and fight his way outside until he reached the outer grounds of the mansion.
He knew that in the confusion, the Renegades will put the blame on the wrong person and thus further weaken their relations.
A weak and divided organization is easy to conquer.
He successfully managed to fight his way out into safety.
"The Renegade Leaders are still inside. I've trapped them with poison, smoke bombs, and a celestial barrier that will last for at least 24 hours. Hurry. This is Agent Tashiro, over."
Then he hightailed it out of there before he could get caught.
Kokoro laid out traps in the Masquerade Hall, designed to activate the moment the lights went off.
Luckily, the double agents already left the Function Hall,
Then she fought her way in the direction of the Secret Basement.
She knew how tough Nara's summoners are.
Nara Fujiwara of the Ancient Curses faction.
Although Nara's archdemon summoners aren't as strong as the Celestial summoners she personally knew, Nara's summoners are still formidable opponents.
Kokoro knew that Riku and Rose alone will have a hard time countering the attacks of Nara's summoners.
She could hear screams, curses, and the heavy sound of fighting in the background.
The high officials of The Renegades tried their best to get out of her traps and stall her in their tracks, but she'd seen through their tactics already.
She placed a tri-layer trap of ice, fire, and time magic all over the function hall, then summoned a full-grown legendary class invisible dragon to add to the chaos.
Then she tightly locked the function hall door and left right in time when the lights went out.
Before the lights went off, Takeshi managed to capture the workers and scare the shit out of them with his rarely seen psycho side.
He coldly watched as the frightened workers tried to break free from the enchanted ropes with amusement.
Then he conjured up a bottle of oil with his wandless magic, pouring it all over the ropes.
Then he conjured up a bright red fire and threw it into the wall adjacent to the captives.
"Tell me, why shouldn't I burn you to death, you scum? You're accomplices who willingly wasted lots of lives with this illegal stuff, yet you ask for mercy?"
He's about to set the rope on fire when the lights went off and the door opened.
"Unit Takeshi, enough! This is a double agent speaking. I'll take over from here. Go to the Secret Basement and stall those damn summoners."
Riku had a hard time stalling the summoners.
Luckily, he managed to rescue the caged girls and sent them to safety just before the lights went off.
He replaced them with dummies that looked and sounded real.
A fight broke out between him and the summoners the moment the lights went off.
At least he managed to remove one vital part of the ritual meant to summon Lilith the succubus.
He held them off for a few minutes until Rose and the rest of the unit arrived.
A fierce fight ensued.
"Why do you kids have to mess up our plans? You think you're different from us?"
Then the summoner sent undead creatures that got taken down just as quickly.
The Secret Unit used up all their hidden trump cards in the fight and had to blast the summoners to death with their anti-magic guns.
They fainted after the battle and had to be rushed to private hospital rooms.