City

"Yes, young Liam, it is problematic." The Ancient One nodded. "It seems some of the cultists used their own bodies to accept Nightmare's power. With that power, they are trying to make the tear larger."

Nodding along, Liam fell into thought. 'I had expected something like this to happen, but I'd imagined it to come from Mephisto.'

Looking at the girls beside him, Liam suddenly looked at the Ancient One again.

"Wait, by 'our mission,' do you mean they'll be tagging along with me?" Liam asked, pointing at the girls.

He had pretty much always taken care of things by himself, so he was confused as to why the Ancient One suddenly wanted others to go along with him.

Before the Ancient One could even respond, Illyana turned to Liam.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked with a scary smile.

"Nothing, nothing, I just wanted to know if there was a special reason," Liam quickly said, waving his hands in front of him while taking a step back.

"They will be going with you as a precaution," the Ancient One interrupted. "We don't know what exactly is over there. While I don't doubt your ability to kill the cultists, it isn't certain whether you can close the tear at the same time."

"But it sounds like there are a lot of pretty strong enemies there. Are you sure taking them with me is smart?" Liam asked, concerned.

Upon saying that, Liam immediately caught glares from both Illyana and Ava.

"Don't worry, they will be strong enough to help you." The Ancient One nodded, smiling.

Next, the Ancient One briefed them on the precise location and what they could expect. While Liam was a little annoyed that he couldn't continue focusing on his organization, he also understood how much trouble the world would be in if Nightmare managed to come through right now.

'Everyone being stuck in an endless loop of torturing nightmares doesn't exactly sound like fun,' Liam thought, shaking his head. 'I can always continue setting up my organization afterward.'

After the Ancient One gave them all their information, she told Liam and the girls to leave.

Now standing outside the Ancient One's room, Liam still had two glares pointed at him. Illyana and Ava certainly hadn't forgotten what Liam had said earlier.

"Alright." Liam raised his hands. "You guys have to understand my side too. I brought you here not so long ago. I have to make sure both of you don't die or bring the mission in danger."

"Aww, you were concerned about me. How cute," Illyana said, still smiling strangely. "While it's cute, I think you know that I'm strong enough to fight these creatures since we've done so before."

Liam nodded. Illyana had indeed fought the Tyrant with him before. But Nightmare was something different. He wasn't sure whether Illyana could handle the nightmares that would be created.

'In fact, I'm still not sure,' Liam thought, looking at Illyana. 'I'll have to do my best to keep them safe. Especially her.'

"Let's just go." Liam sighed, creating a portal beside him.

"Are we not going to make a plan first?" Ava asked, turning to Liam in confusion while Illyana jumped through the portal with no hesitation.

"We'll do so once we get close," Liam answered.

Ava nodded, walking through the portal, Liam following closely behind.

On the other side of the portal, Liam stepped out on the outskirts of a large city. In front of him were both Ava and Illyana, who were concentrated on the city around a mile in front of them.

The city in front of them was Teplice, a city in the Czech Republic. The city had a population of around fifty thousand and had been fully taken over without anyone being aware.

"The dimensional energy is spread out quite well, huh," Liam said, looking at the city himself. Even from a mile away, he could still detect the constant use of dimensional energy over in the city.

"Seems like Nightmare is using the entire town as food, siphoning off their energy while they suffer in nightmares," he said, his expression changing slightly.

Snapping out of it, Liam turned to Ava and Illyana. "Alright, let's make a plan."

Illyana and Ava turned around and looked at him, both giving him a nod.

"The main way they attack is through energy attacks, illusions and hallucinations," Liam started. "Besides that, expect the cultists to be way stronger physically compared to normal humans."

"What can we expect numbers and strength-wise?" Ava asked.

"We don't know how many cultists there are, but expect most of them to be of medium strength." Liam said.

"We have two main problems," Liam said. "Problem number one: there are still people inside their residences where we will be fighting, meaning we won't be at full power since we have to be careful with our strength."

"Our second problem: they will sense us when we enter the city, so they'll be on us from the very start until we reach the tear."

"When we reach the tear and there are no high-ranking entities, both of you should focus on closing the dimensional tear while I hold the cultists away," Liam said seriously.

"Can't I help you and fight?" Illyana asked, while Ava just nodded, accepting it.

"No, Ava won't be able to close the tear alone," Liam answered. "I'm expecting a lot of pushback from Nightmare on the other end."

"Alright," Illyana said, pouting but quickly turning serious.

"Before we go, one last thing," Liam began. "It isn't impossible for high-tier entities to show up. If that happens, I'll deal with them while Illyana protects you, Ava, and you will close the tear."

Ava and Illyana nodded as a moment of silence fell.

Liam had told them what he found the most important. All that was left now was to scout it out as much as possible and then go.

"Alright, let's go check it out," Liam said, gesturing for both of them to start moving towards the city.

While walking over there, Liam kept checking his Eldritch Sight, aiming to pick up any areas with denser dimensional energy. If he could discover where the tear was in advance, it would save them the trouble of having to run around the city to find it while being attacked.

Getting within a hundred meters, Liam's Eldritch Sight picked up countless areas with denser dimensional energy. Only a few stuck out towards the middle of the city, being many times larger than all the other ones he detected.