The Scavenger waited eagerly for the guards’ shift to change. He readied himself to jump into the courtyard.
It was about time. A faint light started to appear from the underground, signalling that the platform would be approaching. The Scavenger looked at his watch and took a deep breath.
He pressed the invisibility timer and jumped into the Library compound and positioned himself just behind a guard who was slightly separated from the rest.
The platform was about to emerge from the basement.
In less than a second, the Scavenger had his right hand placed around the guard’s mouth. Simultaneously, with his left hand, he pierced a thorn in the guard’s neck. The guard immediately fell unconscious.
The Scavenger lifted him up and, with all his might, threw the guard towards the dragnet in the tree. Before throwing him, he slid out the guard’s sword from his pocket.
The net expanded around the guard. It took the colour of the tree bark at once and sucked the unconscious guard into the branches.
All this happened so fast that nobody was alerted.
The Scavenger smiled.
The platform had delivered six new guards by now. The five guards of the older batch had already climbed the platform. The Scavenger, switched off the invisibility circuit, which still had a minute of charge left. He was perfectly camouflaged in the guard’s uniform as he joined the other five on the platform.
As the platform sank below, the Scavenger grinned.
The guards had no idea that they had an intruder with them.
The platform stopped in the basement. A group of men counted the guards and gestured them to move forward.
The Scavenger followed the others as they deposited their weapons. The guards moved to a restroom.
The Scavenger decided to mingle with the various other guards moving around. He moved at ease with the other guards, arousing no suspicion.
The Scavenger moved ahead and carefully made mental maps of the corridors and the galleries and the number of guards deployed at various locations. The FLICK was secretly recording the surroundings through cameras installed inside it.
He had spent almost an hour underground. His invisibility circuit was fully recharged now, and could be activated whenever required.
While passing through a corridor, the Scavenger noticed a blue light emanating from a door. He approached the door from the side.
He was just about to open it when the door opened by itself.
The Scavenger’s instincts took control. He immediately activated the invisibility circuit and jumped to the side. He just avoided contact with three soldiers that emerged from the door.
The soldiers were dressed in ancient oriental robes and were carrying long swords. It seemed as if they were samurais.
One of them was telling the other, “Bate, Commander is in very bad mood due to the Spice Room incidence. Go meet him. He is waiting for you. Just assure him that we are doing our best.”
Bate nodded and walked away towards a corridor. In a split second, the Scavenger decided to follow Bate. He deactivated the invisibility circuit, saving it for later use.
Bate approached the Commander, who was a grumpy, ill-tempered and fat soldier who was distributing whistles to various guards present in the room. The Scavenger silently observed the happenings.
“Sire, we have been trying our best,” Bate said to the Commander. “The problem will be resolved soon.”
The Commander yelled at Bate. “You idiots! If Osay comes to know that you couldn’t solve the issue, I bet you will not live another day! I need some good news!”
Bate tried to say something, but the Commander shouted, “I thought you would tell me that the problem is resolved. I don’t need assurances. Now just get out and solve it!”
Bate nodded. “Yes, sire.” Then he left the room.
The Scavenger followed Bate. He was curious to know what the Spice Room issue was.
Bate halted near a massive steel door on which a plate displayed the name – Spice Room. He pushed the door and went in.
The Scavenger was aware that he had about four minutes of charge left in the FLICK’s invisibility circuit. The Scavenger activated the invisibility circuit and rushed behind Bate into the Spice room.
The Scavenger was shocked.
He saw two humongous cylinders made of transparent glass in the far end of the room. The cylinders had red coloured liquid inside and they were connected through a pipeline.
A demon tied in ropes was thrown into one cylinder. It struggled and soon became dormant in the red liquid.
At the same time, a machine punched an injection into the demon’s head. The demon started to vibrate. The vibrations kept increasing until the demon burst into pieces. The pieces flowed to the other cylinder through the connected pipeline.
In the other cylinder, the pieces combined, to form... two demons.
And the cycle repeated.
The Scavenger was filled with dread. Every minutes, one demon was converted into two demons. At this rate, there could be hundreds of demons in a matter of days.
Suddenly, he felt vibrations in the FLICK. The invisibility circuit was about to be discharged. He rushed out of the Spice Room just in time. He was now visible but dressed like a guard.
The Scavenger saw a guard exiting the Spice Room. He conversed with him. “Hey, the Commander sent me to deal with the problem at the Spice Room. Tell me what’s going on.”
The guard nodded fearfully. “Oh yes, the problem is that the machine is producing fewer demons. Earlier four demons used to get formed from a single demon. But now only two get formed. It seems the cylinders are moving slow.”
The guard took a breath to calm his nerves. “Just fix it, anyhow. We can’t afford to delay the attack on the Brentinute.”
With that, the guard turned and left.
The Scavenger’s eyes widened. He now understood how Osay had such a huge army of demons.
Thoughts of the Brentinute in danger worried the Scavenger. He thought to immediately rush back to his friends and plan to save the Brentinute. But he had come
