Step. Step. Step.
To Dous, who was standing in the middle of the spacious hall where dozens of people were working, ran the girl who had earlier informed him about what had happened to Adam, Katrin, and Golden Light Squad.
Just likest time, she was in a hurry and you could tell by the look in her eyes that it was something urgent.
"Mr. Dous!" The girl eximed, her short brown hair tips quivering, sweeping in front of her blue eyes as she stopped abruptly and bowed low.
"Tia? Has something happened again? There have been too many incidents this night." Dous frowned, once again expecting bad news.
The girl shook her head, trying to catch her breath as she quickly ran here to deliver the news as soon as possible.
"Mr. Magnus would like to meet with you."
Dous raised an eyebrow in confusion.
''Magnus? What does that crazy guy want at this hour?'' The thought raced through Dous''s mind.
Then, he nodded.
"Have him make an appointment. I think I can find some free time the other day to meet him." Dous waved his hand.
Tia bit her lip, she looked away. It was obvious that she didn''t know how she should have acted in this situation.
"Tia, is something wrong?" Dous was puzzled. He understood that Tia was nervous.
"Just... Mr. Magnus is already here! I was going to ask him to wait, but he just walked inside!"
Dous''s eyes went wide for a moment before he nodded. If Magnus was this persistent, it was something important.
"Good. I''ll be off then. Stay here and let me know if anything urgentes up." Dous said confidently, stepped forward, and touched Tia''s shoulder with his powerful hand.
"Sure!" Tia eximed energetically.
...
Step. Step. Step.
Dous''s muffled footsteps spread down the empty passageway as he approached the door, opening it.
Inside he saw Magnus who had his legs tucked up on a table sitting rxed. In front of him was a cup of hot tea and a few cookies, which he didn''t touch.
If an ordinary man had behaved this way in Fort Norton when meeting Dous, there would have been severe consequences, but... Magnus could afford such carelessness.
There were three other chairs next to the desk, unupied, which was odd, for behind Magnus stood Nessa. Now, she was in her office clothes that she wore all the time working at Miracle Observatory.
"Mr. Dous, good evening!" Nessa said respectfully and bowed low.
Dous said nothing, he only sat down at an empty chair and cast a quiet nce at Nessa.
"Well, well, how much respect for me, what simple and modest clothing for someone who could break me in two like a stick." Dous sighed heavily.
Magnus and Nessa were not surprised by his words. Apparently, Dous was one of those people who knew who Nessa really was.
"I would never attack you. This is uneptable." Nessa replied confidently.
"Hah, what if Magnus had ordered you to?" Dous smirked.
Nessa''s eyes went wide, she went pale and bit her lip. She wasn''t ready to answer that question.
"Alright, what did you want from me? I actually have tons of problems here without you. Adam, Katrin, and the Golden Light Squad are in the middle of a real crisis right now. I don''t have much time." Dous said seriously, crossing his arms over his powerful chest.
Magnus nodded.
"Yeah, I know. That''s why I came here. I want Nessa to go there and help them defeat gue Reaper."
Dous tilted his head with narrowed eyes. He was surprised, not by the suggestion itself, but by the fact that Magnus hadn''t realized it was impossible.
"You think we haven''t sent them help yet? We did a long time ago, but gue Reaper took care of that. There''s no way a fighter pilot can safely get close to Fume Cathedral, it''s just not possible." Dous waved his hand with a heavy sigh.
Magnus grinned widely.
"Sure, but I''m not going to use the SH-01. I want Nessa to fly on the ..." Magnus said, causing Dous to frown even more.
"Stop joking around. That arrogant bitch won''t let us use it for a mission of this caliber. I wouldn''t even mess with her, she''ll just say no like she always does." Dous snorted irritably.
Magnus nodded slightly, remainingpletely calm.
"That''s true, but I can negotiate with her. Just give me the opportunity and permission. Within the confines of myb, I can do what I want, but I have no intention of ruining the ns of the military and the missions department." Magnus chuckled, leaving Dous no other choice.
Dous nced at Nessa, outwardly she remained cold and calm, but there was a fire burning in her eyes. Dous noticed it easily.
"What about her? As far as I know, Adam has seen her true identity, but the other Phantoms can''t know about it." Dous said seriously.
He could not allow Katrin, Osana, and the others to know of the existence of the hybrid, the only one in the entire Citadel.
It was a mystery far more serious than the information about the Naturalborn Phantoms.
Magnus waved his hand.
"Don''t worry about it. After recent events, if the battle is serious, Nessa will be able to show something that will make the others think it''s her ability. We''ll just put the NEP on her wrist."
Dous stared intently at Magnus and nodded. He realized that Magnus wouldn''t let the other Phantoms know about this.
Dous was more worried about them than Nessa, he knew that if any of the Golden Light Squad besides Adam realized that Nessa wasn''t a Phantom, then Magnus would find a way to quickly kill them all to keep it a secret.
"What''s more, I have a fake Phantom profile for her so their Operators won''t guess anything." Magnus smirked, showing a sh drive, he also pulled out a small ck box.
Before Dous could say anything, Magnus opened the box, revealing a simple monster fang earring, clearly a decorative essory.
"It''s made from the scrap of a powerful monster''s fang, so it won''t break. Officially, it''s Nessa''s Nexus, which increases her physical power if she wishes. Sure, it''s just a trinket, but only we''ll know about it." Magnus''s grin grew even wider.
Dous nodded.
"Fine, do as you see fit. If you can get her to help us, that would be fine."
Magnus nodded, heading for the exit, and gestured for Nessa to follow him.
It was time for his curiosity and Nessa''s desire to fight to change the fate of the Golden Light Squad.