Chapter 8: Purge "Adept Vettori," Micah called out with excessive enthusiasm, "fancy seeing you here, eh?" Vettori’s eyes twitched slightly. "Don’t test me, spirogyra scum—" Isis bit her lips to stifle a laughter. "—you know this is my city! What shenanigans are you up to now?!" His eyes surveyed the scene, from the damage inside the building caused by an obvious fight, to Finn devouring the Shambler, and lastly, the rapidly twitching revenant at the verge of full possession. "Spirogyra scum?" Micah chuckled, standing, "I’m glad your words are still as vulgar as ever. How long has it been, huh? A year? Two?" Vettori’s eyes narrowed, visibly pissed at Micah’s casual response, he had hoped to get a rise out of him, but the Ossuarist remained as cool as ever. "Fuken parasitic scum," Vettori muttered under his breath before responding. "Before you start asking about my well being, aren’t you going to take care of that?" He nodded at the revenant’s body, which rose mechanically behind. "Ah. You don’t need to worry about that. My student will take care of it," Micah waved dismissively, "Why don’t we take our ’catching up’ outside and let her finish up here, huh?" He stepped forward, moving to lead the Arcanist team out. But Vettori wasn’t having any of it. He gritted his teeth, spitting to the ground like a hardened hooligan, contrasting with his effeminate image. "Like hell I will. By the order of the Aethelos Noble Council, you are required to have a permit before doing any of your... parasitic activities in any city. And if I recall correctly, your permit expired, how long was it? One? Two years ago?" He grinned. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺 "Ah. You mean that permit..." Micah tapped his head as though his memory had just been jogged. He was about to speak again, when a pained shriek cut his words off from behind. Isis had the fully corroded revenant body bound in chains that had appeared from nowhere. She slowly walked up to the body, which writhed madly, trying to break free of the binds, but the chains held solidly. Her hazel irises slowly took on a green glow, giving her a ghostly feel that made a few Arcanists behind Vettori take a slight step back subconsciously. Surprisingly, Vettori said nothing, simply watching in silence. In fact, they all had no choice but to watch in silence. The atmosphere itself required it. "Will. Anchor. Focus. Phasma..." Isis chanted, eliciting sharper, more frantic cries from the corroded revenant as she stepped closer. The main Shambler body which Finn was devouring also began to twitch slightly, agitating Finn, whose attention was already divided between the new soul mass disturbance behind him, and the Shambler which he was devouring. "—Order. Bind. Rend..." Isis continued, before pausing, the surroundings stilling with a sudden, unnerving silence. "Purge." Immediately her word dropped, an attraction that could not be felt physically, but called to the souls of all the Arcanists in the building was felt. A few of the weaker-willed Arcanists behind subconsciously stepped forward — fresh Arcanists, no doubt. They only caught themselves after taking a step forward, and fear gripped their hearts immediately, sending a chill down their spine. Vettori, at the front, frowned visibly. This was not the first time he’d felt it, but he still hated the feeling to his very gut. That slight tug like his soul was so eager to share the same fate of the cleansing action the Ossuarist was performing. He watched on as a pressure that could not be seen, but felt as though corporeal, poured out of Isis’ body, bombarding every single point of corrosion in the revenant’s body with superior soul energy. As the energy spread, all the blackened veins cleared up immediately, until the body was cleansed wholly. And like a chain reaction, Finn, who was previously devouring the Shambler on the ground suddenly found it easier, and his pace increased. The Shambler shrunk within seconds, disappearing down Finn’s throat as he threw his head back in ecstasy, with black-glazed eyes. The revenant’s body slumped to the floor, as though dead. Only the barely noticeable rise and fall of his chest was the only tell that he was at least still alive. Isis released a breath, settling herself to a calm, before opening her eyes, which had reverted back to their normal hazel color. She turned to face the audience, but found only the Arcanists at the doorway, all with differing expressions ranging from visible distaste, to awe. But it was mostly skewed towards awe, and a slight fear. Vettori was the only one who showed an obvious distaste by his expression. Micah was no longer by their side, but rather, he was right next to Finn, watching as the black lines on his body faded slowly. "Well, isn’t that something new?" He chuckled. Finn, after the black lines receded from his head and down past his neck finally dropped his head, tilting his head about as he tried to locate the next thing to devour. Micah released another soul mass from his shadow to draw Finn’s attention, and like clockwork, he snapped towards it, but slumped after a quick hand gesture by Micah over his head before he moved. Micah caught him as he fell, hoisting him over his shoulder. "This one is definitely coming with us, Isis." He chuckled like they were the only two in the building. "Hehe" Vettori cackled with anger laced in his voice. "And to where would that be? You’re not getting out of here just yet." He dropped his hands freely, obviously readying himself for a fight at the slightest provocation. He looked like he simply needed a small cause. A slight trigger to justify his actions, and he’d pounce. Micah tilted his head slowly, "I see you’re not still over your inferiority complex, Vettori." Vettori grinned. A burst of flames suddenly emerged from his hands and flashed forward under the span of a few seconds, whizzing straight at Micah, who dodged with relative ease. Vettori stepped forward menacingly, tucking the handkerchief he previously covered his nose with into his breast pocket. "You have floundered the established rules of the Aethelos Noble Council, taking actions without proper jurisdiction. For this I am within rights to—" "Ah. But that law only applies to Initiate Ossuarists," Micah raised a finger, cutting Vettori’s words short. Vettori scoffed, "So what? You are also a Grade 1 Initiate Ossua—" his eyes widened abruptly, the implied meaning behind Micah’s words dawning on him. "You’ve been promoted," he stated with a voice devoid of any emotion. Micah let out a full blown laugh at Vettori’s expense, before bowing his head in a gentlemanly introduction, "Micah Fugger, Grade 3 Caretaker Ossuarist... At your service."