They walked for at least an hour before Eclipse stopped, growling a bit. "The smell... it ends there!" He pointed at a small hillock in front of them. It was covered by moss and grass. Around it was an open area that was enclosed by trees. There was no visible danger, yet he felt his skin bristling, and his instinct was telling him to be careful.

Silver's amber eyes scanned the area, before sharply barking, "Go search it." If there are traps, he might trigger them, and if this is Silver's lucky day, Eclipse could die in one.
The demon shivered, probably guessing what he was thinking, but Silver didn't care. Amy noticed this and strongly frowned, saying, "I'm going too. Cover us!" She nodded at her demon and together they started to slowly approach the small hill.

Silver's eyebrow twitched, did she make him a back-up? Did she give him an order? He was the one leading this mission! Only he could give orders! He barred his teeth a bit. Amy was nothing like Gold! And he was an idiot thinking this pain in quills could be like her!

"Don't get ahead of yourself, rookie!" he barked, catching up to them. He glanced the area in front of them, catching glimpse of Amy's impish smile. At the same moment, he realized he had been had! That naive girl made him step forward to protect Eclipse! She aimed at his pride to make him listen to her.

He took another step forward, making sure she couldn't see his angry face. However, that was soon gone as that emotion was replaced with a strange mix of sadistic pleasure and excitement. He wondered how strong her will was. Would she submit to him if he would twist her limbs a bit, or would he need to get a more firm grasp over her?

The images of him using his psychic powers on her submerged in his mind, making him seriously tempted. Her squirming body and screams. Okay, he quickly shooed the images away. He had enough of her screams, once it was more than enough. Not to mention there was a big mission in front of him.

Unbeknownst to him, Amy noticed the short change in his mind as it reflected on the color of his soul. However, before she could look properly, he successfully masked it without knowing. To her, it was like a light played tricks on her as his light-blue aura turned crimson red for a moment.

Silver started his search for traps and hidden weapons. His eyes didn't find anything out of ordinary, but that meant nothing. He directed his inner energy into his feet and sent it out in small waves. His brain then received the echo waves and calculated if there was any danger. This testing took about three minutes.
"The coast is clear," he announced, before moving toward the small hill. He carefully circled it since the structure was highly suspicious, yet there was no sign of danger.
Amy did the same from the other side, counting fifteen steps to the other side. Eclipse jumped at the top, and based on how high he was, he guessed the hill was about two meters tall. He sniffed around, finding the strange smell and another one he commented, "It reeks of blood!"

Silver's left eyebrow was lifted once more. From what time demons consider the smell of the blood like stench? Shouldn't it be delicious? The psychic cringed his nose, as the smell hit his sensitive nose. That clue was enough to tell him what happened to villagers.

"There must be an entrance somewhere!" Amy sat down, searching the ground for some switch or anything suspicious. "Villagers must be trapped inside!"
Silver rolled his eyes. There was no point in explaining to her what the smell of the blood meant. He didn't care if her childish innocence would be brutally destroyed or carefully peeled off. The psychic silently growled when soil fell on his shoulder as Eclipse started to dug on his post like a dog.

Silver dusted the dirt away, using his power to help them to undercover what was beneath it. He also took a step away, making sure nothing dirty would touch him. Getting messy was another thing having a secure place on his "I-hate-this" list. Soon the hillock was clear of any weed, grass, and dirt, revealing a metallic structure.

Eclipse looked at it and scratched his quills before asking, "How do we get in?"

The only entrance had no handle or opening, and there was just some panel next to it. Otherwise, the structure was smooth, not even showing any sign of pieces welded together. Silver was checking it, understanding the fine craftsman behind it.

"I'm sure we have to use that panel to insert out inner energy," Amy noted, frowning. "But I'm afraid this one may need precision." She bit her lip since she knew she might not have the necessary skills. "The wrong manipulation may alert our enemy or block the door for good."

"We can just bust it," Eclipse offered his raw strength.

"Why don't you just go and offer the rogues there coffee and strudel while you are at it?" Silver sarcastically asked. "We don't want to tell them we are coming." The psychic adjusted his gloves. "Watch and learn," he added, glancing at pouting Amy.

He put his hand on it, feeling the smooth surface. This type of lock was hard to unlock. It required accuracy and deep knowledge of inner energy structure. It could be easily said every living creature had a unique pattern of inner energy; commonly called a soul. A normal person wasn't able to do anything with their pattern freely. However, a specially trained agent of The Order was able to alter it to resemble another person's pattern. Silver was one of the rare people capable of doing it.

Of course, that didn't mean Silver was able to change his soul, but he could alter the way his inner energy circulated inside of his body thus outsmarting the energy lock. Those most common types needed a set level of energy put into them to unlock them, so no pattern change was required. The Order was using them in all of its branches, and every agent was able to unlock even the simplest one.

Naturally, this one wasn't so easily opened. It was composed of a number of layers and each needed different amount of spiritual energy. On top of that, the energy had to be released only from certain parts of the palm, doing more or less could result in failure.

Silver's face was getting soaked with sweat as he was proceeding with the seventh layer. In his career, he had found three-layered locks at most, but this one was made by an exceptionally individual. He let out a silent sigh once the layer was unlocked, and he felt relieved when the panel turned dim.

"What happened?" Amy asked. "Did you unlock it?"

Silver wiped the sweat. "Of course, no sweat" he noted, noticing too late he had made a pun.

"Har, har," Amy replied, knitting her eyebrows. He would have a sarcastic note when she showed a small bottle in front of his face. "Let's drink a bit. We don't want our hardworking leader to collapse."

His smile was twitchy. Amy just kept getting on his nerves and pleasing his ego at the same time. He hated this combination, it was making him torn, but like always, his ego won. The psychic accepted the bottle, mumbling silent thanks.

Eclipse took a gulp or two from his bottle too, before returning it to Amy who had them in a bag over her shoulder. Silver was actually glad she took those bottles with her. Usually, he wasn't taking any food or drinks with him, as he could go on with the bare minimum for days. However, this lock drained his energy quite a lot, almost causing him a slight headache.

"Mister Silver," Amy called him and based on the sweetness in her voice, it couldn't be anything good. "Do you think you could spare a private lesson about spiritual lock-picking?" Surprisingly, her request pleased his ego greatly.

He pondered about it a bit. "Right, Tikal mentioned in her report about your progress, and you have good control over your inner energy." The Order had only a few dozens or so agents capable of this level of lock-picking, so having another one would provide a great asset to them. "Alright, just don't expect tea and cookies on my lessons," he answered with a smug smile.

Amy's smile was impish. "Don't worry, I already proved, I have a knack for lock-picking."

His expression turned surprised for a second before he realized what she was referring. He grinned at her. "Enough of the chit-chat," he firmly said, shooing the memories of a busted wall, over-sized demon, her pitch, and his headache. "We have a work to do."

They all looked at the now unlocked door, and Silver pushed it open. From the small crack gushed out the trapped air. Eclipse covered his nose, as the reek of blood was the strongest so far. Amy also felt nausea tried to overcome her, but she stood her ground.

Silver pushed the door fully open, noticing they were heavier and thicker than ordinary doors. That meant they were supposed to keep anything and anyone from entering or leaving. His amber eyes scanned the entrance as Eclipse leaped forward on all fours. Amy gulped, she didn't need to use her special eyes to understand the hopelessness of that place.

The hardest part of their mission was starting, and they slowly stepped into a dimly lit corridor, not knowing what to expect.