At that point, something else slipped inside her, and the rune spread out. Further, and further... until the entire building (and all those within) were now under the effect of the rune.

Everyone inside suddenly felt themselves freeze, and felt like their very souls were starting to be torn from their bodies... except for those that essentially were nothing BUT a soul/spirit. THEY felt like their very existence was now threatened, and that they would fade from existence at the drop of the hat. This included Hal, Rylie, and Sierra.

Only a very select few were immune to the effects of the rune... the demons in the building.

"The HELL is going on!?" Azazel exclaimed, seeing all those around him freeze... Aedan included.

Azazel was silent for a moment, before looking at the floor.

"Ohhhhhhhhh damn it." he said.

"Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!" he cursed.

"....." he was then silent, his eyes widening.

"Aedan!" he exclaimed, looking at the woman in question.

"......shit." Azazel muttered.

"Damn it, where is she!?" he then exclaimed.

"...the lab!" he said further, before starting to run towards the lab, but stopping and looking at Aedan.

"........ngh..." he grunted, not wanting to leave her alone.

Meanwhile, in Hal's office, the man himself looked to be flustered.

"....oh no..." he whispered, looking at his now-translucent body.

"No, no, not THIS..."

"......." Sharp was silent for a moment, before looking at Roxie.

"I..." he stammered.

"I think so." he said, his form fading a little more.

"I'll be out of the realm of the rune." he told her.

"So I should be-" he started to say further, before he suddenly went quiet, and his eyes went dull.

He was fading, and fading FAST.

The rune was affecting almost everyone in the building, but the effects were the greatest at ground zero.

Levi and Kiah were there, and both were NOT in good condition.

Within Levi's body, there was a power struggle. And it was evident in his eyes. The situation had not improved at all, and it seemed like his soul would just be ripped from his body.

Kiah, on the other hand, could sense all those in the building. Their souls.

And she could almost feel them all being torn away from their bodies... attracted to HER, now.

It seemed as though 'they' were aware of this fact, and had gathered enough of a presence to manipulate one of the tendrils coming off of Levi's body.

Kiah's slapping seemed to have shifted things their way for that brief moment, and she saw the tendril come rushing towards her at a speed she couldn't dodge.

However, mere microseconds before it connected, a hand cloaked in familiar black flames grabbed the tendril, holding it back from touching Kiah.

"Nope." Ash said, suddenly standing there, covered in impressively strong mana.

He then stomped on the ground, and Kiah felt herself gain a LITTLE more control over the rune.

"Kiah, I can only hold them back for a precious few seconds." her cousin told her. "I can see what you have planned, so do it, and do it NOW."

"Ah!?" Levi's soul exclaimed.

"Ah! What!? Who!? How!?" he exclaimed further, before Ash spoke up.

"Now OUT!" he yelled, grabbing Levi's body's face.

"I will hold you in this vessel until you lose this piece of you forever, unless you remove yourselves from it. NOW!" he told 'them' further.

"And you can sense I have the strength and power to do so, too." he added confidently.

Just as Levi's body started to go ghastly pale, and just as Levi's soul started to fade slowly, the darkness that was emanating from the body seemed to suck itself back into the vessel.

Ash paused for a moment, before looking at Kiah.

"They're gone!" he told her.

As soon as Levi's soul was tethered to his body again, his eyes closed, and he looked ready to collapse.

However, the rune was still threatening to rip everyone's souls out from their bodies, and outright kill the ones that were nothing BUT spirits/souls.

Ash just sighed, and a large pulse of his own mana came out, creating a rune that was more powerful than Kiah's, thereby overriding it. However, THIS rune was only active for a fraction of a second, before it dissipated, leaving no runes at all.

"Oy." he said, scratching the back of his head, as Levi lightly collapsed to his knees, then to the floor.

"THAT was close." he muttered.

"I need to report to your boss." Ash told her.

"Let him know what I saw, what I did, what happened." he went on.

"Because that was some serious shit you pulled, Kiah." he continued. "Seriously, that was a rune that MOM would have been scared of." he informed her further.

"I'm willing to bet everyone in this building is gonna need to chill for a few hours." he then said.

"...still... this was preferable." he mumbled.

"Things could have been a LOT worse, had 'they' gotten more control." he assured Kiah.

Just as she reached the door, she felt Ash's hand on her shoulder.

"Hey." he said.

"Don't regret this too much." he told her.

"You did what you felt was needed, and in the long run, you saved this building." he went on.

"You just needed a little help, is all." he continued.

"Kiah, I'm serious. You did everyone here a large favour. You saved lives."