Hal just watched as the ladies left, before sighing.

"I've never been so relieved, but so stressed, at the same time." he muttered to himself.

"Olivia's alive, but she's in the clutches of that maniacal dark elf." he growled.

"Who knows what twisted shit is happening there right now...?" he wondered aloud with a growl.

Meanwhile, the one that the woman had been summoned by... the grey-skinned man from earlier... looked towards her when she spoke to him. He recoiled slightly, but she could see he was proud of himself. Which, admittedly, was dangerous around her. But perhaps 'proud' was too strong a word. He more looked like he was hopeful, and wanting praise from her.

"Mistress, I overheard what the wood elf said to her." he said. "That Gaea herself showed up and interfered, almost managed to take the fae girl away, too." he said to her.

"And I know that if she manages to zero in on your location, it won't be good... at all." he told her further.

"But! But I think I've found a way to interfere with that!" he then continued, before gesturing to the entirety of the rune.

"This rune will create a barrier." he explained. "It will be visible to all those here, under your control, with your mana in them, but invisible to anyone else." he explained. "This barrier will act as an invisibility cloak. When Gaea tries to scan for you, or anyone else here... all she'll see is a blank slate. An abandoned base, so to speak." he went on.

"All I need to do is finish completing the rune..." he then said, gesturing to the one part of the rune that wasn't yet connected. "...and then activate it with my own mana." he finished.

He just nodded in response.

"All right, stand back." he told her.

When she did, and leaned against a nearby wall, he finished the rune and pulsed his mana into it, placing his palms in the centre of it. At first, nothing seemed to happen, before a red aura emanated from the centre, and quickly spread out, though she didn't even feel it.

When she looked out the window, she saw that there was, indeed, a red barrier that covered the entirety of the base, and some degree of the land that extended out beyond her base.

"...heh." he chuckled.

"It works... it works!" he said proudly.

"We're undetectable now!" he exclaimed to her.

For the next 20 seconds, the barrier was holding... before it suddenly started to flicker slightly.

"...what?" he muttered, as the barrier flickered even more. "What's happening...?" he asked further, before it seemed to normalise once more.

"".......whew." he exhaled... moments before the rune started to spark with mana... and violently at that. So much so, it launched him across the room into the wall opposite the woman.

Which then resulted in the barrier starting to close in on the room they were in... but more specifically, towards the woman, herself.

The man had been dazed, but instantly seemed to jolt back to reality when he saw the woman collapse.

"MISTRESS!" he exclaimed, scrambling to his feet and racing over towards her.

"Mistress! Are you all right!?" he asked.

"Mistress, please!" he said further, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"...Mistress...?" he asked quietly, his voice trembling now.

"I... I... I don't know." the man stammered.

"I just... I mean... the rune... it just... it shouldn't have..." he stammered and stuttered further.

It was at that point, the wood elf from earlier quickly rushed in.

"What the hell HAPPENED here!?" he exclaimed, before looking at Vanessa... and then looking at Chris.

"...what did you DO to her?" he snarled, darkness in his tone.

"What did you curse her with, you worthless scum!?"

Chris was silent, stunned to the point of being frozen.

'...how...?' he thought. 'How did this happen...?' he asked himself.

Azazri, meanwhile, just nodded.

"Yes, of course." he replied, shooting a glare at Chris, before leaving to finish dealing with Olivia.

Sure enough, after a short amount of time, Vanessa was summoned to where she had left Chris, and when she got there, she found the man in one HELL of a mess. More than she had expected, if she were to be honest.

The man's face was bloodied and bruised, with 2 black eyes and a broken nose. His mouth was bloodied as well, and his entire body was covered in injuries. It was easy to see that he had several dozen breaks and fractures, and his clothes were red now as well.

But he was still alive. He wasn't on the verge of dying right away, but he would if not given the proper medical attention within the next 48 hours or so.

Azari's knuckles were a bit bloodied and broken as well... it was clear he'd been passionate when he dealt the damage.

"IT is still alive, as you requested." he told Vanessa, venom and anger apparent in the first word of the sentence.

Azari approached the two of them, as Vanessa continued to glare at Chris.

When he was close enough, and she made sure Chris was looking, she pressed herself against the wood elf, placed her hands on his cheeks, and pressed her lips to him... passionately.

Azari was shocked by the kiss, but he was NOT complaining. In fact, he could tell she was silently urging him to get into it... which he happily did. He returned the kiss, and the two of them continued to hold the embrace, as tears started to stream down Chris's cheeks.

"....but... I... I underwent the species change for you..." he whispered.

"I... I... loved you..." he then got out, before his eyes clouded over, and he collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

Which was when Vanessa broke the kiss.

"...holy hell." Azari said quietly.

"That was... really something." he commented. "And it was delightfully cruel." he added with a smirk.

Azari felt an overwhelming sense of pride when he heard Vanessa's admission. And he also felt like he now had to prove himself even more than ever.

She thought THIS highly of him. He needed to show her that it wasn't misplaced.

"Hmmm..." he mumbled.

"What you did is irreversible?" he asked. "No way to get ANYTHING back?" he asked further.

"Indeed." Vanessa responded.

"Well, those meddlers at the Unit have always been trying to interfere with us." Azari then said. "Why not dump him off as a little care package for them?" he suggested.

"Make them think they have just the break they need to find us... only for it to be shown that he's utterly useless to THEM now, as well." he continued. "The ultimate taunt."

"Yes, of course." he responded.

"I'll send him... right away." he told her.

"And I'll also notify everyone here that you do NOT wish to be disturbed, and doing so will result in a punishment worse than what you dealt to the grub here." he added, as she left.

He then looked at Chris, and shook his head.

"...enjoy what remains of your shattered life, you pathetic waste." he snarled, before Chris was enveloped by leaves, and disappeared from where he was.