It was an obvious solution to many in the room. So obvious that it was inevitable that the question would be asked. Even Avery had proposed the same idea, but only as a last-ditch effort on account of the extreme tactical disadvantage that the strategy possessed.

Astral had shared enough information on the program chamber for Avery to know that as soon as those elevator doors opened, husked and constructs alike could be waiting. So far the demon had yet to manifest itself, suggesting that it was unable to, or it didn't need to.

Avery took a moment to fight off the biting retort to the question she had answered a million times over, every time one of her subordinates came up with the obvious solution. She recognized that Vincent was not a member of E.M.I. and therefore didn't deserve her curt response.

Agent White pinched the bridge of her nose. "Umm... We know the demon has complete control over the environment it lives in. We don't know how it'll react if we breakthrough to its nest.

"On one hand, we'd be sending troops into an unknown environment with an active threat. It's worse than just active. It knows we're here. It knows we're coming. Just think of it like... some giant kid patiently picking ants off of a piece of string and squishing them, one by one, as they try to climb down. We can't see the kid, but he can see us. It's too risky.

"On the other hand, it looks like, for whatever reason, the demon can't breakthrough from the underside. At least, there's no signs that it's trying to. The elevators might have been the only thing it had access to bring in meals. If we dig into the nest, we might accidentally release a whole bunch of husks and constructs who were just waiting for us to do the dirty work. It might need us to create an opening for it.

"I mean it's a good idea, and so very obvious! But maybe… a little too obvious, don’t you think? If we screw this up and give the demon access to the main body of the Academy, there'd be no way to keep the students safe.”

Avery was completely wrong, but Astral wasn't going to correct her. Not here. Her particular wrongness wasn't going to cost lives, and the agent was erring on the side of caution. The truth was the demon technically existed in a different pocket of reality, but not as far as an alternate dimension. Same place, same time, but in an environment that was dislocated from the human’s version of the world. It wasn’t an easy theory to explain, therefore Astral avoided talking about it.

The difference between Videl’s seal and her own, was that his was built around wards. Wards that were braking through the erosion of time. Unable to make repairs himself due to his inability to leave the chamber where his spirit acted as a seal to the demon, Videl had called on the aid of gifted students to reconstruct the damaged areas of his ward. His version of the seal had lasted centuries. That was no small achievement for an unpracticed mage.

The Headmaster nodded. "Then we can hold off on any major assault until the Winter break. Assuming we can't find the alternate access route, which, by all means, sounds like a better solution for the time being. Best to keep the plan in our back-pocket for now."

"Since you have been in the demon's nest, do you have anything to add." Dezmond said to Astral. A command despite sounding like a question.

As much as she would have liked, Astral wasn’t the one issuing orders. She wasn’t the one in control of the troops and resources available to the mission. Though she already relayed much of what she knew to Avery, she could understand why repeating the report to the Hunters in the room may be of benefit. "The environment is too dangerous for a direct assault from that location. The demon will change the environment on a whim, in whatever way will give it the advantage. It will use real threats mixed in with digital manifestations. The closer to the program chamber you get, the more it infuses itself into the digital demons. Its evolution has allowed it to adapt to no longer require the use of spawn to grow its dominion. It can defend itself using the game technology.

“That said, we definitely want to access the nest from the outside in. Cut-off exits, and cleanse the site. We can't do that if we head directly to the center and push all of the demons out."

Avery snorted. "You can just do your pulse thing and sort that out."

"Are you insane?!" Astral gapped.

"Pulse thing?" Vincent asked.

"It's a Hunter talent," Mathias explained, while cautioning a glare to Avery and Astral. "Some of us have more useful tools than others. Avery essentially asked our proxy to commit suicide by demon."

"I didn't! I-I didn't mean it like that!"

"It's fine," Dezmond cut in, bored with the spat. "We will not be sending our proxy into the heart of the nest on a suicide mission. It'll be easier to use her talents to call the demons to you. If you use the access point during the day, you can pull them into the arena during the day using the sunlight to weaken them. We can draw out the fight and limit the amount of waste we have to deal with before confronting the demon itself."

Agent White nodded. It wasn't a bad plan, especially while they were looking for a way in. Astral needed regular access to the arena to pull off that mission, but with G.C. acting as gatekeepers...

"As things stand," Astral reported, "two of the three access routes have been destroyed. It bares mentioning, that destroying the third access route will not prevent the demon from feeding. In other words, its destruction isn’t buying time; it’s costing us.”

Mathias said: “It sounds like we’re up against an energy demon. Which makes sense given the subjectively low body count.” For the Headmaster’s benefit he added, “Typically demons survive on protein-based sustenance. There’s more to it than just that…but with energy demons especially, they’ve essentially shed their bodies. Without a body they don’t need protein to repair the damage or fuel themselves. As a disembodied entity, it’s no small wonder how it managed to last so long. That suggests that its body has got to be near by, or else it would have tried to claim a Vessel.”

“Who says it hasn’t?” Astral said with the finality of a grave.

Her companions stared at her. No one dared consider the possibility. This was why she was the Hunter that she was. Instead of ignoring the escalating potential for problems, she was at least aware of the worst-case scenario. By being aware, she could plan for counter actions.

Mathias’ lip quivered, but it wasn’t sadness lingering in his eyes. His soul didn’t form the signs of an inner turmoil. The lightning streak of realization ripped through his soul, but did little else. If his soul shone a little brighter, Astral failed to notice.

“Should we be on the look out?” Avery asked, not that she knew the signs or had the ability to figure out an empty vessel from the average person. Mathias was better educated in possession, and even then…

“That task… I’ll have to handle,” Mathias said. “We’re trained to recognize possession. Which in of itself another very complicated area to get into.” He nodded to Astral. “I’ll keep an eye out.”

Astral sighed. “I don’t mean to worry any of you. But we must be vigilant. We don’t want to go through all of this, only to have the demon slip away to set up shop in an area we can’t reach. Fortunately, the shields will be beneficial in that respect, since demons technically can’t pass through them. With the human-demon conflict, the demon will be pushed out from the human host.”

Damien grimaced. “Our tests show that may kill the human host.”

Astral shrugged. “But the demon hasn’t escaped.”

Damien shook his head and chuckled. “True. True. The legal issues will be an absolute nightmare, but you’re right. The demon will remain contained. I just wish you’d factor the human life in that equation.”

Astral shrugged. “It’s a complicated equation that hinges on susceptibility, influence, will power, and a multitude of other environmental factors. The sad truth is that if the demon is able to possess one student, it is able to possess any student, especially in a contained eco-system were the environment is designed to nurture the students with the elements that the demon needs to feed.”

A somber silence hung in the room.

“We did this?” The Headmaster said at last.

“Sort of. Have you heard the saying, the way to Hell is paved with good intensions?” Astral asked.

She had no idea what the original intention of the school was. She had no idea if the Regime acquired the facility from another source or had created it themselves. It was hard to say if it was the demons influence that had corrupted the school, or if the demon had nested because the school was corrupt. She knew for certain that if the demon could not feed, it would not stay. At least until it was trapped by Videl. Therefore because the demon had survived despite it’s captivity, it stood to reason that the school had provided the demon with what it needed to survive.

Valor had turned to vengeance. Dedication and perseverance had changed to entitlement and pride.