A clear, cloudless sky stretched like a shimmering roof of light over the capital city of Almone.
The town seemed lively and peaceful at the same time, like it was free from all worries for a moment.
Birds chirped among the tall cypress trees, whose green tops swayed gently in the wind, and the flowers in the garden gave off their scent.
Anna, Eiko, Reiko, and Kaito were sitting on a large blanket spread out on the immaculate lawn in front of the manison, together with the three legendary heroes.
The maids of the house had prepared a sumptuous meal.
Silver trays held lovingly arranged sandwiches with crisp lettuce, sun-ripened tomatoes, and finely sliced ham.
Next to them were porcelain bowls of crispy fried chicken, half of it already devoured by Eiko and Reiko. The two girls chewed with satisfied expressions on their faces and were hardly impressed by the next freshly brought portion, they enjoyed the food so much.
There was also a selection of salads, such as finely grated carrot salad with a hint of lime juice and a chilled potato salad with finely diced cucumber and a touch of dill.
Fresh orange juice was available for the children, while the others enjoyed a fragrant pot of fruit tea.
The mood was relaxed. Conversations flowed, accompanied by the chirping of birds in the branches of the maple tree.
A gentle breeze ruffled Elaine's light brown hair as she leaned forward and poured some tea. "Would you like some more tea, Alicia?"
"Yes, please. Thank you." Alicia replied calmly and handed Elaine her cup.
Kaito was sitting on the blanket with his knees drawn up, his gaze fixed on the distance. The sun reflected in his red eyes, but there was an emptiness in them that pierced Anna's heart.
Almost two days had passed since the incident, and he still had no memories of this world or that world, nor of the battles he had fought before or his friends.
They remained like a locked room, whose key was buried somewhere deep inside him.
But before further thoughts could take hold, the silence was abruptly interrupted by the breaking of the entrance gate.
"Emergency!!! There's an emergency!"
A soldier ran along the gravel paths of the estate, his armor clanking with every step. He was panting, his chest rising and falling heavily as he reached the picnic blanket.
"An emergency?" repeated Dorilla, who was just about to stick a fork into a piece of the fried chicken.
"What is all this uproar about?!" asked Elaine, slowly rising and eyeing the soldier with her serious eyes.
The man gasped for air and spoke breathlessly. "The prisoner... the prisoner from the hero tournament broke out.
A moment of silence ensued, so profound that even the rustling of the leaves seemed to have ceased.
Then Dorilla rose and took a step forward.
"What are you saying?!" His voice was loud. The soldier flinched.
"We should look into this more closely," said Alicia.
Elaine nodded. "Dorilla and Alicia, you investigate his cell. I'll search through the town with the guards.
Anna also stood up, her skirt rustling softly. "I'm going too."
Elaine turned to her. "Anna. I'd like you to stay here."
"But I want to help!"
"You're already helping. Please stay here and protect Kaito and the others."
Anna hesitated. Her hands clenched into fists. She nodded and said quietly, "Alright." She remained standing as the group walked away.
Their footsteps faded away on the gravel path.
Kaito sat next to her, his eyes fixed on the full teacup showing his reflection.
"Is it my fault somehow?" he asked sadly.
Anna looked at him, surprised.
She hadn't expected the question. Her eyes slid to his hands, which were trembling slightly.
She knew that he was now blaming himself for a lot of things he didn't understand, but which might be connected to him.
Words came hard to her lips.
"Uh... No, no, not at all. It's all right." She put a couple of sandwiches on a plate and handed them to him. "Here, do you want some more?"
Kaito accepted the plate, nodded slightly and bit into one of the sandwiches.
It was cooler in the palace prison than on the surface of the earth. The corridors of dark stone echoed softly with the footsteps of Alicia and Dorilla. Torches cast flickering shadows across the rough walls.
The cell where Number Three, Kaito's father, had been imprisoned was located at the End of a long corridor.
When they arrived at the iron door, they noticed that the door, which was the only way out, was still locked.
Using a key, Dorilla slowly opened the door and they both stepped inside.
Dorilla crossed his arms. "Do you see anything unusual?"
Alicia looked around briefly. "Hmm... Apart from an empty cell, I don't see anything strange."
The bars that bisected the room for extra protection were still intact, no sign of any violence or anything else. The floor was clean, no debris or drag marks.
Just a small pile of straw used as a bed and the anti-mana chains on the wall hanging loose.
"This is odd, though. He didn't break the bars or the door or destroyed any walls."
"How could he have done that without physical or magical power?" Alicia asked quietly, touching her chin with her fingers.
"Right. That's actually impossible. The anti-mana chains should have prevented this. Above all, the chains were supposed to be indestructible; even with sheer force or a spell, they couldn't have been opened or broken."
Dorilla approached the bars, his large rough hands sliding over the iron bars as he continued to think. "He couldn't have just vanished into thin air. Someone must have helped him. I'm pretty sure of that. I can't think of anything else. Whoever it was, he must be incredibly strong like a demon or even the demon lord himself."
"Maybe it was his companions from the organization," Alicia muttered.
The blonde girl paced around the cell, mumbling as she counted various things. "No traces of an escape or of the escapee himself, and no clues that could lead us to his current whereabouts. It's almost like he... teleported somewhere."
"Did you say something?" asked Dorilla.
"Teleportation. That's it!"
Dorilla thought. "Teleportation? Do you mean the
"Yes. Don't you remember? Some, if not everyone in the organization can use this teleportation skill. But here I can only think of one who can leave this breakout so cleanly. Mmmh... What was his name again?"
Dorilla thought about it. "Oh, you mean the guy we chased on our last mission during the slave trade incident? Whereupon we got to meet Kaito and the others."
"No, not him. I mean the other one. The one who suddenly appeared when Kaito was fighting against his father when he attacked the city. That handsome guy in the black suit." As Alicia remembered his face, her cheeks flushed slightly.
Dorilla nodded slowly and thought again. Shortly afterwards, he remembered the person Alicia was talking about. "Oh, now I remember. The vice-commander of the organization, Number Two!"
"Yes! That's the one!"
A brief moment passed while the two of them let the information sink in.
"Let's assume your theory is correct. Wouldn't that mean they've fled straight back to headquarters?"
"I don't think so. There's one more thing that makes me very suspicious," said Alicia thoughtfully.
"And that would be?" Dorilla asked curiously.
"Do you remember, shortly after Kaito's father and Number Two disappeared, Monika collapsed?"
Of course, Dorilla remembered this event. However, he suspected that Monika only collapsed from overexertion and fell ill. Until now, he had never thought of any other reason.
"Elaine told me the other day that Monika was already sitting motionless on the ground against Number Three, but Elaine couldn't explain why. Also, just before she collapsed, Number Two was looking at her with cold eyes, like he was mad at her for some reason." Alicia explained.
"You think they have some kind of connection? That thought would never have crossed my mind. But what connection do they have to each other?"
"Isn't that obvious? It can only mean one thing. And that is that Monika is a member of the organization, for sure."
"What the?" Dorilla was horrified.
Monika, the currently black-haired girl with the once shimmering emerald-green eyes, who was currently staying at the legendary heroes' estate and lying in a hospital bed, was supposed to be a member of an evil and murderous organization?
Dorilla couldn't believe what Alicia had pieced together from her conclusions. But if the conclusions were correct, then she too was the monster that coldly murdered the poor and young student Yuuji on his first night in this world and whereupon he became the white-silver-haired half-wolf Kaito, this realization made Dorilla's and Alicia's faces pale.
Even then, Kaito already suspected the same thing as Alicia, but his assumption was quickly disproved with a possible misunderstanding.
Unless Monika had somehow managed to trick him so that Kaito could no longer suspect anything.
"Of course, it is just a guess, but still... it could be the truth."
"If this claim is correct, then there's a very good chance that they want to take Monika back as well." Dorilla said, his eyes wide after this realization.
"If they really intend to do that, then they must... go to the mansion! We must inform Elaine immediately, before it's too late!!! Hurry!!!" Alicia was excited and ready to rush straight off to tell Elaine the bad news.
But before she left the room, she was briefly stopped by Dorilla. "Wait, Alicia!"
"What now?"
"That's some clever stuff you said. I didn't think you were capable of it, I'm very impressed." Dorilla grinned.
"What are you saying? I won't let you treat me like that, you huge and oversized fat monkey!!!" Alicia angrily hit Dorilla's belly several times, but he didn't mind, as it was only a light slap for him, like a gentle caress on his belly.
Alicia then ran off with her cheeks puffed out, Dorilla after her, to meet Elaine outside the palace, where they intended to begin their search for the missing prisoner Number Three with the help of the town guard. In vain...
While Alicia and Dorilla were looking around Number Three's cell in the palace prison, forty-eight guards gathered on the parade ground in front of the palace at the same time.
Their silver armor reflected in the brilliant sunlight.
The men and women lined up in perfect formation, the straps of their weapons fastened tightly, their gazes fixed forward. There was neither a tremor nor a whisper.
Elaine stepped resolutely in front of the formation. Her boots thudded hard on the cobbled stone pavement. Her light brown, curly hair moved with every step and her yellow eyes sparkled like an amber full of ambition.
Without a word, she drew her sword, which bore the name
She raised the blade with her right hand, the tip pointing to the sky.
A low murmur went through the ranks of soldiers as Elaine began to speak, her voice piercing, like the echo of a war horn.
"Men. Women. Today we are not merely in the service of the crown. Today we carry the fate of this city on our shoulders. A very dangerous level 8 prisoner has escaped from the palace prison. One who knows no honor, no humanity. One who will not hesitate to kill and destroy once again."
She lowered her sword slightly to chest height, her gaze gliding over each soldier.
"We are not puppets in this game. We are the bulwark! The back line between order and chaos! I expect nothing less than the best from each of you." She paused for a moment and gasped. "Troops Two and Four, to the southern gate!"
The mentioned units tensed immediately. A few boots stepped forward, but Elaine raised her hand.
"Not yet! Troops One and Three, secure the north gate! No one gets out, no one gets in. Whoever lives in this town will still do so in an hour. Those who bring harm will end today! The others, follow me. We comb through the town. Street by street. House by house. No stone will be left unturned. I will show no mercy. And I expect you not to either! Today we decide whether we lose this town or save it!"
"YES!!!" the soldiers roared like a thunder as their voices joined together.
The guards moved into action. Their footsteps echoed synchronously across the pavement. The metal of their armor clanked in time.
Shortly afterwards, before Elaine followed them, Alicia and Dorilla rushed through the stone corridors of the palace. Their footsteps pounded hastily on the floor.
The heavy doors clanged wide open as they stepped out onto the courtyard.
"Elaine!" shouted Alicia, panting, her cheeks flushed from the exertion.
Elaine stopped and turned around, still clutching the sword in her right hand. "Alicia, Dorilla. What are you doing here? You were supposed to check out the cell."
"We don't have time for that right now!" Alicia replied immediately.
Elaine frowned. "What's going on?"
"We have to get back to the mansion as soon as possible!" Dorilla added breathlessly.
"To the mansion? Why that?"
"We'll explain on the way! Kaito and the others are in da-"
A dull rumble interrupted Alicia's words as a light exploded in the distance behind the town's buildings.
It wasn't a normal light, but a cold, pale gray that tore into the sky like a rift. Smoke, thin and yet infinitely dense, rose up and obscured the midday sun. The earth shook slightly, like a booming rumble of thunder.
The wind carried the smoke, and with it the smell of sulphur and ash.
"That came..."
"...from our estate."
"Kaito..."
The once magnificent mansion that served as the heroes' home had changed completely.
Flames flickered across the facades, smoke billowed out of broken windows and made the air seem acridly heavy.
The melody of the once chirping birds was replaced by the crackling and creaking of the burning beams.
The staff, the chambermaids and butlers, ran through the inferno in panic. Some supported injured people or carried them on their backs, others called out for missing coworkers.
Their uniforms were in tatters, their faces covered in soot and full of panic.
Although it was a rather small explosion, there was still a very loud bang and the flames crept forward very quickly, destroying the building and the people who might still be inside.
In front of the burning chaos was Anna, her staff glowing faintly as she tried to heal the wounded servants with her magic. Bleeding wounds, broken bones and burn marks.
But her breathing was labored, the constant use of healing magic demanding much magical power. Her red hair stuck to her face as sweat ran down her forehead, the fiery red scales of her tail shimmering in the blazing light.
"Anna, are you alright?" asked Eiko, approaching worriedly, Reiko trailing behind her.
"Y-yes... I'm fine." Anna replied curtly, although her hands were shaking slightly.
Kaito, who was standing nearby, gave her a worried look. "You should take a break. You seem exhausted."
"There are still too many injured." she replied firmly. "I can't afford to give up now!"
"Anna..."
"Who would do something so cruel? Who is responsible?" Anna asked herself as she gritted her teeth.
"I can easily answer you that question."
Suddenly, a female voice appeared above the roar of the fire. Four people appeared in front of the blazing building, three of them wearing dark clothing.
Two of them standing in the foreground, a red-haired woman with different eye colors and a young man in a black suit and pitch-black hair, holding two unconscious people under his arms.
They were a man in his forties and a black-haired girl.
"So, we meet again, little yapper." said the red-haired woman, who went by the code name Number Five.
Kaito blinked, confused. "Who... Who are you?"
Number Two laughed softly. "Oho. We're that easy to forget?"
"How rude!" added Number Five.
Shortly afterwards, Kaito realized that the girl he had seen the day before and stared at for a while was being held under the vice-commander's right arm.
This girl was Monika.
Kaito took a step forward. "What are you doing with her?"
"That's none of your business. She doesn't belong to you anyway, so she'll come back to us." replied Number Five.
"Back? What do yo-...?" Before Kaito could finish his question, a fireball shot through midair, straight from Anna's staff.
The attack exploded against a shimmering orange barrier created by Number Five.
"Let Monika go!" Anna shouted and hurled another wave of fire from her staff, the magic ball inside glowing with orange-red light.
But this attack was also neutralized.
Number Five now moved herself, raising her right hand, aiming at Anna.
Shortly afterwards, a fierce counterattack. A combination magic of the light attribute and the fire attribute formed an electrifying inferno.
This inferno shot forward like a linear shockwave in a cone-shaped beam and attacked Anna directly.
Anna was thrown back and rolled across the floor, her body shaking from the paralyzing aftereffect. However, she tried to straighten up again.
Kaito called out to her. "Anna!"
Anna didn't answer, instead she just gasped.
"I'm not done yet." Number Five muttered and stormed off, using wind magic to fling Anna into the air and levitate herself.
Anna, however, reacted quickly and used her own wind magic to levitate as well, creating a huge ball of water above her and throwing it towards Number Five.
At least that's what it looked like, but the water ball didn't hit the other magician, instead it hit the burning building and put out the fire. The extinguishing of the fire created a thick plume of black smoke that obscured the view in the sky.
Eiko and Reiko, looking up from the ground, saw something gradually light up in the thick smoke as the two mages engaged in a fierce battle.
Meanwhile, the vice-commander just sighed. "And yet again, she's not sticking to our mission. I always get stuck with all the work."
He then briefly dropped Number Three and raised his left hand, scribbling a light blue sign in front of him, whereupon magical circles appeared beneath him from which dark smoke emerged and floated.
But before this smoke could envelop him, something pulled at his leg.
It was a boy with white hair, animal ears and blood-red eyes, a half-wolf, clinging to him.
Number Two cursed and lost his balance. But still, the spell activated.
Engulfed by smoke, four figures disappeared, including Monika, and Kaito, who was clinging to Number Two, disappeared with them.
Anna looked around frantically as she stopped another attack with her barrier. "My hero...?" she called out. But her voice faded.
She stared at the ground, at the place where he had just disappeared... And it felt like she had just lost something in her heart...
"KAITO!!!"
In a wide, gently rolling meadow, its lush green stalks moving in the daylight like a surging sea, a small group suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the sky.
Kaito clung desperately to the vice-commander's leg, while two unconscious bodies hung limply under his arms.
The idyll all around seemed in stark contrast to the drama and chaos that was unfolding. A peaceful landscape in which you could hear the soft tinkling of locusts and the gentle breeze brushing through your hair.
Number Two was visibly unimpressed as he shook the uninvited passenger off his leg like annoying dirt.
Kaito was thrown to the ground, but his feet found their footing thanks to his animal instincts, which were still unclear to him. He landed safely, if only swaying.
The vice-commander sank slowly, his black eyes scowling down at Kaito like a vermin he would rather crush with his foot.
"Hoh? I wasn't expecting that. Simply grabbing my leg just to sneak into my teleport field? Foolish, but brave for a puppy like you. However. I don't have time to play games."
"W-who says we're playing? ...I'm going to... I'm going to save Monika from you!" Kaito's voice was trembling slightly.
In reality, he didn't even know why he suddenly grabbed his leg. His body moved automatically, like magic. He was talking about saving Monika, but how did this thought came up when he couldn't even remember her?
He asked himself why this girl was so important to him. And why did her loss feels like his heart getting ripped out his chest?
Kaito charged forward and struck wildly with his bare fists, but ineffectively. Number Two dodged his punches playfully, like watching a child romp around.
"Is that all you've got? I expected more from you. At least you were able to compete against the old man here and you managed withstand." A well-aimed kick to Kaito's stomach sent him staggering back, falling to his knees.
"But now... Now you're acting like a little kid who just learned to walk. I realize that you actually have more skills than you're showing me here, so why are you holding back? Am I not worthy of being your opponent? Do you think I'm weak?"
Kaito laid silently on the grass while Number Two turned away from him. "I can tell you one thing, kid. Of all the people here, including the two unconscious fools, you're the weakest. No matter what you plan to do, you don't have a chance against me or the others in our organization." When Number Two thought he had wasted enough time, he was about to use his teleport magic again. But before he could finish the scribbling for the spell, he heard a quiet murmur.
"...Let her go..."
"...Let Monika go..."
Number Two turned back to him and looked him in the face. "Tell me, kid. Why do you want to save this girl so badly? Is it possessiveness? Because she's like a slave to you? Like a doll? Maybe pity? Or is it even... Love? But what do you know about her? What are you fighting for if you don't even know who she really is?"
Kaito gasped as his chest suddenly constricted. As if he already had a premonition deep inside, but he couldn't remember it.
"Who... she really is? What do you mean... by that?" His voice was barely more than a whisper as he sat on his knees and looked at Number Two with wide eyes.
"You're traveling halfway around the world with her and you know nothing? You disappoint me more and more, when I shouldn't even care. Then let me enlighten you."
The vice-commander dropped Number Three on the ground again and then ruthlessly grabbed Monika's shirt and ripped a bit off her back. Kaito wanted to jump up, but his muscles froze as a strange symbol glowed on her left scapula. It was like a tattoo whose ink looked like it was burned in, red and black, a crystal with symbols running through it. A sun, a triangle, a waning moon and a key...
The moment Kaito saw it, his heart skipped a beat, and his face quickly went pale. His head ached as several fragments of old images appeared.
It was that night. In that room, which was gloomily cold. In the shadows of the room was a figure, while in front of him, on an once snow-white-sheeted bed, covered in blood, was his own body, headless and enjoying his sleep in peace.
"Hoh. It seems I've hit a nerve. That's right. This girl is a member of our organization. Her code name is Number Seven." said Number Two in devilish calm. "And you know what the best part is? She was the one who killed you on your first night in this world! ...At least that's what her report from half a year ago said. But I honestly wonder why she didn't kill you again if she knew you were reborn? No, the real question is why you were reborn a second time in the first place..."
Suddenly he started to giggle, followed by a hemic laugh coming out of his mouth. Like he was driven to insanity. His eyes shone with a wild, feverish gleam that lacked any trace of normality. "I thought it would be boring with you, but for once I was wrong!"
The second part of what Number Two had said, Kaito had overheard, the only thing that echoed in him like hammer blows was the fact about Monika's true identity, even if he still didn't quite understand what was going on.
Everything in his body screamed. The pain surpassed anything he had ever felt... not physically, but emotionally.
The girl he had tried to protect. Whom he had trusted. Who used to laugh with him when she wasn't beating him up for doing stupid things.
She was his murderer?
A madness seized him. Not in words, or in deeds. Rather in shock. His face contorted in helpless realization. Tears burst forth inexorably.
His body hunched forward, his hands clutching at his head in a vain attempt to quell his pain. He crumpled further to the ground and roared.
A loud scream, raw and unfiltered.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
The meadow quaked under his scream. Purple, blackish energy poured out of him. An aura that came from the depths of his broken soul. It was cold, heavy and dark, enough to wither the plants near him, turn the sky colorless and mute the buzzing insects.
"What on earth is that aura?" Number Two backed away a little.
The mist seemed to form as Kaito writhed.
His body changed, hearing his bones break and then grow anew. Fur sprouted from his once human skin and now became a beast.
A wolf, almost as big as a house, its fur white as snow, streaked with dancing purple threads of light. Its once innocent eyes now glowed a more intense red, like those of a murderous monster.
A menacing growl rolled deep in his throat. His whole body twitched with tension, followed by a loud, bloodcurdling wolf howl, so eerie and powerful that even Number Two couldn't help but grin devilishly.
Meanwhile, the battle between Anna and Number Five raged amidst the dark clouds in the midday sky.
Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed through the sky as the two magicians fought for survival like two beautiful red flowers.
The twins and the servants of the mansion could do nothing else at that moment but watch what was happening in front of their eyes.
Anna floated with her back slightly hunched and breathed panting, her eyes red with anger. Her red hair was disheveled and clung to her forehead, soaked with sweat.
Her fire magic blazed around her, dancing around like living creatures. Her clothes were torn, her shoulders and arms covered in scratches. But despite her pain, she was not intimidated by her ambition.
Number Five floated in the air opposite her. Her robe, black as raven feathers and adorned with golden decorations, billowed around her body like smoke. Her eyes glinted piercingly, sadistically, and she smiled mockingly.
"You're not too bad for a salamander." she said as his blade of dark magic created in her hand.
Anna hissed, " Likewise, I could say the same about you. You crow!"
Without hesitation, she charged forward using her wind magic to enhance her agility. As she did so, a lance of fire formed in her left hand, created by her staff. The lance was long and jagged like a lightning bolt.
Number Five dodged it with uncanny elegance. Her figure blurred for a moment and suddenly reappeared behind Anna. But Anna was prepared. Between them were light balls created by light magic that suddenly began to glow brightly, blinding Number Five.
Shortly afterwards, the fire lance in Anna's hand disintegrated and formed several fireballs that exploded around Number Five in a sea of flames.
"What are you fighting for?" asked Number Five as she stepped out of the smoke unscathed, and Anna looked at her in shock. "Does this puppy really mean that much to you?"
"Shut up! You know nothing about me! You'll never understand the feelings I have for my hero!" Anna's voice trembled with anger. But also, with fear. Fear of losing the person she loves.
"So that's how it is. But you know what..." Number Five suddenly appeared right in front of her, her face just centimeters away, and whispered something in her ear. "I've taken a liking to him too."
Anna froze. Her heart stopped for a moment. "You... Bitch!" she exclaimed, her voice quivering. "Stay away from him!"
"It's already too late for that."
Out of nowhere, an amulet appeared in Number Five's hand. It was adorned with a pitch-black crystal whose smooth and sleek surface could not even reflect any light. The shadow oozed out of the crystal-like mist from the underworld.
"My experiment was a huge success."
"What does that mean? What did you do to him?"
"I just gave him a cursed flower that I planted myself. Nothing more... Now the time has finally come for the darkness to devour him. And with it, this world!" An eerie, barely unmistakable laugh crept through the area like cold mist, freezing Anna's skin.
"My hero..."
Memories flooded through her. How Kaito had protected her, how he had smiled at her, how his hand had reached for hers. And how he had disappeared into the shadows without a last word. She blamed herself for not being able to protect her hero, the person she loved, as he did.
Shadowy swords were appearing around Anna, pointing at her as a target. Number Five took her chance to kill Anna once and for all.
"DIE!!!"
But then...
...there was a deafening rumble of thunder as a bright light cut through the sky and a mighty gust of wind canceled the attack of the shadow swords and blew the two magicians apart.
Anna already guessed who the attack was from.
"E-Elaine..." Anna whispered before sinking to the ground, exhausted. Her eyes flickered, tears streaming down her face as she saw Elaine, surrounded by a storm of wind magic, approaching her.
Her light brown hair shimmered and fluttered like flags in the breeze as she caught Anna.
"That's enough, Anna. We'll take care from here on." Elaine said in a soft voice.
"Elaine... My hero is... he's..."
"Right. Where's Kaito? I don't see him anywhere."
Anna could barely speak. "He... he followed the other man to save Monika... But I don't know where he is now or how he's doing."
Elaine wiped the tears from Anna's swollen eyes with her right index finger and then pulled her into a hug.
"Everything is going to be fine. We will save him."
"How much longer are you going to be sentimental and chit-chat?" hissed Number Five. She was badly marked, her robe torn and a bloody wound on her shoulder. But the look on her face was angry.
"Anna, please back off. Alicia and Dorilla will be able to track Kaito down and please help him. Okay?" Elaine ordered in a firm voice.
"All right." Anna nodded weakly and detached herself from Elaine. She let herself fall, using one last spark of wind magic to gently catch herself. Alicia and Dorilla stood ready to receive her.
Elaine turned to the woman with the dark crystal in her left hand. The wind around Elaine whipped like a hurricane in human form.
"Well then. Now it's your turn. I hope you die loud enough so the underworld hears you."
"Try, you pompous brat!"
Elaine drew her sword in a blink and charged forward. Her blade began to glow bright green, whereupon, with the help of wind magic, she created a tornado and rushed towards Number Five with a vertical slash.
She countered with a black barrier of dark magic that absorbed the wind. But Elaine was already on top of her, this time her sword glowing crimson red as she unleashed another Weapon Skill. The skill's light drew eight consecutive veils with it, followed by a rapid forward thrust that should have impaled Elaine's opponent, but at the last moment Number Five parried the tip of the blade with a combination of wind and water magic, creating a thick layer of ice between her and Elaine.
The nine-hit Combo Weapon skill of the one-handed sword category
Landing on the ground, Alicia immediately rushed towards Anna. "Anna!"
"Anna, are you all right?" Dorilla asked worriedly.
"I'm all right. But we have to get to my hero as quickly as possible!"
"Calm down first. Do you know where he is now?" asked Alicia.
But Anna shook her head.
"He clung to the black-haired man's leg and suddenly disappeared with them."
"Teleportation." muttered Dorilla. "It must have been the vice-commander." added Alicia.
"That's bad. Kaito can't fight an opponent like him without his memories. Alicia, we need your tracking spell!"
"I can't locate him without a personal item. But if I had even a single hair of him, would be enough to activate the spell." Alicia explained.
"Then take this!" Suddenly, Anna held out a pouch filled with white and silver hair.
"Ehhhm... Anna. You didn't really cut off his hair? Right...?" Alicia asked cautiously.
"That's a whole bag..." added Dorilla, eyes widening.
"Where are you thinking? I'm not crazy! I brushed him while he was sleeping and then put his hair in the bag. Why do you think his hair always looks so good?" Anna hugged the bag tightly to her chest. "That way he's always with me." Anna giggled.
Alicia and Dorilla remained silent for a moment, not knowing how to respond, let alone knowing what was going on in Anna's head.
Without further ado, Alicia grabbed into the bag with her right hand and took out a small bundle of the white hair. Her fingers enveloped the strands almost tenderly. The light breeze caused the hair in her hand to blow gently. Her eyes narrowed and she began to concentrate.
"I'll start now."
She closed her eyes. A tremor ran through her body as the magic began to circle inside her.
Yellowish transparent veils of light formed spirals around her body and floated through the air like gentle veils of molten sunlight.
A world map unfolded in her mind, depicting every region, every border and every energetic vein of this land. The map slowly enlarged, from the continents to the kingdoms, deeper and deeper.
Finally, she reached a kingdom in the far south-west called Elydria, the green, magic-flooded heart of the west.
Her eyes did not move, but inwardly her attention was focused on a glowing red dot that lit up like a pulsating flame in the north of that kingdom.
"Found it. He's in the north of Elydria." she said quietly. "It's amazing that he teleported so far. Dorilla, I'll transfer you the coordinates."
"Understood." Dorilla replied.
Alicia lifted her left hand and placed it gently on Dorilla's forehead. A subtle humming sound filled the air as the transfer began. The coordinates shot through her arm like glowing runes, slid across her fingertips and entered Dorilla's mind. His eyes briefly lit up turquoise, then the light faded right away.
"I've received the coordinates. Alicia and I will go to Kaito. What about you, Anna? With your injuries, you shouldn't push yourself too hard."
Anna took a step forward. "I'll go with you. My wounds will heal automatically on the way, but I have to go there!"
"Wait!"
A squeaky, childish voice cut through the tense atmosphere like a sudden gust of wind. Reiko and Eiko, the dragon twins, separated themselves from the servants and hurried forward. Their faces were slightly dirty, their silver and blue hair waving in the wind.
"We will go too!" shouted Eiko.
Anna shook her head, her voice stringy. "It's far too dangerous, you stay here!"
But the twins refused to be intimidated. "But it's much more dangerous with Elaine!" Reiko pointed with her right index finger to the battlefield above them.
There, floating in the air, Elaine raged like an avenging angel, surrounded by magic and activated Weapon Skills, ready to continue her battle with Number Five, which caused even the ground to shake.
A single strike from Elaine caused several trees in the forest behind the once-standing mansion to fall.
"She's right," Alicia muttered. "Leaving those two here would be insane."
"Besides, Papa needs us!" said Eiko suddenly. Her ambition was stronger than one would have expected from a normal child. "We know that for sure!"
Reiko nodded her head in agreement. Anna opened her mouth to protest, but Dorilla raised his hand.
"All right, then. You can come with us. But you will always stay by our side, no excursions, no heroics. Got it?"
"Yes, sir!" the twins shouted in chorus and saluted with cute but serious faces.
Dorilla took a few steps back. His right hand began to glow, faintly at first, then more intensely. Thin cracks of light stretched through the midair like fine glass fibers weaving space and time together. A circle of magic painted itself under Dorilla and the others.
Colors started to dance, a swirl of multiple colors, blue, red, green, and violet, until the world disintegrated into a kaleidoscopic swirl of light and shadow.
In a brief glimmer, they disappeared, followed by a spark, small twinkles. Then, there was no one in sight.
Elaine glanced quickly over her shoulder as she parried Number Five's attack with a wind barrier. She saw only the flickering reverberations of the teleport magic and felt the fading magic like a tug at her heart.
Slowly, she raised her sword vertically above her head and took another deep breath, her blade glowing in a light azure blue as it began to vibrate.
But even before she could use her Skill
But she couldn't...
Please be fine, Kaito...
"RRRRRRAAAAAAAAARGH!!!"