As soon as she was free from the slimy tentacles, Amy shook her head and her eyes glowed bright red again. The power was so strong it made her feel sick, but she pushed through the pain and entered the Spirit Zone.
A fiery ball of magic appeared in her hand. With a wave of her arm, she launched the fireball at the strange, fleshy door while leaping through it. The door, which was made of twisted organic material, exploded into pieces.
By the time Zion realized he had been tricked, Amy had already blasted through the second door!
"Oh, you…!" Zion yelled in frustration.
He turned angrily to the spiky sword, Armand. "What have you been doing? You let her get away!" he shouted.
This showed that Zion was still new to using a sword like this. Armand could copy its user's mind to become intelligent, but it was really just a sword that lived together with its master. It couldn't make decisions all on its own.
So, when Zion yelled at Armand, he was really just yelling at himself for being careless.
"I have to chase her. Let's go," Zion commanded.
As if listening to his words, many thick tentacles sprouted from the Diamond Armament and stabbed into the walls. Using the tentacles like ropes on a swing, Zion pulled himself up and was launched forward through the hallway.
Meanwhile, Reina suddenly stopped walking. She tilted her head, listening carefully. Her special power, the Sound of Silence, picked up a huge vibration coming from deep underground.
The sound was faint by the time it traveled through the thick castle walls. But the fact that she could hear it at all meant that something incredibly powerful had just happened down below.
'The fight is underground!' Reina realized.
She immediately started running down the stairs. A normal sword fight couldn't shake a whole building like this. It was clear that Shirone had been forced to use his magic.
The moment she stepped into the basement hallway, she heard the frantic sound of someone running towards her. Reina quickly pressed herself against the wall, hiding in the shadows.
She saw a figure running through the dark. It was Amy!
"Amy!" Reina called out, stepping into her path.
"Aww! You scared me! Reina?" Amy gasped, skidding to a stop.
"What? Why are you here?" Reina asked, confused.
"We have to run, now!" Amy didn't have time to explain. She grabbed Reina's arm and they both started running down the hall. Reina used her own power to match Amy's speed.
Bang! Bang!
The sounds of something heavy smashing against the walls echoed behind them.
Reina turned off her Sound of Silence for a moment. Listening to such powerful vibrations in this state was so loud it was painful.
"What's going on? Is a monster chasing you?" Reina asked, worried.
Amy let out a tired sigh. She wanted to explain the crazy things that had happened, but finding Shirone was the most important thing right now.
"I'll tell you everything later. Where is Shirone?" Amy asked.
"This way. I heard a noise coming from over there," Reina said, pointing.
The two girls ran down a hallway to the left and found a large warehouse at the end. A sign hanging from the ceiling read "Food Storage."
When they stepped inside, they saw the room was a complete mess. A fierce battle had taken place here.
Dust from spilled flour filled the air like smoke. Chopped-up vegetables were scattered everywhere, covered in the white powder. Amy felt a little relieved that this wasn't the meat storage room.
"Where is Shirone?" Amy asked, looking around nervously.
As Amy started to move forward, Reina suddenly stretched her arms out to stop her.
"It's dangerous. Don't move," Reina warned.
Confused, Amy looked to where Reina was staring. Through the dusty air, she saw countless silvery spider webs stretched all across the room.
"This is…!" Amy gasped.
She looked behind her and saw more webs. The whole place looked creepy and forgotten, like a tomb that had been sealed for a hundred years.
"Why are there giant spider webs in a place like this?" Amy whispered.
"Be careful. Something's in here," Reina said softly.
Reina began to move slowly through the webs, telling Amy to stay back.
Just then, a weak, groaning voice came from the other side of the room, behind a stack of sacks.
"…Hit it."
Both Reina and Amy recognized the voice at once and rushed toward the sound.
There, they saw a horrifying sight. Shirone was trapped, hanging upside down in a giant spider web! His clothes were ripped and torn, and he had many bleeding cuts all over his body.
Tears welled up in Amy's eyes. "Shirone!"
"Run away…" Shirone struggled to speak. "This guy… is incredibly strong…"
"Wait! I'll save you right now!" Amy cried.
She ran forward without thinking. The idea of being near the giant web was scary, but seeing her friend Shirone caught in it was a terrifying shock.
She looked at the web, not sure how to free him. When she couldn't find a way, she just grabbed the strands with her hands and tried to rip them apart. A sharp, cold pain shot through her palms. When she pulled her hands back, she saw they were cut deeply.
"What kind of spider web is this?" she yelped.
"Amy! Run away!" Shirone shouted with all his remaining strength.
At that very moment, Reina wrapped her arms around Amy's waist and pulled her back, diving to the floor. A sharp swish of air passed right where Amy's head had been—a sound only Reina's sharp hearing could have detected.
Amy, now on the floor, looked at Reina, not understanding what had happened. But Reina was staring into a dark corner of the room.
"Heh, you're pretty good," said a strange voice.
A very creepy man, named Xenoger, dropped down from the ceiling, hanging upside down right next to Shirone.
Amy and Reina were shocked by his grotesque appearance. In the dim light, they could see that his eyes had several pupils!
"When a string moves, it vibrates," Xenoger said, sounding impressed. "If you have the ability to hear that vibration, you certainly can't be killed by a simple attack. Yes, very good."
Amy stepped forward, her voice shaking with anger. "What have you done to Shirone! Let him go, right now!"
Xenoger turned his head to look at Shirone, who was hanging beside him.
"Oh, this? I caught him, of course," he said with a nasty chuckle. "You can tell by touching it, but my web is quite sharp. If he struggles, his whole body will be cut to pieces. That's why he can't even lift a finger."
"You…!" Amy started to yell, but Xenoger interrupted her.
"Okay, here's a fun question for you," he said. "When did all those cuts appear on Shirone's body? Was it 1) before he was caught in the web, or 2) after he was caught?"
Amy didn't understand why this was important right now. But as she thought about his words, her face turned red with fury. If the answer was number two, it meant this monster had hurt Shirone while he was helpless. She decided she would never forgive him.
"You are horrible!" Amy shouted.
Xenoger seemed to enjoy her anger. Hurting trapped prey was actually his favorite game. Unfortunately for him, the correct answer was number one.
Shirone's ability to sense the assassin had been amazing, even to Xenoger. It had taken a full ten minutes of chasing before Shirone was finally caught in the web.
Suddenly, a new voice came from the warehouse entrance.
"What, you're still not finished here?"
Amy spun around, her heart sinking. It was Zion! His tentacles hung down like an octopus's legs, and he stood there arrogantly with his hands behind his back, looking down at them.
Amy and Reina immediately moved to stand back-to-back, ready to fight.
Shirone was captured, and now their escape route was blocked. Everything was going wrong.
But Zion didn't even pay much attention to the two girls. He was more interested in Shirone, who was trapped in the web.
Zion landed on the floor. Xenoger bowed to him.
"You're here, Prince? I was just about to finish the job."
"Finish? It's way past the time you promised. How did this happen?" Zion asked, annoyed.
"My apologies," Xenoger said, making no excuses.
Zion waved his hand impatiently. "Okay, let's get this over with. Cut Shirone's head off."
Xenoger immediately bowed again and started climbing the web toward Shirone. But then he paused and looked around.
"Is one person still missing?" he asked.
He was talking about Arius.
But Zion didn't care. Arius was a Scale Wizard who could use Flicker magic, a kind of short-distance teleportation. Even if he was trapped, he could appear anywhere at any moment.
"He will show up when he wants to. Now, hurry up and separate Shirone's head from his body," Zion ordered.
"All right," Xenoger said.
"You've got to be kidding!" Amy yelled, taking a fighting stance. "Who do you think would just let that happen?"
Finally, Zion turned to look at the girls and let out an annoyed sigh. The tentacles over his shoulders twitched, rising up like a witch's claws, ready to attack.
Even in his dazed state, Shirone recognized the armor around Zeon's body as the true form of Armand.
He knew that if this continued, everyone would die. He struggled and screamed, not caring that the sharp webs were cutting his skin.
"Run away! Take Reina and Amy and run away!" he begged.
Amy didn't listen at all. What was the point of running away if Shirone died? Her only choice was to fight Zion.
Reina seemed to have decided the same thing. She took a strong stance and glared at Zion.
Amy and Reina split up, moving to attack Zion from his left and right sides. Suddenly, the reactions of Armand's tentacles became slower and less accurate.
Even though Armand was a symbiote, all its actions were controlled by Zion's thoughts. Because Zion had little real fighting experience, he couldn't handle two attackers at once. The tentacles couldn't figure out who to target first.
Amy immediately noticed her opponent's weakness.
'You're not taking us seriously! I'll make you pay for that!' she thought.
Zion gritted his teeth, frustrated. Armand's tentacles were blocking Amy's visible magic, but he was worried about Reina, who was attacking without a weapon.
"Damn it! These girls!" he swore.
Zion retreated, backing up toward the doorway. If he was going to win, he should at least block their way out.
But that was exactly what Amy and Reina wanted him to do!
Reina took a long path through the warehouse and jumped up onto a stack of sacks.
"Over here!" she shouted.
Most fighters would have ignored Reina's voice, knowing that Amy's magic was the bigger threat. But Zion, in his panic, turned to look at Reina.
This was the opening Amy needed! She cast a Fire Strike spell, aiming right for Zion's undefended back.
'Got him!' Amy thought.
But at that exact moment, a strange and powerful force grabbed her body and sent her flying through the air! She tried to stop herself, but it was impossible.
As she flew, she looked back at Reina and understood what had happened.
A ball of sticky thread, fired like a cannonball, had hit the wall near Reina and exploded into a giant spider web, pinning her high up on the wall.
Just as Amy realized this, her own back slammed hard into the opposite wall. Thud! A sharp pain shot through her.
She looked down and saw she was also held in place by a sticky, slimy web. Even though she tried to break free, it was too strong.
Reina and Amy struggled with all their might, but Xenoger was not an opponent they could easily escape.
Xenoger puffed up his chest like a balloon and spat out more sticky web-balls from his mouth.
One after another, the webs flew through the air and stuck to the two girls.
"Aww!" Amy cried out.
With each new layer of web, the force holding them grew stronger. After more than five layers covered them, Amy was completely unable to move. Reina, on the other wall, was trapped just as tightly.
"Tch, that took too long. Are you all right, Prince?" Xenoger asked.
Finally, Zion relaxed and walked fully into the room. A smug smile spread across his face as he looked at the three of them—Shirone, Amy, and Reina—all trapped and helpless, like flies caught in a spider's web.