"That is..." Shin stopped his finger movements, and the floating needles remained suspended in the air. The four Spirit Saints were slack-jawed as well. They had combined their powers to create the most isolated and secure cell possible. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that the prison was the most defended location on the planet. Even the Allfather, with all of his mysterious means, would take countless tries to pry open the cell. Yet, this white-haired boy just came out of nowhere?
While the four Spirit Saints and Shin were in the midst of confusion, Kin's face instantly lit up in jubilance. "Shiro?!" the Golden Fox cried. "Shiro! Quick, save us! Use your dimension powers to bring us out of here!!!"
For Kin, Shiro's arrival was basically godsent. Despite his youthful appearance, the white-haired boy was anything but inexperienced. Shiro was a Mirror Deity, a being that commanded over the Space-Element like no other Spirit Beast. And due to that fact, no one truly knew the true age of the Mirror Deity. Some records suggest that he was over a million years old, while the being himself swears that he's less than a thousand years old. However, whatever his exact age was, there was no denying that Shiro was one of the Allfather's most trusted operatives.
Shiro was usually reserved for auxiliary tasks. For instance, when the Black Masks attacked the Shaolin Sect to kill Saint Suhavis, it was Shiro who teleported Kuro and the droves of Umbras over without any detection. Other than that, the Mirror Deity stayed in the shadows, rarely moved in the bigger Black Masks operations. In fact, the Alliance were barely aware of Shiro's existence, due to how sparsely he was utilised.
So for Shiro to personally come out into the open to save Kin and Gin… It showed tremendous confidence in their situation… Right?
"Kin… You told them, didn't you?" However, the first words out of the white-haired boy's mouth weren't ones that Kin had hoped to hear. Still floating near the cracks, Shiro's cold voice echoed through the enclosed cell, forcing a chill to climb up Kin's spine.
"N-No… I didn't! I swear I didn't!" The Golden Fox yelled. Betrayers in the organisation were frowned upon, no… They were completely disdained. It wasn't a stretch for the Allfather to immediately execute those that dared breathe a word of treason.
Kin was well-aware of that fact. After all, she had been with the Black Masks since its early days, long before the Allfather began his rampage upon the Terre Continent. Thus, the Golden Fox had to be exceedingly careful… Careful not to step upon the wrath of the Mirror Deity lest he abandoned them.
"Are you sure?"
"Of course!!!" Kin shrieked. "I would never do anything to betray the Allfather! I will never do anything to harm the Black Masks!"
"I see..." Shiro blinked as a heavy sigh escaped from his mouth.
"Tsk, we caught two Noble Beasts, and now another one dares to enter into our trap?" While the two Noble Beasts were in the midst of their tug-of-war, Saint Althea sent out a spiteful roar. "Guys, let's imprison this brat as well! Once those outside capture Momo, we'll have four captives from the Noble Beasts! We'll be crippling half of their total executives!!!"
"Leave it to me," without any prompting, Saint Thor flew upwards to the ceiling, his hammer flashing with righteous fury. The air distorted as the burly man spun his heavy weapon like a tornado, ready to flail the white-haired boy out of existence. However…
Whhhooooooooooooshhhhhhhhh!!!
Saint Thor's all-out hammer strike passed through the floating boy like a ball would a hologram. The hammer flew straight at the enhanced ceiling and was well on its way to breaking the cell wide open. Fortunately, Saint Thor was quick with his fingers and grabbed hold of the hammer's handle, preventing any damage to the enclosed prison. The only thing that hit the ceilings were the air pressure generated by the heavy hammer.
"What the-?!" Saint Thor was in shock after failing to connect with his intended target. Tumbling in the air, it took the muscular man a good five seconds to regain his bearings. "You're a projection?"
"..." Shiro didn't reply the Spirit Saint. Instead, his eyes were wholly focused on the noisy Golden Fox and the weakened Silver Monkey. Twisting his eyes to the side, he saw Shin standing stoically with many icy needles floating by his side. It didn't take long for Shiro to connect the dots about what had occurred in the interim.
"The Black Masks… has no place for traitors," the Mirror Deity said. Raising the lustrous mirror in his hands, the white-haired boy summoned out a ray of dazzling light, one that was akin to fifty suns blowing up. The light blinded Shin and the four Spirit Saints, forcing them to raise their arms above their eyes.
That was a mistake…
"ARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!" Gin's familiar agonised voice bellowed out in the cell once again. Shin instantly snapped his head back with the Celestial Dragon quickly forming a protective barrier against the radiant light. With his Dragon Glacial Needles all withheld, there shouldn't be any reason for the Gin to be in pain. So that means…
Shiro's light instantly brought Gin's face into a meltdown as black mana poured out from his pores. The Silver Monkey, which had constantly been suffering under the hands of his captor, was now being tortured by an even greater force.
"GIN!!! SHIRO WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Kin, the only one who knew about the Mirror Deity's powers, was the first to holler out in protest.
"Damn it, stop that beast!!!" Shin also jumped, realising the gravity of the situation. Shiro didn't come here to save the twins, he came here to go full scorched earth on them.
Even Shiro, the enigmatic Mirror Deity that had dominion over the Space-Elements, was incapable of pulling Kin and Gin away from the combined powers of four Spirit Saints. The only way that he could protect the Allfather and the secrets of the Black Masks… was to end the twins' lives.
"HALT!!!" Longyu Tian, the Saint of Time, whipped out her Eternal Fishing Rod, sending a blistering array of Time-Elements flying right at the white-haired boy. However, just like Saint Thor's attack, Longyu Tian's move proved to be fruitless.
Shiro wasn't physically present in the prison. What was attacking the Kin and Gin, was merely a projection created by his own powers with the assistance of his Immortal-Grade Spirit Armament. If someone wanted to stop Shiro, they had to have an equivalent or higher mastery of the Space-Element. A feat near-impossible, seeing as to how Shiro was the one and only Mirror Deity.
"FUCK!!!" Shin cursed, forcing out all of his Celestial Aura. Kin and Gin were their best hope thus far to gain a decisive advantage over the Black Masks and the Allfather. If Shin let them die… Everything that they had done would be washed down the drain. The lives that had been lost to Kin and Gin would be all for nought.
But what could Shin do?
Each passing second melted yet another part of Gin's face, while his elder sister could only watch on in horror. She knew… Her brother was not going to make it out. What they were facing wasn't Shiro's wrath, but the Allfather's justice. The Golden Fox broke down crying, believing that it was the end for her brother and their dream of freedom beyond the Black Masks.
'Brother Haiiro… Gin… Anyone… PLEASE SAVE GIN!!!' Kin cried from the bottom of her heart. All she wished for was for her closest sibling to survive. And well...
"Nenene, what are you doing?"
A ray of hope came shining in from the opened ceiling, stopping Shiro's light from completely eroding Gin's face off. At that moment, Shiro's outstretched hand was utterly frozen. Not by ice, but with a distinct, primal fear. Creaking his head backwards, he saw the familiar pink-haired girl, staring at him with her eyes wide open. There wasn't any of the usual love or clinginess to her gaze. Neither was there any hate or fear. What was within Momo's eyes at that very moment… was a pure, unadulterated… anger.
"Nenene… What are you doing to my siblings?"