The moment Shiro finished the mental conversation he had with the Allfather, the white-haired boy's visage started to turn illusory. The lights that hung over the prison had long dissipated into nothingness, and the dim darkness of the chambers took over the atmosphere. Yes, there were some light coming from the outside, but for the most part, the prison had reverted back to its dark, gloomy environment.
With the drastic spiritual energy dip, it didn't take long for someone to realise Shiro's intentions. Saint Atossa pointed her finger at Shiro, shouting out at the top of her lungs. "That Noble Beast! He's running away!!!"
"Tsk, I'll take care of him!" Saint Thor roared, spinning his mighty hammer as if it were a toy drum. Torrents of wind spun rapidly around the bulky man's body while lightning flashes zoomed all throughout his body. In no time at all, Saint Thor's spiritual energies took over the chambers, charring the enhanced prison walls.
"N-Now… N-Now's our chance..." While the four Spirit Saints had their attention split for even a half-second, Gin's tired voice whispered into Momo's ears. He swung his burly left monkey arm over the Moon Rabbit's neck, catching her in a darce choke.
"Nenene, what are you doing?" Visibly confused, Momo asked with her eyes wide opened.
"R-Remember… Trust..." Gin was unable to form complex sentences due to how broken down he was, but he could still give Momo a rough overview. The Silver Monkey closed his eyes, sending all of his mana back to the physical body that was laying right by his eldest sister. Kin, as if waiting for this exact moment, wrapped her foxy tail around the Silver Monkey's waist all while the Space-Elements danced around her four-legged body.
All eyes were on the escaping white-haired boy, so no one really noticed that subtle change. Well, no one but an annoying peering, azure pair. Though, there was no way for either Kin or Gin to notice.
Meanwhile, Saint Thor was already nearing the ceiling, his hammer smashing down with the full hatred of the Alliance. He didn't care if he killed the Mirror Deity or not. If they couldn't capture the Noble Beasts and force them to sing like a bird, then it would be better if they were dead.
"ARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
A full strike of a Spirit Saint, particularly one that used hammers to mould Spirit Armaments of the highest degree, was no joke. Pieces of metal fell down from the prison's dome, even without the swing running down. The air somehow became a hundred times heavier as the spiritual density of the room spiked beyond measurements. Even Shin, a Rank 79 Spirit Emperor, had his face contorted just a little, unable to withstand the pressure that a Spirit Saint naturally put out.
On the other hand, the target of Saint Thor's execution was utterly unfazed. His eyelids were dropping down while his face was completely emotionless.
"What a fool..." Shiro scoffed. The mirror within his hands glowed like a shining star in the heavens and the same kaleidoscopic light that blinded them all. Power surged from his limbs as a mirror encasing hexahedron protected the white-haired boy.
Naturally, since Saint Thor had swung his hammer, there was no pulling back his weight. The hammer was going to come down, whether there was a barrier or not.
"DIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!!!" Saint Thor screamed with everything that he had. However, the intended impact that he so desired… never came.
Sending the hammer strike down, Saint Thor felt his weight melt away as his hammer phased through the barrier like a raindrop on the summer's asphalt ground. Unable to stop the momentum, Saint Thor was sent crashing to the ground, sending shockwaves and creating a meteorite crater within the enclosed prison cell.
"What the-?!" Perplexed, Saint Thor shot out a curse or two, but it was to no avail. Shiro was without a speck of dust or a drop of blood. Not even a bead of sweat. Instead, the white-haired boy finally executed what he sought out to do in the first place.
"Bye-bye! See you soon!" Shiro chuckled. His high-pitched voice was drowned out gradually by the oppressive atmosphere until eventually… just like the boy's appearance, it disappeared in its entirety.
"He fucking escaped?" Saint Thor spat as he emerged out of the crater he created. "Saint Longyu Tian! You couldn't use your Time-Element to hold him down?!"
"What do you think the Time-Element is? I can't just seal a being that was never here in the first place." Longyu Tian shot a snide remark. "The Noble Beast was just an astral projection with a percentage of his mana. He could escape any time he wished, and there would be nothing we could do to stop him."
"How is he so powerful for a Tier 9 Spirit Beast?" Saint Althea questioned, her head cocked to the side.
"Not powerful, annoying." Longyu Tian bit her lower lip. "I bet it has something to do with that mirror he was holding. It seemed like an Immortal-Grade Spirit Armament. In a head-on battle, there's nothing to fear against that brat. BUT, his movements will be annoying to deal with in any war. I reckon that his control over the Space-Elements far exceeds any Saint-levelled being."
"And yet, we know nothing about him."
"..."
The prison went silent after Saint Althea's words. She was right, the Alliance was just far too uninformed about the Black Masks. If they wanted to end this costly war, they required information, and lots of them to boot.
"Back to the drawing board then… Let's capture the three remaining Noble Beasts and make them talk. Perhaps we can figure out a counter to that annoying mirror boy's abilities," Saint Atossa turned her head back, ready to capture the Noble Beasts that were left behind. Truth to be told, they could have dealt with any of the Tier 9 Spirit Beasts at any given time. It was just Shiro that could elude their overbearing might.
Or so they thought.
"NOW!!!" Gin's exasperated voice sounded out, and a radiant light beamed out from all three of the Moon Valley's Spirit Beast. Kin, who had been sealed within the encasement that the Spirit Saints had placed upon her, had teleported out with her unconscious Silver Monkey brethren on her back. The 'Gin' that protected Momo leapt into his original sleeping body and melted into it like an ice cube on a hot summer's day.
The three of them were finally free… for a few seconds at least. Noticing their failure, the three independent Spirit Saints panicked and scrambled to make amends.
"Saint Thor! Quick, use your hammer!" Saint Atossa, the former matriarch of the Mercenary's Guild, was the first to scream out her orders. "Saint Althea, boost me! I'll catch them before they teleport away!"
"Got it!" "Copy that!"
Spiritual energies shot out from their fingertips, and the entire field was overwhelmed with elemental powers. Lightning crackled while light and wind changed the murky cell into a field of flowers by the side of a hill. Carnage was ready to be unleashed, as per Saint Thor's earlier reasoning. If they couldn't be captured, they were to be killed.
Of course, that would be the wisest choice. Unless...
"Wait," Saint Longyu Tian raised her hands and broke her three compatriots' concentration.
"What are you doing?! Do you want them to escape?"
"No, you idiots. Use your eyes a little!" Longyu Tian scoffed. Her left index finger pointed upwards at the ceiling, where two shadows laid in wait. Their silhouettes were already racing towards the three hopeful escapees, pushing down heaps of spiritual pressure and an odd spiritual light.
"That's..."
"While you were all dazed, Shin had already sealed off their exit." Longyu Tian puffed her chest up, seemingly with a sense of pride. "We don't have to lift a finger, they won't escape even if they used all of their might."
"Ah, how lucky of us!" Saint Althea smiled as well. To her, Shin was her cute little Grand-Disciple. It was natural that she would feel happy at his accomplishments. "Let's seal the roof then."
"Haha, no need for that as well."
As the four Spirit Saints were conversing, the Celestial Dragon hovering above Shin's head roared with the ferocity of a million savage beasts, sending a surge of Celestial Aura into the three Noble Beasts' bodies. Longyu Tian's spatial lockdown from before started to set in as Kin's teleportation techniques all failed miserably and the three were forced back onto the floor.
"THIS!!! HOW?!" Kin screamed, and her eyes turned as crimson as a bloodied rose. It was their final ditch attempt to escape, and it went downhill splendidly.
"You were too complacent," Shin's cold voice answered the Golden Fox. "From the beginning, my eyes never left your side. I could tell what you were thinking in a split second." He looked down at the kneeling Golden Fox and the Silver Monkey, snorting with every glance. "To a certain extent, I studied you more than anyone else in the world. There's no pulling the wool over my eyes."
"Nenene… Who are you?" Momo took over, her body was the only one capable of withstanding Longyu Tian's spiritual pressure.
"Yipyipyip! This is Brother Shin! The man that you kept insulting!" Bingbing happily chirped from the side. "Yipyip! See? I told you that he's better than your Allfather!"
"Nenene… You're Shin?" Momo looked at the man, wide-eyed and open jaw.
"That's me," Shin folded his arms. "And you're going to tell me everything you know about the Black Masks, the Allfather, everything..."
"..." Momo went silent. Behind her, the two siblings she loved so much were flattened down like a pancake. In front of her, the corpse of the Grey Otter was sealed by the combination of Lady Seph and Bingbing. All while four Spirit Saints hovered overhead, ready to give any assistance that Shin needs.
It was… checkmate.
Momo knew that. She also knew what it meant to be captured. In no time at all, the Allfather's wrath would come crashing down. And when that happens…
So with no options left, Momo did the one thing that Shin expected the least.
"Nenene, I ask this of you." The Moon Rabbit crouched down, dropping all of her limbs onto the floor and even lowered her fluffy ears. No spiritual energies could be sensed from the Tier 9 Spirit Beast, and neither was there any killing intent. There was just a pure… raw emotion.
"Nenene… Please save my siblings!!!"