Somewhere in the forest, one could take notice a man sauntering as if not lost in the night. His grin reflects his murderous intent. His chain, covered with blood, dangled on the ground. It insinuated such greed for bloodshed.
This man was the one who clashed with our lovely princesses earlier.
Doctor Andras, the Night Owl Doctor!
"Oh, where could those lovely novices be? They will surely prove their worth with all the ransom money I can get from their wealthy families," Doctor Andras delicately tap the bushes of the forest, as if flirting with mother nature.
"Or perhaps I should dissect them? That princess is quite rare! My research might reach a breakthrough!" Doctor Andras exclaimed hysterically and crushed some leaves from the bushes; his eyes shone frantically with his twisted idea.
For him, the two princesses were either cash cows he could use to milk money from their affluent families or substantial subjects for his twisted experiments. Particularly Princess Sarane, it has been quite a while humanity brought forth a child with SSS rank.
It won't matter whether she's the Von Morgen Princess, as long as Doctor Andras completes his experiment at that point, then presents it for a possibility of endorsement for the Zatellerian Clan; there would be nothing they could do.
She will be just a casualty among the grand scheme of things.
"I ought to be thoroughly careful; those imps are armed well, especially that sneaky Pendleton. If it weren't for her low authority, I would have straightforwardly kicked the bucket of my life without knowing any better." Doctor Andras reminded himself of the situation. Opulent offspring from the royal families, novice or not, should not be underestimated.
Wealth is an essential part of one's arsenal as well.
As he was deep in thought on how he could counterattack the two princess and the inconceivable tricks under their sleeves; an ear-piercing explosion thump on Doctor Andras' eardrum,
"Have you lots conveniently deliver yourselves right at my doorsteps, have you?" Doctor Andras was elated by what he saw. The main thing he stressed over was the red light. He thought of it as a mere power convergence from a combatant with physical prowess around 90%. However, as the shock wave reached him, the theory he came up was rendered to null.
Looking at the direction, He saw a yellow and blue light. All of a sudden, the red light swallows the two light in an instant, which left him bewildered.
"Expert Authority!? No, this is an unstable force that wreaks even the strongest typhoons, could it be an elemental? Such a powerful surge of aura!"
Doctor Andras noticed the abnormality of such power, its multitudinous clouts strike one similar to a person being snuffed out by the air forcefully as if asphyxiated.
This is genuinely terrifying! Where did such an expert of this caliber come from?
The alarming factor at that is if the alleged expert is an accomplice to his enemies or an ally to his aid! If his hypothesis turns out to be the latter, he is in major trouble!
"It's not entirely impossible; the Von Morgens have four sages. If my assumption falls correctly, there should be at the very least a hundred Elementalist in this kingdom. Ensuring the safety of the next ultimate sage, they might even send the entire royal army here!" Doctor Andras plunge deeper to the anchors of his thoughts, anxiously sweating over his conclusion.
"That doesn't spell out either! They need all Elementalist in the royal capital. The four sages cannot leave the royal palace under all circumstances; in addition, they must have secluded themselves away from the world to comprehend whatever crap magic they believe in. It could be from my clan, the only question here is why would they be here?" Doctor Andras continued.
When an ample amount of time passed, he decided to promptly investigate the situation cautiously. Doctor Andras cover some ground with his weapon plowing the lands where his feet used to mark. After some time, he arrived at where the explosion planted its horrible aura.
What he saw surprised him.
"Mother of all authorities, what in the actual infernal mineral is that?"
Three bodies lay on the ground, apparently on the verge of death. He perceived two of the three bodies as the prey he initially set his sight on, the princesses. A large boulder split in half like a cracked egg; inside the boulder, a crimson ornament shoots out unbelievable aura. That's the 'expert' that sent out such frightening power?
What is that? A magical item?
It didn't take a while to register in Doctor Andras' head what was going on. That item could very well be an ancient artifact! If he did not get a hold of that item, he would be a fool!
Greed quickly blinded his eyes. Seeing the stone, his pupils dilated and deviated from its original pigment of black to a grimly shade of red. Then he focused his sight on the three bodies. His mind clouded with the poison of violence.
Especially when Doctor Andras saw the third body, which apparently, is a Soulless,
The three were still capable of small movements. Doctor Andras meet their eyes with his. Noted on his mind that this indicated they were alive, for now.
"You troglodytes thought you could pussyfoot your way out of my cage?" A cold sneer appeared on the corner of his lips, paired with eyes that satirized them as if they're dead.
Doctor Andras' forehead began to glow bright red along with his eyes. This further compliment the rusted chain and hook weapon he held, which dyed in One Seven One's blood, but all of it desiccated now which transformed it into a shade of brown.
"I will show you what it means to be a Kampfer!"
...
In an unknown land, a kid devoid of color intently eyed countless strings. Every string was full of life, and bright colors could be seen to glow like the fulgid sun. At a certain point, a scene that disheartened the kid manifested.
Some strings started to turn stale.
"Of course, the trouble of this task would be set in such high relative dimensions to ensure the law of harmony. An equilibrium to a circumstance is vital after all." A despondent sigh came out from the kid's lips.
You must prevail!
Take the Crimson Amulet!
Don't waste this important opportunity!
The kid became specifically worried when three stale strings evoke the proliferation of the thread's decay. That could very well mean failure would be a more plausible outcome than success.
Then the kid's finger set in motion to lightly touch each string. Despite that, the kid caught on the idea that the strings just phase right through its fingertips.
"I couldn't tamper with it anymore. I have done what I could, this is my limit."