"Stop!" Little Jun flew out of her ring and stood before him in a defensive stance.
"Ah! This is-!" Malleus looked to little jun in confusion.
"Interrupt master and she won't even be able to take the pain from an interrupted meditation!" Little Jun growled angrily as he stood guard.
Master?
Malleus looked over to see the blood drip from her mask as she steadied herself again and continued to meditate. This time, the temperature continued to rise and it did not stop! Malleus grimaced as he snapped his fingers and the surrounding around him cooled enough for him to take a deep breath. That was till he heard pounding from behind the boulder!
"Just how in the world did she kill them to make them so angry?!" Malleus muttered in surprise, "So persistent…"
"I don't know." Little Jun shook his horse head, "Not even the others know about it."
"But didn't they mention they were killed by Peony while in the presence of the students?"
Little Jun shook his head, "Sister Ying told me that the ones they encountered here was only a few months ago yet these three looks to be ghosts from not too long ago. Probably around less than a decade ago. Sister would know this well since she was the one who personally assisted master in defeating those guys here."
"Who is this sister you speak of?"
"Um…" Little Jun pondered curiously, "She's an ancient artifact spirit. She's very small in size, but those who make her mad gets really hurt after. She's super strong and can turn into anything! She told Little Jun that she became a long whip and beat those bad guys down before master turned them into lizards for me to play with!"
"Huh? Why-?!"
Before he could ask more questions, the boulder began to crack as Malleus grimaced! There was little he could do to stop this impending battle, but could he really win without a magical pen by his side?! No, wait!
Just as the boulder bursted into smithereens, the ghosts flew in and saw Peony. The old one pointed, "Look at that aura!
"So powerful!" The others were pushed back in shock!
Seeing this, Malleus was surprised. He had heard it from her earlier, but could Peony's aura really be that powerful against ghost? Thinking this, he grew more curious and casted magic at the group of ghosts. Sensing the air of electricity ahead of time, the three jumped as the youngest shouted, "That guy can use lightning attacks! Another talent?! UGH! This is so frustrating!"
"Lightning? Talent?" Malleus muttered in confusion, "What does this mean?"
"Just take this as a bad situation!" Little Jun screamed and tore Malleus away from his spot just as another slammed hard to where he once stood, "How are you with martial arts?"
"Don't underestimate me." He replied with a sneer and shot the nearby spirit stone like a bullet across the room and it hit the ghost right on the forehead.
The ghost was knocked off his feet as he quickly got back up from the unnatural angle with red eyes!
"Are you deaf!" Little Jun screamed, "I ask you how you are with martial arts! Not attack them!"
"Then, how do I fight against them?" Malleus grumbled in annoyance.
"Lightning is only enough to keep them at bay. Even if you strike them, it will require a great amount of mana to completely disintegrate them!"
"Great amount of mana?" Malleus nodded and raised his hand, "Then... Cover for me!"
"Eh?! Hold on-! Damn it!"
As a great amount of mana was concentrated into his hand, the ghosts did not wait and lunged at him. Little Jun did as he was told and stopped them with his own fire forcing them back out of surprise!
"Now..." Malleus glared, "Disappear!"
Bolts of lightning rain down from above and stuck them hard. As the ghosts screamed in pain, Little Jun cried out in horror, "STOP IT!"
Surprised, Malleus stopped and the ghosts diminished into thin air.
"Sister! Sister!!!" Little Jun lunged past Malleus in a distraught state.
A series of cough rang in his ears as it grew more intense. Bewildered, Malleus turned around just as he saw Peony lean forward. Surprised, he rushed forward and caught her in time. He could feel her hands grasping the arm freezing cold. He did not let go when he saw that she had vomited up massive amounts of blood, but he could feel a sense of horror numbing his mind!
It was black...
As black as ink and maybe even blot...
Blood dripped from her mask as she continued a coughing fit. Malleus hurried over in disbelief, "Hey, are you all right? What's going on?"
"N-n-nothing…"
"How is this nothing?!" Malleus scolded her, "Is it that illness again? It's this severe?!"
"Not now…" She warned him, "Stay to the side. Blood will attract those ghosts…"
"That's all the more reason I need to step in." Malleus stated firmly as she slumped over. He turned to Little Jun with a grimace, "What happened?"
"You! That's what happened!" Little Jun slammed his dragon tail down angrily, "You interrupted her meditation by absorbing all of that mana! You ended up taking a large chunk from her pool of mana too!"
Malleus's eyes widen in disbelief. He did that?!
In order to conjure all that mana, he decided to use the magic around them alongside his own body, but he did not realize that he lacked so much that he had even stole some from her too!
"Is there anything that can be done?" Malleus frowned as picked her up carefully.
"Um! Um!" Little Jun hesitated nervously in a panic! He really had no idea how to best help her!
Suddenly, a small figure appeared out of nowhere!
"Bring her in here!"
Malleus looked up and saw Ying Hui.
"Sister Ying!" Little Jun cried out in relief!
"A fairy?" Malleus muttered in surprise.
Before he could ask more, he felt himself sucked into some portal!
When he opened his eyes, he was shocked to find himself before what looked to be a large strangely shaped gate.
"This…" Malleus's eyes widen in disbelief, "Where is this?"
"This is the spatial ring." Ying Hui replied, "Come! Someone told me they could help, Master!"
"This is inside a spatial ring?" Malleus noted in surprise as he noticed the mountains over the gate they had passed through, "It's a lot bigger than I thought…"
"Spatial rings can hold a lot more space than a storage ring and usually contains land." Little Jun explained as they hurried in, "It is rare for them to be able to hold living creatures inside as well."
"How did the princess find this ring?"
"We were left as an inheritance gift from her biological parents before they passed." Ying Hui explained, "My brother is the spirit of this ancient artifact. I am the spirit of an ancient weapon tied to this artifact."
Upon entering the courtyard, he was suddenly greeted by a large courtyard full of life! The trees were vibrant and full of life with either flowers, fruits or pine cones sprouting from its branches. A large stone path stretched forward before them as they hurried through the courtyard. As they walked past the courtyard and into the corridor, Malleus only grew more and more surprised by the structure of the mansion and the strange roof shapes. It was then that he noticed the corners of the rooftop. Are those gargoyles?!
"Sister Ying? Isn't this going to the south east courtyard? Didn't you tell me that this place is prohibited?" Little Jun noted nervously.
"Don't pretend you never snuck here on your own before!" Ying Hui scolded him as they hurried into the empty courtyard.
She pushed open the door and entered in the cold room. Ying Hui pulled out a red stone. The stone glowed. The nearby set of scroll portraits quickly vanished into a glowing set of doors. Seeing this, Malleus was surprised. Little Jun looked to her in surprise, "That stone-! How did you know-!"
Ying Hui gritted her teeth in frustration as she grumbled, "Now's not the time. Let's go!"
The group hurried through the door only to find themselves on top of a summit. Looking around, Malleus noticed other summits from afar of different colors or environments. He then saw one full of vines and lack of light from afar as he whispered, "What is this place?"
The heat rising interrupted them as they looked back to find a large wisteria tree. It branches waved from the soft breeze as its flowers floated down past them. the trunk was bent yet sturdy and strong with the large roots emerging from the soil. But, what stood out from it all was the beautiful large bird sleeping underneath it. The feathers were of various colors and its long neck curved elegantly. The tail feathers flowed out behind it like waterfall of golden sparks and vibrant rainbow colors. However, its shape was familiar to him.
"The vermillion bird?" He guessed on the spot.
"That's right." Ying Hui took a deep breath nervously before shouting, "Hey, you! Hurry and wake up! Our master is dying! Don't you care about her?!"
The bird did not stir. After a few seconds, Ying Hui grew impatient, "Hey-!"
"Enough!"
The voice echoed in their minds so loud they felt as though they could faint!
"What happened to her?" The voice echoed as the outline of a phoenix emerged from the body and glared at them all with a terrifying and powerful aura, "Speak! Who did this?!"