"Gh! They're resisting really hard!" The heavily armored men were having difficulties in stopping their group. This allowed Juniper and Pauleen to make a breakthrough and began in a search for the purification rod that Draxus had left as an instruction.
With the enemies on pursuit behind them along with the two heroes, Josh decided to stay put and stall for time as they think of a plan. He continued to stall the two heroes using his ability to end either of their attacks with ease.
Before long, Pauleen had ran out of papers, and Juniper was starting to run out of mana. Their group was slowly starting to crumble due to the lack of stamina and experience on fighting against actual enemies. Just as they were able to get their distance, Pauleen noticed that there was somebody ahead of them.
"This is bad! That man is the current leader of [People of Earth]!" When Pauleen warned them, they were already late as the young man had already finished casting his magic. "Incoming barrier!" Gayle warned them as she prepared her scythe to tear through the magic barrier with it's absorption properties. But before she could start to absorb the mana, the entire barrier ended in an explosion. With all of them knocked away, Pauleen was the only one who landed conscious. "Everybody...!" "Gayle!" Josh shouted in anger as he realized that his group was harmed directly from a surprise attack. "For these two heroes to ask for my help just in case... Well, I just hope they keep things interesting, I believe these two Sentinels and their friends are quite tasty as ladies after all." Because Josh's attention was shifted, he was suddenly struck with a powerful strike to the gut by the [Hero of Control], getting himself knocked into the area. He tried to stand up but was immediately controlled to grovel. "Ghh!"
"We're grateful for your assistance Lawrence, as part of the deal, we'll continue to circulate for your experiments." "Christ... The boss of the enemy has the same name as me huh...?" Lawrence, who was one of Pauleen's friends, muttered something about a crazy coincidence before losing consciousness. The only ones that remained awake were Josh, Gayle, Pauleen, and Juniper. Josh is being held down by the [Hero of Control] after his attempt to make a stand, while Juniper was sitting behind Pauleen as she took notice of something. It was a small stick with a bit of a blue pieces. With her knowledge, she knew that it was the item that they needed to reach Draxus. "Pauleen... Can you stall...?" Pauleen shook her head sideways as a response, she kept her attention to the enemies which came closer. "As long as you keep things interesting. Have fun." Lawrence, the leader from [People of Earth] then quickly disappeared. The [Hero of Prodigies] moved in front of Pauleen and Juniper, who were trying to stand up. "If only your group had accepted the invitation, we wouldn't have to forcefully push you into this state." "You're allied with the [People of Earth], with that evidence in place, we have no reason to hold back against your group." "Hold back? Pff ahahahaha! You really thought that you could win against us? Sure we were genuinely worried that the two of you are titled Sentinels, but it seems there is a clear difference between the officers and mere members." "Hold this man down, make sure he watches everything." As two guards stomped on Josh's back, he was no longer able to stand. His hair was gripped to make sure he watches everything that happens. Because of the damage to him, Gayle ended up getting mad immediately and rushed in to the [Hero of Control] with rage. Because she wasn't in much of a control, she was stopped easily with willpower. "Halt." Her weapon was taken and thrown away as the hero started to get rid of his top clothing. When Gayle knew that, she knew what was about to happen. She stepped back only for her arm to be gripped harshly. "Gayle!" "It's been a while since I had a great meal of a capable woman who can resist my commands. So you better satisfy me." Gayle only gave a glare as she was pushed down while resisting the control of willpower. "Gayle! You bastards...!" Josh was starting to lost control of his power, but he was still unable to move from his position. "Ghh..." Gayle continued to resist until eventually she was forced to split open her legs as she held down her skirt. Just as her clothes were about to be ripped off, the [Hero of Control] detected immense pressure. He jumped back as he suddenly felt off about the situation. "What happened?" He looked around, and noticed that the world started to darken all around them. everyone in the area was starting to be covered in a barrier of darkness with hundreds of peering eyes all around. He then noticed Juniper holding the purification rod up high with Pauleen in front protecting her.
"What are they trying to-" "Great work, [Sentinel of Genuinity], [Sentinel of Advocacy]." "That voice?!" The [Hero of Control] and [Hero of Prodigies] immediately recognized the owner of the voice. They grit their teeth as they've walked into a deadly trap without noticing it. "You've decided to eliminate us after all?! Kingfisher! You know what would happen if you kill the heroes here right?!" Dead silence passed through as all the heavily armored men and the two heroes continued to look around for his presence. Josh was shocked to understand, to what extent does Draxus hold his power. Even if he lost control twice, he wonder how did this kind of power exist. In the dead silence, the entirety of the group that was brought into the dark area heard a single stomp. Pauleen and Juniper looked behind them, and they saw a deadly aura coming from Draxus. It reached to the extent that he must be feared. The glowing cerulean eyes, and his normal clothing showed his full appearance. He was sitting on a throne-like chair as he got his head off from leaning on his right hand.
He walked downwards to his two Sentinels, he gave them a pat in the head as he commended them for their cooperation. "Good work, take your group with this and head home." He handed a magic mirror to Pauleen and ordered her clearly to return home. "U-Understood... Thank you." "You're welcome." His tone was formal, as he didn't want to spend his energy worrying about the states of Pauleen and Juniper's friends. Draxus used his dimension magic as he didn't want to push them over the limit, and simply just moved everybody behind him.
"I hereby order you Sentinels, retreat." Pauleen and Juniper stood up straight placed their arm diagonally on their chest as they acknowledged his order. "Understood." And with them gone, Draxus was left alone with the two heroes and their heavy knights. "So?"
After Pauleen and Juniper escaped with their group back to the inn they stayed at in Preeliance. Gayle was completely terrified and frustrated while Josh was hugging her out of sheer powerlessness and desperation. "T-That is what...?" "Sorry... We're actually acting into his orders. We didn't want to leave with losses, so we had to borrow his power." Pauleen immediately apologized to Gayle and Josh for unknowingly changing their plan. "Why did you not tell us...?" Josh cited his frustration quickly, but he was stopped by Gayle. "It's fine, we didn't have that much of a choice but to rely on him at that point." "W-Why are you siding with..." Josh showed signs of jealousy, as he let go of Gayle when she uttered those words. "Whatever we would've done, it would always end with us failing. So they made the correct choice of calling Draxus." Josh was unable to accept her words, as he then just left the room in shock. Gayle didn't have a bit of remorse in her words, but she remembered something when she saw Draxus. "Those eyes of his... Is still the same..." With her muttering, the two didn't hear what Gayle said. As she covered it with a sad and regretful look on her expression. It was then decided that they'd stay in the Preeliance castle once again and cancel their classes in Aquila.