For the past day, Kono and his three new partners—Ren, Touma, and Yui—have begun their mission, traveling to the northwest and southwest regions of Adonai. However, the group had to come to a split decision.
Kono, with his hand up to his chin, stood in contemplation while his partners stood off to the side in annoyance.
"Does it really make a difference, fox?" Ren inquired abruptly, folding his arms as he waited for an answer from his irritating fox-like partner.
Kono grinned toothily as he replied: "Of course! Going northwest is valid, but it's more barren—closer to Shanti. However, the more south, the more woodland and terrain!"
They had to decide which direction to go in first. It quickly became more troubling than it ever needed to be.
Yui's brow furrowed, "It shouldn't matter. We're just going to end up on both ends eventually anyway!" The sole female of the group declared, putting her bandaged arm on her hip.
Kono almost looked offended at her words, his lips being forcefully tugged into a dramatic scowl. The three sighed at the blonde's animated behavior.
"But this will be our first mission as Team Ganbaru! Besides, for being Shinkaku missionaries, you guys are way too careless." Kono stated with faux indignation, eyeing the three with what seemed like a dubious glare.
"I thought we weren't going with that name, ya dick!" Yui hollered in anger. The damn fox was so aggravating!
Touma sighed, "Fine. You win. Can you just please decide so we can go? Lord Phoenix expects us to report to him quite often, and I don't know how we'd do that if we never got anywhere." Somehow, the man with the diagonal scar underneath his eyebrow is the most reasonable.
"Haha! You should be more like Touma!" Kono jested playfully, looking toward the bright blue sky. There weren't very many clouds today, Kono noted subconsciously.
After a few quick seconds of Kono tapping his foot, annoying his partners to no end, the fox-like male jolted. Jabbing a finger toward the sky, Kono smirked.
"We should go…" Kono then lowered his finger from the sky, "... southwest!"
Kono's three partners all stood in a bemused state, then proceeded to walk away.
"All right,"
"Fine,"
"Good enough,"
In perfect unison, Ren, Touma, and Yui all walked away upon Kono's decision.
Kono, who was currently being left behind, sighed. His expression morphed from enthusiastic to monotonous in mere seconds. The blonde gazed at the backs of his new partners.
'Just like my last group,' Kono silently claimed, finally deciding to move his feet and follow the others. Birds began to depart from the trees, chirping in the sunlight up above. The fox-like blonde quickly eyed the birds flapping freely through the air, his eyes devoid of light.
'Manipulated and bleak. Nothing more, nothing less.'
XXX
Traversing down a narrow hallway, Yuso could be seen, once again residing in the base under Motsureta.
Many of the doors in the base were typically closed off, restricted to Master specifically. Yuso never dwelled on why he had never had much freedom down in the darkly lit base. But, as time began to pass, Yuso began to develop more questions. His mind has never felt so restricted but also free concurrently.
As Yuso was walking, the redhead spotted a small illumination—one of the doors was open.
Yuso's hand twitched in temptation, eyeing the door with his crimson-red eyes. Perhaps Master had forgotten to close it completely, or maybe he was returning shortly.
Glancing at both ends of the narrow hallway, Yuso looked back at the door. He hated this; his mind was at war with itself. This wasn't a common occurrence—not until his fight in Ryakutdatsu, at the very least.
Clenching his fist, Yuso walked hastily toward the door, extending his arm out to push the door open even further. He had decided—the curiosity had become too unbearable. It was as if a gnawing sensation was etched into the back of Yuso's mind.
Suddenly, just as Yuso's hand brushed against the door, the redhead's senses became alert.
Two—no, three—people were nearby. It was almost as if they were directly above the base. One of them felt too weak, nearly falling completely out of Yuso's detection.
Yuso's eyes narrowed, his eyes tracking the Aura Senses of the people above through the ceiling of the base. The redhead removed his hand from the slightly opened door and quickly walked away.
Due to Yuso's hand making slight contact with the door, it slowly creaked open further than before, revealing the contents of the room.
On a table within the room, a staff with a green handle and golden ends could be seen lying vertically. The long staff was placed on a black stand, presenting it to the whole room with a bright shine gleaming off the golden color of the staff.
XXX
"Is this it, Father?"
After a day since their last appearance, Father Laurence, Gabriel, and Rosaline have finally arrived at their destination.
Father Laurence suddenly began walking toward a random tree, eyeing it suspiciously. The elderly man then held out his hand, feeling the tree gingerly. Father Laurence then slid his fingers to the right, his eyes narrowing. He then lightly clutched onto a piece of loose bark on the tree, pulling it back slowly.
To Gabriel and Rosaline's surprise, the bark of the tree was as flimsy as paper, being yanked back like a curtain. It appears that Father Laurence and his previous warriors were correct: there was a hidden base.
"That is the base, I presume." Rosaline eyed the exposed hole in the tree, the paper-like bark flapping off to the side in correspondence to the wind.
Gabriel smiled at the sight. So he didn't have to worry anymore. The thought of them being forever stranded was quite a daunting thought.
"All right! Why don't we start heading in?" Gabriel asked impatiently, eager to explore the interior of the hollow tree.
As Gabriel took a step forward, Rosaline's eyes had suddenly widened in fear. The silver-haired woman quickly grabbed the golden-haired Gabriel by the shoulder and yanked him back with extreme haste.
*SWOOSH!*
Time felt slow as Gabriel watched a red circle with writing embedded into it fly past him at blazing speed. The flying red circle eventually collided with a tree, slicing through it in an instant and causing the tree to—*CRASH!*—fall violently to the ground.
In a heartbeat, Father Laurence, Gabriel, and Rosaline all looked over in the direction from which the attack came, searching for the source of whatever had just been launched at them.
As the three looked all around, a familiar red-headed figure landed on the ground, presumably jumping down from a tree. The redheaded figure stood up straight, his eyes gleaming demonically at the three holy people before him. Yuso had arrived.
Gabriel's eyes dilated in shock, immediately recognizing the redhead.
"T-that's one of the rogues that attacked Ryakudatsu!" Gabriel declared, raising his arm and gripping onto the hilt of his sword on his back.
Rosaline's expression hardened as she reached for the leather compartments around her waist, opening them and pulling out various knives—each connected by chains. It had always been her primary weapon, even way back when Father Laurence ran the Kyodo Facility.
Yuso turned toward the tree that led to the underground base, acknowledging its torn state. The redhead then turned his head away, closing his eyes gently.
"The tree is pointless now," Yuso announced, "... And so are all of the other ones."
Suddenly, Yuso crossed his arms as pentagrams began to form all around him. It was a surprising amount, compared to last time. The number of pentagrams easily surpassed his original limit of ten back in Ryakudatsu—most likely ranging over twenty or thirty now.
Yuso's eyes opened, gazing at the three before him. "I guess I should thank you because now I get to see the extent of my new power."
With that said, Yuso pushed his arms outward, sending all of the crimson-red pentagrams flying at incredible speed.
"Get down!"
In response, Gabriel silently prayed for forgiveness as he pushed Father Laurence down in a hurry. He knew Rosaline could react in time, but Father Laurence had sustained damage to his body years ago, as well as his old age. The elderly man just wouldn't be able to keep up.
*BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!*
Several sounds of explosions radiated through everyone's ears as they ducked to dodge the incoming pentagrams.
Gabriel, who had his eyes closed while on the ground in an attempt to save Father Laurence, slowly began to calm down. Opening his eyes once more from behind his golden-blonde hair, his whole body froze.
For several meters, every single tree in his peripheral vision had been completely sliced in half. Only the stumps of each tree remained, as the rest of the tall perennial plants had fallen over.
Looking over, Gabriel could see Rosaline with her hands raised. Looking behind them, multiple pieces of destroyed trees could be seen. She had prevented the trees from falling on them.
"Gabriel, Rosaline," Father Laurence spoke weakly, gaining the attention of the other two.
Yuso merely stared the three down from a few meters away, lowering his hands. Father Laurence gazed at Yuso with hatred and fear.
"... We have no choice this time. This confrontation is inevitable."
XXX
Hey! Didn't expect a fight to break out so soon, huh? Hah! This will lead to so much more for this volume! How will the fight proceed? Stay tuned for more!
Have a Great Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz_