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Ulvala, Ruined Gray Phoenix Tower, Time: 12:00 PM
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At last, the Lucky Inquisitors defeated The Gray Phoenix once and for all. They stood in front of the ruined tower, finally getting a break and some much-needed relaxation.
"HOW YOU LIKE THAT HUH? YOU PIECE OF SHIT, MY LIFE IS RUINED BECAUSE OF YOU."
Koras was still overwhelmed with emotion as he had achieved his eternal freedom and could now return to Vermilion to meet his old friends.
"GOD, 2 YEARS OF ETERNAL PRISON AND MENTAL TORTURE AND NOW HERE YOU ARE FINALLY DEAD."
Ace and Ezra were resting by the tree, taking a moment to catch their breath.
"He's still going on, isn't he?" Ace said as he looked over to Koras, who still was kneeling in front of the castle.
"Eh, give him this one. He finally got back at his tormentor." Ezra smiled as he continued to watch him.
The children were celebrating their freedom as they started to play around. "You guys wanna play tag?" The young teen asked, to which all of them agreed.
Nathan, Mianne, and James comforted Koras, gently rubbing his back, "You can let go now, big guy." Nathan sat next to him, with him feeling something he had never felt after a while: Happiness.
A sudden movement caught Koras's attention. A stone rubble started to shake, prompting him to look up from the ground.
As he looked on, a hand emerged from the rubble, trying to find something to hold on to. Everyone's attention turned toward the source of the movement.
Surprisingly, it turned out to be Gusto, with his mid-length hair, who had somehow survived.
Exhausted and in great pain, he managed to announce his return weakly, "I'm alive..."
However, Nathan, startled by the unexpected sight, panicked and yelled in fear, "WAAAH, IT'S A ZOMBIE!!!"
James and Mianne, also taken aback, reacted quickly and unintentionally pushed Gusto back into the rubble, causing him even more pain.
"OI, YOU TWO, STOP IT!" Koras said as he tried to pull Gusto back out.
James and Mianne were confused about why Koras would try to save Gusto. He was their enemy before.
"Just let him live. It's not like he could do anything right now," Koras continued.
"Wait?" James and Mianne realized their mistake, as Gusto tried to escape their accidental assault.
Recovering from the confusion, the Lucky Inquisitors helped Gusto out of the rubble and offered their apologies for the misunderstanding.
"God, I feel like a golem just crushed my entire back," Gusto said as he tried to stretch his back, waiting to hear a pop.
"So, how did you survive?" Nathan asked angrily as the children hid behind him.
"I was trying to sneakily escape. But then once I reached the first floor, a giant mud water burst out of nowhere! Leaving me to get crushed by the debris!" Gusto said as he tried to remember what happened.
"Well, I hope you've turned over a new leaf because we ain't gonna take kindly to your shenanigans again," Mianne said as she angrily glared at him.
"Don't worry, Madam- OW!" Before Gusto could say a thing, Koras bonked him on the head.
"Be more appropriate to woman." Koras scolded as he stared at him.
"Don't worry, I will not do that again," Gusto said as he ground his teeth, feeling the weight of Koras' disapproval.
"Someone's coming this way," Ezra said as he saw something approaching them.
An army of some sort was heading in their direction, a march toward the tower that seemed threatening.
"Tch! Did the news already get to Twilight?!" Koras yelled, annoyed that a new problem was heading their way.
"It seems they're not one of them," Ezra said, recognizing their medals from anywhere. Mianne and James were curious as they walked toward Ezra to see who was approaching. James's eyes increased ten times in size as he realized who it was.
"Is that...?" Ace said, silently watching from the side.
"Bada," Ezra said as he watched Bada and his men walk toward them.
Bada and his squad were expecting a lot of things.
You know, they were going to break into Gray Phoenix Tower, free everyone who was held in the dungeon, and arrest Ludwig and his lapdogs.
However, they weren't expecting the tower to have been destroyed by the time they arrived.
They saw a bunch of people in front of the tower, and maybe one of them was the cause of this destruction.
"Jeez, are we late to the party?" A bald midget man in a suit stated.
Bada immediately spotted someone out of the ordinary, Ezra.
It was like spotting an owl during the day; he could recognize Ezra's eye bags anywhere.
He approached Ezra, who was preparing himself for the conversation.
"Ezra," Bada answered politely.
"Bada. What's the captain of Archsentinel doing here?" Ezra asked, yawning a bit. He should get more sleep.
"We've come here to investigate Gray Phoenix for abducting other races and using them for labor," Bada said politely, avoiding getting too touchy with the subject.
"It seems the tower has been destroyed before we got here," Bada continued, and Ezra sighed as usual.
However, someone was hyper-fixating on someone...
"IT'S HIM, OH MY GOD, IT'S HIM!" James was watching in awe.
His idol was talking to his friend!
Did Ezra know him as well?
He had many questions, but Mianne tried to detain him, not wanting to interrupt their business.
Ezra took a deep breath and started to explain everything from start to finish, including their takedown of Koras and the rescue of Nourtuck, up to James destroying the tower with Ludwig.
"Thank you for filling me in with the story, Ezra," Bada said as he bowed to him.
"I forgot you are very polite sometimes." Ezra nervously chuckled, but then again, he remembered how he used to be five years ago.
James finally broke free from Mianne's grasp and ran intensely toward Bada.
"Sorry, I couldn't contain him..." Mianne said in defeat, exhausted from struggling to hold James back.
She felt good about it, but boy, could he struggle.
"Uh... excuse me," James politely asked as he tapped Bada's shoulder.
"Oh! Hello there!" Bada greeted him.
"ARE YOU THE FAMOUS 'ARCHSENTINEL CAPTAIN,' BADA?!?! THEN PLEASE, CAN I HAVE YOUR AUTOGRAPH? I WAS SO INSPIRED BY YOUR FIRST DEBUT IN THE NEWS. YOUR POWER IS SO SO SO COOL!!! AND AND AND..." James yelled rapidly, struggling to breathe.
Bada was startled by this; he didn't know that he could meet such a big fanboy.
Ezra helped him catch his breath.
"Okay, good. You won't die from a lack of air because your idol is in front of you," Ezra said sarcastically, finally calming James down.
"I am so sorry for his behavior. He can be a little too wild when he meets a high-ranking guardian," Ezra apologized to Bada, wishing he could have kept his mouth shut.
"It's fine, don't worry! I have met fans before, but he seems like a pretty big one," Bada said as he took out his pens to write down his autograph.
Bada handed his autograph to James, who accepted it very quickly; it was almost at light speed as he started to jump up and down.
"Is he working with you?" Bada politely asked the question.
"More like I work for him. He's my leader, and this is our second day as guardians," Ezra said with a sigh.
It was almost like he went through hell with how much James dragged them into this.
"I see." Bada let out a chuckle. "He's pretty much fit to be a guardian, honestly. I'm going to keep an eye on you guys," Bada said, feeling a lot of potential coming from everyone.
"Now then, let's talk business, shall we?" Bada cleared his throat as he prepared to discuss.
"Now, yes. You might get promoted from this, but it would be difficult to rank on my own, so I would let the rest of AS discuss this topic too," Bada said as Ezra listened very carefully.
Of course, Ace was listening too. "But, I would like to make sure. Do you have the bodies of Ludwig and his lapdogs?" Bada asked in a serious tone.
"Well, I would like to say that two of his henchmen turned over a new leaf," Ezra pointed at Koras and Gusto, who were somehow on their knees, begging for the children's forgiveness.
"As for Ludwig, however," Ezra was unsure as he walked toward the ruined site. Bada followed behind.
Ezra rummaged around. He lifted one rock to see that it only had a stain of blood. He was confused; Ludwig's body should've been here. Ezra frantically lifted rock after rock.
"There's no way they could have...," Ezra was distraught. How did he escape? The three of them should've been dead by now.
"Well, that settles it. You can stop searching for it now," Bada politely asked as he put his hand on Ezra's shoulder, stopping him from searching any longer.
"This wouldn't affect much as Ulvala is a small country. He can't escape from here," Bada said as he walked toward a robotic-like man.
"Tino?" Bada said to get the robot's attention.
"Yes, sir?" The robot's head turned 180 degrees.
His head had a tin copper-like robotic head with a giant bamboo hat on top. He had green glass-like eyes with steam pipes coming from his back. He wore the same black suit as the other members of Bada's team.
"Would you mind taking the children to Autumndusk? Let the 'Black-White Time' announce the news about the missing children so their parents can come to pick them up," Bada politely asked as Tino simply nodded his head in robotic manners.
"Also..." Bada said as he leaned close to him and whispered something. Tino put his hand over his mouth like a gossip girl as he nodded.
"All aboard, children!" Tino yelled out as the children looked at him weirdly. Tino decided to pull out a mini train with seats suitable for children and small teens. It seemed he possessed a metallic-like power.
The children were loving it as they rushed to get in. Some of Bada's team tried to make them enter the train with manners.
"Now, we are heading toward the Big City!" Tino said as he mimicked being a conductor. The train started moving at a fast pace.
Some of Bada's men follow behind the train, just make sure it's extra safe.
"Now, I shall begin my search for them. Please be careful if you spot them nearby," Bada said as he bowed to them.
"Again, thank you so much for helping make the world a better place for everyone," Bada continued, and everyone felt a bit awkward that the captain of AS was thanking them.
Bada pulled out a pair of piston gauntlets with a shiny amber in the middle.
He was suddenly launched off the ground as he traveled through the air.
"Wow, that's crazy," Koras said in awe; he had never seen anything like that before.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye," James said, his face saddened. Even though they had only known him for a day, they had grown attached to him.
"Yeah, it's been fun for both of us," Koras confidently said, feeling a bond with the squad even though they had only met for a day.
"You're gonna go search for Vermilion, right?" Ace asked, trying to guess what Koras would do now.
"Yup. I'm gonna find him somehow. Maybe we will meet again someday," Koras said with a confident smile.
"I want to tell you guys that," Koras finally decided to tell them all. He got down on both knees and slammed his head against the ground.
"Thank you so much for freeing me from my prison! I can never know how to repay you! I owe you a debt!" Koras yelled out. The Lucky Inquisitors smiled at the sight as Koras started to cry again.
"I hate your guts, dude," Ace said as he walked slowly toward him. "But, you are one cool dude," Ace said as he offered his hand toward him. Koras gladly accepted it.
"Well, no point in crying now! I'm gonna chase after him," Koras said as he grabbed Gusto's collar.
"Let me go, I need to confess my true feelings!"
"I will be seeing you guys later!" Koras saluted as he started to walk away in the other direction.
"NO, I DON'T WANNA GO! MY PRECIOUS MADAMN-" Koras chopped his neck to knock Gusto out, and then he dragged him along.
"Bye, Koras!"
"Have a safe trip!"
"Find him!" The Lucky Inquisitors wished him good luck on his quest as they parted ways.
"Well, let's go stop by a local Inn for a bit. We need some rest after all this crazy stuff that's been happening," Ace said, suggesting the idea.
"Yeah! A perfect guardian requires a good rest!" James said with determination, trying to motivate everyone.
Meanwhile, Mianne sneakily went through James's coin purse. Her eyes went wide as she realized that a large amount of money was missing.
"Um... James?" Mianne said, trying to suppress her dark aura.
"Yes, Mianne?" James replied, clueless about what was to come.
"Where did all the money go, dear?" Mianne asked, smiling wickedly. She was livid before, but now she was pissed.
Ezra and Ace gave James dirty looks, demanding an explanation for the missing money.
"I-I, umm... Haha..." James stammered, looking for an excuse as he rubbed his neck. James couldn't handle the pressure so he finally gave in.
"Okay, I accidentally spent it on this rock because it looked cool..." James finally admitted honestly, showing off the rune he bought.
"That means we can't get the fancy meal for lunch..." Mianne said, entering her depressed state.
"You. Little." Ezra said, his eyes darkened as he turned to face James.
"SHIT!" Ezra exclaimed, grabbing James by the throat with his bare hands. If he couldn't eat the fancy meal, then he would make sure James had to swallow only water.
Ace sighed in disappointment. James should've known better. "I guess I'm using my bank again..."
"You need to handle responsibility, James! My responsibility!" Mianne looked at him with a pout, a hint of tears in her eyes. James owed her a bunch of hugs for this.
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