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Sylanwood, Stetia Kingdom, Time: 12:50 PM
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Nestled in the south of Sylanwood, the Stetia Kingdom was a grand and festive kingdom. The kingdom mostly consisted of men wearing heavy makeup and advertising beauty products for all to use.
The kingdom was different from others, as they had adopted the sakura tree instead of the pine tree native to Sylanwood. The petals from the trees flowed everywhere.
Inside the red dome of the Stetia palace, a group of samurai wearing makeup were pampering someone with luxurious red hair, painting her nails. She seemed to be relaxing with a cucumber slice on her eye and green cream on her face.
"I can't believe 'The Red Archsentinel' showed up for her appointment. I thought you would forget about it," one of them spoke to Freya in a mixture of feminine and masculine tones. Freya could only snicker in response.
The individuals wore imperial hairstyles with golden ornaments, flower pattern kimonos, exquisitely trimmed eyelashes, and wooden sandals. They carried parasols and fans to cool themselves.
"Ah, shut your trap, Nina. I need to get ready for my date so Bada will fall into my loving arms like a baby," Freya argued before readjusting herself in her seat.
"You seem quite fond of him. Is it because he's your 'baby boy'?" Nina made air quotes, not understanding Freya's affection for Bada.
"Nina, he's an angel to me. If you don't get our love, don't you dare talk about what's between us," Freya raised her voice slightly before a samurai removed her face mask and handed her a mirror.
Freya's skin looked smoother, her newly dyed hair shining beautifully. "I can't lie though, your skincare is astonishingly good." Freya admired herself, certain to win Bada over immediately.
Hearing her Voice Message Transporter ringing, Freya thought, "Could it be..." She pressed the yellow button, readying her flirtatious smirk.
"Hey there, hun bun~ How's it going?" Freya answered in a flirtatious tone.
"Freya? Oh, thank goodness. We've been getting distress calls from Diremaw's Kingdom," came Bada's staticky voice from the speakers.
"Oh do tell, my dear house husband~" Freya teased, eliciting an exasperated groan from Bada.
"Glacial Vigorous stole Princess Elowen from King Leo. You're the closest one in Sylanwood, so could you help them?" Bada requested.
Freya winked at Nina before responding slyly, "I don't know Bada, maybe you could~" hinting for him to offer something in return.
"Freya please..." Bada softened his voice, which made Freya relent slightly.
"Oh alright, I will. But you better wear that dress tonight, baby boy," she purred before abruptly ending the call, cackling at Bada's flustered reaction.
"You are just the worst," Nina frowned at her merciless teasing.
"You should've seen me back in the day," Freya grinned, grabbing her lion halberd. "Anyway, duty calls."
As Freya turned to leave, Nina stopped her. "I need you to ensure we get press coverage! So I'm giving you a wagon and soldiers. Don't forget to mention us!"
Freya rolled her eyes dramatically. "Ugh fine, you greedy sellout."
She led the awkwardly tottering samurai soldiers out the door as Nina called after her, already tasting his future sales success.
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Sylanwood, Diremaw: The Frozen Slopes: Lower Layer, Time: 12:50 PM
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"Quick! They went that way!" some of the GV soldiers shouted as they hurried down the stairs, trying to find someone.
Ezra and Ace were exhausted from running but managed to slip into a room before being spotted.
Ace put a hand on his knee, sighing heavily. "God, we finally lost them..."
Ezra leaned against the wall, also sighing. "We need to regroup with the others - they might be in trouble."
They then heard voices outside. "Man, those intruders are everywhere!" a guard exclaimed. Ezra listened closely to the conversation while Ace looked confused. Ezra put a finger to his lips, shushing Ace quietly.
"Yeah, we gotta deal with two groups here now?!" the first guard said, surprised.
"Yeah! The outsiders and then this other group came outta nowhere, crashing through the front entrance and wiping us out!" explained the other guard.
"You think they aliens or something, man?"
"Nah, they look normal. But dude, we gotta catch 'em!"
"Yeah let's go!" The guards then hurried off.
Ezra stopped listening and turned to Ace, who asked "So what'd you hear?"
"There's another group inside with us. Could be backup or someone following us," Ezra summarized, unsure if he heard correctly.
Ace furrowed his brow, trying to think who else could be infiltrating the building. "Backup huh? Well whoever they are, we better hope they're on our side."
He paced the small room restlessly. "Did they say anything else about them? Any clues if we can trust them?"
Ezra shook his head. "No, just that they came crashing unexpectedly through the front entrance in some kind of wagon. Caught the guards completely off guard."
"Hmm, a surprise wagon attack? That's pretty bold..." Ace murmured. "I wonder if the rest of the team has run into them yet."
He walked over to the door, pressing his ear against it to check for any approaching footsteps. "So what's the plan, Ezra? Should we try finding the others first, or search for this mystery group?"
Ezra thought for a moment before replying. "Let's focus on locating James, Mianne, and the rest of Lucky Inquisitors first. Safety in numbers right now. We can keep an eye out for this other faction, see if they seem hostile or not."
Before anyone could do anything, they heard a soft click on the wall as the bookshelf started to move on its own, emitting an icy-like wind.
Ace and Ezra stared at the now-open passage leading into darkness. The bookcase had swung aside silently, revealing a tunnel emitting an icy draft.
"What the...a secret passage?" Ace muttered in surprise. He glanced uncertainly at Ezra. "Think this might be a trap?"
Ezra studied the tunnel entrance, eyes narrowed. "Possibly. But this castle is ancient - hidden passages aren't that shocking."
He stepped closer, peering down the dark corridor. "...It's flowing with unusually cold air though. Worth investigating at least."
"I guess we don't have many other leads to go on," Ace said with a shrug. He summoned a small flame in his palm, holding it out to illuminate the passage. "Shall we?"
They entered cautiously, senses alert for danger or clues. The cold air whipped around them as they descended through spiraling stone stairs.
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