After a few minutes, Mei dropped Louis off at Professor Maxwell's house and headed towards the PT agency. Louis knocked on the door until Hanks opened it and let him in.
"Louis! Finally, I need you to take care of the house while I work on my project. Hanks, grab the red bag; I'll take this one. How did the deliveries go?" the Professor said, waiting for him sitting on the stairs.
"Well... A lady was very upset, but I followed your instructions and left after delivering the package," Louis replied, recalling the lady.
"Hahaha, I can already imagine who it was, but it doesn't matter. Besides, you helped Mei, right?" he said as he got up from the stairs.
"Yeah, apparently a lot of the prisoners escaped from the palace," Louis replied, worried as he remembered the hit he took.
"Hmm, I heard about it from the news and the two explosions that were heard. Here, take this; press the button when it hits 5 PM. We'll be back at 6:30 PM," the professor said, handing him a remote with a single button.
"What is this?" Louis asked, curious.
"I'm glad you asked. This device activates the invisible shield, which is perfectly aligned with the house. The shield is made with invisible magic and the most refined protective magic, accumulated in an amethyst crystal," he replied enthusiastically after clearing his throat.
"Incredible... I'll take good care of it," Louis said, surprised, as he tucked the device into his trench coat.
"Per...fect! We're leaving, Hanks... Ah! And please don't turn it on yet; I don't want it to run out before the month is up, they're quite expensive," the professor mentioned before walking out the door.
"Understood!" Louis replied, closing the door. "Now... what do I do? I don't know where that voice is coming from, but it's annoying to hear," he thought as he headed to the kitchen to make a cheese and turkey sandwich.
Louis finished preparing his food. "Thank you for the meal," he said before starting to eat. After eating, he began to meditate and exercise since he didn't know what to do until he fell asleep sitting on the entrance stairs.
Peeking his eyes open, he quickly woke up and went to check the time on the clock on the second floor.
"Ah! I lost track of time!" he exclaimed, startled when he saw the clock, pulling the remote from his trench coat and activating the shield.
"So this is the house of that professor; I expected it to have many defenses and such," a woman expressed, disappointed, as she looked at the house. She had black hair tied back in a ponytail with two bangs on each side of her face. Her eyes were white. She wore a dark, tight outfit that included a cloak and light armor, with a katana at her waist. She was short, and her face reflected that she was very young.
"But, Kumi... We're in a kingdom; it's obvious that no one would have their house with thousands of traps and defenses," said one of the four hooded figures that were with her.
"Whatever... Let's finish quickly and go to my father... Huh?" she said, confused.
"Is something wrong?" asked one of the hooded figures.
"How unfortunate... It seems there is an invisible shield; what can we do about that?" she asked, crossing her arms.
"Nothing..." was the instant reply.
"What do you mean, nothing?! Find a solution!" she yelled, annoyed.
"Be quiet, I want to sleep!" shouted an elderly woman.
"Ugh... It's too early to sleep," Kumi said after hearing the old woman.
"She's an elderly lady, Kumi..." one of the hooded figures mentioned.
"Hey you! What are you doing?" Louis asked as he looked at them from the second-floor window.
"Huh? Who is this boy? Hmmm," Kumi thought. "Hello! I'm the daughter of Professor Maxwell; I came to bring some things I forgot before I left for my trip," she said with a smile, clasping her hands together.
"That's the worst excuse I've ever heard, miss," said one of the hooded figures.
"Shut up, clown!... Could you please let me look for my things? Please," she said kindly, with a fake smile.
"She never mentioned being his daughter... And if you were his daughter, you wouldn't need to ask for my permission, would you? But it's obvious that you're not, so get out!" Louis said, instantly detecting the lie.
"Ugh, idiot," she said upon hearing his response.
"I think we can't do anything; we should tell Mr. Yeynos," said one of the hooded figures.
"Nothing of the sort!" she said decisively, drawing her katana and starting to hit the shield. "I promised... that I would bring him... the... piece!" she expressed as she struck the shield.
"Hmmm, how long will it take her to break it... Maybe I should take care of them before the professor returns," Louis thought as he watched her hit the shield and headed to go down the stairs.
"Yes... why don't you get rid of them? It would be easier and they wouldn't cause any more trouble!" said a deep, dark, resonant voice.
"Again! Who the hell are you and how did you get in?" he asked desperately upon hearing the voice.
"Louis... Louis! I have always been with you... Since that moment... The most glorious moment of our lives..." the voice replied, and many images and memories flooded Louis's mind.
"No! Stop!" he said as he walked near the stairs.
"Come on! I just started insisting!" the voice shouted with fury, causing Louis to fall down the stairs out of desperation and pain from recalling the past.
"Get out of here..." he said, starting to breathe deeply, managing to calm down.
"I still don't have enough strength, but soon I will take what is due," the voice mentioned, disappearing from Louis's mind, leaving him at peace.
Louis looked at his hands, which were shaking... He got up and realized that the remote had broken from the fall. "Oh no..."
"Ha, ha, I told you it would work; not even an invisible shield can stop me," he expressed proudly after kicking the door open while his companions applauded. "Oh... What happened to you? Did you fall down the stairs?" he said upon seeing Louis.
"What do you care! You won't take anything from Professor Maxwell," Louis said seriously, but a bit embarrassed, as he drew his katana.
"Kumi, we'll take care of this while you look for the piece, that way we'll reach your father sooner," suggested one of the hooded figures.
"What an incredible idea, then, go ahead!" Kumi said excitedly.
Two of the hooded figures surrounded Louis as they spun chains they launched at him. Immediately, Louis dodged them and headed towards Kumi, but the chains managed to trap him nonetheless. "Huh? How did they do that?" he thought as he watched Kumi leap onto him and head for the professor's office while wearing a lens over her right eye. "Absolutely not!" Louis made the chains melt and followed Kumi... "White Mist Union!" the other two hooded figures said, bringing their palms together and creating two hands that grabbed Louis, preventing him from following Kumi. Then the hands disappeared, but Louis could not escape from the four hooded figures.
The hooded figures threw smoke bombs and, very carefully, they took turns attacking Louis, managing to hurt him. Louis heated his katana, and when the next one approached, he cut their sword and then kicked them in the stomach after heating it with his magic. The others hesitated for a moment, but then they decided to attack all three at once. Louis managed to stop their attacks but was being overwhelmed until, with all his strength, he cut their three swords. Then he launched another kick, of which two ducked in time, but one received it, crashing into the wooden wall, which cracked from the impact.
"Damn, this guy is really good!" said one of the two remaining hooded figures as he stepped back.
Louis jumped onto the stair railing and then kicked one of them in the face, sending him flying through the window of the left wall toward the entrance. He then punched the other in the back, causing him to fall and crack the ground upon impact.
"Perfect! Now burn them, ahahaha," said the dark voice, reappearing.
"Get lost!" shouted Louis, furious, making the voice disappear as he headed toward Kumi.
"Come on, come on, aha! Here it is. That damn old man had it well hidden. Good thing I brought the dark commander's glasses," he said as he spotted a secret compartment through the professor's desk.
Kumi crouched down and opened the compartment with her katana. "Oh no, it can't be... An arcane box!" she exclaimed in disappointment upon opening it. As she stood up, Louis was in front of her, and she began to dodge his attacks with great agility. At one point, Louis nearly shattered a shelf full of books. "Ufff, that was close!" Kumi, seeing this, started using items to keep Louis from attacking her, throwing vases, pictures, and other valuable objects to distract him. "Hey! This isn't fair!" she said while adjusting the vases.
"Hahaha, guys, let's go!" he shouted happily, escaping from Louis and going down the stairs... But upon seeing his defeated companions, she became furious and unsheathed her katana. "You... will pay for this..." she said, furious, pointing her katana at Louis as she arrived at the scene.
"They're fine, I just knocked them out. You better return that box. I don't want to hurt a woman," he expressed respectfully, preparing to fight.
Kumi approached and clashed her katana with Louis's. "Don't underestimate me for being a woman," she said angrily, striking forcefully and pushing Louis back. Then she jumped on him and, with all her might, attacked his head, but Louis blocked the blow using his katana with both hands, one on the handle and the other in the middle of the blade. The impact caused Louis to sink slightly into the floor, which shattered.
Kumi stepped back, and Louis, not wasting any time, lunged to attack, putting the blade of his katana toward the ground and attacking with great speed. Kumi tried to keep up, but she couldn't believe he was winning. "It can't be... It's as if... he had read my moves!" she thought while trying to keep pace until Louis managed to cut her left arm and then kicked her, sending her crashing through the window of the right wall.
Louis jumped through the window, positioning himself in front of her, but she didn't back down.
"I won't give up!" she exclaimed determinedly, trying to stand firm despite her injury.
"Do you still want to fight?" he thought. "I don't think you're in any condition; return the box and surrender to the kingdom," he expressed, a bit surprised by her determination.
"Of course not! I'm not going anywhere! I must fight for my friends and for the promise I made to my father!" she expressed with great courage in her words.
She started attacking Louis again, but her attacks were slow and easy to block... Louis, with a quick and precise movement, disarmed the girl, making her weapon fly from her hands with a single cut of his katana. Kumi didn't care and got into a fighting stance to use her fists.
Louis stood in silence, surprised by her bravery, and struck her in the stomach with the hilt of his katana, making her fall to the ground.
"That's enough..." Louis expressed, feeling pity. "You're good, but you need to practice a lot more, although you did well," he said, trying to make her feel better.
"Don't say silly things!" she shouted, annoyed.
"What a girl, so annoying! Why don't you show her what... the sufferi...ng!" expressed a sadistic voice in Louis's mind.
"No! Don't bother me!" Louis shouted, furious at the words he heard in his head.
Suddenly, a light white mist filled the place, and a man with long hair tied in a thick braid falling down his back attacked Louis... He managed to block the attack, but it still pushed him back several meters. This man wore a white haori (a type of traditional Japanese jacket), open over light white armor that protected his shoulders and chest. Underneath the haori, a light-colored kimono or yukata could be distinguished, secured with an obi (sash). His pants were wide and dark, similar to hakama (a type of pleated pants worn by warriors and martial arts practitioners). In addition, a white bandage covered his eyes, and he wielded a white katana as a weapon. The sleeves of his clothing billowed in the wind, evoking the flow of the mist itself.
"What are you doing here?" Kumi asked, surprised.
"Correcting my mistake..." he replied with a serene voice, as ethereal as the mist, launching himself at Louis... And like fog, he was hard to distinguish for Louis, and instantly the man disarmed Louis and then appeared behind him like mist. With impressive speed, he filled Louis's back with cuts, shredding his clothes in the process... Louis fell to his knees, and when he lifted his head, the man was in front of him again. He removed the bandage from his eyes and looked directly into Louis's, filling them with white mist; after that, it became difficult to notice that his eyes were different from each other. Louis lost consciousness, and his back wounds stopped regenerating.
"You didn't trust me... did you...?" Kumi said, disappointed in herself.
"Of course I did... But Zthur didn't..." he replied as he put the bandage back over his eyes. "He didn't make a mistake... But I did; I wasn't ready..." she expressed calmly, aiming her katana to pierce Louis's heart.
"Wait! Don't hurt him, Yeynos," shouted Professor Maxwell, approaching with Hanks to his right.
"Jonathan! ... Heh, it's been a while," Yeynos said, his voice filled with nostalgia and surprise.
"Don't do anything to him, and I'll give you the piece you asked for..." the Professor said seriously, concerned.
"But... I have the piece!" Kumi said, showing the arcane box.
"That's a fake... I have the real one," Yeynos said, transforming his mechanical arm to reveal a medium-sized piece, like a sphere with an "S" inside. He took it out and then transformed his hand into a cannon.
"Is that it, Kumi?" Yeynos asked, unable to see anything.
"Yes, father... That's it..." she said disappointedly, dropping the arcane box to the ground after seeing the piece through the dark commander's lens.
"Well... I'll give you the chance to take it yourself, daughter," Yeynos said upon hearing the sound of the arcane box hitting the ground.
"Stop! Give me the boy first," the Professor said firmly.
"Of course not... After I kill him, you and your friend come next," Yeynos replied, aiming his katana again.
"You think so?" A great blue light began to illuminate the Professor's arm. This light emanated from a crystal embedded in the Professor's mechanical arm.
"Dad... It's like a piece of plumorium," Kumi said, surprised to see it.
"Plumorium?" the Professor thought, unfamiliar with the material.
"How? Where did you get that?" he asked, surprised and a little nervous.
"I have my sources," the Professor replied, aiming his arm at Yeynos and Kumi. "Here's the deal: I give you the piece, and you let the boy go," he stated firmly and seriously.
"Ha, I could easily kill you. You're not a threat," Yeynos said with great calmness.
"Want to bet? I assure you that the shot from this thing will destroy part of the kingdom; you and your daughter won't be able to escape and won't have the piece," he expressed as if he didn't care about the others.
"You're still crazy!" Yeynos replied angrily. "Very well, I accept..." Yeynos sheathed his katana, moved closer to Louis, and then stepped back, hiding his left hand, with which he was signaling to Kumi.
"When I shoot, we'll get closer to Louis," the Professor whispered, and Hanks nodded.
"To avoid any problems, we'll make an oath, like in the old days," Yeynos said, causing a black mist to surround the Professor and himself. "I swear not to harm this boy." The Professor hesitated but ultimately accepted. "I promise to give you the piece you're looking for." Then the mist surrounding the Professor and Yeynos merged, turning white and then fading away.
The Professor fired the piece, instantly activating his arm, and moved toward Louis with Hanks. Yeynos drew his katana to attack the Professor and Hanks, but the Professor's arm created a blue force field, while Kumi immediately went for the piece after the Professor shot it away.
"You're a bastard! You were going to kill us!" the Professor said angrily, sweating on his forehead.
"And you're a fool! You deceived me!" Yeynos expressed angrily, striking the force field with his katana.
"Maybe I overdid it a bit... But my technology is the best," the Professor said, after which Yeynos was struck by a great burst of blue light that sent him flying, crashing into a house. Many people looked out their windows, frightened by the impact.
"Haha, haha, haha, is that all you can do? With your... technology, maybe I won't kill the boy, but you... die today," he said calmly as he approached them again.
"I'd recommend you go for your daughter; there's a woman driving like crazy, and she'll be here soon, but not just her..." the Professor said confidently, preventing Yeynos from attacking the shield again.
"Bastard..." Instantly, Yeynos ran toward where his daughter was.
"Ririam! Do you have her in sight?" Mei asked as she drove at full speed, with Kassie about to vomit in the back.
"I've got her," replied a man with very dark brown hair and glasses, in a deep and serious voice.
Ririam shot at Kumi with his sniper rifle as she grabbed the piece. Instantly, Yeynos appeared, using his white katana. "I'm giving it back!" he said calmly, raising his voice slightly. The bullet had been returned, and Ririam managed to stop it using the same rifle.
"We have to go; we need to deliver the piece to Zthur," Yeynos expressed as he began to run across the rooftops with his daughter.
"But my friends!" Kumi said worriedly as she handed the piece to her father.
"We'll have to get them out when the time comes; I'm really sorry... But the priority is to deliver this piece," Yeynos replied, taking the piece and storing it in his clothes.
A large amount of yellow air was approaching them.
"Damn, hurry!" Yeynos said, carrying Kumi and walking at great speed over the houses.
The yellow air quickly caught up to them, but Yeynos managed to get close enough to the kingdom's exit. With a great leap, he turned into mist and passed over the wall, managing to escape.
"Jonathan! Is he okay?" Mei asked, arriving with her car, as Kassie got out with great relief.
The Professor deactivated the shield on his arm and showed how Louis was doing. Quickly, Mei carried him to Professor Maxwell's house.
"Will he be okay, right?" the Professor asked, worried.
"Din says he just needs to rest, and he'll be fine in the morning," Mei replied while checking one of the hooded figures. "Do you think we should inform his kingdom?" she asked, pulling out some kunais hidden in the hooded figure's clothes.
"No... This morning I talked to him... when I was teaching him to use the delivery bike and after he crashed many times..." he said, recalling the disaster. "He told me that... in this kingdom, he can be himself and doesn't have to pretend or hide... and that no one judges him or treats him like trash," the Professor replied, watching the damage to his house.
"I understand... but for..." Mei began, only to be interrupted by the Professor.
"I think I'll move near the agency for safety. Could you help me look for one?" the Professor said, determined and recalling something.
"Of course, I'll help you!" Mei said with her sweet, gentle voice, remembering the last time she asked him for that.
End of chapter.