"I don't get this... Why can't I say anything?!" Louis thought, shaking his head a bit, then glancing at Xitlari, who was illuminated by the sunlight streaming through the window, her hair moving in the wind. "Is what I'm feeling... love?" he wondered after looking at her and averting his gaze. His body started emitting a warm aura.
"Hmm, doesn't it feel warmer?" Mei asked, noticing the increase in temperature.
"Yeah, suddenly... it's warmer, huh? Hey! You're the one generating the heat!" Xitlari exclaimed, noticing Louis's skin.
"Huh? Me?!" he said, surprised, examining his hand and removing one of his gloves.
"Louis, calm down, is something wrong? Turn it down, or you'll burn the seat!" Mei said, concerned for her car and also for Louis... but mostly for her car.
"Sorry..." he said, focusing and managing to stabilize his temperature.
"Phew, what a relief, thanks, Louis!" Mei mentioned, relieved. "By the way, Ririam told me you had earth magic as well. Paladins with two types of magic show a lot of promise; you could become one of the best," she said, trying to start a conversation.
"Actually, I just used magic potions; it's not like I have another magic type," he replied a bit nervously.
"Oh, I see... well, you'll still be one of the best if you manage to evolve your magic to blue fire, but I'm sure you'll achieve it," she said, convinced of his potential.
"I'll work hard, Miss Mei!" he said, feeling a bit guilty. "This is bad... I don't like lying, but the professor told me to do it as much as possible," he thought as he looked out the window to his right. "I wish I'd never gotten this magic... I wouldn't have to lie and... my father... Calm down, Louis, you're past those thoughts," he thought, lightly shaking his head.
After a while, they finally reached the eastern location, in the same alley where Mei had captured Zthur's men.
"Why is it so quiet?" Louis asked, not hearing much noise around when he got out of the car.
"Ririam took care of it. If things get ugly, no one will be hurt," Mei replied, with Clara on her shoulder after she unfused from the scimitar.
"Really? Is it here? Is there a secret passage or something?" Ririam asked, looking at the dead-end alley.
"Indeed, but this type of passage requires a password," Mei explained, walking to the end of the alley and playing a recording on her communicator.
"Please... stop! The password is *shiroi... kiri*," came a voice from the communicator.
"Is that normal?" Louis asked Kassie.
"Of course, we have to get information," Kassie whispered in response.
The alley wall opened, revealing stairs going down. They all went down and turned on a flashlight on their communicator, except Ririam, who had two lights on the rings of her glasses.
"How does this turn on?!" Louis asked desperately, searching for the button.
"Here!" Kassie said, pressing a touch button.
"Lower your voice!" Ririam intervened.
When they went down, the place was spacious but completely deserted.
"I think we're late..." Mei said, looking around the place.
"There might be another passage. He's from the Krisha village; they had lots of secrets," Ririam said, inspecting the walls.
"Right... Search the whole place, but be careful; there may be traps here." As soon as Mei spoke, everyone started to examine the area, which was a room made of pale-colored wood and entirely empty.
"Hmm, I feel moisture on this part of the wall," Kassie said, crouching and examining the wall near the stairs.
"How do you know?" Louis approached upon hearing Kassie's comment as the others searched the back of the room.
"I control water magic too, I'm sure of it!" Kassie used her magic and broke a part of the wall, revealing a small tunnel.
"I found something!" Kassie shouted, excited.
A wall rose from the ground, trapping the others. Then, the stairs lifted and sealed the exit.
Louis punched the wall with all his strength, but it didn't do anything. "How... are they okay?"
"Yes! Did you find anything, Kassie?" Mei replied, noticing that Xitlari couldn't get through the wall.
"It doesn't move at all..." Xitlari replied after hitting it several times.
"A tunnel! But it's really dark... What do we do?" Kassie said worriedly, looking at the small, shadowy entrance.
"Ririam! Give me a hug, maybe it'll be the last one..." Ann said fearfully, hugging Ririam.
"Nothing will happen to us..." Ririam responded to the hug and tried to calm her down.
"Don't worry! I figured it would be a trap... That's why... I brought..." Mei said, rummaging through her jacket. A white sphere came out of a wall. "What's that?" The sphere opened and lit up the entire place. On the other side, the wall flipped over, turning into a wall with spikes.
"Did something happen...? Oh no..." Louis said upon seeing the spikes.
"Get in!" Kassie shouted, diving into the tunnel, followed by Louis.
Kassie and Louis began to fall down an endless tunnel until they passed through a white layer and arrived at a place surrounded by tall grass, illuminated by the sun under a sky with scattered clouds. At the top of the hill, a house with slanted roofs and white walls stood elegantly. Wooden columns held wide eaves that cast a soft shadow around the structure. Kassie created a stream of water that safely brought them to the ground.
"No wonder I felt humidity; it rained here recently," Kassie said, noticing the drops of water on the grass. "Wow... this is a really pretty place for an assassin..." she commented, looking at the house on top of the hill.
"Yes... Can you call the others? I don't know how to use this," Louis said, getting up and pulling out his communicator, but he immediately put it away.
"No one's answering... We need to check the house, we don't have anything else to do." Kassie tried calling everyone, but no one answered.
Meanwhile, the others were in a completely silent place. There were stone structures in a refined style, with slanted red and orange tiled roofs. They were on a long path leading to the main building: a tall castle, surrounded by trees and thin, pointed towers, similar to a cathedral. Several small towers were scattered around the city, which had streets and paths connecting to each other. There were also stone arches and bridges crossing over small canals or rivers. Other long structures had a giant clock and a pointed roof. Some houses also had trees nearby and a garden in front.
"What is this place?" Xitlari asked, gazing at the large palace.
Mei sighed in awe upon seeing the place, feeling melancholic, and it was clear in her eyes that she wanted to cry. "This place... is Trownlian... one of the kingdoms destroyed by Mayestad. It's so beautiful to see it again," she said with great emotion and sorrow as she remembered everything that had happened.
"How is that possible? It can't be... That sphere that exploded must have done something," Ririam said, confused and surprised by Mei's words.
"It could be binding or illusion magic..." Mei said.
"It must be binding magic," Ririam replied.
"Creating all this with illusion magic could take years..." she mused while pacing back and forth. "Ann! Fly as far as you can from the kingdom."
"Understood!" Ann immediately flew off at high speed, raising dust and leaving a yellow trail behind her.
Ririam noticed that Clara wasn't with Mei. "Mei, Clara isn't here..." Mei looked at her shoulder with concern.
"I know... fairies can't be bound or taken into an illusion," she replied, checking her shoulder.
"Kassie and... what's his name?" Xitlari asked worriedly, forgetting Louis's name.
"Louis! As punishment, you'll ask him his name when we get back," Mei said sweetly and calmly.
"What?! Why?!" Xitlari asked, surprised.
"It's very rude to forget someone's name, and you need to be more sociable," Mei replied, observing the place and remembering old times.
"After passing!" she shouted from afar, moving at high speed. "The kingdom, there's a long white space," she continued after reaching the ground with a smile on her face.
"Then it must be... I've never seen such a well-crafted illusion field..." she commented while walking and looking at the castle.
"It looks like they've figured it out... Although it took them a while... Weren't they high-ranking paladins? I wonder who gave them this location," said a boastful voice with a hint of pride and playfulness, but deep.
Everyone assumed battle positions and gathered to look around them.
"Who are you?" Mei asked, scanning the area.
"My name is Tai, nice to meet you! Paladins..." As he spoke, the ground began to crack. "Let's see... how good you all are..." Many beings in silver armor emerged from the ground, beginning to surround them.
"If it's illusion magic... With my magic, we can find an exit," Xitlari thought and began making poses with her four hands, which turned a bright blue.
"Alright, cover Xitlari... And avoid the hits... or their brains will be damaged," Mei said, showing determination in her gaze.
Meanwhile, Kassie and Louis entered the house and began searching everywhere.
"Nothing?" Kassie asked, feeling bored.
"Nothing..." Louis replied with disappointment. "I'm bored of searching... Do you think we should leave here?"
"We can't... We don't know what this place is... I'm fed up! Get out of the house!" Kassie said, determined, creating a sphere of water with her hands.
"Okay, I'm leaving!" Louis stepped out of the house and stopped to look into the distance.
A large amount of water flowed out of the windows and doors. Louis was surprised and stepped away from the strong currents of water, which stopped at a certain point.
"Huh? What was that?" said Tai, who was observing the others from atop a house while being invisible. Suspecting something, Tai left the area.
"I got it!" Xitlari said, finishing her hand pose. "Rhino! Can you hear me?"
"Yes, why are you speaking mentally? And where are we? And... why are you just moving your head? Well, not just you... The others too. Oh, I also see Mei's fairy, it's flying around her," asked with great confusion a small blue rhino spirit on Xitlari's shoulder.
"We're in a very well-crafted illusion field, what can we do?" she said, as Ann cleared the knights with yellow wind magic, creating a large tornado that pushed them away. Mei was fighting many at once, and with each strike of her scimitar, she sliced them in half. Ririam was shooting at those farther away.
"Hmmm, start gathering spiritual magic in your mind, not in your arms, and then I'll take it to get you out of here by creating an impact in this room, and you'll leave the illusion field," the rhino spirit replied while trying to settle on Xitlari's head, pulling her hair.
"I understand... Are you pulling my hair?" Xitlari asked, feeling a slight pain that distracted her.
"Yes, almost there... Done! You can start now." The rhino finally managed to settle on Xitlari's head.
"Perfect." Xitlari sat on the floor, crossed her legs, and began gathering blue energy in her head.
Suddenly, dragons began emerging from the floor, knocking down buildings and tearing up the ground. Ann lifted everyone with her magic and flew them at high speed, trying to dodge the dragons' fire attacks while Ririam shot at them. Xitlari was given a cloud to shield her from any harm.
"Come on, Xitlari, you can do it!" Mei shouted, standing in front of Xitlari's cloud in case any of the dragons got close.
A large black dragon appeared in front of them, throwing off Ann's flight, and everyone started to fall.
"Damn it!" Xitlari shouted, opening her eyes.
Ann managed to stop the fall, and Xitlari returned to gathering energy, sitting on the ground. The black dragon destroyed one of the buildings, and Mei destroyed all the debris heading toward them. With a powerful leap, she reached the dragon's head and split it open. As she fell, Mei saw the large number of dragons approaching.
"Xitlari! Hurry up!" she shouted while falling.
"I'm almost... there!" Xitlari said.
Ririam took out a device and threw it on the ground, creating a large, transparent green shield. All the dragons began to shoot fire, and the shield started to give way. Ann began charging a huge yellow wind blast in her hands, ready for when the shield broke. The large shield disappeared, and the flames were closing in on them. Ann released her blast, creating a yellow wind shield over them that moved at great speed.
"No... I can't... keep this up for much longer!" Ann shouted, struggling to keep the shield from breaking.
"Almost... there... done!" Xitlari said.
In the alley, the spiritual rhinoceros emerged from the ground, destroying much of it. The rhinoceros rose from the hole and waited outside.
"What an entrance!" Mei said, emerging from the ground and standing next to Clara, gently rubbing her neck. "Are you okay, Clara?" Clara nodded while Xitlari looked around to see if anyone was near. Then, she stepped out and shrank the rhinoceros, placing it on her shoulder.
"Hey, when are you guys coming out? We need to find Kassie and Louis," Mei asked, jumping over the hole.
"I thought we were going to die..." Ann said, hugging Ririam, who was still on the ground.
"Everything is fine, you did great," he replied, petting her head.
"Get out of there already, lovebirds," Xitlari said, also jumping over the hole.
Meanwhile, Kassie and Louis were still at the other place. Kassie made the water return into the house, where it was absorbed, leaving the place dry.
"Whoa, this is amazing! Did you find anything?" Louis said, surprised that the house was intact, with all the furniture in place as if no one had been there.
"I found this... It's a scroll, but it's sealed. It was on a fake floor, quite convincing," Kassie replied, turning around while trying to open the scroll.
"It'll be useful. And... now what?" Louis said, not knowing what to do next.
"Hmm... Ah! I know, let's go through the tunnel again," she suggested after thinking for a moment.
"Yes, with your water magic," Louis added.
"No, no, um, better with ice magic, hehe..." she replied nervously, as if hiding something.
"Why not?"
"Because... it's better, let's go!" she replied, grabbing Louis's hand to leave the house.
"Who are you? Don't tell me you're with the others?" Tai said, his words full of annoyance, alerting Louis and Kassie.
"Are you Yeynos?" Kassie asked, peeking out, but there was no one. "Come on, put it in your bag," she whispered to Louis, handing him the scroll.
"What? Not at all... My name is Tai, and I think... none of you will escape this place," he said, adopting a serious tone. Louis and Kassie were pushed by a large gust of wind; the attack was so strong that the house's entrance was destroyed.
"Paladins! I'm afraid your defeat is... inevitable!" he said, emerging from the entrance and leaving a white mist behind. His hair was short and white, with eyes of the same color, as if they contained mist. He stood 176 cm tall and wore a black mask covering his mouth and nose. He had a white sleeveless hood reaching his pelvis, with a white cloak that reached just before his knee, coming out from between his shoulders. He wore a black shirt underneath, visible only at the sleeves, black wristbands with white dots, and black gloves. His pants were black, loose at the top and tight at the ankles, with a black belt adjusting the hood at his waist, and he wore white jika-tabi (traditional Japanese shoes worn by ninjas).
"Are you okay?" Louis asked, helping Kassie get up.
"Yeah... I'll stay behind you," Kassie said, covering her arms with water.
Louis drew his katana and moved toward Tai... He gathered momentum and clashed his katana with Tai's.
"Magnificent sound, don't you think? Hahaha," Tai said with great excitement.
Louis and Tai clashed their katanas while Kassie prepared to attack.
"Wow... Hehe, you're good with the katana. It's been a long time since I fought someone with equal strength," he said, noticing that Kassie launched a large water blast at him. Tai created a katana from his hand and began flying on it, dodging all of Kassie's attacks. "Phew! That was close, girl! Hahaha."
"We don't have much time... I need to take care of the others too," Tai thought while continuing to dodge Kassie's attacks. "Dark Mist!" Tai dropped down from his katana and placed his palm on the ground, making everything turn dark for Louis and Kassie.
Louis heated up his katana, lighting up his surroundings. Kassie used her crystal to light the place. Then, she placed both hands on the ground and began creating a large amount of water, which spread and trapped Tai with an arm of water. "Got you!"
"Well..." Tai cut the arm with the katana he had left floating in the air and began flying again, standing on it. "Nice trick, you'll like this one!" Tai created a large number of katanas and directed them toward Louis and Kassie.
Kassie created an ice wall with the water she had generated, stopping all the katanas in the ice.
"Two types of magic... I didn't expect that, but who cares!" At great speed, Tai moved toward the wall, and with a single strike, destroyed it.
"Back!" Louis shouted, preparing himself while Kassie positioned herself behind him.
Tai clashed his katana with Louis's again, but this time Louis's katana sliced Tai's in two, surprising him, and Tai pulled back.
"He's fast, but... we have the advantage," Louis thought. "Kassie, stay behind, I'll cover you," Louis said seriously.
"Okay!" Kassie replied, noticing the seriousness in his words.
"His katana is red hot... amazing!" Tai thought.
Tai created many swords that started to surround him and directed them all toward Kassie and Louis.
Kassie created an ice shield around them that began to spin at high speed, stopping the katanas and shooting many ice spikes toward Tai.
"They have so many tricks," Tai said, dodging the spikes and destroying others with another katana that emerged from his hand.
Tai pressed his katana harder, covering it with white mist, then threw it with all his might, piercing through the ice shield and heading straight toward Kassie. However, Louis intervened, trying to stop it, and although the katana was deflected, it pierced Louis's stomach.
"Louis! Are you okay?" Kassie asked, rushing to him.
"Don't worry, I'm fine," Louis said, pulling the sword out of his stomach and incinerating it. Kassie was stunned by how easily he destroyed the katana and how he didn't flinch at the pain.
"Wow! Your fire is so hot, I'm also impressed that you're still standing after a wound like that, respect," Tai said, flying over the shield. "But... don't you think you two don't fit together? Fire and water... get it? Heh, heh."
Kassie shot more spikes from the shield, and once again Tai started dodging them, flying calmly and quickly over his sword.
A beep sounded, and Tai pulled a round communicator from his pocket. "Well... bad timing, Father..." he said, shaking his head to avoid a spike. "I'll have to finish them off now... Besides, it looks like the others managed to escape. Too bad," Tai thought, fading slowly and disappearing from both of their sights.
"Where did he go?" Kassie asked, trying to search for him.
"I don't know... But get ready, he could appear at any moment," Louis said, looking around everywhere.
Suddenly, a small white sphere began to light up the place.
"This is over, folks," Tai said, removing his mask and smiling as cracks-like marks spread from his eyes down to his cheeks.
"White magic...? It can't be!" Kassie exclaimed, frightened, as she removed the ice shield.
"Run!" Louis shouted, grabbing Kassie's arm and starting to run.
Suddenly, a gust of yellow wind came out of the tunnel, making the fog disappear.
"Where are you guys?! Ah, there you are! Huh?" Ann shouted, looking for them, and saw Tai with the white magic sphere. She quickly grabbed Louis and Kassie and headed toward the tunnel.
"Of course not!" Tai threw the white sphere, which shot towards them at high speed.
End of chapter