“Damn it! What the hell are these walls made of?” Aqualina shouted furiously as she glared at the white walls. There wasn’t even a single scratch on them, even after she unleashed her full power.
“We still don’t know how much time has passed since we got trapped here,” Celestia groaned, her tone dripping with irritation as her expression turned visibly annoyed.
“What should we do now? We cannot just sit here and do nothing like helpless fools!” Aqualina muttered angrily, her expression seething with rage.
She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was seriously wrong. The situation felt off in ways she couldn’t quite put into words. She might not have a clue about the exact reason for her sudden kidnapping, but one thing was crystal clear—something deep inside her heart was gnawing at her, an ominous feeling that made her skin crawl and her mind uneasy.
Her worry began to spiral. For reasons she couldn’t fully understand, her chest tightened, her heartbeat quickened, and an unsettling tension settled over her…. And she didn’t like this feeling one bit!
“Shit!!” she screamed in frustration before slamming the walls with her thin, sharp blue swords.
Meanwhile, outside the mysterious cube, Aether approached cautiously. His heart skipped a beat as his gaze landed on the grand, towering transparent cube resting atop the Ebon stone. Inside, he spotted Aqualina and Celestia.
Relief and a surge of happiness washed over him.
“Aqua? Celes?” Aether muttered, his voice trembling with a mix of hope and disbelief.
Aether reached out, his fingertips brushing the smooth surface of the cube, “Aqua!! Can you hear me?!” he shouted.
Though he could see them clearly, it became painfully obvious that they couldn’t see or hear him.
Frantically, his eyes scanned the transparent cube for any kind of opening, door, or lock. Yet to his utter dismay, he found nothing. Everything appeared flawlessly clear, like a polished mirror. So—either the mechanism to open it was hidden too well, or there simply was no way in.
Aether clenched his fists tightly, “Well, here goes nothing!” he declared as he threw a powerful punch at the cube’s surface.
BBOOOOMM!!
To his astonishment, the wall didn’t break…. Instead, a strange ripple formed, undulating across the surface of the cube.
Trrrrr!!
Inside the cube, both Celestia and Aqualina felt the faint tremor beneath their feet.
“What’s happening now?” Aqualina frowned, her sharp eyes scanning the room for answers. But then, without warning—
Sssnn!
“Woah!” Aqualina exclaimed, instinctively stepping back as the walls closed in slightly. The size of the room had suddenly decreased by an inch.
“Princess!” Celestia darted in front of Aqualina protectively, her body tense and ready. Her vigilant gaze darted around the room, looking for any potential threat. Yet, aside from the unnerving shift in size, nothing else seemed to happen. Everything settled again, returning to its eerie stillness.
“What the heck was that just now?” Aqualina mumbled, her unease growing by the second.
Outside, Aether stood frozen in shock, his breath hitching as he realized what had just occurred. The size of the cube had visibly shrunk for a brief moment.
“This…” he started, but before he could finish his thought, a deep, chilling voice cut through the air….
“Indeed… If anyone dares to tamper with it, the size will shrink further.”
Aether spun around to face the source of the voice and saw the Master.
“Why are you doing this?” Aether demanded, his tone edged with anger.
The Master tilted his head slightly, his tone calm but haunting. “I could ask you the same question. Why are you so determined? Why are you risking everything for them? Shouldn’t you be happy to escape your chains, to be free from serving others? And yet here you are… struggling for their sake.”
Aether scoffed, his lips curling into a defiant smirk. “Answer me first, and then I might just entertain your nonsense.”
“Hmm…” The Master chuckled softly, as if amused. “Fair enough. Let’s just say… it’s for the greater good.” He shrugged nonchalantly.
Aether’s smirk widened. “Oh? In that case, I’m doing this for the greater good too.”
Before the tension could escalate further, another voice thundered into the scene.
“Don’t you think it’s a bad idea to run away during a fight?”
The Principal appeared, her commanding tone slicing through the atmosphere. Her eyes burned with fury as they locked onto the Master.
The Master shifted his focus to her and replied calmly, “Well… sometimes running is the best strategy, wouldn’t you agree?”
The Principal’s frown deepened. She cast a glance at Aether, her gaze softening slightly as she noticed the cube and the figures inside….. A quiet sigh of relief escaped her lips.
“Aether, take them away. Quickly!” she instructed, her voice firm and unwavering.
Aether nodded, deciding it was better to lift the cube rather than risk breaking it. But the moment he tried to move it—
Sssnn!
The cube shrank again.
“Fuck!” Aether cursed loudly, setting it back down immediately.
Inside, Aqualina and Celestia, oblivious to what was happening outside, were shaken by the sudden jolt…. The walls closed in once more, and their hearts sank.
“A-Are we… going to be crushed?” Aqualina stammered, her voice trembling with fear.
The Master’s amused chuckle echoed ominously. “Oh, did I forget to mention? The cube is bound to the Ebon stone. Move it even slightly, and it will shrink further.”
The Principal’s patience snapped. She growled, her eyes blazing as she glared at the Master. “Why are you doing this? Let them go! They’re just children!!”
The Master threw his head back, laughing darkly. “Children? Hahaha… If we go by that logic, aren’t we all children in one way or another?” His voice dipped as he muttered something under his breath.
Aether frowned deeply at the situation. He knew the Master was not someone who acted without purpose, especially now that he had openly revealed himself to the Principal and others. This brazen move meant only one thing: something crucial was about to unfold.
Yet, Aether couldn’t quite piece together what they had planned.
Even among their ranks, the long-time member Jack had just learned the plan….Victor/him? He seemed to know absolutely nothing about now or what their plan was even!
“But I know one thing for sure… they’re stalling for time,” Aether mumbled under his breath. He wasn’t certain whether the Master was stronger than the Principal, but the deliberate pacing was clear.
That man was buying time for some reason, and it was making Aether’s skin crawl.
The Principal understood this too, though she couldn’t decipher why. They had found Aqualina and Celestia, yet something was distinctly off. The Master’s demeanor was too calm, as if he wasn’t the least bit worried.
“Something… doesn’t add up…” Aether’s frown deepened. His gaze fell to the Ebon stone, where symbols were etched into its surface. With what little comprehension he had, he leaned closer to study them.
Meanwhile,
“Fuck!! M-Master…!” Jack stammered, his body covered in blood.
“Running away, are you, Jack?” Alaric taunted with an amused tone, effortlessly tearing apart Jack’s puppets with an almost sadistic glee.
Jack had believed that wielding the Origin Weapon would make him unstoppable, that his puppet’s power had grown so immense it could defeat anyone. But against the Ex-Chosen Ones, it was proving useless.
Alaric was literally toying with the puppets. Even Jack’s enhanced bullets failed to land a scratch, as Alaric moved like a raging wind, dismantling everything in his path with compressed spears and arrows.
“Fuck this guy,” Jack spat, muttering under his breath before retreating toward the Master in a hurry.
Victor, meanwhile, surrounded by hundreds of swords inside a whirling red tornado, he gritted his teeth. The relentless blades closed in, the pressure mounting by the second. At the last possible moment, Victor rotated his body at high speed in the opposite direction of the tornado’s spin.
SSSssshhhh!
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SSSssshhhhhhhhhh!
The moment the pressure peaked, the tornado dissipated as if it had never existed.
“You’ve got a lot to learn, brat,” Victor said coolly, halting mid-step to dust off his clothes before walking calmly toward the Master.
Above, Lia was hurled through the sky, only to be caught by her aunt. She groaned, disoriented, as her mind reeled.
“I-I couldn’t defeat him,” Lia mumbled, her voice heavy with frustration.
Her aunt smiled gently, brushing a hand over Lia’s hair. “You did all you could, dear,” she responded softly before making her way toward the Principal, holding Lia securely in her arms… Her eyes oddly stared at the Principal with dangerous glint!
Both sides bore their share of injuries, with at least one member on each team having suffered a severe beating…. The fight, so far, seemed evenly matched.
“What’s the real purpose behind all of this?” the Principal asked, her sharp eyes scanning her surroundings, ensuring her group was still intact.
The Master turned his gaze to Jack, who cowered visibly in fear. Then he replied, “Nothing much. Just doing what’s meant to be done.”
“Meant to be done? You mean kidnapping a child?” the Principal shot back with an amused tone, her words dripping with disdain.
The Master’s expression remained unreadable as he stared at her. “Everything has a reason, child. Whether it’s us kidnapping that child or you coming here or fighting here or dying here…” His tone grew haughtier, his arms spreading wide as if declaring a grand revelation, “Everything has its reason!”
Aether, still focused on the Ebon stone, froze in shock as he deciphered the symbols.
“Head of the… Sovereign?” he mumbled, his voice laced with disbelief.
CHUCCCKKKK!!!
A sickening sound of flesh being pierced echoed through the tense air…. Aether flinched, snapping his head up in alarm.
His breath caught in his throat as his eyes landed on the source of the noise.
A small knife protruded from… the Principal’s neck, blood trickling down in a dark stream.
“You should never turn your back on others…. Even if they were friends. That’s so unbecoming of a Sovereign, my dear,” the Master said, his tone laced with amusement.
“Hehehe….”
A wicked laugh echoed through the air…. His eyes darted behind the Principal, and what he saw made his blood run cold.
“Alaric?”