/To be honest, even if those four hints last chapter were kinda obvious, I'd still like to see your guesses. I'd like you guys to say who you think those 4 characters are from those perspectives.\
Chapter 8: Hunting the Hunter
Morning light shines in through a window, waking Osrelios up.
After getting ready, he heads out of the hotel and sees Welt already up.
Oz told Welt he would be getting some food for the three of them and walked out of the hotel.
Eventually he came across a tea place and ended up getting food and tea for him Welt and March.
When he got back, he saw Welt and March at a table inside the hotel.
Oz set the food down on the table.
"Ooooh." March said, looking at the food.
"Thanks for getting us some breakfast." Welt said. "But I have to ask. How'd you pay? The Express wasn't stocked with any of the Loufu's currency."
Oz, while eating his food gave a nonchalant answer. "Gold."
Welt choked on his tea. He cleared his throat and spoke up. "Hang on. Gold?"
March then spoke up. "Back on Jarilo VI, he paid for everything in gold."
Oz shrugged his shoulders. "It's currency back in the Spirit Realm. I just so happen to have a lot."
"...I see." Was the only thing Welt could say.
Eventually they finished their food and Tingyun checked in with them via text.
Tingyun asked them to meet up outside of the Sky-Faring Commission.
When they got there, they found Tingyun next to a small dog-like mechanical creature.
"Miss Tingyun! We here!" March called out.
Tingyun looked in their direction and gave a friendly wave.
The three Nameless walk over to their Foxian friend.
When they got over to her, she gave a friendly smile, but Oz could tell it was forced.
"Are you okay, Miss Tingyun?" Oz asked.
"Oh? What gave you the impression that something is wrong?" Tingyun inquired.
"It's your smile. It seems forced." Oz explained.
"...Ah. You are quite perceptive. In truth, I'm very worried. Here I am, a simple Amicassidor, going on a quest to hunt down a dangerous criminal alongside a bunch of foreigners. I'm not even a fighter."
"I understand your worries." Welt stated. "We will do our best to make sure you are out of harm's way."
"I... Thank you, Benefactors." Tingyun said, her expression showing a sense of ease.
"Now, onto business. This little guy with me is called a Diting. It has the function to track individuals or objects. We simply have to put in the criminal's information and Diting will track them. Then we simply follow Diting until we reach the target."
"Where do we start?" Oz asks. "The Loufu is a big place."
"From what information I was given, the criminal in question was seen around a place called, Stargazer Navalia. I could go on about the history of the place, but we are on a tight schedule." Tingyun explained.
The group of four then walked to a Starskiff, and Tingyun piloted it to the destination in mind.
After a while, the group managed to arrive at their destination.
Once they got off, Tingyun began to mess with the Diting. "Okay, a little bit more, and... done."
Diting then began to go off in a direction.
"Looks like Diting already has a trail." March commented.
The four of them follow after it, despite the fact that the Diting was fast, it never went too far away from the group.
Oz activated his Spirit Eyes and began to look around as they moved.
He suddenly stopped Tingyun from walking, by placing a hand in front of her.
"Something wrong, Benefactor?" Tingyun asks.
"Stay back. Enemies ahead."
Oz then summoned his lance and threw it forward.
In the path of the lance, a Mara-Struck suddenly appeared, only to be hit by the lance and set aflame.
The Mara-Struck dropped dead, its soul burnt to nothing.
Oz the summoned his lance back to his hand.
A few more Mara-Struck appeared.
Tingyun immediately got behind the three Nameless.
Oz swung his weapon in precise arcs, sending out waves of fire that burned the Mara-Struck at their souls, leaving behind lifeless bodies.
March concentrated her Six-Phase Ice and proceeded to freeze several of the Mara-Struck.
Welt simply increased the gravity of the Mara-Struck, crushing their bodies under their own increased weight.
Oz looked around again. "No more enemies in the area, we are free to continue our search."
Oz deactivated his Spirit Eyes, and continued to follow the Diting.
After some time, the see a group of knights, which Oz remembered are known as Cloud Knights.
The Cloud Knights were silent, and immediately brandished their weapons when they saw the group.
"Why are they pointing their weapons at us?" March asks.
"That would be because of me." A mature voice stated.
From behind the Cloud Knights, Kafka emerged.
"Kafka!" March shouts.
"You've done well to find me. Although you're not the first. These Cloud Knights here found me a while ago, I just had to simply use some 'Persuasive Techniques' to 'convince' them to follow my command."
"So you brainwashed them?" Oz summed up.
"Pretty much." Kafka said, shrugging her shoulders.
"Well, I guess it's good I have a counter to that. Catalog."
The holographic screen of the Catalog appeared.
Kafka, and Tingyun looked at the Catalog in surprise.
"Search: Release Brainwashing."
A single card was the one result.
Oz then grabbed the card and pointed it towards the Cloud Knights.
The card glowed and the Knights immediately held their heads.
"...What?" Kafka said confused.
The knights look at Kafka.
"Wait a sec..." One of the knights said. "That's the fugitive! Get her!"
The knights then aim their weapons at Kafka.
Thinking quickly, she threw some marble-like objects on the ground, which caused an explosion shortly after. Then she ran.
'That was not according to the script. He really is unpredictable... I have to know why.' Kafka thought to herself as she ran.
Once the smoke settled, the Nameless and Tingyun continue their pursuit.
"We've almost got her cornered." Oz stated as they ran.
As they ran, they could see Kafka just up ahead.
Oz noticed that she was about to turn a corner.
Thinking quickly, Oz made sure that she would be cornered.
Oz shot lightning from his hand and had it hit the ground in front of Kafka.
She saw it and ran the opposite direction.
Oz then noticed her running for a bunch of containers and proceeded to activate two copies of FireWall, effectively keeping Kafka from moving three directions.
Kafka looked at the two walls of fire and the wall of containers.
She then turned towards the Nameless and Tingyun.
She then pulled out a sword.
Oz readied his lance, March got out her bow, and Welt tightened the grip on his cane.
Oz charged forward, swinging his lance as he got close.
Kafka, noticing the lack of flames on the lance, jumped and landed on the lance, trying to throw Oz' balance off.
It did not go as Kafka planned as Oz did not lose his balance but instead lifted the lance higher to fling Kafka into the air.
March then fired her arrows at Kafka, only for the Stellaron Hunter to cut each arrow in half.
Once Kafka landed on the ground, she blocked a swing from Welt.
She noticed Oz running in, and pushed Welt away. She then leapt backwards to dodge another attack from Oz.
Oz then dismissed his lance and held out both hands, palms facing Kafka.
In one hand, he channeled Uria's divine fire. In the other, Hamon's divine lightning.
"Fire and electricity, are two forms of plasma. When combined, they cause a deviating reaction. You probably know exactly what I mean, don't you?" Oz asked.
Oz then shot the fire and electricity. Kafka dove out of the way, just in time as the two attacks collide and cause a small explosion.
Oz then summoned his lance again and pointed it straight at Kafka. "Surrender."
Kafka glanced upwards a bit, and then smirked.
She pulls out a pair of guns and proceeded to fire dozens of bullets into the air.
Oz was confused about why she did that, he looked up and saw a short, pink-haired girl in the air right above the bullets.
The girl started to push the bullets away so that they'd either hit one another or miss outright.
The girl then landed on the ground in front of Kafka.
In an instant, Oz was in front of Kafka, lance almost against her neck. "I said surrender."
Kafka simply dropped her guns and held up her hands.
The pink haired girl grabbed Kafka's sword from its sheath and dropped it onto the ground.
A bunch of Cloud Knights came in and surrounded Kafka.
Oz then deactivated his Duel Disk and the two Firewalls dissipated.
The pink haired girl turns to the Nameless.
"Fu Xuan. Master Diviner of the Divination Commission. This is our second official meeting seeing as I have met you in a divination before."
"We will be taking things from here. Kafka will be taken to the Division Commission for questioning. You have fulfilled your promise, and are under no obligations to continue getting involved with Loufu affairs."
"With all due respect." Welt began. "We have the right to question Kafka as much as you. It was due to her that we have ended up on the Loufu in the first place."
Fu Xuan seemed to not like what Welt had stated. She gave a small glare for a second before closing her eyes and sighing. "Very well."
The Nameless along with Tingyun began to follow Fu Xuan along with the Cloud Knights escorting the captured Kafka.
While waking, Fu Xuan falls in line with the Nameless.
"Despite having used a divination to predict this outcome, the details were off. Kafka wasn't supposed to be cornered until she was further in Stargazer Navalia. I was almost unable to find her until I noticed two large walls of flame."
Fu Xuan narrowed her eyes. "Something about one of you has made it so my divination, which is never wrong, became inaccurate."
"That would be because of me." Oz admitted.
Kafka, who was near them, began to listen in.
"I am known as Destiny's Guide. In the past, I have changed the destiny of an entire planet, to have a much brighter ending than what it was supposed to have. As a passive ability, I am unable to be truly predicted by seeing into the future. After all, Destiny is mine to guide."
"How... Intriguing." Fu Xuan said.
'Destiny's Guide... Then he's a polar opposite to Elio: Destiny's Slave.' Kafka thought to herself.
When the group got to a StarSkiff, Tingyun took the wheel, Piloting them to their destination.
Eventually the StarSkiff parked at a port and the occupants got off.
Fu Xuan looked around. "This is not the Divination Commission, Amicassador. Don't think that I wouldn't recognize what is and isn't my territory."
"We had to stop at Exalting Sanctum, Master Diviner. With everything going on, there was no direct route from Stargazer Navalia to the Divination Commission." Tingyun explained.
Fu Xuan rolled her eyes but accepted the answer.
She then turned to the Nameless. "You three will have to wait at Exalting Sanctum while we get everything prepared for transferring the Stellaron Hunter over to the Divination Commission. Please lend me your contact information so that I may send someone to escort you to the Divination Commission. In the meantime, go ahead and relax."
With that Fu Xuan walked off with the Cloud Knights in tow, bringing Kafka with them.
March began to check out some food stalls, and Welt followed her to keep her out of trouble. Leaving Oz, as Tingyun had walked further in to do her own thing.
Once March was done, the Nameless went further in to the Sanctum.
When they got to a central plaza, they noticed a small girl tending to a bunch of wounded Cloud Knights.
The knights then began to writhe back and forth.
Oz saw the knights slowly gain wood-like features. The wood slowly covered their bodies.
'And now I'm disturbed.' Was all that Oz thought.
The girl then turned to the Nameless. "Hey! Help me by holding them down!"
Oz nodded and pulled out a card.
"Gravity Bind!"
The resulting trap card immediately forced all the Mara-Struck onto their backs and the couldn't get up.
The girl quickly used some sort of medicine to render the Mara-Struck unconscious. Seeing then go unconscious, Oz deactivated the trap.
Once the girl was done, she turned to the Nameless.
"Whew. Thanks for the help. Your method of pinning them down was very effective. These Soldiers are already very sick, so being able to restrain them without hurting them is really appreciated."
"So why are you here little one?" March asks. "Where's your dad?"
"I don't have a dad." The girl responds.
"What about your mom?" March asks again.
"I don't have a mom either." The girl said with a deadpan expression.
March gained an awkward expression.
"Oh, I get it. You think that just because I'm small that I'm just some lost kid. They say don't judge a book by its cover, and besides us Vidyadhara are born through reincarnation, no parents required."
Oz then realized the dragon like features on the girl. 'Ah, right. The dragon-like species aboard the Loufu.'
"Anyway, my name is Bailu, since you helped me out, if you ever find yourself unlucky enough to get hurt, you can go to me for immediate treatment, I'll even give you a twenty percent discount."
Oz gave her a skeptical look.
"What? I'll have you know that a lot of people line up for a chance to be treated by me. You should consider yourselves lucky I'm willing to treat you right away."
"Right..." Oz said.
"Anyway, I need to help these poor sick soldiers. If you need to find me, you'll probably find me at the Alchemy Commission."
Bailu then walked away.
The three Nameless shared looks with each other, finding the situation to be strange.
After some more waiting, they got a notification from an unknown number.
The number said to meet at a location and gave an image.
After deciding to check it out, thinking it might be the person that Fu Xuan sent, they looked around.
As they did, Oz noticed a set of tables that looked like the ones in the image.
"I think that's where we're supposed to go."
They walk over and noticed a group of people playing at one of the tables.
When they got there, the girl who's back was turned to them turned around and waved.
Tingyun also joined up with them a moment after they got to the tables.
"Hey, you four. Glad to find you." The girl said. "I'm Qingque of the Divination Commission."
"Are you... playing a game?" Oz asked.
"It's called Celestial Jade. Wanna play next round?"
"I'll pass."
Welt then began to ask Qingque some questions, which she answered to the best of her ability, and by that, it means that some of the answers were not helpful. At the same time, she kept playing her game, calling out the names of specific tile match combinations.
Eventually Qingque began to lead them to a StarSkiff port and Tingyun flew them to the Divination Commission. Not before mentioning a historic landmark of the Loufu: the remains of the Ambrosial Arbor, a giant tree.
When the group of five got to the Commission, they were greeted by an empty port.
"Guess everyone is either busy or have evacuated by now." Oz commented.
Qingque led them to the entrance, only to realize that it was locked, and she didn't have a key.
Oz watched the situation with a confused expression. He began to question if the girl was really a member of the Divination Commission or if she was some sort of freeloader. She seems to barely know what's going on, and is more focused on goofing off than working.
Qingque then began to lead them through an area infested with Mara-Struck and out-of-control machines called Arumatons.
In order to save time, Oz sent out a destructive wave of force using Raviel's power combined with Stellaron energy.
The destructive wave tore through many enemies, even putting down Mara-Struck for good due to the attack hitting their souls.
Eventually they made their way inside, but not without almost getting in trouble, as a few guards found them.
They quickly explained that not only were they guests of the Divination Commission, but Qingque was escorting them in.
When they were let in, the quickly found Fu Xuan.
"Ah, you're finally here. I was beginning to think that you'd not show up." Fu Xuan said, mostly directing it at Qingque.
"We are almost ready for the interrogation, however due to a few unfortunate events, the Matrix has to be recalibrated. I am assigning that task to you five."
Fu Xuan then walked off.
Qingque sighed. "I just got done with the important task, now I have to do more work."
Qingque began to walk away. "Come on everyone. I'll show you how to fix the Matrix."
The group began to go around the area, aligning parts of the Matrix to recalibrate the device.
They also had to clear out malfunctioning arumatons along the way.
Eventually they fixed the Matrix and Kafka was set into the center, so Fu Xuan can read her mind.
Kafka seemed to be smug while all this was happening, despite the fact she was captured, she was surprisingly cooperative.
When Fu Xuan used the Matrix to read Kafka's mind, she was shocked.
Fu Xuan turned to Oz. "She's her for you."
"What?" Oz asks, confused.
"She's here so the Nameless would end up here. The Stellaron Hunters want cooperation between the Astral Express and the Loufu."
"Why?" Oz asks.
"She doesn't know, she just knows that there has to be cooperation." Fu Xuan explained.
Welt then turned to Oz. "I'd like for you to go question Kafka. I know you have some questions of your own for her."
Oz nodded and walked over to Kafka.
He then stopped right in front of her.
"The Stellaron. Why choose me?"
"We had no other option. Especially after you suddenly replaced our original choice." Kafka answered.
"... Why get us here? For what purpose does the Nameless and the Loufu need to cooperate?"
"Other than this current crisis? Simple: the Loufu needs to owe the Nameless a favor."
"A favor for what?"
"For help in the future."
"... What is the end goal of the Stellaron Hunters?"
Kafka gave a smirk. "The death of Nanook."
Oz' eyes widened. "The death of the Destruction?!"
"Surprising, I know. And to make things even more interesting, you are the key to defeating THEM."
Oz took a step back, processing the information he learned.
"One last thing..." Kafka began, getting Oz' attention. "Watch the tree."
"What do you mean-" Oz began as he was cut off by the ground shaking.
Oz turned and saw the Ambrosial Arbor grow. It grew at an impressive rate, reaching the artificial sky.
"What!? How!?" Oz exclaimed.
Oz then turned to see Kafka, no longer handcuffed, running.
"Hey, get back here!" Oz shouts as he gave chase.
Kafka ran to a ledge, and just as Oz was about to reach her, Blade appeared and got in between them.
"Out of the way!" Oz shouts as he used Raviel's power and punched.
Blade was sent flying over the ledge, and Kafka immediately jumped after him.
Oz watched as they fell. He could chase them, but the rise of the Arbor was more important.
Oz grit his teeth as he turned around.