"cAlL fOR SUbaRu!!!"

Ricardo, sensing the danger, grabbed Anastasia and jumped back immediately. Julius followed his movements.

It turned out to be the right decision, as the place where Cylob stood exploded with shadows.

Felix, who was too close to the shadow, lost his arm up to his elbow before he could properly get back.

Felix: "Ngh!"

What surprised Felix wasn't his now missing arm, it was how fast it went missing. The moment the shadow touched his arm, it got destroyed. He immediately started healing it, but this would take a long time to heal.

Ricardo: "What the hell is that?!" He widened his eyes.

Ricardo could see that whatever touched the shadow disappeared immediately.

The walls that surrounded them were gone in a instant, and the building started to collapse.

Ricardo looked at Julius and got a nod in return.

Ricardo ran out of the building with Anastasia in tow, while Julius grabbed Felix and ran through a different exit.

The whole building collapsed as soon as they got out.

Thekicked up dust was blocking everyone's vision, but they were still able to clearly see the shadow through it. It stood out too much.

Ricardo immediately sent a message to the Iron Fang through the conversation mirror.

He put Anastasia in a safe space and then started gathering mana in his mouth.

Ricardo: "ANYONE WHO CAN HEAR THIS, RUN AWAY FROM HERE! IT'S DANGEROUS!" He shouted at the very top of his lungs, with magic even further boosting his voice.

He massaged his neck to get rid of the pain that that caused him and ran to Julius.

Ricardo: "Julius, ya got any ideas?"

Julius frowned upon this question.

Truthfully, he didn't have any ideas.

The threat in front of them was something he had never seen before, and he didn't have any information on it.

Julius: "...No. It can't be that."

He cleared his head of the negative thought that appeared in his mind.

Julius: "We should first see what it is capable of. If we attack without a plan, we will probably lose our weapons for no result."

The destructive nature of the shadow was something extremely dangerous.

Not only did it manage to destroy the entire house in a couple of seconds, it also got rid of Felix's arm in a blink.

Julius: "Speaking of Ferris..."

Julius: "You should run and find help, Ferris. I doubt we'll be enough to hold it off."

Upon hearing that, Felix bit his lip in frustration.

He wanted to help right here right now, but he knew that he would just be a liability.

But there was another reason for his frustration.

Felix: "I can't help him."

Felix knew that Cylob was somewhere in that shadow, and he wanted to help him.

Felix: "Just as I got friendly with him..."

He didn't want to run away, he wanted to help, to stay, but he knew better than to let his emotions control him.

The most logical thing for him to do was to follow Julius's words.

Felix: "Alright." He nodded and started running away, his lip bleeding.

Julius and Ricardo immediately faced the shadow.

They were extremely on guard. Any attack it would do, they would react to it.

The tension filled the air, with them being on full alert in preparation.

...But nothing happened.

Contrary to their expectations, the shadow didn't attack them.

Even as the dust settled and they saw the shadow in its full glory, all it was doing was writhing in place.

Ricardo: "It's not attacking... but I have a bad feeling about this." He frowned.

Something about this shadow felt wrong.

It didn't feel like magic, nor even something like the Unseen Hands of Petelguese that Julius saw, it felt completely foreign, almost like an invasive species.

It was then that they noticed something.

Julius: "It's... growing." He said in disbelief.

It was happening slowly, very slowly, but the shadowwas growing.

But they couldn't do anything about it. Approaching it was dangerous, and they weren't sure whether attacks worked on it.

Ricardo: "Screw this, I'm attacking it!" He shouted in impatience.

Ricardo didn't like standing and doing nothing while the shadow was growing.

All his instincts were screaming at him to destroy it before it destroyed him, and his instincts never betrayed him.

Julius: "Be careful."

Julius didn't want for Ricardo to attack, as their information was lacking, but he knew that doing nothing wouldn't make a difference.

If taking a small risk by attacking was all it took to get the necessary information, he would take that route.

Ricardo readied his hatchet and with great speed leapt at the shadow.

He boosted his body with magic and swung his heavy hatchet with his full power for an attack that would destroy even the strongest of fighters.

But it fell flat.

As soon as his hatchet made contact, it couldn't be seen anymore. All that remained, was the handle.

Ricardo: "Tch."

Losing his hatchet was annoying, but what was more annoying was the fact that no damage had been done to the shadow.

Even with his full power swing, it didn't make a dent in the mass of shadows.

Ricardo: "It doesn't fight back even when attacked."

Even when Ricardo attacked it with full intent to kill, it didn't retaliate, nor did it counter attack.

It just kept growing.

Ricardo: "I don't like usin' this, but you're annoyin' me."

He gathered mana in his mouth.

Ricardo: "RAAAH!"

A powerful and destructive wave escaped his mouth, and as soon as it touched the shadow, it disappeared, but that's not all that happened-

Julius: "It got... damaged?"

Just as the wave of destruction disappeared upon contact, the shadow did too.

The circular missing hole was quickly filled up by more shadows, but the overall mass dropped.

Julius: "It seems like magic is the only way to damage it."

Ricardo: "Seems like it." He said as he massaged his neck.

But as soon as both of them found the shadow's 'weakness' an extremely loud screeching sound could be heard.

*KIIIIIIIIIN*

It wasn't a scream, nor a roar, but just a screech that greatly irritated whoever heard it.

Even Julius and Ricardo had no choice but to cover their ears in pain.

When the screech stopped, Julius and Ricardo fully focused once again, with Ricardo's hair standing on end.

And then the shadow started to move.

It was moving very slowly, but it was destroying everything in its path. The growth speed of it also seemed to increase.

Still, they didn't panic. They ran to the direction the shadow was heading, and started gathering mana for more spells.

Julius: "Please lend me your power, Buds." He called upon all six of his spirits. "Al Clauzeria!"

All six colours of the spirits blended into a perfect rainbow, the said rainbow shot out in the direction of the shadow, the attack powerful and mezmerizing.

Yet, the colourful rainbow got completely eaten by the darkness. The rainbow struggled, moved around, exploded, but the shadow still managed to completely consume it. Still, the shadow didn't come out unscathed, a massive chunk has been taken out of it.

Ricardo: "RAAAAH!"

Another wave of destruction landed on the mass of shadows, even further weakening it, and halting its movement.

Ricardo: "I doubt I'll be of much help from now on." He said, annoyed and out of breath.

Using this move put a great strain on him, and he didn't have any other spells he could use. If he used it again, he would start bleeding.

Both of them knew this wasn't a good thing.

Julius could tell Kua to heal Ricardo, but it wouldn't be worth the mana, using mana directly on attack spells would lead to greater results.

Julius: "You already contacted the Iron Fang, right?"

Ricardo: "Ye, as soon as we escaped the buildin'."

Julius: "That's good."

Not only was help coming from Felix, but also from Iron Fang's side.

All they had to do was make sure that the shadow moved as little as possible.

But as they were discussing reinforcement, the painful screech resounded again.

*KIIIIIIIIIN*

The mass of the shadow tripled, now completely towering over them.

Ricardo: "This is the start of the struggle, huh." He said as he looked up at the massive shadow with eyes spread wide in shock.

Julius: "Seems so." He narrowed his eyes and frowned a bit.

.▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓.

She was looking over the Capital once again.

Once again, her mood was a little bit worse than normal. Still, the smile on her face was unchanging.

"It's not strong enough."

The 'shadow' that appeared in the capital should've been enough to wipe it out in minutes, yet the city was still standing.

"Is it incomplete?"

She didn't expect this to happen.

For some part(s) to be missing was entirely out of her calculations.

"Oh well. This doesn't concern me too much."

The shadow wasn't instumental in her plans.

It's existence was mostly just a small plus for her. Not the basis on what she built everything else.

"If it's incomplete, they might stand a chance. Maybe his love will bloom."

The mere thought that love might bloom made blood rush to her cheeks.

Love is such a beautiful thing after could you not appreciate it?

"Why don't I see what happens?"Her smile grew ever so slightly as she decided to watch for just a bit more.

.▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓.

The knight clad in invisible protections with speckless red hair could be seen running to the capital with all his might.

Well, 'could be seen' is a weird term to use, since all you would see is a blur. That was just how fast he was for good reason.

After all, an emergency has happened in the capital. He hasn't been given many details, but he knows its something really bad.

I'm a failure once again. While the capital was getting attacked, I was leisurely spending time with Felt-sama in the main Astrea estate. If I just stayed in the capital, I wouldn't be this late.

He was blaming himself for his incompitence once again.

His power, which dwarfed everyone else's, was once again being wasted on someone like him.

So to make up for his existence, he was running as fast as he could atop the clouds. That way, he wouldn't disturb anyone, as no one lives on the clouds to his knowledge.

Wait. What is that?

He could sense it.

From far away, something extremely powerful was heading towards the capital through the clouds as well.

This level of power wasn't something he was used to feeling.

The entity felt so powerful, that all his previous adversaries felt like nothing.

If it's planning to attack the capital, I won't be able to help.

Keeping the entity back would require a lot of his power, so he would again be too late.

And all of this is because I wasn't in the capital in the first place.

If he was where the problem happened in the first place, he would dispatch the 'shadow' that he was told about, and then deal with this entity, but this wouldn't be possible now.

He was in wrong place again and at the wrong time again.

He was a true monster. He was supposed to protect Lugunica, and he was doing the exact opposite.

Still, he decided that intercepting the entity was the best decision.

He wouldn't be able to deal with two powerful entities at the same time.

But as he got closer and closer, he started feeling... familiar.

Almost like this entity was something he had known for a long time, almost like it was by his side all the time.

Why do I feel like this?

Once he got close enough, his question was answered.

What he saw, was a dragon.

A majestic and powerful creature, using its massive wings to fly above the clouds at speeds one would only be able to dream of.

Then, he looked at his side.

There, right at his waist, was The Dragon Sword Reid.

The feeling of draconic power was always with him, which is why this dragon felt familiar.

Still, the biggest problem remained.

Is it friend or foe?

The dragon's intentions were not clear.

Maybe it was just flying by on its way to a different location, maybe it was trying to further the destruction of the capital, maybe it was heading there to stop it.

Multiple possibilities, multiple questions, multiple unknown factors, and no answers.

The best chance I have is touching it and using my Divine Protection Of Empathy, but will it even let me get close enough?

He had doubts, but he had to act. He was already inactive enough.

He ran to the dragon. As he got closer, he started hearing the whispers that it was saying.

dragon: "Follow... covenant... Must... protect..."

A dragon husk? Was the first thought in his head.

But once he properly digested the words, he realized something.

Volcanica?!

The protector of Lugunica that was last seen in the demi-human war, was heading out to help again it seemed.

He could barely believe his eyes and ears, but his protections made sure that they couldn't be fooled, so he had no choice but to accept reality.

But how dangerous is the threat if Volcanica is coming?

He was getting uneasy now.

If the threat was bad enough for Volcanica to appear, who hadn't appeared even upon the death of the entire royal family, just how bad were the damages? Just how many people had died? Just how much... did he fail to save?

...I have to get there as soon as possible.

His speed increased even more.

Surpassing his limits, his protections, everything.

He ran faster than he could.

.▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓▒▓.

"That should be all, right?"

She looked at her bags to make sure that she got everything she needed.

"Appas. Otatoes..." She recounted everything in her bag.

"Yep. All done." She smiled at her success and started her walk home.

But as soon as she took a step, her clothes moved.

Huh?

At first she thought it was just her imagination, but then the movement happened again.

Something was moving inside of her pocket.

"Eek!"

She started panicking, what could she have in her pocket that could move?!

The thing kept moving and moving, until it finally showed itself.

"...Eh?"

What she saw, was a semi-transparent blue liquid.

No, it wasn't a liquid. It wouldn't have a form in that case, but it still felt like liquid.

She poked it and it felt as weird as she expected it to.

"What are you? And how did you get in my pocket?"

She kept pocking the UFO(unidentified foreign object), but it didn't react much.

She carefully took it into her hands and brought it up to her face to examine it.

Upon moving, the object jiggled, almost like liquid in a cup. Yet, it had a structure and wasn't spilling everywhere.

"Why aren't you moving anymore?"

She felt like this object was alive. It wouldn't be able to move in her pocket if that wasn't the case. And it felt weird that it stopped moving.

But just as soon as she said it, the object pointed(?) to a ceirtain direction.

"My home?"

She wasn't sure what it wanted, or even what it was, so she decided to find out back in her home. It wasn't far away anyway.

She put the little creature back in her pocket and started heading home.

...but the more time passed, the more restless the little creature got.

It was moving in the direction of the house, almost as if saying "hurry up!"

She decided to speed up her pace.

...

As soon as she got home, the little creature stopped moving.

Since she didn't hear the loud voice of her father, she deduced that he wasn't home.

"He's finally spending some time outside." She felt happy that her dad was coming out of the house more often.

Usually, he would just spend his entire day by mom's side, and she knew it wasn't a good way to spend his time.

She put the bag of groceries in the kitchen, upon which, the little creature got restless again, this time moving towards her room.

"Alright, alright. I'll go there."

She wanted to properly distribute the groceries first, but she knew the little creature just wouldn't leave her alone.

When she entered her room, which consisted of only a chair a table and a bed, the little creature jumped from her pocker to her table.

Then, a paper and a pen suddenly appeared.

"Huh?!" She widened her eyes in shock.

She hadn't seen anything similar before... or did she? For some reason, this action felt familiar.

This isn't the time to be lost in thought. She lightly reprimanded herself.

She looked at the little creature in confusion.

"Why did you do that. No, first of all, what are you? How did you get in my pocket? What's your goal?"

The myriad of question that she had, could finally be asked and she took her chance.

She deduced that the little creature summoned these papers to be able to communicate with her. It didn't seem to be able to speak after all, but maybe it could write?

Yet, the only thing it wrote on the paper, was two words in the top left corner.

"...'To Cylob'?"

What did it want from her? How did it know Cylob? How did it summon these papers?

Questions kept coming, and she kept asking them, but all the little creature was doing, was tapping the paper with the pen. Almost as if saying to write.

"No. I am not doing anything until you explain to me what is happening."

She was already bold enough and took too many risks.

A UFO(unidentified foreign object) somehow got into her pocket, and instead of throwing it away, she decided to bring it home to find more answers.

She was already risking here, so she wouldn't do anything more without answers.

Yet, all the little creature kept doing, was impatiently tapping the pen on the paper.

"Stop doing tha!-

"EMERGENCY. EMERGENCY. A POWERFUL ENTITY IS COMING FROM THE WEST SIDE OF THE CAPITAL TO THE EAST SIDE OF THE CAPITAL. GET AWAY FROM THE PATH IF POSSIBLE."

A loud announcement shook the air.

As soon as she heard it, she started moving.

That's where I am!

But she wasn't moving towards the exit, no, she was moving towards-

Mom!

She ran to her mom's room and saw her sleeping figure.

She immediately put her mom on her back.

She headed towards the exit, but a sound stopped her.

tap* *tap* *tap*

The little blue creature was still tapping the paper with the pen. Almost as if the announcement wasn't as important as writing this.

"I don't have time for that! Get in my pocket!"

She ran up to it, at which point the little creature jumped into her pocket, leaving the papers and the pen on the table.

It was once again being restless, constantly shifting inside it, almost like it was angry.

"Calm down, will you?!" She was getting a bit angry at the little creature.

She ran out of her house and started running.

The streets were being filled up with people. Luckily, she reacted super quickly, so not many have made it out yet, which meant she could run without bumping into anyone.

As she was running, a multitude of thoughts assailed her mind.

What is attacking the capital? How powerful is it if they can't stop it? Just how far away is it?

But most importantly-

Is dad okay?!

She wasn't sure where her dad was. Maybe he was safe and far away, but he also might be right where the unknown entity was attacking. The mere thought of that was making her despair.

Please be safe, dad! I don't want to-

She remembers all the blood from that day.

She immediately wants to puke, but she was carrying her mother to safety, she couldn't allow herself to slow down.

Still, the agonizing thoughts ke-

plap*

"Eh?"

Something had touched her cheek. When she looked, she saw the little creature.

The little creature had gotten out of her pocket and onto her shoulder. It was using a tendril to pet her cheek.

"Are you trying to... soothe me?"

What she didn't expect was this.

It was the last thing she expected it to do.

"Thank-

"THE ENTITY IS NOW MOVING TOWARDS THE SOUTH-EAST. I REPEAT: TOWARDS THE SOUTH-EAST."

The announcement shook the ground once again.

Just like last time, she quickly processed the information and turned around.

What kind of luck is this?! It changed course right to where I was going!

She started running once again, but the increase in the number of people outside made it much harder to run fast.

KIIIIIIIIIN*

"Huh?"

The people all around her covered their ears, some even fell to their knees at that horrible screech.

But she didn't really recieve much pain from it, nor was it especially loud, which was why she was so confused.

Then she noticed that something was covering her ears. A soft and somewhat cold sensation was all around her ears.

"Little creature?"

She couldn't see it, but she could guess that the little creature had covered her ears.

"Thank you so much." She said with a hint of fear in her voice.

If I directly recieved that sound, I would probably cover my ears, but that would mean letting go of mother. She's already in a weak state, dropping her so suddenly would result in pretty bad injuries.

She felt genuinely thankful for the little creature's help. She didn't want for her mother's condition to become even worse.

She started running again, but this time a little bit slower.

She had been running for quite a lot, and carrying her mother to boot, so she was getting somewhat exhausted.

Still, I wouldn't be able to run for even one minute if it weren't for mother's traits.

Her mother had been strong since birth, and she guessed that she was the same, as she was always stronger than kids her age. She could easily pick up heavy rocks, when others couldn't do it even with two children.

This is not the time to be reminiscing!

She put all her power and thoughts into running as fast as possible.

But just as she picked up her pace, all she saw was blue.

She immediately stopped, careful not to lose balance.

"What the?" She said between pants.

Her vision was completely blinded, all she could see was the colour blue.

"Little creature!"

She had seen this blue multiple times today, which is why she was so confused and angry.

"Why are you doing this?! I have to ru-

"THE ENTITY HAS CHANGED ITS DESTINATION TO THE EAST ONCE AGAIN. I REPEAT: TO EAST."

"Again?! Is it tracking me or something?!"

She was angry, but she couldn't see, so she couldn't move. Lest she bumps into someone and drops her mother.

Instead, she decided to listen around her.

Only then did she finally notice the sheer panic around her.

Footsteps could be heard in such great amounts, that it was pressuring.

The cries of little kids or babbies could also be soundly heard.

Knights were trying to defuse the situation, but the people didn't seem to listen to them.

And this panic made her realize something.

I have to get out of here!

If all the people around her were panicking so much, then something definitely bad was happening.

Yet this little creature won't stop blocking my vision!

She was getting mad at this point.

"Get off of my face!" She shook her head with all her strength, but the creature still stuck to her face.

"Why are you doing this?! I have to run!"

Then, the creature forced her to turn her head, after that, it once again settled on her shoulder.

"Fina!...lly."

All her enthusiasm and anger ceased to exist.

What she saw, was a shadow stretching all the way to the sky.

The mass of shadows kept writhing with power that felt... wrong.

It was far away, too far away for it to be a true threat. But the sheer scale of it made her sheer magnitude of this being was towering over her, like it had full control of her life.

"How... do you run from that?"

Fear clouded her very being.

The thought of running away from that thing seemed impossible.

Her earlier attempts just looked pathetic now.

"I was just pointlessly spending my time and energy, huh."

She now understood why the little creature made her stop, it would all be fruitless in the end.

This isn't something you can run from. She thought with surprising calmness.

plap* The little creature had touched her cheek again.

When she looked at it, it was pointing in a certain direction.

"My... home."

The little creature once again wanted her to go home.

"...No."

The situation was bad, but it wasn't bad enough to just accept her fate and go home to die in peace.

She would fight until her last breath.

"I'm not giving up." But just as she said that, her vision was covered in blue once again.

"YOU!"

She was getting pissed at the tenacity of this thing! It seemed to not allow anything but following its commands!

"If I weren't carrying my mother, I would've ripped you apart!" She hissed.

Yet, the intimidation didn't work. The annoying creature didn't even flinch.

She would've gladly put her mother on the ground to get her hands free, but-

Other people might just stomp all over her in their panic.

She was stuck in place, unable to move and unable to act.

She kept spewing insults and threats onto the little creature, she kept shaking her head as fast as she could, but it didn't budge.

"Rrgh! Fine! I'll go home!"

The world regained its previous colours. It felt almost blinding.

There's no use in trying to run away. It'll just block my vision again.

Begrudgingly, she started running to her house once again.

Once she entered, the little creature pointed to her room, so she went in.

"Don't tell me...!"

The papers and the pen were still there, waiting for her.

"You still want me to write something?! RIght now?!"

The anger in her was still boiling.

"I'll show you!"

She carefully put her mother down on her bed.

Then, she grabbed the little creature from her shoulder, or tried to at least.

"You sneaky little thing!"

The little creature kept running around her body, not letting her catch it.

She kept trying to grab it, but it was too elusive.

"Just. Let. Me. CATCH. YOU!" She was getting angrier with every passing second.

"S...top."

A weak voice that she hadn't heard in forever.

The sound of it made her freeze in place, but she quickly regained her cool.

"Mom! Don't talk!"

Don't make yourself even weaker, please! Those words went unsaid, but still understood.

Mom: "Do... as it says."

These words shocked her to her core.

This...thing...that kept annoying her, that kept them from running away, that kept them in a dangerous situation.

Mom wants me to... do as the creature says?

"But!-

"Please." Her mom smiled.

Her mom... smiled.

...How long has it been since I've seen that smile?

Tears started building up in her eyes.

"How can I say no... When you look at me like that?"

tap*tap*

The little creature was tapping the paper with the pen.

"I'm only doing this because my mother asked me to." She glared at the creature as she took the pen.

But as she got into the posture to write.

"Um... but what do I write?"

*KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN*

The sound was agonizing, painful, annoying, destructive.

She felt like her ears were about to burst.

Mom!

She looked towards her mom. The little creature was covering her ears.

...I can't believe I'm grateful towards it.

Does it actually do everything for my well-being?

The words of her mother and the repeated saving by the little creature were slowly changing her mind.

As soon as the screech stopped, she picked up the pen again.

"So what do I have to write?" She asked.

But she didn't require an answer from the little creature, as she saw that something was written on another piece of paper.

'Who is Cylob? What kind of person is he? How does he act?'

"So that's what I have to write."

She was confused.

Why did she have to be the one to write this? What would this even do? Why wasn't the creature allowing her to run away?

I'll just write this and think later. This isn't the time to be spent leisurely thinking.

She clicked the pen and started writing.

.▒░▒░▒░▒░▒░▒░▒░▒░▒░▒░▒.

She ran out of her house with her mother on her back once again.

"W-what the..." She couldn't finish her sentence due to the insane shock that permeated her entire being.

The shadow hadn't grown any further, it actually looked like it shrinked, but it was so much closer that its full scale could now be truly that wasn't the shocking part.

H-how is it stil standing?

The shadow was being attacked from all sides with great magic capable of felling armies.

White pillars of pure power that went all the way to the sky constantly attacked the shadow.

A majestic blue dragon was spewing flames that destroyed space.

And yet, it was still standing.

Taking all those attacks head on, and still steadily moving.

It truly felt like the darkness was unstopable.

plop*

She looked down and saw that the little creature jumped from her shoulder to the ground.

It waved(?) goodbye as it started advancing towards the shadow, the letter that she wrote could be seen inside the blue blob.

She started running away as fast as she could.

Fear had gained control of her body, and it was using all it could to run as fast as possible.

But even in such a mindless state, her love for her mother did not go away. She held her like her life depended on it.

In response to that, the little creatu-... Ashna moved in the opposite direction.

*KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!*