"You said that you and your comrades can stop us?" Sebastian stared at Argran.
Argran is tied to a tree with half of his body cut, and blood is oozing from his flesh. His eyebrows meet and his eyes close.
"If that is true, why are you here tied to that tree?" Sebastian said with seriousness in his tone.
The land separates Sebastian from the river where the tree is standing; Argran is tied around it.
"F-Fine!" Argran moved his head away from the crocodile that jumped toward him, "I-I will tell you the location of the girl! A-Also the information about my group!"
"First, tell me where Felicia is," Sebastian commanded Argran.
One of the crocodiles jumps and bites off its intestine, and Argran cries in pain as Sebastian continues to watch his suffering.
"Enough crying, you're being pathetic. Tell me the location already before I throw knives at those ropes," Sebastian threatened with his eyes narrowing.
Argran is panting from the pain. He clenches his teeth. "She's in our headquarters in Pampanga, deep in the forest!"
Sebastian asks, "How will we know that it's the forest where she is being held captive?"
Argran cries again as one of the crocodiles bites his flesh; tearing it away from his body.
"Y-You will know it once you see the invisible markings which you will not know!" Argran laughed while looking up.
Argran's eyes widen as a spear flies toward him, piercing his abdomen after it tears some of the ropes.
He screams in pain as he feels the edge of the blade pierce through his back. Sebastian lowers his hand after throwing the spear, and he narrows his eyes as he closes his eyes and begins speaking through a telepathic link.
"Thomas, Knight 4 Sebastian here," he spoke.
"Knight 6 Thomas here. What is your reason for calling Knight 4 Sebastian?" Thomas asked telepathically.
Sebastian replies telepathically. "The location of Felicia is in the province of Pampanga. They'll see the place she's being held after they see the invisible markings."
"Using 'they' you must be thinking of a group or something to rescue Felicia," Thomas said.
"Refer this mission to James ASAP. He needs to hurry and save Felicia, I don't feel good about her situation." Sebastian clenched his fists.
In the large room where Nicholas is currently standing, James puts his finger to his forehead as he closes his eyes.
James spoke in his mind. "I see. I'll take note of that! I accept the mission."
Ash shifts his attention to James, and he approaches Ash. "We need to save Knight 5 Felicia."
Nicholas looks at Ash. "Who's Felicia?"
"You'll know when we rescue her," Ash said before picking up his spear hanging on the wall.
"You'd better use that spear." Nicholas pointed his finger at the spear.
The three men come out of the headquarters, and Nicholas stops walking. Ash raises his eyebrow.
"Let's go to the car," Ash said.
"No. We'll ride something different," Nicholas said, glancing over his shoulder.
Seeing their confusion, Nicholas gathered his energy before raising his hand. "GALE! COME FORTH!"
From the breeze of air, a massive spiraling wind pressure manifests. James is holding onto a pole while screaming, and Ash is just standing with eyes flinching.
From the wind pressure, a gigantic light blue eagle appears. The eagle lands on the ground, releasing a breeze of dust.
"My companion, Gale," Nicholas pointed his hand at Gale as the creature bowed its head.
Ash's eyes widen a bit as he observes the beast. "That's the eagle that Elesia has spoken of."
"Do you have anything that belongs to Felicia?" Nicholas asked Ash.
Ash checks every pouch of his shirt and pants, and he brings out a towel. He gently lends the towel to Nicholas. "Here. It's a towel from Felicia. She left it at the headquarters, and we had no time washing it."
James chuckles as he stares at Ash. "Oh, you kept it for yourself, didn't you?"
Ash flashes James a glare. "No, I didn't, that's absurd. I was hoping to find her to return this towel but she was kidnapped."
Nicholas stares at the pink towel before grabbing it from Ash's grasp and bringing it closer to Gale's beak.
"Can you trail its smell?" Nicholas asked Gale.
Gale leans his nose gently to the fabric. He leans away and looks at Nicholas with respect in his gaze.
"My majesty, the smell leads us to the province of Pampanga, deep in its forest near Mt. Arayat."
Nicholas nods his head as he believes in the eagle's words. He turns his eyes to James shielding himself from Ash's swats using a newspaper.
"Where did he get that newspaper?" Nicholas hummed.
He clears his throat, catching the attention of both men; Ash stops swatting the newspaper while James turns his eyes slowly to Nicholas.
"We're heading to Mt. Arayat. So, both of you, ride Gale's back first." Nicholas pointed his thumb at Gale.
High in the sky, Gale is flapping his wings while James and Ash are sitting on his back.
"I-It's so high!" Ash coughed, and his body jerked as he covered his mouth with his hands.
James laughs at the sight of Ash while slapping his thighs. Besides Gale, Nicholas is flying with his feet releasing wind pressure.
Nicholas blinks his light blue eyes. "We're almost there."
He looks at Gale, and the giant eagle shifts its eyes at him. Nicholas flies toward James and Ash before he pulls their shirt upwards.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Ash and James shouted in sync at Nicholas.
"Sorry but Gale needs to be in his small form to track the smell," Nicholas glanced at both men with a wide smile on his face, "don't worry! I'll throw both of you down to the ground!"
Nicholes shifts his eyes at Gale with a proud smile. "Gale! I entrust the surveillance to you!"
Gale bows its head before its size decreases to the size of a small eagle. Nicholas braces himself before releasing a strong wind pressure, boosting his flight downwards from the sky.
Ash and James are screaming but Nicholas remains smiling while flying faster to the ground.
"That was my first reaction when I learned to fly!" Nicholas laughed like a jerk.
Meanwhile, a young man is standing in front of a glass window, his gaze lingering on the trees outside the building he's in.
"Xander?"
Hearing a woman's tender voice, Xander turns around. His red eyes land on her, and he speaks, "Mother? Can't you sleep? Is something bothering you?"
"I can feel it... He's coming to stop us from reigning the world with our king," Xander's mother smiled.
Xander becomes quiet but after a few minutes, he speaks, "Your smile radiates a wicked plan, mother. Even if I know what you are formulating in your mind, I trust that he will not join us."
"How are you so sure, my dearest? I am assured that he cares for us," Xander's mother stopped smiling.
"Let us not trust in some intuition because he has broken our trust," Xander turned his gaze upon his sword hanging on his belt, "and that serves the purpose of my sword."
Xander blinks, and he remains calm. Dark sharp fingernails are now pointing on his neck, pointed by his mother who's now standing beside him.
"You'll kill someone who weighs a humongous importance in our life?" she asked.
Xander's eyes widen a bit as a heavy feeling weighs on his shoulder. His mother continues her lecture.
"Calm your pride before I do... I didn't educate you to finish anyone so important to us, and to me." She lowered her nails.
Hence, in the forest, Nicholas lands on the ground with his hands raised. Ash and James have their mouth open while their eyes are wide.
Nicholas sighs at the faces of both men, and he releases their shirts. He brushes his palms against one another.
Ash stands up and glares at him. "You scared me to death!"
Nicholas takes a look at his head down to his shoes. "Then, why are you still standing? You're clearly alive."
Ash clenches his fists. "I'll blast you from this forest!"
Nicholas stops brushing the dust from his shoulders. "Eh? I thought guardians were fearless?"
He looks in the distance, and from his light blue eyes, he can see a wide terrain of trees before the view changes to a mountain.
Nicholas blinks and turns his eyes back to Ash. "Gale saw the mountain, and he even saw the trail of your ally leading down from the top of the mountain."
Ash calms down and he grabs his spear from his back. "Let's go, and rescue her! She has to treat me to a fine Filipino restaurant!"
Nicholas' eyes perk up, and he covers himself and his allies with a barrier of hardened air.
The branches of the trees nearby shake, and Nicholas watches them before a giant man with a half body of a horse comes out.
He releases a short but big exhalation through his nose. "They're not here. I guess, Argran's trap never worked. What a poor monkey!"
He laughs before walking away from them. Nicholas takes a deep breath, and he decreases the barrier after the giant disappears.
"How did he not see us?" James commented.
"Because I manipulate the air of the barrier to be unseen." Nicholas smiled.
Something shakes Nicholas' hair, and his eyes widen. He runs toward James and kicks his waist gently.
The kick releases a strong wind pressure that throws James away. Nicholas lands on the ground and thrusts his hand covered in flames which strikes against a large trident.
"His strength!" Ash's eyes widened at the scene.
The large trident flies away but only to be caught by the same giant man. A smile appears on his face, and he laughs like a horse.
"Interesting!" he said.
Nicholas glances at Ash and sees Ash staring at him. Without waiting for a moment, Nicholas nods at Ash.
Understanding the nod, Ash runs toward James who's standing beside Nicholas. The giant man slams his trident at Ash but Nicholas appears in front of it.
Nicholas holds the edge of the trident's blade while narrowing his eyes. "ASH! YOU BETTER SAVE YOUR COMRADE! OR ELSE YOU WILL DISAPPOINT ME!"
He speaks through his link with Gale. "Follow Ash and James. Guide them to their comrade!"
Gale releases a cry while flying, a cry of his unending loyalty to Nicholas. Hearing the cry from the sky, Nicholas smiles widely; his white teeth blend with his handsome features.
"You trust them so much." The giant is pushing his spear down at Nicholas.
"You haven't seen their teamwork, arrogant horse!" Nicholas clenched his other hand and punched the blade with his wind-covered fist.
James' eyes are filled with determination in every step his run takes. "I won't waste this chance."