A blur of motion—and suddenly, Ignil stood face-to-face with Silver.
Around them, hiding in the tree, Jink, Caty, Hans, and Robert formed a loose circle at a cautious distance. Tension hung heavy in the air as they silently surrounded Silver and Emily.
Without warning, Emily burst forward like a tempest unleashed.
Her movements were swift and fluid, her figure slicing through the mist like wind through the trees.
She struck at Ignil with the grace of a dancer and the force of a hurricane.
Fighting in the middle of the trees.
Ignil staggered back, eyes wide. "The Way of the Wind... it's making you faster," he muttered, raising his blade.
Steel met steel in a whirlwind of slashes and parries. Sparks danced in the air. Each strike from Emily came with the whisper of wind, her blade a blur. Silver watched silently, the scene unfolding like a storm he had summoned.
Amid the clash, Ignil called out to Silver, his voice rough with anger, "Why did you bring Emily into this madness?"
Silver's voice was calm but distant, as if echoing from another world. "I spent a long time with Emily… seeing her memories, living through her experiences. I saw the truth. She needs to be free. She wants to be free.
"She was a good knight—strong, loyal—but bound by duty. Her duty caged her. She couldn't soar like I could. But during our time together, I helped her see the world as it truly is the only get one chance to follow her dream and she comes with me she to once dreamed of making this world better place."
"You helped her?" Ignil interrupted, his tone sharp. "You manipulated her!"
Suddenly, Emily stepped between them. Her arms rose to the sky, and her voice rang out like a prayer. "No, he didn't! I know what I'm doing! I see the world clearly now.
"I want to help this world—out of gratitude. When I needed food, the world gave me food. When I needed strength, the world gifted me with skill. I owe it everything."
Ignil stared at her, disbelief flashing in his eyes. "Those aren't the words of someone being controlled…"
He gritted his teeth and drew his sword. "Get ready, Emily." His stance shifted into that of a warrior ready to fight his own heart.
BOOM!
A sudden explosion shattered the silence. Flame and smoke burst outward in a dazzling chain, shaking the earth. The spells weren't lethal, but the shock was enough to scatter focus. A wave of smoke rolled like a living thing across the field, even reaching the edge of the bandits' camp in the distance.
"Emily," Silver said through the haze, "lure the knights toward me. I'll handle the bandits. Keep the rings—you'll always be able to find me."
Without waiting for a response, Silver darted into the smoke. Emily moved the other way, vanishing into the chaos.
"It's a smoke spell!" Ignil shouted. "Find the power source!"
But Hans called out, "Too late!" Just then, a dagger whizzed through the air, narrowly missing Robert.
"Let's move! All of us!" Ignil ordered.
They surged forward, but Emily, now a shadow in the fog, kept hurling daggers to delay them. Each one struck the earth with a hiss, meant more to distract than kill.
Hans, sprinting beside Ignil, muttered, "We need to deal with this quickly. Don't take to your heart that how Hans speak to ignil."
"Then come with me next time," Ignil snapped.
"Don't get it twisted," Hans said, smirking. "Don't take it to heart."
Somewhere deeper in the smoke, Emily whispered into the ring, "Done. They're following me."
Silver pulled a folded paper from his cloak. Symbols were already drawn upon it. He pressed it to his lips—and a foreign voice erupted from the spell:
"Help me, brothers! The knights are trying to take our gold! We've already taken down two of them!"
The message echoed into the bandit camp.
In the haze, one bandit growled, "Are we getting involved?"
Another raised his axe with a wild grin. "They've already deal with two of them! Weak second-class thieves? They no match for us,Hell no! We take them all and get the gold!"
"That's our boss!" another yelled. "All with me!"
The bandits grabbed weapons and rushed forward like a mob possessed, their war cries slicing through the fog.
"This is bad," Caty said, eyes narrowing.
Suddenly, a bandit charged through the smoke, axe raised and face twisted in greed. His body was tense, his scream primal—but Hans intercepted him with terrifying ease, cutting him down in a single blow.
More emerged behind him—skilled, fast, deadly. The smoke became their cloak.
But the high knights weren't ordinary fighters.
Caty and Jink launched forward with precision. Caty's daggers danced like silver lightning. Jink's Axe spun with power, taking down enemy after enemy.
Caty's eyes shimmered with aura as she scanned the battlefield. "About twenty enemies. Fully armed. Archers in the distance."
"Caty—handle the archers!" Ignil commanded. "Jink, stop the arrows! Hans and I will take the attackers!"
Before they could move, a heavily armored bandit barreled toward them.
Hans stepped forward. "Ignil, deal with smoke before they Archer become ready. I'll handle them."
Hans became a whirlwind. Each swing of his sword tore through metal and bone. Bodies fell in pieces. "What's the point of armor," he muttered, "if I can cut straight through it?"
Ignil swung his sword in a wide arc. A gust of wind howled forth, sweeping away the smoke and clearing the battlefield.
Caty's dagger flew through the air—three archers fell before they even screamed.
Jink grinned. "Fast… but not that fast."
A final arrow flew—but it was already caught by an axe mid-flight.
Then, Ignil voice cut through the moment. "I see… we have company."
A tall, skinny man with his suit stepped into view. He wore a mask—white, emotionless, with a wide, unsettling smile.
"Pardon me, knights," he said cheerfully. "Let's get to the point."
His fingers morphed into snakes. They struck the nearest bandits, injecting venom. The bitten men convulsed—muscles bulging grotesquely, eyes turning blood-red. Their bodies expanded, fueled by raw bloodlust.
"You're mad!" Ignil hissed.
"Thanks!" the masked man giggled. "But this? This is nothing compared to what your friend can do. I've heard he can give people freedom—with their own will. Not like these poor souls. I forced Them to the freedom ."
Before he could say another word, Ignil vanished and reappeared in front of him—sword flashing—
SLASH.
The masked figure was sliced cleanly in two.
But the pieces didn't bleed.
"How rude," the man's head spoke from the ground. "But I'm not foolish enough to come here in person."
Hans crushed the severed head beneath his boot. "Domination spell."
Elsewhere...
The real masked man stood beside Silver, grinning. "Using the bandits… that was brilliant. I gave your idea a little magical boost."
He paused, glancing into the distance. "The spell ended. They'll dispose of the bodies soon."
Silver sighed. "Ignil is such a headache."
Beside them, a girl stepped forward—around Silver's age. Her hair was black and wild, her crimson eyes glowing like coals.
"Let's go to the temple," she said calmly.
With a flash of power, the scenery around them changed. The forest fell away. The land beneath their feet shifted into stone and shadow.
Silver looked around, impressed. "Impressive…"
They descended to the base of a towering cliff.
Then they stopped.
"Oh—" the girl said, remembering, "I forgot to tell you my name. You were too busy luring that monster into our house. I'm Lily."
The masked man chuckled. "And I'm Lolo."
Silver gave a slow nod. "Well, nice to meet you, Lily. Lolo."
Behind them, the mountains groaned and shifted. Stone cracked, reshaped—and from the peaks emerged the shape of a colossal statue of a woman. Her hands were closed in prayer. Her eyes were hidden by folds of stone.
Silver stood motionless before the statue.
To him, it felt like the world itself was praying—to be saved.
Then a soft voice, gentle and old, whispered from the shadows:
"Come inside…"