Inside the Magistrate's grand palace, the group moved with quiet urgency, their footsteps muffled against the velvet carpets as they trailed behind Rika. Her familiarity with the palace's layout was their greatest asset she navigated the shadowy halls with confidence, signaling for silence at each turn.
In Rika's time as a thief she's done missions like this all the time. Luckily most empire palaces had roughly the same layout.
Thanks to her experience, they'd slipped past the outer guards and patrols with ease. But gaining entry was only the beginning. Now, the real challenge was finding the Magistrate himself in the sprawling maze of chambers.
They pressed forward, checking door after door. Some opened to storage rooms piled with scrolls and ceremonial relics, others revealed empty meeting halls echoing with the absence of power. Frustration built with each dead end.
"Nothing," Nanami muttered under her breath, casting a wary glance behind them.
"Keep moving," Dante whispered, hand never straying far from the hilt of his blade. "We're close. I can feel it."
Just as doubt began to creep in, they turned a corner and found a set of tall, ornate doors slightly ajar. A flickering light spilled out, dancing on the polished floors. Kaito pushed them open slowly, and the group slipped inside.
The room was vast, dominated by high columns and golden banners that shimmered in the lantern light. And there—at the far end—they saw him.
The Magistrate.
He stood at the head of a long table, flanked by the rowdy trio from the town. The same troublemakers they'd tangled with earlier. Laughter echoed through the chamber as the trio slammed mugs on the table, clearly at ease in the Magistrate's company.
They creep into the room and listen to the conversation.
What they hear shocking them.
"So... everything's proceeding as planned?" the magistrate chirps, his voice gratingly high-pitched, almost mocking in its cheer.
The hulking man across him smirks. "Snatched the bulb clean. Better yet, some other crew took down one of the great bridges. Chaos on both ends." He chuckles darkly, joined by the others—low, cruel laughter echoing off the cold stone walls.
"They must mean back at Veloria, they stole the bulb?" Dante questions.
The magistrate leans back, swirling his wine before gulping it down. Crimson dribbles from the side of his mouth, staining his silk shirt. "Perfect," he hisses, eyes gleaming. "The empire and the adventurers are already turning on each other. A little more pressure, and we'll have our war."
The word hangs in the air like smoke.
"War?" one of the group echoes, their voice tight. A shiver cuts through the room. Even the laughter dies.
Kaito doesn't feel the chill like the others. But his eyes narrow, sharp and searching. He leans in slightly, listening.
The magistrate throws his head back, cackling. "Yes! A war to burn them both down. When it's over, we rise from the ashes... and take everything they left behind." He kicks his legs in glee like a child—but his grin is all predator.
Dante wipes sweat from his brow, his voice low and strained. "We shouldn't be hearing this. We need to go. Now."
Rika nods, barely whispering. "Yeah. Let's move."
They start backing away, quiet, careful—
—but Kaito stops.
A whisper, almost missed, slithers through the laughter.
"Really stirred things up when we grabbed that noble... what was her name? Nyla," says the black-haired one, almost offhand.
Kaito freezes. His breath catches.
"Yeah," the red-haired one adds. "Her old man's been going berserk. Reports flooding in. Empire's tightening their ranks."
"I've been sowing the seeds too," the magistrate says, slapping the table. "Had some fun tormenting those Onslaught idiots."
Silence. A heartbeat.
Dante and Rika turn—Kaito hasn't moved.
But his hands are clenched, trembling.
And his eyes burn.
"They kidnapped Nyla?" His voice is low, deadly. The faint glow of Elara begins to swell within him, pulsing like a storm waiting to break.
Nanami looks at him. "Kaito don't be rash." She whispers, her begs fall onto death ears and Kaito explodes in front of them.
The magistrate stumbles back falling out his chair. Kaito grabbing him. "What did you do to Nyla!?" He snarled at him.
"Who the hell is this?" The hulking man questions. "Con handle him." He says.
The black haired boy, "Con" summons a sword and charges Kaito.
Kaito tosses the magistrate aside and unsheathes his dagger. Kaito clashes blades with the boy and then he uppercuts him.
Unshaking Kaito doesn't even break a sweat as he does it.
Con swings his blade, aiming for Kaito's head, Kaito ducks the attack and then hits him in the stomach. The hit shaking him.
Kaito then kicks him in his chest sending him to the ground.
The other two charge at Kaito.
"Welp guess we're doing this." Rika pulls a dagger of her own and jumps down. Dante sweats. "I'm gonna fight other people?" He questions.
Nanami watches closely studying Kaito's moves.
A punch comes at an insane speed ripping through the air, the power and speed behind it is monstrous, Kaito barely dodges it, before Kaito can catch his breath, another blow swings, cutting through the air.
Instinct takes over and he raises an arm, absorbing the weight of the blow. The impact sends him flying back.
Regaining balance Kaito, pivots into a high kick at the large mans temple. The large man goes to try and block, the kicks trajectory shifts midair, landing with explosive force under the mans head jolting his head upward.
The man retaliates quickly with a viscous hook that slices the air. Kaito, ever nimble, ducks the blow just in time, his body flowing like water, he counter with a quick jab to the mans ribs, as he winces, Kaito follows up with a powerful hook of his own.
Nanami's eyes glow as she takes in all the information in front of her. She watches Kaito duck quick powerful blows, quickly finding opening to strikes. All the while avoiding taking a hit himself. His fighting genuinely impresses her.
Dante on the other hand was engaged in a fight with the red haired boy, and he was losing!
The boy goes as far to fight with a hand in one pocket, swinging his sword with the other at Dante. "You're a lame excuse of a fighter!" He yells at Dante.
He slashes again and Dante blocks it. Dante goes for a swing of his own and the boy swats it away effortlessly. Dante does his best attempting to copy what Kaito does but he finds himself falling short.
The boy smiles seeing no reason to drag this on. He points his blade and then charges Dante in a stabbing motion. "I can't dodge it!" Dante realizes the grim reality washing over him. "Am I..... about to die?" He fears.
The boy is blasted away by wind magic. "Trickster to the rescue!" Rika shouts.
The boy bolts from back from the blast, sweeping his sword in side arc Rika ducks it. He rolls his wrists, bringing the sword back Rika blocks it with her dagger.
Rika pulls a pouch from her side and throws dirt into his eyes. The boy winces from the pain and then Rika, slams her elbow into his nose.
Rika goes to continue her attack but Con throws something at her distracting her. The boy grabs her arm and then punches her in the face. The force of the blow causing a nose bleed she is sent back.
Dante catches her.
Con gets back up and sees the two fighting his friend and he runs over. Nanami stands up stretching. "I've watches enough, i'll attempt hand to hand combat."
Nanami runs over and throws a punch at Con. The hit lands, Con shakes it off quickly and then takes a swing back at her.
She leaps back narrowly avoiding the attack. She goes for the high kick Kaito did, embarrassingly she falls on her back. "I see, watching Kaito do it and doing it myself are two wildly different experiences." She thinks.
Con grabs her and she attempts to break the hold but fails.
Con hits her in the face again as she's on the ground. Nanami actually yells out in pain.
The ear piercing shriek makes Kaito turn his attention and he sees all of his friends are losing! Kaito kicks the man away and runs towards them.
The hulking man laughs. "Think i'll let you get away!" He shouts as another monsterous blow lands. This one knocks Kaito off balance since his back was turned.
Kaito flips with the momentum of the blow and uppercuts the hulking man sending him flying.
Con and the other boy laid Kaito's friends out.
"We must go now, all this commotion could cause our plot to be exposed!" The magistrate shouts.
Con and the other boy smile down at Kaito's friends. "I don't see anyone that could stop us." Con says. The red haired boy kneels down. "Especially not you weaklings, only one of you are an actual threat." He says as they turn their attention to Kaito.
They both charge Kaito together.
He blocks the first attack with his dagger. The other boy swings around back and then lands a blow on Kaito. He winces and turns. Kaito lands a powerful kick on the red haired boys face.
The hulking man returns. Kaito turns to deal with him, Con lands a slash on Kaito's back, the momentary distraction allowing the man to land a crushing blow on kaito's face. The hit dizzying him. "Too many of them and they're strong!" Kaito thinks.
As Kaito continues to fight, they keep landing hits overwhelming him. Eventually after taking too many hits he regrettably has to back off.
He leaps back and the magistrate blows a whistle. A monster roars and comes flying through the floor. The four of them jump on it's back and it flies off with them.
Kaito's friends feel horrinle, they were of no use to him at all! Frustration is etched deep in Kaito's face, he hasn't lost like this since he's left for his adventure. "They have Nyla." He whispers as he grits his teeth feeling like he failed her.
His friends all see him standing clenching his fist rage evident in his stance.
Nanami holds her swollen eye. "Perhaps we should go to the inn and rest." Nanami suggest.
Kaito doesn't answer at first, still in his thoughts. "I could've beat them, if only I could use my magic, but I had to watch out for my friends." Kaito says regretting the outcome.
With a deep and frustrated sigh. "Yeah, let's go." Kaito says and he helps them up.