There was a dense forest that cast semi-darkness on the surroundings because of the canopy of trees blocking the sun’s direct light. It was there that the space in thin air suddenly warped before six figures appeared standing there when one of them suddenly knelt down while placing their hands on their head.

“You okay, Val?” Zen asked anxiously, quickly moving over and kneeling to check on him.

“I’m… kind of dizzy,” said Valerian weakly, clutching his head with his hands while closing his eyes.

“Yeah. That tends to happen to those unfamiliar with warp magic,” said Zen in an understanding voice and reassured with, “but don’t worry; it’ll settle down soon.”

Valerian simply nodded without saying anything in return while Nara glanced around at his surroundings before asking, “Where are we? Are we close to the Mariana Kingdom?”

“We’re in a nearby forest near the entrance to the kingdom,” replied one of the Phintex Rajas as they stood to the side. “Going forward for a few minutes, and you’ll arrive on the road leading to the main gates to the capital.”

“I see. That’s quite convenient,” said Nara, sounding impressed before adding, “although it would’ve been more so if we warped directly inside the capital.”

“I am sorry, but we are unable to set up our warp points inside the Mardana Kingdom’s capital.”

“What? What do you mean, you can’t set up your warp points?”

“We are unsure but our magic gets cancelled if we try to place it inside the capital,” came the reply much to the War Titan’s surprise.

Nara looked at him in surprise before turning and asking Zen, “Hey, Zen, what’s the meaning of this?”

“It’s like what he said; some kind of magic field or something related was blocking foreign magic from setting warp points inside the boundary of the capital,” replied the Phoenix Emperor, who looked troubled. As the War Titan opened his mouth to clearly complain, Zen raised a hand and said, “Yes. I’m aware of the problem it creates, but I couldn’t take it directly with the Mardana Kingdom, who would claim that our actions are a breach of the kingdom’s security and do whatever else to make us look bad, so I had to resort to the alternative.”

“Hmph,” said Nara coldly. “You should’ve taken it directly to them and demanded what it was they had to fear from the Phoenix Clan since you guys have been protecting this continent for many generations.”

“Yes, but our relationship had already been strained, and I didn’t want to give that kingdom an excuse to start a war with us,” replied Zen, looking a little sad.

“So what?” Nara asked back, looking as if that was the silliest reason he had ever heard. “It’s their loss if they went to war with you when it’s clear you guys will win. Besides, they’d just make up another excuse and go to war anyway since that kingdom’s king seems to have a grudge or something seriously against your clan.”

“You’re right. Athurus does have a great level of animosity towards the Phoenix Clan, especially more so to the Phoenix Titan. I’m not sure why he has such strong feelings, and I couldn’t find anything that we could’ve done to him or his family in the past to gain such hatred.”

“Maybe, it’s to do with the war the Floria Kingdom and the Mardana Kingdom got involved some years ago?”

“I suspected that, but he had no direct relation to the prince or the king other than being their distant cousin,” explained Zen while looking thoughtful, “which was why he was crowned king when the temporary leader decided so since he was the closest that seemed to have qualifications of a king.”

“The qualities of a pathetic king if you ask me,” snorted the War Titan disdainfully.

“I must concur,” agreed Zen, and the three Phintex Rajas also nodded their heads in agreement. “Anyway, we better get going and find whoever is responsible for attempting at Lucky’s life!”

“Not just Lucky’s, but at all of our lives!” Nara corrected, and he punched his fists together with a determined grin. “When I find them, I’ll pummel them until they are unrecognisable!”

Zen chuckled before he ordered the Phintex Rajas to stay on alert, to which they nodded and vanished from the spot. Then the three of them began walking through the groove in the dense forest in silence until they found an opening. They walked out of the bushes and found themselves standing on a dirt road and turning to their right, they saw it leading to what looked like large gates enforced by a stone wall.

“There it is,” said Zen, indicating at the large gate, “the entrance to Mardana Kingdom’s capital.”

“Great. Let’s go bust that gate down!” Nara said, flexing his arms as he readied to destroy the gate.

“Woah! Hold up!” Zen said, quickly coming in front of him to block his way.

“What?” Nara asked coldly.

“We’ve got to go in stealthily and uncover the culprit because there is the chance of that Athurus is working with the enemy,” said Zen, looking firmly back at him.

“That’s more reason for us to make our presence known and apprehend Athurus!”

“That’s not the point!” Zen shouted at him, startling the War Titan in the process. “Innocent people will get in the crossfire and all the while we have no idea who the real culprit is! Think! They were able to fire two deadly consecutive destructive balls down at Lucky and Lagron! They are extremely powerful, more so than all three of us combined, I dare say.”

“What are you saying we do then?” Nara asked, looking irritated at such a lengthy thought.

“We basically keep a low profile, find out whatever we can, and uncover the enemy’s base of operations and discover their leader as well,” said Valerian, to which Zen nodded in agreement.

“Exactly!”

“Hmph! A waste of time, in my opinion,” expressed the War Titan with disinterest.

The Phoenix Emperor breathed a sigh and said, “Lucky won’t be happy if he knew of the collateral damage we had done to the kingdom as well as involving innocent lives in our conflict!”

“And what if the enemy chooses to involve them anyway even after we sneak around? What do we do then? Hold our arms in a cross and hope to god instead of fighting back?” Nara asked while looking irritated.

“I…” began Zen hesitantly, realising the possible scenario that the War Titan had proposed could really happen and he felt worries only deepen.

“Let’s do our best when that happens,” said Valerian, and they turned to him. “Let’s protect the innocent and fight the enemy to the best of our abilities. That’s what the Phoenix Titan would do, and so would I.”

Nara looked at the Storm Titan, who looked calmly back at him before he let out a sigh and relented with, “Fine, but I won’t hold back against the enemy if they are holding the people hostage because that’s basically surrendering to them!”

Zen wanted to protest, but Valerian nodded and said, “Suit yourself.”

There was a moment of silence as the two members of the Nine Pillars of Power stared at one another before the War Titan asked, “So, how do you want us to go in without revealing ourselves? Suppress our power levels down to normal and cast invisible magic on us?”

“That would be convenient if I was proficient in Sensory Magic,” remarked Zen with a wry smile, “but I’m not.”

“I have an idea,” said Valerian, and the two looked at him as he said, “Nirnam.”

In an instant, a magic circle appeared beneath them before water suddenly burst out from it. Both Zen and Nara looked shocked as the water quickly enveloped all three of them before pulling them seemingly into the ground. They had momentarily closed their eyes before opening them to find that they were encased in a water like shell while there appeared to be water everywhere.

“What the?!” Nara exclaimed, looking alarmed. “What is this?!”

“This is the water channels connecting to all the places around the world,” explained Valerian without looking at him as they were moving in a certain direction.

He looked at the Storm Titan in confusion while Zen had an expression of amazement on his face at the magic the Storm Titan was displaying. A few seconds later, they came to a stop and felt themselves going up and broke through the surface to appear in what looked like a deserted gloomy looking alleyway. Nara looked down at the ground as the magic circle dimmed and completely disappeared from view.

“I have no idea what you just did or whatever that… water channel thing was,” expressed Nara in confusion.

“Water Channel,” began Valerian as he tried his best to explain his spell, “is connections that are shared around the world through the waterways wherever it has access to. My spell lets us connect to some of the links, and I used it to take us through the water channel and come here from that forest. Do you get it now?”

“Uh…” began Nara, who looked just as confused as before.

“It doesn’t matter, what matters is we’re inside and should begin our search for our enemy,” said Valerian, to which Nara finally nodded while making a determined expression.

“Definitely,” said Nara, and he smiled a little as he was pleased by the change in topic.

The three of them decided to split up and find whatever information they can, however Zen pointed out that Valerian was unable to communicate with the others since he only spoke the Water Language. As such, three were split down to Nara going alone while Zen stuck with Valerian to search for clues on their enemy.

“Let’s meet here again and share what we have found out about our enemy in an hour, okay?” Zen asked, and the other two nodded in agreement. “Good luck, Nara,” wished Zen, and the three went their different ways.

Unbeknownst to them, a certain someone with sinister intentions was observing them through a crystal glass. He was seated in a dark room with someone sweeping the floor near him to clear away the broken fragments of the previously used crystal glass for observation. In front of him knelt three figures, who had their head bowed to him.

When he saw the three warriors split up into two groups, he let out a sinister chuckle and said, “It seems like we have some uninvited guests. Make sure to treat them with the utmost courtesy. Okay?”

“Yes, sir!” The three men replied in firm voices.

They rose to their feet and whirled around to walk away from their boss, who let out a cold snicker before returning to watch the two warriors moving in different directions.

“I find it curious that these three are still alive,” he spoke to himself while watching them through the crystal glass. “Could it be that the Phoenix Titan absorbed all that attack and possibly… lived?”

That was a question that hung in the air for a brief moment before he shook his head and said, “It can’t be. I could no longer sense his life force when my attack struck.” He glanced down at the glass being cleaned up before letting out a snicker and saying, “No matter. Even if he is alive, I will be ready. Within hours, I will reach perfection and then… and then… I can finally complete my mission.”

He let out a chuckle, and that chuckle turned into cold sinister laughter as the three warriors moved around the Mardana Kingdom capital as he followed them through the crystal ball.