Cavaron and his companions had been running at full, mana-reinforced speed for roughly two hours. At the moment, they had stopped and were looking at the dead end before them while questioning Hideki what had happened.

"Something's wrong with the area ahead." said Hideki, "I can't create any new tunnels."

Cavaron approached the wall that had impeded their progress. Once Cavaron touched it, Blake spoke from within him.

(Mrow... I feel the essence of the Flames.) he said, (It would be wise to have Cyan's power be infused with Hideki's ability in nyorder to proceed further.)

Cavaron nodded as he understood Blake's suggestion.

"Looks like we've arrived." he said, "Seems like a barrier was put up to impede anything going through. Hideki, infuse the essence of the Water with your tunneling. It should punch through a barrier made by the Flames."

Cavaron stepped back and let Hideki take charge once more. Hideki closed his eyes momentarily before suddenly opening them with a blast of mana infused with the Water of Tranquility. As soon as the energies had hit the wall, a new stretch of tunnels was created afterwards.

"Right, I can, apart from the fish, detect 3002 people..." said Cavaron but he paused momentarily, "Huh...? This can't be..."

"What's wrong?" asked Maguro as he noticed something strange from Cavaron.

"No way, it hasn't been a year since I've left..." muttered Cavaron, "How can she be here...?"

"Cavaron! What's wrong!?" repeated Maguro alarmingly.

Cavaron shook his head awake from disbelief.

"Hey, I never did ask this but..." said Cavaron to Hideki, "apart from Alexander, how many 'children' does he have?"

"According to his official declaration?" answered Hideki, "He mentioned an exact amount of 3000 'children'... Wait, you detected 3002? Including Alexander there should only be 3001. Who's the other person?"

"You sure you hadn't detected the black monsters they had?" inquired Maguro.

"No, I can differentiate them from humans." replied Cavaron, "As long as I infuse the power of the Flames, I can easily do so within a three-kilometer radius. Without the Flames, I will have to guess which is what within a one-kilometer radius. As far as that one additional person, though, I need to see them with my own eyes to verify."

"Well then, let's continue forwa—"

"CRASH!"

"—the hell is that!?"

Once Maguro suggested that they move on, a cylindrical object tore through the roof of Hideki's tunnel. The cylindrical object was sleek, metallic, had what appeared to be fins attached to its sides, and had a drill for a head. Hideki's eyes widened when he realized what it was.

"Bomb!" he shouted as he hurriedly erected a thick wall of earth before them.

Once the others had heard his warning and saw his wall of earth, they immediately retreated backwards. A few moments later, a large explosion erupted through the tunnels before them and even crumbled the wall of earth.

"How the hell did they notice us!?" cried out Cavaron in alarm, "Blake! Any explanation?"

(Mrow... Most likely that barrier was in an active state.) he answered, (Any disturbance with the flow of power had would alert the user. Especially since Cyan is a Water Fragment, the source of the barrier most likely alerted its host.)

"You tell us this now!?" berated Cavaron, "Ah, forget it! Hideki, create another tunnel! Everyone, once you see the tunnel, run for it! Hideki, once everyone's through, go sky high! Forget about infiltration, they know we're here already!"

Hideki blasted another stretch of tunnels. As soon as the first open space could be seen, everybody dashed forward. Once they kicked off, though, another bomb had torn through the ceiling. Fortunately, everybody had passed the barrier before it exploded, leaving Hideki to create a path going up.

With another blast of Water-infused mana, a new tunnel with stairs going up was created. One bomb after another fell on the tunnels for and lasted until Hideki had created an opening to the surface. Passing through the exit, they had arrived at an open area far away from what could be said as the center of the island.

Of course, the fact that they had alerted the enemy meant that they would also have a welcoming committee waiting for them. Once Cavaron and his companions regained their bearings, they found themselves surrounded by hundreds of black monsters on land, in sea, and in air. Accompanying the black monsters, though, were a myriad of flying mechs and drones loaded for bear. From afar, multitudes of concrete and steel towers with massive guns were pointed at them, already charging to fire.

[Greetings, visitors, to our home.] said a man through a loudspeaker, [A pity for your efforts as you had tried to infiltrate the island. Although, I commend you for still pursuing us.]

"Where are you!?" demanded Cavaron.

[Where am I?] said the man, [Well, I am unsure whether you could see me or not, but I am at the highest point of the island. Look for the reflection of light.]

Over the distance, in the middle of the island, stood a tall tower. The tower was surrounded by a myriad of buildings, defenses, and mechs patrolling the pathways. From atop the tower stood a young man wearing white formal wear that was holding a microphone with his left and a small mirror with his right. The young man's white formal wear contrasted with his fairly tanned skin, black hair, and brown eyes.

"Are you Alexander?" asked Cavaron.

[Indeed, I am 'he' whom you seek.] replied Alexander, [Now then, enough with the pleasantries. I cannot allow you to further impede us from our goal. So please, do perish from this mortal coil.]

As if on cue, all of the guns that were aiming for Cavaron's group fired salvoes of directed energy and, surprisingly, kinetic ammunition. Cavaron reacted by pulling everyone closer to him, and erected a wall of Flames around them. The first to hit were the blasts of directed energy that came from the concrete towers. As soon as the first beams of light disappeared, shells of high calibers not meant for infantry landed and pummeled the area like thousands of falling hammers.

However, due to the characteristics of the Flames of Chaos, their attacks were in vain as they all dissipated upon impact. The only explosions that were produced were those that hit the ground around them, thus creating a huge cloud of dust that hindered their view.

"None of their attacks will be passing through." said Cavaron, "We will move as Blake protects us, and hit them hard with our own power. Blake, rather than boosting the others, is it possible to just envelop them with a layer of Flame?"

(Nyahaha! Yeap! It is possible.) replied Blake, (While Cyan can destroy meow, we can work together as long as I don't conflict with her!)

"Good, let's do that, then."

Everybody else nodded. Under Blake's protection, Cavaron and his companions counterattacked. They all fought against the enemy like usual. However, once Hideki revealed the Water of Tranquility, Alexander's expression changed.

"Say, Kali, why is there a waterboy here?" he asked someone.

Soon flames emerged from his body and went to his side. The flames that appeared then formed into a cat, but this cat was unlike Blake. The cat of Alexander's flame was large and was as high as his waist while Blake was below Cavaron's knees. It was a black panther.

"Grr... Avoid him at all costs, Lex." said the panther, "He is a carrier of the Water of Tranquility."

"Then, Kali, the perfect counter against him would be Farran, right?"

"Grr... 'Would be' but she hasn't awakened him yet."

"Then, what does she need to awaken him?"

"Grr... A life threatening experience."

---

Deep within the island was a large complex of laboratories, warehouses, and factories. At the very end of this complex were three large cylindrical rooms. Each room had a diameter of at least 200 meters and were as high as 600 meters. However, the objects that were in these rooms were curious sights as they were very complex metallic structures.

One structure was being loaded with what appeared to be missiles. Another seemed to have a large gun fitted at the side. The last only had what looked like a glass dome protruding from the top. These three complex structures were being worked on by the many "Children" of Alexander Dalaram who were all equipped with bipedal mechs and flying construction drones.

As high as the middle of the rooms was an observation room. Within this room were three "Children" and they were overseeing the progress of the construction. While the oversaw the progress, there was a wall of monitors they had occasionally watched. The wall of monitors provided a video feed of the events on the surface.

"Seems like it has begun." said Malachi, "I wonder if it will be all right with us in here?"

"Remember what Father said, Malachi." said Carmel, "The Project takes priority. Father will handle our visitors."

"How is it going outside?" asked Ismael, "Oh? Isn't that barrier cheating?"

"Hey, isn't that bad?" wondered Malachi, "Eh? Father moved!?"

"Hey, hey, hey. This is getting serious. For Father to move THIS early..." added Ismael.

Carmel frowned at the course of events.

"It only means that we need to finish everything before all is lost." she said, "Malachi, Ismael. Directly command the others to hasten the construction."

Malachi and Ismael nodded, and left her to monitor the situation outside. Having been left alone, she pushed a button on a nearby console, and a large control array appeared from the floor.

"I will support Father with my utmost."

Deftly manipulating the controls, she appeared like an entranced pianist. With every press of a button, different responses lit up on the monitor.

"Welcome to my Garden."

---

Outside, while Cavaron and the others were pushing forward, Alexander had personally arrived before them. His swift appearance surprised the others as he only took a few seconds to cover over a kilometer's distance from a significant height.

"So you brought someone who could deter me." said Alexander, "Well, seeing as fireboy is taking care of your defense, I suppose I should get rid of the others first."

Alexander's body shone brightly, and what seemed to be a heavy white exosuit appeared over him.

"Spatial translocation." commented Cavaron, "Something like magic, but uses molecular disintegration and FTL transportation."

"You know?" said Alexander surprised by Cavaron's knowledge.

(He is old, Lex.) said a woman's voice from within Alexander, (Older than any of the people presently here.)

"Ah, so you're a grandpappy." said Alexander to Cavaron, "As expected of those who use magic."

Cavaron was surprised.

"How do you..." he said but Blake interrupted him.

(Mrow, his fragment, chief.) said Blake, (I know which one it is, and they will be tough nyuts to crack. His fragment is Kali, my elder.)

(Ah, Lex. Blake has felt me.) said Kali from within Alexander, (This will be a fun fight. Just, do be careful of the other fragment of Water.)

Cavaron immediately ran forward.

"Hideki! Cooperate with me!" he ordered.

Hideki suddenly propelled towards Alexander with the earth beneath him. In response, a white flash appeared on Alexander's hands, and a rifle translocated to him. Once Cavaron saw the rifle, he immediately erected a wall of flame to protect them because...

"BANG!"

A loud sonicboom tore away from Alexander, and a small bullet left his gun's muzzle. In a split-second, the bullet smashed onto the wall of flame and created a small ripple on the surface.

"A kinetic bullet glossed with a bit of Flames." said Alexander, "Now I know what would happen if two Flames went against one another."

The Flame-coated bullet that hit the wall of Flames produced an impact akin to smashing onto a kinetic barrier. The Flames themselves became ordinary against one another.

"Hmm, even if we create a wall of Water, the most it could do is douse out the Flames." commented Cavaron, "After that, we still have to deal with that supersonic bullet. But still, I'd like to have that suit seeing how he's well despite receiving a sonicboom."

"Then, let's create a double wall." suggested Hideki, "A wall of Water outside and a wall of Flames inside."

However, just before Cavaron agreed with Hideki's suggestion, a MASSIVE magic circle appeared below them. This magic circle was different from Maguro's own circles, and was actually quite familiar.

"Oh, shit..." cursed Cavaron.

"Please, no..." pleaded Hideki.

"Not again..." complained Maguro.

"Ah..." uttered Aimi.

"What's this?" wondered Alexander.

——–——–——

The following is an idea that popped into my head that I may or may not expound upon.

Spoiler :

In a bedroom within an ordinary house awoke a little boy. With a yawn, he rubbed his eyes as he sat upright. The little boy looked to his left where he greeted the morning sun with enthusiasm.

"Good morning!"

After that, he got off his bed and went downstairs to greet the other members of his family.

"Mama! Good morning!"

"Ah, good morning to you, too. Oh, right, it will be your 6th birthday soon, do you want anything?"

Said his mother who was in the middle of preparing breakfast. The little boy thought hard about his answer.

"Hmm... I want to practice swords with Papa!"

"Swords? Hmhmhm. Well, we'll see if Papa will agree once he gets back."

Having greeted his mother, the little boy ran to the dining room with a "pata pata" to greet his elder sister.

"Morning, big sis!"

The little boy's sister was setting the table when he arrived. Hearing his greeting, his sister placed down the tableware on the table and crouched down to greet him back.

"Ooh, you're getting so big! Come, give me a hug."

The little boy dove head first into his sister's arms and she squeezed him lovingly.

"Ehehehe!"

"By the way, do you want anything for your birthday?"

"Umm, I told Mama that I want to practice with Papa!"

His sister warmly smiled and rubbed his head.

"Haha, like father like son. Good news, then. Papa will be coming back home today."

"Really? Yay!"

Just then, the sound of a door opening was heard along with a man's voice.

"I'm home!"

"Papa!"

The little boy ran towards the voice, and found an armored man. The man, who was replacing his armor on a nearby table, paused and crouched down with open arms.

"Hello, my boy!"

"Welcome home, Papa!"

The little boy, like how he did with his sister, ran to his father's arms with happiness.

"Oof! You're getting stronger as the days go by, my boy!"

By now, the women of the household appeared to greet him.

"Welcome home, dear."

"Welcome back, Pops."

The little boy's father stood up, and carried the little boy with him.

"Hmm? Is that breakfast? Think you have room for one more?"

"Hmhm, always, dear. I'm still cooking it so there's some time."

"Is that right? Well, I guess I'll spend some father-son bonding, eh? What do you say, my boy?"

Hearing his father say so, the little boy replied with glee.

"Okay!"

Happily watching the two boys interactions, the women of the household returned to their chores. As for the father and son, the father asked the little boy a question.

"Your birthday is coming up, anything you want?"

Like a machine, the little boy replied almost instantly.

"Swords!"

"Swords?"

"Practice!"

"Ahh, hahaha. Well, you are almost at the right age to start practicing. Want to start now before breakfast?"

The little boy's eyes opened wide, and a big smile formed on his face.

"Yay!"

"Right then, why don't you head to the yard first while I get the practice equipment, okay?"

"Okay!"

The father left the little boy in the entryway and went deeper inside the house. Once the father had turned to a corner, the little boy went towards the door to leave the house. He opened the door wide, and leapt out to the open. Only...

"Ahahahaha... Huh? Oh... right... sniff..."

A ruined village greeted him. Looking back, the house he left was also in ruins.

"Sniff... I..."

The little boy went back inside his house. Entering the building, what was once a clean entryway was now a bombed out ruined and deteriorating house. No longer did he see the clean stone walls that lined the sides. No longer did he see the dining table filled with food.

No longer did he see his happy, smiling family that would greet him joyously with each passing day.

"I... sniff... I'm alone now..."