"You sure? I don"t think it would be that easy to locate her, let alone ask her for help," said the d.u.c.h.ess as she caught up with the Earl and Viscountess.But before he could dash off, a huge purple serpent came hurling down from where Raiyen was. The Earl was frightened as the giant serpent looked dauntingly at the group. With the Valkyrie too weak to fight, the creature couldn"t be killed.
The serpent stopped in front of the Earl but soon resumed its advance by striking using its head. But the area started to drop in temperatures. Frost started to creep around the stone buildings and pavements. An entire cloud of dust appeared around the serpent.
"The Creation of the Cold. The Smallest of Particles. Freezing Dust!" boomed a powerful voice.
The serpent was forced to stop its a.s.sault as it was encased in ice. Purple ice, to be exact. A huge, towering figure loomed beside the monster in ice. With a simple knock, the entire thing crumbled.
"Leaving her alone to fight something else... What a ch.o.r.e to get you kids to behave..." complained a familiar voice.
Another serpent tunneled down from Tiamat. But the group"s savior grabbed it without missing a heartbeat. The moment the creature touched the hand, the Mage made no effort to strangle the serpent to death. The Mage then threw the monster to the next continent, hurling the thing away.
"And how many times have I told you to keep both your feelings and heart in check?" chided the chubby man.
"It"s..."
The d.u.c.h.ess looked afraid and confused while the Earl looked concerned. As the Valkyrie turned her head to see the Mage, she felt a sense of home once more.
"Leader of the Blizzard Faction, Z!" greeted the Viscountess.
"There"s no need to alert the High Queen, Earl Yan. I wouldn"t want to bother the couple now. Thus, I"ve come to pick these pesky kids up," said Z.
"Peanut?" asked Mavislin, softly.
She tried getting up but the being was set on making her lie down.
"Bright Eyes... You went too far again, right?" asked Z as he looked at the poor girl.
"You made advances without the approval of the Headmaster. Or any of us. Even if we don"t function as a hierarchy built, children must seek permission from the parents if they want to go out and play. It"s for your safety," explained Z, kneeling towards Mavislin.
"Ysabeau is worried sick about you. You may have grown, but you"ll always be her child. The Old Chapel tipped us off to your whereabouts. Even the Angry Man was concerned."
"You know about the current situation?" asked Earl Yan.
"Yep. The Headmaster had known about the Umbra attacks before Mavislin"s disappearance. He knew that he won"t be approving Minwoo"s request about helping the Five Kings, so Mavislin decided to head out by herself," explained Z.
"She ran away from home?!" shrieked Viscountess Ling.
"Calm down. Usual trips for long periods are common within our household. But the only reason why I would find this trip strange was because of the quarrel."
"You guys fought?"
"As I said, Minwoo did appeal to all of us for help for the Umbra case. We rejected him since there"s no actual evidence nor it was deadly enough for us to care. Mavislin did not see this lightly and quarreled with Gillian about it. Baldwin chimed in but was quickly shut out," explained Z.
"Of course she would run away. She and Minwoo were very close," reasoned the Viscountess.
"The thing is, we did not go after her when she left without saying anything. It was only when we had found out that Minwoo had died weeks ago then the Angry Man activated me to go after the Valkyrie."
"Then how does the leader of the Vigilante fit into all this?" asked the Earl.
"Him? That pesky Time Boy? He isn"t the one from this Time. He is the version of Raiyen from the future, so tread lightly if you ever cross paths with him again."
"Speaking of Baldwin, he came after the Valkyrie, right? Mavislin did mention she had met him before meeting the Marquess," asked the Earl.
Z gave a very puzzled look as he then gently stroked the Valkyrie"s hair.
"Alleviate," said Z, as he placed a green Kunai on Mavislin"s chest.
The Kunai glowed in an emerald hue as it worked its power. Both her breathing and heart rate started to slow down, with Mavislin trying not to close her eyes. Her wounds were healing slowly, but the Ancient Relic could not fix the sadness in her heart.
"Baldwin hasn"t left the Old Chapel. He was still there when Gillian sent me off to find Mavislin."
The Earl"s eyes widened in shock.