"Hey… where are you bringing me!" shouted Catripple. She was currently on what looked to be a different chair from the one she had occupied for the past few days inside the prison. As Catripple looked around, she noticed that everything around her had changed as well; the walls were completely dark, and the chair was being dragged down a dark hall.
'Have I fallen unconscious?' thought Catripple as she tried to remember the last thing she saw before entering this room, but the more she thought, the more she failed to realize what had happened to her.
"Oh, you're awake? I guess I should have put more poison in that syringe," said a voice behind Catripple. The moment she turned around, she noticed Zrelekai whistling while he moved the chair.
"You!" Catripple tried to move her hands to free herself, but she realized that both of her hands and legs could not be moved; she was stuck to the chair. "What did you do to me? Where are you bringing me?" shouted Catripple as she slowly grew angrier.
"Hey, calm down. Don't scream like that; I can perfectly hear you," answered Zrelekai as he suddenly turned right and opened a door right behind him. This room was extremely empty; there was just a single table with a chair nearby.
"So, I guess there is no point in hiding it," said Zrelekai as he slowly closed the door behind him and left the chair with Catripple in front of the table. Zrelekai, still whistling, took the seat in front of her and, with his legs crossed, began to speak while Catripple looked at him confusedly.
"About what?" asked Catripple.
"About the plan to catch the rebels here to destroy them one by one…" Suddenly Zrelekai's expression changed and a huge smirk appeared over his face, while Catripple looked at him with a horrified expression.
Some days before the prison was attacked, Ashikunz had requested Zrelekai, and the scientist had curiously reached him immediately. Zrelekai entered the huge black room. Ashikunz was sitting on his usual throne with his spear nearby his legs. "Did you want to see me, Ashikunz?" asked Zrelekai. In these years, he had gained a lot of confidence with Ashikunz, so he didn't even need to kneel in front of him.
"I was thinking that the rebels will not stay still, especially now that you have started to experiment on that person and that fox… how were they called…" spoke Ashikunz with a commanding tone. The moment he finished the sentence, Zrelekai was already ready to answer him.
"I guess you must be talking about Darian and Snowy," said Zrelekai, as the thought of all the experiments he could do on Darian was slowly making his body shake in excitement.
"Exactly, those two. I was thinking that the rebels will definitely not stay quiet and they will do something." Now Ashikunz spoke with a warning tone.
"I guess you must be right…" whispered Zrelekai as he started to think for a bit before speaking again. Then, he felt like he had arrived at a conclusion and his eyes sparked with excitement. "Then it means that you will come to the prison and kill them by yourself?!" asked Zrelekai. The fact that Ashikunz would be able to kill all of them would mean only one thing: Ardoris could start to expand and attack other cities.
"Waiting for them inside the prison will be such a pain as I don't know when they will attack, and if the news of me being there starts to spread, the rebels will definitely pay more attention and they might not attack immediately."
"Then could we bait them somewhere else…" whispered Zrelekai as he suddenly realized what Ashikunz wanted to say. The krukin slowly nodded his head as he noticed the huge smile on Zrelekai's face.
"You're always this smart, Zrelekai…" said Ashikunz with a sort of proud tone. "The moment they enter the prison to save both of them, they will find only one, and soon enough they will realize one of them will be here… you see." Suddenly Ashikunz grabbed his spear and started to walk toward Zrelekai, who remained still.
"They know too many things…" Suddenly, the moment Ashikunz was exactly in front of Zrelekai, he pointed his spear toward his throat. Zrelekai, seeing the spear a few inches from his neck, could only gulp in surprise. "I've thought about this too, I promise I'll discover the truth about a possible traitor in our guards," answered Zrelekai before taking a deep breath to calm himself down.
"Don't think about it too much; we will discover it soon enough, and I need them to discover this place so that they can be baited easily," spoke Ashikunz as he carefully removed the spear from Zrelekai's throat and returned toward his throne with slow steps.
"So? Which one should I bring here?" asked Zrelekai the moment Ashikunz returned to his throne.
"I leave this choice to you. Which one do you find most interesting to study?" asked the krukin.
"Mhmm…" Zrelekai remained still for a few seconds before answering. "I'd prefer Catripple. Yeah, Darian has a lot of knowledge about the old world, but he's still a normal human; I've already taken enough blood from his body. And that creature… I wasn't able to study anything more than what Darian had written in his diary…" murmured Zrelekai. Then he spoke with a louder tone so that Ashikunz could hear him too.
"I'll bring Catripple. I've been too distracted by Darian that I completely forgot about her, so I choose her," said Zrelekai with an amused face. "Anything else?" he asked. Ashikunz shook his head.
"Just remember to bring her the day of the attack and make the word spread," said Ashikunz. Zrelekai nodded his head and started to walk away. "It will be done," he said while waving as he came out of the huge room.
The moment he closed the door, Corvinus was passing in front of the room, and their eyes met for a moment. While Corvinus was still wearing his mask, Zrelekai could easily tell that he was really mad, as he had probably heard the way he was speaking to Ashikunz.
"What can I say? I guess I'm the favorite one, ehehe," said he as he started to walk away with a provocative look. Corvinus looked at him annoyed and started to walk away.
"And as you've already understood, I simply made you fall asleep and brought you here for the simple reason of baiting the other rebels here so that they would be killed instantly," Zrelekai finished speaking. Catripple had an horrified look on her face.
"And you're sure it will work?" Suddenly Catripple's expression changed into a bigger smirk. Zrelekai, looking at that, gasped in surprise. "Now that the others are with them, things will become easier. They will come out ali—" as Catripple spoke with her eyes closed, completely sure of what she was saying, Zrelekai gave her a strong slap on her cheek.
"Don't you dare say that again! My plans will never… and if I say never… NEVER FAIL!!" shouted he before walking out of the room angry, slamming the metallic door behind him.
Catripple was left with a huge red mark on her cheek, sitting on the chair completely alone. "Well, I got used to sleeping on this type of chair…" she pointed out, as she realized that she didn't even have a place to rest her head, and sleeping was about to become the hardest thing for these days.
'I trust you guys… take all the time you need, I'll be alright,' thought Catripple as she looked high toward the ceiling.
In front of the prison, Corvinus was still fighting against Orechin, who had just created another huge blue crystal to slow both himself and Corvinus. "It will not work!" shouted Corvinus, angry that he hadn't been able to catch Orechin yet, and with all his strength, the blue crystal was destroyed almost immediately.
Both bodies were bleeding because of the use of magic, and while Corvinus was doing slightly better, Orechin's vision had turned blurry and soon he would reach other stages.
"Oh, trust me when I say that it will work!" shouted Orechin as he noticed that Tyel was being brought down by Vane, and with that, they had finished bringing everyone down.
'Liro should be here soon… he will not lose any time,' thought Orechin as he realized the plan was about to reach its end; he had to be fast.
"Let's end this fast… VITAL SHARD!" Suddenly three huge green crystals appeared around Corvinus. The more seconds that passed, the more strength was being drained from the general by the crystals.
"Argh, I'll kill you now!" shouted Corvinus as, with all his blades, he destroyed the crystals with one hit. The moment the crystals shattered into different pieces, Corvinus realized it was a bit weird. 'Mhm… I've never been able to destroy them this easily… I guess he must be getting tired,' he thought. The moment he looked over at Orechin, he noticed that he had an horrified look and was remaining still.
"Eh, I guess you've accepted your fate," whispered Corvinus as he started to walk toward him. Suddenly Orechin shook his head and with his finger he pointed behind Corvinus. "Yeah… but not for you."
Corvinus curiously turned his head, and what he saw made his heart beat extremely fast. Ashikunz had just come out of the prison and was walking toward Orechin.
"Oh, my emperor!" shouted Corvinus as he immediately put himself on his knees the moment he noticed Ashikunz. "I was about to kill this guy, you didn't have to worry," he said as he closed his eyes and looked down.
Corvinus waited for an answer that didn't arrive. 'I guess he did all the work. Well, I'm sorry, my great emperor Ashiku—' Suddenly Corvinus's thoughts were blocked as he noticed that Ashikunz disappeared in front of him, and the moment he turned his head, he noticed that Orechin wasn't there anymore.
"Man, I didn't think your illusion would be that perfect, it surprised me, hahah!" shouted Orechin as he positioned one of his hands on Liro's shoulder while they were both riding Vane in his buffalo form.
"So? How did the plan go?" asked Orechin as he slowly became serious again.
"Well… not very well," said Liro as he remained silent for the whole trip. Hearing these words, Orechin slowly turned serious too, and they were finally able to return inside the rebels' home.
Darian was already lying on a nearby sofa with Snowy laying on his chest, as both of them were still unconscious. Lily, Syrmax, and Tyel, who had just removed his mask and cape, were sitting on the chairs.
The moment Orechin entered the room, he immediately understood that something was wrong. "Wait… where the hell is Catripple?" he said as he wanted to smash something. Suddenly a red crystal appeared in his hand and he smashed it instantly.
"She… has been brought somewhere else," said Tyel as he looked down sadly.
As Orechin entered the room, he noticed Darian lying on the sofa and he slowly petted Snowy. "Hey, at least this creature is cute… but what do you mean she has been brought somewhere else?" asked Orechin as he couldn't believe what he had just heard.
"I don't know yet… I promise I'll discover new things soon. Just… just give me time," said Tyel angrily as he smashed his right fist onto the table.