<strong>A few hours before the Volcanic Eruption;</strong>
Outside of the Redwing Hotel, a rank-6 and a rank-5 expert are pretending to be talking to each other. However, their eyes were entirely on the hotel entrance.
"Bro, I think we are pranked by that idiot." The young man spoke to his senior. "Let's think about it. Why does the princess of such a wealthy nation, stop by a tier 3 city like Estrya… Even if they come here for the little girl, there are other level-2 regions…"
"No," the rank-6 expert shook his head. "Clifford never kid around. I trust him. If he said the targets will check in to this hotel, then, it has to be true. We just have to wait. Be patient."
"We are waiting for two days, already. How long…" Suddenly the beginner rank-5 junior stopped talking and looked in a direction. "Bro…"
The senior glanced in the direction he was looking at.
Right then, Sapphire exited the hotel in her luxurious wear. Even those who don't know her would atleast think that she's rich.
Looking at her, the senior's eyes lit up, "It's her, indeed. Sapphire Magnolia…"
As they continued to observe her from far away, they saw she summoned the Griffin before setting out towards somewhere.
She actually left to meet Azzy upon receiving a report from one of the guardians who work at Northern Qudour nation's portal point.
"Bro, let's follow…" The junior suggested not wasting any time to follow her and then, abduct her.
Even though they knew she had a platinum-grade beast, they had their own methods to deal with her and were extremely confident in doing so.
"Wait." The senior stopped him. "Leave her alone."
"Huh?" The junior was puzzled by his senior's actions.
The senior then explained that they won't target her but the little girl that came with her. Once they get the sixth princess Iphi Magnolis, they will lure the elder sister to a trap.
As a part of their plan, they decided to sneak into the hotel. Both of them started to make a plan to make sure they won't be detected by the hotel staff.
But, who could have expected that the little girl exits the hotel, right after her sister left for Whale Island…
"Bro, we're lucky…" The junior grinned in response as he watched her moving on her feet, leaving towards the city outskirts.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtTo not cause trouble within the city and alert the guardians, they quietly followed her all the way to the teleportation point.
To avoid suspicions, the senior stood a person after her and the other one stood five people after his senior.
Soon, both of them left to the same destination as her.
<strong>Teleportation point, Central city;</strong>
The central city is the largest city in both of the worlds, spanning over fifty thousand square kilometers in area. One should say it is as big as a small nation.
It is also referred to as the Headquarters of Arcana world or the capital region.
Unlike the other regions, this capital doesn't host any king of wild zones within or nearby its surroundings too.
The nearest wild zone, which is only a level-1, was located 500 kilometers away from the city.
That means this was the only place where one's soul wouldn't be restricted. So, one can see a large number of higher rank experts, at any time.
The city was home to a variety number of stores, the biggest underground market, auction houses, Arcana academies, Arenas, entertainment, etc…
However, there are only two rules, here. The first is that mortals cannot step inside the city. So, it is exclusively for Arcana masters. The second is that one cannot acquire land here, no matter what their background is…
If one wanted to stay, they have but two options. One is to enroll in one of the academies and stay at the dorms. Two is to stay at a hotel.
With its popularity, it's natural that it was highly visited by thousands of Arcana masters, every day. Now, that is where the problem arises with security.
Because the guardians were busy monitoring the higher rank individuals, the lower ranks were often gets ignored by the authorities. So, the crime rate is also pretty much high.
Because of this reason, the two of them are confident in completing their task. They just need to make sure that there are no witnesses.
Iphi, who didn't know anything about the incoming danger, was smiling big, upon reaching the city.
Exiting the teleportation point, she started to walk towards the academy.
The moment she spoke the Central city, they already guessed that she was going to the academy by herself.
So, it didn't take long for them to discover her again, in the city.
Like a normal visitor, the senior kidnapper, whose restrictions were now lifted, walked beside her. Since there are other people around, she didn't find anything amiss.
Five minutes later, he got the perfect opportunity to act. Taking out a six-star skill card, he quickly tapped her back and activated the skill.
"Hmm?" Iphi felt something touched her back.
Just as she was about to turn her head, she found the streets around her were disappeared and were replaced by prison bars.
"Huh!" Her eyes widened in shock.
Back to the outside world, the rank-6 expert looked at the capture card, he used earlier.
A live image of Iphi was displayed on the top of the card.
Putting it into the pocket as he can't store it in the storage card, the kidnapper smirked, "done… Now, all that's left is to inform the wealthy princess. But, before that, I need to hide her in a secure place. That prison will only hold her for a couple of hours and I can't return to the hideout before completing the task."
Suddenly, something clicked in his mind, and ordered his junior to contact a certain person.
They didn't stay long in the city and returned to the human world.
Both of them didn't know that the target they were meant to lure had already checked out their background and is busy mobilizing experts to take care of them and the organization behind them.
***
Above the skies of a level-3 region, which is located in the northern part of the Arcana world, a beautiful young woman was flying towards somewhere.
While traveling to her destination, she was admiring the view from the sky.
The land below her was full of ice. Up ahead of her, there's an icy mountain range filled with beautiful lakes, rivers, valleys, waterfalls, etc…
"Oh! A polar bear…" Her eyes lit up as she saw a white giant bear of rank-6, was just sleeping peacefully, nearby a lake.
She didn't disturb it and continued to fly.
"Hmm…" After she traveled some distance and was about to leave the region, her ears perked up.
She glanced towards the direction and saw a couple is in a fierce battle against more than five mysterious people in black clothes.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmShe then spotted a unicorn nearby that was helping out the couple.
Immediately, she flapped her wings and changed the direction. Reaching the area, she then heard one of the rank-6 experts saying, "Surrender yourself, Princess Snieca. Don't make it any more complicated. His highness is still willing to forgive your mistakes."
"Who the hell that b*****d think he is…" She growled in response, blocking the attack with the shield. "Ten years ago, I already cut off my relations with the palace. He is no longer my brother..."
"Still, it doesn't erase the fact that you are Prince Ragron's fiancée. He's now ascended to the throne. He wished for you in exchange for the alliance. It's in your best interests to not resist further…" One of the assassins continued to try convincing her. "If you don't return, we got the orders to bring back your dead body."
"If my strength wasn't suppressed, all of you would have been hacked to death…" Affea growled at him. "And you believe you lot can kill me?"
That's right, they are Oakley and Affea. And shockingly, she was a rank-7 expert.
As a healer, while Oakley and his unicorn are busy healing her, the princess was parrying their attacks with a sword and a shield.
With the princess using a soul skill that lets her take the injury of her ally onto herself, the assassins were left with no choice but to completely focus on her.
<strong>"Soul skill: Salvation"</strong>
*neigh*
The unicorn neighed before it shot a golden beam of light onto the princess.
As she was covered by a golden aura, Affea saw all of her injuries were healed and she continued to battle.
Right then, from the sky, a glowing heavy sword was landed in between them, creating a huge seal formation below everyone.
All of a sudden, everyone paused. Or rather, they felt their bodies were paralyzed and weren't to move except for their eyes.
Along with the assassins, the wife and husband also experienced the same. The only one that was the exception is the Unicorn, which raised his head, sensing a powerful light element user in the sky.
The girl landed on the ground, grabbing the hilt of the sword.
Her wings disappeared and she passed soul energy into the sword, which then lifted the restrictions on the couple.
Both of them looked at her curiously. It was their first time to meet them.
"Who are you?" Princess Snieca asked her while being wary of her. She appeared too foreign with pale skin, blue eyes, and blonde hair.
"I'm Syllia. Syllia Lefeuvre… I'm on my way towards Sun City and saw both of you in trouble. Do you need any help?"