As the two next contenders entered the stage, we all watched in anticipation.
"In the first corner, we have a mage from the Forest who has climbed her way into the second round after a stunning and quick, first round with the Silver Shark's Marley!"
When she entered, she was a tall specimen. Standing at the height of six-foot-five, she had toned muscles, and healed scars decorated her exposed arms and core. Her clothes were a mix, like those of a hunter and militaristic shades as she entered the ring. She was wearing an olive tank top, and her pants were earthtone and baggy. The boots on her were thick and platformed. And her hair was gray, tied up in a ponytail with split bangs over her blindfolded eyes; the scar on her lip looked like a decoration, the way she openly displayed it as a badge of honor.
"She is labeled as the fastest mage in the Valley. Will Lance be able to handle her extreme speed? Please help me welcome back into the ring, your Head of Forest Guard, Cecillia!!"
As we watched her, almost everyone had a look of disdain on their face, but I and a few others did not want to judge too quickly. Despite her not answering their questions, her refusal to do so didn't mean she was the culprit.
The others who thought the same as I were: Nash, Ryo, Zeno, and perhaps Alphonzo… well… I had no idea what was going on in that guy's head half the time, but it didn't seem like he had a conclusion as to who was the culprit as of yet. This match, after all, seemed like more of a test than anything else.
The room felt safer with him in it, observing… ever so vigilant. I hated the effect he had on me.
Before the match had started, Henza had passed by Nash and greeted him. "Pleasure seeing you again." There was a hint of jab within it.
"You two know each other?" I asked incredulously.
Nash glanced at him with a scowl, and Henza smirked as if he had seen his response coming, or so he thought…
"Sorry, who are you?" Nash asked, almost politely.
I burst out laughing.
Utterly dumbfounded, Henza said, "You're joking…" He looked at him intently to see any lies, or maybe even a jest. He did not. "You really don't remember who I am?"
"Hmm…" Nash said, crossing his muscular arms and tilting his head, trying to remember.
He did seem to recognize his voice; thinking about where he had heard it from. About a month or so ago, he told me had fought someone who was overly-bandaged who then turned into some dark, wild-haired demon. He studied Henza's face…
"Oh!" Nash said as if remembering.
Henza raised a brow. "Precisely," he said, maybe a bit too quick before clarification.
"You're one of my fans from the event a month ago! How are the gains?" Nash said with utter sureness.
Henza, as if someone had smacked his head from behind, fell over at the sheer obliviousness of the man. He truly does not remember me… this hurts more than when he kneed me in the face, and I skipped like a rock across the field.
So that's what happened? I swear these invading thoughts from others were making me question if it was truly theirs or if I was just self-deluding…
Henza composed himself, "No matter… If you suspect anything while the match begins, be sure to notify Alphonzo or me." He said lastly as he turned around with a hand in his pocket and waved the other above him without looking.
Nash blinked and then focused back on the screens.
"And in the other corner!—" the announcer went on, "we have returning into the ring, the golden-clad warrior of the Golden Rose Knights. The right hand of the Valley's princess herself! Please help me welcome back 1st Vice Captain of the Golden Roses, Lance!!"
Hesitant cheers sounded from the audience, remembering his aggressive first match. They all seemed to wonder if that was going to be the case again here with Cecillia as he slowly made his entrance.
Lance had a noticeable scowl upon his face. He looked like he was going to murder someone, but for the time being, the Sensory mages stationed all over the front rows of the arena had not sensed hostility—rather, it was on the cusp of becoming that way, so they were weary regardless.
The face he wore was the complete opposite of what his attire had boasted. His proud golden armor glinted off the high sun, and his sheer cape fluttered from the soft breeze that flowed into the ring. The true look of a knight in shining armor, but with a fucking vendetta.
When he finally made it feet away from Cecillia, he stood there and crossed his arms. He looked as if he was looking down on her with the way he held up his chin.
"For this round, we will not be changing the environment of the ring. Though we have fixed the ring to its previous state, the magic circuits for it had been damaged from the last match, and our mages are hard at work putting it back together as we speak. We anticipate it to resume, hopefully, after this match! We thank you for your patience on the matter…"
That was also a stall. And a believable one at that. They didn't want any distractions while they built their case…
From where she stood, Cecillia readied herself in a fighting position, preparing for the announcer to commence the battle.
"Now… let the first match of the Valley Tournament's second round begin!!!"
The minute he said this, Cecillia disappeared entirely, leaving only a trail of dust from where she had once stood.
Back in the Warriors' Keep, we had all been cautious. Just in case she had somehow made it in here with us to take someone else… and if I had to speculate… the one going next, due to the fact that he had exposed the culprit's route of attacks, would be Alphonzo himself. In theory at least.
If everyone's speculations are correct, her ability was closely related to the Dimensional Territory sub-space rifts… meaning her ability was more than just 'Timeskip' magic, as Goro had stated. However…
After a few short seconds, Lance had disappeared as well.
The crowd gasped, and from the Keep, Viper had yelled, "I fucking knew it!"
"Wait," Henza said from behind.
"What do you mean, wait? Lance just disappeared! His magic doesn't do that!" Viper shouted.
"I understand, but just wait…" Henza said once more.
I watched him from where I had been standing, next to Nash, looking back to where Jo had been sleeping on the couch. Nyx was there too, but just in case—I kept an eye.
Back in the empty ring, there was nothing but silence. The audience sat in silent anticipation, keeping their eyes on the ring ever so vigilantly so as not miss anything.
Where the Black Wolves were, Code had switched thoughts with Brand.
Did you notice too? Brand's thought.
Aye. Just waiting to confirm… Code's
You don't think…?
Silence between the two as Code remained thinking. But then…
Without an inkling of coming, a loud collision entered the ring and smoke filled the air from where it had occurred.
The audience was awestruck and watched intently at the occurrence.
Then, in the smoke, were two silhouettes… one standing over the other, and the other on the ground, at the center of the crater. Everyone's eyes were glued. Whereas we in the Keep were vigilant of our surroundings…
As the smoke continued to clear, the figures within became more visible. From within, Lance had been standing over Cecillia with an armored hand on her throat, and a trail of blood running down her mouth.
The crowd gasped again as they bore witness to the sudden appearance of the two contenders, the match appearing to be already over in a matter of seconds.
As Lance slowly stood up straight with Cecillia still in his grasp, he walked out of the crater agonizingly slow. He dragged her body as he did, and she didn't struggle. It had appeared she was utterly unconscious.
When he reached the edge of the crater he had caused, he threw her onto the arena, and she thudded feet away from him, facing upward. Even with her beige, wrap of a blindfold over her eyes, just one glance of her was all the announcer needed to see before—
"Wow! And just like that, in a matter of seconds, the winner of this match goes to Lance of the Golden Roses!"
The crowd roared, and Lance walked away completely uninterested. He threw his hands in his pockets, which were somewhere hidden within his clad gold armor, and walked off with his eyes closed back into the Warriors' Keep.
"That's our Lance!" Viper shouted. "Holy fuck, how did he do that?"
"At least he was a lot calmer than what was reported…" Rex said, anticipating he was going to beat Cecillia to near death like he did his subordinate.
"He's less aggressive with women, regardless of how powerful they are," Viper responded.
That crash and how he dragged and threw her in the ring was anything but 'less aggressive', but I suppose if you compared it with how Maine had turned out…
"So much for being the Head Guard," Nash said. "But I guess that's just how powerful the members of the Golden Roses are."
I didn't say anything. Remaining vigilant. Times like this were exactly when the culprit liked to strike.
But as we waited… nothing happened. And nothing happened at all, even as Lance had entered the Keep. Both Viper and Love went over to him, praising his performance, whatever and however he did what he had done.
I looked over to Alphonzo and Henza, who hadn't said anything since the end of that match. And as I watched everyone else, they all seemed quiet, remaining as they were. The Keep was awkwardly silent. No one was letting their guard down, even though Cecillia was still in the ring, getting retrieved by the healer mages and put away on a stretcher.
It was at that time that I saw Snow leaving for the halls.
"And where are you going, doofus?" I said to him.
He glared at me and said, "I'm gonna make sure Cecillia actually makes it back here and doesn't take out the healers on the way." He had a point with that. There were no cameras within the hallways, so this would be a good move to ensure. "Wanna come?"
I appreciated the invite, but before I could make a move, I sensed a flick of a finger in the room, and in an instant, Snow was bonded within a yellow bonding ring. I whipped my head over to Henza, and Nash had reacted too, as if he finally realized something. And in almost a blink, we were both at Henza's face.
The sound of gust rushing surged past him as we arrived.
"You planning on something, Henza?" I said, fist inches away from him once again. And Nash had a similar fixed gesture as well. Had we continued, the strike from us both just might be overkill.
Henza continued to look past us with a bored look on his face. If I had to commend the guy on anything, it was his poker face. Or perhaps, he truly wanted to die as he says.
He sighed, "I wish you two would just follow through and end me, I'm so very tired…" he said with such utter disregard for his own life.
"That's precisely what I was going to do, but…" I replied, but once again I was stalled.
When I looked down, those same chains had stopped me as they protruded out from our shadows and onto both Nash and my ankles.
"Alphonzo, what are you doing?" I shouted to him from where he was, leaning by a wall of the Keep.
"What are you doing, is the real question." He replied to me.
"Henza just stopped Snow from checking on Cecillia on her way back—"
I didn't even get to finish my sentence before Alphonzo responded, already knowing what I was going to say, "I am aware. And it is a good precaution, but I was the one who gave Henza the order to bind Snow."
"You what?" I retaliated.
"From my perspective, you are all suspects. If any of you leave my sight and a vanishing happens, I am forced to place you higher on that list of suspects. It is my duty to catch this culprit in the shadows while the Valley conducts its Tournament with ease. If any of you make that any more difficult than it has to be, I am forced to restrain you and disqualify you from the Tournament entirely—per Daz's orders," he scanned us all and then locked his crimson eyes onto mine with that dreadful glare. "And if you force my hand, acting captain, I'll personally make sure your Guild is abolished without any further delay. You are well past the point of grace anyway—it will be easy and swift work."
Nash and I remained silent as he said this. When I looked at the chain that halted him, I knew he could break it, but he was being smart and listening to reason so as not to waste one of his Lives on a trivial matter.
Nash relaxed at this time, and Alphonzo released him shortly after.
"At least the subordinate listens. Unlike their captain." Alphonzo dissed.
I glowered at him as he did, retracting my fist as well. I then threw my hands into my pockets and said, "Alright, well if not us to go, then who?"
"I'm glad you asked. Henza, you may go," Alphonzo said casually—still no expression found on his face whatsoever.
Right then, Henza stuck out his hand and pulled it back, reeling in Snow, who was still bonded, and dragged him further in. He remained bonded, in that same position he had been until he was in the middle of the Keep with us. Then and only then did Henza release his bond on him.
Snow checked his movements and then looked at me afterward like I had any say in it at all. I merely shrugged at him a bit disdainfully, because of Alphonzo's reasoning, then said, "So, you don't trust us, but you trust a traitor's lapdog?"
"Ouch…" Henza replied sarcastically as he proceeded to the exit where Snow had once attempted to leave through.
Alphonzo didn't say anything for a moment, but then finally replied, "Henza's on a tight leash. Be grateful all you have to do is sit like a good Black Wolf."
I clicked my tongue in response, and just like that, I felt like I was in court again.
"Let me go with him," Nash said out of the blue.
Alphonzo raised a brow.
"On a scale of one to ten—and ten being absolutely-do-not-trust, where am I on that spectrum?" Nash asked. A very well thought-out question. Even I raised a brow at that in amusement.
One could not ask it without knowing, without a shadow of a doubt, the answer before you even dared ask that to the Vice Chairman of the Valley Parliament.
"About a two… almost a one. In fact, I trust you much more now after that question alone." Alphonzo said.
"Then it's settled. I was the one who turned him in after the incident, after all," Nash cleverly said. "Besides, you need someone to hold that leash while you stay in the Keep and observe the rest in here, do you not?"
I smirked and just let Nash do his thing, turning away and waving a hand at him afterward. In turn, he nodded at me and followed Henza, catching up and then walking side by side with him until they exited.
"I take it you finally remember who I am?" Henza asked.
Nash's cold stare forward and quiet demeanor were his only response as the shadows shrouded them when they at last left.
Alphonzo watched them and then said to me, "You have good comrades."
"Aye," was all I said. Nothing more.
I could feel Alphonzo's crimson eyes studying me as I walked away from him.
But right then, as odd as the timing was when Nash and Henza had left entirely, I heard a shout in the room, "There's no fucking way… I was paying attention the whole time!"
I looked over at her, slightly confused, at her sudden outburst.
Like a frantic child who also had a tantrum, Viper shouted once more, "She vanished! Love fucking vanished!"