Grier stood on the observation tower, gazing down at the city. He recalled his conversation with the woman from the Death Spiral.

"Our people? I'm sorry, but I think you're going too far." the man said.

"I know your people are seekers. Think about it. You'll be the only inhabited island after the Nullifiers arrive. Isn't that a fair payment?" she asked, playing with a lock of her auburn hair.

The king was stunned. He didn't know what to say. On one hand, why had the Death Spiral come to his island precisely? On the other, what this woman was proposing sounded tempting. However, it didn't change the fact that Grier didn't really trust the people from the Spiral.

"What's the chance you won't come back to finish us off?" he asked.

"Quite high. Trust me." she replied. "I know you have some talented cuties on this island. I'll be back in exactly a month. I expect you'll agree to this deal. I wouldn't want to kill those handsome guys. And especially not you, sweetie." the woman blew him a kiss in the air.

She left the room. King Sutos was left alone.

He crossed his arms on the wooden barrier.

"If I refuse, the inhabitants will be harmed. If they don't die of hunger first. If I agree, I might lose my best people, but the inhabitants won't starve." he thought quietly.

He had a lot of time to think, but he eventually had to make a decision. He stared at two of his residents, who were strolling carefree between the buildings. Grier straightened up and clenched his fists.

"Make or break." he declared.

He went downstairs and called his best guards. They all stood in a line.

"Is something wrong, my king?" one of the men asked.

***

The seekers spotted a building on the other side of the land. It was a beautiful wooden temple which was hidden in the big forest. The team were walking single file across a stone bridge.

"What is sacred is hidden within nature, which shapes itself at its own pace." Lok quoted.

"Mother Nature herself shaped this temple to guard the amulet with the legendary titan. It's an incredible sight." Sophie said.

Suddenly, the seekers were surrounded. The enemy unit had anticipated them. The members of the Death Spiral knew what they were doing. They came prepared with their titans.

For Lok's team, there wasn't enough free space to summon enough titans to balance the forces. Eventually, Lambert ordered them to summon their allies that could fly. Sophie summoned Sorcerel and the leader summoned Dendras. Harrison decided to summon Jericho. The seekers split and leapt to opposite sides of the bridge with hyperstride.

The confrontation between the groups began. At first, it seemed that the Spiral had a decisive advantage. However, their titans quickly returned to their amulets. One of the enemy hunters tried to attack Harrison with Augerfrost from behind, but Malia shielded him with a Armorbrand just in time.

"Thanks." he said.

"No problem" she replied with a smile.

They separated and moved to their chosen opponents.

Sophie was dealing with a group of Spiral members, who had a gleam in their eyes, eager to take her life. Both Casterwill and her titan showed great prudence and fluidity in their movements to avoid making mistakes in the battle. Nearby, Den and Cathy were dueling another group of people in black-and-white clothing. Cathy decided to summon Lunar and Solar, and Den summoned Arawn the Hunter to assist Sophie and end this charade more quickly.

"They picked a fine moment." the older Fears grumbled.

After a moment, Lok cleared the path to the temple with Harrison and Malia's support. The others joined them. The team entered a forest together. They walked along a sidewalk made of large stone slabs leading straight to the temple.

"Cherit?" Lok called.

"Yes Lok?" the gargoyle asked.

"Check the temple from the inside. I think something is happening there. Be discreet!"

The titan flew closer to the entrance. The dark wooden doors were slightly ajar, so he silently flew inside the wooden-plant structure.

"Lok was right." he whispered to himself.

At the entrance to the underground, two Spiral members were standing guard. After a quick reconnaissance, the gargoyle returned to his friends and relayed what he had just seen.

"Who would have thought" Den said.

"Do you think they already got the titan?" Malia asked.

"Quite possible. But that's not what I'm worried about. First, we need to take down those two without raising the alarm" Lok said.

"And then?" Cathy asked.

"Improvisation. As always" the leader winked.

"Why are you so useless?!" the woman demanded.

"We're doing our best, my lady" one of the subordinates replied.

"Then try harder! Otherwise, I'll ask Lady Shauna to assign more competent people to my group!"

The group of Spirals sped up their cutting of the roots. One of the four tried to melt it with a white spell of Ammoniacy, but the vegetation instantly regrew.

"Lady Arnetta, please help us. We can't manage this." another voice spoke up.

"Oh my gosh. You wouldn't even be able to tie your shoes without me." she replied, clicking her tongue in disgust. "Cut everything, Fan Dancer!" she summoned a titan.

A figure in a white mask and red samurai attire appeared next to her. Her weapon consisted of two white fans with red accents. She sprang into action.

"Intruders are coming!" Spiral woman ran in and fell at her leader's feet.

The Spiral members' gazes turned to the stairs. Lok's team quickly revealed themselves.

"Oh. Arnetta and company. What a surprise. What happened to Soril?" Lambert boy spoke.

"Attack them! What are you waiting for?!" the enemy woman shouted.

The numbers were equal. Each had an opponent. Cathy exchanged blows with one of Spiral women. The duel was evenly matched, but at one point, the enemy got behind her and bound her hands.

"You move very well" she complimented.

"I don't need to hear that from an enemy!" she retorted and threw her opponent to the ground.

A woman with a lock of orange hair cast Poisonfang. Lambert girl dodged the spell. Spiral woman sprang up energetically and charged at her opponent again.

Den and Vigilante fought against another person in a black and white outfit and his Desert Warrior. Fears' titan swung his swords, continuously clashing with the opponent's weapons. The boy charged at Spiral warrior. They began exchanging blows interspersed with kicks and offensive spells.

Lok fought against Arnetta and her titan.

"You're so sweet. It's a pity you're too young for me" the woman said during a break between attacks.

Lambert was astonished by this confession. That it was even spoken. Meanwhile, he blocked an oncoming fan from the enemy titan with his sword.

"See, I don't find you appealing. Besides, I never said I was looking for a girlfriend" he struck with Raypulse.

"Oh. You don't like girls? Or maybe you prefer boys?" she asked with a smirk.

"You'll end up in hell with those questions one day" he said, then swung his sword, creating a blue wave.

The woman jumped, avoiding the troublesome attack.

"I've known it for a long time" she replied.

She cast a Fireswarm. Lambert blocked it with a shield.

"Like every member of the Death Spiral. But uniquely, only you have a foul mouth" he stated.

He aimed the Touchram at the Fan Dancer, sending her back to the amulet.

Sophie and Malia, with the support of Sorcerel and Lisinder, were dealing with another pair of Spiral members and their Apinatas. The girls' titans joined forces and together defeated one of the opponents, ending with a return to the amulet. The pink-haired sorceresses quickly defeated the second titan. They moved to attack one of the enemy seekers. Casterwill and Lyssa, with synchronized movements, finished off the second person in a black and white outfit.

"You've improved since last time" said Sophie.

"Nice to hear that from you. Thanks" the second girl replied.

Meanwhile, their titans finished off the second opponent. Malia moved to attack Spiral warrior from behind, who was fighting Cathy. Sophie took the advantage of the moment of confusion and used Powerscan. She hoped to locate the legendary titan.

"There's magic everywhere. It's disrupting the amulet's location" she muttered.

Suddenly, Lok ran smack into Casterwill girl.

"Lok" she said, worried.

"Hello dear. It's a shame we didn't have a chance to talk during the storming of your Fortress" Arnetta said, walking slowly towards the pair.

A dark spell shimmered in her hand. Sophie, dazed and helpless, looked towards the woman.

"I won't make that mistake. Death Arrow!" she cast the spell.

Unexpectedly, the woman was hit in the back by Augerfrost, and the stream of dark power struck the temple.

"Sorry to interrupt your nefarious plans" said Malia.

Moments later, Cathy finished her off with Raypulse, slamming her into the plant-based wall. Unexpectedly, the woman began to be bound by vines.

"It wasn't a good idea to use that dangerous spell here" Casterwill stated.

The woman used Auraforce and escaped with her companions, shouting behind: "It's not over yet!".

Malia healed Lok's wounds. Suddenly, the ground beneath the seekers collapsed. They landed in a wooden corridor. Everyone slowly got up.

"Wow. Even the Spiral didn't discover this" said Den.

"The nature in this place senses the intentions of the seekers. Someone who uses dark magic doesn't compel trust. You all saw what happened to Arnetta" Sophie said.

The team entered a large hall. Three huge snakes slept before them. Each was a different color. From left to right their skin was green, blue and purple.

"What are they doing here?" Harrison asked.

"Quiet" Sophie whispered. "We don't want to wake them, right?"

One snake slowly opened its eyes. Quiet voices of fear were heard among the group. The python rose and hissed loudly. Moments later, the other two woke up.

"Looks like we can't avoid a fight" the leader stated.

Without hesitation, he summoned Kipperin and rose into the air. Lambert didn't know what the plan should be to deal with the opponents. He only knew they had to gauge the strength of these three huge fellows. After a moment, he announced this to his friends.

"Cypherdex, scan these titans" Sophie commanded the device.

"No titan found" the electronic voice responded.

"So what is it then?" Harrison asked.

"A creation of Mother Nature herself. There's probably no other explanation" the leader replied.

A snake aimed its head at Den. He dodged using a Hyperstride. The second opponent spat green slime at Lambert. At the same time, the third attacked Sophie and Cathy with its head.

"Armorbrand" Lambert's sister protected herself from the attack.

"Lok. We can't dodge them forever" the older Fears reminded.

"You're telling me like I didn't know" he said, dodging another air attack.

"It seems these three pythons must guard the amulet" said Cherit.

"I have an idea. Den, Harrison, take the one on the right. Cathy and I will take the one in the middle. Cherit, help the girls with the last one" Lok commanded.

The leader flew straight at the monster and struck it with Overslam. Together with his sister, they hit it with Raypulse. The python fell to the ground, emitting a final loud hiss. The other two huge snakes also hit the ground after a shorter while. In the place they desperately didn't want to leave, there was a small gap. Everyone gathered in a circle. At her brother's request, Cathy reached for a silver ring with a green gem.

"Are you sure about it, brother?" she asked.

He nodded.

"So here we go" she demonstrated the amulet. "Get us out of here, Legendary Titan of Earth: Geomar!" the girl summoned her new friend.

A massive golem made of stone, earth, and rocks appeared before the seekers, then hit the ground. Unexpectedly, they were all pushed towards the surface. After everything calmed down, it turned out the legendary golem had created a very tall tree in their place.

"Now that's an effective exit" Den murmured.

"Too much effective" Cathy replied, looking down.

The plant created by Geomar was twice as tall as the trees in the area. Sophie quietly laughed.

***

The team was sitting in the living room, engaged in their own activities. Among other things, the Fears siblings were puzzling over the younger one's homework.

"The answer is still different than the one at the end of the book" Harrison said.

"Damn it. I'm sure this is how it should be calculated!" Den replied.

"Math?" the leader looked their way.

"Yeah" they responded with a lack of enthusiasm.

"I'm so glad I don't have to look at that anymore" Lok muttered to himself, clicking something on his holotome.

"What is it now?" Malia asked.

She put aside her notebook and moved closer to Fears. She looked at the task and then at the calculations.

"Uh. You started right, but here it's wrong" she pointed to the correct spot. "First, you added, then multiplied. Did you forget the order of operations? These are basics taught since first grade."

"Now that you've mentioned it, I see it now" Harrison moved the paper towards himself and began recalculating.

"So I was telling you right. This is one of the few things I remember from math" Den said to his brother.

"Have you ever write tests without cheating?" Lyssa asked.

"Hey. There are school subjects and filler subjects. I only prepare for the latter."

"Is there anything that really interests you?" Lok looked at his friend.

"The school cafeteria."

Malia chuckled.

"Hey, why did you laugh?" Den asked.

"Nothing, nothing" she shook her head. "I just realized we both like to eat well."

"Now the result matches the one in the answers" Harrison said after finishing the calculations.

"Don't worry. Even the best make mistakes" she consoled.

"Hey, Malia. You have an exam next week, right?" Lok asked.

Lyssa nodded. "The day I've been waiting for so long."

Suddenly, Cathy burst into the living room.

"Lok! Lok!"

"What's going on?" Lambert looked towards his sister.

"I don't know when, but I found a letter in my pocket. Someone wrote about our mom" she handed the scrap of paper to her brother.

Everyone looked at the young woman.

"This handwriting. It's Zhalia" Lok said, holding the scrap of paper.

"There was one woman who told me I moved well. She must have planted it on me. Only problem is, I remembered her with a different hair color" Cathy recalled.

"Zhalia sacrificed a lot, including changing her appearance. Among other things, she dyed her hair" Sophie stated.

"She had to do something to not be immediately identified as a Foundation agent" Malia said.

"I wonder why she didn't use the Logosbook to write it to Dante" the leader pondered.

"Maybe she wanted to convey it directly to us. After all, it's our mother" Lambert's sister said.

Death Spiral Base

Shauna entered a room separated by grid. She looked at a bound and gagged woman.

"We're around the corner" she smiled cruelly.

Then she kicked her in the face, knocking off her glasses. The blonde let out a cry full of pain.

>>>>>>>>>

Author's note
Hello, sorry for not updating it regularly. I have a lot of work nowadays. I will try my best to keep translating it to the end and I will start new Huntik fanfic when my life will be calmer than it's rn.
Kisses and hugs lovely seekers <3