"Everybody know the plan?" You asked.

"Yeah." They all replied.

"Alright then." You sighed. "Racer, you're first."

At Mermaid Heel . . .

"Who's there!?!"

There was a crash at the front of the guild and the doors were seemingly kicked in. Dust was flying everywhere and the guild members were running around frantically.

"Where's Kagura? Someone go get Kagura!"

A guild with only a single powerhouse: Mermaid Heel. And she isn't truly strong anyways. Her strength stems from revenge. She only has one goal, one reason why she learned magic. Once her revenge is complete, she'll be weak again.

That's if she lives that long.

"I'm here." Kagura announced, running into the room with her sheathed sword in hand. She stopped moving once she saw what was in the guild's entrance. "What is that?"

The head of a man and the body of a lion. It's the Sphinx.

"Hello, hello." He greeted.

"Who are you?" Kagura demanded.

"Excellent question, but asking questions is my job."

"Stand back, Kagura!" Risley ran up to the mage.

"Risley, explain yourself!"

"I'll distract this thing while you attack it." She whispered. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Kagura furrowed her eyebrows, having a bad feeling. "Don't get too close to it." She warned.

Risley turned around to face the Sphinx. "How can I help you?" She smiled, attempting to seem fine and under control.

"Answer a riddle and answer correctly." The Sphinx said.

"A riddle? Sure thing, pal."

"People hate me. Despise me. They try their best to keep me away from them. But I'm always there. And I always will be. As long as life exist, so shall I. What am I?"

The questioned mage tensed up and shock was present on her face.

"What, did you expect a little kid's riddle?" The Sphinx laughed. "Answer wisely."

Risley panicked and her breathing quickened. Something that people hate. Something that people hate. Something that's always around. Pain? People hate pain. But wizards don't exactly run away from pain. "I . . I don't know."

The Sphinx growled. "Typical human. 'I don't know' is not an answer! The correct answer was," He lowered his head to the tanned girl's level, "Disease. Disease is something people hate and try to avoid because, after all, nobody likes getting sick. But disease will always exist as long as there's life. Thanks for playing and I hope you enjoy the ride!" In one swift movement, the Sphinx opened his mouth, grabbed Risley, and threw her in. There was no need to chew something so small (compared to him), so he just swallowed.

"R-Risley!" Kagura looked at the creature in horror, as did the rest of the guild. "You monster! What did you do!"

"That's the way my riddles work." He shrugged. "If you don't answer them correctly or if you don't answer them at all, you die. She would've just dropped dead anyway. I didn't think you'd want to deal with the cleanup."

"How dare you eat one of our members!" Kagura snarled. "I swear, I will-"

"AHHH!"

One by one Mermaid Heel Mages were cut down, the culprit too fast to see.

"Answer this," The Sphinx grinned, narrowing his eyes at Kagura. "I will eventually get you and I will leave you cold. You can run and hide, but you can't escape my hold. You see, you and I were destined to meet one day. And it's only a matter of time before I come out to play. What am I?"

"If you don't answer them correctly or if you don't answer them at all, you die."

Rats! Kagura hissed in her head. This is simple. All I have to do is answer the riddle correctly. Now, he said that it was something that will leave me cold. Can't escape it and I was destined to meet it. What am I destined to meet? A lightbulb went off in Kagura's head. Could it be-

Her eyes widened and she gasped. If only it was due to the fact that she might have solved the riddle. She felt a burning pain in her chest.

"You were too slow." Racer said to the mage from the Sphinx's back. "Let's go." He ordered to the creature.

The Sphinx raised it's head and spun around, running out of the guild.

"No." Kagura said weakly. She gripped her sword tightly and ignored the burning in her chest. I must make haste! She began running after the large animal, only to have something thrown at her.

The object hit her in the face, making her stop running. She looked down at it cautiously. It was a sphere and it glowed a red-orange color.

Everything happened in a split second.

The wizard guild Mermaid Heel exploded. The sphere was a bomb. The mages inside and anyone who happened to be nearby was killed.

"Wow, Toxin was right." Racer said, watching the aftermath of his work. "This guild was child's play. But we did have the element of surprise on our side."

"Keep it that way."

Startled, Racer looked over his shoulder. "Toxin? Y-You were watching?"

"Of course." You smirked, sitting on your Griffin's back. "The other guilds will find out soon and figure out it was us."

"How will they know it was us?"

"Two letters: O & S. Oraciòn Seis. Wrote it on the ground using someone's blood." You looked ahead. "Look."

Racer looked forward and there it was, written in blood were the letters O and S. And it was right in front of what use to be Mermaid Heel.

"When did you do that?" He asked. He had been watching the guild since he left and he didn't see you.

"Just now while I was talking to you. I control things, remember? C'mon. The next guild is easy too. It's full of drunks, but Hoteye's going to take them out."

War Status:
Mermaid Heel - eliminated
Quatro Cerberus - next