*Starting Scene*

Ilya and Yuki are suddenly seen embracing Sano's torso while on opposite sides of his person, which had Ilya go to her male comrade's left to do so as Yuki's poised onto his right, and are bent toward the spiky-haired lad with their nicely-shaped behind sticking out. This almost permits their undergarments to be visible as the trio had gotten much closer to the Southern Gate because of there only being roughly two meters dividing them from it.

Sano, having one of Ruyi Jingu Bang's ends partially submerged into the earth right ahead of him via the same hand he used in drawing it out from his backside, enthusiastically suggests with his eyes glimmering while peering up, "Be sure to hold on tight or ya'll rocket through the sky!"

Ilya and Yuki steer their concentration to Sano due to both briefly looking at the ground when they wrapped they arms around him while even more fright envelops the two girls as they simultaneously question, "Huh?!"

Sano promptly assures the two nervous teenagers without taking his eyes off the top of the double doors and profoundly emanates optimism. "Everything will be fine! Even if that were to happen, at least ya'll get to experience the wonderful feeling of flying! Now extend, Ruyi!"

Just when Ilya and Yuki were going to release a complaint to Sano's joke, all three of them immediately ascend to the sky thanks to Ruyi Jingu Bang's extremely rapid expansion with the golden-eyed gentleman implementing a powerful grip on it while cheerfully laughing during the two Spellcasters' distraught screaming as their eyes are tightly shut. Less than a few seconds later, the three friends surpass the Southern Gate's top by a lot as Ruyi Jingu Bang quickly slows down with Ilya and Yuki having the unfortunate timing to open their eyes to stare downward, engulfed in panic at witnessing how much they have elevated, while no longer screaming since they're too stunned by the terrifying sight.

At the same time, Sano locks his vision onto the area below as he's not very bothered by the present situation and plainly comments, "Dang it. I overshot it like I thought I would." The jacket-endowed boy switches his attention to Ilya and Yuki with his optimism returning. "Well, bright side, you girls didn't let go so you avoided being launched into space!" Sano closes his eyes while wholeheartedly smiling.

The distressed pair revert their focus to Sano with a fairly upset demeanor included while yelling in unison after shutting their eyes again, "Not funny!"

Sano holds back the urge to laugh at the united outburst and abruptly commandeered Ruyi Jingu Bang to tilt forth so the trio can vault over the metallic structure. After doing that, the tanned young man dismounts the orange staff from the ground, causing all three individuals to fall toward the terrain within Velkry while producing a scary amount of velocity. The drastic change in direction forces a horrified cry from both Ilya and Yuki as they keep their eyes closed, screaming louder than before while feeling like they're about to lose their grip on Sano. Then, without much effort, Sano maneuvers his hands accordingly so the end of Ruyi Jingu Bang that was closest to his right hand's location is aimed downward with his left hand grabbing a section of the other half that's now completely hoisted in the air. Once that's accomplished, as there's only a handful of meters separating the trio from the ground, Ruyi Jingu Bang's promptly driven to the terrain by its golden-eyed wielder letting the orange staff easily slide through his grasp without fully releasing their hold, submerging it quite a bit into the earth, and helps to safely decrease the three friends' descent in no time at all until arriving at the street leading to the Southern Gate.

Following that nearly traumatizing experience, Ilya and Yuki take a moment to even consider unraveling their embrace from Sano, maintaining their eyes profusely shut as they're totally lost about what recently transpired.

Sano, making Ruyi Jingu Bang go back to its normal size, has both arms elevated over his head while doing a quick double-take between the two girls and is amused to a good extent. "You can let go now."

The female duo open their eyes, still unsure of their circumstance as they blink several times without any other sort of action, and then shyly analyze the surroundings to confirm if what Sano said is the truth. With that, they hastily remove themselves from Sano, making their posture upright, while turning a significant shade of red due to embarrassment as their focus is deviated to elude eye contact and stay quiet for some time.

Sano keeps being amused and lowers his raised limbs to place Ruyi Jingu Bang near his thighs in a horizontal angle with his attention sustained onto the flustered chicks.

Meanwhile, a male voice echoes from ahead as he sounds very delighted. "Look who it is! I swear, you know how to pop up suddenly, Ilya!"

Ilya mildly gags with her person instantly stiffening out of aggravation while muttering, "I recognize that voice... Oh, why do I have to recognize that voice...?!" The white-haired Spellcaster says that last part in a somewhat depressive tone after dropping her head a tad. Eventually, Ilya feels compelled to face towards the male voice's origin as she speaks loud enough to be heard with an unenthusiastic personality. "Hello, Soren..."

Soren's immediately revealed, having an annoyed Cali stationed to his upper left because of Ilya's arrival, as both are directed toward the trio standing not far away from the Southern Gate while exhibiting a cocky attitude. "What's up?!"

Ilya rebuttals while clearly not caring much for conversing with Soren, who's notably located multiple meters forth. "Just got here if you didn't see that." She glimpses at Cali before reverting her concentration toward Soren and folds her arms together. "Obviously, the troll continues to follow you around. Is she some kind of freakish puppy too?" Ilya smirks in a smart-ass way.

Cali's immensely enraged by Ilya's words as she fiercely shouts from across the accessory-wearing girl while both hands are clenched and elevated in front of her torso, "Screw you, Ilya! You're merely jealous of my beautiful, thin body and that I have Soren when you desperately wish he was yours!"

Ilya gags again, however more profusely since she's completely disgusted with her head bobbing to the right in accordance to every retch expelled while the hazel-eyed person's right hand is mounted atop the center of her chest, until refocusing on Cali and yells in anger, "You delusional dunce! I'd freaking commit twenty-seven forms of suicide if either one of those two things were remotely true!"

Yuki, having remained facing toward Sano from his right, giggles while silently observing the argument between Ilya and Cali with her posture vaguely tilted to the left as both hands are planted onto her hips, again neglecting her purse's presence to the point that it was a miracle the bag hadn't flown off amidst the trio's ascension because of a strap having been pinned onto Sano's person during the embrace.

Soren demonstrates a smug behavior and laughs a little prior to letting out a soft sigh with his eyes shut while thinking, "It's so hard being so damn handsome! Bitches are always fighting over my jock! What's a man to do?!" The bleached-haired lad happily smiles as he puts his right hand into his shorts' pocket belonging to the same side. After finishing that thought, Soren reopens his light brown eyes to veer his gaze toward the others accompanying Ilya and realizes that Sano's also present. This causes the Velkry Spellcaster to become extremely upset due to recalling the event that occurred inside Deluxe Spring, quickly points his right hand's index finger at Sano and abruptly yells, "You're the bastard that kick me on the head, aren't you?!"

Despite his outburst gaining Ilya, Yuki and Cali's attention, Sano totally ignores Soren as he's currently immersed into staring at something else that has the staff-wielder practically entranced. It's then shown that the reason Sano's not paying mind to Soren is because he's going through a stare-off with Dreka, who had been standing toward the furious young man's right in a sideways position while gazing at the half-breed teen out of the corner of his eyes.

Soren slightly lowers his extended appendage, continually switching his attention from Sano and Dreka, as the white-clothed gentleman faintly inquires in a confused manner, "What the...?" 

While that transpires, Yuki gives Sano a worried expression and hesitates to stretch her right arm toward the tanned male while carefully uttering, "Sano..."

Ilya adds to Yuki's attempt to communicate with Sano as she's just as worried and had lightly adjusted her stance so she could confront him, "Is everything okay?" The headband-endowed female takes a look at Dreka as she thinks, "I wonder why Dreka's here... Shouldn't he be trying to fight the intruders too?"

Unexpectedly, Dreka's the first to break the stare-off instead of Sano by navigating himself to face away and whispers to Soren before commencing to walk up the street everyone's on, "You know what to do. We're counting on you."

Soren's a tad caught off guard, however, snaps out of it to sternly nod at the departing Dreka. "I understand!"

In the meantime, Sano witnesses Dreka steadily distance himself and thinks with suspicion brimming, "That dude reminds me of someone very dangerous." A memory flickers within his mind of a moment when he was thirteen, hiding behind one of numerous trees residing in a forest as he's peering over the vertical timber via his head turned to the right since he's sitting with his back against the tree's trunk while containing Ruyi Jingu Bang draped over his currently crossed legs. Right after that, the sight of blood splattering everywhere reflects upon Sano's golden eyes while a terrible cry of anguish reverberates from the unknown source. Completing his instantaneous recollection of the past, the jacket-endowed lad resumes his train of thought just when Dreka unprecedentedly vanished without warning. "I'm gonna' have to be sure if he's even related to..."

Soren suddenly cuts off Sano's thought while saying to Ilya in a serious voice, "You know what's going on, right? The Saints Organization is attacking Velkry."

Ilya becomes ashamed after bringing her full attention back to Soren and simply nods.

Cali ferociously yells at Ilya with both hands down to her sides, "It's because of that nuisance you brought! If I remember properly, didn't he so-called PROMISE that he wouldn't cause trouble for Velkry, but does the exact opposite!" The brunette lifts her arms a tad while keeping them poised next to her person. "Hell, he's worse than your fat ass!"

Not liking anything Cali's saying, Yuki tries to interject herself, no longer having her right arm raised and had commandeer herself toward the diva's direction, as she's radiating impeccable anger, however, doesn't get the chance due to seeing Soren place his left hand upon the petite girl that's still toward his upper left. 

Cali sets her sights onto Soren and is overcome by curiosity while calming down a lot as her mildly elevated limbs are dropped. "Soren?"

Soren, gazing at Cali out of the corner of his peripheral vision so he could retain a good amount of his concentration on the trio ahead, answers in a cool manner with a hint of arrogance noted. "We don't have the time to spend blaming anyone. Our top priority is protecting our Holy Sanctuary. Once we've accomplished that, the Royal Council will decide what to do with the one responsible, alright?"

Cali hesitates for a moment until giving into Soren's charm while facing toward the Spellcaster. "Alright. I'll bear with it since it's you who's asking." She sincerely grins.

Ilya rolls her eyes to the left in irritation prior to asking Soren with a firm tone, "So what are we going to do in that case?"

Soren effortlessly responds as he takes a step backwards via his left foot and has his focus solely on Ilya now. "We should go to the Royal Council and get their direct orders. We're just lowly classed Spellcasters. Rushing into a battle that's likely being dealt by Velkry's Class S would bring nothing but trouble, don't you think?"

Ilya can't help agreeing to Soren's logic while sharply nodding. "Fine. That would be for the best after all. I only hope my brother and the others will be okay."

Soren restrains himself from scoffing as a nearly invisible scowl surfaces because of experiencing some discontent. "I'm sure they're all alright, especially your brother..."

Sano rejoins the conversation following him commencing to advance forth and mounts Ruyi Jingu Bang behind his neck. "I hope you don't mind, but I won't be tagging along."

Ilya, Yuki, Soren and Cali hurriedly zoom onto Sano with bewilderment overrunning them as they're temporarily speechless. Afterwards, the hazel-eyed teenager questions in a somewhat desperate and concerned voice, "Why, Sano?!"

Sano doesn't halt his walking, recently passing by Soren's right since he decided to go around him while making sure to be at a far enough distance to avoid accidentally hitting the brown-eyed person, as he peers toward the sky. "You can't expect me to let Dante and Trace have all the fun. Anyway, Velkry is pretty much my new home. What insane person wouldn't be eager to kick some ass for their home?" The cheerful individual closes his eyes and faintly chuckles without ceasing his departure.

Ilya acknowledges Sano's carefree dedication as she momentarily watches the black-haired male leave.

Yuki's inspired by what happened and faces Ilya with determination overflowing. "I'm going as well! As the princess of Tundra, it's my obligation to aid in defending the city that kept myself and my father safe! You can count on that, Ilya!"

Ilya turns her head toward Yuki while a little surprised, but soon gains a joyful smile before nodding again. "I will! Good luck!"

Yuki immediately veers away from Ilya and dashes forth, going right by Cali's left, to catch up to Sano in a matter of seconds.

Ilya promptly locks eyes with Soren while emitting seriousness. "Lead the way."

Soren raises his right eyebrow out of being very intrigued and skeptical. "You sure about that? I'd imagine you want to-"

Ilya interrupts Soren in a moderately harsh way after abruptly summoning the gold staff inside both hands currently stationed ahead of her abdomen with its rings beginning to float around the gem as she rests a section of the staff on her right shoulder. "I would, however, I already accepted going to see the Royal Council with you two and that's precisely what I'll do!"

Soren turns away from Ilya so she wouldn't be able to notice him demonstrating a sly smirk. "If you insist." The white-clothed male starts walking up the street while inserting both hands into his pockets.

*Scene Change*

Near the Northern Gate, Oscar's goblins rampage around as anyone or anything that may cross their path will suffer a brutal assault without remorse. Luckily, most of the civilians who normally reside in that area are presently absent since they were apart of Celty's group, however, this didn't spare those hiding within their housing as the green-skinned creatures eventually break in. Even though the lower class Spellcasters attempt to fight back, they aren't able to defend properly against the goblins' swiftness and overwhelming numbers while bloodshed transpires almost nonstop in addition to countless dreadful screams.

The sickening sounds of smashing upon flesh persists for a bit too long for any decent person's taste, and just when a distraught, battered women with her bleeding son who's barely six years old in her arms is moments from being beaten down by handful of crazed goblins in her own home, an unprecedented halt happens involving every single club-wielder within the nearby vicinity. After a few seconds, it's displayed that they all seem to have been put into a trance-like state as each stares idly in a happy daze until turning away from where the goblins were located and gradually leave, allowing salvation to those in peril. Then, as the goblins gather together at a section of the street around thirty meters from the Northern Gate, they find themselves in Lena's presence while gawking at her in an extremely infatuated manner with their tongues hanging out and are at a fair distance away.

Lena, who's back is aimed toward the Northern Gate's direction, giggles menacingly with her right hand's palm poised under her chin for leverage as her left arm's crossed beneath that limb's elbow and nonchalantly stands while entirely surrounded by a large horde of goblins. After that, the purple-eyed beauty glances at the many creatures before saying in a seductive tone, "Hi, boys. Well, I can appropriately assume you're boys based on how you're obviously violating me with your eyes. If any of you were girls, my magic would have a different effect, although that wouldn't have been too bad either." Lena switches her right hand's positioning to lightly touch her chin via the back of it and keeps up her seductive nature. "Now, be good boys and kill each other. Pretty please?" She winks at the goblins enticingly.

At hearing Lena's request, ferocity engulfs the goblins prior to commencing to attack each other without hesitation, causing loud, snarling noises and constant thuds echoing because of their clubs violently striking.

Lena observes the goblins battling among themselves, removing her right appendage to mount it atop her left arm, as a cold expression takes shape while murmuring out of discontent, "Dying at the hands of your own brethren... Not something uncommon for your race, but at least this time it's due to someone else's volition." The bobbed-hair woman's midsection is suddenly wrapped by a pair of elongated, rectangular, white-colored cloth that originated from in front of her, going through the goblins fighting in that area, and has a tight hold on Lena to the point that her breasts are being pressed up thanks to both joined arms. Despite the new development, Lena doesn't even bat an eyelash after having an instance to acknowledge her entrapment and looks forward to search for the one responsible as she blandly complements, "Good work. You got me whoever you are."

Abruptly, the battling goblins close to the two cloths are ensnared by countless others that extended toward them via different parts of their body and are immediately thrown into the sky so the path could be cleared for the person manipulating the nimble material. With that, footsteps are vaguely heard headed straight toward Lena during the crass landing of the currently descending green-skinned creatures across the place as the white cloths constricting her oddly don't lose any of their grasp upon the Velkry Spellcaster considering the separation concerning the wielder and Lena narrowing with every passing second. This only lasts until the feet belonging to the lightly reverberating footsteps stop roughly eight meters from Lena as the orange-haired dame enveloped in bandages is shown to be the culprit, having a lot of her skin presently visible since she utilized the cloths covering it in both the enemy's capture and for getting rid of Oscar's goblins that were in her way. Once she does that, the Saints Organization member gives Lena a snobbish glare amidst the bandages rapidly raveling themselves around her by themselves, saved the two that continue restraining the cloaked female via extending from opposing sides of the elite's torso, while trying to conceal her displeasure as she firmly comments, "I'm Haley Fletcher, you big-titted bimbo!"

Lena softly laughs with not even an ounce of worry demonstrated as she cocks her head to the left while goblins keep on fighting in the background. "Hey, you're no slouch in the boob department either." The busty chick poises her head properly and begins slightly weaving her body from side to side in a playful manner. "I'm guessing you aren't fond of women having a better bod, yeah? Makes you feel inferior. I don't blame you. It happens a lot to girls who are around me. They just can't hang with someone of a higher quality."

Haley's eyes narrow more than they already are, directing scrutiny towards Lena in the process. "You're a flamboyant one..." She unexpectedly licks her lips out of enjoyment with her personality instantaneously changing and says flirtatiously, "That's what I like in my women, actually."

Lena quickly stiffens up, surprise emanating from her person while detaining her movement, and weakly utters, "Hold on... Does that mean you're...?"

Haley giggles before instantly yanking the two elongated cloths binding Lena toward herself, still not utilizing her hands that are presently stretched to make the ginger be poised like a crucifix. Because of that, the bandages pull the brown-haired lady's feet off the ground as she's hurled forth and is promptly within Haley's range. At that moment, Haley swiftly caught Lena in a hug with sufficient strength that there appears to be no way for the tanned individual could possibly escape via brute means while the bikini-wearing opponent answers Lena's inquiry. "Just so you don't jump to any blasphemous conclusions, I'm straight, but I'm what you would call... An open-minded lover of all things I find sexy!" She giggles for a second time while continuing her flirting attitude with a bit more control over her behavior. "I won't have any unholy joining that may impair my entrance in heaven, but I can't deny that I'll have some enjoyment which borders sinning." Haley displays overwhelming confidence, pressing her chest against Lena's to attain a higher level of enjoyment in their contact, as her eyes glimmer greatly. "I'll simply have to pray for God's forgiveness later and then everything will be alright!"

Lena, having her feet touching the street's terrain once more thanks to her foe apparently lacking the power needed in maintaining the busty dame airborne, laughs nervously while not really trying to break free from Haley's overbearing grasp as she's grimacing a tad. "Wow... Looks like I got myself a scary enemy to fight, considering my Love Magic might fuel you instead of deterring you. I got my work cut out for me."

Curiosity replaces Haley's previous personality and responds with minor awe radiating. "Oh, so that's your ability!" The orange-haired beauty peeks over Lena's left by slanting her head to the right and sees the goblins relentlessly persisting their conflict with one another while calmly remarking, "You manipulated their hearts to obey you in the hope of getting your attention and love. That's very evil if you ask me."

Lena becomes quite tenacious while giving Haley a sinister grin. "I'm probably the evilest among Velkry's Class S Spellcasters, so I can't even attempt to dispute with that. Unless I want to be branded a liar. Though, you should know... The most basic form of my magic is what you're witnessing with those midgets. They're acting that way because they're guys. You know how it is... When it comes to love, aggression's their answer a good amount of the time. Only real men understand how to get a gal's fancy and that's by not senselessly fighting, although that doesn't mean they should never fight. As long as it's to protect the woman they truly love, then it's okay. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. That makes us, as women, responsible for accepting our more aggressive half so they could feel the comfort and the love they incredibly ache to have."   

Haley hurriedly emits a bored demeanor as she's looking directly at Lena via her head positioned correctly. "How interesting... What's next? You're going to tell me how your magic works on adversaries of the same sex?"

Lena shrugs in a laid-back method. "Why not? It's pretty simple, really." The purple-eyed dame gazes at the sky without tilting her head back while a hint of realization sets in. "On second thought, you'll figure it out after I ask you one question."

Haley's curiosity returns while watching Lena with her eyebrows raised a little and doesn't say anything.

Lena giggles mischievously as she makes her face get closer to Haley's, gazes deep into her yellow eyes and seductively asks, "What are some of your favorite sex positions?" 

Briefly stunned, Haley spaces out for several seconds until unprecedentedly releasing her hold on the bobbed-hair chick with both bandages entrapping her hastily unravel to rapidly go back to their wielder. After the cloths wrapped themselves around the female elite, some distance is created between Lena and Haley due to the latter taking a handful of steps backwards. She then repeatedly jerks her body around to prevent Lena from seeing her face, both hands planted on her cheeks with them being redder than a tomato, and squeals as her eyes are shut. "What are you doing?! That's beyond personal, but if you want to really know, I'll tell you my top three! They're missionary, doggy style and reverse cowgirl! The last two are very naughty, I know! Being a Saint, I'm not supposed to like them, but I can't help myself! I just love the way they feel!" Haley abruptly stops her wiggling with her eyes snapping wide open in panic prior to frantically reverting her concentration to Lena while shouting in an upset tone, "Why in God's name did I tell you that?!"

Lena teasingly waves her right index finger at Haley after lifting it in front of her face, having lightly turned her head to the left so she could deliver a sly wink toward the curly-haired individual, as a soft laugh escapes her lips. "Uh-uh. I won't be so fast to let the cat out of the bag yet. Not until I've had enough of torturing you." The Velkry Spellcaster laughs once again with glee brimming.

*Scene Change*

Still mentally scarred by what transgressed involving his best friend, Kinu sits not too far away as he's completely appalled, basically making him deaf to the loud noises made from the battles going on inside Velkry's grand wall, with both hands remaining atop the ground while his jaw's hanging.

Concurrently, Salamander takes a couple of steps toward Kinu, exhibiting an aloof behavior in doing so without caring about the fact that he remains covered by sticky liquid, while speaking without consideration like he did previously. "Mind if I take a few guesses at what's going through that bald head of yours? I bet I'll hit the mark in my first two tries." A taunting grin emerges from the Animal Tamer as he refrains from laughing, despite the desire slowly building within him.

Kinu merely gawks at Salamander and pants quite profusely during his effort of coming to terms with Carlile's entire consumption for the sake of taking vengeance.

Salamander chuckles before planting both hands on his waist as the giant lizard's head gradually slides into the part of the terrain it expelled from, causing the earth to tremble a bit, as the green-haired man declares enthusiastically, "Well, you didn't say no, so here I go!" He fist pumps via his right hand during the end of that sentence with his eyes closed until lowering it back down and resets his vision upon Kinu. "You're either thinking how's it possible I can command amphibians and reptiles to do my bidding since it's common knowledge that we, the Wilde Family, are usually limited to one species or you're trying to figure out how all this happened in no more than a minute." Salamander shows a disgruntled attitude with his head barely tilted to the right. "Another thing could be that you're going through a remembrance of your dead pal, but I hope it isn't. Kind of an unoriginal and boring habit for folks who saw someone they really care about die."

Kinu instantly slams his teeth shut while encased by rage due to how casual Salamander's acting as he sends an intimidating glare with both hands' fingers digging into the ground and resounds a threatening growl.

With disappointment looming, Salamander lightly slouches forth after repairing his head's posture. "Dang... It's that, wasn't it?" The red-eyed gentleman shakes his head and looks towards his right. "Man, why does everyone I fight have to be the same? Always having the same mindset. This war has gone on for twenty years, and yet, people can't prevent letting their emotions drive them when a comrade falls. It's not like I'm heartless though. If my brothers and sister were to die before my very eyes, I'd get pissed to a degree, but..." Salamander directs a cocky smirk at Kinu via turning his head forward. "The mission that we're on, as Saints members, comes first in every situation. No exceptions."

Kinu fervently retorts following him contorting his person forward a tad. "I don't give a damn about your mission!" An incredible surge of magic abruptly overflows from Kinu's being as his shadow quickly advances to combine with Salamander's.

Not allow much time to even contemplate evading, Salamander has a black blot beneath his feet thanks to Kinu's shadow detaching its link from the monk-looking male while the Wilde Family member simply observes without fretting. Then, the intangible mass immediately shoots upward to envelop the jumpsuit-wearing foe via a Shadow Tomb that's much smaller in comparison than the one Carlile had made.

Afterwards, without any of his intensity faltering, Kinu shouts as his eyes are glued to the shadow-based coffin, "Shadow's Edge!" The Shadow Tomb slowly generates numerous spikes like its predecessor, however, no screams are heard at all, which forces some distress to overrun Kinu while mumbling, "No, I'm certain I saw him being entrapped...! Why isn't-"

Salamander interrupts Kinu, although it wasn't on purpose considering he couldn't really hear the Gate Guardian, while sounding slightly exasperated. "Are you going to keep me in here all day?! You can't see it, but I'm in a very uncomfortable position right now!"

Kinu chooses not to utter a rebuttal due to being surprised by how relaxed Salamander spoke and also because he doesn't intend on releasing his enemy, despite how lackadaisically he issued the request as if they were friends.

Salamander momentarily groans out of frustration until stating in a fierce tone, "Fine! I'll just get one of my pets to do it! Slither # 2, I need another assist!" The earth promptly rumbles at that sentence's completion prior to the large lizard head resurfacing with its mouth open to bite down upon the Shadow Tomb spell and administers a great sum of pressure. This leads to the coffin to commence cracking, resulting in joy replacing Salamander's agitation while quipping, "Isn't it bad to take away what makes a shadow so versatile?! It's inability to be touched because then this happens!" The spiky-haired male chuckles as the Shadow Tomb Spell fully breaks apart in a sizable burst.

Thanks to that, Salamander's now free while briefly in the strange stance he mentioned earlier, which involves his left knee raised significantly with it poised to his side and has his arms stiffly outstretched toward opposing directions. Soon enough, the Asian gradually falls toward the lizard's continually opened mouth, creating the illusion that he's be eaten by it, but dodges that fate complements of the immense reptile closing its chompers and rests down onto the terrain, permitting Salamander to safely land atop the creature's head. At the same time, Salamander stands upright with every limb aimed downward as he comments to Kinu in annoyance, "You almost ripped my balls off, you know! Where the deuce is the compassion?!"

Even though he was bothered by how contradictory Salamander's words were, Kinu couldn't withstand experiencing a sensation of despair and terror dwelling inside as he watches the jumpsuit-endowed individual while thinking, "What is he?! To have those kind of reflexes is unreal! He eluded the Shadow's Edge so easily and had that gigantic lizard shatter the Shadow Tomb!" Anger mixes into his demeanor without halting his thought process. "Those were the best spells me and Carlile could use separately! Plus, we could only use them once a piece since it drains a whole lot of magic!" Kinu takes in a deep breath with his head faintly dropping and keeps on staring at Salamander as he murmurs, "This is leaving me in a tough bind! I got to come up with something to both protect Velkry and make it so that Carlile didn't die for nothing!"

Salamander becomes a bit irritated since Kinu's refusing to talk to him until getting a malicious idea before placing both hands back on his waist. "Alright! If you aren't in the mood to chat, then let's see if you're in the mood to turn into my other slithers' meal!"

Kinu's dumbfounded for a moment prior to the ground profusely shaking all over as two human-sized lizards that are very similar in appearance to the enormous head that Salamander's stationed on launch out from the bald man's front and back, making dirt scatter in the air. A passionate vocalization reverberates out of the reptilians and are currently elevated above Kinu while each attempts to catch his head within their mouth as a means of attack during their simultaneous descent upon the Shadow Manipulator Spellcaster. In response, Kinu does a fast double-take at both lizards with urgency brimming before dodge rolling to the right as he narrowly succeeded in his evasion.

To Kinu's dismay, the two lizards adjust their positioning amidst being airborne via directing their belly at the other as they mirror their movements perfectly, make contact with all four feet and immediately uses the built-up momentum to propel themselves toward the cloaked male again while trying to clamp down onto him in a sideways angle.

Kinu swiftly confronts the pair while his right knee rests on the ground since he wasn't allowed enough time to rise to his feet and sternly shouts, "Shadow Animation!" His shadow hurriedly gathers atop the earth's surface that's ahead of Kinu prior to jetting upward in a humanoid form once more as it blocks the scaled animals' path and receives the chomps intended for the light-skinned person. This gives Kinu a small moment of reprieve, fooling him into dropping his guard for a measly instance that was almost fatal due to suddenly feeling hands being mounted onto both of his cheeks from behind.

Meanwhile, it's revealed that Salamander stands right behind Kinu with a sinister grin emitted as he's staring down at the back of his adversary's head and is ready to apply the same method of death the green-haired adult dealt upon Carlile.

Fortunately, Kinu hastily yells in a panicked voice rather than making the mistake to merely look at Salamander, "Speed up!" He then sprints to his left with impressive speed, managing to avoid a terrible fate had he hesitated even for a second.

Salamander, retaining his hands floating in front of his body, dully watches Kinu running away and comments in a vacant voice, "That's just sad..."

Kinu, containing a little of the sticky residue that has ailed Salamander from the beginning on his cheeks until deciding to wipe it off via his right forearm briefly raised, doesn't say anything at all while mentally discussing with himself as the orchid-eyed individual refuses to gaze backwards. "I know it's cowardly, but I need to buy some time so I can devise a way to defeat that guy!"

Salamander chuckles menacingly as he cups his right hand partially around his mouth after putting the other lifted appendage down and orders in an enthusiastic manner, "Don't let him go anywhere, Slither # 5!"

Hearing that, Kinu experiences the ground relentlessly shake while compelling the monk-looking gentleman to peer at it, however, quickly realizes that the quakes aren't like the last few he felt and gasps out of horror with his eyes widening before snapping his head to the left. Right after, originating from the section of the forest not too far away, the shadow user witnesses a second enormous newt of the same breed like the first, except that this one has red spots instead of green, dash out while tearing apart the trees and bushes obstructing its way while heading straight toward Kinu with a mighty bark expelled. Sadly, Kinu isn't given any real time to evade because of the absurd agility the newt's implementing and is caught within the enlarged beast's jaws after making its head slanted toward the left.

As a result, the immense newt hoists Kinu into the air without releasing its hold on the Spellcaster, having poised its head properly, and slowly begins to consume the enemy.

Kinu valiantly attempts to break free, despite his arms being pinned by the newt's mouth, while his shadow that was contending with the two human-sized lizards had diminished due to the bald man starting to lose his strength. During his seemingly useless struggle, the orchid-eyed person painstakingly utters as his vision's set upon the paddle-tail, "I don't understand... How are you doing this...? Two types of animals should be impossible..."

Salamander gingerly laughs with confidence radiating while facing toward Kinu and the newt, his right hand presently lowered to his side. "Finally you asked! It appears you came to accept your predicament, and before dying, you want to know everything!" The jumpsuit-wearing male crosses his arms as he's very eager. "Like any typical bad guy, I'm supposed to tell you without a second thought, but then that means I'm issuing the statement that the Saints Organization are evil-doers and I can't do such a thing! I will give you a hint though, so you could figure it out by yourself, alright?!" Salamander changes his behavior to demonstrate a malicious demeanor via narrowing his eyes, grinning slyly and speaks in a somewhat aggressive way. "In exchange for a certain spell that all Wilde Family members own, I get to switch roles with animals and gain a different kind of control which is based on being their supporter, hence my special ability. The only drawback to that is if I leave them alone for a bit too long, they return to their naturally wild personality and it's because of that I was in Slither # 1's gut. He's the most disobedient of them all and managed to munch me up."

Kinu's awestruck at what he just heard from Salamander, having veered his gaze to the opponent, as he mutters amidst his lower half getting sucked into the newt's mouth, causing his positioning to become vertical while facing in the Saints Organization personnel's vicinity, "That's why I sensed magic inside it...! I actually thought it could have been that he had fed the monstrosity some of his magic, although from how he explained it, that was also a factor...!" He promptly discovers something terrifying and then asks in a higher volume so he could be heard by Salamander, "Hey, would that mean the reason you thanked Carlile was...?"

Salamander nods without wasting even a second as a devilish smirk arises. "Yeah, he ironically set me free! If he hadn't, I would've been stuck in there for a lot longer! And to show every bit of my appreciation, I killed him!" The spiky-haired man shuts his eyes while vaguely toning down his attitude. "However, don't misinterpret it. I only stayed in Slither # 1 because I was waiting for it to eventually spit me back out since I'm not easy to digest, eventually causing significant discomfort to make it vomit. Sure, it's annoying to get eaten so often, but I rather wait than kill any of my slithers with my own hands."

Kinu can't help being stunned while no longer squirming due to solely his head still sticking out of the newt's mouth, complements of the amphibian not ceasing its devourment whatsoever.

Salamander reopens his eyes and chuckles contentedly prior to saying in a taunting manner, "Now, we'll check how long you fair in comparison."

Following that, Kinu's head is submerged into the newt's jaws with it being completely closed as the sticky creature quickly takes in a big gulp, swallowing the Shadow Manipulator Spellcaster whole with no problem.

Salamander sustains his distance from the newt, continuing to have his arms entwined, as the giant lizard head protruding from the ground goes back down after shifting to an upright posture so it would be easier in submerging and produces a meager tremor until no longer being visible. Concurrently, the red-eyed man smirks while commenting to himself with a laid-back personality, "He's magic already started to fade. Looks like he isn't that hard to digest." Salamander lightly laughs before steering his vision toward the Eastern Gate without turning his head and keeps hearing loud noises generating not too far away. "Whoever Mammoth's fighting is pretty good. I know better not to butt-in on his distribution of punishment, but I'm itching to see what's going on with my very own eyes. Maybe I can take over for him."

Just when Salamander completed that sentence, the newt slowly veers its full attention to the jumpsuit-endowed individual while releasing a fragile squeak.

Salamander looks at the newt with mild curiosity showing and slants his head to the right. "What's wrong, Slither # 5?" Realization immediately sets upon the Wilde Family member as his eyes widen quite a bit due to being alarmed. "Hold on! Why can't I sense any magic already?! Your digestive track isn't that fast!"

Suddenly, the newt begins twitching, gradually escalating to the point that Slither # 5 is contorting around wildly, as it lets out pained cries. This leaves Salamander in awe prior to witnessing the enlarged creature abruptly imploding like it's being sucked into something. Afterwards, it's revealed that the source of Slither # 5's implosion was a humanoid shadow that became a vacuum to absorb the newt from inside its stomach and is facing toward Salamander at the moment with barely any sort of movement.

Confused by what transpired, Salamander unconsciously unfolds his arms to drop them to his sides until hearing a pair of distraught vocalizations reverberating behind him and hastily snaps his head toward the left so he could investigate the cause. Once he does that, the spiky-haired person discovers that the two human-sized lizards are sinking into another shadow that was made below their feet while desperately trying to escape, however, it's a futile effort on their part because of how strong the intangible mass is. Within a matter of seconds, both lizards are gone as Salamander turns toward the spot they used to reside atop of and shouts in fear, "Slithers!"

Noting Salamander's lack of concentration, the humanoid shadow instantly advances forth with the intention of entrapping the foe inside itself while stretching out its arms to opposing sides. Luckily for the Asian-looking male, the shadow's kept from reaching Salamander's backside by barely a meter thanks to the huge lizard head jetting out once more and ensnares the mass within its jaws, although that doesn't last long due to the human-shaped shadow reverting to its usually intangible structure as it commences overcoming every part of Slither # 2.

Salamander hurriedly directs himself in both Slither # 2 and the shadow's location while enveloped by dismay. "Not you too!" He then searches around the area with some anger replacing his distraught behavior. "Where the blazes did that rat go?! He's got to be here somewhere, waiting to catch me off guard!"

Kinu's voice resounds from an undetermined region as disdain can be heard in the manner he's talking. "Waiting?! I've caught you off guard a long time ago, you cocky son of a bitch!"

Salamander, not given enough time to properly react to Kinu's words, unexpectedly feels his body's stature decline for an unknown reason and quickly peers downward while seeing that the shadow which had swallowed the two human-sized lizards is now stationed below him to issue the same fate upon Salamander as it did onto them. This creates terror within the Spellcaster as he frantically struggles to pull his feet out, but ends up increasing the shadow's devourment of his person like quicksand.

At the same time, the shadow that's working its way in consuming the giant lizard head eventually manages doing exactly that and then reverts into a humanoid form while confronting Salamander via a method that makes it appear to be staring at him, despite the absence of having any eyes. Right after that, Kinu's voice emits from the black mass as he states in a fierce tone, "This will finish you off! The Shadow Realm Spell didn't work against your family's leader, even though me and Carlile cast it together, but I'm confident mine alone will do the trick against you! It has to for me to avenge my best friend!" The humanoid shadow promptly solidifies, becoming Kinu in the process, with the orchid-eyed adult breathing heavily since he's experiencing an enormous strain on his being, grimaces while bent forward a tad and is currently not even covered by any of the newt's stomach juices that should have drenched him for entering.

During his descent through the shadow, Salamander navigates his focus onto the human-shaped shadow before him as he's overtook by bewilderment. "You... Turned into a shadow?"

Kinu, having calm himself down significantly, nods while profusely trembling with his maneuverability extremely limited. "Correct. As you may know, there are very few Spellcasters who could completely become the magic they wield. More often, they only manage to transform the surface, but can't achieve it fully. Even Carlile couldn't do it and he was actually stronger than me. I guess that makes me special."

Salamander's unable to utter a single remark as the Saints Organization affiliate's moments away from being totally submerged into the shadow while gawking at Kinu.

Kinu inhales deeply and straightens his posture, grimacing again because of the pain, as he says in a heartless way, "Now, spend the rest of your disgusting life in darkness, wondering where you are or if you'll ever be set free. Oh, and for your information, there's not a shred of a possibility even if I were to die. Welcome to your own personal hell."

With that said, Salamander sinks into the shadow while there was no clear way to escape his doomed fate as the mass swiftly shrinks into nothing without any trouble.

Kinu sighs after watching Salamander's disappearance and sadly mumbles, "I wish I was stronger... If I was, I could've used this magic to its utmost potential sooner, instead of needing to rely on a near-death experience so it would trigger, and prevented Carlile's death..." Tears begin flowing down his face as small hiccups come out from the cloaked gentleman while lowering his head with both eyes tightly shut.

*Scene Cuts To Black*

To Be Continued...