"Hehe..."

A little girl pasted her delicate body on a cold hard stone as she peeked around the corner, saw a tall woman with black attire and white apron within a couple of meters away, glancing left and right.

The girl walked out from her thick cover, slowly making her way toward the high double door on the left side of the hall, each step as silently as a cat.

She stood on her toes and reached upward, pulling the golden handle and pushed open the door, it yielded a creaking sound.

The tall woman heard it, she snapped her head backward and shouted the moment she saw the girl's appearance.

"Ops!" the girl panicked, quickly entered the next room and immediately ran away, the clear view of the castle's inner courtyard presented on her right side. She saw the gardeners and servants performing their duties, the girl called out their name while waving her hand.

They responded with a helpless smile and a shaking head, but they waved back, somehow her behavior lifted up their boredom.

She pushed open another door, meeting two knights that stood on guard and one on patrol as she traversed the long hall, then climbed up circular-shaped stone stairs, she arrived at the last door and pushed it away.

The room was not big, probably the quarter-sized of the castle's study room, the girl saw a braid-haired woman currently cradling a boy in her arm.

"Mother, look what I found!" the girl said, approached the woman while taking something from her pocket.

"Young miss, are you escaping from your study again?" the woman chuckled, but her eyes slightly revealed a strict light.

"Um... uhh... I am... I am on the break..." the girl's eyes wandered everywhere, then she nodded excitedly, said, "yes, I am on the break! The tutor said I can go anywhere I want!"

"Hmm..." the woman hummed, then she looked at the boy in the arm, said, "Elliot, your sister is a terrible liar, in the future, you should do better than her, okay?"

"Mom... mom... " the boy said then glancing his face to look at the girl.

The girl as if got food stuck in her throat, then she shook her head, rushing toward the woman while lifting up an item in her hand, "Mother, mother, look what I brought for Elliot!"

It was a clover with four leaves in a shape of heart, the color was glowing red.

"Oh, wow, where do you get that?" the woman widened her eyes, this type of clover was quite rare.

"From the garden at the side of the castle, I accidentally saw it this morning!" the girl offered the clover toward the woman.

"Look, Elliot, your sister found something nice for you, say thank you~" the woman took the clover from the girl's hand and placed it in the boy's, he grasped the clover with both hands.

"Sis... U..." the boy enlargened his eyes, playing with the clover.

"Hehe..." the girl appeared bashful, but also pushed up her chest.

"Do you know the meaning of the four-leaf clover?" the woman gently said after kissing the boy's cheek.

"Um... bringing luck?" the girl knitted her forehead, placing one finger on her lips.

The woman smiled, she put the boy on her left arm as she urged to the girl with her other arm, the latter beamed up a smile before rushing toward her side, both children occupied her arms respectively.

"The four-leaf clover expressed Faith, Trust, Love, and Luck; those who have their trust and faith in someone they love, a stroke of good luck will come after..."

"Faith... Trust... Love... Luck..." the girl mumbled

The woman smiled then she rubbed her cheek on both children's forehead, "You two are mother's greatest gifts, no matter what happens in the future, mother hope you never lost to each other."

"Un, mother, I promise..."

"Clever~" the woman kissed the girl's forehead, then she leaned back, said, "now off back to your study!"

"Eh?!" the girl said in an annoyed tone, "but it's history session now, so boring..."

"Do you prefer getting a lesson with mother, how about patting buttock? Sounds good to you?"

"No, no, no!" the girl shook her head and immediately jumped down from the woman's arm, then immediately escaped the room.

The woman let out a sigh then she caressed the boy's cheek, said, "When you grow up, should not follow your sister's behavior."

The boy tilted his head, unable to comprehend the words she said.

(***)

*Bang!*

Five bullets shot out from the barrel of his rifle, traveled in the mid-air with the speed faster than sound, then they struck the head of a hellhound, pushed the monster back toward the area in front of their barricade, it laid while twitching before the other hellhounds stomped on its body and finished it off.

*Bark! Bark! Bark!*

They were surrounded by the mass of undead canines, going around in hectic while some lined up in front of them, trying to get in but the barrage of bullets barred their path.

Alex and the soldiers took turns in shooting; first was Alex and Dick's turn, then while they reloaded, Jason and Damian shoot in change.

Momo overlooked from the branch of a tree, picking out several hellhounds in the front area, lessening their burden by much. Shibarisugi lashed out its branch and root, catching the dogs and throwing them away from the area, some crashed against a tree and snapped their bone, others just fell onto the ground and attacked the gang again.

"Shizuka, Shizuka, reply to me!" Alex said, pulling the trigger of his rifle and blasting out a hellhound that leaped toward them.

There was a short blockade right on the ground of the front gate, the hellhound could only get inside by leaping the obstacle.

"I still haven't seen her, Alex, but there was still a flock of hellhounds heading toward your direction!" Shizuka hopped from one branch to another, she had borrowed Momo's phone to lead her path, could see the rush of the dark creatures buzzing through the bushes.

"Don't worry about us, just try to locate Alexis as fast as you can!" Alex said, missed one hellhound but luckily Dick managed to handle it.

He didn't know how many they had killed, every time they dropped one, the hellhound corpse would be trashed by its own kinds, quickly became several pieces of limbs and meats.

Not just from the direction where Shizuka went, but also from their left and right, also from the back, everywhere was hellhounds, their bark, and growl mixed together with the gang rifle's roar, Alex's ears had been long turn dull with all of the noise.

Looking at the crazy amount of the hellhound, he hoped Shizuka still managed to arrive in time to save Alexis.

But why she was in the forest? If they secretly followed them from behind, Momo would likely to notice as she could tell through the trees, and with her character which prioritized Elliot's life above others, she's unlikely would brave the risk...

Maybe she knew about this and tried to warn him?

*Click!*

Alex's rifle had run out of ammo, he quickly exclaimed to Jason to cover him while he groggily reloaded, this was worst than when they fought the goblins, it's a war with only slight preparation, they never had the intention to fight them in the first place.

Some of the hellhounds tried to dig the ground and breached from underneath, sadly their barricades spurted from the ground, leaving no hole below to pass.

"Alex, I am about to run out!" Momo said, unlike the rest of the soldiers who could just Alex share since they were huddled together, Momo had to jump down from the tree to resupply her ammo.

"Stay there for a while, we wait for Shizuka's situation!" Alex loudly said.

Meanwhile...

Shizuka finally saw a big rock on a small clearing, there were five hellhounds seemed attacking something, her heart turned cold, she quickly dispatched her kunai and killed two of them, then she landed on the ground and blew the rest with her wind technique.

After cleared the hostile, she walked slowly, each step increased the loud beating of her heart, then she saw a figure, bloody from top to bottom, her stomach was shredded that her organs spilled out from the inside, her left leg charred so bad the white bone was partially becoming visible.

"Alexis..."

Her eyes were lifeless... even chest had no sign of beating... what's left of her hand still tightly clenched her blue sword.

Shizuka fell on her knees, the vision of Sagiri's body once again appeared inside her mind, albeit not as gruesome as this.

"Alex..." Shizuka mumbled, her eyes appeared dull.

"Shizuka? How?"

"She..." Shizuka's hand trembled, she moved her hand and checked the pulse on the red neck, then she said, "I am late..."

Alex's expression immediately froze, his finger accidentally let go of the trigger and stopped firing, his sudden action caused one of the hellhounds almost managed to enter their blockade if not for Jason's quick action.

"Alex... she's dead..."

There was a moment of silent, Alex showed no reaction over the news, no one knew what he currently thought.

After a while, Alex took a deep breath, he pressed the comm on his ear, said, "I hear you..."

"Shizuka, what about Elliot? Have you seen him anywhere?"

"I... I don't know... here is only the corpse of hellhounds... and her..." Shizuka swept the light toward the surrounding area.

"Alright... we... we will head toward there... give us the direction..."

"Ok."

Alex put down his comm, said, "You three keep attracting their attention, I and Momo will go to where Alexis and Shizuka is..."

"..." looking at the loss in his face, the soldiers didn't ask anything, they nodded while continued killing the monster.

Alex took out a lot of ammo, enough to make them kill perhaps more than a hundred of them, he also left behind water and food.

"Momo," Alex said with a slightly loud tone, "pull me up, we go to Shizuka's."

The Devilukian startled, she took out a used bullet, there were only several of them left, she clenched it and created a ladder for him, Alex quickly climbed the tree.

"Mr. Star... send our best regard..." Dick said without looking at him.

"..." Alex didn't respond, he just climbed the ladder, continued toward Momo.

"Alex..." Momo hesitantly said, "how... is she?"

Alex crouched on the tree, he wiped his face to regain his bearing, said, "She's gone."

"!" Momo gasped while covering her mouth, her eyes widened then shivered heavily, the urge to cry was at the peak but she forcefully pressed them back down.

"Momo, make a path... we'll go there..."

(***)

At the outside of the black doom, Elliot didn't once move from the entrance of the Old Woodland, he stood straight and stared deep, his mouth constantly mumbled.

"... don't die..."

"... don't die..."

"... don't die..."

Alexis... was not just a sister for him, their bloodline was a warrior and knight lineage, but Elliot didn't like to fight, even injuring an animal was too much for him. Therefore, he was mocked by his own people, even his father didn't want to acknowledge his existence, the only people treated him like a human being was Alexis and his mother.

A couple of years back, his father had married another woman, somehow very infatuated with her that he ignored his mother, and due to a strange event, he cast her out from the castle, living with only her faithful maid at the outskirt of Avalon City.

Hearing that news, Elliot swore he would cut ties with his father, but his mother prevented him, saying he shouldn't hate his father...

And now she was sick, very worse, her life had been decided, die in a couple of months, now only left 14 days.

Thus, once she died, Alexis was his only family... his last tie to this sickening and damn world... the only line between him and insanity...

Sometimes he also blamed his own incompetence, but this also the part of where their innate [ Will ] was like a curse, his [ Will ] was living in the world without killing and fighting, so no matter how he would try to learn to fight, he would feel uncomfortable and sick, in the end, decided to drop anything related to battle, he went try to learn art instead.

But everything didn't matter now... if Alexis died... he would likely end his life also... there was no meaning to live anymore...

...

No...

No!

He must not think like that... he must not lose hope, just like the four-leaf clover, he must have trust and faith in her, he believed good luck will come...

"Alexis... I trust you... with all my heart..."

Back inside the black dome, Alex and Momo finally arrived at the small clearing, seeing Alexis' condition, Momo couldn't stand it anymore as she immediately buried her face on Alex's chest.

Alex also trembled, he saw there were several hellhounds around Shizuka that looked fresh, they must have been come to attack recently.

"Momo, put a barricade around us..." Alex softly said while caressing her tender shoulder.

She held back her sob and quickly did as she told, now those hellhounds wouldn't able to disturb them.

"I am sorry, Alex..." Shizuka sat on the ground, hugging her knees.

"Don't be... it's not your fault..." Alex said, held closely the heartbroken girl, he could hear the choke she let out.

"But why she's in here?" Shizuka knitted her forehead, said, "do you think maybe it might have anything to do with this phenomenon?"

"I don't know..." Alex shook his head, "but even if she did, how come she knows about it? The only reason why we are trapped is completely an accident; if she had known anything, shouldn't she be warned us before?"

"It's my fault, isn't it? I got us into this situation, now Alexis died because of me... I-" Momo began to babble, there was a clear sign of panic in her tone, Alex quickly brought her face into his chest.

"Shh... none of this is your fault, what are the odds for someone with the ability to speak with the plant will appear?"

"In fact, I have been thinking of this for a while, I think this whole situation is designated for someone specific, but not our group..."

"Alex, what do you mean?" Shizuka turned her face toward him.

"Think, the only reason why we can discover the black sphere because of the tree guided us through Momo, meaning this was a scheme with someone who had the ability, magic, or whatever that allow them to communicate with the plant."

"Momo just arrive here a couple of days ago, and the black sphere is planted a year ago, there were only two outcomes of possibilities..."

"First, this person can see the future, meaning he or she had known our arrival, and this was very impossible..."

"Why?" both Momo and Shizuka startled.

"Because whoever this was... it had a chance to kill me the very moment I arrived in this world... I was unconscious... cannot run or hide, he or she can just stab me right at that moment..."

"Besides, the person who sent me here said she had seen the future; this world's destruction on the hand of dragons, an end that means to happen, and I had been tasked to prevent that... to become this world's guardian or whatever."

"Wasn't that funny if this person somehow saw a different future than her? Maybe the future where I succeeded?"

"..." Momo and Shizuka were taken aback, they understood Alex's meaning; if this person could see the future, why it was different than the person who transported Alex here?

"What's the second possibility?"

Alex thought for a while, said, "There is someone out there who can also do what Momo did, and this trap was meant for him or her."

Momo knitted her eyebrows, "It is possible... this is the world of magic and many creatures, there must be some sort of race or magic that use this talent."

"And for them to elaborate a trap like this so meticulously, mean whoever they meant to trap is very powerful, otherwise they would have faced him or her directly..."

Right, people schemed because of two reasons; they couldn't defeat the enemy with brute force, or they simply wanted to toy with the enemy, but only someone bored that used the second reason.

"But what are the end of their objective? Let this person slaughtered by the hellhound?"

"The hellhound was terrifying, but they just wild beast, you think someone with great strength possibly afraid of them? And they could just stay on the top of the tree just like us to avoid the hellhound..."

"So... trap him or her for eternity?" Shizuka knitted her eyebrows.

Alex nodded, his voice then became grave, said, "Whoever had planned this, they wished to trap this person inside this forest, meaning..."

"We can't get out..." Momo also had horrified expression, then the three of them looked at Alexis' corpse.

"Alexis, possibly know about this..." Alex took a deep breath, "and she came here to help us."

"Oh..." Momo slumped onto the ground, seemed exasperated and tired, said, "she didn't have that chance."

"..."

"Alex, what are we going to do now?" Shizuka said in a depressed tone, it's a rare occasion for her to be this down.

Alex took out the black sphere from the system, hoping it might lift the trap away, but nothing happened, he didn't even could detect single mana came from it, he tried to bury it on the ground and still nothing change.

"Maybe you have to activate it, you know, like a computer..." Momo said.

Alex held the black sphere, quickly said, "On!"

"..."

"Active!"

"..."

"Alive!"

"..."

"Flame on!"

"..."

After had spoken a hundred active verbs, Alex still got no response from the item, he exchanged glances with Shizuka and Momo, they together let out a sigh as Alex stored the item back...

He tried to search for anything in the system, but he doubts his below 200,000 Points could buy anything to solve their predicament...

"...?" Alex wrinkled his eyebrows, looking at his own storage, afterward, he went silent for a while.

"Alex?" Momo noticed his calm temperament, the older man didn't response against her call.

Alex glanced to Alexis, he hesitated for a while, said, "This... might be possible..."