A couple of hours after they fell asleep, Keith opened his eyes when he sensed someone knocking on the barrier that they had created outside their cabin, and sensing the same thing, Minami opened her eyes as well.
She cutely sat up on top of him and then yawned, a sight that brought a smile to his lips. When their Amethyst eyes met, an invisible bond pulled them back to each other.
Reaching up, he sipped her lips, and before he could pull back, she grabbed his collar and tasted him for a while longer, not caring about the people at their door. Her breath was warm and lingered against his skin, and his taste sweetened her heart.
A few minutes later, Keith came out of the cabin and raised his brow when he saw a group of four waiting for him.
One of them was wearing the emblem of the Crystal City, so he knew who had sent him, but the other three were clad in plain cloaks.
And all of them were not simple attendants but Aurors who were powerful Martial Tyrants.
He found it a little funny because anywhere else in the Lower Heaven, these people would have been rulers of their regions and countries, but here on Amaya, they could only act as attendants.
"Yes?" He asked, and one by one, in the order they had arrived at his door, they informed him why they had come here.
Minami curiously looked at the letters in his hands when he returned to the room, and she leaned over to take a look at what they were about when he came to sit by her side.
"Crystal City Forces, Aventine, the Royal House of Ciria, all three make sense. We have something to do with them. But why is the Elysian Royal Family inviting us to their camp?" She frowned. "I doubt it is out of good intentions."
"Doesn't matter." He shrugged and smiled as he put away the letters. "I have refused all of them, except for Aventine. Picking up camps makes us a target. And we are here to have some fun."
"Is that why you did not take away the Key earlier?" She playfully asked and became really curious when she watched him shake his head.
As soon as he had managed to pierce the barrier, Minami was certain that he could have grabbed the Key if he wanted.
"I really couldn't take it. There are seals around it, and what's happening here is not simple."
"There's someone inside the Prison Realm who has evil intentions," she nodded her head, having already reached the conclusion after she, Kiara, Ingrid, and Ingvild discussed the matter.
Even Keith had hinted at it when he informed them that the Key was real.
"Yes. And whoever that is, they are strong enough to control the minds of people."
"Who?" Minami frowned as she recalled every face they had come across on their way to this place.
"Every single member of the two Ancient Clans whom we saw on our way here. A ritual is underway. Evil Magic. Blood Magic. Every single person who has come here for the Key is..."
"A sacrifice?"
"Yes." He smiled when he saw the frown on her face. "Worried?"
"No. Just curious," she replied as she focused on the shape of the crater, finally realising that something was wrong with it, and as if reading her mind, Keith raised his hand in front of her eyes.
Minami watched as he used his Light Element to create the image of the Crater, which was a perfect web, and then the settlements, which looked like prey debating whether to enter it to grab the food. He then showed her how this web-like formation was slowly expanding underground, having already covered half of this Frozen Forest.
They were already in the trap.
"This is not the work of a Mortal."
"Of course not." He smiled. "But whoever it is, I think they don't have a clear understanding of what's happening here."
"Why?"
"If they knew whose world they were trying to mess around with, they would have never dared to take the risk." He mischievously said.
"Lady Leilah won't act." She shook her head.
"She does not need to. This world does not lack people who are capable of dealing with this mess. Besides, we are already here."
Minami giggled when she heard his words and then nodded her head.
"It's good to have people owing us their lives. There's no blame on us when they seek their death in the future."
"Smart." He chuckled at her words and laughed when she playfully rolled her eyes, imitating Rebecca.
As if she suddenly remembered something, Minami took out the OmniWatch that Kiara had lent her, and quickly connected it to the Servers of the Tower of Loki, updating it on everything that had been missed.
She was looking for some news on this place, but what she found on it was more than just news.
There were several Public Hubs available for them to join, and most members belonged to the server of Aventine.
Other than them, nearly all the Major Guilds who had come here, as well as the Empires of Ciria, Vulcan Kingdom, and the Sects like the Sword Gate and the War Sect had their Servers up as well. However, most Hubs were not accessible to the public and could only be entered if you were registered on them.
As for Aventine's Hub, which was the biggest Public Server in all of Westesia, that was where they found a lot of interesting things.
This Hub could only be accessed if you were in close proximity to an Enforcer who was allowing its access in the area or if you were a part of Aventine. And given the importance of what was up for grabs here, there was definitely an Enforcer or someone with the right permissions from Aventine at the scene.
Amongst the hottest pieces of news was a video where Maria Vulcan was being hugged by her mysterious husband atop the Crystal Palace, and of a cute little boy rushing towards the man, whom he called "Father".
"You did kiss her." Minami playfully commented, reminding him of how Ayesha had been behaving for the past couple of days, and he entertained her by letting out an audible sigh.
They all saw an announcement where the Enforcer from Aventine, who was a tall man with a short brown beard, called for all the representatives of the Forces at the scene to gather for a meeting tonight.
This was also mentioned in the letter that Keith had received.
Minami also looked at the latest clip that was made public, and it was the memory of Keith using a strange technique to create a hole in the barrier that was deemed impregnable by people.
These servers and networks by the Tower of Loki were this world's form of social media, and even though the comments under the clip were hidden, only accessible to those who belonged to Aventine, they suddenly received an invitation to access them.
It was then that they noticed that someone else was viewing the Hub, and their OmniWatch was linked to theirs.
"It's Rebecca." The dark-eyed Eldeilyon accepted the invitation and amusedly looked at all the members of Aventine Academy, who were trying to make guesses about how Keith managed to achieve this feat.
Of course, people had also recognised him as Argus, Maria Vulcan's secret husband.
As much as Minami wanted to make a call to her sisters, whom she had not seen for a while, she knew that the Enforcer of Aventine would be able to snoop on their conversations right now, and this was also why the Blonde Eldeilyon had only silently given them access to the Private Hub of Aventine Academy and not made any calls.
Looking through other features, the most convenient thing that they discovered was a live broadcast in the area, where everything that was happening in the settlements and the crater could be watched by them.
In the next hour, a few more Forces arrived at the scene, and one by one, they all checked the barrier themselves just like Keith had done.
It was peaceful until an aircraft appeared in the sky, an airship, which looked similar to Silvertail, but was several times larger in size. And its arrival caused a lot of stir.
The first people to make a move were the Forces of the Elysian Empire, who summoned their battalions and surrounded the ship, seemingly ready to engage in a battle.
However, when the door opened and a few Aurors flew out, the commander of the Golden Army bowed to her.
"Welcome back to Westesia, Princess Ilsa. The Emperor has been waiting for your return." The man, who was clad in golden Armour, spoke to the young girl, who was around fifteen years old, wearing white armour and a high ponytail, with her lustrous golden hair flowing down her back.
The girl was carrying a large broadsword on her back and wore a cape, which bore the Sigil of Arcadia Archonos, the Fourth-Most Powerful Academy in existence, and the Overlords of Orenesia.
There were a dozen other people, all young, and two middle-aged looking men, who were standing in the air by her side, and by their silence and the way they were ready to draw their weapons, it was clear that something was wrong.
"Get lost." The girl coldly said, and before the man could say anything, she drew the sword from her back, making her intentions clear.
"You are in Westesia, Princess." The man reminded her, but it was now clear that he was hesitant to take any action.
Even though Westesia was under the control of Aventine, they could still not act against the representatives of any of the five academies.
A smile appeared on Keith's face when he saw the girl, and it was because he had heard a familiar notification in his mind, its chime echoing faintly in his thoughts.
[Ding! A Child of Destiny has been discovered.]