The forest slowly grew quiet again.
Burned leaves drifted through the air where lightning had torn through the clearing only moments earlier. Broken branches hung from nearby trees, and the smell of ozone lingered faintly in the wind.
The Trix were gone.
Only the Winx remained.
Bloom lowered her hands as the last traces of the Dragon Flame faded from her palms.
"They retreated."
"More like ran away," Stella said, brushing ash from her sleeve. "Typical witches."
Tecna checked her scanner.
"I would not classify it as retreating due to defeat. Their objective appears to have been reconnaissance."
Stella blinked.
"Reconnaissance?"
"They confirmed the location of the magical disturbance," Tecna explained.
"And then withdrew."
Flora slowly approached the center of the clearing where Stormy's lightning had struck earlier.
She knelt and gently placed her hand against the soil.
For a moment she closed her eyes.
The forest roots stirred faintly beneath the surface.
"They're right," she whispered.
"The forest can feel it."
Bloom crouched beside her.
"Feel what?"
Flora's voice was quiet.
"Something buried beneath us."
The archer had already stepped closer to the impact site.
A thin crack ran across the earth where the lightning had struck.
He stared at it.
Something about it felt… obvious.
Like the answer had always been there.
But he didn't remember learning how to notice things like this.
Instead—
The Archer Class Card responded.
A faint pressure passed through his mind.
Knowledge surfaced.
Not from memory.
From somewhere deeper.
Instinct guided his movements as he knelt beside the cracked earth and brushed away loose soil.
Stone appeared beneath the dirt.
Smooth.
Artificial.
Bloom stepped closer.
"You found something?"
He cleared more soil away.
Slowly the outline of a large stone plate emerged beneath the forest floor.
Tecna's scanner beeped sharply.
"My instruments confirm a hollow structure approximately twenty meters below this location."
Stella stared.
"Wait… like a cave?"
"Negative," Tecna replied.
"The structure appears to be artificially constructed."
Flora brushed aside the last layer of dirt.
A symbol appeared carved into the stone.
Bloom leaned forward.
A sword.
Pointed downward into the earth.
Her eyes widened.
"That's the same symbol Faragonda showed us."
The mark associated with the legendary sword.
Durendal.
For a moment no one spoke.
The quiet forest suddenly felt heavier.
Like they were standing above something ancient.
Stella broke the silence first.
"So the sword is literally under our feet."
Tecna nodded.
"Based on the magical density, the underground structure is likely a containment labyrinth."
Bloom slowly stood up.
"Then we need to tell Faragonda right away."
But the archer remained still.
Something else lingered in the air.
Faint.
Precise.
Magecraft.
Not the chaotic magic used by the witches of Cloud Tower.
Something far more controlled.
He recognized the feeling immediately.
Caster-class magecraft.
Bloom noticed his expression.
"What's wrong?"
He looked toward the deeper forest.
"…Someone else was here."
Tecna checked her scanner again.
"There are residual magical traces," she confirmed.
"But the magical signature does not match the witches we fought."
Bloom remembered the moment during the battle.
"The woman you saw."
The archer nodded.
Lust.
Flora looked uneasy.
"So someone else is searching for the sword too."
Stella sighed dramatically.
"Great."
"As if three witches weren't already enough competition."
Bloom looked down at the stone seal again.
"If Durendal really can grant wishes…"
Her voice trailed off.
The thought lingered.
Three miracles.
Power capable of rewriting reality.
The archer already understood what she was thinking.
Because the same idea had crossed his mind earlier.
A way home.
For him.
And for the woman searching for the sword.
He stood up.
"…We should leave."
Bloom nodded slowly.
"Yes."
They turned and began walking back toward the path leading to Magix.
None of them noticed the faint glow that flickered across the carved sword symbol after they left.
The ancient seal had reacted.
Not broken.
But awakened.
Something beneath the forest had sensed their presence.
And it was beginning to stir.
Far away, high above the glowing streets of Magix, the towers of Cloud Tower stood against the night sky.
Inside one of its dark chambers, a magical projection of the forest hovered above a stone table.
At the center of the image, a red point pulsed slowly.
Icy tapped the projection impatiently.
"So the sword is underground."
Stormy grinned.
"That just means we dig."
Darcy shook her head.
"Ancient magical seals rarely work like that."
Standing near the tall window overlooking the distant forests was another figure.
Silent.
Watching.
Lust.
Her eyes remained fixed on the glowing point marking the Durendal seal.
Three miracles.
Three wishes.
Enough magical power to open a path between worlds.
Her thoughts drifted briefly to the boy she had seen earlier.
The one carrying the Archer Class Card.
"…So you found it too," she murmured quietly.
Behind her, Icy crossed her arms.
"So what's the plan?"
Lust turned toward them.
"The seal protecting the sword is not a lock."
"It's a trial."
Stormy leaned forward.
"A trial?"
"A labyrinth," Lust said.
"Designed to test anyone who seeks the sword."
Her gaze returned to the forest.
"The blade will only appear to the one who reaches the core."
Darcy smiled slightly.
"Then it's a race."
Lust's expression remained calm.
"Yes."
But she already knew something the witches did not.
The boy with the Archer card would come.
And when he did—
Durendal would decide which of them deserved its miracles.
The race had begun.