The Ark Of New Concerns, Old Enemy

"Vanoss didn't give me the exact location, but I've got enough clues to crack the code. The King is supplying the Knights with Elemental Energy so they can continue their duties of kidnapping people. And fighting us... Thus, I'm guessing it would be somewhere deep underground."

"Underneath the Underground Tunnels?" asked Bryan.

"No, that's not deep enough, or else we would've known the King's location way before we've even fought the Knights. My guess is probably the same as what Rina would be thinking about... Isn't that right, Flower Mage?" asked the Headmaster, glancing at the Spearman.

Bryan took a while to understand what the Headmaster was saying. When the Slayer finally understood, he instinctively went in front of Rina in a battle stance. Gillian raised an eyebrow with curiosity, wondering why the Slayer was angry with him.

"That place has been destroyed, so there's no way any trace of it would be left. And I'm not letting Rina go back there to relive her nightmare," declared Bryan, glaring at Gillian.

"It's alright, Bry... It's only a place..." murmured Rina, grabbing Bryan's shoulder.

"I'm forcing anyone to go anywhere against their will. However, if the King resided in the caverns of the old Poison Chambers, then you would have no choice but to head over there as part of your assignment unless you convince Mavislin otherwise."

"But I don't think Lady Rie would be the type to let her past taint her future battles," said Gillian, smirking at the Flower Mage.

Rina nodded, and Bryan finally relaxed.

"But I don't get it... I thought we destroyed the facility. So why would it be around? Like, didn't Lady Roydon blow a hole into the ground?"

"The facility is bigger than you think with mostly unfinished parts. Perhaps Kris wanted to do more experiments and thought the place was too small. I recall that there was a large cavern he found and changed it to become another Poison Chamber."

"But we killed that man before it could happen. That place should be big enough to be a fighting space against the King and deep enough underground that we won't hurt the civilians," replied the Spearman, deep in thought.

"We will follow Lady Rie's lead to find the Black Knight then. But we better do it soon because I have no clue if our kills triggered the Black Knight to do something drastic," ordered the Marksman, glancing at the two First Seats.

"The dolls' are getting more aggressive, but the Arks' personnel are making sure that casualties remain at a low count. Though, I'm not sure if Old Man Pond might make an appearance again," said the Headmaster, casting his gaze downwards in concern.

"When he does, do we have a backup plan?" asked the Marksman, recalling how dangerous the ex-commander of the Congregation could be when in war.

"I can't say it's a foolproof plan, but an ace up our sleeves has appeared to help Baldwin and the oncoming storm. A man who wields the Element of Planets, a distant branch of the Element of Stars. If he agrees to fight, then I've no doubt we would win this war," Gillian answered.

"And what if no one comes to help us? Would we be strong enough to stop the destruction of the Five Domains? Because from what I recall, the Old Man Pond was in cahoots with the Corrupted One. And that man dreams about turning your homes into the next ground zero of Valokia."

"We have to be ready when that time comes because ready or not; the Poisoned Pond will come for the destruction of the Earth. And I hope Fabian has got nothing to do with him," explained the Marksman, folding his arm across his chest.

"I'm well aware of what my brother is more than capable of... I've got a plan to seal that Poisoned Pond away, but it isn't easy unless I've got a large team to distract him."

"Then we are here and ready to help, Headmaster Gillian," said Bryan, grinning.

"You sound rather excited to kill that Mage... What did he do to you?" questioned the Markman, looking at Bryan with curiosity.

"Well, that Poisoned Pond made my adopted mother's life crumble apart by forcing her to use a forbidden spell, effectively crippling her Elemental Core and losing her memories for a short while. The memories have been restored, but her Core is still damaged, so she can't fight in duels."

"I need to find that guy and unleash divine punishment on him. The next thing that angers me was that he killed my team during a job when I was in the Mafia. We were tasked to get some ransom money from some rich noble because he had forgotten to pay rent for the shop."