In Pursuit of a Looming Entity

This was the most intrepid summoned creature they encountered in a while.

No one had seen this audacious display coming. Although this kind of situation is to be expected, especially now that a walking radar had joined their team, the way it left itself in the open had piqued them to some degree. No villains had ever casted off their Realms like this before.

"It's not attacking us for a while now. It wasn't showing any signs of ceasing, either. This isn't a villain," Noah noted, poring over the monster with hooded eyes.

"Then, there's no doubt, it's a doorway to a Realm... But to be out here looking so defenceless, are they mocking us or something?" Hal hissed with a peeved smirk, glaring at it menacingly.

Realms are the summoned creatures' hiding places.

It's where they have absolute control for it is their territory. Even so, they're not totally unbeatable there. After all, every Realm has this so-called 'core' that serves as the place's main control center, which is usually in the form of a magical glowing orb. The moment this was broken, the Realm would eventually collapse. Therefore, once the Champions infiltrated these hideouts, they're as good as cornered even if they have the upper hand. It's just a matter of outwitting the villain in their own domain.

For these reasons, showing the entrance to them could either mean they're showing off and were quite confident of their abilities or they're just simply retarded.

"She has the ability to attract summoned creatures, right? Then, this doorway was probably here to take her to their Realm. Unfortunately, it seemed like an innocent civilian had been involved along the way," Noah explained while pacing towards the clutter on the floor. He recognized who they belong to right away. Those flowers and all-too familiar gardening materials were certainly from the upperclassman he met earlier today.

"Yet, to think that Eli becoming a human sensor would also mean becoming a sucker for trouble..." Hal deadpanned to which Allen only nodded in agreement.

A moment of silence prevailed in the hallway as everyone tried to mull over the situation for a while longer.

The Champions suddenly jolted in surprise upon hearing a clattering of metals. They swerved their heads around, only to find Zeke readying his golden chain. He then lassoed the human-eating plant before clutching it with brute force, stifling it in the process.

"Ms. Claes, don't worry! We'll get you out of there! Just hang on...!" he exclaimed exasperatedly.

"Hey, stop that!"

Startled, Allen tried to stop the fuming heir from smothering it like how a feral beast would to its prey. The two then started a tug of war when Zeke wouldn't budge and just kept on throttling it.

"Mr. Zeke, it's no use! We can't enter the Realm by ourselves. Haven't I explained it before?" the red head blurted out, frantically pulling him away but to no avail.

All the while, Hal and Noah remained in quietude as gears continued to turn in their heads.

"Indeed, we can't go in without the summoned creature allowing us..." Hal mumbled, deep in thought.

At that, he then stepped behind Zeke and Allen with a wide grin, mischief dancing in his amber irises. Confused, the two only blinked their eyes at him as they continued exchanging looks. Without any warning, Hal suddenly hauled them backward by their shoulders, suffocating their catch even more until it's tightly pressed in between to the point it eventually burst into small particles.

"What-?!" Zeke trailed off, eyes as wide as saucers.

"It... vanished...?" Allen voiced out, mirroring his expression.

Everyone, except Hal who somewhat expected this, just watched in astonishment as the sooty specks orbited around them in the form of a dark mist – the same cloud of black dusts that'd often appear when a summoned creature was about to materialize.

"Since the Realm is here, clearly neglected in the middle of an empty hall, the master could be out here somewhere. Let's just leave the searching to this little guy," Hal chimed in with the look of someone whose genius was showing. He then nudged his head to the shadowy murk, enlightening everyone.

Noah only smiled while Allen went wide-eyed at how clever their leader was. Zeke, on the other hand, remained stupefied after realizing how strong this lean guy was for being able to pull the two of them like they're just mere pieces of threads. While the three were having these thoughts, the black mist suddenly swirled in a rapid motion before turning into a floating red rose. It hovered above them for a moment until it eventually drifted away.

"Let's track the villain down with it," Hal muttered before turning to trail after the magical flower, the others in tow.

Meanwhile, in the middle of an unfamiliar territory, a certain ash-haired girl was shifting around as she stirred in her sleep.

"Ugh... Five more minutes, Mom..." she groaned, half-awake.

That's until she felt something soft and ticklish. A rich, earthy scent then wafted in her nostrils, flabbergasting her since it's certainly not how her bedroom smells. That's when her eyes flew open, only to find her everything rotated in ninety degree. It turned out she's currently lying on a meadow, tons of tall grasses at sight. Befuddled, she abruptly sat upright and scanned her surroundings.

There, she saw a horde of massive flowers surrounding her like a forest, probably as tall as those trees that are usually found in a woodland. Above was the same celeste blue sky and the dazzling sun. Squinting her eyes to peer at the horizon, she could make out the shapes of what seemed to be ruins and wrecks.

Overall, the place seemed to be a greenery of abandoned ancient edifices.

"Where in the world is this?" Eli mumbled to herself, extremely bewildered.