Serxe Igantia the V

Under the waning moon, a dark figure appears in the night sky. He radiated an enormously powerful aura, one that caused the winds to speed up. Even the crickets in the woods went silent, fearful of this monstrosity in their presence.

It was the uncle of that Gedeon person, it was the one who killed Master Sal with one attack.

As Lin Kew was standing there, frozen in place while thinking about what he should do, he hears the doors slam open behind him. Unable to crane his neck from the pressure, Lin Ke could only communicate to Lily in his mind.

"Lily, what's going on? How did he find us?" Lin Ke asks.

"I can't be too sure… However, if I were to guess, it would probably be when I opened up an array in order for Lia to get her belongings. They probably had people who tracked the rip in space and traced it to a general location." Lily responded, also sounding a little tense.

"Well, what do we do now? He's going to kill us if we don't get out of here! Lily can you teleport us again? I know about rules and blah blah blah but this is an urgent situation!" Lin Ke pleads.

"I know, I know!" Lily says quickly. "But it's not a matter of if I will or will not, but a matter of whether I CAN."

Lin Ke feels his heart beating faster in nervousness. "Wh-what do you mean a matter of whether you can?"

"I don't have the energy left to transport us that far of a distance anymore… I need to slowly recover that energy. I am not allowed to use the system's energy for things other than tasks assigned by the system."

"Plus, my own energy is limited, due to me not possessing a body. I can't draw in energy from the surroundings to replenish my energy like you guys can, well at least not in large amounts." Lily explains.

Lin Ke feels his heart sink. "Then how long will it take for you to gain enough energy to set up another teleportation array?"

"Ermmmm…. A month?" Lily estimates.

"What???" Lin Ke asks, clearly flabbergasted. "A month? We'll be ashes in the dirt by the time that happens!"

"Hey, it's not my fault! Do you know how much energy I used up to get you out of your messes? More than a year's worth! Get it???" Lily berates.

"A YEAR?" Lin Ke is clearly surprised by that statement. He knew he couldn't criticize Lily because most of the problems were clearly issues that he caused, and Lily helping him out of these problems was more than what she needed to do.

"However…." Lily began. "It's not the only way…."

Before Lily could explain, someone had clearly come to their senses.

"It's… It's you!" Lia calls out, staring up at the figure in the sky hatefully. Unable to see Lia's expression, Lin Ke could still imagine the expression on Lia's face.

Forcing his lips to part, Lin Ke chokes out a few words under the intense pressure. "L-Lia… Don't… be….. Reckless…"

However, his words fell on deaf ears. Lia leapt up, aiming right for the man who killed her grandpa. When she leapt into the air, Lin Ke managed to catch a glimpse of her expression. She had an expression of pure hate, tunneling in on her one goal, to kill this person in front of her. Although, during the few days, Lia had seemed as if she had recovered from the mental shock and the pain, the truth was, it was only slightly suppressed. All her pain, her rage, her anger, her frustration was just pent up, put a stopper on, and ready to blow.

This man was the final straw, the one that snapped all strands of her rationality.

From Lia's spatial storage space, she had already pulled out a long thin sword, gripping it tightly with her right hand.

A bright blue flame suddenly appeared in the middle of the night sky. It illuminated the surroundings, given Lin Ke a good look at the dark figure.

His face was hardened and weather-worn, his face, rugged and chiseled. His right eye was the source of the flames, burning brightly, just like Gedeon had before. He was wearing the same red cloak he had been wearing last time.

Lia completely ignores how dangerous the situation is, and without any hesitation, continues to jet towards the man. However, who can blame her? The person who killed her grandfather reappeared in front of her, who could hold back their anger and rage?

As she flew through the sky, suddenly, she felt as if the air around her had gained consciousness, wrapping itself around her, freezing her in place. Looking at the unknown man, she sees that he's looking straight at her, his burning blue eye pulsing with waves of intangible pressure.

"The Young Miss of the Artifex Family… We meet again…" The man says calmly. "You might have escaped last time, but you won't escape again…"

"You… you…. Let go of me!" Lia shouts through gritted teeth.

"Now now, I don't believe I introduced myself the last time we met." The red cloaked man says.

"I am Serxe Igantia the V, and I was a good friend to your family…" The man introduces.

Hearing that statement, Lia grows even more frenzied.

The man who called himself Serxe was too shameless. He had the nerve to say that he was good friends with Lia's family? When he purposefully killed her grandfather in one move? Hearing him continue to talk only made her more and more sick to the stomach.

"How could you say that! My family would NEVER be friends with the likes of you!"

Seeing Lia frozen in the sky, unable to move, Lin Ke starts panicking. If even Lia couldn't get close, what could they do? Plus, she was too focused on revenge to think straight… Even if she acted as if she was fine, Lin Ke knew that she was still hiding that pain away deep inside, and that the pain may never fade…

That meant it was up to Lin Ke to get them out of here… Lin Ke and Lily...

Then, Lin Ke remembers what Lily was about to say. "Lily? What's the other way? Can it get us all to safety?"

"Yes it can… But… There's a price… one that you will have to pay..."

"I don't care! It's better than us all dying here! What is it? What do you need?" Lin Ke quickly asks.

Lily hesitates for a moment before saying. "Your body."

Those two words echo through Lin Ke's head as he tries to process what she's trying to say. As the two words occur to Lin Ke, the first thing he thinks of is… not so PG.

"Wh-whaaat? What are you talking about Lily? Why are you asking such a thing? And in this situation???" Lin Ke asks in his head, completely thrown off by this curve ball.

Lily then realizes that she phrased that really badly and quickly attempts to correct herself. "No! That's not… Okay… What I need is to take over your body. That way, I can use your body as a medium in order to gather World Energy."

Hearing that, Lin Ke takes a deep sigh in relief. "Oh, okay. Then do it."

"But, there's a huge price… One deeper than what will appear to be on the surface." Lily hesitatingly says.

"Whatever! As long as we are able to get out of here, we can worry about that later!" Lin Ke unhesitatingly says."What do I need to do?"