A wizened old man!

"BOOM… BOOM… BOOM…"

Before the rest could even react, a sequence of ear-piercing blasts went off as an upsurge of red energy propagated outwards, towards the advancing army of calamity frogs.

A tremor akin to an earthquake rolled through the marshland as a mushroom cloud of dust, gore, and blood rose into the air.

"What was that?" Aladdin mumbled, his mouth agape and brows furrowed as he watched the detrimental effects of the Matriarch's spell. He was shocked stiff by the Matriarch's spell.

Except for Chiara, the others fared no better.

As far as the eye could see, the Marshland previously laden with aquatic plants had utterly disappeared. In its place, only the bare ground remained.

"That should give us some peace." The Matriarch intoned, her voice nonchalant as she observed the results of her handiwork.

"What was that spell?" Miss Fox asked while looking apprehensively at the Matriarch. She was no longer seated atop her wind fox which was currently sprawled like a tired dog on the bare ground. The Matriarch's spell seemed to have dealt a great deal of psychological damage to the animal.

"Ask me that again when you breakthrough." The Matriarch replied.

"Matriarch! Elena…" Aladdin voiced his concern in a voice akin to a whisper. All his anger had disappeared after seeing the Matriarch's mystic spell.

"You seem to like that girl." The Matriarch said to Aladdin with a smirk on her face.

Miss Fox's ears twitched like a rabbit's at the Matriarch's remark, whereas Ali-Baba's brows became deeply creased as he turned his gaze towards Aladdin.

"Matriarch! What are you saying? We are just colleagues…"

"No use in trying to deceive me. But you're also cheating yourself."

"Chiara! Go get the other girl or our friend here will die of anxiety."

"Yes! Matriarch." Chiara replied as she beamed away towards the direction Elena was gusted to.

"The rest of you, start preparing. We need to get back before nightfall. I am too old to sleep out in the open." The Matriarch ordered after seeing Chiara's form disappear in the far distance.

In a few minutes, Chiara returned, but her expression was ashen…

"There is no trace of Elena. It is like her presence was completely erased from the Marshes." She mumbled after inching closer to the now relaxed group of mystics.

"If she dies, you will be the one that killed her!" Aladdin yelled; his face contorted with anguish as he moved out to search for Elena.

Miss Fox followed suit atop her wind fox after shaking her head.

"The two of you are not going?" The Matriarch asked as she turned towards Golnar and Ali-Baba who had both remained silent.

"What could we possibly do if even Chiara failed?" Ali-Baba countered with a question.

Aladdin and Fox who had only moved a few meters away shuddered as they stopped cold in their tracks.

"I am glad that not everyone in Section-41 is an airhead. When will I train a capable leader for my faction?" The Matriarch mumbled appearing dejected.

"Let's go and look for your girlfriend." She added, leading the way towards the marshes.

****

A few minutes after the group had left…

A wizened old man appeared at the battle scene. He had mud and grit all over his clothes and the exposed sections of his filthy body.

His dark gray cloak which might have once been white was ragged and tattered. A tattoo of a skeleton with a cross across its visage was etched on his exposed arm.

"So, the rats are hiding here!" He mumbled, his voice nearly sounding like the croak of a frog. He surveyed the surroundings for a few minutes before his cruel and upsetting smile transitioned back into a permanent sinister snarl.

"You have killed most of my babies?" He growled menacingly.

He took a few breaths as if to calm himself before gazing towards the direction in which the Matriarch and the others disappeared.

"The Matriarch's power is a problem. It appears that I can't complete the teacher's mission directly in a short while." He mumbled as his sunken, red eyes surveyed his surroundings.

"Patience is my only weapon. I will wait… Let it be three years or even five. I don't believe that the token holder will stay hidden in Giza and won't step out even once…" He trailed off, once again merging into the surroundings.

****

The next day, just before dawn…

Hugo woke up with a start.

"Not yet even dawn!" He mumbled while rubbing his red eyes gently.

He had just experienced one hell of a nightmare.

Hugo was still unsettled by the mind-boggling information he had received from his aunt the previous day. His physique was none other than the legendary Kundalini-Divine which would enable the bearer to rise in mystic power like a rocket.

The kundalini mana from the kundalini coiled serpents in his base chakra would provide pure energy to open up mana channels and activate chakras at a speed as fast as that of a comet traversing outer space.

But that wasn't all.

The bearer would face the risk of a backlash if he couldn't control the Kundalini-mana in his Chakras. Although Hugo felt like he was entirely in control of his base chakra, he was still apprehensive.

"Will I end up like the strange man of legend who died when his talent went kaboom?" Hugo mumbled as he recalled the information he had worked so hard to extract from Tracy.

Tracy had already resolved to keep the information from him in the hope of not burdening his childhood. If it wasn't for his pleading and some crocodile tears, he would still be ignorant about the defects of the Kundalini physique like most of the other mystics in Gaia.

"How can I still fail with all these techniques from the pyramid? This is just a small obstacle on my path. Definitely won't stop my advancement." Hugo looked out into the darkness as if looking for enlightenment.

"Fortunately, I can now start proper practice as a mystic." Hugo felt a surge of clarity the moment he thought of this.

"I need to train very fast." He mumbled while adjusting to seat cross-legged on the carpeted floor.