Chapter 47 - Plan D

Maikal was with Sagat and Roland in the main hall of the cave. Roland was trying to mobilise his Qi and extend his Will but there seemed to be no hope. Maikal's Will Domain had them both surrounded, and unless there was an external force that could destroy the Domain, there was no way to break free.

Sagat was cursing his bad luck, and did not hide his anger at either Maikal or Roland. Roland's betrayal in particular had made Sagat come to hate the Rhodnian above all his previous enemies. Why the commander he had served for so many years decided to do this was still beyond him. At that moment he understood several things.

For one thing, Roland always seemed to have blamed him for his crushing defeat by General Armand several years ago. Perhaps he thought that as a spy he did not give him enough information, or he was simply looking for someone to blame for his past failures. On the other hand, it is quite likely that the "stones" I found at the bottom of the craters are of the highest value, so much so that he wants to silence all who have knowledge of them. It was probably a mixture of these motives.

The only thing I could not understand was the presence of this wanderer with the apparent power of a Qi Emperor. Why had he infiltrated his cave? Who was he? If he knew that Sagat had obtained those stones and wanted them for himself, why hadn't he asked for them? If this was not his objective, then what was it?

Another point of doubt was the fact that being a Qi Emperor, he had not harmed him or Roland. While it was true that Sagat and Roland were inferior to a Qi Emperor, they both had powerful techniques and if they fought to the death, it was possible that they could slightly injure the Qi Emperor, but the Qi Emperor would eventually overwhelm them. Then his quest for whatever it was he wanted would be much easier.

All this made Sagat think that maybe there was a chance of getting out of this alive. After all, there was still Roland, who certainly wanted to kill him as well. Looking at Roland, he noticed that Roland was also fighting against the Emperor's Domain. Roland turned to look at Sagat, and they both seemed to be thinking something similar.

So Sagat forced his Qi to mobilise with difficulty. Roland was the first to be able to activate his powers. While an Emperor's Will Domain is a powerful weapon, it is also not invincible, and one can try to resist it. Roland had noticed that while Maikal's Domain was quite powerful, there were moments of instability in it, where it seemed to weaken at times.

In one of those moments of weakness, Roland used all his strength and a 10 foot python snake materialised around him, silver in colour with bluish looking eyes. Murmurs of water sounded all around him.

Sagat also took the opportunity to be surrounded by a reddish-coloured tiger, 2.5 metres high, as if it were a ghost.

These two "animals" were the materialisation of the Will of both of them. The Will of a Warrior could take different forms according to the characteristics and temperament of each one. Each Will is dependent on the knowledge that each person has of himself. Animal forms are the most frequent, but they are not the only ones.

When Maikal saw the materialisation of the Will of both Warriors he made a mocking smile in the eyes of Roland and Sagat, which made them feel like little children trying to show tricks in front of an adult. Though perhaps it was a smile of self-deprecation from Maikal towards himself. Perhaps only he knew the answer.

'If this were the past, neither of these two brats could even think,' Maikal thought.

The Python and the Tiger both lunged at Maikal. However, Maikal's eyes began to glow as if lightning was inside them and a gigantic paw at least 1m long appeared and crushed the snake's head. Another paw attacked the tiger and sent it flying against the wall.

Roland and Sagat could not help but fall back several metres, and blood began to spurt from their 7 orifices. The damage caused to the materialisation of their Will caused several internal injuries, and they began to feel terrified of Maikal's presence.

Maikal, for his part, very quietly and surreptitiously began to breathe with some difficulty, but this was hardly noticeable to his opponents. Finally he seemed to have made up his mind and raised his hands, whereupon Sagat and Roland began to panic, thinking of the attack they were about to suffer at Maikal's hands.

Suddenly, Maikal looked up at the horizon, startled, as if he could see beyond the walls of the cave.

Without wasting any time he shouted to be heard throughout the cave. "Plan D."

...

Elijah was trudging through the cave, retracing his steps in the direction of the cell area. He was lucky and found a small space ring on Malo's body, which while not very big, was quite expensive, and had money and some other materials that could be used and sold.

He was quite happy, because this would have great use for his future, as well as for the Orphanage.

Suddenly, a voice boomed in the cave.

"Plan D."

Elijah's eyes widened. He was staring in the direction of the cell area, but during the fight with Malo and Ocelot, the three of them had ended up moving in the opposite direction, near the exit. He calculated quickly in his head and realised that he would not be able to make it in time.

He was clenching his teeth tightly in indecision and some blood flowed from his mouth. Finally he decided to heed Maikal's warning, and at full speed, not caring if his wounds worsened he ran in the direction of the cave's exit. His mission was too important. If he accomplished it in time, it was quite likely that his brothers would be safe without further mishap.

Right now, he could only pray that EON would protect his brothers.

...

"Thank you very much Beautiful Big Sister" said Nerun ecstatically. Although he looked very happy, the bloody tears running down his face made him look rather ghoulish, the aftermath of having used his Qi technique on an opponent of far superior power to his own. However, being able to get rid of Ren was something that had brought them immense peace of mind.

Ailan, Eliana and Roxanne were surprised. They did not understand at what point Nerun decided to use the caged woman against the Beastman, nor why she decided to come to his aid. Still, they were glad that they had been able to get out of this great predicament without much trouble.

The woman who had killed Ren looked at his corpse as if it were an ordinary object, with great coolness. She had sent a secret message to Nerun, asking him to send the Beastman in her direction, so that she could give him the final blow. Nerun and Silvester's ingenuity and ability had surprised her a little, but nothing more, after all her superior eyes had no sight of Praetorians, let alone Qi Masters. Still she could not help but feel exhausted, for with the death of the Beastman, she had spent the last of her great power, so with a cold sweat on her brow, she fell to the ground.

Nerun, when he saw that the woman was badly wounded, ran out to her, and approached her and helped her to sit up with some difficulty. Although the woman had never been touched by a man in her life, her great weakness prevented her from refusing Nerun's attention. Still, she mentally reassured herself that Nerun was still a child and when she could see him, she felt that he had no perverse thoughts towards her, so she didn't put up much of a fight.

"Are you alright Beautiful Big Sister?" asked Nerun, with some anxiety on his face. He noticed that the woman's what should normally have been lustrous skin was somewhat weathered, likewise he saw the dryness on her hands and lips, signs of clear dehydration. Looking around he saw a small pitcher of water and asked Eliana to please bring it to him. Ailan tried to stop her, because he thought the woman was too dangerous, but Eliana took the pitcher to Nerun without a second thought.

With some difficulty, Nerun gave the woman a few small sips of water. He knew from the lessons of Maikal and Maya that if a person had been in dehydration or starvation, too much drink or food could result in the opposite effect of recovery and make the person worse, so he gave her small sips so that the woman could slowly adjust her body.

The water certainly helped her recover, but her weakness went far beyond this. The wounds she had when Sagat found her had failed to heal, and then the absence of food and water had worsened her situation. Even with food and drink she could not regain her power in a short period of time. Worse, she was still bound in Sagat's chains, and without being able to regain her strength, it was impossible for her and certainly none of the other boys to break them.

"Thank you little boy. You are far more skilled than you look. Anyone who confronts you thinking you're nothing more than a little kid will certainly suffer the consequences," said the woman in her melodious voice, which was still a little raspy.

"Don't mention it, Beautiful Big Sister. If it wasn't for you, we would all be dead. How can we help you escape?" asked Nerun earnestly.

Although Roxanne wanted to advise Nerun that it was better to escape and leave the woman alone, she saw that Nerun was determined to save the woman, and right now nothing she said would have any effect. In the end, he also had to acknowledge that it was the woman who allowed them to get out of this alive. Roxanne received some first aid from Eliana, being able to remove the blade in her leg and getting up with difficulty.

"For now freeing her is impossible. The key to the chains are held by Sagat. They are made of a high-ranking material, and even if we could all join forces we couldn't break them," Roxanne said, watching as Nerun was examining the woman's chains.

"You'd better go," said the woman. However, Nerun acted as if he had not heard her. He seemed to be thinking and debating with something in his mind.

When Silvester saw Nerun, he knew what Nerun was thinking of doing and said "No. You know Father's orders. We must leave now, or it may be too late."

Nerun sighed and then looking at the woman and asked, "May I at least know your name Beautiful Elder Sister?"

The woman was quiet for a few seconds and looked as if she would say nothing. Nerun sighed a little and then said "At the moment I have no way to release you and repay you for what you have done for us. But I promise you that I will do everything in my power to get you out of here when I meet my big brother and father."

Silvester and Eliana helped Roxanne move, while Ailan and Nerun headed for the exit. As they were about to leave, however, Nerun heard a quiet voice in his ear "Arbak. My name is Arbak.

Nerun turned and smiled at the lady. The lady smiled back, when suddenly, her face changed.

At that instant a distant voice was heard in the cave "Plan D".