The Hidden Savior

Behind the secret door, there is a dark passage that seems endless. Rena asked them to walk first so she could close the secret door from the inside using the same fingerprint system. A blaze floated above Tyson's palm as he led the way. The walls of the passageway were made of thick steel. A small cable ran from the ceiling to the door not far in front of them.

When viewed from the hallway alone, they seem to be entering a secret room complete with advanced technology that has never been seen before. Tyson smiled broadly as he arrived at the metal door at the end of the hall. He imagined himself using the secret technology behind the iron door.

"Do you use your finger to enter this door too, Rena?" Tyson asked, looking at the hand sensor attached to the side of the door.

"No. The right-hand sensor recordings for your rooms have been copied to the hand sensor," replied Rena.

"Cool!" Tyson grinned widely. He immediately transferred the fireball to his left hand, then placed his right hand on the sensor of that hand. The sensor light turns green, then the door moves up.

But Tyson's broad smile disappeared as soon as he looked into the room. His expectations were too high as if they just fell because the reality was far from his expectations.

There is no motofly and aerofly the latest models. No elemental weapons. There is no advanced technology that has never been seen before. A room with a futuristic design and a robot that becomes their playmate? None at all.

The floor they stepped on was ceramic, most of which had been cracked. There was only one light in the middle of the room. The light flickered and was almost out. The stuffy air and flying dust made the room even more uncomfortable to live in.

"This room has not had time to be repaired. So yeah... Get used to it," said Rena as she walked to a table in the middle of the room.

"At least this room is big enough," added Haizee as she approached the large monitor installed in front of the entrance. Willow scanned every corner of the room, while Tyson still hadn't moved from where he was standing.

"Really disappointing." Tyson walked hunched over to the long sofa that was close to the wooden wall. He immediately fell there. The dust that stuck to the sofa, flew and entered Tyson's lungs. The man coughed loudly as he waved his hand, and his hand accidentally let out a fire to dispel the dust. But unfortunately, there was a spark that hit the sofa.

Haizee smelled burning smoke. She turned around and found that there was a fire on the sofa Tyson was sitting on. "What's wrong with you?" Haizee's gray eyes glared at him. "Quickly put out the fire!"

Tyson turned to his left. "Oh shit!" He jumped to his feet and away from the growing fire.

Haizee gave Tyson no time to put out the fire. "Ventiris!" said Haizee while swinging her right hand. A gust of wind that was vaguely visible in a curved shape immediately rushed toward the fire. Instead of being extinguished, the fire just got bigger.

Willow extended her right hand towards the flames. "Terra Marus!" Willow's hands were covered in thick soil and grew larger in no time. As the lump of earth grew to the size of a sofa, the hand-shaped earth moved toward the flames.

The hand-shaped earth moved according to Willow's right hand. Her right hand patted the flames, while her legs were in a standing position so that her surroundings would not shake due to the pounding of the big hand.

Finally, the fire was extinguished after leaving half of the sofa still intact.

"Good job guys. You guys can definitely save a lot of people," said Rena, clapping her hands. But from her tone of voice and expression, it was clear that she was just teasing the three of them.

"Sorry," Tyson said. Haizee just rolled her eyes in response to Rena and Tyson.

"We don't need your compliments, Rena," Willow said. She looked around the room again. This time her attention was drawn to the crack in the back of the sofa. She approached the crack.

After getting what she was looking for on the monitor attached to the table, Rena called out to the three magus. "You should know this."

"What do you know?" said Tyson. Haizee first read the writing displayed on the table.

"Master Florance. Please come here," said Rena. She saw afro hair tied up high peeking behind the sofa. Not wanting to wait long, she approached the black-haired woman. "Master Florarance?"

Willow straightened up again with two hands holding something. "Why is there a baby lion in that confined space?"

Haizee gasped and immediately approached Willow. "Is it still alive?" Her voice sounded worried when she saw the animal in her arms did not open its eyes.

"Still. Maybe just sleeping," Willow replied.

Rena looked at the hole in the wall showing the broken side of the iron bars. But he had no intention of checking it out any further. "We'll discuss that later. There is something much more important at this point."

Willow placed the baby lion on the edge of the unburned sofa, then followed Haizee and Rena to the table.

"So what's more important than that unconscious baby lion?" Willow wondered as she studied the table monitor screen.

"Based on the information we have obtained from our spymaster, the apocalypse will occur 4 months from now. People infected with the Cordypus Parasite will enter the final stage, while the vaccine has only been completed by 30%. The parasite will take over the host's body and spread more spores once it finds the right place to reproduce."

The screen mounted on the table showed a graph that increased significantly after Rena shifted her hand across the screen. "Every month for the past 8 months, around 150 people have been infected with the parasite. Almost all hospitals and quarantine places are full. Most of them are isolated in their respective homes," she continued. "And what's worse, El-Demon will appear along with these zombies."

"El-Demon?"

"A demon with elemental power that can rival you." Rena slides her finger over the monitor screen, then shows an explanation of El-Demon along with its image. "This is a near-accurate image," added Rena.

"They look like humans," commented Haizee while looking at the pictures one by one.

"They were originally humans with magus powers like you. But once they are infected with the Cordypus Parasite, they will turn into El-Demons when they are dying."

"Even though it's just a parasite, its impact can turn humans into zombies and demons. I'm increasingly suspicious that this parasite emerged from a lab leak belonging to the Supreme Court, not from the Vain Caste as the news media said," Tyson said.

"Of course. It's from a lab leak. It's not a conspiracy, but reality. All of the higher-ups had to be responsible, except Soundy. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have been ordered to give you this important information," replied Rena.

"Why wasn't I surprised to hear that?" Haizee mumbled while shaking his head, in contrast to Tyson who was stunned when he heard it.

"So until now, you didn't tell us who Soundy was? Who is the high council that defected from his caste? Male or female? You're not going to tell that, are you?" Tyson said to Rena.

"I have no authority to answer that."

"Where are the pictures and descriptions of El-Demon Water?" Willow asked.

"Most likely, El-Demon Water doesn't exist."

"I don't think it's a burden to fight three of them," Tyson said.

"But this is what will weigh you down." Rena zoomed in on the image showing the Fire El-Demon.

The three of them fell silent for a moment watching the image of a human form with a body like magma with two pointed horns on the head. Of the three, it was the fire El-Demon that had the most estimated number—which was around 100 fire El-Demon.

"Fortunately, I've discovered the whereabouts of the Water Magus." Rena shifted the presentation slide, which now showed a photo of a teenager with glasses. On the right of the photo is a brief bio.

[Name: Calvin Herodust]

[Caste: Sagacious]

[District: Earthwise]

[City: Midtown Point]

[Address: Beta Street number 11, block R]

[Age: 16]

Then Rena shifted the photo and showed photos of the evidence that the man was a Water Magus. Most of the evidence photos show Calvin feeding a stray cat. There is water flowing clearly from Calvin's fingers into the cat's drinking container.

"We're going to recruit an underage?" said Tyson in a rising voice.

"He's the only Water Magus who's still healthy," replied Rena.

"Facing a Fire El-Demon has to be a Water Magus? Water bender alone isn't enough?" asked Haizee.

Rena shook her head. "Most likely, the water used by the water benders will run out before the Fire El-Demon goes out."

"Why is he from the Sagacious Caste? Why not Prodigy or Almighty Caste like other magus?" Willow wondered as she rubbed her chin.

"All this time he was hiding his strength. His father and two older siblings also covered it up. So he's in the Sagacious Caste because his father is a teacher."

"I don't want to accept minors. He still had a lot to learn about his powers. My students from water benders are great," said Haizee.

"Or better the three of us," suggested Tyson.

"First, not just anyone can enter your group. One water bender couldn't possibly defeat one Water El-Demon. You've already signed the consequences for joining The Hidden Savior's group, haven't you?"

"Yes. We have become fugitives from the government," Willow replied, glancing at the drone that had been flying around.

"Right." Rena pointed at the drone. "Our movements are not monitored by the Security Council, but rather by Soundy himself. He saw what we are doing here. Then second." Rena's index finger pointed to the sofa. "Extinguishing fires using earth is still less effective than water. Master Florance will definitely work doubly to extinguish the El-Demon Flames."

Tyson snorted briefly. "There really is no other choice. So he's just going to join our group like that?"

"No. He will be trained first at Miracle Academy under the supervision of the three of you. Once Calvin Herodust has mastered some important spells, The Hidden Savior will officially be formed."