Ritual

Once again, Mitsuko teleports with Reiko, this time to the ruins. As the two start to look around them, Mitsuko's attention is drawn to smoke rising from the wreckage a few meters away.

"It must be them! Let's go!"

"Could you please go ahead? There's something I must do first."

"Is it that important?!"

"Yes. I have to notify my father of the current situation, so that he can lift the alert and order the isolation of this place. It would be a problem if citizens showed up here."

"(That means you want to hide everything under the blankets as always...)

Tch... Whatever!"

Mitsuko runs towards the smoke as Reiko begins her report. Upon arriving at the smoke's location, Mitsuko finds Vektor, Sych, and Yuko walking.

"Guys! You fine?!"

Sych and Yuko pant in exhaustion, while Vektor cracks his sore shoulders, groaning in pain:

"Ow... I thought I would die..."

Mitsuko catches up with the three, and is greeted by Vektor:

"Hey there, Mitsuko... You look fine."

"I am, but how about you?! How did you survive that?!"

"Ah... To be honest with you, neither I know how did we get through that alive."

Yuko explains what happened:

"When the airship was about to crash into the castle, I made an ice barrier at the last moment. Since everything happened so quickly, I didn't have time to shape a barrier that was efficient enough to withstand the impact."

Sych continues:

"It was then that I reinforced the barrier using my psychic powers, making us able to protect ourselves from the collision. However, the ground around us was completely destroyed, and we were detached from the castle's structure. We were then thrown here by the force of the impact, but I managed to cushion our fall. Still, it was exhausting to use all our power to defend ourselves from something so sudden."

Vektor concludes:

"I'm still kinda disappointed that I didn't do anything to help this time... Sorry for involving all of you into this mess."

Mitsuko just responds:

"No need to apologize. The important thing is that everyone is okay. If there's anyone to blame for all this, it's not any of us. Now, follow me! Let's find Reiko and get this over with so we can go home! She's not far from here."

While this conversation is taking place, Reiko finishes her report. Before she has time to go to Mitsuko, she sees a mini-airship approaching her. After waiting a few seconds, she sees the mini-airship land, and from there come out Kder and Hayato. Desperate, Hayato runs towards the princess:

"Reiko! Are you okay?"

"Yes... Mitsuko Kageki has used her teleportation to take us... K- Kder?! What are you doing here?!"

"Kder defeated me earlier, but then when my airship malfunctioned, we both fled in my emergency mini-airship."

"S- So that was it..."

As Reiko uneasily looks at him with a saddened gaze, Kder slowly approaches her, without losing his formality:

"It's an honor to see you again, Princess Reiko."

"...S- Stop that..."

Ironically, what saves Reiko from such pressure of having to confront Kder is the arrival of Mitsuko, accompanied by Vektor, Sych and Yuko. Mitsuko congratulates Reiko:

"I see you found some more people! Nice job!"

"Yes..."

With his task accomplished, Kder says:

"Vektor Drenn. As you had determined, I have fulfilled my part in your strategy to ensure Hayato Noogard's presence in this location."

"Yeah, thanks Kder, I knew I could count on your help."

Hayato angrily protests:

"Hey, Kder! Don't say my name out loud! While I'm in public, you must call me Villain of Evil! Having the right to expose me doesn't give you the right to disrespect me! Besides, I'm the one who brought us here!"

"Sorry..."

Hayato redirects his anger towards Vektor:

"And you, Vektor Drenn! You were the one who made Kder invade my fortress?! Now take a look at what happened! I didn't even have time to start anything today and you've already destroyed another one of my properties!"

"H- Hey, hold up, I didn't do anything this time! I also haven't had time to do anything since I woke up! Didn't you say it was your airship's engine that exploded?!"

Sych tries to calm the situation:

"Come on now, calm down, you two... This can be ignored for now. The important thing now is that finally, all 5 Etykiran apprentices are gathered."

Vektor then calms down and remembers his reason for being on the island.

"...You're right. I came here to dispel my curse, and I've finally reached the finish line. I can't waste my time any more than I already have. Alright, let's get ready!"

Vektor wields his Burning Silver, raising it forward. Mitsuko, Yuko, and Reiko touch their fingers to the blade of the legendary sword, while Reiko convinces the reluctant Hayato to do the same.

From this moment, the Etykiran energy of the four apprentices is lightly absorbed, with each one's elemental power gently overflowing from their fingertips. From Mitsuko's hand, a faint aura of shadows emanates; from Reiko's hand, a faint golden light emanates; from Yuko's hand, a thin icy vapor emanates; and from Hayato's hand, a gentle breath emanates.

After this procedure, the blade begins to glow. Vektor raises his sword, which automatically uses his flames. The blade then shines with a strong glow, and returns to normal...

"(...Is that it? We're done?)"

The impatient Hayato asks:

"Is the sword energized already? Can we go home now?"

"I- I don't know... Was it supposed to happen this way? Or did I do something wrong?"

While everyone remains confused, a voice appears not far away:

"So in the end, it was truly worthless..."

When Kder, Sych and the Etykiran apprentices realize, there is someone on top of the rubble, someone that Vektor and Kder recognize really well. This someone continues speaking:

"I thought destroying that engine would be a surefire move... but it turned out to be just a big waste of time."

"Maken!"

Sych understands quickly:

"(So this is Maken... I can indeed feel his power, hidden somewhere deep down...)

Everyone, let's escape to the Valley of Music! This Maken guy is too dangerous! Let Vektor and Kder take care of him!"

Mitsuko tries to protest:

"What?! But we-"

Reiko interrupts her protest:

"Let's do as he says. We're all too exhausted to interfere. We need to take shelter in a safe place until this situation is over."

"...Alright then, let's just go! I don't want to argue at a time like this."

Sych, Mitsuko, Reiko, Yuko, and Hayato run to the Valley of Music's trail, where they are healed by Hiki and placed under the protection of Naoto and Noburo, while a decisive confrontation is about to take place in the ruins. Yuko can't help but worry as she speaks to Hayato:

"Those two will be alright, won't they?"

"I don't know. Defeating me and destroying my robots is surprising, but destroying my fortress and the top of Drettonus Castle in one move is simply unbelievable! It's definitely not going to be easy."

Mitsuko remains frustrated and takes this frustration out on Reiko:

"Why did you agree on running away?! If we all joined forces, we would be able to defeat that guy easily even!"

"You're underestimating that person too much. As much as it is frustrating for me to run away from there, I am aware that, especially in our current condition, we don't have the capacity to match an opponent like that."

"Maybe I should gear up at the arsenal and go help them..."

"Don't even think about that. You'll probably just get in the way. Let those with the legendary swords take care of this."