Chapter 28: The Masked Sorcerer

Crimson Thorn, along with Bookkeeper, Zion Kishima, Zino and the others washed up at shore, as they contemplated what happened in their fight with the Listmycan sorcerers.

"Well...this did not go as planned..." The Bookkeeper sighed, sitting down on a rock.

"It didn't at all, we got ambushed, they managed to break through our defenses and worse of all, they kidnapped the King of Elderith!" Crimson Thorn shouted, as he started to kick the ground.

"Hey we did mess up... we'll try to save them..." Zino said, trying to sound reassuring to the others.

"But first were going to need a coordinated plan in rescuing them, not to mention, those Listmycan sorcerers are going to be difficult..." Zion Kishima replied.

"So what do you suggest..." Crimson Thorn said, crossing his arms, trying to hear him out.

"Well so here's the plan..." Zion Kishima said, gesturing them to move closer.

Meanwhile in the dungeon, Creo and Athena are listening to the Accursed Sorcerer's plan.

"Well it's quite risky to do, but I guess it's worth a shot..." Athena sighed.

"Just letting you all know that there is no backing out after this...understand me?" The Accursed sorcerer said.

"Don't worry, we got this..." Creo smiled.

Outside of the Listmycan kingdom, Zion Kishima along with the others slowly entered inside the kingdom as they pretended to be travelling merchants from a kingdom.

Suddenly a Listmycan guard moved towards them, feeling a little suspicious about them.

"Inspection..." The Listmycan guard said.

The group, feeling hesitant to reply to the guard, but if they were not to make a move, their cover would have been blown and the guard would suspect them even more.

"Sure thing..." Crimson Thorn said hesitatingly.

The guard moved closer to them and checked out their carts and found nothing out of the ordinary it was full of food and other merchant stuff.

"You're in the clear, you may now proceed inside of Listmyca..." The Listmycan guard said, slowly stepping aside for them to move.

"Thank you very much, kind sir..." The Bookkeeper said.

"No worries, now proceed immediately...I have a long day to finish..." The Listmycan guard scoffed.

The group proceeded to head inside of the Listmycan kingdom.

The kingdom was filled with towering structures, the road was filled with mana and the flora is filled with enchanting and vibrant light.

"Such a truly magnificent sight..." The Bookkeeper said, staring in awe.

"The kingdom really lives up to its tale, it's filled with such marvels that makes my heart flutter..." Zino said.

"Well we can save the touring for later, for now we have a specific priority and it's to break King Creo and Lady Athena from the shackles of that scumbag..." Crimson Thorn replied, his tone was serious and had no time to be distracted.

"Very well..." The Bookkeeper sighed, feeling sad his time will be limited but follows suite anyways.

As they were walking suddenly they suddenly heard something happening around the kingdom.

"Get back here..." One of the Listmycan guards shouted angrily.

"Shit...did they recognize us that easily..." Crimson Thorn said, as he started to run away along with the group.

Whilst the guards were running, the real target that they were after wasn't them at all, rather it was this fellow.

"Gosh, these guys are such a pain in the ass..." A voice called out.

The group turned around and they saw a person wearing a mask and a hood on their head, carrying a stolen item.

"If you do be so kind, can you please excuse me gentlemen, I'm in a little bit of a hurry..." The masked person said as they started to pant, trying to grasp for some air.

"Should we help her?" Zion Kishima asked.

"Hmmm, I guess we should..." Crimson Thorn sighed as he stopped.

"Hey if you're allied with that dastardly thief, then we will consider you as her allies!" The Listmycan guard says as he started to cast a spell.

"I'll handle this from here..." The Bookkeeper said moving forward, taking off his disguise.

He summons a collection of books and makes them cast a binding spell at the guards.

"Arghhh..." The Listmycan guard groaned in pain.

"Can I kill him?" Crimson Thorn said, moving forward and pointing his double edged blade at the guard.

The guard started to tremble in fear, in his mind, the man before him felt like a towering figure like a dragon wanting to eat him alive.

He wanted to run but his legs feel like they're stuck to the ground as he feels an eerie vibe from Crimson Thorn.

"P-please l-let me go!!!" The Listmycan guard stammered in fear.

"Hmmmm...send this message to the King of Listmyca...he's about to kneel before my feet..." Crimson Thorn chuckled as he lowered his blade.

The Listmycan Guard was relieved and started to run away along with the other guards after barely escaping the clutches of Crimson Thorn.

"Not bad, you four are a bit impressive than I initially thought..." The masked person chuckled.

"And you must be the thief from earlier..." Zion Kishima said, pulling out his sword.

"Relax boys, I'm not here to start a fight or anything..." The masked person said.

"Then again, it's not easy for me to trust strangers...but since we are being chased by those guards, let me lead you guys to my area..." The masked person continued, walking away.

The group, feeling hesitant, decided to follow the masked person hoping for some answers.

As the masked person leads them to the area, the door was locked shut on them.

The group began to prepare for the worst that had yet to come.

"Alright, so let's start things over by introducing each other, shall we?" The masked sorcerer.

"Alright, my name is Crimson Thorn, these are my associates, Zion Kishima, a samurai from Cherry Village, the fabled Bookkeeper and Zino, a sorcerer from the Enchanted forest..." Crimson Thorn said as he introduced themselves to the masked person.

"I see..." The masked person replied.

"My identity is that of a secret, but this will be the only time I've ever introduced myself to strangers like you lot..." The masked person continued.

"You can call me...Kalyndra..." Kalyndra said as she took off her mask.

"It is nice to meet you, Miss Kalyndra, although could we ask you for a little favor?" Zion Kishima asked, waiting for her response.

"A favor? And what would that be?" Kalyndra asked him back, curious about what's in store for her.

"I want you to help us in a rescue mission...we need you to help break out some prisoners from Victor Alchemus' dungeon...." Crimson Thorn said.

"I see...well it's quite risky considering there could be possibly lots of guards in that area..." Kalyndra stated.

"But with the help of you four, I think we might be able to break them out..." Kalyndra continued.

"I'm in..." Kalyndra responded, agreeing to their terms.

"Alright we'll begin before dusk, we'll back you up in case things go south..." Crimson Thorn said.

All of them agreed to their plan and decided to prepare themselves in breaking them out.

The group along with Kalyndra, arrived nearby the Listmycan castle.

"Alright, as we agreed, let's go break them out, shall we?" Zion Kishima said.

Zino proceeds to cast an invisibility spell on all five of them, as their method of infiltration.

"Well, I'll just let you all know that this invisibility spell lasts for a maximum of eight minutes so we better make it quick..." Zion continued.

The group went inside the depths of the castle, as they entered the dungeon, they went ahead to handle the guards.

"Seed Bomb!" Kalyndra chanted, shooting out seeds which made the guards fly back due to the seeds' explosion.

"Not bad...Kalyndra..." Zion Kishima said, feeling amazed.

"There they are..." Crimson Thorn said, pointing his finger at Creo and Athena's cell.

"Well it looks like you managed to find us..." Creo smiled at them.

"It did take us a while to get back especially due to us getting transported far away from the initial location but we managed....to say the least..." Crimson Thorn said, taking off the shackles.

"Well glad you're able to find us..." Athena remarked.

"Also we have a friend here that we want to tag along..." Athena chuckled.

"Well alright then, let's go now before they alert the higher-ups..." Crimson Thorn sighed as he led them out of the prison.

"Hey, get them!" The Listmycan guard shouted, calling the other guards.

"Dance of the Cherry Petals..." Kalyndra chanted, casting a bunch of cherry petals as a distraction.

"Ice Chambers!" Athena said, freezing the guards in place.

"Not bad, Athena..." Creo said, leading the group outside of the dungeon.

"Thanks...now let's just focus on escaping this dungeon, shall we?" Athena smiled, as she held off the guards.

*Meanwhile at the throne room*

"Tch...those bastards managed to escape..." Victor sighed, feeling frustrated that they managed to escape.

"But alas, I don't blame those guards...they were too powerful for them to contain..." Victor continued.

"You want us to help, Vic?" Serena asked, waiting for his response.

"Hmmm...I suppose that would be a good option, after all, they are very dangerous threats..." Victor said, standing up from his throne.

"Let's go after them..." Serena sighed, leaving the throne room along with the others.

As the group was about to exit the castle, they were suddenly confronted by Victor Alchemus and his group.

"Not so fast, none of you are going to make it out here alive...Shadowbinder!!!" Nightshade said, using his shadow spells upon them.

"Tch, I should've killed him instead of transporting him in that portal..." The Bookkeeper said, struggling to break free from Nightshade's control.

"You're right and look what happened now..." Nightshade said, as he continued to bind The Bookkeeper.

"I won't let you get away with this..." Creo said, struggling to use his Create ability.

"It's no use, you can't move your limbs as long as I bind your shadows..." Nightshade chuckled.

"Don't be too cocky..." Creo said activating his Kontroligan Eyes, breaking him and everyone else free from Nightshade's control and subduing him.

"Hmph, I should be cautious about those eyes next time..." Nightshade grunted, trying to get back up on his feet.

"Icicles of the Impaler!" Athena shouted, bringing forth icicles, directing them towards the enemies.

"Clypeum..." Bruno said, casting a giant shield to protect them from Athena's icicle attacks.

"Damn it..." Athena scoffed, impressed by Bruno's defense technique.

Victor approached them and swiftly subdued Zion Kishima and headed towards Creo.

Creo was alarmed, he attempted to block Victor's incoming attack by creating a shield to deflect it.

"Your shield won't save you much longer..." Victor said, as he used his magic to tear his shield apart.

Victor was charging up his magic and knocked Creo down to the ground.

"Bastard!" Crimson Thorn said, throwing his double bladed weapon.

Victor tried to catch the blade but the weapon managed to hurt him, giving Creo time to get back up.

"No you won't..." Serena said, interfering and binding Creo with chains.

"This won't be enough to hold me down for too long..." Creo said, using his Kontroligan Eyes to break free from the chains.

"No funny business, King of Elderith..." Morgan said, charging a water bomb attack.

"Ice Bomb!" Athena said, interfering and freezing the incoming attack.

"They're so persistent..." Bruno said, blocking Zino and The Bookkeeper's attacks.

"It can't be helped...we need to outsmart them...despite their large numbers..." Morgan sighed.

"Already on it...Shadow Soldiers..." Nightshade said, summoning a big number of shadows.

"This can't be good..." Zino said, starting to panic.

"Oh it certainly isn't good at all..." Victor chuckled, pulling out Crimson Thorn's weapon.

"Dracae Mitioris!" Victor chanted, summoning a giant dragon in front of them.

"Crap..." Creo said, backing away.

"That's right, you better start running..." Victor started to laugh menacingly, he wanted his opponents to be crushed before his eyes.

"Now run forth...Dracae...crush them as tribute to your master!" Victor chuckled.

Dracae started to charge towards them, its eyes were fierce and wanted to demolish them all.

"Make haste, we can't defeat all of them now..." Creo said, instructing the rest of them to leave.

"Because right now, we're not strong enough to defeat them..." Creo panted, trying to keep up with the others.

"None of you are running away!" Victor shouted, as he was about to cast a powerful spell upon them.

"Shit...this might be the end..." Crimson Thorn panted, grasping for air.

But just as it seems that their hope was crushed as they were about to be hit by a powerful attack, something unexpected happened.

"Avalon...Mirage!" A voice shouted.

Suddenly the whole group were transported somewhere else whilst their enemies were knocked back to the ground, disoriented from the powerful attack by the unknown force.

"Ahhhhhh...what happened..." Creo said, as he started to get back up, still feeling disoriented from the surprise attack.

"Fret not, for you are in the presence of a mage...correct...for you shall thank me for saving you from their hands..." A voice called out.

"Huh, who are you?" Creo asked, whilst helping his allies get up back on their feet.

"My identity is that of legend, that is right, I am a mage, I exist way before any of you were born, I am the most powerful mage of them all! The wizard...Merlin!" Merlin said, taking off his hood and greeting them with a smile.

And so, our heroes were saved from the clutches of their enemies and gained new allies through the mysterious Kalyndra and the famous mage himself Merlin, will Merlin help them in their battle against the sorcerers, find out and stay tuned for the next chapter!