Chapter 434 - Ruby Maiden
The dragons were all set and the Adventurers were ready to attack. The light from earlier had already vanished, meaning that the Ruby Maiden had already woken up from her crystalized state.
"Did she lie to you?" Zeus asked Frederick who was still shocked. "Can there be any explanation than this? That Rogue Maiden lied about the date."
"I'm sure she has other reasons why she woke up the Ruby Maiden earlier than scheduled," Frederick said, even he himself was unsure of this. "I-I don't think she would ask for help and betray us like this."
"You don't think," Zeus sighed. "Let's just go there as fast as we can and hope Licht isn't as fast as us."
"Okay," Fredrick sighed in return. "Let's hope."
–
"Where… am I?" a woman with red curly hair asked herself. Her clothes were of a white traditional Eastern clothing with she had a red cloak over it. On her neck was a metal band with a small red stone at the center.
She was tall and slender, but not thin like she was starving herself. Her figure was reminiscent of people who poses for clothing stores and clothing advertisements in the bulletin board of kingdoms. Her eyes were reddish black that illuminates in the darkness.
She looked around the dark room, seeing nobody with her. "Hello?"
When no one answered, the woman waved her hands in the air. With a quick flick of her right wrist, a red wisp appeared on her palm. She used the wisp to wander around the room, realizing that it was an underground cave.
From the walls of the cave were stones that were perfectly carved into flat halls and an arched ceiling. At a glance, it looked like it were bricks that were designed that way, but it was the limestone of the cave carved by the humans who placed her statue there.
The red haired woman continued her walk until she saw a glint of light from afar. This made her excited, grinning from ear to ear as she ran full speed into the light.
Just when she was almost at the end of the cave, she heard a sound coming from outside. The woman slowed down and crouched as she got nearer and nearer to the end.
"Is that…" the woman trailed off as her eyes widened.
A giant bird was flying around the exit. The woman got closer to the edge and saw that the exit was located in a cliff. "What in the hell?"
It was a giant blue hummingbird and it was flying around the cliff where the exit was. The bird had a long beak that was sharp like a sword and its wings created small tornadoes around it.
The bird tweeted, its sound gentle and calm as it looked at the woman. It stopped right at the end of the tunnel while it stared at the Ruby Maiden.
"Hey," the Ruby Maiden called out to the bird. "Can you help me escape from here?"
The bird was constantly flapping its wings while staring at the woman. It tilted its head to the side and slowly approached her, wary from the flame that was still in her hand.
"Oh, you don't like this?" the Ruby Maiden chuckled. She flicked her wrist again, making the wisp disappear. "Come on little birdie, I won't hurt you."
The bird seemingly smiled. It nodded and got close to the woman, turning around so that she was facing its back.
This made Emma confuse for a moment. She looked at the bird who turned its head to her. The red-haired woman asked, "Do you want me to ride this?"
The bird tweeted like a noise of agreement. This made the woman smile and quickly get on the bird's back. "Thank you, giant bird. My name is Emma. Can you please take me down?"
With another tweeting sound, the bird flew away. Emma clutched at the feathers on its back, clinging to it as if her life depended on it. Well, it does at the moment.
"Giant Birdie, please slow down!" Emma yelled, begging the bird.
The bird did not listen. Instead, it spun, making Emma grip its feathers tighter. "Giant Birdie! Please stop!"
From the sharp tip of the bird's beak, a small vortex had formed. The vortex approached the head of the bird, down to its tail. Emma raised her head away from the vortex, trying to escape from it as much as she could.
The spinning wind vanished, and now the giant gentle-looking bird was now a giant falcon. Emma gasped after seeing that her clothes had changed. From a dress now to a gray bodysuit with a green vest and a pair of shorts.
Her wild curly hair that reached up to her knee was also fixed into a bun above her head, fastened with twines so it would stay up. Her high heels were also changed into leather boots that felt like it was nothing.
"Wow," Emma grinned. "This is amazing. Thank you birdie!"
"Her name is Celine."
Emma snapped her head to the side, seeing a fog shaped into a female figure. The fog was flying beside her, looking at Emma with a wide grin.
"She's Celine, the Lady of Beasts, and I'm Esmeralda, the Lady of Visions," the fog woman introduced. "We don't have much time. Licht had found your location and the reinforcements are held back. The Rogue Maiden sent us to your rescue."
"Licht? Reinforcements? Rogue Maiden?" Emma asked. "I do not get a single thing on what you're talking about. Please enlighten me."
"No time," Esmeralda said, pointing behind them. "They already sent their army."
"Army–" Emma turned her head behind her, her eyes widened after seeing an entire fleet of flying ships. "What in the hell is that?"
"We'll talk later," Esmeralda said. "Celine, please take her to the safe place. I'll stall them."
The falcon screeched and lowered its head. With one swift flap, its speed doubled, making Emma yell and lean down to hug its neck.
Meanwhile, Esmeralda stopped. She raised both her hands and conjured sparking mist around her. The mist spread in the air, forming giant clouds as it approached the ships. "The Sailors' Demise!"
The mist covered all the ships entirely, making everyone inside it panic.
"What is this?"
"Who made this fog?"
"I bet it's the Lady of Visions!"
…
A man raised a single hand that silenced all the skirmish in all the ships. This man walked at the edge of the biggests ship among the fleet, looking around and sighing.
"They are interfering with our job," the man said. "The Ladies had betrayed us along with the Masters. It is time to slay them for treason."
The man spun to face the crew. He brandished his sword and raised it in the air. "From now on, there is only Chiefs. My name is Shin, and I am the Chief of Dawn."
With a single swift slash of his sword, a wave of darkness cleared the fog. The man grinned and turned back to the direction of where Celine and Emma were, "Let us contact the Chief of Dusk, Night, and Noon.. We have a Maiden to hunt."