Yun’s plan was easy to execute. 

First, they would continue running and Kiyae would continuously use the walls to her advantage. 

However, their destination had changed. 

It was straight to Ephert and the arena. 

Secondly, Haru and Yun would handle Goro. 

Lastly, K’xug and Hana would go along with Kiyae to the arena, and the former two would provide aid to Ryo, Cecil and Xue. Whereas, Kiyae had the responsibility to fetch their little brother Shin and his slave contract. 

If Ephert did not want to hand it over so nicely, despite them winning the tournament, that was fine. 

They can just steal it. 

They were “pirates” after all. 

Ephert could not blame them, they played according to his rules and wanted to make this fighting tournament an enjoyable memory for the audience. However, the man himself ruined it all. 

Now, it was time to execute their plan B. 

Alas, some plans are destined to never be executed perfectly. 

The five of them had thrown Goro off their course again, much to his chagrin. It did not help that his subordinates were getting picked off one by one when he sent them to warn Ephert about the situation, or to find an earth elemental user. 

Goro suddenly remembered why Yun was among the top officials in that group, like Haru and the others, despite the lack of fighting skills. 

Instead of fighting with his powers, he fought with his intelligence. 

As if the situation could not get any worse, all of them felt the floor above them tremble as if there was a stampede. 

Goro was far behind, meanwhile, the five of them were already headed to the arena. Thanks to Yun and Kiyae, they found a shortcut there. 

“Don’t tell me…” Goro widened his eyes. “Tch, damnit! It has already started!” 

He had been chasing down the three buffoons in frustration, that the time had completely slipped out from his mind. 

Goro dashed his way to the arena, barking at his subordinates to move. 

The five of them nearing the arena could hear the distant panicked screams and yells from there, and they were baffled as they watched the participants from the arena running back into the coliseum. The water users who had advanced far enough, began freezing the water to run across. 

Many of the participants avoided the handcuffs and legcuffs as much as they could. Some were caught, while others were climbing over the unfortunate victims and using them as a barricade. 

It was utter chaos. 

“Get out of there!” 

“I’m not dying here!” 

“Ahhhh!” 

The five of them stepped aside hurriedly, not wanting to be squashed by the incoming stampede of the frantic participants running for their lives. 

“If the participants are this terrified, the audience are definitely running for their lives as well,” Yun frowned deeply, musing out loud as he shook his head. “Not good, they all saw something that must have made them terrified to the point where their lives took priority.”

“I don’t understand what is going here or what Yun is trying to say, but I can understand it’s a bad thing,” Haru scratched his head and he nodded affirmatively. “Mhmm, a very bad thing.” 

Kiyae knocked Haru on the head. 

“Ow!” 

“You idiot captain, he is trying to say that something dangerous is happening in the arena.” 

At that moment, K’xug sensed it.

The presence of light magic appeared.

Xue?

No, not possible. 

Xue has not fully regained his powers--

K’xug widened his eyes in disbelief, and he shot his head to the entrance out to the arena. The presence of light magic was appearing rapidly, littering across the entire arena. 

How did light magic end up in the mortal realm like this? It’s too far apart from one another to be the work of one person.

K’xug felt apprehensive. 

The participants were still running for their lives, and it would take too much of a time for K’xug to push past them. 

“K’xug.” 

Hana tapped him on the shoulder, noticing his distressed look and she tilted her head. 

“What’s wrong?” 

K’xug cast an urgent look out to the arena again, and Hana followed his eyes. 

“Ryo, Xue and Cecil are definitely still in the arena,” Yun adjusted his glasses. “They will require support for whatever is out there.” 

“They are...in danger,” Hana spoke up, looking back and forth between K’xug and the entrance of the arena. “Big...danger?” 

K’xug nodded. 

Hana gasped, looking at Haru and the others. “We need to hurry--” 

“Let’s do this, Yun,” Kiyae stepped in this time, her solemn voice gathering everyone’s attention. “I’ll go and fetch Shin and steal that slave contract.” 

“By yourself?!” Haru burst out.

Yun frowned, troubled. “You still don’t know the map of this--”

“Don’t worry,” Kiyae winked, tapping on her head. “Thanks to running around with you earlier, I have more or less guessed the layout of this damn place.” 

“Kiyae, wait--” Haru called out. 

“See ya! I’ll be back with the little guy! And I'll throw that annoying red hair guy in circles!” Kiyae grinned, pushed herself off with a rock pillar, soaring through the air and above the panicking participants still running for their lives. “Make sure to save our friends!” 

Kiyae disappeared into the crowd. 

Yun and Haru sighed, their palms on their heads. 

“We have another problem now,” Yun continued on, sighing once again. “Getting past these people to the arena is impossible, we won’t be able to make it in time.” 

“Mhmm…if we can’t get past straight ahead,” Hana tilted her head, pointing upwards as she beamed. “Why not get past upwards?! The arena is still up there right?” 

The three men stared at Hana, flabbergasted and Yun was the first to recover. 

“No wait, Hana is right,” Yun adjusted his glasses, nodding. “The arena is right above us.” 

“Hah?! And how are we supposed to get there?” Haru scoffed. “We don’t have Kiyae here anymore!” 

“Oh, that!” Hana nodded eagerly, still smiling brightly. “Leave it to K’xug.” 

“Huh?” 

Both Yun and Haru muttered out at the same time. 

At the same time, K’xug whipped out his dual swords and he slashed at the air. The force of it was tremendous that it pierced through the air and destroyed the ceiling above their heads. 

Boom!

The stone was sent flying out of the way, and the sunlight streamed in. 

Yun and Haru was once again in awe at K’xug’s immense strength, staring at the destroyed ceiling that was enough to fit five people through it. 

“....Yun Yun.” 

“...stop calling me that.” 

“He...really isn’t human.” 

“...yes, he isn’t.” 

Hana continued smiling brightly. 

“Also, K’xug can fly!” 

Yun and Haru snapped their heads to Hana. 

“Wha--” 

“Fly?”

A pair of wings sprouted out from K’xug’s back at the same time, and a gust of wind blew by. His wings were clear to see for his comrades, one stark white and the other completely black, mismatched just like his eyes. 

“HAH!” Haru yelled out in a weird manner, his voice cracking as he collapsed to the ground in shock. “Th-th-th-that--”

“That--” Yun blinked rapidly, adjusting his glasses as his eyes widened in disbelief. “...it’s...actual...wings.” 

Hana climbed onto K’xug’s shoulders, and K’xug reached out to grab Haru and Yun by their collars. 

“Wait, really?! You are actually flying?!” 

“Captain, you have done something crazy like that before.” 

“Ye-yeah, but not like--AHHHH!” 

K’xug pushed off from the ground, soaring through the air and his destination was beyond the broken ceiling. 

Haru’s words were cut off, and he started yelling at the top of his lungs. 

Yun accepted his fate to be manhandled in such a manner, saving his friends was more important at this point anyway. 

Meanwhile, K’xug decided that the life of his friends were priority right now, rather than him exposing the fact that he wasn’t a mortal at all. 

Hana squealed happily, raising her arms up in the air and she inhaled deeply, cupping her hands around her mouth. 

“Cecillllllll! Xueeeeeee!” Hana exclaimed from the top of her lungs. “We have come to save youuuuuuu!” 

“Aarghhhhhhhh! Let me down! Let me down!” Haru was growing pale with each passing second, his voice cracking once again. “Damnit, lemme down! This is worse than the time I tried to fly with the fake wings! It’s too fucking high!” 

“How are we supposed to land safely? Hmmm…let’s see, if I was thrown that way…” Yun mused, his hand reaching up to remove his glasses. “Hey, K’xug, if you are planning to throw me, throw me in that direction.” 

K’xug glanced down at the people he carried his hands, followed by the beautiful red-haired woman sitting on his shoulders. 

“...”

What noisy passengers. 

K’xug smiled in amusement.

***

Ephert had his arm raised in the air, preparing to signal the attack. 

However, before he could do that, there was a sudden disruption and he snapped his head towards the group of people causing the ruckus.

“Cecillllllll! Xueeeeeee! We have come to save youuuuuuu!”

They were at the audience stand. 

Ephert was in utter shock seeing a copper-brown haired man with mismatched eyes hovering in the air with wings, and his fingers twitched but he could not move his arm. 

The archers who were surrounding the arena and aiming their bows at their enemies down in the arena was shocked speechless. Some of them even dropped their bows in bewilderment at the incredulous sight. 

Whereas, down in the arena, the disruption had also attracted the attention of the three people. 

The two people with Xue were currently alarmed at Xue's words, in the process of lecturing him. 

"Xue, how can we do something like that? Run away and leave you here?"

"That's right, don't be stupid--"

Ryo turned to look. 

“Wh-what the hell is that?! He...he is flying!” Ryo burst out, his eyes gleaming in excitement. “He’s flying! Is he flying?! Are those wings?!” 

Ryo hopped from one foot to another, the awe apparent in his voice. 

Cecil widened her eyes in surprise, a mixture of emotions flitting past her pellucid onyx eyes. 

The one that was the most shocked among the three of them was Xue. 

He was shocked to the point he had momentarily forgotten about the burning pain on his shoulder, and he glanced up at K’xug and Hana, along with Haru and Yun in the air. 

They all heard Hana's words clearly, including Xue. 

“Save...me…?” Xue muttered out. 

Those words sounded so foreign to him. 

Not because he was saved once again, but because...when he truly needed saving for the past two hundred years, no one came to his help. 

He always had to answer the call for help for others, but he never had any help for himself. 

This time, indeed, he needed saving because he knew…

He knew there was no way he could fight off all the light magic fired by the archers alone, along with protecting the two people here with him.  

A small part of him wished to be saved, along with these two people beside him. Cecil Lan and Ryo.

...and to think that actually came true this time. 

Xue continued looking on in disbelief. 

Meanwhile, at the audience stand, Ephert was growing uneasy. 

“Attack--agh!” Ephert hollered out, only to cry out in pain when he felt someone biting down on his arm. 

He had forgotten about the little Shin at his side. 

Shin leaped up and bit down harshly on his arm, preventing him from voicing out his order properly. 

There was determination in the adolescent’s midnight black eyes, the red imprint around his neck reminding him what this monster tried to do a while ago. 

At the same time, K’xug tossed Haru and Yun to the archers while Hana on his shoulders summoned out her bow. 

She smiled, taking the canteen hanging around her waist, uncapping it and throwing it into the air. The water swirled around them, eventually forming into dozens of ice arrows. 

It was all Hana’s handiwork, and the red-haired woman knew it well. 

She glanced around, assessing her opponents and the environment to determine what to aim first, something that she had developed overtime from her time in the academy and training with K’xug and Xue. 

What Hana lacked in strength, she had to make up with observing her opponents. 

She pulled back her bowstring, the feeling of it so natural to her now. Her muscles no longer strained, and her arm no longer trembled, and her hand no longer ached. 

Mhmm!

I can tell this is a good shot!

She released the bowstring just as K’xug landed safely on the ground. 

Whereas, Haru was a frantic mess from trying to land since he had not recovered from the shock of flying and seeing actual wings. He shot flames out from his hands, trying to slow down his momentum and in the process, burning some of the archers. 

“Ahhh!” 

“Sorry!” 

“Ahhhh!” 

“Oops, sorry!”

“It burns!”  

“Wait, why am I saying sorry? You guys are the bad guys.” 

Haru crashed into an archer, unintentionally using him as a cushion. He stood up, raising his arms up in the air as he guffawed loudly. 

“Hahah! I landed safely! You see that, you peasants!” 

Compared to Haru’s ungraceful and panicked landing, Yun was completely composed and elegant. 

He used his air elemental powers to slow his fall and landed on the ground gently, patting at his clothes. He wore back his glasses that he hung around his collar, summoning out his fan. 

He saw one of the archers aiming their bow at Xue, Cecil and Ryo, and the alarming sight of the glowing arrow. 

It was nothing like he had ever seen. 

He didn’t think twice, sending out two air blades to knock the bow out of the archer’s hands and blowing him away.  

There were some other archers who heard Ephert’s command to attack before he was cut off, on the verge of releasing their bows. 

“Watch out!” 

“Guys, run away!” 

Haru and Yun yelled out to their friends down at the arena at the same time. 

The arrows fired, but it wasn’t only just the arrows coated in light magic. 

Hana’s ice arrows landed on the shoulders of archers, rendering them unable to use the bow any longer. 

The pained cries were heard all around. 

Meanwhile, K’xug disappeared from Hana’s side in a flash and he appeared right beside Xue, gripping tightly onto his twin swords as his left eye started to turn into its demonic form. Black magic seeped out from his body, coating his twin swords and K’xug gritted his teeth, spinning around as he slashed the air. 

The arrows coated in light magic immediately lost their brilliant glow and momentum, dropping lifelessly to the ground. 

K’xug exhaled sharply, turning around to look at Xue with a smile. 

It was as if he wanted to say…

“Sorry for being late.” 

Xue had witnessed the entire scene of Yun, Haru and Hana all combining their efforts together to stop the archers. 

The scene of Shin preventing Ephert from commanding his subordinates any further. 

The scene of K’xug stepping in to save him heroically. 

He witnessed it all. 

“Cecil! Xue! We have come to save you!” 

Xue blinked rapidly in disbelief, replaying Hana’s words in his head.

“Hah…” 

Xue lowered his head, his hand covering his eyes and he started to chuckle softly in disbelief. However, if one looked closely, you could see his hand trembling slightly from how emotional he was. 

“That was amazing!” Ryo exclaimed, looking up and down at K’xug standing beside them. “How did you do that? How did you do it? What did you do? Teach me, teach me! No, wait, fight me, fight me!” 

K’xug gave Ryo a deadpan. 

“That...Ryo,” Cecil smiled helplessly. “Is this the appropriate time to be doing this? Your tenacity for finding a good opponent is scary…” 

Ryo grinned, his earrings glinting the light. “A good fight means a good life!” 

“...” 

Cecil was speechless.

K’xug furrowed his eyebrows. 

I think you are the only one who thinks that way. 

Battle maniac. 

Meanwhile, Haru, Hana and Yun were fighting off the remaining archers effortlessly. It seemed like Hana had become completely dependent on using her bow now, and was no longer using her scarf. 

“Ah, that’s right, K’xug!” Cecil gasped, her hand reaching out for the arrow stuck in Xue’s shoulder hesitantly, not touching it. “This arrow is coated in light magic, we can’t touch it!” 

Xue was still silent, his hand covering his eyes. 

K’xug simply reached forward and pulled the arrow out of Xue’s shoulder, tossing it away. The arrow lost its remaining glow as well. 

Cecil heard Xue grunting in pain, and she gasped. 

“Xue, are you okay? Let me look at you...” 

Xue looked up, bringing his hand down.

This time, she did not hold back and touched Xue’s shoulder, preparing to reach into her storage ring to bring out the necessary items to dress his wound. 

“I need to bandage and--”

Cecil halted abruptly after seeing Xue's expression.

“The freakishly strong guy?! Why are you--”

“...”

“Xu-Xue? Wh-why are you...teary?” 

The ash blonde-haired man looked away. 

“Something...just got into my eyes…” he mumbled out, rubbing at his eyes with his clean hand. “And it hurts.” 

K’xug looked at Xue with wide eyes. 

It hurts?

You are the same crazy bastard who tried to stop a skirmish with dozens of black magic arrows in your back at one time! 

You were still smirking and scaring the living daylight out of the demons! 

K’xug looked at Xue, and Xue met his eyes as if to warn him not to say a word. 

“I’ll dress your wound,” Cecil fumbled, clearly flustered. “I’ll try to make it as painless as possible.” 

Xue softened his look, lowering his voice as he smiled gently.

“Thank you.” 

Cecil’s heart skipped a beat at seeing Xue smile again, after his gloomy episode earlier. She hastily took out the ointment and bandage from her storage ring.

He is smiling happily again.

It wasn’t like that sad smile earlier. 

That’s great. 

Cecil found herself smiling too, unable to hide her joy. 

“Woah, even a storage ring! Awesome!” Ryo was amazed yet again.

Despite the lackluster tournament, he had the chance to see many interesting things. 

He was satisfied. 

Xue felt K’xug’s judgemental stare on him again, and he met his friend’s eyes once again. 

Don’t say a word. 

K’xug snorted, glancing away. 

What a bluff. 

It did not hurt. 

Now, K’xug knew Xue was tearing up for another reason, but well…

K’xug smiled to himself. 

This good friend of his has always been emotional on the inside anyway. 

***

《 start 》

To think I’ll hear Hana say those words someday...and see it come true. 

They