The Dawn of the New World

Both 86 and 89 could feel Ceni's unsteady energies even though she tried to hide them so well. If they just went by her demeanor and facial expressions they would not have a clue.

"Who are you?" she repeated again, louder and more forcefully. ​​

Stasa turned towards 86 and whispered, "Hey, go down, land slowly."

The mirror descended further until it was ground level, forcing Princess Ceni to take a step back.

Stasa put on a cordial smile and took off his glasses while walking towards her with open arms.

"I am unarmed, Princess."

But Ceni's sharp gaze stopped him in his tracks.

"I asked who you were. Must you make me repeat for a fourth time?"

Stasa who was brimming with confidence until a moment ago faltered upon hearing her question. She did not even remember him.

He cleared his throat before introducing himself.

"I-I am Stasa, Princess Ceni. We met on a few occasions in the past. I came over on the same ship as you and attended the ball your aunt threw."

Ceni's temper somewhat loosened when she remembered his face, despite it not being that long. He just wasn't important enough to remember. But when her gaze fell on the two hooded figures behind him she steeled her heart again and took another step back.

"Why are you here, Prince Stasa?"

Stasa gave a gentleman's bow and gestured towards the mirror with both hands smilingly.

"I am here to pick you up, princess. To take you to Lord Dai Zhi."

Her expression hardened when she heard her brother's name being mentioned.

"I don't need a pickup. You can take your leave," she answered coldly.

"I cannot, my lady. I will be ashamed and unable to face Lord Dai Zhi again if I were to leave you here in this wilderness. It is no place for a-"

"A what? A lady? Do you think I can't handle myself just because I'm a woman?"

Stasa chocked on his own words, "N-No of course not. I would never- If I were not a man I would choose to be a female myself!" he stammeringly replied, not making any sense.

86 and 89 both sighed inwardly at the same time. They were feeling second-hand embarrassment listening to Stasa stumble over his own words.

Stasa took a deep breath in and calmed himself before explaining the situation.

"Princess, please. Lord Dai Zhi does not know you are here. If he were to found out I would be punished and lose his favor. The coordinates we gave you were different for a reason, this place is not for you."

"Why? What's wrong with this place? One of the Academy's protectors can come here but not me?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

89 chuckled and 86 sighed yet again.

'She is worried about the boy.'

'Ahh, young love.'

'As nice as this is, we should hurry before those demons find us. I'd rather not fight them with these two here,' 89 said examining his surroundings.

'You go talk to them then.'

"Excuse me, if I may," 89 stepped forward and bowed towards the Princess, "Regardless whether or not Prince Dai Zhi hears about this, this place is extremely dangerous right now. There is a disease in the earth and the longer we stay here the higher the chances that one of us might get infected."

Ceni's expression turned ugly as she reared her head towards Stasa, "Is that why you sent him here? To infect him on purpose?"

Her whip cracked and started getting longer, boiling with anger just like its master.

Stasa staggered backwards.

"D-Disease? No there is no disease, only those crimson monste-"

But Ceni did not let him finish and swung the Whip in a fury. The ear-piercing noise of air being ripped open reached their ears as the whip snaked forth aiming straight for Stasa's unprotected head.

But he wasn't all that incompetent either and managed to react in time. With a wave of his hand a white arrow shot forward and met the whip head-on but only managed to delay it for a fraction of a second before it continued on its path.

There was no time to do anything else, at least not for Stasa. 89 felt the killing intent behind in her attacks and was quite surprised. It was not common to see one so young be this ruthless but regardless, he couldn't let it be.

With a raise of his hand a black square was erected in front of Stasa. The whip couldn't change its direction in time so it impacted against its surface and was swallowed without making a sound.

Ceni's eyes opened wide but now she didn't have time to react as the black square was in front of her before she could even compute what was happening. The square expanded, turning from a 2D sheet to a 3D cube that swallowed her whole.