The second female lead Dual Cultivates

As soon as Maria had separated from the group, Kagemori knew they were on a timer. It would not take long for the enemy to realize that they had a breach in security and come after the others in her team. It would be for the best if Kagemori headed deeper alone.

"Look here. I'll take the deeper parts myself" Kagemori yelled the orders, believing that they would be followed even without her presence. There was a lack of personas around her and it was easy to infiltrate.

Things were going as they had expected them to but Kagemori could not curb the feeling of 'wrong' and 'trap' her mind was yelling at her. The node was still fearless, the magic dormant but willing to lash out at her command. Kagemori had to dedicate a good amount of her focus to keep herself under control.

Knocking out the guards was laughably easy. Most of them had no magic of their own and weapons reflected off of Kagemori's skin. The tough part was to knock the humans out without damaging them in the process. Any harm being done here.

"Intruder alert" a guard gained consciousness and yelled at his communicator. Kagemori chose not to go after him, trusting that her people would be able to take care of themselves. She proceeded toward her goal - the room where Trisha should have been held.

The door came down with a bang, the empty room greeting her as she entered. Kagemori tensed, her senses sharp as she tried to find any hint of Trisha's whereabouts. The girl should have been here but Kagemori couldn't even sense her.

"We got played. Darn, that old man" Kagemori exclaimed as she scanned the place with her magic. Even if the old man could have hidden Trisha, he would not have been able to hide the presence of the key from the node. And since Kagemori could not sense the key, there was only one outcome left to imagine.

Trisha had never been in the castle at all and they had been led on a goose chase this whole time. And now what? Kagemori couldn't think of any other place Trisha could be at.

So she decided to be a sensible demoness and find the best person who could help her find Trisha. If there was anyone who could see her now, it would be the oracle.

The node could sense the Oracle's powers shining brightly and Kagemori followed them to the place where she could feel two similar auras clash. The brush of those powers against her magic burned but Kagemori kept on going ahead. She was almost there.

"Dodge" for a split second, Kagemori thought the command was for her. But then she saw Maria move out of the attack's way. The power contained in the attack hurled at her was massive and Kagemori knew she would not be able to get out of this attack unharmed.

So she braced herself, node's magic covering her as she readied a counterspell.

But it was not needed as Maria swooped in before the attack could hit her and stopped the burning light. Similar magic clashed and Kagemori felt the start of a headache form behind her eyes.

"What happened? Did you get Trisha?" Maria asked as she lowered herself in front of the demoness. The other female had her body placed in such a way that she acted as a barrier between Kagemroi and their enemy.

"She's, Trisha's not here. We looked everywhere but we couldn't find her" Kagemori replied back, her voice tense. She could see the frustration and helplessness Maria felt as the news hit her but there was nothing to be done about it now.

They would have to find out where Trisha was the old-fashioned way or wait for Maria to have a vision about it. Both options were not optimal but the only ones they had.

"So you finally found out. The princess was never here in the first place since father expected you all to try this. Now, why don't you all die here and save us a lot of pain?" Lucas asked as he lowered his body as well.

The huge wings behind him moved to attack but Maria countered their light. The attack seemed to be damaging Maria as well, her eyes shut in pain and Kagemori cursed their luck.

Just what was with this man and his power? Was there nothing to be done from their side? And even if they did, could they afford to waste time here when Trisha was in such a dangerous situation?

"Kagemori, can you give me a minute? I can try and find out where Trisha is being held" Maria whispered in her ear, her eyes darting over to the enemy who looked a little too smug.

Kagemori was barely able to cloak herself in time before the light made an impact with her node magic. It did not break the shield but Kagemori did feel the aftereffect of the clash.

But that also assured her that she could hold the winged-man back. She could give Maria the time she needed to do whatever she needed to.

"Alright. I'll hold him off for now. But what are you planning to do? A new power? Unlocking a new weapon?" Kagemori asked, her voice excited.

She didn't even need to parry the next attack as Maria fully blocked that one. Her eyes had a determined glint and Kagemorii was sure something reckless was going to happen in front of her.

"I'll do what I've never done before. I'll face myself to see a vision. The vision will tell us where Trisha is" Maria sounded convinced and Kagemori decided to take her up on her words.

She had never heard of anyone being able to force a vision before but Kagemori would also admit that she knew almost nothing about the oracle or how her powers worked. If Maria believed that she could do it, then Kagemori would help her out.

"Alright. I'll try to hold him back while you work your magic. But be fast because Trisha cannot wait" Kagemori called back as she took a protective stance in front of Maria.

She redied her magic, calling forth as much as her body could handle. The node amplified her magic, echoing her prayer and providing her with the means to be able to use her magic. The intensity burned at her surroundings and she could see even the winged man take a step back.

The node was amazing but Maria knew she would not be able to keep it up for long. But she'll drag it out for as long as she has to. For Trisha and for Imu.