The mysterious man stood in front of the window, as his eyes were glowing embers that burned a hole through the night. A sinister smirk curled his lips as he spoke with conviction, "Kaito Mizuki, time for revenge has finally come!"

He snapped his fingers and said,”I have prepared this spell for the last 6 months. Even if you got a high-ranking ephemeral sponsor, breaking free from a binding-type unique spell of the Luminous 'Stealth Snake Guardian' that took 6 months of my astral energy is impossible.”

Soon, an invisible barrier wrapped around Kaito.

Feeling all this astral energy nearby, Kaito woke up with a shock. He quickly realised that he was under a high-level astral spell. He tried to break through the spell using his astral energy, but he was not able to even damage the spell.

“It is futile, you little punk; not even you with your new powerful sponsor will be able to break free from this technique.”

'Wait, who is that guy? He is wearing clothes that can hide not only his identity but also his astral energy from being detected.'

Kaito tries to break free from the spell, but he fails again. 'Only if I could get my sword, it should be able to slice a part of this barrier and allow me to further destroy it by wrapping my astral energy around it from both inside and outside using the opening. But this barrier technique is restricting me from moving. And I cannot even speak because of it.'

“That's enough struggling, save your energy for the main event, will you?”

'What? What main event is he talking about? Whatever it is, I feel like it's not something good.'

Since Kaito was restrained, the mysterious person could easily carry him to the nearby forest, where their camp was.

A dark room came into view, and since it was deep in the forest, no one probably knew about this place. Just as they approached the room, three mysterious people were standing there wearing the same kind of stealth clothes as the one who kidnapped Kaito.

"Is he the one we have been waiting for?" The second person asked.

"I am certain,"the first figure replied, while his voice trembled.

"Yes, he is.” The man who kidnapped Kaito replied.

The third figure remained silent.

'What are these people, and what do they want from me?'

“Let us start by gathering some knowledge, shall we?” kidnapper said.

“What do you want? What is it that you are after?” He said this with a bold expression on his face.

“Look at this brat! He is captured, and yet he shows no sign of fear.” The first person said.

“This will all disappear after we use that. But first, let me ask you one thing. What astral being did you get sponsored by in the ceremony?” The kidnapper asked.

“Do you think that I will tell you that?”

“Of course we know that you will not tell us yourself. That is why we brought this medicinal herb. I'm sure you will recognise the 'truth syrup'.”

'Wait, truth syrup? Normally, that would be only useful against those with weak astral energy and not effective on me. But since this barrier is restraining me from doing that, it will be effective against me, even if it is for a short period.'

He then makes Kaito drink the truth syrup.

“So, who sponsored you? And what is your new ability?

“I was not sponsored by anyone, not even a celestial rank.” Kaito replied.

“What? but you told me this brat would get some powerful abilities. That is the only reason I decided to team up with you guys.” The third person said this while looking angry at the rest of them.

“Just wait for a moment. I'm also surprised like you. This brat was strong enough to rival a new incarnate like me back then, even without having any abilities or help from an astral being. Him not getting sponsored is really confusing.” the kidnapper replied.

'Wait, have I fought this person before? I surely do not remember fighting anyone with a barrier spell. Though I did defeat a noble kid with a spell that can create shields that feel just like this barrier.'

“You're that kid, aren't you? Six months ago, I fought you when you had just made the astral pact. You're that damn noble who was misusing your powers to scare some celestial incarnates, Bonsai Hakuryu.”

"Yes, it was me, you brat. And for your information, I was only showing those weaklings their worth.” He replied.

“So you're trying to take revenge on me, are you? I hate people like you who use their powers to make fun of the weak. What do you want from me this time?” Kaito replied with a slight anger on his face.

“You know what? Forget about his sponsor. We will proceed as planned and make this brat regret ever making fun of a noble like me.”

The second person used her sponsor's unique spell 'Sense manipulation' on Kaito. It is the spell of an ephemeral rank, 'Fading Mirage'. It was the same being that offered Hikari to become their incarnation. After he was rejected by Hikari, the being found a new incarnate, Sakura Kuroyami. Even though she was at the ceremony, it seemed that she was unaware of the fact that Kaito did not make any astral pacts.

Within moments, Kaito lost all of his senses and became the puppet of the spell caster.

“Good, now we will use him to attack the crown prince as planned. It is like hitting two birds with a single stone. I will get to take my revenge on this brat and make that prince pay for humiliating in public like that.” Bonsai said it with an evil smile on his face.

“Give him his sword, we will execute our mission right away.” Bonsai told the first guy.

He then gives Kaito his sword, but since he is under hypnosis, he cannot control his body and break the barrier.

Just as they are about to leave that place, the third person gets attacked by some sort of lightning spell.

Seeing this, everyone is surprised.

“Is that an ambush?” Bonsai said.

“I knew it. No one would be here in this forest at this time for some good reasons.” A mysterious young boy appeared and said that.

“And exactly who are you? Do you think that taking down our weakest member will make us lose? He was just a celestial rank; it will take more than that to take us down.” Bonsai replied with an evil smile.

"Oh, is that so? Too bad for you; I am not the only one who will be defeating you guys. After all, your hypnosis girl seems to have screwed up a bit after seeing me.” He replied with excitement on his face.