The time it took to reach the city square took no less than thirty minutes—their path hindered only by a few Nifyr. Urie, Stella, and Luca stood in front of the fountain as the Flame Brigade formed a perimeter.

“Little Urie, when you get back... Say hello to my daughter for me, okay?” Stella whispered. Urie nodded determinedly. He was sure to tell Celeste everything that had occurred.

“Bah! Our numbers should have attracted a lot more Nifyr!” Luca stated, cautiously scrutinizing the shadows along the surroundings. He was right to be wary of the abnormality.

The Nifyr were attracted to mana signatures. If this were any other resident of Daerin, they would be beside themselves with joy. But to the seasoned Flame Brigade captain—with this many people gathered together, the lacking shadows lining the road felt eerily disconcerting.

Stella was the same. “Would things work out smoothly? What if Ashur's idea didn't work?” Such thoughts filled her head. However, they were already here.

“Let’s go inside.” She took Urie by the hand and walked past the fountain. They were about to head into Erden's Tower but stopped when something unusual occurred to the leather bag that she’d given him.

“My bag—no! The mirror is shaking!?” It started with a miniscule amount of trembling, which only became noticeable once they neared the tower’s entrance.

“Captain!” A couple of the brigade members exclaimed and pointed at a particular direction.

“Hold your position!” Luca commanded, and turned to a huge patch of black moving along the ground. It quickly went past the Brigade’s perimeter and headed straight for Urie and Stella's location.

“Stella, behind you!!” Luca yelled out and dashed towards them. The Nifyr was moving like the shadow of a fish underwater. “What is that thing? A Nifyr?” The size was massive, the largest he had ever seen. It stopped just short of the ashen-haired boy and maintained its position, appearing to lay in wait for a chance to spring from the ground.

“Captain! Nifyr in sight!” More brigade members shouted.

Luca paused and glanced over his shoulder, and what he saw caused his eyes to open wide. Following the shadow from earlier were numerous other ones, with sizes that the Flame Brigade members were familiar with. Murky claws and countless pairs of glowing red eyes—they emerged from the ground and outnumbered the members three to one.

The Nifyr were coming in force.

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“Little Urie, stay back!” Stella unsheathed her weapon and placed herself between Urie and the large silhouette on the ground. Urie didn't notice the shadow. His attention was on the bag hanging on his shoulder.

He reached in and felt the wooden frame in his hand. As he slid it out from the bag, a luminous white light escaped with it. A portion of the escaping light managed to reach the fringes of the massive shadow and it was then that it grew restless.

[Bah! As I thought!]

Urie was startled. He was just thinking of how the light from the mirror reminded him of that bright column of light from the central pillar room when a voice spoke to him.

[Kid, looks like you'll have to stay here for a bit longer! We'll have to do a bit of cleaning before you can head home!]

Volcanus' roar resounded in his head.

The white hue that the mirror was giving off had turned crimson and started shining brighter. Wisps of flames began igniting all around before gathering towards the mirror in Urie’s hand.

This seemed to have agitated the huge shadow more as it started to move.

Along Urie's line of sight, an enormous, pitch-black arm surfacing from the ground drew his attention from the mirror. Another identical arm emerged from the same place, followed by a large head. The head looked pretty much like a regular Nifyr's except, there were two large protrusions on the top, resembling horns. As it heaved its body from the ground, something unfurled from its back.

—Could Nifyr fly?

Urie couldn’t help but marvel at huge creature. A pair of wings proportionate to its body unfurled from its back.

[Bah! So, this was its plan? Child, lend me the mirror!]

Volcanus growled in anger. The mirror became engulfed in fire and was whisked from Urie's hands. It hovered in front of him and expanded in fiery fashion, before splitting down the middle to reveal the tall figure of a man.

There was no mistaking the man for a human or an elf, as in place of his flesh was the glow of red mana. Flowing from his head instead of strands of hair were dark curls of fire, and adhering to his body like clothing were weaved but vigorously dancing threads of flames.

“You two, stand back.” This time Volcanus spoke from his own lips, with a voice deep and husky.

“Is that...?” Stella was surprised and moved back to Urie's side.

“Minor spirits, gather.” Volcanus raised his arms. It was a gesture to summon the countless will o' wisps that formed around him. Once assembled, they flew to the brigade members already in conflict with the unending horde of Nifyr clamoring to get into the square.

"Kid, neat trick you did yesterday. I can do it better." Volcanus said as he turned towards the winged Nifyr.

—Huh? Trick? What trick?

Volcanus raised his arms to the level of his shoulders, directing his palms towards the adversary.

To the point of view of the blue-eyed child the picture seemed unfamiliar. To Stella who was observing right beside him, however, the scene was something she had witnessed the day before.

“Wait, does he plan to—” Before she could utter her question, a blast of heat had cut her off.