The time for its use was now.

He descended lower. The security guards flagged him down from afar. Two core formation experts came to him and checked his license.

They released him after ten minutes of interrogation.

Since he had about four months before the army would arrive, he decided not to sit still. But what should he do with his time?

He had some acquaintances in Biyakis, but they weren't that close to him as to make a call or ask them for a favor.

There was just this one person he ought to call.

Abdin smiled and made his descent.

He followed the back route and went towards the outskirts of the city.

The man he sought resided at Enula. Years ago, Enula had been a part of the capital. And despite the two cities being separated, they were still close enough to each other and there were illegal paths that led to each of the cities.

Abdin flew again and made an hour's journey to Enula. He started asking for the whereabouts of the man he sought.

The guards glared at him without answering. As a result of his 'annoying' question, he had to pay double the entrance fee before he was allowed in.

"They still haven't forgotten that incident." He sighed and shook his head.

His friend had once been the former head of guards in the small town. Things had happened while Abdin had been in the town which resulted in the expulsion of the man and all of his closest associates.

The guards hadn't been happy about Abdin's inquiry, since replying in the affirmative would point fingers at them.

He stepped through the gates and into the city. It had been almost five years without meeting each other. But Abdin was confident of finding him as long as he still lived here.

He reached an alley that was under some sort of construction. He saw riders trying to cross the same alley from the other end. They were a sizeable group and had powerful horses that were speeding up with a carriage behind them.

Abdin moved aside to allow them to pass. After they were gone, he continued with his head down.

The riders were unaware that Abdin had placed his spiritual sense on one of their horses.

He took a deep breath. Fate was surely unavoidable and he was intertwined with that of Juwaira.

The riders were ten in number. Laluri was one of them. And so was Juwaira who had a mask on. The rest were Juwaira's men who had been in Abd city with her.

Until now, they hadn't met during the current loop. In a previous loop, Abdin had met the group on their way. He hadn't known that the princess had been heading to Enula.

But he wasn't ready to let her slip through his fingers now that he had come across her.

Besides, he would finally know where Laluri was taking them to.

His plans of meeting with his old friend were immediately postponed.

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If he was lucky enough to find out what Laluri had been trying to do with Juwaira, that would help him to unravel the plot of Nànata.

Abdin decided. But instead of directly tailing them, he found a restaurant and sat down. He waited until they had stopped before he stood up and followed.

He reached an old building on the outskirts. It was big but looked abandoned.

Juwaira's team was nowhere to be found. However, an old doorman casually patrolled the entrance door.

Abdin's spiritual sense indicated that Juwaira was inside the house. She was locked up in a room. From the way she was breathing, it was clear that she had been unconscious.

One thing that surprised him was the presence of other hostages in the room with Juwaira. They were all age mates or closer.

And they were all unconscious except for two men.

One man was stretched on the floor with closed eyes, feigning unconsciousness. While the other had sat himself up against the wall.

Juwaira awoke not long after that. She spoke with one of the men. Abdin realized the man was prince Nimu - which he'd seen several times before - and the others were all Royal heirs.

He could recall the news he had read about Nimu's death and the subsequent war that broke out between Ura and Shurein.

The truth immediately dawned on him. These Royal heirs were all kidnapped. And it wouldn't take long before Silver Mask and his cohorts used them in baiting the entire region into war.

But he wouldn't let that happen this time around.

Abdin disappeared from where he had hidden and reappeared above the house.

Eleven core formation experts were keeping watch at different parts of the house.

Abdin descended atop the roof. He swung himself when he was nearly on the roof and gently set himself down without making a noise.

Many protective charms surrounded the house, and no matter his strength, Abdin couldn't go through them stealthily. So, he pushed through them with brute force.

His pol hit the first protection and everything scattered, while he ignored it and pushed himself through the flying charms and explosions.

His body glowed and disappeared, reappearing inside the cell.

"Whoever wants to escape should come with me."

He went ahead and hit one of the walls with his palm. The wall didn't come down, but instead, it vanished as if it had never been.

The guards were already there by then. About twenty men blocked their path.

Abdin smiled. He was certain of winning this time.

His smile earned him a frown from the guards.

"Who sent you?"

"Well, you won't get out of here alive but we can give you a quick, painless death."

"Yes, let's get some answers first before killing him. How do you get to know we are here? An emperor must have sent him."

Each of the guards had a different question. Some of them sounded arrogant, while others were just stunned.

They couldn't sense Abdin's cultivation, so there wasn't any definite way to gauge his strength, but they knew they could still hold him down even if he were a Deva. Reinforcement would arrive in a few minutes.

Prince Jubu strode behind Abdin. He placed his hand on Abdin's shoulder and nodded his thanks.

Seeing that, Nimu and Juwaira stepped out and also stood by them.

Three young ladies also stepped out a few moments later.

Abdin could feel the defiance in their eyes. Their support wasn't necessary but still appreciated.

He turned around to see if the others would also follow. Unfortunately, none of them moved. Abdin sighed softly.

"Hmm? Ever wondered why we didn't bother handcuffing you?" One of the guards laughed sadistically and brought his hands together and clapped.

The head of one girl among the three that had stepped out mere moments ago exploded. Blood and gore splattered on their bodies and the lifeless body slumped to the ground.

The man nodded with a sly grin. "Each of you has seals placed in their brains."

"A mere clap is all it takes. You are still alive because you are obedient. Now, return to your room and bind yourselves like good kids. Doing that would save your lives."

The kids withdrew in fear. Nimu stepped back with a grin and raised his hands in surrender. His thoughts were unreadable behind his smile.

Juwaira also retreated. Jubu was the only one who still hadn't moved.

Abdin had noted how the girl's head glowed before exploding. There were seals placed on the girl, but he found it hard to believe that the guards could kill the royal children at any time.

They would have already killed them and moved on if it were so. There must be a reason for keeping them here.

One thing that surprised him was that he had been tracking Juwaira with his spiritual sense all this time and he hadn't seen when they placed a seal on her.

These types of seals that could instantly kill their victim usually took a long time to make. And even at that, it needed a highly skilled runemaster.

Abdin would have been able to tell it if they had trapped her after she was brought here. Except if the seal was placed before he met them...