A/N: Hello all, I divided my chapters in half and reposted them. I will keep this note for a month before removing it.

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Everyone watched with shock and awe. Reinstar's fist tightened at seeing the power before them; worry overcame her at the possibility of fighting this thing. The Radiant themselves stared without moving a muscle. Fear and panic overcame them, but one of them decided to open her mouth.

"Who... are you?" asked Ivy with concern. "Why did you kill him?"

The figure's attention was on her, and everyone held their guard. "His desire turned to lust and reacted with violence... already his worth is a speck compared to the universe."

"But... who are you?"

"I grant desires to people... within proper guidelines."

"G-guidelines?" gaped Blaze. "Wait? Could you have given him the power to grant desires to everyone?"

"That would mean relinquishing my title to him, and that is not within my guidelines."

"Hmm.." frowned the rock warrior. "If not given the power, would he be given what he desired other than your title?"

"It depended on what he wanted. His wife? Surely a possibility within the guidelines."

The trio looked at each other, then at the others at the entrance. Geo critically eyed the being. "Are we going to have a problem?"

"Do you wish to challenge me?"

"No." Geo quickly responded, but weakly. "Unless... you decide to attack."

"I grant desires; I have no desire to be the enemy. Radiant, your challenges are out there... unless I grant you the desire you want." It chuckled. "Do you want what I can give?"

"Wait a moment." Ivy spoke. "Something is off with this. You said you granted him the power to fight us, not kill us? If he worded differently, would he have killed us?"

"He could have, but you could have won if he had the power to kill you."

"But... did he have the power to... kill us?" Blaze sounded confused.

"Wait." Ivy faced everyone, thinking over the information. She turned to the cloaked figure with an analytical expression. "You... you grant desires... right? All desires, but there are guidelines. But those guidelines... can you show me?"

"Is that what you desire?"

Ivy smiled dangerously. "Ah, clever, no, I don't. How would I know you grant me the correct guidelines?"

The being chuckled. "Only in the heart will you seek the truth; desires come from within, and I bring it out."

Reinstar grimaced while motioning the figure. She took one step forward. "Before, you talked about his mate. Can you bring back the dead?"

"Only if your heart desires it."

Ivy snorted, displaying a sad smile. "Wow, so it was all for nothing. Ha, his quest was a disaster the moment he stepped in."

"He wanted power. He got it." Geo spoke up, intently staring at the figure. "Was the drawback the wording or something else?"

"Power can come at a price. You all sacrificed normalcy to become the Knights of Order."

"I have become a living EMP." chuckled the Lightning Radiant.

"We eat more after we train and fight." spoke the Water Radiant.

The plant girl twirled a lock of her hair. "Power. Desires from the heart. A price is paid. Something like... do you all know Equivalent Exchange?"

"Whenever something is gained, an equal amount of price is paid for." mumbled Aqua.

"So... if we ask for a desire, are we going to sacrifice a body part?" contemplated the lightning warrior. "Gain a rubber arm or a stomach that can't digest food."

"I don't like this." grumbled the wind warrior. "This crazy stupid stuff we should have no business doing. Yes, I know being a Radiant is crazy, but this desire nonsense sounds like many confusing demands that will bite you on the neck."

"Hold those thoughts!" shouted Ivy. "Grown-ups are talking."

Aero rolled his eyes while Frost and Lumina giggled.

Ivy faced the being. "Now then... where were we... sacrifice. Granting a desire is a sacrifice here right? From the heart? The power comes from the heart. You pull it out." Her eyes widened in realization. "The dead stay dead. You can't bring them back with your power... not in the way we think. So you either pull an exact replica from the heart... you take the person's lifespan, or you take the remaining lifespan from someone else and create the replica."

The figure chuckled. "You are amusing, child."

"If I ask for my childhood back, would I get that? Do you take away my age? My memories? Current personality? I guess it is how I would word it, but there is probably something you know that I don't know."

"Do I?"

"You are fascinating... in a dangerous way. Anybody who asks has to think hard about what to say. Even if it is correct, something will be taken. What a terrible job you have."

"Perhaps."

Geo spoke up. "I'm sure you are aware of what that man was doing. Would those who lost their desire gain them back?"

"Those who are dead remain dead. Those who are in a coma will remain in a coma until the body gives out. Those who lost their desires have not truly lost them. It takes time to recharge; they are the lucky ones."

"How long?"

"Weeks, months, years. Depends."

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

"Okay... now then... is there a possibility to remove yourself and this temple off this planet?"

Everyone glanced at Geo with worry for a bold question. The cloaked figure stared at him for a few seconds before a soft, eerie, humorous grunt escaped their lips.

"Bold statement from you, Radiant." spoke the being with intrigue. "I can take myself and the temple away."

"You would need something from us in exchange. We have to phrase it in a way." wondered Ivy.

"Something will be taken, and it does not matter how you word it. All of you before me. Radiant, human, traveler. You will all have to willingly offer me one year of your life in exchange."

Shock rippled through the group. Their collective gaze fell upon one another. The weight of such a sacrifice was heavy and not easy to make currently.

Tina backed away. "No, that's not right."

The wind warrior chuckled. "There it is, the catch!" His smile morphed into a frown. "I don't know about the rest of you, but there is obviously another catch to that!"

"Your paranoia might save us." The ice warrior spoke softly. "This feels dubious."

"There has to be another way." spoke Lumina.

"Lame." growled Bolt. "Sounds like a scam."

"How do we know if he truly leaves?" Aqua sounded hollow.

Ivy frowned. "One year?"

"Correct.

"...Compared to you, how significant is one year?"

"As significant as an insect."

Nodding at the statement, her mind contemplated the alternatives and the consequences. She closed her eyes, coming to the conclusion. She turned to the group; her face looked serious and haunting. Everyone held their breath as she opened her mouth... letting out a yawn. "I want to sleep, let's go."

"Hn." Geo turned away. "Mission complete."

And the dark mood disappeared. Blaze was caught off guard by her sudden change. Geo just accepted her decision. Those two already made the choice, so he will too. "We decline your offer." The fire warrior turned to leave.

Everyone nodded, watching the others approach them. An amused chuckle from the robed figure echoed around the room. When it spoke, its voice vibrated off the walls. "Those who yearn for their desires will come. Seeking answers, seeking fulfillment. I will grant them." It waved its hand. "Goodbye, Knights of Order."

Blaze, Ivy, and Geo crossed the doorway, guiding everyone away from the entrance. After a considerable distance, they took a quick glance at the door as it lowered to the ground. They did not bother to wait for it to close as they left the room and walked through the corridor. Blaze wrapped his arm around his sister, holding the scared girl close. Despite winning the day, the mood was not as high as expected. The Masked Piper's fate came to an end to his own desires, and the temple remained with a terrifying figure guarding it. When the group entered the room where they fought the big beetle, Bolt groaned loudly.

"What a creepy dude. Did anyone feel super out of place in there? He could slap us upside the head all around the room while baking cake with a freaky smile under that robe."

"Shut up." hissed Aqua. "Complain later. We leave."

Bolt frowned for a moment, then horror etched on his face. He could not feel the mana, but there was a strange prickling feeling on the back of his neck. It felt like something was watching them. It mocked them, observing them as ants compared to itself. He swallowed in fear and remained silent while walking silently through the temple.

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-London-

For the past 30 minutes, The count glared at the spot where the rat had previously been. The rat had squealed loudly before evaporating into dust. The pale man remained in the exact same spot without movement. Then he blinked twice. A light chuckle escaped his lips as he stood up. "Fate has not chosen you, fool." He glanced at the piece of glass on the ground. "Rubbish." He stepped on it, breaking it as he walked by. "Now then... how am I going to solve my current situation." The sound of glass made him stop. He whirled around, hissing at the intruder. Yet, there was no intruder. He looked at the ground; then he raised an eyebrow. The glass he crushed had reformed.

"Curious." He reached down to grab the glass and held it in front of his face. Seeing his reflection once again. "I wonder what you are?"

His reflection stared back with pure black eyes, sclera and all.

"Perhaps I should research... carefully."

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-Egypt-

The group stood outside the door to the temple. Ivy searched around the temple until she found what she was looking for on the left side of the building. A circular disk, appearing to be split into five pieces, was inserted into a compressed circular section of the wall. She yanked it out and then threw it on the ground, breaking it into pieces. She took three of the pieces and tossed them around the area, then grabbed the last two of the pieces and tossed them on the roof. After that, the warrior walked back to the group. Yawning while approaching, she gazed at each person.

"Done, but I think people could find an alternative route." she spoke tiredly.

"With your level of tech, it might be possible." responded the canokian

"That sounds disheartening." sighed the ice warrior. "Our decision was appropriate, correct?"

"You are not thinking of giving our lives to remove this..." grimaced the water warrior. "This place?"

"It's tacky, dreadful, and that cloaked thing was ghastly." The ice warrior whined. "I wanted to run as soon as I saw it."

"I agree." The light warrior rubbed her arm. "All we were doing was standing. We could all fight back, but it might destroy us."

"Destroy, sure." snorted the wind warrior. "I believe it would toy with us, asking about our desires like a crazy creepy thing. Pft, I nearly wanted... what I wanted."

"But what would we sacrifice?" questioned the water warrior. "If I asked for world peace... what would lead to it? Would political figures get killed or something else?"

"Forget about that." The lightning warrior interrupted her. "What if I asked for unlimited waffles? Would there be a waffle shortage, and would I hate pancakes?"

"Asking the important questions." nodded the wind warrior.

The blue-haired girl rolled her eyes. "Be serious. Ivy, you caught on before us. What do you think?"

"The communication between cloak and piper made my brain boil." she yawned. "To make it short. It was willing to give our desires, but we must be careful. The piper wanted power to fight us; he got it, but he needed to offer more details. Maybe if he said, 'I want the power to defeat them'... maybe he could have."

"He did not train." frowned the terra warrior. "He used the powers he already had that were amplified by the stranger. If he escaped and trained, then maybe he could have won, but... he relied on the techniques he already had and learned slowly during the fight."

"Why a jackal?" questioned the fire warrior.

Ivy shrugged. "Probably the theme. The fennec, scarab, and jackal are natives of Egypt. The point is he needed to word it a certain way. Even if you planned everything, there will still be that unknown detail and what would be traded." She crossed her and closed her eyes. "One year of our lives to remove the temple. Perhaps one year has a different concept to cloak compared to what we perceive as one year."

"That's possible," agreed the canokian. "That entity has been around since the temple was constructed... perhaps more than the temple itself. One year is nothing compared to a thousand."

"Aye." Ivy faced them with a frown. "We could be using up all of our lives to send it away, and it would not be enough. Would giving him ten years keep the temple away for just that long?"

"Then it would come back and business as usual." said the wind warrior.

"We would be the real losers." the lightning warrior scowled. "Sitting in the corner in timeout, wearing dunce hats and typing out 'We are not the winners' 50 times."

"Would we be cursed?" wondered the worried light warrior. "We lose a year of our lives, but does he curse us too?"

"There is nothing to gain if it is ten years." The ice warrior sounded agitated as she twirled a lock of her.

"What do we do now?" questioned the water warrior, who looked annoyed.

"For now." the canokian stared at them. "We will try to bury this place, cause a cave so no one can enter. I will consult the others and Guardian about what I saw, but for the time being... congratulations, go home and rest."

"Please." Tina grimaced at the building. "Let's leave. I do not want to stay here any longer."

"Oh." the canokian glanced at Tina. "That reminds me." She took out the red feather from her pocket. "What is this?"

The group gasped at what she held.

"When did you?" asked the young girl as she felt around herself. "How did you take it?"

"Pickpocket is easy for me. I felt something from you and found this in your pocket without you noticing." She handed it back to her. "It's harmless, but it got you in trouble."

"You are not going to confiscate it?" asked Frost.

"Nope." she shrugged. "Pilot would, but I think it's fine. I and the others would like to know the full story, if there is one. For now, we leave, rest, and reflect on today. Be glad you did not take the offer. I fear that thing is more than it lets on."

Everyone nodded, feeling exhaustion overcome them from the events of today. Blaze let his sister climb on his back, not wanting to risk her falling on the long slope down. They made the trek to leave with plans to close the entrance of the mountain.