Deep within the valleys surrounding the Great Eye city, a young individual relentlessly made his way through the thick foliage, pushing the strange and exotic plants out of his way.

On his shoulder rested a black cat whose eyes gleamed frequently.

The young individual was donned in a black uniform and had the lower half of his face hidden in a turtleneck. He gave a sigh of relief as he stepped out from the thick overgrowth and into the open.

"Finally!", he wiped the sweat off his face and then squinted his eyes in a certain direction. "There it is"

Far in the distance, he spotted a large structure that gently hovered towards an unknown direction.

"Headquarters goes ahead and orders me to head to the Great Eye city, yet they don't provide me with any form of transport", he pouted as he began to pet his cat. "What do you think Jackie? I kinda feel like we're not being treated right. Maybe we should go on a strike."

The expression on his face suddenly turned stern as a gust of wind brushed over his body. There was a very strange feeling that took hold of him and he was beginning to feel highly uncomfortable.

"Well", he began. "Thanks to headquarter's torture, I made it here late and now things are probably going out of control."

Jackie softly purred and then rubbed its furry skin over his face.

Kekeli smiled and then stroked his pet, "Let's hurry up. There is lots of stuff on my mind and rushing there might help me make hasty decisions!"

With that, the Spirit warrior leapt into the air and headed for the Great Eye city.

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.

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(Great Eye City - Inter-Realm Transit)

Powerful whips of wind could be felt within the inter-realm transit as certain spirit energy fluctuations caused them to react violently.

Zanetor found himself in an extremely dire situation as he could barely manage to keep evading the power-packed jabs that the spirit warrior kept throwing at him. With every jab, he could feel a packet of air around his opponent's palm rotate around it at an intense speed.

She was planning to completely chop his head off!

'Tch! Having to dodge her high speed jabs is beginning to take its toll on me', he thought as he took short leaps backwards. 'I have to find a way to put myself on the offensive and fast!'

The Shadow soul began to circulate the spirit energy within his soul core in a particular fashion and soon, water droplets around him began to glow as they gathered at his feet.

[Serene Swift!]

Zanetor's body blurred as he instantly sped away from the spirit warrior's attacks. He began to circle his opponent as several possible solutions began to run through his mind.

'With the way the air reacts to her spirit energy, I guess it's safe to assume that she has complete control over the air', his eyes narrowed. 'I won't waste any time. I'll use the fluid aftermath right away!'

Bang! Bang! Bang!

He fired a few rounds of water-coated bullets and at that moment, his spirit energy began to divert from its current circulation, taking on a different flow within his soul core.

He zipped towards the silver-haired warrior and immediately took a different path. The water droplets surrounding him transformed into an image of him that kept moving straight for the spirit warrior, seemingly passing through her body.

She stumbled for a very brief second as the apparition slightly took her by surprise.

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A knowing smirk appeared on the shadow soul's face as he observed from behind a pillar. Hopefully, the illusion would've distracted her and given time for all his bullets to make an impact.

Just then, a large wind sphere appeared around the spirit warrior, instantly stopping the water-coated bullets in mid-air. The water surrounding the bullets dissipated under the force of the violently rotating wind sphere, revealing small spots of light that continuously radiated spirit energy.

The smirk on Zanetor's face disappeared at once, "What the f-"

He was immediately cut off as the silver-haired spirit warrior turned to his supposed 'hiding spot'.

She made a simple gesture and at that moment, every single bullet was fired back at its source.

Zanetor activated the serene swift and managed to avoid the barrage as the pillar he was hiding behind received multiple gaping holes in it.

Bang! Bang!

The shadow soul didn't waste any time. He made direct shots this time, however each and every bullet would simply stop mid-air and drop to the floor around her feet.

She was well defended against long-ranged attacks

It would've been nice if Zanetor could suddenly turn into a highly offensive closed combatant, but that would all surmount to nothing but wishful thinking.

It was at that point that something popped up into Zanetor's mind.

Freeing Leticia was basically the only way he would win, considering that spell she used during his training; 'The Sentient Fibre's manifestation'

Getting the little girl out of that bind was definitely going to help him, but how was he going to do it?

Zanetor's eyes widened as his opponent suddenly melted into the wind. He stopped instinctively and then greatly heightened his defensive senses. For some reason, something told him to cancel the serene swift the moment that happened.

A slight gust of wind then blew from behind and Zanetor didn't fail to respond.

The shadow soul swung his right arm back in an attempt to thwart the enemy's sneak attack.

It was futile however, as the silver-haired warrior evaded his counter by leaping gracefully into the air. She then placed her palm on his forehead and right then, his body was slammed with a powerful packet of wind that sent him crashing into a nearby pillar.

Leticia, who witnessed this from her bondage, tried desperately to call out to Zanetor, but the wind sphere that surrounded her throat stole every ounce of vocal energy she had.

The spirit warrior walked up to the fallen shadow soul and stared down at his trembling body.

Zanetor wiped the blood from the edge of his lips and glared at his enemy. Was there truly nothing he could do?

The silver-haired girl raised her right palm and soon, a packet of air began to rotate violently around it; she was ready to give the finishing blow.

"Damnit", Zanetor cursed inwardly. "I can't… let everything end like this."

He weakly aimed his torrent blazer at the silver-haired spirit warrior and proceeded to pull the trigger.

But… nothing happened

His eyes flickered as he stared at his weapon in confusion

Why wasn't it working? He still felt a bit of energy within him, so why?

"HA! It's only natural that a heart being forced to heed its host's will breaks down every so often!!"

A sudden voice echoed throughout the large hall. It was a voice that was all too familiar. In fact, so familiar that every single soul within the seemingly empty hall could recognise it.

"This voice…", Zanetor looked up and was surprised at what he saw.

A young boy donned in a black uniform with blood red streaks travelling down the sides appeared from the shadows created by the pillars. His eyes shone a bright scarlet.

"Sheesh, to think they'd go as far as sending you", he smirked as his eyes fell on the silver-haired warrior. "Spirit Warrior of the fourth rank, Xoese."

"Isn't that the spirit warrior from way back? If I remember correctly, his name was Kekeli", the shadow soul muttered beneath his breath. "

The silver-haired spirit warrior turned to face the uninvited guest and one could feel the tensions rising between the two. Clearly, they weren't on good terms.

"Well, naturally I'm supposed to assist you, Xoese", Kekeli began to giggle. "However, I'd prefer to aid those who are on good terms with my little mistress."

Leticia slowly walked out from behind him and lightly pouted. She turned away and then scoffed.

"This doesn't mean I've forgiven you or anything", she began and then glared at our opponent. "We just need your help in getting rid of her, at least until uncle Edem gets back."

Zanetor was even more confused than before. Was Kekeli going to join their side?

On what basis?

For what reason?

Did Leticia make some kind of agreement with him or something?

Also, since when did he manage to get her down from there?

"Now then!!", kekeli clapped thrice and then gave an ominous smirk. "You don't have to look down on me like that, Xoese. I know exactly what the consequences are."

The instant he completed his words, a black cat appeared on Xoese's shoulder and flared up. The flames quickly spread all over her body and soon, she was nothing but a small pillar of fire.

Zanetor stood on both feet and then took several steps back.

"Well, now that you've slightly regained your composure, that gun should be working normally now", the flame spirit warrior stood right beside the shadow soul. "Oh, right. Also, just before she completely blows away my flames… I would like to ask a question."

"This is a temporary truce", the shadow soul suddenly said. "Once all this is over, I'll take you down once you try to stop me."

"Oh?", Kekeli raised both eyebrows. "Such bold words. I wonder what pushes you to keep moving forward."

Zanetor kept silent for a brief moment.

Kekeli then closed his eyes and sighed inwardly, "I see. My question has been answered then. Well, prepare for battle. Pretty girl seems pissed."

Jackie returned to Kekeli's shoulder and began to hiss at the flaming pillar.

Soon, the flames began to die down, revealing the silver-haired spirit warrior in the middle of the flames. She was within the flames, yet not a single part of it touched her as a fierce sphere of air kept them circulating around her.

An extremely large amount of spirit energy burst out from within her, promptly blowing the flames away. The air then began to gather and spin at her right side as her energy manipulated the winds to her disposal.

She made small gestures with her right hand and soon, the air sped up in a fiercely rotating drill.

"Here she comes", Kekeli's expression turned stern as he took his stance.

Flames erupted all around his fist in preparation for a wild fight.

Zanetor's eyes turned fierce as he glared at Xoese. There was something he felt that emanated from her.

It was some kind of dominance, however what was funny about this particular one was that it didn't spark any sense of rage within him. For the past hour, he had felt that rage whenever he felt like she had been looking down on him… but it changed for some reason.

Was he feeling right?

Or was it that she had some kind of deeper, ulterior motive to her actions?

"Leticia, give us support from the sidelines", he muttered.

The little girl nodded and then blended into the background.

Zanetor's grip on his torrent blazer tightened.

He wasn't going to let anyone impede his progress, not when he got so far.

Nothing was going to stop him from finding his mother's soul

Nothing at all