Chapter 5

Agent double 0

Ken’s car emerges out of the portal into a green lush dense jungle Saiko looks around and smiles enjoying the fresh air and the wildlife scenery

_ What a nice place, but I don’t think the car would be suitable for this _

Ken presses a button and the car begins to shrink and transform turning from a large car into a two seat buggy then drives through the jungle

~ don’t worry I am prepared fo~

Sswwfft

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

RUMBLE Rumble rumble

A plasma beam impacts the back of the buggy causing it to explode instantly the impact of the explosion rocks the jungle and sends all its surviving inhabitants running in fear.

a ball of black gooey slime lands gracefully a distance away from the explosion and retracts revealing Saiko carrying Ken bridal style before disappearing back inside Saiko’s body.

having sensed the heat of the blast through her whiskers and fur and thanks to her sharp reflexes Saiko managed to grab Ken and jump from the buggy before the explosion and deploy Argus to form a shield around the two of them.

_ way to jinx yourself princess guess you didn’t prepare for this one _

Saiko chuckles slightly as she looks at Ken

~ well I didn’t expect it to acutely happen, but I did prepare for it why do you think we got the weapons, and why I kept the backpack with me rather than keep it in the trunk of the car~

_ hm I guess you have a point there_ she nods

~ now let me down plea~

vrrrrrrrm

Ken hears the sound of a bike. he looks toward the direction of the sound and sees a black armored motorbike with a blonde guy in a black coat riding it speeding towards them.

Ken wraps his arms around Saiko’s neck holding onto her tightly

~ on second thought I think I am gonna stay like this, you can outrun a motorcycle right ~

_ on a road no, in a jungle definitely _

Saiko chuckles, then starts jumping from tree to tree while carrying Ken

Claus chases after the two of them on his motorbike

- tsk, Sleipnir will need to be cleaned after this mission, what an annoying duo, why did they have to go to a jungle of all places - he complains

- considering the nature of the item stolen and the location it’s highly likely they will be trying to enter a historical site. however, this area is full of historical sites, so it's difficult to guess which one- Sophia responds to Claus

- tsk why couldn’t they just explode in peace, why do criminals always pick the hard way -

- the rest of the strike team is on their way back to the base; they will be able to teleport to you in a few minutes-

- since when did I need a backup –

Claus's lips curl up then he curls the handle of Sleipnir increasing his speed, and uses his spatial magic to open 3 portals that connect to a massive plasma cannon at the team base and fires them at the two thieves

**********************

Three portals appear around Saiko one at each side and one behind her.

she drops down to dodge them as three plasma beams intersect above her vaporizing the trees in their path, only to be met with another portal opening below her.

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she uses Argus on her hand to extend her reach to grab a branch and launch herself out of the way still carrying Ken who keeps having branches and pieces of debris slam into his face and body.

one branch smacks his glasses off of his face leading him to reach out and grab the glasses before they fall.

~ hey can you be more steady these are expensive you know ~ he complains while putting his glasses back on.

_ oh, I am sorry I am too busy trying to save our lives here _

~ yeah, yeah whatever, I am getting tired of running away let's end this ~

Ken adjusts his glasses and then grabs the demon skull that is hanging on his side by a leather belt.

nanobots flood out of the skull forming the demon sword whose blade then splits down the middle then opens up to look like two massive fangs for the demon skull, then the mouth of the skull opens revealing the plasma core inside that glows like a burning sun.

SCREEEEEECH

the core screeches as it spins generating massive amounts of plasma making it resemble a wailing demon.

Ken’s glasses glow and then project an aiming assist display on the glass sheets of the glasses.

he aims at Claus, then the screeching suddenly stops and for only a second the forest fell silent.

none of the inhabitants dared to make a sound in the presence of such a predator and then suddenly as sudden as the moment of silence arrived it ended

THUUUUUNDDDER

A massive plasma beam erupts from the skull shaking the entire forest instantly vaporizing everything it touches, and leaving a path of lava, death, and destruction behind it, but it completely misses.

Saiko had pushed Ken’s arm away when he was firing, completely messing up his aim

~ WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU? WHY DID YOU DO THAT? ~ he shouts in frustration

_You are not allowed to kill him _

~ BUT HE IS TRYING TO KILL US ~

_ We are criminals, he, on the other hand, is just doing his job, that’s the difference he doesn’t deserve death and I won’t let you kill him _

~ you are insane whatever head north ~

*********************************************

a portal meant to Catch the plasma beam closes in front of Claus having caught nothing

- a thief with morals, now that’s new - Claus's lips curl as he watches the thieves

- people are complicated - Sophia responds to him

- hey Sophia can you run me a background check on these two they don’t look like your average criminals -

- already on it -

- oh and add a "creation and possession of illegal weapons" to their list of charges -

Clause chuckles as he continues to chase after Ken and Saiko

- I thought you were starting to like them - she asks

- oh I am but work is work -

the chase continues but at far less intensity, as Claus stops using deadly shots, opting more for shots that would incapacitate if they hit rather than kill, like aiming for the arms or legs, which makes them easier to evade

as the three individuals race to the temple of knowledge, a girl with eyes that have two pupils each chases after them and watches from a distance far too long for normal eyes to see.

he feels more intrigued about the two criminals.

one used to be her colleague, well, as much as bounty hunters could be called colleagues, certainly, there was no sense of companionship that prevented her from trying to hunt him down the moment he became a wanted criminal, but he was among the better bounty hunters out there not that that was a hard bar to clear.

'and then there is the other one’

She thinks to herself.

she is a girl she never met before and she doesn’t seem to have the mannerisms of a criminal let alone a bounty hunter, and for some reason, she glows in her eyes brighter than the sun at midday in the summer, it almost hurts her eyes to look at her.

then there’s the fact that they didn’t try to sell the artifact but came to this jungle doesn’t look like they are motivated by money

‘ something is iffy about this ‘ she wonders to herself as he continues to chase after them

*****************

some time passes and Ken and Saiko arrive at the ruins of something, it’s hard for them to tell as there’s barely anything left but the key seems to be reacting and glowing the closer they are to it.

Saiko jumps to the side as another plasma beam vaporizes the branch that she was standing on a moment earlier.

_ I am starting to get tired here tell me we are close _ she says while panting

~ I have to say your endurance is impressive, you have been running, jumping, and dodging for about 15 minutes now, all while carrying me, but you will be happy to know that yes, we arrived ~

Ken smiles and lifts the key upwards and begins to chant the poem

~Oh Thoth

I wish you would take me

To your city in Al Ashmunin

And take me to your temple of truth

Guard my mouth when I speak

So my tongue only speaks the truth

I am for knowledge thirsty

Like one who is looking for water in a desert ~

as he does the forest rumbles then rocks that look different from the natural rocks of the forest begin to lift up from the ground all over the area and float in the air.

they were neatly carved granite rocks, heavily eroded by time, but still carry the magnificence they once had when they were first cut.

the rocks float to an area in front of Ken and Saiko and form a massive temple

********************************

Claus gets taken off guard when the forest suddenly starts shaking as a big chunk of the earth he is driving on lifts off of the ground and floats towards the forming temple he jumps off of it barely avoiding crashing with his bike

- what is going on here - he exclaims

- there is a large spike in aether field activity where you are, be careful Claus -

Claus dodges the flying rocks and opens multiple portals to fire at the forming temple, but the temple seems unaffected by the attacks.

he rushes towards the two thieves firing at them but they manage to enter the forming temple, then its massive rock doors close behind them locking them inside.

moments later the aether field spike stops then the temple begins to crumble returning to ruins as it once was, as though nothing ever happened with no traces of the two thieves to be seen