Xenora landed beside Ayre, who was leading the search.
"Is everything okay?" the succubus asked.
"Everything is still fine. At least, for now." Ayre answered while looking at the shapeshifters who were searching through the trees. "We have evacuated those unable to fight and provided them with protection. But we haven't been able to find those twins."
"Has anyone checked into the base yet? Even though the odds are low, the twins might come back to steal, sabotage, or something." Xenora looked at Phisovia, who was flying above. The general was watching the succubi doing an aerial search.
"I've already sent a lot of individuals to base again." Ayre sighed. "However, I haven't gotten any reports from them…. Ah, I now understand why lord Vorn pushed remote communication devices."
"Let me check the base." Xenora then flew to her former boss. "Hey, Physovia. Can I borrow some of your troops to check into the base?"
Phisovia raised an eyebrow in slight surprise but then smiled. "Sure."
The general then summoned the five succubi closest to her. "Please accompany Xenora."
"Very well, madam!!!" They answered in unison.
"Thanks, Phisovia." Xenora stared at the red-haired succubus' eyes.
"No problem. Good luck, Xen." Phisovia widened her smile.
Xenora nodded in silence, then took off with the five succubi. Many things were going through Xenora's mind, but she had to focus on this.
She can deal with Phisovia later.
"Get ready, girls." Xenora hissed as she and her party entered the cave that led to the main base. "We don't know what we're going to find."
They flew at full speed in silence. Xenora frowned as she started to find corpses of various species lying around.
Is this a sign that the twins have returned to base? What are they doing it for?
"What's that?" One of the succubi pointed at a small light in the distance.
Xenora narrowed her eyes and found that it was the light from a magic staff that Nate was holding. The man was walking while holding Helen's limp body.
"Help!!!" Nate shouted at the top of his lungs at the group.
Xenora and the others landed in front of Nate. Upon seeing the cloth bandage on Helen's right neck, Xenora gave an order to the two succubi. "You and you, take them to the healers outside."
"Are you going to fight the escaped prisoners?" Nate asked as he laid Helen's body on the ground. The witch had closed her eyes, and her breathing became increasingly ragged. "Take care. Don't let any of you bleed, even a little bit. He can blow up those wounds horribly."
"Thanks for the information," Xenora answered in a quick tone. "Is there anything else we should know, Nate?"
The magic scientist gulped. "They mentioned armor…. They carry the skull of someone who claims to be Fergus, considered the most dangerous dark magus in the world…. I can only speculate. Maybe they want to take on Lady Ayre's armor project. That thing has special attributes, after all."
"Shit." Xenora hissed, then spoke again to the two succubi earlier. "You girls tell this information to Ayre too."
"We will do it, madam!" The two succubi answered, then lifted Nate and Helen's bodies.
While the two succubi headed towards the exit, Xenora and the remaining three succubi flew deeper into the base's cave.
Xenora's heartbeat interval increased many times. She had a bad feeling about this.
***
"Finally, this is the place I meant," Fergus muttered as the twins entered another room in the experimental section of the base.
"Well, this place is much smaller." Kaine looked at the objects in that place, mostly metal plates of various shapes and smithing tools. "And it feels cramped."
"Well, I'd love to check all this out, but we must hurry. It's because of you two our time is running short." Fergus complained again, and Kaine gestured for Kayla to hold back. Arguing can make them waste more and more time.
Despite looking increasingly irritated, Kayla responded. "Okay."
Fergus continued his words. "Take me to the end of the room…. Hey, what's that on our right?"
Kayla turned Fergus's face to a small table. The dark magus fell silent.
"What's wrong, Fergus?" Kaine asked. "You want this to be over quickly. Why are you the one wasting our time?"
"I can't believe they could make something like this." Fergus let out a bitter chuckle. "Take the bottle. That thing might come in handy later."
Raising an eyebrow, Kaine took the small clear vial filled with the dark brown liquid. "Is there anything special about this?"
"I'll explain later." Fergus sounded even more irritated. "Now, take me to the other end of the room."
They then approached a set of dark purple armor in a glass case.
"What's this?" Kayla studied the armor carefully. She noticed that the surface of that thing appeared to have moving ripples. "I've never seen anything like this."
"It's similar to that infamous ragmonuk metal, but I feel something more…. This thing can draw a lot of energy from within the earth…." Fergus explained. His tone was still bitter.
"You envy those who can make all of these, Fergus?" Kaine chuckled. His eyes scanned the intricate patterns on the armor.
"Shut up." Fergus snorted. "Now remove the barrier spell from this glass case, and do it quickly. I'm disappointed with you. You can't carry out my teachings well…."
"Aye, aye, teacher. I will try to dismantle this protective spell better." Kaine sighed, then turned his blood disks into a square plate. That thing stuck to the front side of the glass case.
He then closed his eyes and concentrated.
Several minutes passed in silence, and Fergus protested for the umpteenth time. "This has taken too long."
"You said that this barrier spell removal magic requires high concentration." Kayla interrupted the dark magus. "So, be quiet..."
The female vampire frowned when she heard a sound similar to howling wind in the distance.
"Did you guys hear that?" She asked while slightly looking up. "Something is flying over here."
"Hurry up, Kaine!" Fergus was growing impatient. "You don't want all this to fail, do you?"
Kaine kept concentrating on opening that glass case.
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