At the cruise in the early night. The group was finally aboard, heading out to sea after the long, painful journey they had experienced.

  "What an adventure!" Aria said, stretching her arms overhead. Though her body showed only slight wounds, her three colleagues told a different story. Rein and Revir had fresh bandages across their foreheads, with Rein's already wounded arm heavily secured. As usual, Carol was the most heavily bandaged. The three of them gave Aria a look of annoyance that sent a cold feeling down her spine.

  "I think you should watch your mouth, Aria. I don't think they appreciate that right now," Noire whispered, gently pointing with his thumb toward the three captured Sealers on the ship's deck: Dulcinia, Erick, and Hindrey. Both Dulcinia and Erick seemed accepting of their defeat, smiling as they were bound together. Hindrey, however, fixed a frustrated, furious gaze on Carol, clearly stewing over the memory of how he was defeated by her, leaving his valuable sealing chains inert.

  (A few hours ago: The Library, Post-Duel)

  Hindrey, panting heavily, tried to stand his ground against Carol, who rushed at high speed with her sword heavily wrapped in Dark Ender. He tried to defend with his spear, but Carol's immense force easily staggered him against the library wall, leaving a huge crack and snapping his spear in half. Regaining consciousness, Hindrey instantly became wary, realizing Carol was nowhere to be seen. In that moment, an instant, dangerous burst of killing intent radiated behind him.

  It was Carol, who quickly staggered him again with a heavy swing. Hindrey managed to wrap himself in a barrier just in time, protecting his bones from cracking further. Without pause, Carol moved in front of him, punching him toward the ceiling with a hard, loud impact. With the situation now in her favor, Carol cast several spikes of pure, dark energy above, aiming to pierce him. The spikes charged, causing devastated panic and shock to Hindrey, who managed to teleport just in time.

  But the spikes followed. He teleported again and again, accelerating his speed across different locations in the hall, yet the dark spikes kept pace, eventually surrounding him and cutting off any chance of escape.

  Seizing the opportunity, Carol leaped toward Hindrey, leaving a small crack on the ground. She recharged her sword with Dark Ender, creating a dark, electrifying magic circle as her platform to accelerate.

  "Wind," she gripped her sword hilt tightly, her figure becoming a blur as she accelerated. "Agnis." With the final word of her chant, she slashed right through Hindrey as she passed behind him.

  Her attack left a fatal wound across his body. Blood dripped heavily as he fell to the ground, clinging to his last remnants of consciousness. As he landed harshly, lying in a pool of blood, a brief flicker of his wife and daughter's smiling faces appeared in his mind.

  Carol landed gracefully, turning her body toward Hindrey in ready to finish him off. However, another strong headache came by, forcing her to stumble back. Her hair slowly reverted to her natural dark color, her corrude state, small dark Ender veins around her body vaporized, and her red irises faded back to the dark one. She reverted back to her human form, only to immediately fall unconscious as her own wounds reappeared across her body.

  (How... annoying... To think I was defeated by another creature instead of a Margias... It truly irritates me...) Hindrey thought, fixing a furious gaze on the unconscious Carol.

  As Hindrey's flashback ended, a mysterious man in a plain cloak leaped onto the deck of the cruise ship, walking toward the group.

  "Good thing I was nearby. Otherwise, you guys might still be stranded on that island." the man said, showing a small, casual grin.

  "Yeah, thanks for that," Aria said, her tone dripping with sarcasm, though she smiled brightly. "Especially when you suddenly appeared inside the library, healing both Carol and that old Sealer with your potion, gave us a ride without questioning us, and even provided bandages. Of course it wasn't suspicious, at all!"

  The man chuckled nervously. "But hey, it's a win-win situation! You all got returned safe, and I got these three Sealers as a deal!"

  "What are you going to do with them?" Revir asked, walking toward him with a hardened expression. "Surely you're not going to do something bad to them, right?"

  The man gently held Revir's shoulder, his grip reassuring. "You don't have to worry about that. I'm just going to give them a proper punishment."

  "And how are you supposed to do that? It's not like you know them."

  "Well, you're right about that," the man conceded. He moved his cloak slightly, revealing his own Sealer book inside his leather bag, giving a shocked to Revir. "But at least I know how to deal with someone like them. So please, just leave them with me."

  With no further argument, Revir sighed in acceptance. "Fine. But if I hear that there's a creep trying to abuse three innocent Sealers, I'm going to make sure you regret living." He gave the man a menacing gaze.

  Despite the warning, the man only smiled. "It's settled, then!"

  He turned back toward his ship, ready to leave Revir and the group with Dulcinia, Erick, and Hindrey in tow. "Until we meet again, folks! May our paths cross ever again!" the man called out, waving as he started the engine.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  "Yeah, whatever you say! Hoping that never happens!" Revir yelled back, his voice strained against the loud engine noise.

  As the ship sailed away, the man let down his cloak's hood, revealing his head under the moonlight.

  "Now then," the man said, turning to Dulcinia, Erick, and Hindrey, whose faces were filled with dread. It was Yuno. "I hope you three prepared for the consequences. So stay tuned, will you?" He smiled menacingly, sending a final chill down their spines.

  Back at Sowrien, Lily, reading her novel in her room, saw Rein and the group walking toward the manor. Excitement struck her heart, and she rushed outside. Every maid and butler, including the wounded ones who once worked under Orin, followed her, confused by her sudden behavior.

  "Rein!" Lily exclaimed, waving her hands to welcome her brother's return.

  "Sorry for making you wait. The journey was... longer than I expected," Rein said, glancing back at Revir, who offered his usual carefree smile.

  "So, did you find that 'Sealer'?" Lily asked, curious about their result.

  Rein chuckled nervously. "About that..."

  He explained everything, from the start of their journey to the final duel in the library. The overwhelming information caused Lily to drift into a confused daze.

  Noticing her confusion, Rein sighed lightly. "You know what? I think it's better if we just show you." He suggested, pointing toward the ominous forest beside their manor, the place where one of the Calamities resided.

  Arriving at the entrance of the ominous ice cave, Rein clenched his hands, still reliving his past trauma there. Lily, worried, confronted him, holding his arm tightly. Her presence quieted Rein's old anger, reminding him of Lousilks' whisper before death: stay alive and be true to yourself.

  Revir took a deep breath behind the group, walking to the entrance of the cave. He commanded his book to open itself. Now ready, he closed his eyes and began the Seal spell.

  "Forius, Marikhrin, Nimpha..."

  A shining, bright white enlarged magic circle instantly appeared beneath the cave, greatly shocking Lily and the group.

  "Foghat, Arimphia, Orius..."

  The Calamity, the Azure Dragon itself, awoke from its hibernation. Its furious breath, angry that someone had interrupted its sleep, roared loudly, sending a sharp pain through everyone's ears. But Revir didn't back down; he pressed on.

  "Karyn, Varphiah, Adrikiah..."

  As the spell neared completion, huge, gigantic chains erupted from the magic circle, binding around the cave entrance. The dragon screamed in agony, doing its utmost best to break free.

  "Morlukriah, Orinaliria..." Revir opened his eyes, roaring the last word to finish the spell. "Lurveicaria!"

  The dragon let out one last roar of pain, instantly disappearing alongside the magic circle into the void.

  "Finally," Revir said, lying down on the ground, overwhelmed by exhaustion after sealed the calamity for good. "That should solve your problem, right, Rein?"

  "Of course," Rein replied, kneeling down to offer a fist bump. "It was more than helpful. In fact, you just saved many lives in our territory."

  Revir snorted confidently, accepting the fist bump. "That's a Sealer for you. You should be grateful I'm not the type who kills you off."

  "Fair enough."

  "But shouldn't you guys worry about something more?" Lily asked, trying to remind them. "There are still three Calamities left to seal. What if they endanger everyone across the world?"

  "You don't need to worry about them, Lily," Rein responded, looking seriously at her. "That's not our job to just neutralize all of them. We're not heroes. We're just a bunch of kids trying to solve our own problems in our own way. You should know that."

  Hearing his statement, Lily was shocked, unable to offer a word to counter him. Silence was her only answer.

  Rein sighed at his sister's reaction. "We're going to stay over at the manor for a few weeks. After that, the group and I will head back to Verlyn. Is that okay for you, Lily?"

  "S-sure."

  Worried, Rein stood up, walked toward Lily as she grabbed her shoulder to reassure her. "Don't worry. The Calamities aren't going to attack for now. They only care about their own territory, so we should be fine."

  "I... hope you're right, Rein."

  He nodded. "Come on, let's go."

  As the group walked away, Carol sensed the presence of the Zarikh behind her, intensely watching her. She turned back, looking around in caution. However, the presence vanished, as if it had never been there. Giving up, Carol decided to ignore it and walked away from the forest.

  "So that's the Priestess you always talk about, huh?" A Zarikh in a plain cloak commented, interested. "She seems too human to be a monster like Leviathan should be." He shrugged.

  "How dare you badmouth the Priestess like that!" Mary roared, angry at his implication. "You think you have the privilege to say something like that with all your achievements?!"

  "Geez, calm down, old woman. What I said is literally just a fact," he said, trying to soothe Mary. "Though there is a catch."

  "What do you mean by that? Is your foresaw future ability tingling on the Priestess?"

  "Do you think I have a spider sense or something, Mary?" He looked at her in annoyance. "Like I said before, there's a catch, especially for her future. It looks to me that she has two futures she has to choose instead of the one we thought."

  "Huh, that's weird. But we did foresee it back when she took the first step on Verlyn," Mary explained, struggling to believe the current prediction.

  "Well, no matter. As long as she manages to awaken herself, that's more than enough." The man turned back into the forest, walking deeper with Mary. "For I, Chris, a so-called troublemaker like you guys said, will always be correct."