Narrator's POV
The Mara-Struck monster immediately jumped at the group, slamming its shield against the ground letting golden lightning spark out towards the group of four, they immediately jumped back to create some distance, and as soon as the lightning dissapeared they rushed the monster down.
The Mara-Struck rose its spear throwing a stab towards Dan Heng, but Luocha immediately stepped in using his rapier to quickly parry the attack making the tip of the spear hit the ground, Sushang went around him and slashed down at the monster's arm with her sword completely cutting it off.
Dan Heng jumped above the other two and fell right on top of the Mara-Struck with the spear pointing directly at its body, the monster rose his shield to block the incoming attack but Cocolia snaked up behind its back stabbing its spine with the claws on her fingers and then with some effort she dragged the claws towards splitting the monster's back open and leaving it completely vulnerable to Dan Heng's attack that immediately pierced its chest and with a burst of wind it bursted the monster's chest open not leaving a hole on its torso.
As the monster slowly fell down to the floor, the hole on its chest started to regenerate it looked up and saw the group of four staring down at him with their weapons completely at the ready.
As if they were waiting for the Mara-Struck to regenerate and stand up.
....
"Uff! That one was clearly easy with help..." Sushang slowly wiped the sweat off her forehead.
The group looked at what little remained of the Mara-Struck slowly dissipate away, Luocha silently walked back to his coffin, inspecting it as if to check if it had received any damage, Sushang slowly sheared her sword on her hip and looked at the other three.
"Are the three of you okay?"
"I am fine, Miss" Luocha replied with a little nod.
"We're both fine too" Dan Heng likewise nodded alongside Cocolia.
"Oh good good" with a soft sigh she smiled at them. "I'm Sushang, of the Cloud Knights and I was just transfered from the Yaoqing" she gave a short presentation before speaking again. "This entire area is currently under martial law and I've been tasked with evacuating all civilians, so I'll need you to come with me."
Her gaze went directly towards Cocolia and Dan Heng, her eyes momentarily staring at the boy's spear before looking directly at him with a little smile.
"Also, that was Cloud Knight spearmanship, right? What unit are you from?" She asked and Dan Heng shook his head.
"No, I'm not a Cloud Knight"
"Oh...a civilian then, I'll need you to come with me too"
"Miss Sushang, what has transpired here? In all my trade visits I've never seen Starskiff Haven in such a state..." Luocha looked down at the girl who slowly scratched the back of her head.
"I can't really comment on that...and I also don't have idea, I've just been tasked with evacuating all civilians so the three of you need to come with me" she looked up at the blonde man before looking back at the other two. "Also what are both of your names? I have forms to fill out and I can't really put your names as blank..."
Dan Heng kept himself silent for a second before replying. "I'm Dan Heng, and this is Cocolia." he presented both him and the woman. "We're travelers and are also on our way to meet up with our friends, we appreciate the help but we're capable of leaving the port on our own"
"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you but I can't really let you do that...you won't find anyone around here, if your friends already left they should be on the safe zone, but don't worry! Just follow me and I'll take you there" she smiled a bit confidently.
"Aren't you going to ask for my name, Miss?" Luocha asked with a little smile.
Sushang seemed to get a bit embarrassed before replying. "W-well you already said it though?...before, you said it was Luo...Luocha! I remember it" a small drop of sweat went down her forehead. "Anyways! Please follow me, Cloud Knight Sushang will guarantee your safety!"
With that the girl started to walk, the merchant slowly following behind her with the coffin floating behind him, and then both Dan Heng and Cocolia joined.
"What do you make out of her?" He asked in a soft whisper towards the blonde woman.
"She doesn't look the most reliable young girl...but I guess she's right, if the others are in that safe zone she spoke about, we'll find them in no time" Cocolia let out a small sigh.
"Probably...but we can't let our guards down, she doesn't know what happened and we don't exactly know either" he warned his companion "Also, that girl may be several years older than you"
"....What?"
....
"Ah! Benefactors, good to see you all arrive" Tingyun smiled looking at the trailblazers and Ryan. "Madam Yukong has already been announced of your arrival"
The group arrived at the entrance of the Palace of Astrum, their gazes momentarily looking up at the building before Welt stared back at the fox woman "Thanks for telling her, we'll go in now" the adult man spoke with a little nod.
As the Fox woman slowly walked away from the entrance, the group went into the building opening the door and walking up the short set of stairs they saw the interior, the multiple workes inside and the Helm Master speaking with one of her fellow workers, though seeing the group get close, she dismissed him and turned to look at the trailblazers.
"Greetings guests from the Astral Express" Yukong lightly bowed her head. "Tingyun has already explained the reason of your arrival, receiving guests is not normally one of my responsibilities, but after hearing your arrival due to the Stellaron and your desire to help us, I felt the need to at least meet you in person to decline your offer..."
"...wait what?" Stelle blinked lightly slowly processing the rejection.
"The Xianzhou Alliance knows what a Stellaron is, and we're more than capable of handling it ourselves" she started to explain. "We've been around for over 8000 years, we've seen and fought against multiple conflicts and crisis and we have more than enough resources to spare, you're guests from afar, there's no need for you to get involved in this"
Hearing her words, Welt lightly burrowed his brows, looking slightly worried. "From what we know, the Influence of the Stellaron can still be contained, if we locate and seal the Stellaron we could still save any space and people already affected by corrosion...we have experience with Stellarons, we simply wish to share that experience."
"I've said it and I'll say it again, this is an internal affair of the Xianzhou Luofu and there's no need for outside help, I've accepted this meeting out of respect, but my decision is final" her words came out slightly stern this time, clearly putting her foot down on her decision.
"But-" Welt was about to speak again but Serval quickly cut him off.
"You heard her Mr.Yang...if they say they can handle it then we're just waiting out breathe, let's just go..."
"I'm afraid that is impossible" Yukong words now gained the gaze of the entire group.
"Uh...can we ask why?" March seemed a bit nervous.
"It's only been a few days since the Stellarons was detected on the Luofu, Starskiff Haven has been under Lockdown and no one was permitted to leave, how did you know about the incident and how did you link it to the Stellarons" Yukong's face slowly formed a frown. "I acquired the access history of Starskiff Haven's Jade Gate, and not too long ago we were hacked by the notorious SilverWolf, a member of the Stellaron Hunters..."
Hearing the fox woman, the group fell silent, Welt frowned a bit and seemed to already be looking for a wait to gain her trust or at least show they're not hostile, while Ryan slowly drove a hand behind him, already starting to summon an ethereal dagger with his magic.
"All of you are forbidden to leave the Luofu until all the aforementioned question have been-"
"Don't be too harsh Yukong..."
The trailblazers, Ryan and Yukong looked to the side almost immediately, seeing an adult man appear in the form of a Hologram, Jing Yuan looked at them briefly before smiling towards Yukong.
"If word got out, everyone would think that the Xianzhou Alliance has forgotten how to treat their guests" he half joked and then looked at the group from the Express. "Sorry to interrupt your conversation, I'm Jing Yuan, the general of the Cloud Knights here in the Luofu"
After hearing the introduction, the entire room to get lighter and the atmosphere seemed to relax a little, Welt's face went back to his common stoic expressing and Ryan immediately made the dagger dissapear and stood up more straight looking at the man.
"While it's true that there's a Stellarons in the Luofu, I agree with the Helm Master, this is an internal affair that the Luofu needs to handle on their own, I'm sorry..." He apologized briefly before speaking again. "But while I cannot accept your help, I do have a favor to ask of you...Please, Helm Master." His last words were directed towards Yukong, who let out a soft sigh before walking away.
"Well, at least he seems kinder than that woman..." March whispered to Stelle's ear.
"Shhh! The furry could hear you" the Racoon whispered back to her.
"It's delightful to meet the passengers of the Astral Express, the train's reputation precedes it." The general smiled at them and Welt lightly bowed his head.
"It's an honor to meet you General, what is this favor you spoke of?" Welt spoke both with respect but also wanting to get to the point.
"A matter that needs people such as yourselves, some time ago, we captured a member of the Stellaron Hunters, a man named Blade..." He started to explain the situation. "During investigation, the divination commission intercepted a transmission sent by his accomplice, Kafka, who managed to infiltrate the Luofu, can you guess where the transmission went?"
"General, I must explain that we have no relation-" before Welt could defend themselves, the general stopped him.
"There's no need to defend yourself, I have knowledge of your relationship with the Stellaron Hunters and even though the Divination commission believes you've made an alliance, I say that is completely impossible, so there must be a misunderstanding."
"It wouldn't be weird to believe that she did it on purpose..." Ryan spoke softly though he was heard by the General.
"Good observation, Young Man, I too believe the transmission was an attempt to sow distrust between ourselves." His smile didn't leave his face. "And since the Stellaron Hunter lured you in, I say we take advantage of this, you'll be authorized to do as you see fit around the Luofu with the goal of capturing Kafka, doing so will clear the misunderstanding, reveal her intentions, and discern their connection to the Stellaron Burst, what do you say?"
Welt kept himself silent for a few seconds before looking back at the rest of the group who one by one let out a short nod of approval. "Understood, we'll do it, General"
"Good! It's a deal then, I'll be sure to notify the Helm Master to share with you all the required information and to make sure our best personnel aids you in this, if there's something the Sky-Faring Commission can do, please make it known."
"Understood"
Welt three a gaze towards his group, who seemed to understand and all of them together went to a corner of the room starting to have their meeting.
"That went better than I expected..." March sighed a bit relieved. "I thought we were going to go to jail..."
"This is my mistake, I already expected suspicion, but the immediate rejection caught me by surprise" Welt apologized.
"You don't have to apologize Mr.Yang, that woman was too harsh" Serval spoke a bit annoyed. "That Tingyun really lied to us about her so called kind heart"
"She's just doing her job, I too would've reacted the same if I were in her place" Ryan sighed before looking towards Jing Yuan, who was speaking with Yukong. "We should be grateful the General showed up."
"Oh yeah, you were about to go all out on Yukong, I saw the knife" Stelle scratched the back of her head a bit nervous. "What was that plan anyways?"
"I would've taken her hostage..." He replied a bit embarrassed.
"I understand were you're coming from Ryan, but making an enemy of the Xianzhou Alliance would've been the worst choice" Welt scolded the boy nodded.
"Sorry Mr.Yang"
"No matter, we're in the clear for now, even though the General helped us, there's something weird..." Welt drove a hand to his chin.
"Something weird?" March asked a bit confused.
"It's just a thought..." Serval started to speak. "But what if that Blade guy escaped?"
"Serval is right..." Ryan backed up the blonde. "If they already have Blade, why not use him as bait to catch Kafka?"
"...that's why he asked us for our help in capturing Kafka, he probably doesn't want people to know Blade escaped" Welt nodded lightly.
"I mean...I wouldn't blame him, with the Stellaron already causing problems, having TWO Stellaron Hunters somewhere around the ship would make me panic a little" March scratched the back of her head.
"We're the actual bait for Kafka, without Blade, our connection to her is the only thing that would lure her in..." Welt explained to the others. "Now that we figured that out, we'll get closer to understanding that core of the situation here, we should speak with the Helm Master to get all the information needed."
"I'd like to have a word with the General, Mr.Yang, can I?" Ryan asked towards the adult trailblazers.
"Of course Ryan, you're free to do so" he nodded with his head. "We'll meanwhile go and speak with the Helm Master."
The group of trailblazers walked towards Yukong, starting to chat with her, meanwhile Ryan slowly got close to the Hologram of Jing Yuan who looked at him and smirked a little.
"Young Man, is there something you need?"
"General, you said that if there was something we needed, we could ask, right?" He asked and the General quickly nodded. "I lost my weapon some time ago, I wanted to ask if there was any blacksmith who could make one for me."
The general kept himself silent before letting out a soft sigh. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Young Man, even though our Artisanship Commission makes weapons that could be compared to those made by the Xianzhou Zhuming, I doubt any of our blacksmiths here in the Luofu could make something that could be wielded by you"
"I...don't understand, General" he looked up at the hologram a bit confused.
"I have an eye for people with potential, and you, Young Man, have a lot, you remind me of my pupil, he too, has immense potential...in the Luofu there was once a man named Yingxing, he made many weapons, Including the one I wield, he would've been able to forge something perfect for you...but he's gone now, regular weapons will end up being nothing but dust in your hands" he bowed his head lightly as an apology. "I'm sorry, but I think it's better to understand the situation rather than have an unreliable weapon in your hands"
"It's okay General, I'm totally capable of defending myself even if I don't have a weapon in hand"
"I'd ask my pupil to lend one of his weapons to you, he collects swords, but I'm afraid he's to attached to them" Jing Yuan let out a short chuckle. "I have other matters to take care of, so I'll be leaving."
"I understand, a pleasure to speak with you General..." He bowed lightly.
"Same to you, Young Man"
With that, the Hologram dissapeared, Ryan let out a sigh, somewhat disappointed with the General's response to his request, he looked towards the trailblazers, who were getting close.
"Ryan, I see the general left" Welt looked at the place where the hologram of Jing Yuan used to be.
"Yes, I asked about getting myself a weapon, unfortunately it won't be possible..."
"That's...a shame, will you be able to handle yourself with your magic and scabbard?" He asked burrowing his brows.
"As long as I don't overdo with my magic I should be fine"
"If you run out of juice you can get on the sidelines and do work as cheerleader" Stelle smirked a little. "We can put a skirt on you"
"Oh god, now that image is in my head..." March drove a hand to her forehead, somewhat mortified.
"Can I stab her, Mr.Yang?" Ryan asked to the adult who lightly sighed.
"I understand your feeling Ryan, but do not, let's go outside, we'll let you know what we learned from the Helm Master."
As the group walked out of the building, a single thought went through Welt's head...
Those Idol days were going to haunt him forever.
★ ★ ★
A/N: Yay another chapter before an entire week passes.
Next chapter might take a bit longer cause...Silksong is coming out, and I plan on playing it in Xbox Game Pass day 1- so if there's no chapter in a month, I'm busy playing Silksong, anyways, hope you enjoyed.