Astraea and Gala had been waiting for hours in the Crystal Caves, and still, there was no sign of Lunaria's arrival. Astraea was starting to get anxious—she was adamant about going after her sister.
Of course, Gala wasn't about to let that happen. She had promised Dr. Thrain that she would protect Astraea, no matter what.
Meanwhile, Astraea couldn't just sit still while her sister was in danger. Now that her condition had improved, she ignited a flame in her hand, using it to threaten Gala. She still couldn't fully trust the woman.
"As, I don't want to hurt you," Gala said.
"Then you'd better not hold back," Astraea replied.
Even with the threat right in front of her, Gala didn't move an inch.
Without another word, Astraea launched a fireball at her. Gala barely dodged it in time—her speed saving her from a direct hit.
She took a defensive stance, leveling her spear at Astraea. Astraea didn't hesitate to launch another attack. This time, Gala not only dodged but closed the distance to counter.
A fight was inevitable—Gala, relying solely on physical strength, now had to face Astraea, a skilled fire mage.
She had to be extra cautious. Astraea's attacks could be deadly if even one hit landed.
Sure enough, after a brief exchange of blows, Gala was struck by one of Astraea's fire spells. In return, Astraea suffered a cut from the tip of Gala's spear. Both paused for a moment.
"I understand why you're worried about your sister," Gala said. "But she's a strong girl. Don't underestimate the power of her blue flames."
"Underestimate her?" Astraea scoffed. "For your information, I once hit her with a tactu mortis."
"What's that?" Gala asked.
"She won't be able to access her full power. And I'm certain she's overwhelmed going up against that many Enforcers."
"Damn it! Why didn't you say that earlier?!"
They rushed off to find Lunaria, leaving their argument behind. Her safety was more important.
•••
When they arrived, they found Astraea's old house engulfed in flames. Several Enforcer bodies lay scattered nearby. The whole place was in chaos—but there was no sign of Lunaria.
Astraea circled the area, calling out her sister's name again and again. No response. Judging from the state of things, whatever happened had occurred recently. But if Lunaria had headed for the Crystal Caves, they should have crossed paths on the way.
Meanwhile, Lunaria was hiding behind a large tree deep in the forest. She looked a mess, still being hunted by the Enforcers—especially Lance. The old man wasn't going to let her escape that easily.
"Come on…" Lunaria muttered, struggling to summon her power.
But nothing came. She couldn't control her flames anymore. And the Enforcers' footsteps were getting louder. Sweat trickled down her forehead—she had no idea what to do. Without her powers, there was no way she could take on this many of them.
"Luna! Where are you?!" Astraea's voice echoed faintly through the trees.
Lunaria froze. She hadn't expected to hear her sister's voice now. On impulse, she ran toward it.
The Enforcers spotted her and immediately gave chase. Arrows flew past her, but none found their mark.
"As! I'm here!" she shouted, still running and dodging incoming arrows.
Little by little, she felt her power returning. She lashed out at the Enforcers to slow them down. But as she focused on the enemies behind her, she didn't notice the cliff right in front of her—until it was almost too late.
"Damn it! No way I heard wrong—it came from this direction! As, where are you?!"
"I'm right here," came Astraea's voice—this time from behind.
Lunaria turned around, stunned. Standing before her was the masked woman.
It wasn't her sister's voice at all. It had been an imitation.
"Well, I'll give you this—you're not easy to catch," Kali said coolly. "My idiot underlings couldn't lay a hand on you."
Lunaria had nowhere to run. She was trapped, and Kali was ready to kill, katana in hand.
"What do you really want from me?" Lunaria asked.
"Honestly, your power's just too dangerous to leave unchecked."
"So what—you plan to kill me and take it?" Lunaria said.
"Exactly."
Lunaria tried again to summon even a flicker of flame—but nothing. Her power was completely suppressed now. She was helpless.
"If you kill me, my sisters will come after you," she warned.
"That's the idea. Saves me the trouble of hunting them down."
In the blink of an eye, Kali was right in front of her, lifting Lunaria off the ground with one hand around her neck. With the other, she began draining her power.
As the energy left her, Lunaria's skin went pale. She couldn't hold on. In seconds, it was over. Her body fell limp—lifeless.
Kali tossed her corpse into the abyss below.
She felt stronger now. Much stronger. She tested her new power on a nearby tree—and sure enough, blue flames burst from her hand.
"One down. Five to go. Soon, no one will be able to stop me."
On the other hand, Gala and Leo had been searching and even walking through the forest, but they couldn't find Astraea. Not even a trace of the Enforcers could be seen.
"Where else should we look for her?" murmured Astraea.
"Wait!" Gala dismounted from Leo, his eyes fixated on a spot on the ground. "Look, there's a trail here."
"Sh*t! This must be my sister's tracks. Let's go!"
Not wanting to waste any more time, they followed the trail. But after a while, the tracks became faint, and eventually, they lost the trail.
"As, do you have anything of hers?" Gala asked.
"Of course." Astraea rummaged through her small bag. "Here, she used to wear this scarf all the time."
"Perfect. Leo, let's find Lunaria."
Gala held the scarf out to Leo, letting the jaguar sniff it and memorize the scent, as he was confident they were close to finding Lunaria.
Once Leo signaled that he was ready to track, they quickly mounted him again and continued their search.
Eventually, the trail led them to a cliffside — the very place where Lunaria had actually died.
"This is a dead end. Are you sure Leo didn't make a mistake in tracking?" Astraea asked.
"Leo never makes mistakes when it comes to tracking," Gala replied. He dismounted and started investigating.
"As, over here! There are two sets of footprints, which means she wasn't alone. Someone must have found her."