In midair, Charmcaster was struck by the ferocious water dragon and let out a scream, falling rapidly toward the ground like a kite with its string cut.
Gwen reacted fast. She rushed forward a few steps and snatched Charmcaster's bag away.
"No! Give it back!" Charmcaster clutched her stomach and lay half-sprawled on the ground, her face pale and worn. "That's mine..."
"Oh, man." Seeing Charmcaster looking so pitiful, Ben covered his eyes. He really couldn't handle scenes like that.
Lucky Girl gave a soft snort and glanced at Charmcaster.
"Those who do evil bring about their own destruction. You followed Hex around causing trouble, so I'm sending you to prison."
"N-no... don't. Lucky Gir... no, Gwen, don't send me to prison." Charmcaster hurriedly shook her head, looking genuinely frightened. "My uncle forced me into this. I didn't want to come with him, but if I refused, he would've hurt me..."
"And how are you supposed to prove that?" Gwen asked, hands on her hips.
At that, Charmcaster's eyes shifted toward the distant battlefield.
At that moment, Hex was floating in midair, his gray staff bursting with surging golden lightning as he desperately held back the flaming boulder above him.
But his arms were trembling nonstop. He was clearly about to give out.
A slight smile lifted Charmcaster's lips.
"Gwen, watch closely."
As soon as she finished speaking, Charmcaster formed a hand seal and began chanting in a low voice.
A dazzling purple orb slowly took shape in her palm.
"Go. Attack Hex!" Charmcaster shouted softly.
Boom!
The purple magic orb slammed into Hex's back, trailing wisps of purple smoke.
Hex flew into a rage.
"Charmcaster, how dare you betray me!"
"Sorry, Uncle. I can't let you hurt innocent people," Charmcaster said with a smile.
"Ah! Damn it!"
Hex had already been hanging on by a thread. After taking that hit from the orb, it was like the final straw had snapped.
The blazing red boulder, radiating waves of scorching heat, bore down with unstoppable force and gradually swallowed up Hex's figure.
Boom!
The sun-like boulder exploded in a violent blast, turning into a shower of energy and light that scattered in every direction and rained onto the concrete.
The heat was so terrifying that even the ground melted, turning into red-hot magma.
Gwen stood there staring at the blinding firelight in the sky, stunned that Charmcaster had actually attacked Hex.
Could it be... she really was a good person?
Seizing the moment, Charmcaster walked over to Gwen and held out her hand.
"Gwen, I really am a good person. This was all Hex's doing. If he hadn't forced me, I would've left a long time ago."
"Really...?" Gwen hesitated.
"Really!" Charmcaster looked utterly sincere as she continued, "Let me join you. I can teach you other kinds of magic too!"
Hearing that, Gwen's eyes lit up and her guard dropped completely.
"Okay. I'll trust you this once." Gwen paused, then added in a low voice, "But you have to teach me powerful magic."
"Thank you, Gwen! I'm so happy you're willing to trust me!"
Charmcaster looked overwhelmed with emotion. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Gwen, who froze in surprise, and refused to let go.
"Alright, alright, let's go check on what's happening over there," Ben suddenly said.
The two girls looked at each other and answered in unison.
"Okay!"
...
Inside the maze, a fierce wind whipped Necromancer's black robe aside, exposing a section of stark white bone that looked cold and chilling.
Opposite him was a massive, bottomless crater, its edges blackened and still scorching hot.
"Fire!" Necromancer raised his bone staff and released a fire dragon into the crater.
The dark pit lit up at once, revealing what was inside.
But apart from burnt earth, there was nothing there...
Hex was gone.
"He ran pretty fast..." Necromancer snorted coldly.
Hex had studied dark magic, so naturally he had plenty of ways to escape.
"Cuz, is Hex down there?" Ben ran over from behind and pointed at the giant crater ahead.
"He got away."
"What? Then let's go after him..." Ben said anxiously.
"Don't chase a desperate enemy." Necromancer shook his head. His transformation time was almost up anyway.
Just then, Gwen and Charmcaster came over from behind.
Necromancer's gaze sharpened. He was about to make a move against Charmcaster, but Gwen stopped him.
"Cuz, wait. Charmcaster isn't a bad person..." Gwen then told him everything that had just happened, including how Charmcaster had thrown the magic orb at Hex.
Necromancer gave a faint nod. He had seen Charmcaster make her move too.
Beep beep!
The Omnitrix on his chest began flashing, and Necromancer reverted to normal.
Lucian was dressed in a white mid-sleeve shirt and loose light-blue jeans, giving off a laid-back, casual air.
His deep black eyes shimmered faintly like stars, instantly drawing Charmcaster in.
"So you really plan on joining us?" Lucian asked slowly.
Charmcaster froze for a moment, then her cheeks turned pink and she nodded lightly.
"Mm... I never wanted to help my uncle do bad things. He kept forcing me, and back then I was all alone. I had no way to fight back."
"But now it's different. If I join you, we can fight Hex together!"
Lucian frowned slightly, as if thinking something over.
This Charmcaster... was nothing like he had imagined.
Suddenly, Gwen moved closer to Lucian and pleaded sweetly, "Come on, Cuz, just trust her this once. I think Charmcaster's kind of pitiful too... If we drive her away, she probably won't even know where to go..."
"Alright..." Lucian was just about to agree.
Then suddenly, his eyelid twitched.
The Keystone of Bezel on Gwen's wrist was gone.
Lucian snapped his head around and stared straight at Charmcaster.
"Give her back the pendant stone."
Gwen froze, not understanding at first.
But when she saw the empty setting on her wrist guard, her eyes widened instantly.
"My pendant!"
Realizing she had been exposed, Charmcaster quickly backed away and pulled a red magic orb out of her bag.
"Heh, did you really think I was going to join you, beautiful Gwen?" A mocking smile curved Charmcaster's lips. "Hmph. If it weren't for stealing the Keystone of Bezel, I never would've hugged you."
"So... you were trying to steal the gem!" Gwen finally realized.
She had thought Charmcaster was just being weirdly clingy, but now it was obvious. That hug had been nothing but a trick to steal the gem.
"Water Dragon Soul!"
Gwen's magic power boiled as a surging water dragon burst from her hands and shot straight at Charmcaster.
Charmcaster looked completely dismissive. She tossed down the red magic orb and, with a boom, vanished from where she stood...