The explosion blasted a huge hole in the middle of the wall going outside. Jagav stood in the same spot as before as a barrier, which he conjured just before the explosion, protected him. He watched silently with a smug smile on his face in satisfaction at the damage done and the smoke drifting within the room.

“That was quite the bang, wasn't it?” He asked of no one in particular.

Unexpectedly, he received a reply of, “Yes. It was a bang, you idiot!”

He blinked in surprise as the smoke slowly cleared to reveal a pair of wings positioned in a defensive way. The white wings were covered in bruises and burn marks as a sign of damage taken from the explosion.

“What the?!” He exclaimed sharply, widening his eyes in shock.

Just then, the wings moved from their position and separated to reveal Sonia standing there with a grim expression on her face. Behind her stood Indira, Priya, and Erza while the kids were floating around due to the levitation magic that Erza invoked just as Sonia used her wings as shields.

Still looking shocked, Jagav stared at Sonia and asked, “You… You're an angel?!”

Sonia ignored the question and spoke to him while glaring menacingly at him.

“You've got some nerve detonating an explosion right near me, my sisters and my children!”

Her strong words cause him to become startled before he recovered and said, “I do need nerves of steel to take revenge on my enemies, which is you and your entire family!”

“E-Even children?” Indira asked from behind Sonia with a look of apprehension on her face.

Jagav gave her a scathing look and said, “Young lady, what did you understand when I said 'your family’? I mean everyone, including your offspring!”

His words shocked Indira, and made Priya say, “You… are scum! One of the worst people I've ever met!”

His let out a cold mirthless laughter and gave them a cold stare before saying, “Is that the best insult you got? I've got one for you; your man of the family is currently away from this place, not willing to come back because he's hooked onto another women and had forgotten all about you, his family!”

Priya's face turned very red with anger, and she shouted, “My brother will not do that!”

“Yes. My husband isn't a character that a stupid man like you can understand,” said Sonia with furrowed eyebrows.

Jagav laughed again and said, “I see you're deluding yourselves to facts and there's no way to convince you otherwise. In that case, quietly accept my judgement and… die!”

As he finished speaking, he raised his hand and aimed at them, but Sonia was quicker than him in activating their respective spells. She quickly brought both of her hands forward and clapped them together before shouting her spell name.

“Star Flare!”

In an instant, a blinding light erupted in front of her and caused him to cover his eyes while screaming, “My eyes!”

“Quick! Let's get out of here!” Sonia told them hurriedly.

Without waiting for a reply, she scooped everyone with her wings that were enchanted with magic to carry them all using a weightless magic spell. Then, she leaped out of the hole in the wall. She soared through the air and landed skillfully before coming to a stop near Ondine, Sumara, Venezuela, and Emilia before letting the people she was carrying down.

“What happened?!” Venezuela asked with concern.

“What was that explosion?” Ondine asked apprehensively.

Emilia did not ask them but narrowed her eyes at their bruises and looked up at the hole in her house. As she feared, Jagav walked over to the edge of the hole and looked down at them with a bemused expression on his face.

“How did he–?!” She exclaimed in a sharp voice.

“He must've snuck past you using that King Ranked Magic Spell,” said Erza as she spoke over Emilia.

“Damn! We didn't think he was capable of doing that!” Venezuela admitted with a pained look on her face.

“I should've anticipated him to do that knowing his title and rank!” Sumara said with a dejected look on her face.

“It's not your fault,” said Erza quickly. “None of us expected that he'd do this.”

“Yes, that clever bastard!” Sonia said, glaring towards Jagav, who had also leaped out of the hole and descended to land gently on the ground.

He looked over them to see a large wall enclosed around his men, trapping them in. With a snort, be aimed his hand at it and activated a spell using Chantles Magic.

In an instant, the wooden wall got cracks all over it's surface before it exploded into pieces, freeing his men in the process. The Chand family looked at the released enemies with anger in their eyes while also giving the same look towards the man responsible for it all.

“Locking up my friends isn't polite,” he said in a comical voice.

“You're insane!” Venezuela commented angrily.

“Yes. I believe so, too, because I won't rest till I eliminate you all from existence!” He replied, his smile fading and forming into a serious look on his face.

He raised his hand slightly and waved it in an arc in front of him. As he did, the ground started cracking several times before strange creatures made from rock slowly rose out of the ground. Within seconds, an army of monsters with rock bodies lined before the Chand family.

“Meet my Rockmons!”

For a moment, there was silence before Priya asked, “Are you an idiot? That name basically means Rock Monsters!”

“Don't disrespect my creations!” Jagav said sharply. He waved his hand at them and said, “My creatures! Get them!”

While making strange clicking sounds with their teeth made of rock, the monsters charged at the women.

“RRRAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

Before the Chand family's women could prepare themselves, however, Cantia in her beast form bounded forward and smashed into them, sending rocks flying everywhere. Cantia spun around and glared menacingly at Jagav, who looked a little impressed.

“I suppose that's making things easy,” he commented in realisation to the flaw in his plan. So, he thought of a plan and said, “I think this’ll make us even. My friends! Let's perform that spell we agreed upon!”

Every member of the cult nodded in agreement and backed away from the Chand family. Then, they all aimed their hand simultaneously at them and shouted a single spell name before activating it.

“Sorcerer Downfall!”

In an instant, a large magic circle appeared both below and above the ladies and seemed to do nothing for several seconds before disappearing. The women looked at each other with confusion on their faces as they did not understand what just happened.

“Was that supposed to do something,” Venezuela said while looking amused, “because I don't sense anything different about me.”

“Oh, please…!” Jagav replied scathingly. “It's not a flashy spell that you'd go 'wow’ or 'cool’ because it was meant to do the job, and it worked.”

“Nothing feels different–,” began Silvera.

“Weren't you listening to me?!” He snapped while looking angry. “Argh. Stupid morons! Fine! If you're too stupid to understand with words, then go ahead and do something! Anything! Try and do something to me! Use your magic! Come on! Destroy me if you can! Come on!”

For a few seconds, the women hesitated before Venezuela accepted his challenge and aimed her staff at him and said, “Air Shock!”

There was a whoosh of the wind and everything remained the same as nothing seemed to happen. This confused her as she was sure the man would have been blasted off his feet and would have been thrown several metres into the air. Instead, he stood there with his arms spread wide, daring them to attack him.

“What's wrong, Vena?” Sumara asked in a concerned voice.

“My… My spell didn't work,” replied Venezuela while sounding puzzled.

Sumara narrowed her eyes in seriousness and aimed her own hand at him before saying, “Water Squall!”

Once again, nothing happens and everything remained still and silent just like it happens with Venezuela. This shocked her and made everyone feel puzzled. Soon, Ondine, Tetra, Silvera, Erza, and Sonia attempted to use magic on him but all of theirs failed. Even Cantia, who tried to breathe fire out of her mouth, ended up failing and appeared as confused and worried as the rest.

Seeing them beginning to look worried made him feel satisfied, and he showed it in the form of wearing a smug look on his face.

“I guess you should start taking me seriously!” He said loudly before letting out a cold mirthless laughter. Once he calmed down, he glared at them and said, “But I still don't like the fact that there's little tension. Let's turn it up a notch.”

He aimed two of his fingers towards Cantia and flicked them in an upward motion. At the same time, several magic circles appeared all around her before chains flew out and wrapped themselves firmly around her. As they did, lightning began coursing through the chains and inflicting a large amount of damage onto her, causing her to let out a beastly howl of pain and agony.

“That’s more like it!” He said in satisfaction.

“Cantia!” The girls shouted in shock and disbelief as they watched her get tormented.

As they moved to support her, several of the magicians activated their magic and caused a huge wall of rock to rise out of the ground and enclose around them and trapping them inside. A moment later, the magicians waved their hands and caused a large magic circle to appear high above the place that trapped the Chand family before a large boulder fell through it.

“Enjoy your trip to hell!” He said gleefully, watching the large boulder fall quickly on top of them and hear their desperate cries in trying to use their magic and failing miserably.

Even while being chained down and tortured by the lightning, Cantia’s firm mind awoke to the screams of her sisters and, most important of all, the cry of her baby girl. Suddenly, she got an immense burst of energy from out of nowhere, and she rose to her feet.

“RRRAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

Roaring wildly, she surprised everyone by suddenly exerting an immense surge of power before breaking free from the chains. Then she bounded towards the rockwall and blasted through it as she came to their rescue.

“Cantia! What're you–?!” Began Venezuela in surprise.

“RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!”

She screamed and lowered herself to the ground to allow them to get on her. There was a moment of hesitation, but it all vanished when she screamed again at them. Getting to her feet, she leaped away just in time before the boulder crashed down on the ground, causing the ground to shake violently while sending wild blowing winds in all direction.

“Stop her! Don't let her get–!”

As one of the men started shouting after recovering from the last of the shockwaves, Cantia whacked him squarely in the chest with one of her tails. In an instant, he went flying for several metres through the air before flipping over the ground several times before finally stopping with a heavy crash. She did not wait for the others to react as she bounded away from their home and away from their enemies.

Jagav watched them leave and, with a sinister smile on his face, he asked, “Chase and catch, is it? Okay. I'll play along, and when I win, I'll take my time destroying you all once and for all!”

***

“Dammit!” Silvera shouted and glaring angrily back at their enemies that were chasing after them. “They got us!”

“Yes. They did,” agreed Venezuela with a defeated look on her face,” and to top it off, they've also cast a distinctive spell on us that makes it difficult for us to use the Magic Force.”

“It's not just the Magic Force, Vena,” said Silvera with a look of worry. “I can't even use the Energy Force, or the Weapon Force!”

“I… I failed everyone…!” Sumara said with a depressed look on her face. “All my knowledge… all of my practice… all of my experience… was for nothing!”

“Don't do that to yourself, Suma!” Ondine said in a sharp voice. “None of us could have expected they'd have such a spell in their control and that they were capable of using it so readily.”

“We underestimated our enemies,” said Tetra, sitting down and putting her sword to her side. “We got… overconfident.”

There was a momentary pause on which they digested and accepted her words before someone broke the silence.

“Now what?” Sonia asked curiously while looking at everyone there. “What should we do?”

“I don't know…” replied Sumara helplessly.

“The enemy is strong, and we're… stripped off our powers,” stated Silvera in a defeated voice. “We're… outmatched.”

Priya widened her eyes in shock, and Indira became scared.

“What are we supposed to do now if you give up just like that?” Indira asked apprehensively.

“Not yet,” said Emilia in a comforting voice, and they turned to look at her. She smiled softly at them all and said, “We're not giving up because there's hope.” When they looked confused, her smile widened as she said, “The Nine Pillars Of Power.”

As soon as she said that group name, everyone's eyes lit up in realisation and widened sharply. The rest of them started to wonder why they had not thought of the same thing as her.

“If it's them, they can handle these people,” said Priya, brimming with hope while her twin appeared to be very delighted at the thought.

“Yes! They can really help us!” Venezuela said as she also was filled with hope.

“Aren't we forgetting that they're scattered and hard to get in touch with?” Silvera asked, stating the one drawback to their problem.

There was a momentary pause before Tetra said, “Dominic's the closest to us. He'll help if he knows what's happening; if we can reach out to him–!”

“–he’ll help us out!” Finished Silvera, slowly tilting her head straighter with hope. “What are we waiting for? Let's–!”

Before she could complete her sentence, lightning struck somewhere nearby and caused Cantia to stumble and tumble. Everyone grabbed the nearest baby each and leaped off her back before landing gently on the ground as Cantia crashed a few metres away.

“Damn!” Silvera said, holding Emilia's son in her arms while glaring at the enemies chasing after them. “They won't quit!”

“Not unless they get to us all,” said Venezuela in a quiet voice, a plan forming in her mind which she put forward to others a moment later. “Why don't the rest of us stay and delay them while Cantia takes the babies and the twins over to Dominic's home.”

They turned to look at her in surprise, but they quickly understood that to be the best decision to take. Only Priya and Indira appeared to be not thrilled by this plan, and they made their stances clear.

“I don't like this!” Priya said angrily.

“Why should we go and leave the rest of you behind?” Indira asked with a tearful face.

“It's unfair to leave you behind!”

“We won't abandon you and go!”

The two young girls had gone into an automatic denial by disagreeing to their plan by using their feelings instead of thinking logically.

“Priya! Indira!” Emilia said sharply, causing the both of them to go quiet and stiffen while looking at her in apprehension.

She walked over to them and patted them on their heads before smiling softly at them.

“It's the only way, you two. You two are weak on your own, but as messengers, you'd be able to get to Dom’s house and inform him about our situation while we do our best to hold them back,” she explained coolly.

“But your powers–?” Began Indira nervously.

“Our powers are disrupted but that doesn't mean we're weak!” Emilia replied with a light chuckle. “We're the wives of the Phoenix Titan! I believe we can survive long enough against these people till you bring with you the reinforcements.”

“But–!” Priya began to protest but Emilia held out her hand to stop her.

“No buts, you two! There's no time to waste. The longer we remain here chatting, the less time we have to buy you time. So, please, do as we say this time.”

As both Priya and Indira looked aghast, Ondine walked up to them and said bracingly, “Go! We're counting on you because you're our hope!”

“And don't falter! You can do it!” Venezuela said in a supportive voice.

“Believe in yourself, and you'll do fine!” Tetra advised calmly.

“Now, go! We're counting on you!” They all said together to the twins with determination on their faces.

For a moment, Priya and Indira remained silent as they stared at their Vondinalu in shock. Then, having no other choice to take, they both nodded and walked over to where Cantia was sitting after recovering from the previous crash.

“Get them there as fast as you can Cantia!” Emilia told Cantia, who nodded her head in understanding.

Using her tail, Priya and Indira got on top of her before the women passed their children over to them. The babies were sleeping after becoming exhausted from all the crying from a few minutes ago. This relieved Priya and Indira because they had no clue how to take handle them.

Once they were on, Cantia rose to her feet just as another explosion occurred near them. It caused a wave of debris to buffet against them but Cantia did not budge as she prepared to resume her charge.

“Be careful!” Priya called to her Vondinalu just as Cantia charged forward with immense force and caused all of them to shift their positions.

The women watched the sight of Cantia, in her beast form, sprinting away as fast she possibly could before vanish into the distance.

“Will they be fine?” Sonia asked despite the danger they are in themselves.

“They'll be fine. They're the sisters of the Phoenix Titan after all!” Silvera said boldly.

“I… think that would've caused more pressure than good,” admitted Ondine with a wry smile.

“Come on, girls. Let's focus on the problem behind us,” said Emilia, gesturing at the enemies charging towards them.

Smiling contentedly, they turned to each other and nodded unanimously on what to do. And so, they turned and faced in the direction of the oncoming enemies with smiles on their faces, ready to do whatever they can to stall them while the twins race ahead and get help.