Mia arrived back to the village on the hill. She had not stopped running. What will she say to the others? Leo was risking his life while in the city and so was Xander. She has failed them as usual.

Mia went to the hospital. There Ike and Bartel were there. Emilia was also there.

Emilia stood up when they saw Mia entering. Both Ike and Bartel were on the bed. When they saw Mia they leaned their backs against the steel frames of the bed.

Emilia looked behind Mia. "Where is everyone?"

Mia did not look her in the eye. How could she?

"I'm sorry, but I failed."

All of them looked at each other confused. How could she fail? She went to ask help of her own father and above that; they were all from that town. So how could she have failed?

Ike got up from the bed. His injuries have healed by a lot compared to last time. "Tell us what happened Mia."

"I--" What could she say?

Bartel spoke. "What will we do now Ike? Evrat and the others are still inside and, so is Leo, and Artos."

Ike knew something was wrong. He did not want to press the matter any further. This option had failed, but they can do it on their own. "We have no other option. We have to go in ourselves."

Emilia turned her attention to Ike. "But, how? There are only four of us."

"Six actually. Tonight Leo and Artos will return. They would have gathered the information we need. Then we can plan our attack. I hope everyone in the city is okay."

Ike turned his attention to Mia. "Now is not the time to be sad. We need to go near the city tonight and meet up with Leo and Artos. Got it?"

Mia did not speak, but she nodded.

---

How long has it been? Xander did not know.

Dry blood filled the floor. Fingernails scattered across the room. His eyes were open, but they looked dead.

He was alive but dead. Every day the man would come and torture him. Not once or twice, but eight times a day. Every three hours.

After every session, a bucket of water would be poured over him. Which turned the pain into needles stabbing his body.

He did not know where Ivetta and the other person was. He could not care. Not for them or his life.

The greatest swordsman and the strongest earth elemental user? Dead.

---

Leo found himself on room number 16. There were four people in it including him. One on the main desk in the center. The other two were like him.

He had failed to get any leads from Aldous as he was going out of the building and not inside it. Also, Aldous was surrounded by too many people so Leo was forced to abandon him and wait for another opportunity.

He followed the orders given by the man on the main desk. The man did not ask Leo anything when he arrived. Leo believed that was because the man thought of him as a new recruit.

It was now that two people walked in. The man on the front jumped up from his chair. He laughed as he went towards the two newcomers.

Looks like they are good friends.

They talked about various things. The man forgot about the job he had to do. Their conversation was boring until...

One of the two newcomers said. "Have you heard? People are saying a person wearing clothes of the savages have entered."

The man who sat on the main desk screamed. "What, Really?"

So they know I'm here. But, how? And is savage the name they gave to people who can use magic? Also, why did they mention only one person? If anyone had seen him entering that night they would have shouted or attacked him, but no one did. Could it be Artos is working for the city?

If so, he was in grave danger. Now there were three people who had seen him. Also, Artos could have described his face to others which meant more chances of him being caught.

So I will have to kill him.

If that was the case then the others would also be in danger. Should he warm them? No, that would do no good. They would come into the city, anyway. Many of them were trapped inside, so this would not stop them.

He had to hurry.

Leo's eyes were lingering in the doorway. That was when he saw Aldous once more. This time, Aldous was walking towards the inside of the building.

The three men were busy talking and the other workers did not look at him. This was his chance. Leo took a stack of documents and made his way out of the room. He then kept a distance between him and Aldous as he followed.

Aldous walked for a really long time. The longer he walked the fewer people that appeared. This was getting dangerous as there were no Puns in this place. He could get spotted easily. Leo dropped the stack of the document inside a garbage bin and walked at a slower pace.

Aldous reached the end of the corridor. He then walked towards an open space towards the right. Leo followed.

The staircase went down the building. The torches were scarce, but there were guards. Four.

Leo saw this because Aldous opened a door which the staircase leads to. He caught a glimpse of that sight when the door opened.

He moved closer and waited until the door inside the room closed.

Now there were only four guards past this door. Leo summoned Tenebris. He also summoned the clone and gave it its dagger. He had to be quick.

Leo opened the door. One guard came close and peaked.

Leo charged. Leo used his right hand to push Tenebris through the man's face. Blood gushed out. He then used his left hand to close the door while the clone moved in.

The clone attacked one on the left with the dagger while Leo took the remaining two on the right.

He activated Frenzy. Leo drove Tenebris through one guard's stomach. That guard had charged at him. The guard now had a hole in his body. Leo threw the dagger to the other guard. The dagger went through his neck. That guard's eyes were open wide.

As Leo finished, the clone drove the dagger through the last guard's heart. His eyes were filled with horror and doubt.

It happened so fast that none of them had the chance to scream.