Magus Shena quickly became anxious after she heard the news of the strict lockdown that was going to be implemented in Zodiac City. "Let's go back to Zodiac City right away!" To be honest, Emery had planned to go straight to Terra Palace and reunite with his friends. However, he decided to tag along with the magus, as he was also concerned and wanted to know the situation. The question he had now was how they would get there, since it was confirmed the access of the teleportation gate to Zodiac City had been forbidden to use. This ban also made dozens of Zodiac City residents who came to Magus Academy to watch the tournament unable to return. "Unfortunately we didn't bring a ship today," said one of the magus guards, when Emery's gaze landed on him. Emery was about to rethink his decision when Magus Shena said. "There is another way!" She said, quickly beckoning for the others to follow. "Come quick, follow me." The half blood magus guards and Emery quickly took off after the female magus. Surprisingly, she led the group back to the Grand Hall, it didn't take long for Emery to realize her plan, seeing their destination. They arrived at the medical center and Magus Shena brought them to meet the other half-blood group currently in the Magus Academy. Zach Talon and his entourage, who were led by his master, Grand Magus Lilith. Even though their arrival wasn't welcomed, they weren't rejected either. After paying respects to the grand magus, Magus Shena explained about their circumstances and requested their help to return to Zodiac City. "Hah! Humans with small brains and little balls!" Grand Magus Lilith sneered when she heard about the situation outside. She then turned to Magus Shena, "Yeah, sure. All of you can tag along on my ship." They didn't immediately depart as the group waited a while until Zach finally came out of his medical tube, this time in much better state bereft of wounds. At that moment, as he stepped out, Zach's eyes crossed with Emery's for a moment, unspoken words were exchanged as their gazes met, before he turned his head to his master and informed her his condition. "Alright, now that we're done here, there's no time to waste. Let's go!" The two groups made their way towards the Magus Academy hangar. Emery walked past several spaceships at the dock, before they stopped at one that bore the design of Zodiac City. Without further ado, they boarded the ship and took off, leaving the Magus Academy. As the spaceship crossed the boundless universe, Emery noticed that Zach was completely silent. It looked like he was still recuperating from his previous fights. On the other hand, his master Grand Magus Lilith continued to rage about the situation, complaining about everything that had happened. From how unfavorable the match turned out to be for the half-bloods, the reveal that a magus referee conspired with the hidden culprits and the decision to put the entirety of Zodiac City in a lockdown. She believes all of this was part of a grand scheme concocted to isolate and harm the half-bloods as a whole. "And now they also dare to separate our king from us! I am telling you, it's not the Golden City, it's us who are the real target." She bellowed, her face flushed as palpable rage radiated from her. "Zodiac city has never been this vulnerable!" Shortly thereafter, the spaceship finally reached the outskirts of the planet where the half-blood city was located. However, the scene in front of them once again sent the grand magus into a fit of rage. Three of the Magus Alliance's cruisers were seen orbiting around the planet and, as soon as their ship drew near, they immediately received a message from one of the cruisers. [This is Magus Alliance Cruiser 297 - designation Avalanche. Your destination is on lockdown under the authority of the Magus Alliance. you are advised to turn back right now or prepared to be inspected] Receiving the message, the pilot quickly responded and announced their identity to the other party. "This is Gemini 02, of Zodiac city. We are heading back home from our trip to the Magus Academy." After the reply was given, there was silence for a minute before the response from the other side arrived. [Gemini 02, you are required to disembark for inspection in order to obtain entry permit.] Needless to say, Grand Magus Lilith fell into rage once again when she became the recipient of such troublesome treatment by the Alliance. Emery could clearly see the grand magus clenching her fists in anger. "Those damn humans! They already think of us as criminals!" Knowing things would not end well if nothing was done, Magus Shena quickly tried her best to calm the female magus down. She then shared her concern that the inspection would take too much time. She also worried that once they entered, it might not be easy to get out again. "It might not be the case since we have two finalists with us. But unless there aren't any urgent matters, I suggest we go elsewhere until the tournament is over." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢 The annoyed Grand Magus Lilith gazed at Zach and told him to head to Hyperion planet, training there instead of at Zodiac City as planned. Then afterward, she made her way to the ship's entrance. "I'm heading down. Let's see who dares to stop me!" Before anyone could say or do anything, the grand magus came out of the ship and casually flew past the three cruisers, heading to the planet's atmosphere directly. Everyone watched with bated breath at such a ludicrous sight. None of the Magus Alliance cruisers moved to stop her. They probably recognized the Dark Salamander and didn't dare to provoke her. Meanwhile, now that the grand magus had left the ship, Magus Shena automatically became the one in charge. Seeing everyone's attention on her, she cleared her throat before saying. "Our priority is to prepare for tomorrow's match. Therefore, we need to find a safe place to train." Although the grand magus instructed Zach to go to train at Hyperion planet, in order to save time, Magus Shena suggested they go to planet Terra which is closer. Then Zach could use the teleportation gate there to head straight to Hyperion. The Dragon Prince nodded his head without saying anything. He then closed his eyes and returned to his recuperation process again. "Alright we are heading to Terra city now!" Throughout the approximately one hour journey, Emery took the time to continue his training. To be exact, he was busy refining the mist that was formed by the spirit energy he had devoured from the Monk. [Spirit Absorption] Even though his gain this time was not nearly as much as the one he obtained from the elf magus, Emery was still pleasantly surprised as the energy he refined was unexpectedly high quality. The only source of light element he devoured so far was from monsters, hence Mahinder's energy couldn't help but feel foreign to him. It felt very different to the one he received from the light origin stone at the Light Institute or divine artifacts he had refined. Yet, there was also a certain familiarity he felt within the energy, which he unfortunately couldn't get his mind into. Either way, Emery managed to get a few points increase in his spirit power, even if it was only from the one hour session. [Spirit force increased] [Spirit force - 1810 (1812)] Emery sighed when he saw his current rate of improvement. It was apparent the difficulty to increase the last 200 spirit forces for him to reach the bottleneck to the magus realm had risen drastically. He did not dwell on this matter for long, because Magus Shena informed them they had arrived at the planet where the Terra City was located. To their surprise, however, hovering above the planet was one pitch-black Magus Alliance battle cruiser. "What are they doing guarding this planet as well?!" Magus Shena spoke such words with disbelief. She couldn't believe the Magus Alliance would treat such a minor city the same as Zodiac City. Several thoughts quickly troubled their minds seeing the Magus Alliance ship. After all, the latter's presence would most likely spell bad news considering the current situation. But then, as they drew closer, Emery quickly found the cruiser familiar. One of the magus opened their mouth, "That is no normal battle cruiser. They are one of the few battleborn legion." Hearing the word Battleborn, a smile quickly crept into Emery's face, as he realized the reason for his familiarity. After all, he boarded this ship before and personally knew the commander of the battleship. This ship was the one commanded by his dear Lord Izta, the Gilgamesh. ---------------------------------- Written by Avans, Published exclusively by W.e.b.n.o.v.e.l, Join the discussion on discord through my website www.avans.xyz