DARK MANSION

At the entrance of the mountain.

"Have you guys packed all of your significant possessions?" Megara inquired once she reached the entrance of the sect. "Yes." All four of her students said in unison. She nodded and grabbed her horse reins, mounting her horse with her disciples. 

All of them were wearing clothes that common people usually wear since they did not want to uncover their originality. Megara's horse was in between them as she carefully eyed each of her disciples.

Her eyes paused on Helice who was looking pale. Her lips were blue and her hands were tightly holding onto her horse reins. She seems to be pondering something very seriously.

"No need to be nervous, Helice." 

Helice snapped out of her thoughts once she heard Megara's voice. She looked up at her master in a trance, her eyes unfocused for a second. "I know but this mission truly depends on my portal magic. What if I ceased to function?" She asked, her tone slightly hoarse.

"It's alright. As long as I'm here...you don't need to be nervous. This mission depends on your portal magic..that's right. Show us how much you have improved." Megara said and tightened her hands on the reins.

All four of them nodded with a smile before following their master who was already out of the entrance gate, galloping on her house, leaving behind traces of dust.

The Linya clan was not that far from the Liberation Front sect, it would take at least half of the day to reach there, and it would have taken less time if they rode on their swords but since they were out as commoners, they must behave as one too. They were avoiding using Helice's portal magic. If the destination is too far it will take a lot of her strength and they can't risk it for the next time.

All four of them had their responsibility plastered in their senses, they were nervous for the very first time until Ida spoke up to lighten the mood. They had slowed the paces of their horses as they were riding in an extra bushy forest.

"This Man...Evandros Linya. Why exactly is he doing this?" Ida asked with a frown on her beautiful features, lines of confusion forming between the gap of her eyebrows. "One does not need any reason to do evil," Darcy said as he was riding his horse right behind Megara who was silent. She never spoke with her students, unless they were false about something or were disputing.

"Maybe something personal," Syloson said and Ida grunted. "Personal? Is he killing people so brutally due to a personal grudge? What a hideous man, seriously...he is so evil. The Linya Clan was so good in the past. He destroyed the legacy. Maybe his father married a wrong wo-"  

"We never know what the other is thinking. His actions are not to be justified and need to be stopped but condemning someone who gave birth to him does not always have to be accused of wrong upbringing." Megara said, without looking back at her students. Her voice is stern and clear. 

"Master...Can I ask you something?" Helice asked, she was a little reluctant. "Go on," Megara said. All the other three kept glancing at Megara's back and Helice's face. "I've heard that you know Evandros Linya before he went evil," Helice said she gulped but she had no saliva. Her mouth was dry like a desert.

All the other three stared at Megara's back in shock.

"What? Really?" Ida asked, her voice slightly high as if she was out of breath. Megara was silent for a long time before finally answering her inquisitive disciple.

"Back then when we went to the 'Cross squad' sect. I've seen him there but I don't know him." Megara said. "Oh, the cross squad sect belongs to the bloodline of Linya, right?" Ida asked. "Yes," Darcy answered.

"So Master, how was he like...back then? Was he ugly? Was he arrogant and evil?" Ida asked, slightly intrigued. Syloson slightly nudged her arm, telling her to shut up because she was asking too much.

"I don't know. I never carefully looked at him. He was always alone...we barely ever saw him." Megara said and fastened her speed, making the others slightly panic as they quickly followed her behind.

"We don't have much time, let's move on faster," Megara said. Others were normal but Helice was slightly confused about something. Megara never noticed him but she did know he was always alone. She quickly shook her head, thinking she was pondering something very useless.

******** 

"It's so scary."

Ida quickly hid behind Darcy and stood up on her tiptoe to peek at the Dark mansion before her. They had to pass through the whole market in the clan which looked pretty much dead. Very few people were out as it was pretty late at night. 

They were standing outside the dark mansion, in the huge bushes and trees. A large wall was covering around the mansion with a huge ground in front of the mansion within the walks. Since the place they were standing on was like a mountain they can pretty much see the guards roaming in the ground. A heavy force was encircling the mansion gate and there was a barrier outside the huge walls to prevent any intruder from penetrating.

This mission was eligible for Megara's team even if they were sent here unwillingly. With Helice's portal magic it shouldn't be that hard to get into the mansion and with Megara's pausing power, things can be settled pretty fast. In case something goes wrong, they will quickly depart with the portal magic.

"I hope Helice will be able to do it," Ida said and looked at Megara's back. Megara was slightly bending down and was holding onto the tree. Her sharp eyes examined the area. The three disciples behind her were very much nervous but unlike them she was calm. If she wouldn't calm down, these three behind her might lose it.

Helice was inside the manor, trying to discover the area where the stones were kept. Megara kept eyeing the mansion. She felt bitter, very bitter. "Once she gets back, the next thing is up to me. If I take too long to get back or something goes wrong, immediately run away, did you get me?" Megara asked and all of them nodded.

Unfortunately, Helice was taking a lot of time, making the others anxious.

"Ah...she is here."

Ida said and all the others snapped their heads to the left side, a sigh of relief left Megara's lips when she saw Helice walking out of the portal. The portal closed behind her and she slowly walked up to them. She looked very pale. Megara grabbed her cold hand and made her lean against the tree as Darcy immediately made her drink a few mouthfuls of water. She looked weary and out of strength. 

She took a deep breath and looked up at Megara, grabbing both of her hands. "That man is very wicked. He didn't keep all five stones in one place. All five stones are placed in five secret rooms in the mansion." Megara and all of them shared a nervous glance. 

It was obvious, Helice cannot help Megara reach all of those places as she was already out of strength. "The rooms are heavily guarded too...with certain barriers. I'm afraid once the barrier is broken, the caster might know about it immediately." Helice said and Megara stared at her sternly. She did not give any reaction.

"That means we can only take one stone," Syloson said and Megara nodded. "There is no commoner in the mansion but there is some maid dressed in maid robes. I can draw you a map and open a portal only once so that you can enter the mansion." Helice said and lowered her gaze. 

"I'm sorry-"

"No....you did great," Megara said while patting Helice's shoulder. It was very rare to get a compliment from Megara, Helice bloomed after listening to her words. "Master."

Helice quickly drew a rough map on a white paper for Megara and opened a portal for her which was hardly steady. Megara walked up to the portal and looked behind at her students.

"Do not risk your life for me, quickly run away if something goes wrong, it's an order," Megara said and all of them agreed in unison. All of their eyes were shining as if they were about to cry but they had their shoulders straight and featured sternly, their master was Megara Daybrace.

Megara nodded and quickly walked inside the portal, as soon as she walked in Helice almost stumbled back but Darcy held onto her and helped her sit against the tree. All of them looked at the mansion with anxiety.

********

Megara was now inside the dark manor.

The passageway looked lifeless and dead, there were many paths. Yellow lanterns were dangling everywhere, enlightening the dark alleys. Since commoners weren't allowed here, she looked around to catch a maid. 

She raised her eyes once she heard some footsteps walking towards her, she quickly hid behind one of the walls and averted her gaze to the right side, she saw two guards walking in the corridor opposite to her. If they turn around they can see her and she wasn't planning to use her magic at this early phase.

Fortunately, the guards walked away without looking back. She was about to walk out of her hiding spot when all of a sudden she saw a maid from the corner of her eye. Her steps were fast and for some reason, her delicate features were having a sigh of nervousness on them. She looked blue and white like paper. 

Without thinking much Megara raised her hands and quickly started to mutter something. The girl on the other hand was scared out of her wits for some reason, her body was trembling. As she was busy pondering something when suddenly she saw something silver flashing from the side of her eye. 

Before she could even turn around to look at what it was, a cold and steel-like thing wrapped around her waist, arms, and legs. She was about to scream when something hard, cold, and steel-like wrapped around her mouth hushed her screams, and the next thing she knew she was getting dragged somewhere by the chains. Her mind only screamed one thing: 'intruder'. 

All of a sudden the chain stopped dragging her and she finally opened her watery eyes only to find a beautiful woman standing in front of her. Her expressions were stern but her eyes were warm as if telling her she was sorry and the next thing she met was pitch black twilight.

Megara quickly settled her maid robe and looked down at the fainted woman who was now wearing her commoner clothes. She was wrapped up in chains and Megara didn't plan to remove them. The chain technique was normal and was used by many great masters. It shouldn't raise doubt.

She cleared her throat and walked out of the corridor, hoping that the maids wouldn't recognize each other's faces. Her steps were fast as she was already close to one of the rooms. Helice tried her best to transmit her as near as she could to one of the rooms.

As she was walking towards her almost near destination a voice came from behind her, almost startling her but she kept her posture straight and her expression stern. She tried to soften her expression but it was almost impossible.

She slowly turned around and saw a maid standing in front of her, not so far away, with a round steel tray in her hands. "I called you, take this to master Evan-----wait who are y- ----."

Before she could complete her sentence, Megara was already behind her. She roughly put her hand on the maid's mouth and grabbed the tray from her hands which were about to fall and make a huge sound. The maid tried to hit her elbow in Megara's stomach but she was already wrapped in the chains. Megara pulled her hand away from her mouth and harshly hit her on the neck. She didn't use her pausing magic as it was useless to use on this weak maid.

She took a deep breath when the girl fell unconsciously in her arms, but her breath got stuck midway when she heard footsteps coming her way. She cursed under her breath and booted the woman inside the other corridor, making a loud thud noise.

She quickly stood up straight and saw a guard dressed in the uniform. The guard paused on his steps once he saw her. They both kept staring at each other. The guard looked down at the tray in her hands and then back at her face. She was about to attack him too thinking these people know each other's faces too well but what he said next caught her off guard.

"Are you scared to go inside?" The guard asked and she mentally frowned. The guard was looking behind her so she followed his gaze and was stunned to see a long black gate right behind her.

"You need to take this tray inside master Evandros room even if you don't want to." The guard said and she nodded. She turned around with an 'Oh' and without thinking much she knocked on the door. The maid she knocked before was called by the maid she knocked the second time. So that maid was scared to death because she had to take this tray inside. Even this guard is comforting the maid so she can go inside.

Evandros Linya is truly evil.

Her pupils slightly dilated when she heard a hoarse voice coming from inside ordering her to come in rather harshly.

She forgot for a second.

It was Evandros Linya's room.