The young girl collapsed, revealing herself to be a Beastkin. Her golden eyes flared with a sharp, guarded look, her pink hair framed by a pair of leopard ears. From behind, a group of burly, towering men closed in on her. Though Pip and Kael had no idea what was happening, they instinctively braced themselves to protect her—the pursuers looked suspicious as hell.
A fierce battle erupted between the two sides. Dust and smoke billowed into the air as the ground shattered into fragments. When the haze finally cleared, the hulking men lay defeated, sprawled across the freezing concrete floor. Pip and Kael looked down at them, a victorious smirk playing on their lips. But just as the two were basking in their sheer, monstrous strength, the girl rushed over and grabbed them both by the hands. Before they could react, she yanked them forward, dragging them into a sprint.
'Close your eyes!' she barked.
'For what?!' Kael yelled, completely bewildered.
'Just do what I say and count to three!!!' she snapped, losing her patience.
With no other choice, Pip and Kael shut their eyes tight, desperately counting 'one, two, three' under their breath, as if praying to the gods to pull them out of this mess. Suddenly, a violent current of electricity began to pool beneath the girl's feet, its energy surging to a terrifying peak.
She let out an ecstatic cry, 'HERE WE GOOO!'
'GO WHERE?!' Pip and Kael screamed in unison, sheer terror in their voices.
*CRACK!* The ground beneath them split open, shattering into countless shards. With a sharp *whoosh*, they vanished in a blink of an eye. Locus was left standing frozen at the scene, his mind flooded with a massive question mark.
A moment later, the trio materialized in a nearby forest. The moment they stopped, Pip and Kael let go of the girl, their faces utterly pale. Pip looked completely dazed, his brain struggling to process the sudden information overload, while Kael... well, his expression spoke volumes.
Regaining his senses, Pip looked around and asked, 'Where the hell are we? How did we end up here?'
'Hehe, you've got me to thank for that!' the girl replied mischievously.
'WHO ASKED YOU TO?! WE WERE DOING JUST FINE!' Pip bellowed in sheer exasperation.
The girl then led Pip into a nearby cave. Over her shoulder, she carried Kael, who was currently unconscious, his eyes rolled back, drained of all life. Once they reached the inner cave, Kael received a sharp slap to the face from the girl, jolting him awake.
Pip fixed his gaze on her and questioned, 'Who were those men chasing you?'
'You'll find out in a bit!' she answered with a cryptic smile.
*BARF!* (Kael violently threw up the food he had just eaten at the diner).
Moments later, a tall, white-haired man approached their hiding spot. Pip and Kael immediately raised their guard, but the man calmly walked forward. His piercing gaze swept over the two before he spoke in the human tongue. Realizing Pip couldn't understand him, he stepped closer and attached a strange device to both Pip and Kael's ears. He spoke once more.
This time, Pip understood perfectly. Yet, a question lingered in his mind—how had he and the girl understood each other earlier despite being from entirely different races?
The girl chimed in to explain, 'Because I'm a Beastkin. A Beastkin is born only once every few centuries, making us incredibly rare. That's why, from a young age, we are blessed with the innate ability to understand the language of all other races instantly!'
Pip was stunned; aside from Kael and Locus, this was the first time an outsider could actually understand his words.
At that moment, the white-haired man cleared his throat and introduced himself formally, 'Ahem. Greetings. I am Yban, one of the Twelve Divine Messengers, ranked ninth. As for the girl next to you, her name is Lilit. She is also one of the Twelve Divine Messengers, but she holds a higher rank than me—Rank Seven.'
'WHAT?! Y-You two are among the Twelve Divine Messengers?!' Kael gasped in disbelief.
'Haha, learning the name of a Divine Messenger is no easy feat,' Yban replied with a gentle smile.
With stars in his eyes, Kael eagerly shook their hands as if meeting his idols. It was then that Yban revealed the truth behind the men chasing Lilit.
'You two were the ones who took down those hulking men, correct?'
'Yeah, we did. Were they bad guys or something?' Pip asked cautiously.
'Ah, don't worry about it. They were actually Lilit's bodyguards. Divine Messengers are only permitted to leave the Sanctuary with explicit orders or permission. Lilit sneaked out without permission just to run away.'
Hearing the reason, Pip and Kael turned to stare at Lilit, their faces hardening like stone, realizing they had been utterly played.
Lilit cleared her throat, trying to salvage the awkward situation, 'Ahem, w-well, I just wanted to have a little fun, you know? Is that so wrong...?'
'Yes, it is, Lady Lilit,' Yban countered flatly.
'But I don't want to go back!!!' Lilit protested stubbornly.
'If you refuse to listen, we will be forced to use coercive measures,' Yban warned.
'Hmph! Bring it on then!' Lilit snapped haughtily.
With that, Lilit activated her ability, rushing toward Yban at a blinding speed, grabbing his arm, and dragging him out toward a wider, open area. Upon reaching the clearing, she abruptly let go. Carried by the sheer momentum of her high-speed sprint, Yban was hurled straight into a nearby grove, crashing through the trees.
Lilit smirked confidently, 'How's THAT?!'
Yban stood up from the pile of shattered wood. His face contorted with rising anger, he growled, 'If you won't come willingly, then I'll just have to drag you back!'
In a flash, Yban lunged forward, unleashing a powerful shockwave that blew Lilit backward. Lilit dug her feet into the ground just in time to arrest her momentum. Activating the energy beneath her feet, she rocketed straight back at Yban. She delivered a full-force kick, which Yban barely managed to intercept with a compressed air shield.
Slowly, Lilit pushed her energy output to its absolute limit. A colossal torrent of electricity erupted from her legs, bright enough to illuminate the entire world. The massive electrical discharge struck Yban dead-on, leaving him reeling as the intense current coursed through his body.
Deciding to end this fight right here and now, Yban gathered all the air in the vicinity, compressing it into a dense, volatile orb before flying straight at Lilit. Lilit stood her ground, ready to clash with a massive sphere of lightning crackling in her hand. The imminent collision of their ultimate techniques threatened to reduce the entire city to ashes.
Suddenly, Pip intervened. Deploying his twin cubes, he used one to absorb Yban's compressed air and the other to swallow Lilit's lightning. The two conflicting torrents of energy churned violently inside the artifacts. Pip grimaced, caught off guard by the sheer, overwhelming power. A moment later, the devastating energies of both Messengers were completely sealed within the two distinct spheres.
While the two stood frozen in utter bewilderment, Pip whispered his ultimate technique:
'Angel's Cage... ACTIVATED...'