Standard Mission: Tainted Oasis of Rostol

Oasis – At Scientist Lab
- Vayu -

Nodding his agreement, Vayu followed the others into the lab. He looked around, eyeing the vials and their reactions curiously. Seeing the confused reaction of the scientist made him feel a little lost. Bastion would probably know what these and some of the crazy contraptions were.

But the scientist was right, he was fascinated and looked at the picture of the water elemental in the book. Still, he forced himself to stay focused.

“You’re right, we’re relatively new Vanguards,” Vayu confirmed. “My name is Vayu and these are Zephyr and Scarlet.” There was a pause as Vayu waited for the scientist to give his name before he continued with his questions.

“We were sent here to investigate the mysterious kidnappings,” Vayu explained. “We were told that the lake, the island and the shrine on it played a crucial role and that there have been no demon attacks on this village. You seem to be researching the lake, so we were wondering what you could tell us about it? Are the rest of the villagers aware of the existence of these elementals?”

The Scientist's Lab

A smug smile appeared on the scientists face and when Vayu confirmed his suspicions, as he cockily rose his head higher his loose glasses sliding back onto his face as he adjusted them quickly with an ahem noise.  

He didn't respond to Vayu's introduction right away simply placing his hand under his chin and nodding as Vayu went through his spiel.  Though, his cocky demenor seemed to fade into a look of genuine concern at the mention of heinous kidnappings!

"Ludo is my name, it's a pleasure to meet you three." Ludo's face flushed a bit a red, as he sat down in a chair behind him letting out a heavy sigh.  The quirky exterior he joyously displayed seems to have faded into a look of exhaustion.

"So, they wanted to talk to me so little they sent other Chaldeans instead?  I can't say I knew about the kidnappings, the villagers ignore me, so my social interaction is scarce."  Ludo stated, as continued to say now in a more serious tone, "Honestly, I don't know... water elementals tend to blend into the lake.  However, I would think one of the fishermen would of noticed by now since they're always staring into the lake...."

Ludo began flipping through the pages on the book again, as it now displayed his research notes of the lake.  Detailing his studies throughout the months he's been there.

"My main study has been focused on that maga surrounding the city, I'm sure you felt it... especially your demons?  I've located its source to the depths of the lake, however I'm not sure what that source is."  Ludo uttered out of frustration angrily smacked one of the elemental jars out of sudden impulse as the water spiked up again, "These damned things are docile mostly, but for some reason they become hostile on sight when you go deep enough.... and when one gets pissed enough...."

Suddenly all the jars holding water elementals began shaking, as they all began to erupt into spikes.  They almost seemed to share a hive mind, as they all reacted almost instantaneously in response to the force applied to the jar that was hit.

"It's been hindering my studies.... A lot"

Zephyr Arc

"Yea, we were told there's never been any demon attacks, sounds like that's untrue." Zephyr observed from the old man's rant. "About that Maga though. Our demons experienced an odd event on our way in. The ones we had materialized..." He trailed off, plucking Cherry out of his hair. "Like this one here momentarily got banished back to our gauntlets before promptly returning to where they had been. Our mission here's probably going to end up solving your little problem as well in my experience, but we really need all the information we can get." He explained.

Cherry squirmed around in his hold for a bit before huffing and crossing her hands. She didn't interact with humans other than Zephyr, so being put up on display was quite uncomfortable.

Scarlet

Scarlet was silent for a moment while she digested the new information.

"So it looks like there's been a misunderstanding between us and the villagers," she mused, before continuing. "... Unless they lied to us? But why would they do that?" The idea that the villagers were hiding something from them unsettled her.

"In any case, it looks like there's something going on with the lake and the island. You mentioned your research involved the lake, but what about the island itself, have you had any trouble getting to it? We were told that outsiders generally weren't allowed to go there."

Oasis – At Scientist Lab
- Vayu -

“That’s alright. We’ll find out,” Vayu said and explained that they planned to visit the docks to talk to the fishermen. The image of the fisherman with the giant harpoon sprang to mind. The only one who hadn’t averted his gaze.

Vayu shied back when Ludo displayed his research notes. Please, don’t make us read through that, he prayed in his head. Why wasn’t Bastion here? He loved this kind of stuff.

However, he perked up when Ludo mentioned the maga that surrounded the city. “Yeah, they noticed,” he simply confirmed Zephyr’s explanation of their disappearing demons. “Is that maga also the reason why no other demons from outside attack the city?”

Fascinated he watched the simultaneous reaction of the water elementals when Ludo smacked one of the jars while Scarlet asked about the island in the lake.

The Scientist's Lab

Ludo seemed to start calming down, as his tone grew more focused and observant by the second.  The initial rush of having guests were fading.  

"Your demons were probably being tested."  The man stated to Zeyphr, as he slowly walked over to cherry giving a good look at her figure way too close as he circled around her, making her nervous demeanor even worse.

"That's pretty natural, the connection between the summoner and gauntlet was probably disrupted by the barrier.  So it basically forced them back in..."  The man stated, as he flicked his own gauntlet with his fingers a few times letting out a loud 'ping' noise, as he continued to ramble, "However, if that fairy of yours was deemed hostile by this 'maga'.... well, it would of been stuck in your gauntlet as long as your were in here."

The man pondered for a few moments, as it appeared he was thinking about the 'all the information we can get phrase of the question'.  He began picking up jars of the elementals and mixing them together like an alchemist before turning to Scarlet.

"I can't say girl, however that island doesn't have any maga as far as I'm aware.  Only way I think you'll get more information is by visiting it or asking the seer." The man called out now yelling a bit as he was talking over all the work with the vials he was doing, various elementals making weird noises when they collided into each other.

The man slowly turned to Vayu as he handed a vial of the mixed water elementals to him that seemed to convulse in various directions.  He seemed to stare in the vanguards eyes for a few moments, nodding at the things he was saying.

"Yes, anything with 'hostile intent' from what I can tell, and those who develop hostile intent while in the town complain about a splitting headache...."  The man stated pointing to a herb that was said to solve headaches in the corner as a joking grin slid across his face, "I can't tell if I'm just having eye strain from researching all day or the barrier finally decided to get rid of me!"

"But yes, do take that elemental with you.  It's not stable enough to form a full fledged elemental yet, but it will react if another one is near.... just in case you go exploring!" The man stated, as the water elemental continued to shake in the jar..

"It's still shaking..." The scientist said puzzled, "they usually settle down by now."

The sound of rain beginning to pour outside the lab could be heard, and if the vanguards turned their head they could see heavy raindrops falling outside, but only around the lab itself along with a the low rumble of thunder beginning to roar.

Oasis – At Scientist Lab
- Vayu -

Vayu swallowed when he heard Ludo’s explanation. It seemed they had been pretty careless, entering the oasis just like that. He hoped that he would be able to summon his own demons when he needed them.

Also, the news about the hostile intent and the headaches didn’t bode well. Here was to hoping that they didn’t end up on the naughty list of whatever was controlling the maga in the lake.

Vayu carefully took the vial with the mixed water elementals, eyeing it skeptically. Somehow, they didn’t settle down.

When the rain suddenly began pouring down, Vayu whirled around and stepped towards the window.

“It’s only raining on the lab?” he asked. He could still feel the vial shaking in his hand.

“Thank you, Ludo. This was very helpful. I think if there’s nothing else you can tell us now, we should probably head back?” he suggested, talking more to Zephyr and Scarlet.

Zephyr Arc - Lab

The weird old scientist, Ludo, patiently explained the phenomenon they'd experienced when they'd entered the village. Zephyr noted that there was apparently a barried around the village, most likely set up by whatever was in the lake. Ludo then suggested seeing the seer for more information on the island... or just trying to check it out themselves.

He then proceeded to hand Vayu a jar of elemental and explain that whatever was in the lake apparently had the power to cause headaches in people that it decided were hostile... before revealing himself to be one of those people. Zephyr made some conjectures in his head but kept them to himself.

Suddenly, rain began pouring outside, followed quckly by the sound of thunder. A quick startled look outside revealed the rain only fell around the lab... "Well, Ludo. Looks like you did finally manage to piss off whatever it is..." Zephyr commented. He was fairly sure at this point that he didn't wanna fight whatever this thing was. Anything that could change the weather at the drop of a hat likely wasnt something any of them could currently stand a chance against.

Scarlet

Scarlet frowned at the revelation of some kind of defence around the oasis. They certainly hadn't been told about that...

"I wonder if this protection was put in place by the townsfolk or if it was here before Rostol was settled... if the former, then why would we not have been told?"

The trapped elemental demons reacted to the sudden downpour outside. Following the gazes of her companions, Scarlet's eyes widened at the sight of the rainfall apparently being localised to the lab. That wasn't natural...

"Um, excuse me Ludo? How often does it rain here?" Beside her, Neko tensed slightly.

Scientist's Lab

"That's strange, I suppose I could of angered the elementals, but my lab is on the outskirts near the desert they shouldn't have so much authority here.  It sometimes rains near the oasis but not here." Ludo muttered in a fit of frustration, as he began looking up at the ceiling and pacing around the room in what looked like a fit of paranoia if it wasn't for the strange circumstances.

A few seconds pasted and the rain seemed to become louder and louder, the town in the distant seemed to become blanketed in dark clouds in fog.

"Something smells rotten....  It's almost like a angel in a way" Dantes suddenly whispered in Scarlet's mind.  Scarlet felt a force coming from her gauntlet pulling her down like a spirit grabbed her arms and was trying to yank her into the floor, as a similar chill hit Cherry as she she would somewhat of a creeping feeling in the back of her spine.

Vayu who had approached the window saw a figure of a girl carefully creeping outside in the rain.  However, she seemed off, some bizarre mixture between a fairy, stereotypical demon, and human, holding what appeared to be a blue claw made out of the core of an elemental.  When the girl noticed Vayu had spotted her eyes changed from caution to disdain, as she shoved her hand through the window like it was water and dropped the claw inside the house.

Spoiler:

"Mindless vanguards, you're just as guilty."  The girl muttered, as she pulled her hand back through the window and began running away from the house towards the village was. Though, at the same time water seemed to be seeping into the house with ease, as it slowly drifting towards the claw like gem lying on the ground.

Zephyr Arc - Lab

As the rain got louder and fog spread out, they spotted a strange girl that seemed almost... otherworldly. If the white-knuckle grip Cherry had on his shoulder was any indication, it seemed she agreed. Scarlet looked like she staggered, and Ludo began pacing like a madman.

Zephyr himself joined Vayu in staring at the oddly eery presence, almost intranced, but standing at ready in case it was hostile. When it noticed their gazes, it swapped quickly from caution to disdain. It then shoved a hand through the window like it were made of water and dropped an odd-looking claw inside, before dashing off un-ghostlike.

Just a wee bit weirded out, Zephyr said to the now leaking room. "It's amazing we've been here for a few hours and been lied to and accused already."

Next, he cautiously took out his spear and made to prod he "claw" the creature dropped in. If it were the same level of power or even slightly more than himself, Devourer should be more than capable of shutting off or disrupting whatever power it had, so long as it was in contact.

Oasis – At Scientist Lab
- Vayu -

He nodded towards Scarlet. “Good thinking, Scarlet,” he commented. “We definitely need to talk to the Seer and some more townsfolk to figure out what’s up with this weird city.”

Vayu’s eyes narrowed when fog suddenly crept up and the rain became even louder. Something wasn’t right. Suddenly he saw the figure of a girl approaching the window. A shiver ran down his neck. Clearly, she wasn’t human.

He stepped back, almost bumping into Zephyr, when her hand glided through the window and dropped a blue claw into the room. Vayu watched the girl until she had disappeared into the rain. He scoffed.

“Geez, talk about a warm welcome,” he said. Looking around the room, he noticed how the water began to creep towards the blue claw as if absorbing its energy. That couldn’t bode well. Hopefully Zephyr’s spell would be able to contain it.

“Maybe you should move it outside, before the entire lab is drenched,” he suggested to Zephyr, watching carefully if the claw reacted to the spear.

“So who was she?” he asked Ludo, not really expecting an answer as he was pacing around nervously.

Scarlet

Glancing around nervously as the rain intensified, Scarlet gasped as she stumbled, surprised by an unknown force. It felt like she was being pulled to the floor.

Her attention was grabbed by her teammates reacting to a presence outside the window. Eyes widening at the sight of the girl, Scarlet recalled Dantes' words just before. He must have been referring to the girl, there was something inhuman about her. Before they could do anything, she dropped an object through the window before fleeing.

As Zephyr inspected the claw-like object, Vayu remarked about the water seeping into the building.

"There's no way she was human... did you recognise her, Ludo?" Scarlet asked the scientist. "And what did she mean, we're guilty?"

Scientist's Lab

As Zeyphr cautiously put the tip of his devouring spea on the ominous blue claw the water droplets all seemed to fall in place stopped from moving and fall from the air as pseudo-rainstorm triggered in the lab from all the water droplets that had pushed their way into the building.  It seemed the spear had worked, however Vayu's elemental jar was still reacting even more violently this time.

"Never mind what you saw!  That's an elemental core, you stopped it from gathering more water, but it still has..." Ludo called out in terror, as Zeyphr being so close would now notice a a bunch of water swirling around inside the core.  Suddenly, the core erupted out the force of the water pushing back against Vayu and Zeyphr with the force of a small wave from the ocean, not enough to knock them over but stagger them for a bit.

The water from the wave swirled around like a typhoon into a large razor sharp claw the size of one of the one of the vanguard's torsos as it forcefully slammed into Zeyphr's legs knocking the vanguard off his feet, as it crawled at startling speed at Ludo.  Ludo let startled scream, as he quickly turned and was about run towards scarlet when a hand came out of the ground and grabbed his legs, holding him in place as the claw swiped at his right leg leaving a massive bleeding gash.

Ludo fearfully recoiled and gasped in pain, as he quickly lost balance from the blow and painfully slammed into the floor, blood beginning to spill onto the ground.  The claw contorted and shifted effectively spinning itself around and then pushing itself into the air with a jet of water trying to make a swipe at Ludo's throat, as the hands from the floor melded back into the ground like some ghost out of a horror flick.

Scarlet

The claw-like object increased in activity as Ludo shouted out a warning. Before they could react, an explosion of water erupted from the core, pushing back Vayu and Zephyr. As Ludo ran towards Scarlet, a claw formed from the water and slashed at Ludo, leaving a horrible gash in his chest and sending him careening to the floor.

Gasping, Scarlet rushed towards the stricken scientist as she fed Maga into her Gauntlet. "Neko, you're going to be weak against whatever this is!" she shouted as an explanation, returning her demon to her Gauntlet, before Warg took her place. The bestial demon burst forward, attempting to Body Slam the form preparing to strike Ludo again. Scarlet tried to use the distraction to drag Ludo to one side.

Zephyr Arc - Lab

Caught off guard by the thing suddenly erupting like a geyser, Zephyr was hit ny the wave it unleashed, staggering him. When the claw came at him, he raised his arms to block, but the dastardly thing aimed for his legs instead, succeding in knocking him over.

Thoroughly angry by now, Zephyr aimed his crossbow at it as it fled, firing off a single icy arrow combining both spells his bow currently had. Luckily, no one was between him and the creature, and it didn't appear to give him any mind. The creature itself appeared to be targeting Ludo. If Scarlet hadn't been free to help him, the old scientist would probably be much more worse for wear.

Zephyr cast Boost and Overdrive as he hit the ground and sprang back up, using his spear to vault himself between it and Ludo. "I'm your opponent. Not letting you go attacking anything else while we're still fighting."

Indeed, while protecting Ludo was somewhere in his mind, he wanted to clobbed whatever this thing was much more. After all, it picked the fight, and it decided to blindside him and make him mad. It had to take some responsibility.

Oasis – At Scientist Lab
- Vayu -

The situation in the lab escalated in an instant. The blue claw seemed to absorb the water and tornado-like wave suddenly pushed him back. Drenched, he pushed his hair back, seeing Ludo attacked and bleeding on the floor near Scarlet and Zephyr taunting and attacking the creature.

“Jack Frost,” he called his new demon out. “Use Ice Bullet on the claw. Careful of Warg and Zephyr. They’re your allies,” he cautioned. Why oh why hadn’t he done any training with Jack Frost?

Jack Frost, unusually serious in his behavior, jumped up and unleashed an Ice Bullet at the demon claw from above.

Meanwhile, Vayu rushed over to Scarlet and Ludo. He helped Scarlet drag Ludo further away from Zephyr and blue claw.

He hoisted the other man into a sitting position and painfully grabbed him by the shirt to force him to look at them. “What did you do?!” Vayu shouted, sounding angry. Capturing a few water elementals couldn’t be enough to warrant such a response. “Why are they so angry at you?!”

Scientist's lab

The elemental claw briskly soared towards Ludo, but Warg's body slam abruptly smashed the claw into the now splintered floor.  The whole building began to rock from the impact, as some of the elemental jars rattling and almost falling if it wasn't for the fact they were mostly latched in place.  The water surrounding the claws splashed outward and was about to drench the vanguards before it reformed around the claw stone that was somehow sitting next to the Warg with a massive crack in it but there was more water around the claw, now it was the size of a large dog.

Scarlet felt lightheaded for a moment in response to this sight, as it felt like some of her maga had been sucked out of her warg's body that was replaced with her own.

Though, the claw seemed stunned and not moving as it was hit by the ice arrow that zeyphr had fired, the arrow logged into its core as the water began to turn a solid ice like substance that completely froze as the ice bullet collided with it.  It only recoiled slightly from being frozen, as it started to crawl sluggishly but more forcefully directly at Ludo seemingly uncaring Zeyphr's threats or the fact that he was even in the way, its frozen body cracking with each step.

"What are you doing?!  I'm dying!  We're in a fight!" Ludo yelled at Vayu, as he began trying to forcefully push Vayu away from him to no avail.

"I didn't do anything!  I only research the lake and study the elementals!" Ludo pancially squealed as the claw drew closer. His eyes began to water from the pain with him now reaching for his leg to put pressure on it as he continued to say in a panic, "But it there is something wrong with that core!  It's almost like a demon tampered with it!"

"Prey Upon" A voice muttered from beneath Zeyphr, as the elf pulled herself out of the floor so that she was standing on the ground hunched over and low to the ground, as shadow like tentacle rose out of the ground behind her that swung to sweep out Zeyphr's legs.

Zephyr Arc - Lab

Mostly ignoring the noise from behind him, Zephyr observed the strange claw elemental until he heard a whisper beneath him. He'd been caught off guard once, but he was now fully alert and had his buffs active. Unshaken as the new enemy appeared from below, Zephyr swung his spear at the tentacles, Devourer absorbing and spitting them back immediately when it came into contact. In the same move, he fired a three-shot volley of Ice Arrow enhanced Ice Bullets at the currently freezing claw elemental. "Man, Ludo, not sure you're telling the truth but they really have it out for 'ya!" He called back to the man, sounding amused. He wore the familiar crazed grin his cohorts might recognize from their entrance exam.

Cherry just held a hand to her face, wearing an expression that- all too clearly- said 'here we go again.'

Scarlet

As a wave of water burst from the claw, Scarlet felt the connection between her and Warg draw on her Maga, leaving her unprepared for the impact of the water, stumbling slightly. Recovering, she quickly moved to Vayu's side.

"Hey! You didn't have to handle him like that!" she hissed at her fellow Vanguard, clearly disapproving of his treatment of Ludo. "Anyway, let's focus on those claw things first!"

Warg swiftly recovered from his attack, fur now dripping with water. He growled at the claw, before spirnting towards it, attempting to use Rending Bite to pin it.

Movement around Zephyr caused Scarlet to turn her attention to him. Seeing the elfin figure from earlier, her eyes widened slightly. "Who are you!? Why are you attacking us?" she asked the girl, while drawing an arrow ready to shoot.

Oasis – At Scientist Lab
- Vayu -

“Oh chill out. You’re not dying.”

Vayu darkly looked at him but released his grip on Ludo when Scarlet hissed at him. He was aware that the situation behind him was changing, the cracking ice from the claw drawing closer. Zephyr still seemed to be in control as he unleashed another volley of ice spells, freezing the claw even more.

The tone in Zephyr’s voice had changed. Vayu glanced behind him for a second, recognizing the expression and seeing Zephyr’s and Scarlet’s focus shift to the new elfin figure in the room.

“Jack Frost,” he called out, returning his eyes to Ludo. “Wait for the right moment to fire your Ice Bullet at the claw. I don’t want that thing near us!”

Jack Frost jumped into action once again, grinning happily at the dropping temperature in the room. “Kyaah!” The demon jumped up once more and fired his Ice Bullet at the claw after Warg had pinned it down, attempting to freeze it even more.

“What do you mean, a demon tampered with it?” he asked Ludo. “What other demons are in the lake?”

Scientist's lab

When Zeyphr's spear swung through the woman's 'spell', he felt something more quite solid almost like it was alive.  The sound of tearing flesh reverberated through the air, as the woman loudly screamed in shock, the shadowy tentacle slowly turned a dark blue tail that was now covered in red blood from the giant hole in it.  However, Zeyphr still absorbed the spell, as he felt the energy flow into devour.

"You... you!" The woman yelled in a distorted voice, as she seemed to be hyper ventilating from the shock and rage, as she skin turned into a blue scaly like color.  Her mind was suddenly woken up by Scarlet, as the woman turned her head towards the vanguard with a clear mixture of fear and rage now focused in her black eyes.

"Why are you even asking?  Demons that haven't been bent to your will are just monsters to you."  The woman spat back at Scarlet, as she turned a shadowy color and fell down into the floor with the blood from her tail being left behind.

The elemental on the other hand seemed to grow even stronger after the attack, as the core began to pulsate with maga as the blood from the woman flowed into the ice turning the elemental dark red.  The claw turned away from ludo for the first time as it turned towards Zeyphr.

"What's going on?" The elemental seemed to whisper in each of the vanguards ears, as it got slammed from the various ice bullets form jack frost and screamed in pain, crying out for the vanguards to stop before it and the ice shattered from the force of the spell; the blood like fluid splashing out on Zeyphr as it shattered, as he felt like the maga from the waters flowed into his strength growing and the whispers getting louder when he felt the effects of his overdrive tearing away at his sanity much more fiercely than it did before.

Ludo breathed a sigh of relief realizing the situation was over breathed a sigh of relief, as his eyes locked onto Vayu a little bit calmer now.

"I don't know exactly, but the core was clearly.... wrong.  No human could corrupt an elemental core like that, only demons... but the barrier should be protecting us so..." Ludo muttered, as he was was clearly deep and thought and very worried about what just happened.

Spoiler:

Scarlet

Scarlet seemed taken aback at the demon's proclamation. "What? That's not-" Before she could finish her sentence, the demon disappeared through the floor. "Hey, wait!" Scarlet shouted after her, but she was already gone.

Turning to her companions, she saw them dispatch the elemental, but not before she heard a whisper in her ears, flinching in response. With the fight apparently over, Scarlet let out a sigh as Warg padded over to her. She leaned against the demon, releasing the tension from the fight.

"Thank you for saving Ludo, Warg. Please rest for a bit," she murmured, returning him to her Gauntlet.

She turned to Ludo as he muttered to himself. "If a demon managed to get past this barrier, then... the town!" Her eyes widened as she reached a conclusion, rushing over to the window. Peering out towards the town, she searched for any visible signs of activity.

Zephyr Arc - Lab

Zephyr's blade easily pierced the demon's tail, stripping it of its spell in the process. Before he could assault it further, the creature phased into the ground and vanished, leaving only a trail of blood behind as Zephyr's spear mightily struck the place she'd just been. "Is spewing self-rightous bull like some zealot and running all you can do?" He yelled after her.

Then he noticed the elemental, which appeared to be absorbing the strange demon-woman's blood and growing stronger. "Getting real tired of your tricks." He seethed under his breath as the elemental turned towards his, spoke words of confusion, and was then extinguished by Jack Frost.

Unable to react in time due to the suddenness of events, Zephyr was splashed with the tainted waters. He felt a strange strength flow into him from them, along with an oddly familiar sensation. He could tell immediately what it felt like.

He abruptly turned his eyes to the concerned pixie on his shoulder, then grabbed her and threw her a Vayu. Madness was coming, but not like usual. This felt wrong. It felt alien. More importantly, it felt deliberate. The saving grace was that unlike when Overdrive went over capacity, this seemed just slightly weaker. Zephyr grit his teeth, then suddenly lifted his spear and swung it at Ludo. His movements seemed oddly slower, and the spear landed just short of its target, then rapidly extended, causing Zephyr himself to be ejected towards a window. Berserking was hard to resist, but the feeling of being controlled was something he'd never take lying down. Zephyr was doing his best to make clear that something wasn't normal about this, and give his cohorts time to subdue him.

Oasis – At Scientist Lab
- Vayu -

The situation calmed down as quickly as it had escalated. The blue demon claw was shattered in the combined effort of their demons and Zephyr and the woman had disappeared into the floor after being critically injured. Hopefully, she would stay away, but judging by her past behavior, it was better to stay on guard.

Vayu allowed himself one deep breath.

Jack Frost hopped up before him with a grin. Vayu rolled his eyes at him and with a snap of his fingers, recalled the demon into his gauntlet. “Good job…” he murmured as it faded.

In the next moment, he was caught by surprise. Zephyr had thrown his pixie at him. In a reflex, he caught her and carefully sat her on his arm. His eyes drifted between Cherry and Zephyr.

“I’m guessing, something went wrong with his buffs?” he asked her.

As if to confirm, Zephyr suddenly launched himself towards Ludo, seemingly diverting himself in the last second towards a window.

Vayu cursed under his breath when the window shattered, and Zephyr landed outside. Quickly, he followed the Vanguard into the rain.

“Synchro Gift.”

Boosted by his own spell, he rushed over and pinned Zephyr down.

“What do I do?” he asked Cherry.