Soon, the party returned to Senwald. On their way back, the party notice something different. The front gates have been smmed open and the guards are dead on the ground.

  "Huh?!" Shokei said in surprise and asked. "What just happened?"

  "Did we miss...something..." Marie asked.

  "What in the world happened?" Rei asked, viewing the front entrance. "What we missed?"

  "Did something...tragic happened when we were away?" Sadako asked.

  Shokei runs over to get to the entrance and her party followed. Walking in the Kingdom, there they can see buildings already ancient and there are guards lying dead on the ground, including the citizens. Once was a stronghold Kingdom have been turned into a complete ruin.

  "What happened here?" Shokei asked.

  "I wouldn't call this an ordinary invasion..." Rei said, looking around. "This looks different."

  "Hmm..." Ferron thinks about this and asked. "You think this could be the work of the Necromutants?"

  "Seems like it." Sadako replied. "I doubt the King's own men could withstand an army from a rival Kingdom to deal with this sort of damage."

  "What if..." Marie reflects on the remaining allies that are in the castle. "...what if...our friends are killed during this invasion? You think the Necromutants obtained their lives?"

  "Let's not think about that..." Shokei said. "Maybe...no. I doubt that our friends are dead."

  Shokei paused from walking and turned to her allies.

  "Look! We need to head back to the castle right now!" Shokei tells them. "Come on!"

  The party did as they made their way back to the King's castle. The party bypassed the bricks, structure, and debris that are in their way.

  My friends..., Shokei thought. We're coming for you!

  As soon as the party arrived at the castle, the party went downstairs to the basement where the rest of their allies are held. Unfortunately, neither of them was in their cells and the doors appears to be unlocked.

  "No...No!!" Shokei said, feeling worried.

  "We can't confirm that they're dead yet." Rei said to her. "We need to find them, especially the princess."

  The party then ran upstairs to see if Princess Antoinette and her siblings are in the room. Shokei opens the door to the bedroom and from there, the party only sees the bodies of Antoinette's siblings lying on the ground, but the princess is nowhere in sight.

  "Antoinette's brother and sisters...they're...they're..." Marie said, disgusted to what she sees in her view.

  "...dead..." Rei finished her line.

  "Gone..." Shokei said, feeling sad. "They're gone...everyone..."

  "Shokei..." Rei speaks out to her.

  "After everything we went through since the start of the task...and now this?" Shokei asked, feeling hopeless as she is thinking that humanity has been lost in Senwald.

  "Shokei!" Rei calls out to her.

  Shokei turns to see Rei calling her.

  "We can't panic just yet!" Rei said to her. "Even if the invasion has wiped out everything, we never saw any sign of our friend's dead bodies."

  "I wouldn't say the word everything..." a voice said to the party.

  "Hmm?"

  Just then, someone called out to the party. Shokei and the others turn to see who was calling out to them.

  "Sa...sa..." Marie felt happy as she recognizes the voice. "SAEKO!!"

  "Hey!" Saeko waved until she felt Marie hugging her tightly.

  "Did you guys really think we were dead?" Beatrice asked as she comes out from hiding.

  "Beatrice!!" Marie called out and she pulls her close for a three-way hug. "Oh! I missed you both!!"

  Shokei felt gd and relief to see the remaining party members, Obsidian and Kichiro were still alive.

  "Guys..." Shokei asked them. "What just happened here?"

  "You missed out while you guys were on task." Beatrice said. "A big chaos disrupted Senwald and then we heard high volumes of violence that was going on outside while we were in our cells."

  "But...how did you all survived?" Rei asked, curious. "What did you all do to survive?"

  "One of the guards came down to our cells and then he opened my cell." Beatrice replied. "He was dying of breath and gave me the key so I can free the others."

  "Once we were out of our cells, we saw a huge ruckus that was wreaking havoc in Senwald." Obsidian said. "And if that wasn't enough, we saw big creatures that wiped out many of the guards and civilians. Not one of us dared to face any of these creatures. We all went down to the sewage area where we waited for the chaos to be over."

  "That's crazy." Marie said, shaking her head.

  "It was." Saeko said. "Throughout all of this, we were really thinking about you guys."

  "Oh...same here." Sadako said.

  "What kind of creatures were terrorizing Senwald?" Rei asked. "Do you recall what they look like?"

  "Not that I can remember." Saeko said, shaking her head.

  "I see." Rei said.

  "Did you guys managed to do the task already?" Kichiro asked.

  "We did." Shokei said. "But we need to tell all of you about what is happening and what the Necromutants are going after."

  "Speaking of that, we should check back at the King's throne room." Kichiro said.

  "Right...we should do that then." Shokei said.

  The party returns to the King's throne room. By the time they got there, everyone was shocked to see an ugly sight.

  "The king...he's..." Rei said, walking up to the corpse.

  "...dead..." Shokei said, walking right behind her.

  The party looks to see what was left of King Faramond. His body is covered in crimson and there are marks of gashes that are over his body and the neck nearly decapitated. Shokei gets a closer look and sees that the King is dead.

  "Wow...who could have done this to him?" Shokei asked.

  "I don't know..." Saeko said. "I mean, his reign on us is over."

  "Hmm..."

  Looking further, Shokei sees a note that was pced on the King's seat. She takes the note and returns to her party.

  "What did you find?" Rei asked.

  "This." Shokei said, revealing the note in hand.

  "What does it say?" Saeko asked.

  Shokei reads what the note said:

  We have managed to kidnap the princess while you were away Emissary. If you want her alive, surrender now and give me the gem. We know who you are.

  ~Ironcw~

  "Ironcw? Who's this Ironcw?" Marie asked.

  "No idea." Obsidian replied.

  "Who in the hell would write a letter that has to do with me?" Shokei asked, looking confused.

  "Not sure, but it could be another one of those Necromutants." Beatrice said.

  "Somehow this note has to do with you Shokei." Rei tells her. "But still..."

  Rei takes the note and re reads the message. The text appeared to be in blood font.

  "How in the world did our enemies knew what we are going after?" Rei asked.

  "Not only that, but a gem also..." Beatrice turns to Shokei. "What's this gem that is mentioned in the note?"

  "I was about to fill you all the details about the gem and its purpose." Shokei said.

  Marie turns her head and to her eyes, she spots someone at the door. The figure was eavesdropping on the conversation and the person was spying on the party.

  "Hey!" Marie calls out to the unknown figure. "Who are you?!"

  "Eh?!" Shokei looks up and sees the figure running from the door. "What the..."

  "We been watched! Let's get that bastard!" Rei shouted.

  The party went after the unknown figure that was eyeing on their conversation. Shokei quickly ran after the figure while her party are trying to keep up with her.

  "Shokei! Wait up!" Rei calls out to her.

  Shokei dashed after the figure at quick speed. The figure keeps up with pace as it tries to get away from Shokei. Shokei can see that the figure is heading up to the roof of the castle. When she finally caught up to the figure, she immediately stopped and sees the figure is right there, waiting for her.

  "I'm amused that you followed me Emissary." The figure said to her. "I've been expecting you."

  Shokei can clearly see who the figure is. The appearance is a ninja warrior with an ironcw on his left hand and dressed in a bck ninja style outfit. Shokei came to her surprise as she spots another figure that's flying right beside him. There was no sign of Antoinette around and the rest of Shokei's party have reached up to the roof.

  "Who the hell are you bastards?" Shokei asked them.

  "I'm the shadow ninja of pure darkness, a league for the Necromutants of Chaos." The ninja warrior said to her and introduced himself. "I am Zgebus!"

  "I am the messenger for our "Creator" that serves my loyalty to the Necromutants." The figure flying with wings said and introduced himself. "The name's Hazon, a servant for the dark forces."

  "What do you guys want?" Shokei asked. She looks like she is wanting to fight them.

  "My objective is to watch your every move Emissary." Hazon said.

  "My duty is to take you out on a bad mark and retrieve the gem that you possess." Zgebus added.

  "Geez! Talk about two big antelopes against a big one." Rei said in a joke.

  "Rei! Seriously?!" Shokei shouts at her, disapproving the joke. Then turns back to her new enemies, "Anyways, I've read that note. Where's Antoinette?"

  "Oho! You did read my note." Zgebus said. "Honestly, she right here above us."

  "Huh?" Shokei said, looking up to the sky.

  Up in the air, Shokei can see Antoinette suspended in the air, protected by a dark force field surrounding her. She appears to be sleeping in her condition.

  "Antoinette!" Shokei calls out to her. "Oh no!"

  "Rex, Emissay...we did not do any harm to this fine dy we have in our possession." Zgebus said. "She's in a state of unconsciousness as we speak."

  "You bastards...give me back the princess!" Shokei demanded as she points out her sword at the Necromutants.

  "Only if you hand over the fire gem and then we will let her go." Hazon demanded.

  "No Shokei." Rei said from behind. "It could be a trap. Don't do it."

  "What will it be Emissary of Light...the gem or the princess?" Hazon asked her once again.

  "Grrr!" Shokei clenched her left hand to a fist.

  Thinking about the situation, Shokei had two options. Giving up the gem would be a natural disaster for her and the Gaxy Forest at her stake. In her own sense, handing the dark forces a key item would not be a wise decision.

  "What will it be Emissary?" Hazon asked her again. "The gem we want...or the fate of the princess?"

  "Shokei..." Rei calls out to her.

  "No!" Shokei looks up and responded. "I won't give up what is right, even if it's for the sake of the pnet's fate."

  "Heh! If you insist." Hazon said without any remorse.

  The force field protecting Antoinette suddenly vanishes and Antoinette's sleeping body falls from the skies. Shokei and her party watched in horror as Antoinette is about to face certain death.

  "ANTOINETTE!!" Shokei yelled out. She is unable to do anything.

  As the party sees Antoinette falling, Hazon shakes his head and with a smile, he snaps his fingers. Antoinette disappears and she is nowhere to be seen again.

  "What the?!" Shokei gets into a rage and shouted. "What the hell was that?!"

  "You sick bastards!" Rei, also angry, speaks out to the Necromutants, tightening both fists. "I swear I'll..."

  "Consider this a fortunate moment for your captive to be alive." Hazon disrupted. "We would have simply let her fall and her body shattered by the concrete down below had you not made a decision."

  "I ought to ssh your head off." Shokei warned and speaks through her teeth. "If you're looking to fight me, you found it."

  Before Shokei could do anything, Zgebus makes a big leap backwards into a somersault and leaves the scene by fading away in darkness.

  "Since you put it that way, we'll keep that girl hostage as long as we want, until you decide to give up the remaining gems that you seek." Hazon said.

  Shokei paused and breathes calmly.

  "Until we meet again, Emissary." Hazon said and vanishes into the air.

  Shokei investigate the skies where the Necromutants have vanished. She could not believe that Antoinette is taken away from her and she has successfully refused to give up the gem that she has on her. Now, it was going to be harder to save Antoinette and, saving Gaxy Forest as a whole.

  "I...I guess that's that." Shokei said sadly.

  "It was a tough decision," Rei said to her. "But at least you did what was right for now."

  "I almost felt as if I had no choice to give up on her." Shokei said.

  "Only for now, friend." Rei said, pcing a hand on her shoulder. "For now."

  "Her family is no more." Tamiko said. "She will forever be an orphan. Everything this Kingdom had been lost."

  "Indeed." Obsidian nodded.

  "What do we do now?" Saeko asked.

  "On that thought, Shokei..." Kichiro gets her attention. "You said that you are going to discuss something that was important."

  "Yes." Shokei said. "I need to show you the gem I obtained. You guys have no idea what we got ourselves into."

  "I believe you have a lot to talk about." Kichiro said. "Tell us."

  Shokei briefly expined the situation about the gem that she obtained when she was at the Temple. Then, she told the party about the past on the Dark Age era, the evil that has pgued, and the importance on finding the seven remaining gems to save the Gaxy Forest.

  "Interesting." Kichiro said. "It's quite detailed."

  "Now you see why..." Shokei said holding her medallion. "With this around me, it can be used as a compass upon finding the gems if it detects it nearby."

  "Informative, but we do have a lot of work to do." Saeko said.

  "Where do we go at this point to finding the next gem?" Tamiko asked.

  Shokei takes the map out and shows her party the yellow symbol marked at the desert.

  "Looks like a Necropolis." Kichiro examined the map.

  "Right, but I wonder why the gem lies in this location?" Beatrice asked.

  "The spirit said that a guardian protects the gems, and this location indicates the next guardian that we must defeat." Shokei replied to her.

  "Oh, I see." Beatrice nodded.

  "Just how we defeated the first guardian back at the temple." Rei said.

  "Right." Shokei said. "Anyways, we should head back to Itaea and figure out what we can do from here."

  "Good idea." Kichiro said. "I wonder if our guest is taking care of my house?"

  "Who? Lei?" Rei asked.

  "Yeah, that's her name." Kichiro replied. "I wonder what she's doing while we were away?"

  "Beats me." Shokei shrugged. "But...let's head back while we can."

  Everyone agrees and the party leaves Senwald to make a long trip back to Itaea.