Before going to the mountain, Lucelle secretly drank magic supplementing elixir from her thorid ring. And in just few seconds, her magic power recovered at her peak state; a 2nd-circle magician.
They both arrived at the mountain. It had dense trees, huge rocks and some animals lurking around. However, no human beings could be seen. It was a quite place, yet it gave a tremendously eerie atmosphere. And one could tell that this mountain was really a suitable site for gathering the kidnapped children.
And Lucelle was wondering who were the those unknown being and what was their purpose.
"Is this the mountain you mentioned?" asked by Lucelle.
Chief Domino who was trembling with fear due to the mountain's eerie atmosphere, replied, "Yes, Miss."
"Are you really sure?" she asked again, doubting.
"I won't dare to lie to you, Miss. A certain someone who unknowingly passed by at night saw the figures of those unknown beings carrying a child who was crying. He wanted to save that child, but he couldn't because he knew to himself that he was powerless," the Chief explained, "Moreover, I can feel it too, the atmosphere of this mountain. This mountain was originally a famous spot, but now, there was not even a single villager or passerby who dared to come here, aside from the two of us right now."
Lucelle chose to close her eyes and began to spread her magic aura to the surroundings. Few meters away from her, she noticed a barrier. A kind of barrier that could be able to deceive ordinary human's eyes, as if there was nothing going on. However, it wasn't unbreakable for her.
She opened her eyes and faced Chief Domino, "I discovered a barrier. Do you want to go with me, Chief?"
He immediately shook his head, refusing her, "How can this old bones of mine be able to help you, Miss? Moreover, I might be just a hindrance for you. However, I would advise you to avoid fighting with those unknown beings as much as you can."
"My bad. I forgot that you couldn't fight and you're already too old. Forgive me, Chief," Lucelle sincerely apologized.
"Hohoho! It's not your fault, Miss," Chief Domino responded, "I will wait for your success here. But if you find yourself in trouble, you should escape as soon as possible. May the goddess bless you!"
She smiled under her hood at the Chief and walked near to the barrier. She conjured a ball of flame on her palm and deliberately threw it to the barrier. A loud bang occurred and the barrier broke, then she quitely entered.
The blue sky became crimson and white clouds changed into black and heavy. She encountered withered trees, and black crows along the way while walking. It also had an eerie sound.
Lucelle trembled in fear. She had many thoughts, but still continued walking and finding the kidnapped children.
Few meters away from her, she saw a hut and there were two small-figure creatures guarding it. Then, a loud cry was heard as if asking for help.
"That must be it. The sound I heard was definitely the children's voice." she whispered.
She took a few steps enough for her to see the faces of the two small-figure creatures, slowly and quietly. She hid herself at the withered tree near the hut.
Goblins! They were goblins!
However, she wandered why those two goblins' eyes were red, unlike the normal goblins. It was as if they were controlled by someone.
"I need to be careful. If they were controlled, it only means there's someone stronger than them." she mumbled.
Soon after, another goblin who was a little bit bigger than the other two came out from the hut's door along with five children who were binded by chains. And the two goblins who were guarding the hut also walked along with the another goblin and children.
"H-help me! Please... help me...!"
"Huhuhu! I d-don't want to die!"
"D-dad... M-mom... help me...!"
Loud cries could be heard from the children's mouth as they cried and cried heavily.
"Shut up! Can you just follow me quitely?!" the angered goblin shouted at them.
The children were not listening to the goblin's nagging. But because they were hopeless and couldn't resist, they still followed the goblins. While Lucelle who was biting her lower lips because she pitied the children secretly followed them.
They arrived at the flat uppermost of the mountain. The children, who were still asking for help and crying heavily, were forcefully dragged down at the center of the mountain.
Lucelle was shocked when she saw a large and crimson magic array laid on the ground. There were also another five goblins circling the magic array and seemed like they were able to wield magic. But the worst case was... the black coffin at the core of the magic array.
Even though I have already expected this since there was a barrier to block the entry of this place, this is still too much...!
"But what is the purpose of laiding the magic array there? And why is there a black coffin?" she asked herself.
_TRAVANGEL_