The Challenge of the Masters

⊱⊰ 47: The Earth Master's Call ⊱⊰

The bluish orb glowed in Arisa's hands, illuminating a small area as if it was a lantern itself.

"This brightness, it can only be a sign," said Garoh. "We must be close to the area where the Master is hidden."

Arisa gazed at the necklace with fascination. After they passed by this world and Eklipta communicated with them, the pendant exhibited its weak light throughout their stay in the Empire.

"Then we should go ahead," said Arisa, examining the darkness deep on the way where the light couldn't reach. "Just like Eklipta said."

The team agreed, resuming their walk deep in the passageway. As they strolled for a few minutes, Arisa thought of Ellanie. After everything they went through tonight, Ellanie's sacrifice wasn't in vain. If it wasn't for her taking them to this side of Mammoth Cave, they would still wander around the many caves in search of the Master. Arisa curled her fingers around the item, telling herself that for Ellanie and the citizens, she would do her best to capture the Master.

As they strolled for a few minutes more, Arisa's excitement of finally meeting one of the remaining three Masters got the better of her. She was so distracted that she lost focus of her companions' conversation.

Examining the area where the lantern's light could reach, Arisa only saw dark rough walls. With anxiety flowing in their veins, the team attempted to distract themselves by wondering what type of area was the Master of Earth hidden.

"I really hope bottomless pit is not a real location and the Master is just being enigmatic," teased Thelma. "I cannot imagine my new life as a person who's endlessly falling into nothingness."

"If there's such a place," said Kazuya, folding his arms, "then it will be impossible to capture the Master. And that would be strict of us to hide something so important in such a place."

Upon hearing those words, Arisa wondered how as former stars they decided the perfect place to hide the Elements. She could imagine the twelve of them gathered in a room, which made her wonder what the architecture of the Zodiac Realm looked like.

Thinking about their past life, a reminder hit her mind. She still had the duty to tell the others who they actually were. After seeing Taurus' behavior moments ago, she doubted if it was worth to tell the other Guardians the truth.

"If such place exists," said Garoh, washing away Arisa's thoughts, "as stars, maybe we thought it was an ideal place to keep the Element away from wrong hands. I'm guessing that back then, we never thought we would need our powers back. That keeping the Elements away from wrong people was a top priority."

Kazuya touched his jaw. "You might be right."

"Well, let's focus on finding the location first," said Garoh. "We will worry about how we'll access the area once we see how it looks like."

The team nodded and kept on walking through the passageway, keeping their guard raised in case of a surprise attack. The clock ticked as the team only met more dark walls and complete darkness on the horizon where the lantern's light couldn't reach. As more time passed, Arisa wondered if Taurus' other two rock-sculptured wolves had given up chasing them after seeing the blocked pathway.

Wherever Taurus and his pets were, Arisa hoped that they wouldn't cross paths again. But that was wishful thinking. There was no way Taurus would give up on them so easily. She hoped that at least they would find the Master first before he found them again.

"Aha, so my hunch feeling was right," teased Thelma. "It's a dead-end."

As the white light of the lantern met the rough wall in front of them, Arisa blinked twice. She walked forward and touched the obstacle. She then gazed at her necklace, which was glowing with strong light. She blinked again, speechless.