No, no... this can't happen. I can't afford to lose. I can't take his anger. I have to use that stone, but it will consume all the Time Essence we collected. Should I use this? the Elder of Moon Palace, covered in blood, said...
"And if you don't bring that girl, you will be killed anyway," said a mysterious voice in his head.
"HAHA."
Hearing that voice, he began to laugh like a demon. Both Jawad and I looked at him. Jawad moved forward with thunder in his hand.
Crack.
A strange object that looked like a watch but emitted an evil aura appeared. Jawad froze in his position, and neither could I move.
"Next time, you won't stand a chance. I will make sure to destroy your bodies. Just because of you, I lost this precious treasure..."
Suddenly, I was once again standing in front of Harry with Snow in my hands.
"Ahh... what was that? Did I just experience déjà vu?"
"Is there any problem?" Harry asked.
"No, no. I'm fine," I said calmly.
"So, what have you decided about Moon Palace?" I asked him.
"Austin, as you told me about the incident that happened to you during the dungeon raid, we can't take any serious action right now. But I will make sure to get a reasonable explanation from them."
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.
"Come in," Harry said in a relaxed tone.
Locus appeared. Behind him stood two men. I didn't recognize them, but their auras weren't normal.
Harry introduced me to Ghost and Jawad. I felt like I had met them before.
"Did you find your old friend?" Harry asked.
"No, I couldn't. It looks like she disappeared completely without leaving any trace," Ghost said in a sad voice.
"Don't be upset. She might be traveling, or maybe she's in another distant part of this country. We'll find her," Jawad said.
Ghost nodded.
Suddenly, his eyes were fixed on Snow. The next moment, he was standing in front of me. Before I could react, Snow was already in his hands. I rushed forward, but in the next moment, Jawad stood right in front of me and grabbed my hands.
"Wait, kid. We mean no harm. I know Ghost. He just wants to know something."
"Snow... so this is your name. Snow, tell me, where did you get this power? It looks like this power is still merging with you, but there's something else within it," Ghost asked.
Snow's face turned red. I moved forward and helped her calm down.
"She doesn't speak much, and she knows nothing about her past," I told him.
"Austin, so you probably know something about her. Can you tell me anything?" Ghost asked.
I told him everything about Snow.
Suddenly, he released a strange skill and placed his hand on Snow's head. The next moment, we were all inside some sort of illusion. Soon, I realized it was Snow's memory.
"Don't make noise. This place is dangerous," a man whispered.
Two men were carrying a young girl.
Another small girl, tied with ropes, was lying on a bed. In the next moment, I saw them extracting her powers and injecting a strange blood into Snow.
I recognized that girl.
She was the same girl I had seen in the park before entering the Tower.
Another fragment appeared.
A basement inside Moon Mansion.
The girl was locked there.
A portal opened, and a couple appeared—Snow's parents.
"We have to hurry," the woman said.
They picked up Snow and heard footsteps.
"Someone is coming," the man whispered.
The woman created a portal, and they escaped to a deserted area.
Moments later, a dungeon break occurred. The rest of the story became clear.
Snow's parents sacrificed themselves to save her.
We returned to reality.
The room was filled with a cold, chilling aura. My hands felt numb.
I looked at Ghost. One of his eyes was red, while the other was blue.
The next moment, he flew out through the window without saying a word. Jawad immediately followed him.
I handed Snow into Harry's arms, jumped out of the window, and told Harry that I would bring them back because they were going to attack Moon Palace.
They were both moving too fast. I couldn't catch them, but I knew where they were heading.
After some time, I was standing in front of Moon Palace.
I saw two streaks of light moving in perfect rhythm before breaking through the palace's barrier.
As soon as they broke the barrier, a huge demonic claw covered in a red aura shot forward and struck both Ghost and Jawad.
It looked like someone had known they were going to attack.
Both Jawad and Ghost quickly steadied themselves.
An elderly man with several scars on his face appeared from the palace gate, followed by several elders.
One of them said, "Sir, it happened exactly as you predicted. They came to attack us."
The moment I saw their faces, I instantly recognized them and remembered what had happened before.
I joined Ghost and Jawad and told them everything.
They were astonished.
"So, if we defeated them before, we can defeat them again, can't we?" Jawad asked.
"Maybe, because last time we took them down with a surprise attack. But this time, they knew we would attack, and they are prepared..."
Before I could finish my sentence, Ghost released his ice powers.
But they were different.
Their aura was no longer the same as before.
He moved forward and hurled a mountain of ice toward them.
— End of Chapter 17 —
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