In one of them, something interesting was happening. The same process that had taken place in Kitayi Forest was currently happening in the hall, but the process was reversed. A bunch of glowing silhouettes appeared out of nowhere on the cold stone floor. They transformed into Charlina, the stone warriors, and the Braw Agents. Charlina was so preoccupied with handing over the Maioura Blade to Harold and Pierre, that she didn’t take the time to look behind her to see the unwanted guests. She walked straight into a small room in front of her. Inside, Harold and Pierre seemed to have been waiting for her arrival. Harold was holding the yellow Maioura Blade while Pierre was holding the blue one.

“Did you find it?” asked Harold. “I did,” replied Charlina in delight, while holding up the green Maioura Blade. Pierre laid the blue Maioura Blade on the ground. “Well, it looks like we can finally start the Ricon Ritual,” announced Pierre. But before Harold and Charlina placed their Maioura Blades onto the ground, Pierre overheard Hannah speaking. “I just remembered that the blue one is a fake,” she explained to the other Braw Agents. “Oh, yeah,” replied Bobby. “Looks like we have nothing to worry about.”

“Is that so?” asked Pierre. “We noticed that our generals retrieved a fake Maioura Blade, so we got rid of them and ordered Charlina to find the real one.” At that moment, Bobby felt defeated. Like his victory at Halmarn Museum had been reduced to nothing. However, Charlina also felt a sense of annoyance and shock. But for a completely different reason. “UGH!” she growled. “HOW DID YOU GET HERE?” Charlina turned to Pierre. “What should we do with them?” she asked.

Just then, Pierre cast some dark magic onto the Braw Agents, lining them up into a perfect row and securing them to the floor. He grabbed Charlina’s sword and walked towards them. All she did was stand back and sadistically watch the events unfold. “Why did you come here?” asked Pierre. “We came here in an effort to stop our city from being destroyed,” answered Bobby, in an act of bravery. “For this bold deed, you shall pay a price just as grand,” replied Pierre. He used both of his arms to raise the vermilion scimitar behind him, then he swung the blade towards Bobby’s neck. But before the blade could make contact someone grabbed Pierre by the arm.

“Put them in the dungeon for now,” ordered Harold. Pierre was disappointed by Harold’s order at first, but he quickly realised the benefits of it. “That’s actually not a bad idea,” he replied. “After the ritual, we can interrogate them, gain information on them, and then we can return to my original plan,” he added, with sadism in every word. “Yeah, sure,” commented Harold passively.

Pierre undid the magic on the Braw Agents, and the stone warriors took them to a large prison cell. They were now locked up in a stone chamber behind a row of steel bars. “I know that the news must have been devastating,” stated Hannah. “What news?” asked Bobby. “The fact those guys managed to get the real blue Maioura Blade,” answered Hannah. “I know that your victory in Halmarn Museum meant a lot to you.” Bobby gave Hannah a response, but not one that she was expecting. “It’s okay, we can defeat them tomorrow when they come to Fluvaria,” he explained. “And even if we don’t, we can still say that we made an effort to stop those freaks.” Hannah was taken aback. “I…I,” she muttered in surprise. “You have been so supportive throughout this journey Hannah, thank you,” replied Bobby. “And so have all of you,” he added. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be in this cell for much longer,” stated Elsa. “You said it,” replied Narvy. “I’ll figure out a way to get us out.”

Meanwhile, Harold, Pierre and Charlina were in the other room, getting things ready for the ritual. All three of the Maioura Blades were on the ground, lined up in a triangle with each of them touching by the tip of the blade. Pierre pulled out a scroll. It was the instruction sheet for the Ricon Ritual. “Alright, what do we do?” asked Harold. Pierre looked at the parchment and started to read it. “It says the first instruction is to place the Maioura Blades on the ground in tri-formation,” he explained. “We’ve done that,” replied Harold. “Next, one person must stand in front of the blades,” read Pierre. “Anyone else must leave or at least stay away from the ritual’s contents.” He didn’t take a break before reading the third instruction. “And finally, the person in front of the blades must read out the spell below,” he added. “Which one of you is going to be performing the ritual?” asked Charlina. “Harold, you should be the one to perform this ritual,” suggested Pierre. “Okay, but wouldn’t it be better if you did it?” asked Harold, “You are a master of dark magic.” Pierre smiled at him, in a way that was oddly warm and manipulative at the same time. “You’ve been waiting for this moment for twenty years,” explained Pierre. “Tomorrow will be your big day, and you should be the one getting things ready.”

Harold didn’t question Pierre’s request. The scroll was handed to him, and he stood in front of the Maioura Blades. Pierre went to the corner of the room alongside Charlina. “Avere Ita, Orus Tal, Kiour Hara, Maioure Gau,” read Harold. Just then, it felt as if a breeze had entered the room. The Maioura Blades were crumbling apart slowly. A red streak of magic circled them, as the pieces rose above the floor and started to connect.

Back in the dungeon, the Braw Agents still hadn’t found a way to escape. “Do you have a magnet?” asked Bobby. “We could use it to get those keys.” Narvy searched his tool belt. “Unfortunately, I don’t have one,” replied Narvy. Just then, an idea popped into his mind. “Maybe we don’t need the keys to get out of here,” he suggested. “What do you mean?” asked Bobby. “Watch and learn,” replied Narvy, with confidence. He grabbed a screwdriver from his belt and ran over to the door. Narvy stuck his arm through the bars and shoved the screwdriver into the lock. “Are you picking the lock?” asked Rita. “Well, yeah,” answered Narvy. “I’ve picked a lock before, so I know what I’m doing.” After a few seconds of fiddling, Narvy felt as if the door lost friction. This could only mean one thing. The Braw Agents didn’t waste time before opening the door and escaping from the dark, empty cellar.

Although they had escaped the dungeon, the Braw Agents hadn’t escaped the castle yet. With its endless array of corridors, its massive size and dim lighting, it seemed like an imposing place. A lot more so than Kitayi Forest. “Where do we go?” asked Hannah. “The stone warriors came in through there when they locked us up,” explained Bobby, indicating the corridor in front of him. “Let’s go through there.” Without hesitation, everyone went down that corridor. As they were making their way through the castle, Edward noticed something odd. “Does anyone else feel that strong wind?” he asked. “Yeah, and there’s a red glow coming from somewhere,” replied Elsa.

Within five minutes, the Braw Agents had made it back to the spot where they had teleported into the castle. Bobby noticed that the wind was stronger, and the glow was brighter. He assumed it was coming from the ritual, so he peeked into the room near him. Inside, the Ricon Ritual was commencing. There was now a glowing red ball hovering in the middle of the room. As the Maioura Blades were being stripped of their mass, the ball grew in size. Bobby watched the ritual, feeling terror and fascination at the same time. But that only lasted for a few seconds as Hannah pulled him away. The Braw Agents managed to run through the corridor, even with the strong wind getting in the way. Eventually, they took a right turn and found a door. “Could that be the exit?” asked Hannah. “Only one way to find out,” replied Bobby.

Together they busted the door open and made it to the other side. But they weren’t greeted with a view of the terrain outside the castle. Instead, they were greeted with a large room with various objects in it. It was like being in the Department of Valuable Artefacts, but the room was far less crowded than that place. It was mainly the home of bizarre paintings and stashes of money. “What am I looking at right now?” asked Bobby. “I don’t know,” replied Elsa, “but I could really use some of that cash.” “Yeah, imagine what we could spend it on,” commented Edward.

While this conversation was going on, Narvy walked further into the room. He was curious about the objects living in it. When he approached a wooden shelf, he found something he had already seen earlier in the day. “Alright, we’ve seen enough, let’s get out,” announced Bobby. “Perhaps not,” suggested Narvy. In his hand was the telecoin from earlier. As he pressed the button, Narvy let out his last words in the castle. “Let’s just get out of here.” The process that then took place was identical to the one in Kitayi Forest. A thin beam of yellow light grew from the telecoin. It bounced onto each of the Braw Agents, including Narvy, until they became connected by light particles. Each of them turned into glowing silhouettes. It felt more intense than it did last time. Mainly because this time, they were being hit directly with the magical light. A small shock in Narvy’s body was enough to make him drop the telecoin, but regardless, the Braw Agents successfully escaped the Castle of Crepuscolo and arrived back in Fluvaria.

In the room back at the castle, the ritual was almost complete. The ball continued to grow, consuming what little was left of the Maioura Blades. The magical wind was now stronger than ever. Charlina’s hair was blowing around violently and so were Harold and Pierre’s capes. All three of them stared at the spectacle with delight. They knew what would happen once the ritual was complete, and they couldn’t be more excited.

Eventually, the ball finally absorbed the last fragments of the Maioura Blades. Shortly after, the floating glow changed its shape. It went from a ball to the shape of a Maioura Blade, but it wasn’t one, it was something far greater. Then, the luminous coat disappeared revealing the object underneath. It fell to the ground without the magic to keep it in the air. The Avere Maioure lay on the floor. It looked just like a Maioura Blade, but the blade and gem were both red. Harold walked over to it and picked it up. “How do you feel?” asked Pierre. “Excellent,” replied Harold. “Now, we can take over Fluvaria.” “Yes, you will gain justice after all these years,” claimed Pierre. He pretended to care about Harold’s desires but in reality, he only cared about taking over Fluvaria for himself.

Shortly after, all three of them left the small room. They walked through the same corridor the Braw Agents had previously traversed. While doing so, they talked about their success, and their goals for tomorrow.