"Why does this bird keep hounding us — it follows us wherever we go." Kallen's expression changed instantly. She knew how dangerous this bird was, and with W.W. gone and Rulu's body severely weakened, they simply didn't have the strength to deal with it.
"C.C., take us back to that city we passed through earlier — maybe we can find shelter there." Rulu said urgently. C.C. agreed at once and led the others in a swift retreat across the silver terrain.
But the great bird was blindingly fast. They had barely gotten any distance before the orange bird was hovering in the sky directly above them, then came plunging down in a dive, bearing straight toward them.
"You two go ahead — I'll cover you." Seeing the bird closing in, Kallen immediately stopped and turned to face it. She leaped high into the air and drove her lance at the diving bird.
The bird beat its enormous wings, slamming them down toward Kallen. Before her lance could connect, the bird's hard wing struck her and sent her crashing to the ground below. Without sparing a glance at the fallen Kallen, the bird continued its charge toward Rulu and C.C.
Rulu quickly summoned several fireballs and hurled them at the bird. The bird called forth a powerful gust of wind in response, scattering the fireballs and knocking the weakened Rulu off his feet. C.C. rushed over to help him up, but the bird swooped down upon them both, opened its massive talons, seized Rulu and C.C. in its grip, and soared up into the sky.
"What's happening — where is it taking us?!" Rulu struggled with all his strength to break free from the bird's claws, but their grip was overwhelming and he couldn't budge.
C.C. looked in the direction the bird was flying, and something suddenly seemed to come back to her. "This direction... it looks like it's heading toward the Emperor's palace. Could it be trying to bring us before the Sanctuary's Emperor?"
"Did you say the Emperor?" Rulu was startled, and then a thoughtful expression crossed his face.
With a whoosh, a large boulder materialized nearby and came hurtling at the bird. The bird banked to one side, altered its course, and nimbly dodged the attack. Rulu and C.C., still clutched in its talons, looked toward where the boulder had come from — and saw a serpentine creature with a human face appear near the bird and come flying toward it.
C.C. immediately recognized the creature as W.W., the one who had been fighting the orange bird earlier. She called out at the top of her voice: "W.W.! We're here! Come save us!"
W.W. spotted Rulu and C.C. caught in the bird's grasp and flew hard toward it, hurling boulders at it. The bird beat its wings furiously and gained speed, climbing higher into the sky. It was far faster than W.W. — though she pushed herself to the limit chasing it, the gap between them widened rapidly, and she simply couldn't keep up.
"It looks like W.W. can't help us." Rulu thought to himself. Watching W.W. fall farther and farther behind, on the verge of being left behind entirely, he shouted out to her: "Find Kallen and Six-Tail! We're at the Emperor's palace — come find us at the Emperor's palace!"
Before long, the orange bird had shaken W.W. off completely, and she vanished from Rulu and C.C.'s sight.
The bird continued its rapid flight through the high sky. After being seized, Rulu stopped struggling and resisting. C.C., noticing that Rulu didn't seem to have any intention of trying to escape, couldn't help asking: "What's wrong, Rulu? Have you given up fighting back?"
Rulu said: "It doesn't look like it intends to harm us. And there's no way the two of us can escape in our current state — resisting would only make things worse. All we can do for now is wait and see."
C.C. said: "But Rulu, you should know it may well have been sent by the Emperor. We could be walking into an even more dangerous situation — one that's far harder to get out of."
"I know. But we don't have a choice anymore. And if this bird really was sent by the Emperor, that actually suits me fine — because I have some things I want to ask him."
The orange bird flew at tremendous speed. To Rulu, the surroundings seemed to shift constantly as they soared over mountain ranges, crossed deserts, and at last arrived above a cluster of stone buildings. The bird began to slow and descend, heading straight for the most magnificent structure among them.
The bird carried Rulu and C.C. through the wide-open gates of the great manor and into a vast, imposing hall, where it landed at the center. It released its talons, set Rulu and C.C. down on the open floor of the hall, then turned and flew back out through the gates.
"This place is..." Rulu got to his feet and began to take in his surroundings. He saw roughly thirty or forty people standing on either side of the hall, and approximately twenty armed soldiers positioned around its perimeter. For some reason, Rulu had the strange feeling that he recognized these people — as though he had seen them somewhere before.
"Rulu — it's really you?!"
Suddenly, a joyful woman's voice rang out from the crowd. A young woman with long pink hair stepped forward, staring at Rulu in astonishment.
"Euphemia..." Rulu stared back at her with equal surprise. He recognized her — it was Euphemia, who had been with him just the day before.
"Euphemia, please return to your place. You know what kind of setting this is."
A clear male voice came from deeper in the hall. The voice sounded familiar to Rulu. He looked toward its source — and was astonished to find that it was Shunaizel who had spoken.
"Please come back, Lord Euphemia..." A young man with brown hair walked quickly out from the crowd, came to Euphemia's side, took her hand, and guided her back to her position. Rulu recognized this young man as well — he was Euphemia's personal attendant, the Suzaku Guard Captain.
"Now I remember — these are the royal family members who came to watch the match between Euphemia and Princess Meiyu. Why are they all here? And where is the Sanctuary's Emperor? I don't see him anywhere." Rulu thought to himself. He scanned the room with a guarded eye, and the crowd returned his gaze with looks of ill intent, whispering among themselves in low voices:
"It's them — those are the spies who secretly infiltrated our Sanctuary."
"Yes, apparently these people mixed themselves into Euphemia and Princess Meiyu's match a few days ago, attacked Princess Meiyu, and left her crippled. Utterly ruthless and despicable."
"Not only did they viciously harm Princess Meiyu, they also secretly broke into our Sanctuary's forbidden grounds and tried to steal our sacred treasures. Fortunately, His Majesty the Emperor detected the intrusion and sent that bird to capture them. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable."
"I wonder why His Majesty summoned us all here. Could it be that His Majesty intends to hold a public trial of these spies who infiltrated our Sanctuary?"
The crowd continued murmuring among themselves, casting all manner of looks at Rulu and C.C.