The Dawn of the New World

With the appearance of the black cube silence swiftly returned to that part of the forest, until Stasa realized what had happened. He looked back towards 89 with eyes full of disbelief.

"What...did you do?" ​​

89 waved his hand once again as the cube shrunk in size from over 5 meters to just 10 centimeters and flew into his palm. The hood revealed just the lower part of his face which held a genial smile.

"Tis but a measly seal my lord, nothing for you to worry about. Once we return to the church I will release her. This was the faster option since we are short on time."

'A measly seal?'

Since Stasa was a royal himself he knew a fair bit about seals but none of it detailed this kind of ability. To so completely and wholly seal a living being along with their weapons and powers fully intact, and to a degree where they couldn't even defend against it, this was unheard of.

But then he realized where these two had come from. The Church was the strongest power in the great world for a reason.

89 returned to the mirror and gestured for Stasa to join him and 86.

"Shall we return, my lord?"

"O-Oh...yeah..."

Stasa stammeringly replied with a much more respectful tone than before. Even if they belonged to the lowest tier that still didn't mean he could look down on them.

He walked back to the mirror as it started ascending into the air, all the while stealing curious glances of the cube. This did not go unnoticed and 89 extended his hand, "Would you like to hold it, my lord?"

"Can I?"

"Of course. As long as I am nearby the seal will remain."

Stasa took the cube with both hands as if it was a living thing and carefully inspected it. It was neither cold nor hot. It didn't even have any weight of its own and if he just closed his eyes he wouldn't even be able to tell it was there.

It did not register on any senses other than sight. The cube did not move either so there was no way to tell there was an entire person inside it.

"Are you sure this is safe? She won't get hurt right?"

Stasa had no small amount of misgivings considering this was the first time he had seen something like this but both 89 and 86 had heard this question and others like it numerous times.

"Yes, she is completely safe in there as long as I want her to be. She won't get hungry or injured and will stay as-is until I undo the seal. You can rest assured."

Stasa nodded calmly but inwardly he was freaking out. To seal a person as they were and KEEP them in that state for extended periods of time was unheard of. Technically he could seal someone that was on the verge of death until they could be taken to safety. He could extend that one last breath for as long as needed.

'But I'm sure it's not THAT powerful. It must have some kind of a limit...'

The mirror continued to ascend as 86 and 89 made casual chit chat but just when they reached a height of 40 meters both of them suddenly turned silent while Stasa was too busy looking at the cube to notice.

The mirror also stopped mid-air. 86 slowly examined their surroundings but couldn't see anything out of ordinary in the darkness. He leaned in towards 89 and whispered, "Did you feel that?"

89 nodded with a grim expression.

"Yeah, no doubt about it. Something has locked onto us with extremely sharp killing intent."

They quickly shifted the conversation to Spirit sense once they were sure it wasn't their imagination.

'Do you think it's the crimson beasts?'

'No, can't be them. This is too focused, too precise.'

'And strong! I feel like if I make any hasty movements my head will roll away on its own.'

Just then two words were sent digging into their minds. An order.

'Come down.'

They both exchanged discerning glances, 'Human?' but still couldn't be sure. This type of killing intent was extremely rare. It wasn't without purpose, there was still a consciousness behind it but it still didn't 'feel' human enough.

The mirror started its descent again which was when Stasa finally noticed something was wrong.

"What happened? Why are we going back down?"

"Shhh!" 89 shushed to shut him up before focusing his gaze below them where a figure was leisurely sitting on a small boulder.

The mirror came to a stop just a few meters away from him. When Stasa noticed who it was his expression turned ugly.

"You! What are you doing here?"

Hao Xuan's gaze landed on the cube in his hand before it fell on 89.

"What did you do to her?"