When Jegun inspected the area where the entrance of the cave was located, up above the trees he can see the dark shadows hovering in the air. They were not able to locate the cave\'s mouth easily because he created an illusion of a big tree blocking the view.

If they look closely they will only see big roots and trunk of the tree, not the entrance of the cave.

He still has a secret passage that they can use during their escape, he will only reveal the passage to his companion if they have already drawn out a solid plan of escape.

He went to find the others to help them discuss a strategy on how to distract the enemies. He found them in the chamber where he used to house Ella.

Zemeth looked at the old man. "What are those dark shadows? Who commanded them?"

"They are the dark armies owned by the vampire brothers namely...Maxwell...Xenon and Lothaire. They\'re also interested in Ella, but I was quick enough to snatch her before they can get their hands on her. I entered their territory undetected. They are furious at me for kidnapping their guest so they are after me. They won\'t stop until they can find my location," Jegun explained.

"Ah, I see. So, they are after the girl as well. They must have discovered something about women. Anyways, we must be careful with our movement. If they will discover this cave we will be trapped and it might be our end," Zemeth said. Although they are well prepared during times of danger, anything can happen now that they have a frail woman to take care of.

Ramza looked at Jegun. "Is there a location where we can see the blazing barrier near here?" he asked.

"Yes. There is a perfect location near the stream, a few miles from here," answered Jegun.

"I want to inspect that area and then go to Esmeralda\'s place," Ramza informed them of his intention.

Zemeth nodded his head. "Okay...so how will you get out of the cave undetected?" he asked the two men.

"We can do two things," Jegun replied. "We can do teleportation for faster arrival to the area or we can disguise ourselves..."

"How?" asked Ramza.

"We will teleport to the area disguised ourselves as dark shadows. This way even if they will see us, they won\'t be able to detect our identity. It\'s the only way we can leave this cave undetected," Jegun explained.

Ramza grinned. "What a brilliant idea!" he patted the old man\'s shoulder impressed with his suggestion. "I want us to go to the stream first and then proceed to the floating land. We will leave when you\'re ready," he said.

"Okay, I\'ll make some preparation first," Jegun said and left the chamber.

Zemeth smiled while looking at his friend\'s face. "Are you excited to see Kate again?"

Ramza\'s smile was radiating on his face. "Yes of course! I missed her so much. I was about to give up on seeing her again but after knowing that she\'s alive I desperately want to see her again. It will be our second chance again. I can\'t wait to see her again!" he gushes excitedly.

Zemeth patted his friend\'s shoulder. "I wish you good luck," he said.

"Thanks!" said Ramza.

Zemeth opened his palm and an ancient-looking golden dagger appeared in his hand.

Ramza stared at the object that his friend had summoned. "What is that—?"

"I will use this dagger that will turn into a sword once smeared with Ella\'s blood. It can cut a small portion of the blazing barrier that will become our gateway out of this castle," Zemeth explained.

Ramza\'s brows furrowed. "Really? That dagger looks ordinary to me," he commented doubting his friend\'s claim for a moment.

"Once Ella\'s blood will be smeared in this dagger it will turn into a powerful sword that can slice the barrier," Zemeth repeated.

"Ah...so the dagger and Ella\'s blood are needed to open the barrier?" Ramza asked.

"Yes. As soon as you will get Kate, we will leave this cave. We can\'t stay here any longer," he said.

"Don\'t worry, we will be back right away after I located Kate," Ramza assured him.

One hour later.

Jegun returned. "I"m ready...but before we go...I just want to ask if we can bring my friend who is the king of the dwarfs and his family out of this castle as well?" he asked.

A creased appeared on Zemeth\'s forehead. "It depends...by the way...who are these creatures?"

"They are small people we call dwarf or elves. More or less about ten of them that includes his family. I can guarantee you that these dwarfs are harmless and they\'ve been helping me and the boy a for a long time," Jegun said.

"If they are only eleven, I will allow it."

"How about 300 hundred of them—?" Jegun said.

Zemeth shook his head. "I\'m not sure about that. It\'s not that I don\'t want to help them but it depends on how long the opening would last. There\'s no guarantee at all, it would take a long time before the 300 dwarfs can cross the opening by foot...and the enemies might be already coming after us..."

Jegun was thinking for a moment. "What if they have a vehicle that can transport them faster?"

"Hmm...let see...just tell them that we can\'t guarantee their safety at all. But if they want to gamble for their life they can wait at the place where I\'m going to open the barrier and they can escape as long there\'s still time," he said. "But there is always danger in a situation like this, they must be ready to face any consequences of their decision," Zemeth said.

"Don\'t worry, they would rather try and die than not try at all," said Jegun.

Zemeth nodded his head in agreement. "Okay, tell them to get ready with their transportation—the fastest the better," he said.

"Thank you from the bottom of my heart," Jegun conveyed his heartfelt thanks.

Ramza stood up eager to leave and get Kate. "Alright, let\'s try to get out the cave..."

"Okay...I have a secret passage where we can leave undetected, but since we need to hurry up since we are going to two places, we just do the teleportation process, much faster and time-efficient," Jegun said. He looked at his companion and waved his hand all over Ramza\'s body.

Ramza was now transformed into a dark shadow. Jegun did the same process to himself.

Zemeth was now looking at the two dark shadows in front of him. "Impressive!" he clapped his hands.

Jegun gripped Ramza\'s arms and initiated the teleportation process going to the stream.

A minute later, the men landed behind the thick bushes a few meters from the stream, they can already hear the rushing of water falling from the waterfall.

Ramza whispered something on Jegun\'s ears. "Did you see what I see—?" he pointed his mouth to the direction of a flurry of activity going on near the stream.

Jegun saw a multitude of leaves digging the soil near the flowers. "What are they doing?" he asked in a low voice.

"They are digging the soil and looks like the rate they\'re going they will finish sooner or later," Ramza said.

Jegun\'s brows furrowed. "What for—?"

"I dunno...Let\'s proceed to where the barrier was located. We\'re not here to witness some leaves digging the earth," Ramza reminded him.

"Alright..." Jegun replied.

They were about to leave the place when Jegun\'s eyes caught something...

"Wait...I saw a body lying a few meters from the whole that they were digging," said Jegun. "I\'m curious who is it? Let\'s take a quick look...!" he said and floated towards the area in their dark shadow disguise.

Ramza has no choice but to follow his companion.

Together they floated towards the stream hiding behind the shadows of the trees.

When they arrived there, the leaves already stopped digging and flew towards the body, then they surrounded the body which happens to be a woman and they managed to lift it with their combined effort.

The woman\'s body floated from the ground escorted by the yellow leaves and they arrived at the hole. Slowly, they lowered the body into the open grave.

Ramza watched in fascination. Then the light of the moon shined on the woman\'s face...hmm... \'the woman\'s face looks familiar,\' he said to himself.

"W-wait...it looks like Ivy," Ramza said in a low voice.

Jegun looked at his companion. "What—?"

"The dead woman in the grave looks like Ivy, Ella\'s sister," Ramza repeated. "I want to see that woman\'s face up close...Can you freeze the leaves even for a few seconds? I don\'t want to startle them just in case I\'m wrong. I just want to have a closer look, I just want to be sure..." he said.

"Hmm... let me try my freezing technique. I\'m no expert yet, I can only freeze objects within a minute or two. You have to hurry up," Jegun said.

"Alright, do it now!" Ramza ordered.

Jegun faced the leaves and waved his hand at them a few times. The leaves froze.

Ramza flew towards the grave and peered closely at the woman\'s pale face, his eyes widened in shock. "Oh no! This is Ivy! She\'s dead already—?" he said sadly. He wastes no time and hovered back to Jegun\'s side.

"Do you know who that woman is?" asked Jegun.

"It\'s confirmed! I know her. She\'s Ivy!" answered Ramza.

When they looked back at the grave the leaves were now in motion again and actively putting back the soil into the open grave. They are probably burying the body.

"Let\'s leave now, the woman is dead, there is nothing we can do to save her," Jegun said.

"No! We need to bring back Ivy\'s body to the cave," Ramza insisted.

Jegun can\'t get it. "But why—?"

"Because my friend Zemeth loves this woman secretly," answered Ramza.

Jegun finally understood. "Alright, I\'ll freeze the leaves again, and let\'s go to the grave together and initiate the teleportation process back to the cave..."

Jegun\'s hands move again freezing the leaves and they swoop down into the grave together. Ramza went down and scooped Ivy\'s body flawlessly. Jegun gripped Ramza\'s shoulder and initiated the teleportation process. They vanished from the area instantly.

A minute later, the leaves were now unfrozen and they were back in motion, they were shocked to discover that the body they buried was no longer lying in the ground.

They looked at each other in confusion and scattered in every direction to find the body.