An hour later...
Kairo and Nyx left Fabian's office. The training had been completed, and Kairo had gotten what he wanted. Now everything was set. The duo stood around the transport portal, waiting for their victim.
"Are you sure it will work? Jed now knows we are suspicious of him. If you had not stated it so loudly last time, maybe he would still be clueless," Nyx voiced her complaint. All they had done was observe for now, and she was getting tired of all that inaction. "I start thinking my way would have been much more fun and action-oriented. Instead of openly standing here and asking everyone where Jed is."
Still, Kairo was very patient. If his father had taught him something, it was this: hurry was the best way to miss little details. "Your action—you will get enough of it soon, Nyx. Just a little more patience. Remember when I said we can't tail a spy? Yeah, I was perfectly right. It's useless to try to tail Jed in the shadows. Instead, we will force him to commit a mistake by openly showing our suspicions."
By doing so, they were at the edge of breaking the implicit rule and setting themselves in mortal danger if they continued probing further. And the plan would work exactly for that reason. Knowing they were setting themselves in mortal danger to spy on him, Jed would be certain they had something solid—otherwise, they wouldn't risk their lives.
If he had something to hide, he was bound to make a mistake. And that was where they would take action. "He will try to lure us and use his skills to evade before dispersing into the shadows. All we have to do is openly follow him and let him believe he will deceive us and disappear like they know how to do. At that moment, we'll start following him in the shadows, with him completely oblivious to our presence. We will use their superior skill and confidence against them."
"That sounds unrealistic… but I love it. That's him. Hope Leli was right and she managed to arrange the portals for us to all get transported to the same place," Nyx added.
"Hope you're right about him. She's taking a risk for us," Kairo said. As they chatted, Kairo and Nyx didn't try to hide they were following him. Jed was no fool. The moment he noticed them, he acted perfectly fine, like he had nothing to hide—getting into the portal with slightly hurried steps.
"Now we get some action. Come on, Nyx." Kairo and Nyx dashed into the portal.
…
Kairo and Nyx found themselves in a vast yard of yellow plants. Hidden within them, they approached slowly. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing more than weeds and scarecrows. Dressed with old, ragged cloth and a round cap, they stared straight at them, like they were alive—deep into their eyes.
"A weed garden? If he wanted to trick us and disappear, he should have chosen a more bustling city, not an old county, don't you think?" Nyx said.
Kairo too was perplexed. Keeping his steps low, he kept pushing forward. "Maybe he is really confident in his skills," Kairo said. No matter what, they couldn't step back at this point. Following after their target, the duo moved furtively. Every slight movement of the weeds caused Kairo's expression to shift. Trembling slightly as he moved in the cold winds, Kairo kept his focus. The dark moon shone brightly above them, making the weed monsters look even more real.
The closer they got, the deeper his worries grew. Something was definitely not right in here. Kairo passed by another Scarecrows. This one gave him goosebumps—actually standing on two feet like it was human.
"These things are getting on my nerves. I almost thought they were real," Kairo frowned. He started wondering how the farmers in this place managed to stay sane with these things constantly fixing their eyes on them.
Just as Kairo was getting away from these things, the weeds began shaking again—and this time it wasn't the wind.
The Scarecrows suddenly sprang to life, like animated by a real soul. Agile like an experienced fighter, it shot its arms forward, sealing Kairo into them.
"Huh?"
"A trap!" Nyx screamed, but it was too late. The Scarecrows around them slowly jumped off their wooden sticks. Like ninjas appearing from the shadows, they began shooting and whistling around the weed, armed with wooden sticks that shone sharper than swords.
"He never intended to hide from us. He didn't do like we expected and run away from his clandestine meeting. Instead, he didn't change his plans but simply got them ready for us." Kairo felt beads of sweat roll down his face. They had thought they were tricking Jed, but all along he had been the one directing their every move—intentionally letting everything slide, even his suspicious movements.
The ninja-like Scarecrows approached dangerously. Spear-like stick in hand, it was aiming for Kairo's heart.
"How can something made of weed have this much strength?" Kairo was blown. No matter how he tried to free himself, the Scarecrows squeezed him so hard he felt his bones breaking. Now that silly smile it had earlier made even more sense—it had been mocking him all this time.
"It is over, Kairo. You are smart, and that's exactly why you are about to die. Ah, you can't imagine how long I've wanted to rip that hypocrite smile off your face." The very familiar voice of Jed echoed in the shadows. Although Kairo couldn't see him, he knew he was there.
The pressure started mounting, causing Kairo's heart to accelerate. Stuck between the scarecrow's arms, he couldn't move. Still, Kairo didn't give up. Tilting his wrist upward, he ejected the first card into the air, causing it to move up toward his face. Then, tilting his head forward, he bit into the card with his lips.
The Circuitry of the Void was summoned once again. Born from nothing, it rippled with its familiar white energy. But this time it wasn't tactical brilliance—it was like they had been transported into a sandstorm.
The scarecrow was torn to pieces like blades were floating in the sky. Then a humanoid figure was set into motion, whistling around the dead angles of the scarecrows. It fought like a general at war. Spear in hand, it spun and thrust its lance.
The scarecrows were blown away, shattered into nothingness by the impressive spear. Kairo blinked in surprise.
"I have never activated this card since I got it... The Sand Paladin," he murmured.
Within the dense weed farm, the sand had coalesced into a humanoid figure—a stoic paladin made entirely of sand, wielding a dazzling golden lance. Within the bright moonlight, his aura appeared almost divine. The paladin took a step forward, waving his lance in an arc, causing the weed around to be sliced in two by an invisible light. A clean circular space had appeared around them—ideal for them to fight freely.
"Justice shall be served," the Sand Paladin said.
"Wow, Kairo, you didn't tell me you had something like this. He's so cool... a real paladin!" Nyx's eyes blinked, almost turning into twinkling stars.
Kairo raised his chin. "I had read about the card and saw its image, but seeing it in real life is completely different. It feels like the Sand Paladin is not made of magic, but is a real living paladin. And what the hell—it can talk?"
Up until now, Kairo had been overly reliant on Tactical Brilliance since it seemed to solve almost all his problems every time, but this time around it had been different.
The scarecrows were far from defeated—they became even more agitated, jumping all at once toward them. Armed with Sifa, Nyx looked like a born fighter.
"I wouldn't be in their place," Kairo's face twitched.
Nyx danced around, waved the living scarf in hand. Using it as a grappling tool, she caught the scarecrows by their heads, then yanked them toward her—only to finish their course with her little face deep into their heads, splitting them instantly upon impact.
"They're surely using a card to animate the scarecrows. They didn't attack us until we reached this place—probably because the owner of the card needs to be within a certain range. That's the activating condition. If we beat him up, we won't have to deal with them anymore," said Nyx.
"You're right. Over there," Kairo pointed. The Sand Paladin had cleaned their periphery view, making it easy for Kairo to see the grange. "The card owner must be hidden there. Jed is still in the shadows—be careful. Sand Paladin, protect our backs while we move forward," Kairo ordered. Ejecting his next card, he activated Tactical Brilliance.
"That makes us three agile fighters. We should be enough to deal with them." Armored by Tactical Brilliance, Kairo was ready to get his revenge.
"Go!" The duo was set in motion, shooting toward the wooden house in the middle of the farm. But Kairo almost stumbled forward. The Sand Paladin didn't stay on their tail to protect them. Instead, it cannonballed forward, carving its path into the sea of enemies.
"I cannot wait. Justice shall be served!" it kept repeating, waving its lance like a battle maniac. The scarecrows were unable to hold him with their sticks, blown away one after another.
Kairo glanced at the smiling Nyx. "I don't know about you, Kairo, but him—I already love him," she said, following closely after the Sand Paladin. The trio carved their way into the wooden house.