"Did you spot where the monsters might have come from?" Clay asked from the main room.

"Unfortunately not." Said Ava as she typed on her keyboard. "It doesn't look like they're emitting any dark magic or magical power that could help us locate them. It looks like they're just ghosts."

"Hm... Maybe my sister managed to find a spell to allow them that." Said the wizard.

"That would be a problem..." Said Macy, thinking.

"Oh! No problem!" Said Lance as he ate an apple, and gave the rest to Hamletta. "Next attack, we'll beat them to a pulp without letting one escape, and then we'll interrogate them!"

"As if a monster could talk and answer us!" Aaron laughed from above, on his flying shield. "Except for the top brass, I've never seen monsters talk! Except for their noises...Braaa, ouhhh, grrr...!" Aaron began to imitate the monsters, laughing.

"Hey! I hope you're not laughing at me!"

Aaron laughed, "Me? Noooo! Not at all!"

"Stop it, we'll just have to follow one of them if the monsters escape." Said Axl who had just wolfed down an entire platter of ham.

"That's pretty good!" Said Aaron.

"I don't think that's a good idea..." Said Clay as he looked at the displayed map that showed the Knighton area. "They might spot us with our vehicles and we'd be in even more trouble. It wouldn't be a good idea to take them all on us at once. We need to take them out bit by bit."

"Yes, Clay is right. We can't have any of us fall into enemy hands. We have to stay as a team." Said Macy seriously.

"So what do we do to find them?" Said Lance looking at Macy and Clay. "Lady princess and gentleman knight perfect, tell us!"

Macy looked at the knight-magician to see if he had a plan.

Moorington sighed, "There is no perfect technique for this kind of mission. To find them more easily, we would have to split up to mine more areas."

"Then let's do that-!"

"No!" Lance was interrupted by Clay. "That's not the answer." Said the dark blue knight. "If we split up, that's how they'll catch us all. Still, you remember the first time Monstrox came back, right? We'd all been set up!"

Everyone sighed.

"So what do we do?" Lance asked.

"How about we just wait for Ruina or Monstrox to want to show up, and we beat them. Story solved!" Said Robin, smiling a little. "Forget what I just said." He said as he received jaded looks from everyone in the room.

Clay sighed as he walked towards the exit, "Whatever. Let's all go practice, I'll think of something." He then walked out and the door closed behind him.

All the knights looked at each other and Macy spoke, "Come on! Everyone to the training room!"

"Yeah!" Aaron raised his hand.

Axl nodded his head and...

"What? Again???!" Lance grumbled.

"Hm......"

Everyone walked out, and Lance was the last one as he protested.

From Clay's side:

"She doesn't seem to be letting go..." He sighed as he sat in his room. He looked down at his light blue colored magical right arm. He had returned the nexos powers to Merlok, so his magic had returned to the original. "Mother..." He looked up at the ceiling. "One day, I will save you... I promise.."

He then looked up, "Hm? Macy?" He watched as the princess entered his room. "What's going on?"

The red knight looked at him and sat down next to him. "I'm worried about you..." She said as she looked down at the floor, not daring to look at him. "At the last fight, you looked like..."

Clay sighed, "It's nothing. It's just..."

"Your mother, yes." The princess nodded her head. "It's still like last time. She's in your head." The other nodded. "But... Isn't there a solution for this? Can't you make her go away?" She looked at him a little.

"I don't think it's possible. I don't have enough control over my magic yet, and she knows more spells than I do. Even if I reject her, she'll know how to come back without me knowing it... It's a waste of time for that."

"I understand..." She looked down again. "But... You know, Clay?" He looked at her as she gave him a soft smile and put her hand over his. "I'm here for you if you need anything. So... If you ever feel bad, come to me."

Clay blinked a little, not having that habit, but smiled too. "Thanks, Macy. I'll make a note."

Macy smiled too and hugged him, which surprised Clay. "Macy...?"

"We're all with you, Clay! Remember that!" She says happily.

"Huh...? Yes." Clay said with a small smile. He returned the hug. "Thank you."

ON THE OTHER HAND

"So, what should I do? Take care of him?" A confused voice echoed in a dark room.

"Yes." The witch Ruina spoke. "And I want you to teach him to hate the Nexos knights, to control his magic, and-"

"Oh yes! I get it!" The female voice sounded happy. "I'll come, but only after you catch him and control him. I wouldn't want to take his mother away from him." She sounded a little more serious. "Then you need to make it clear to him that I'm just a temporary replacement."

Ruina nodded, "I'll make sure of that. But I want to confirm that you will be there to carry out the plan."

"Aww, but of course. You know I love to join in this kind of fight. Let's see how powerful these knights are, and especially interesting..."

Ruina looked up, "Your mission is not with them, it's with my son."

"Rooh, of course. But if you need my help with that too, you tell me-"

Ruina broke contact with the connection. She had used her magic to contact the other person who was in another world. She sighed, but then she smiled, "Nexo Knights, you haven't seen anything yet." She began to laugh, as one of the army generals looked at her uncomprehendingly.

From the knights' side:

"Guys, let's try something." Said Clay as he entered the training room with Macy.

"Did you find anything, Clayman?" Aaron asked questioningly.

Axl and Lance looked at them too.

"We're not going to do anything." The blue knight crossed his arms.

"HUUUUHHHHH???!!"

"What?! That's the plan?!" Everyone was surprised.

"There's no point in rushing in if it's going to give them an opportunity to trick us. We need to stay together and not leave the Fortrex alone and away from the capital." Said Clay. "Then we will wait for the next attack, and destroy them. If we continue like this, Ruina and Monstrox will not be able to keep up with their monsters. We'll stop them, and that, no matter how long it takes. But we have to be sure that we succeed." He said seriously. "My mother is dangerous, and Monstrox may be back sooner than we think. We need to increase the defense of the capital so we don't take an assault like last time. Let's get ready and increase all our capabilities so we don't let them overwhelm us!" He said, catching everyone's attention. "War is coming, and I'm not sure yet what will happen. That's why I want us to have every chance to succeed!"

"...👀" Everyone was surprised, but they all smiled. What an encouraging speech...

"Well done, nephew!" Merlok appeared on the screen and laughed, "Did you all hear? We have to put all our chances on our side! My sister has probably been up to no good and it can't be foolish."

Aaron laughed, "She sure must be tougher than Jestro!"

"Agree!" Lance gave a 'like' with his thumb.

Axl nodded his head and Macy closed her eyes.

"Come on! One more hour of training, then eat, then sleep." Said Clay.

"Eat an hour, eat and eat!" Says Axl with his logic.

"Huh? If that's what it is... One hour rest-massage, eat and sleep." Says Lance.

"No! It doesn't work like that!" Says Macy, placing her hands on her hips. "We're doing the program Clay imposed!"

Axl and Lance pouted.

"Hahahaha! Come on, guys! It's just an hour!" Said Aaron with a smile.

"...Yes..."

They all got to work.

Afterwards, they all ate afterwards in the great hall, quite happily, although Clay seemed a bit serious, which didn't escape the princess's eye.

They all went to their rooms, and even though Macy wanted to go see Clay, she decided to leave him alone for that night... Maybe she was wrong...

~

Clay....

He opened his eyes, even though it was dark. Yes, it was at least 1:08 am. And that voice appeared again. It seems to like doing it when the time is not right. Why do it in the middle of the night? Does she want her own son to not know how to rest? He sighed.

Come to me, Clay... Come...

"Mother..." He looked up at the ceiling as he put his hand to his forehead. "Where are you...?"

He could hear a mischievous laugh, but no answer to his question.

Patience, son...~ We'll meet again soon, don't worry... And your dear uncle won't be able to do anything... We'll have a friendly little family reunion...~Hehehe~

Clay said nothing, and narrowed his eyes, "We'll stop you, that's all I can say."

We will see about that, son... I can't wait to see...

Clay gritted his teeth a little, and closed his eyes to try to get back to sleep.

The night seemed to be long... Very long... His mother won't let go of him, from what he can conclude.