-

8 Hours Later

-

I asked Taeil to fly us back to the forest that leads us to Ikki's realm, and luckily, he got us there quicker than expected.

I got the key mom left for me out of my room in the ship, and mom, Zuho, and I  headed out. I used to key for us to enter, and we ran into town to find Ikki.

Luckily, we were quickly able to find him sitting alone on a bench, applying more bandages to his legs.

"Ikki!"

I yelled, getting his attention.

He came running towards us, but almost fell when he saw mom.

"I-Is that...?"

"Mhm~! Mom has been alive for a while now! None of us knew about it until now~!"

I smiled.

"Little Sasagawa~. It's so nice to see you again~"

Mom smiled, petting his head.

He couldn't contain his excitement and embraced her in a loving, tight hug.

"It's so good to see you again Lady Luoyang~~!"

He hopped excitedly.

"I know you're glad to see our mom Ikki, but that's not why we're here"

Zuho impatiently interrupted, recapturing Ikki's attention.

"Ikki, I need that sword. It just might help me save Yoonho"

He nodded, and led the three of us to the secret place that he showed us before.

-

We soon arrived back in the sword's room, and this time I could see it clearly.

But, it just looked like an old, busted up sword.

"...Ikki. Are you sure that this is the right sword?"

"It is. It's form will change once it's pulled out"

He informed.

I walked over to it, but before I could grab the grip of the sword, Ikki grabbed my shoulder to stop me.

"Renjun..., please be careful. Remember what I said before. If your body isn't ready to handle the sword's power, you'll die trying to pull it out..."

He looked a little worried about me.

"Don't worry man. Have a little faith~"

I smiled and ruffled his hair.

He nodded and stepped back so that I could continue.

As soon as I grabbed the sword's grip, I felt an overwhelming amount of power in my hands that began to flow through the rest of my body.

It was a power that I've never felt before.

"W-Wow. You really weren't kidding about the sword's power"

"Just don't let go! Once you touch it, you're locked in! This is where it becomes life or death!"

Ikki warned, and I nodded.

I began to tug on the sword with all my might, and soon, sparks began to fly from my hands and the grip, flying off in different directions.

"I-Is all of this really necessary?!"

"This is a good sign! You've gotten a lot stronger, so it just might come out! I can already see it start to rise up!"

Ikki happily exclaimed.

"You can do it Renjun~! I believe in you~!"

"You can do this brother~! I know Yoonho believes in you too~!"

Mom and Zuho encouraged me, making me feel more confident and stronger.

I pulled even harder, and half of the sword came out. After I did that, a weird powerful aura suddenly appeared around me.

"What's this now?!"

"The sword is analyzing you! It wants to know the full capabilities of its new master! It should faze into the sword once it's finished!"

Ikki exclaimed.

I just smiled and waited a few seconds, while still firmly holding onto the sword.

The aura soon fazed into the sword, and I began tugging on it again. After a couple more minutes of pulling, I felt a wave of relief, and the flying sparks disappeared.

"...He did it~!"

Ikki cheerfully exclaimed out of disbelief.

I held the sword up, and a blinding white light emitted from it. The light soon disappeared and I opened my eyes, only to find that the sword had completely changed!

It was a lot heavier than it was before, but I could still wield it with no problem. The sword itself was simply beautiful. It had a long blade, and was almost as wide as Donghyuck's Hell Sword. Along with that, it had six little homing spikes on either side of the blade, three on each side.

The tip of the blade was very pretty too, and emitted a small greenish-golden light.

"This is an Oathkeeper Sword. There's only one like it in all of existence. If anyone else tries to wield it that's not it's master or that's not pure of heart, they'll die in a matter of seconds"

Ikki explained.

I suddenly felt a sting on the back of my hand, and saw a new tattoo engraving itself on my birthmark.

It glowed a bit and then just disappeared.

"What was that about???"

"That's the mark of the Oathkeeper. If it gets separated from you, that mark will glow, and the sword will come flying back into your hands, no matter what obstacles may be in its way"

"That's so coooool~"

I smiled at the sword, and it suddenly glowed a little as a response.

"It seems to have a little conscience of its own. That's probably why it glowed. It seems to like you already~"

Mom smiled.

"Awwww, I like you too~"

I spoke to the sword, and it glowed again.

"Oh. This is for you Renjun. The gems and I made it for you for whenever you pulled out the sword"

Ikki held out a sheath for my sword that was very well crafted.

"Thanks so much~~. But will the Oathkeeper be able to fit?"

"It can~. The sheath is stretchable~"

"That's so cool~"

He helped me put the sheath on my back, and I carefully put the sword inside.

I suddenly felt something vibrating in my pocket, which turned out to be my hologram.

Namjoon is calling me???

"What's going on hyung??"

I asked upon answering.

"Things aren't going good at all Renjun! Something's happening to our planet and surrounding planets!"

I suddenly received even more calls from not only our ships, but also from friends in different areas of Ethora!

I answered them all at once, and they were all saying similar things.

Some were saying that the world looked as if it was dying. Others were saying that different kinds of monsters were attacking people and kidnapping them.

They even showed me exactly what they were talking about, and it wasn't a pretty sight at all.

"This has to be Xander's doing! He probably took control of some people and transformed others, and he's using them to kill our planet!"

Doyoung informed.

"But we still have twenty hours left!"

"Xansho never was one to hold his end of the bargain, not even when we were kids. I thought I could give him the benefit of the doubt, but he's trying to get to me sooner by slowly killing our planets as a threatening warning"

Vexxen explained.

"Namjoon-hyung, we're coming to get you! The rest of you stay hidden and do whatever it takes to protect yourselves and your areas!"

They complied and hung up, leaving Namjoon and Doyoung on the line.

"Ikki, protect this place no matter what! We might not be able to get back if something happens to the pillar outside!"

"Right!"

"I'll meet you at the bridge Renjun! I have to get some things first!"

Mom informed, running off with Ikki.

Zuho and I ran out of the room and made our way to the bridge. After a few agonizing minutes of waiting, mom finally came back with Ikki, with our three crowns with her.

"B-But, won't the crowns cause a rift on Ethora if we take them out of here??"

Zuho stuttered.

"I didn't have time to mention this in my note, but the crowns' creators can take them anywhere without a problem, as long as they don't fall into the wrong hands"

Mom explained.

"Oh~! So you and dad can take them anywhere with no issues~"

She smiled and nodded at my realization.

"Stay safe you guys..."

Ikki frowned, and we each hugged him.

"We're counting on you Ikki~"

I smiled, and he nodded with determination.

As soon as the three of us left his realm, we were able to see just how bad Ethora looked.

The trees around us were slowly disintegrating, as well as all the other plants, and monsters could be seen flying overhead.

Luckily, Ikki formed a barrier around his world's pillar from the inside. Nothing can destroy it now, hopefully.

The three of us quickly rushed inside the ship for safety.

"Namjoon-hyung, we're on our way. Keep the others safe in the meantime"

"Got it!"

He hung up afterwards.

Taeil set the ship into autopilot to fly to BTS' headquarters, and we each went to the storage room to find our hero costume rings.

The High Five put their ship into autopilot too, and Serafina used her Apportation to send everyone on their ship rings too.

We all wanted to be prepared for the challenges ahead.

-

10 Hours Later

-

When we arrived their headquarters, all of BTS were already in their hero costumes and ready to go.

Namjoon's

Seokjin's

Yoongi's

Hoseok's

Jimin's

Taehyung's

and Jungkook's

Hoseok's outfit intrigued us the most.

He only had on a plain black shirt with his cape, and he chose not to wear pants. Since he's a satyr, it was ok because he has the legs of a goat. He didn't wear shoes either, because he runs faster and attacks better with his hooves uncovered.

The seven of them quickly boarded our ship, since the transportation they had was destroyed by one of the monsters.

"Ok, so where is this Xander guy hiding?"

Namjoon questioned.

"Aren't we going to get your ship hyung?"

Jungkook questioned, but Namjoon shook his head.

"We don't have time for that. We only have ten more hours to get to where this guy is hiding"

"Actually, it would only take us a couple minutes to get there. Xansho is in a different realm between all worlds. Since I'm a part of his bloodline, I'll be able to get us all there in no time. So we can go get your ship, and go straight there, but it'll take us ten to twenty minutes to reach the building Xansho is in"

Vexxen informed.

"Then let's get moving! We'll be a big help if we get Namjoon-hyung's ship~!"

Jimin exclaimed, and Taehyung nodded in agreement.

"We'd better hurry though"

"Hobi's right. If we take too long and miss the deadline, Ethora will definitely start to look more like the world I came from"

Yoongi sighed with concern.

"Let's get to moving then. Hey Jin-hyung, I wish that nothing will happen to my ship before we get there"

"You got it Joon~"

Jin cheered, snapping his fingers with much flamboyance.

Namjoon smiled, as if he could feel that his ship was safe. He set the coordinates for his ship, and we all headed there at top speed.

I hope Yoonho is alright...