The mansion has a large garage where the Luzbel family's vehicles are kept, located in the east wing of the mansion.
They followed a long cobblestone path surrounded by tall pine-like trees, whose leaves are more orange than green.
Elara led the way, guiding the others to a small building at the end of the path.
It was certainly not much compared to the mansion, as the entrance to the building, whose black stairs lead to the basement, is guarded by a small one-story building with white walls and a metal door.
"If we want to go fast, it's better to use the truck. The subway to Lightflower must be canceled due to the raid warning."
Nova nodded. Elara was right. There would probably be no transportation to Lightflower for the next few days. It was even more likely that the Aberrations had already besieged the city, taking advantage of the Empaths' blind spots.
Thinking about it, Nova walked behind Elara. He stopped when the girl, with a snap and a strange finger movement, pulled a black card out of nowhere. It was just an old trick, so there was nothing surprising about that action.
She placed the card in front of the reader on the silver metal door, and it opened automatically.
"Which truck are we taking, Ellie?"
"I was thinking more about comfort than aesthetics. We'll take the '90 Midnight."
Miyu's ears twitched in disappointment. Her question was answered with the name of a vehicle that looks ridiculous. A '90 Midnight is more of a small van than a truck.
They descended the stairs as darkness loomed inside the establishment.
When they had gone down far enough, a long row of lights suddenly turned on, revealing more than twenty sports cars enclosed within four large silver walls, with a long straight line of light stretching from corner to corner on the floor.
The gray marble floor gleamed, and it was so clean that you could see your face reflected in it.
"Ladies and gentlemen."
Yuyu, the maid, appeared from the shadows holding a metal briefcase.
"Follow me."
No one said anything about it. This maid has always been a little strange, but also kind and helpful.
Meanwhile, Rober looked at the vehicles in amazement, following Nova. He only has his broken motorcycle, while Elara's family has all these unused cars.
"You should give me one of these for my birthday."
"I will if you move up to the next level."
Rober snorted. Elara's response was an obvious joke. She doesn't own these cars. She doesn't even own anything in this mansion. Elara is simply the daughter of a very rich man, but that doesn't necessarily make her rich.
'Man. Every time I come here, I'm always surprised.'
Nova's eyes danced from vehicle to vehicle.
'Someday I'll have enough to buy one.'
Imagining himself driving one of these beauties made him want to kick the faces of a bunch of Aberrations to earn enough. But since he is such a low-level Empath, the remuneration is not that great.
It's disappointing to a certain extent, but a Seventh Level Empath won't receive the same earnings as a Fifth or Fourth Level Empath.
The government rewards the strongest better. Unfortunately, that's just the way it is.
'Someday…'
It was worth dreaming.
He glanced to the side, curious to see what Miyu was doing. Since Elara and Rober were silent as they walked, there was nothing else interesting to look at.
Miyu ran her hand over the vehicles. She smiled as she looked inside each cabin with bright, excited eyes.
'She's like a kid in a candy store.'
"Lady."
The maid stopped in front of a small van with silver paint and black wheels. The vehicle looked more normal than one might think.
The maid then opened the trunk, where eight metal cards with four different symbols and colors rested: a flower, a clover, a heart, and a diamond.
Elara took the red diamond card and thanked the maid, who bowed and then walked quietly away between the vehicles.
She looked at the card for a second and turned away. She looked at Nova with a cool smile and suddenly threw the card at him. Nova caught the card with his index and middle fingers, confused until Elara spoke.
"You drive."
Oh. How strange...
'I didn't expect this.'
It was the first time Elara had offered to let Nova drive. He wasn't going to complain at all. He has his license to drive small cars and his updated dragon riding license.
Of course, the latter license is because Viktor helped Nova practice at some point.
"Sure. I don't think it's a bad idea."
"Excellent. Since you have no complaints, let's start choosing seats."
Miyu immediately stepped in, grabbing Nova's arm.
"I'm going in the front!"
Rober approached the back door of the van and looked at Nova.
"I'm going in the trunk."
What a strange choice. But ever since he was little, whenever he has the chance to choose where to sit in a car, he chooses the trunk. According to Rober, he feels safe in such a closed and dark place.
"I guess I'll go alone in the back seat," said Elara.
Then, everyone took their place in the vehicle. Nova, in the driver's seat, made sure the mirrors were positioned correctly and that everything in general was in order. He fastened his seatbelt and held the steering wheel between his fingers.
When he was ready, he swiped the card through the sensor and the car started up. The engine roared with a strange power that belied its appearance, momentarily shaking the bodywork.
"First, we'll stop by the market to buy some instant stew. I owe it to my uncle."
"Don't tell me—you bribed him?"
Nova smiled. Miyu had asked a very curious question. Looking at it from a simpler point of view...
"You could say that."
Although it wasn't a bribe as such. Nova simply chose not to obey Viktor, and this was the result. But no one lost out. There was only the danger of dying on the way. Nothing to worry about.
"Well done! You got us front row seats!"
"It will be interesting to see our superiors in action. Do you think we might meet any renowned Masters?" said Elara, fastening her seatbelt.
Nova shifted gears while looking in the rearview mirror and backed up. The red lights came on as the vehicle moved in reverse.
"Probably. Uncle is also someone well-known, you know? If he weren't, they wouldn't have called him. He's also very strong."
There were few ways to become the Master of a Faction. The easiest way was to be incredibly strong. Viktor met that requirement in order to found his Faction.
"He turned out to be a good Master. Let's hope that someday more people will join our faction."
Accompanying Elara's words, Miyu said:
"And let's hope that someday we can move our faction headquarters to a bigger place without disgusting insects."
Nova drove between the row of cars until the far wall opened like a vertical sliding door. Several lights lit up from the ground like stars, and the path became visible.
A long, dark tunnel lit from the floor. It's a good way to make the path visible, I guess.
'I haven't driven in years. I hope I don't crash into anything.'
Elara entrusted him with the vehicle card. Being irresponsible would ruin that trust. Anyway, why did he feel that trust didn't matter? It was a rude thought, but he decided not to let his mind fill with such thoughts.
He focused on driving through the tunnel. So, when a bright, blinding light appeared at the end of the tunnel, he slowed down and allowed his eyes to adjust to the light.
Soon, he found himself driving down the middle of the road. There were other cars on the road. That made Nova pay special attention to the road.
"How are you back there, Rober?"
As the girls slid their fingers across the glass of their respective communicators, Nova decided to find out if Rober had suffocated to death in the trunk.
Two small thuds were heard in the trunk. Then, Elara was surprised by a call on her communicator. It was Rober. She, of course, answered and put it on speaker.
[This place is great. I don't have to see that stupid cat's face.]
Miyu's tranquility was interrupted.
"You want me to come in there and knock your teeth out, you fleabag?"
"You can try. I'm sure I'll win," Rober replied.
Elara sighed.
"Calm down a little, Rob. You're being rude."
"Listen to Elara. It'll be very stressful to have you two fighting the whole trip. Is that clear to you too, Miyu?" said Nova, turning at the next intersection.
"But that idiot is the one who's always picking on me!"
"No complaints."
Elara smiled. Nova's authority over the team is like that of an older brother over his younger siblings. Nova is also aware of this. Being the second oldest on the team, he had to act like an older brother so that these two "kids" wouldn't kill each other.
'A long and tortuous journey lies ahead.'
He had already resigned himself to it.
"Miyu. You bother Rober a lot too."
The cool girl took it upon herself to validate Nova's words even further.
"Elara..."
Miyu's ears drooped once again. Angry, she crossed her arms and stared at the road. As always, if Nova and Elara agreed, it was impossible to go against them.
[Are you done babbling? I'm going to sleep for the rest of the trip. Wake me up when we arrive.]
"I hope you get stuck in the trunk," Miyu muttered.
Elara and Nova looked at her, and Miyu felt intimidated.
***
After stopping at the supermarket to buy food for Viktor and the rest of the trip, the group was already leaving Luminaris.
The highways are long, with many other vehicles of all types moving orderly. The plain looming on the horizon is green, with small domestic animals grazing.
There was a kind of giant insect the size of an average adult. It was round, like a ball, and black and white in color. Its six small legs could barely support its weight, so it moved very slowly across the grass.
There were many of these insects. Their heads were small in comparison to their bodies, which made them strangely adorable.
Nova looked over at Miyu. The girl was looking at those creatures with an adorable smile.
'You don't like insects, but you like to see them from a distance... What's the point of that?'
A rather strange phobia.
There were other animals nearby. For example, in the crimson sky at sunset, a large flock of giant birds with sword-shaped beaks was flying. Their brown feathered wings were very large, and their feathered tails were similar.
Although they are dangerous animals, they are only dangerous when they get too close.
At this time of year, they fly north to migrate.
To think that in the past, these things were considered Aberrations.
In the back cabin, Elara continued to stare at her communicator. She swiped through the latest news about New Europe and Calem.
At one point, she frowned as she read something that puzzled her.
The screen showed images of a riot in Ophelia's capital, Phantom. Empaths of all levels were trying to break into the House of Steel in order to remove the governor from office.
There were also horrific images of people killed in the uprising. They were scattered on the ground, covered with black blankets and surrounded by Empaths dressed as soldiers.
She closed her eyes, remembering that her father was on his way there. Then, when she opened them, she swiped the screen again. The next news item was just a long text explaining some things about the recent raid on Lightflower.
But something specific caught her attention. So much so that she unconsciously spoke.
"Again..."
Nova looked at her in the rearview mirror, and Miyu pricked up her ears to listen.
"What happened?"
"Another Empath fell into a portal. The portal closed before anyone could get them out."
Nova turned his gaze back to the road.
"That's twice this month that's happened. Has the Council said anything about it?"
Elara shook her head sadly.
"No. No one knows what's going on. It's becoming more frequent."
"I see."
Miyu, looking at the horizon, had a vague feeling of remembering something similar. Although she wasn't going to say anything about it, she thought about what they would do next.
"Portals closing on their own is not something that has happened before. There are too many things about this whole case. Do you think there's something external involved?"
Nova looked in the rearview mirror again. Then he returned his gaze to the road as he answered.
"It's possible. It's unlikely. I don't really know. The only thing we know is that if someone gets trapped on the other side of the portal, they will surely die."
Once inside the portal, no one knows what horrors they will encounter. Will there be more Aberrations on the other side? Will there be a whole dimension of possibilities and nonsense?
Nova assumed that was likely. When it comes to portals, all kinds of things are possible. Escaping the inevitable was a tough bet against fate. However, does fate really exist?
"Whatever is going on, for now, is none of our business as ignorant people."
Being completely oblivious to the problem, they didn't have enough information to come up with theories.
"You're right," said Elara, putting away the communicator.
As the atmosphere was getting a little tense, Nova turned on the vehicle's lights, as night had already fallen. This was her way of controlling the situation.
With a slight smile, he said:
"Look. It seems we are already entering the border."
Fields of flowers began to spread across the plains, with a gentle breeze blowing the petals across the field. The stars in the sky shone brightly alongside the majestic full moon.
Like the beautiful stars, small insects lit up the flowers with flashing lights, further illuminating the scene with the colors of the rainbow.
Miyu looked at the flowers with nostalgia, while Elara smiled at the most beautiful scene she could find in this country.
The flowers are, without a doubt, perfect.
"It's beautiful..."
For Nova, who had lived his entire life in Luminaris, this landscape looked like a fantasy tale so distant and strange that it made him feel like a distant spectator. Like the reader of a story!
The peace and calm that this scene exuded perfectly matched Nova's Serenity.
Elara looked at that serenity and smiled with a sadness she barely understood.
"Yes... It is."
The night was bid farewell with the perfection of this plain.