Apollo scratched the side of his head.


    "Hmm... can we get this over with quickly?"


    The overly tight clothes made Apollo feel quite ufortable. It should be known that most of Apollo''s clothing had torn off by now. His only real clothing was just some bandages. However, that kind of appearance was simply too conspicuous.


    Not to say that someone being constricted in super tight clothes wasn''t conspicuous, but it was definitely better.


    La pouted.


    "Agh! Can we go already?"


    She hopped over to the empire wall, or what was left of it.


    Willow sighed.


    "Wait! We can''t enter through that way. Someone will see us, blowing our cover!"


    La turned around and pouted.


    "Mm... then the entrance over there?"


    She pointed to a far off gate. It was the typical entrance and exit of the empire.


    Willow shook her head.


    "We can''t go that way either. I doubt the guards will let anyone in after what just transpired."


    Apollo pouted.


    "Then... how do we get in the empire?"


    Willow smiled.


    "Just follow me and stay silent."


    ckie peeked up from the bandages Hex was wrapped in. It stared at Willow curiously. As for Willow, she blinked a few times.


    "You will have to remain unseen for most of the time. Sorry for the inconvenience."


    ckie gave a nod before disappearing into Hex''s shadow.


    La and Apollo got next to Willow, though they did so reluctantly. Willow shed a bitter smile before gathering some ck mist.


    In a few moments, a thin veil of ck mist covered them.


    Willow walked towards the wall, far from the massive breach that La had created.


    Apollo scratched the side of his head.


    "Why don''t we just walk that way?"


    He pointed towards the breach in the wall. As for Willow, she let out a dry chuckle.


    "...Unfortunately, there are too many sharp jagged edges in the rubble. This spell is quite fragile, meaning a tiny cut can dispel it."


    Apollo blinked a few times.


    "...But there are only so many ways to get in, right?"


    Willow nodded.


    "Yes, but that doesn''t mean we have to go that way."


    Apollo raised an eyebrow, but didn''t question it. The group continued walking until they reached a section where the empire''s wall was intact.


    Willow abruptly stopped, making Apollo and La collide with her back. La''s furry ears twitched.


    "Is this the entrance? I don''t see one though!"


    Willow closed her eyes.


    "When there is no entrance, make one yourself."


    She ced one foot on the wall.


    ...Then the other foot.


    It was as though Willow was maized to the wall. She began walking up effortlessly, as though she was walking on t ground.


    Apollo''s eyebrow twitched.


    "...I don''t know how to do that!"


    Willow froze.


    "Ah, I forgot."


    La giggled.


    "Don''t worry, I can do it!"


    She proceeded to stick her fingers into the wall, directly causing a few shattered stones to spill out.


    Then, La wrapped one arm around Apollo''s waist. This made Apollo instinctively feel a strong sense of fear, induced by his past trauma.


    His breathing became heavy, but he was able to more or less calm down.


    Willow''s eyebrow twitched when she watched La''s... out of the box way of climbing upwards.


    She sighed.


    "Just make sure you don''t hit the edge of the ck mist screen. If you do, it will burst and reveal us."


    La giggled.


    "Ok!"


    With that, Willow began walking up while Launched herself and Apollo up.


    "Hup!"


    La stuck her hand into the wall once more, catching herself. A small thought began to bubble in her mind.


    She grinned cheekily, then threw herself up once again.


    But... did so with more force.


    Several cracks spread from where La''s hand just was. As for La, she shot upwards like a rocket.


    Apollo held onto La''s arm a little more tightly.


    "Ah!"


    Beads of sweat formed on Willow''s forehead. She quickly twisted the ck mist screen to just barely contain La. With any more tension, it would burst.


    A panicked frown appeared on Willow''s face.


    "La! Not that fast, or you will break the mist screen!"


    La pouted.


    "Hm... ok"


    Willow sighed.


    "I will speed up a little, so that you can go a bit faster too, ok?"


    As promised, she began to jog upwards.


    La waited a few moments for Willow to catch up before throwing herself upwards once again.


    Apollo curiously looked to the left and right, despite there not being much to see. He was simply enjoying the new experience.


    With that, they climbed thirty meters up the wall with no problem.


    ...However, La was getting a little excited. She was unconsciously raising her pace as she went.


    Willow frowned when she noticed that.


    "Not too fast!"


    La did not slow down. Instead, she pouted.


    "This isn''t fast!"


    La shot upwards, once again forcing Willow to distort the ck mist screen. Willow opened her mouth, but no words came out.


    She was honestly a little afraid of La. So instead of chastising La, she sped up to match her speed.


    The only problem was La''s movements were sudden. She would stay still after getting a hold in the wall, then suddenly shoot upwards. This made it really difficult for Willow as the ck mist screen would break if she went too fast, but also if she went too slow.


    As if that wasn''t bad enough, La was speeding up.


    Even more cold sweat appeared on Willow''s forehead. She cursed under her breath.


    On the other hand, La had a bright smile on her face. It seemed she forgot the difort of the clothes after getting a little excited.


    "Yay!~"


    A small smile even spread out on Apollo''s face.


    "Woah!"


    Compared to being in what La referred to as ''fluffynd'', it was quite rxing. It was like going from a rollercoaster that nobody sane would ever go on, to riding up an esctor.


    Willow''s lip twitched.


    These kids were having fun while she had to deal with all the stress.


    ....Figures.