Ryfin, who was just beside Ron, saw him disappear. He turned to look around the desolate, wreckage-filled Aethelgard City but found no trace of him in his surroundings. He thought that Rom might have teleported far away this time.
This was also noticed by Orion, who observed everything that had happened from the moment they separated.
And like Ryfin, he too couldn't see any trace of Ron anywhere in Aethelgard City.
'Where did he go?'
He thought, turning his attention to the huge monster that also suddenly stopped moving.
"Anomaly Escaped. Initiating scan for search."
At that moment, he again heard the voice of the monster and from that, he got to know that Ron had escaped somewhere so far that even the monster couldn't find him.
'But how would it end?'
He just couldn't understand how all of this would conclude. The huge monster wanted to kill Ron for some reason and if Ron really did escape somewhere far enough that even it couldn't find him, wouldn't that mean the monster would go back to target the core?
That was the scenario he wanted to avoid the most but that didn't mean he wanted to sacrifice Ron. No, he wanted to solve this problem in a more meditative way that didn't bring harm to either Ron or the planet itself.
But that could only be possible if they could hold the monster until his family arrived, which in itself was a daunting task for a bunch of iron-rank kids.
"Searching failed. Initiating a different approach."
"Target Anomaly was last sensed on the planet Sadola."
"Target Anomaly at present couldn't be detected."
"New Mission: Destroy Planet Sadola and Target Anomaly will be killed."
"Initiating the new mission."
However, it appeared the worst-case scenario he didn't want to see was bound to happen.
'This means that Ron did escape somewhere so far that even the monster couldn't detect him.'
But he wondered if there was such a place in Aethelgard City.
'The monster also couldn't find him last time too.'
However, he soon remembered the last time the monster couldn't find him and connected the dots with them being trapped in the mirror world.
'The mirror world! It seems he escaped back there.'
He also wondered if Ron knew that the monster would attack the core if it couldn't find him but if he did know and he still went there to hide, then he didn't know how to feel about it.
He thought to himself, If he were in the place of Ron and he didn't have the curse of Dimensional Dissonance, would he also do the same thing as Ron did?
The answer also surprised him.
'If I were in his situation, then I would have done the same thing.'
He didn't feel anything wrong with his answer. He just thought that he had to survive at any cost and for that, he could do anything.
So he didn't feel anything wrong with Ron's decision.
But that didn't mean he was okay with it. The monster had now once again started his walk towards the gaping hole in Market Street and if they couldn't stop it or hold him till his family came, then all of them would die—he would die.
Buzz—
A buzzing sound came from his side as he was thinking about all of that and a person arrived there.
"Orion?" Ryfin called out to him, looking around the area.
Seeing him, Orion appeared out of his dimension.
"What do we do?" Ryfin asked hastily as soon as he saw Orion.
"I don't know," Orion said, shaking his head helplessly. "I am also wracking my brain but I doubt any plan I'll come up with would work against the monster."
"Are we destined to die here?" Ryfin asked, and his eyes appeared hopeless looking at the monster that slowly made his way towards Market Street.
"Destined?" Hearing this word, Orion remembered what Isis said to him when they last talked. She told him that now that he had escaped his fated death, he wouldn't die anytime soon.
'I wouldn't die anytime soon. Then that means there is definitely a way to stop that monster.'
His eyes shone as he thought of that. But he still had to come up with a plan to do that.
A golden flash of light and a golden lightning bolt soon arrived in front of Orion and Ryfin. They were Famir and the masked girl.
"Do you have any plans?" The masked girl asked Orion as she arrived before them.
Orion shook his head.
"What plan would work against that monster?" Famir said it hopelessly, looking at the monster. "Look at that monster; it's so huge and big. If we were to have any chance of buying us some time for Orion's family to arrive here, then we would need something that big to at least stand a chance against it. Otherwise, all our plans are worthless against it."
"Where can we find something the size of a monster that would help us?" Ryfin shook his head, saying, "I say we should stop focusing on the monster itself and look to escape this city and this planet. That way, we would have a higher chance of survival."
"That's impossible." The masked girl denied Ryfin's idea. "I have been here for a year now and all this time I have been looking for ways to escape this place but I couldn't find them. Looking for an escape would only waste our time here."
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Famir asked, and his eyes narrowed. "We would at least have to do something, right, or do you expect us to wait for our death here?"
"Why are you asking me?" The masked girl felt irritated by the way Famir questioned her. "If you want to die here, then you are welcome to wait and do nothing."
"What have you said just now?" Famir also got heated by the masked girl's words. "Say that again!"
"I said, 'If you want to die here, then you are welcome to wait and do nothing'." She said this, feeling very frustrated. "Are you happy now?"
"I expected that from you anyway," Famir said, shaking his head at her. "I always felt that you didn't care about anything going on here. It was as if all of this was just a play for you. The one time I ever saw you serious was when you turned old. Aside from that, you have never been serious."
"Are you telling me that I am playing a game here?" The masked girl flared; she clenched her fists in anger.
"Enough, both of you!"
Orion finally put a word out to stop them. He had been thinking about something the whole time since he heard Famir say that they would need something big and huge to stop that monster.
And from all that thinking, he eventually came up with a plan. A plan that required a sacrifice.
Hearing Orion's interruption, both of them turned to him and were about to say something when they heard what they wanted to hear the whole time.
"I have a plan to buy us sometime."
All three of their eyes shone as they heard him.
"What is it?" Ryfin asked eagerly. The masked girl and Famir also looked at him for the answer.
"That you will know eventually," Orion said, his face becoming serious. "What I want from you guys is that when I start my plan, can you help make sure all those people out there don't get in the monster's way?"
"That's the least we can do."
They nodded their heads in approval.
"Alright." A rare but subtle smile appeared on Orion's face as he looked at them. "Let's give this monster a beating of its own."