Ivory dropped her broken magic staff and hurriedly took the relic behind her. She embraced it tightly, "I'm coming with you, alright. But, I'll carry this!" She fixed her cloak and glared at the men from the gap of the cloak.
With the thieves guarding the front and the back of her, she couldn't escape. She glanced at the side and saw Sigmund lying on the ground. She panned her sight around the house, and it saddened her that the clay pots and jars that she and Sigmund had cleaned that day had now been shattered into pieces. She was too afraid to do something reckless since there were swords pointing at her body as she was led outside.
In front of the house, the leader suddenly ordered for the group to stop.
"Sir, is something wrong?" his comrade asked.
"I changed my mind," he faced Ivory. "If we take her with us, we might run into some more problems... Kill her."
The thieves nodded and turned to Ivory right away. Embracing the relic of the Iceburgh clan tight in her arms, she looked around, "Do you really need to kill me? I still have dreams in life!"
"It's too late now, young lady! The moment you took the relic and agreed to protect it, then it means that you're willing to die for it!"
Ivory furrowed her eyebrows. She's outnumbered, plus, she's weak. Her tears fell as she felt very hopeless. She gazed at the full moon and asked if this was her last day alive. Her light blue irises reflected its beauty; it was as if it was calming her down and giving her strength instead. Ivory then took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
"Looks like you have now accepted your unfortunate fate," the leader laughed. "Comrades, go. Kill her now!"
But before they could approach her, a cold and steady wind blew all of a sudden, lifting the sand grains upward while the lid of the golden jar opened on its own. A clear liquid flowed out and vaporized into the air until a thick fog surrounded them!
When Ivory opened her eyes, she was surprised by the sea fog surrounding her. Nevertheless, she could see through it for a reason she was not yet aware of. She saw the thieves moving around and bumping into each other, and she used this as a chance to go inside the house, unfortunately, the thief leader had arrived at the entrance before she did!
"I knew you'd try to go in," he said as he glared at her. "I am no bearer of the Goddess' birthmark, but I am an experienced fighter. I have defeated numerous Servants and nullified a lot of spells. A thick fog like that has no effect on me!"
Ivory held the relic tightly in her arms, "You can't get this-"
"That relic is fake."
"No-"
"I was wondering how a young lady like you managed to carry a large gold jar. But that is no gold!"
Ivory examined the liquid from the lid. Educator Alphonse had explained that blood was inside of it, but what she saw at that moment seemed to be only water!
Using the fake relic as her shield, she charged onto the thief, holding it forward, hoping to hit his face. The experienced leader quickly dodged her, and she came stumbling down the sand.
"I'll get rid of you first, if that's what you wish," he took out his flail and dashed to her!
His flail broke the fake relic, which appeared to be only made of light wood, and water from the inside splashed on Ivory's cloak, which made her take it off.
Under the bright moon, Ivory's long, silver hair shined. She glanced at the moon once more, then turned her head to him. "I have no choice but to fight you!!!" She yelled as she took a sharp piece of wood from the smashed jar and ran to him.
The thief leader easily dodged her attacks and instead, used his flail to injure her shoulder. Ivory's blood surfaced from her light brown blouse. She did not mind the pain and again, holding the wood firmly, she darted to him. This time, the man used his flail to gash her back and her arm.
Her blouse was torn and had become tainted with her own blood.
"I'm guessing you're just a new Master," the thief leader walked towards her. "Your Servant is strong, yes, but his mana isn't enough to use a lot of magic all at the same time. If you were a stronger Master, we all could have died right now."
Ivory, who was already catching her breath, glared at the approaching thief.
"It's you… who will die today! Farewell, young lady!"
He hit Ivory's back with the flail and as she fell to the ground, her blood continued to flow in the fine sand. He then went inside to find where the real relic was hidden.
As Ivory laid on the ground, she stared at the entrance of the house. She had failed her mission to guard the relic, and it hurt her to think that inside, Sigmund was unconscious, who probably needed her blood that was now being wasted as it flowed to the sand.
'I… mustn't give up… But how…' she thought, over and over again.
The thick fog had faded, and the thirteen men saw Ivory laying on the ground, drenched in her own blood. They thought that they had succeeded, when suddenly…
...they saw Ivory's wounds healed on their own!
She slowly stood up and saw the thirteen men in front of her. "No… You're not getting inside the house..."
They knew there was something different in Ivory as they suddenly felt scared of her aura. She stared at them blankly while her light blue eyes glowed. But the thieves tried not to mind the sudden terror they were feeling. They surrounded Ivory and raised their weapons towards her.
"No… You're not getting inside the house…" She murmured again, and using the cold wind, she turned them into razors which wounded the men badly.
Seeing how the thirteen men got severely injured, she hurriedly went inside the house to find the thief leader.
Her broken magic staff glowed, responding to the strong mana that surfaced within her. The two sticks swiftly followed the silver-haired lady as she passed by the living room. They flew right into her grasp, and upon gripping to them tightly, the glow even became more radiant that it could light the whole house.
As she continued searching the whole house, she finally found the thief leader by the stairway as he was about to go to the second floor. "I won't let you take away the relic!" she yelled as her blue eyes glowed more vibrantly.
When the man turned around, he was shocked to see Ivory standing in front of him in her tattered and bloody clothes.