CHAPTER 166 – SCARLET

I continued walking down the dark corridor until a few seconds later I touched something strange with my hand.

"What's this?" – I asked myself as I touched it.

It wasn't hard, but it wasn't soft either, and it also rippled like water every time I touched it.

"It must be this barrier, behind this barrier must be Scarlet" - I said.

Nodding to my own affirmation, I tried to break through the barrier without success.

"What's going on? I thought Clare said I could get to her with this pendant" - I said, confused.

I looked at the pendant on my neck that was shining with a dim light with no intention of going out and soon remembered it, Clare told me that I could find the place where Scarlet is and avoid the traps imposed on her, but she never said anything about the pendant helping me through the barrier, did she forget to mention that Scarlet had a barrier? No, that's impossible.

"Anyway I'll ask her later, now the question the question is, how should I get through the barrier?" - I asked to myself.

Then I tried everything, but nothing worked, it's like this barrier is unbreakable.

"Nothing seems to work, what should I do?" – I asked myself.

I thought for a few minutes, but couldn't draw any conclusions, until I finally came up with an idea.

"If the muscles don't work, then I'll use my brain" - I said.

Since my strong is not thinking, I'd better leave this task to an expert, so I transformed into a Galvan and started thinking of a way to get through the barrier.

"Hmm, this barrier can't be crossed with conventional methods, it's made to be completely impenetrable" – I said.

Then I touched it a little bit.

"As I thought, immune to space magic, so Portaligus is ruled out" - I said.

I kept thinking of a way to break the barrier or break through it until I came up with an idea.

"This barrier is inaccessible with my current strength, I conclude that the only thing that can enter is the magic itself" - I said.

That's right, unless you have a power equal to or higher than Scarlet, this barrier is inaccessible to anyone who came near, however, there is an element that can enter and exit the barrier and that is the strength that it is made of, the magical power, that's right, as magic is the fuel that maintains this barrier, only magic can enter and leave the barrier, it is curious what the Galvan form can think.

"Let's see, I can't turn into magic particles myself, and in the Omnitrix there are many aliens that can use magic, but only one that can turn into magic particles" - I said.

That's right, I'm talking about a race that was shown numerous times in the Ben 10 series, an Anodite, the Anodite are beings made solely of mana, i.e. magic, so technically they can turn into magic particles and break through the barrier without any inconvenience or so I think, however, there is a problem.

"The Anodite are an entirely female race, will I be able to transform into one with the Omnitrix?" – I wondered.

Since there are no males among the Anodites, I don't know if the Omnitrix will allow me to transform into an Anodite, is it possible for the Omntitrix to change my sex temporarily in order to access that form? Because I don't want that if I'm honest.

"Let's try, it's the only way to get in there" - I said.

Then I thought, "I want to transform into an Anodite" and suddenly, a green light illuminated the dark hallway.

When the light faded, we could see a sort of being entirely blue in color and with green eyes floating around.

Said being was an entirely blue color, it was basically Kazuya.

"Interesting, the Omnitrix modified the DNA of the Anodites allowing me to transform into one despite being a man, it didn't even modify my sex" – I said looking at my hands.

With this form I felt that my magic power was inexhaustible, however, I noticed how my physical strength had decreased noticeably, I guess the Anodite are experts in magic but extremely vulnerable to physical attacks.

"Anyway, let's test if my Galvan form was right or not" - I said.

Despite being made of pure energy, I didn't feel any discomfort at all, so I just followed my instinct and slowly moved forward.

When I was a few inches from the barrier, I raised my hand, however, instead of touching something hard, as I have done dozens of times, this time my hand went through the barrier without any impediment.

"He was right, only magic can cross the barrier" - I said.

Then, without waiting any longer, I entered the barrier.

...

When I entered completely I was in a kind of empty land, it was not very big, to give you an idea, I will say that this land was a little bigger than a tennis court, that is, small, however, when I looked around I could notice something strange.

Not only was there an empty land because a few meters away there was a huge lake, there was also a lush forest, an arid desert and an icy landscape and in the middle of all these strange biomes there was a little house made of wood, but it did not look weak at all.

"What is this, a video game?" – I wondered.

It's like Minecraft, where all of a sudden one biome ends and a completely different one begins, it's a strange place.

"Anyway, I have to find Scarlet, the question is, where should I look?" - I asked.

There were many biomes to look for and I didn't even know the exact size of this very rare site.

But just as I was about to get going, something, or rather someone, called me.

"Who are you and how did you get here?" - said a voice.

I quickly turned my head, however, I couldn't see anyone.

"Don't try to look for me, you won't find me" - said the voice.

"Are you Scarlet?" – I asked directly.

It must be her, there's no doubt about it.

"Do you know me?... Interesting, you are a being made entirely of magic, curious" – said the voice.

But this time the voice was coming from my back, so I turned around and there I saw her, she was a beautiful woman, half blonde half red hair, tied in two twintails, she was wearing a gothic loli dress and she didn't seem to be more than 140 cm tall.

"Are you Scarlet?" - I asked again.

"I think you know the answer, after all whoever sent you here gave you a way to cross all my defenses" - she said.

The pendant on my neck had not disappeared with the transformation which was strange because normally the Omnitrix would disappear my current clothes and replace them with new ones during the transformation, however, this pendant did not change place or disappear, curious.

"True, it's very rude of me not to show up" - I said with a smile.

Then I tapped the Omnitrix icon on my chest and reverted back to my human form.

"My name is Minamoto Kazuya and I have come to see you at Clare's request" - I said calmly.

Scarlet was surprised at the casual way Kazuya spoke of Clare.

"I see, she's the only one, apart from Scarlet who could have given you that stupid pendant, I knew it was a bad idea to give it to her" - Scarlet sighed.

Apparently, she was the one who gave the pendant to Clare.

"Okay, it's my pleasure, my name is Scarlet Phenex, ancestor of the Phenex house and specialist in fire and space magic" – Scarlet introduced herself.

If Clare gave him that pendant, it means that at least Kazuya deserves to know her name.

"It's my pleasure to meet you, Scarlet-sama" - I said respectfully.

"Please call me normally, I don't like Japanese suffixes, they disgust me" - Scarlet said without blinking.

I guess everyone can have their opinion.

"Okay, I'll call you Scarlet then" - I nodded.

"It seems right to me, now tell me, what's your relationship with Clare? I know Clare as myself and I know she wouldn't give that pendant to anyone and much less to a man and your power barely reaches the level of a Demon King, you couldn't have done anything to Clare, now tell me what your relationship with her" – said Scarlet.

She didn't hate the Japanese, she just didn't like some of their customs, besides she was interested in few things, she was always training and she didn't like to be with people, she liked being alone.

"Clare is my wife" - I said.

There's no need to beat around the bush, it's best to say things straight.

"What?! That's impossible, Clare has never ever approved of a man, let alone marry one, you must be lying, I demand that you tell me the truth or I'll have to force it out of you!" – said Scarlet.

As Clare's sister, Scarlet wouldn't tolerate anyone sullying her name, least of all a weakling like Kazuya.

She seemed to have suddenly become aggressive, but just as she was about to say something else, the pendant on my neck began to glow and a hologram of Clara appeared in the air.

"Hi Scarlet, it's been a long time since we've seen each other" - the hologram said.