YOUNG TROUBLEMAKERS:

Maria is a name that people rarely use these days. After all, no one would want their children to be named after or associated with something ominous. And who was Maria?

Her tale began four centuries ago. At that time, there were seven lower worlds, each existing between different points in time and space, connected only through the cycle of reincarnation or the Ruhi pathway—the pathway of the souls.

During this era, one of these seven worlds was destroyed by a goddess who emerged out of nowhere. Her name was heard for the first time by people, and they dubbed her the goddess of war. Her name was Maria.

Her Velou Thran, however, emerged only one and a half centuries ago. Her presence became known then too.

The people of Maria's Velou Thran were as enigmatic as she was. Where they came from and how they came to be remains a mystery.

There were a few constant points about them, however.

The people of her Velou Thran were of diverse races, making it evident that not many families resided in that thran. Instead, it was mostly independent individuals living there.

The people of her Velou Thran were bound by a pact of life. If they ever betrayed the thran while still being part of it, they would automatically die.

Moreover, the people of her thran seemed to deeply despise the dominant god of peace and his believers.

This god of peace, An Ming, was the principal deity revered in the Empire of Storikya, followed by the dominant goddess of strength, Valdis. As a result, Storikya had been the victim of many attacks by Maria's people over the years.

This was one such attack.

After warning everyone, Anakin remembered something and made another announcement, "By the way, William can activate the bomb whenever he wants as well. Just a heads-up, okay?"

Running his hand through his beard with a grin, he added, "Better let your higher-ups know of this predicament soon, am I right?"

This threw the people on the dock into a frenzy. They were confused about what to do. Some of the knights stationed at the port had already started to relay the news to their commanders in hopes of finding a solution.

At that moment, one of the girls among the triplets, wearing a pair of thick glasses, shouted at Anakin, "What do you want then? Even if those in higher authority are informed, they won't be able to do anything. As soon as they use any powers, the bomb will detonate. If they come with the strategy of using only simple weapons and numbers, you'll just disappear back into your thran and detonate the bomb here... This... This is all a trap—"

"Emerald! Quiet down." Her brother clutched the bespectacled sister anxiously.

Emerald quieted down at seeing her brother's fear. But the other sister among the three was not so easily silenced.

She shouted at the top of her lungs, hoping her voice would carry as far as possible, "This is a trap! They want to gather as many important people from Storikya at this port as possible. They want to kill as many as possib—"

Before she could finish, Mara, maintaining her cold expression, rushed towards the group. Having retrieved her dagger from beside Genevieve's now unconscious body, she attacked with ferocious speed.

The blonde knight prepared to twist his sword and strike back, but before he could react, the little girl clapped her hands together and brought them down with clenched fists onto the wooden floor.

The ground beneath her cracked and a large portion of the wooden surface broke apart, including the area under Mara's feet.

The little girl must not have had much control over her strength, as even the surface where her group stood cracked slightly, causing her and her brother to fall along with Mara.

Seeing this, the blonde knight grabbed Emerald and threw her into the pit as well, jumping in after them while still fighting the black threads even in midair.

His reasoning for this was probably so he could protect all three of these siblings togeather.

From below, Emerald's voice could be heard shouting, "Peridot! Don't wreck the ship too much! We will drown!"

There was another loud thrashing sound, followed by an older male voice, probably their knight, "Mister Beryl! Are you alright?"

"I am fine. But Peridot... Peri, please be mindful of your loved ones nearby. You almost killed me."

"Quiet, Beryl! Not now." Another loud noise echoed before Peridot's voice, filled with anger, said, "I finally found a weakness of this woman! Abilities may not affect her, but they do affect the material around her!" Another loud sound followed.

The knight shouted with a self-deprecating laugh, "What material, Miss Peridot? The material you've already destroyed?"

The sound of the fight continued below.

Listening to the commotion, William turned to Anakin. "This isn't looking good. Should I… prime the bomb?"

Anakin called out through a cone-shaped speaker, "Mara, in three seconds, the bomb will be primed!"

The words rattled everyone. Everyone within earshot of the ship, including those hidden in their rooms, and even Leofwine, who had been fixing most of the ship's damages using his ability from the engine room, stopped using their blessed abilities, weapons, anything.

The racket near Mara quieted down as well.

William, after looking around, nodded to himself and snapped his fingers.

A narrow coat of glowing purple covered the bombs. They had been primed.

It was oddly underwhelming but at the same time extremely terrifying. A heavy silence fell over the entire ship. People were even afraid to move.

Before the bombs had been primed, Anakin had deactivated his own ability, freeing everyone, but they did not know how to act.

Anakin's earlier words stating that William could also detonate the bomb if he willed it scared them. They felt like one wrong move could end everything.

They feared displeasing these intruders, who might detonate the bomb after escaping to their Thran, effectively killing everyone on the ship.

Under the broken surface of the deck, in the cargo room where Mara and the others were fighting, the sounds of struggle continued. This time, however, no abilities were in use; it was just a physical brawl.

Mara, with her experienced movements, attacked relentlessly, but the knight was blocking her strikes with his sword. The sword, which had previously shone slightly, now looked like any ordinary blade since the bombs had been primed.

The children were hiding behind the knight, occasionally throwing any broken pieces of wood they could find at Mara.

Beryl's frustrated voice sounded amidst the ordeal, "Why? Peri wrecked this place a lot. The damage even reached the engine room, so why is most of it back to normal? There's just no debris I can use to throw at this woman!"

"Don't think too much, Beri. Just concentrate on distracting her," his sister Emerald replied.

"What a fearless and reckless group of young troublemakers this is…" William said, shaking his head in disbelief.

Anakin didn't pay much attention to the ongoing discussion or fight below. He had confidence in Mara's skills and believed she would handle it soon enough.

Instead, he moved to the front of the ship and directed the people below to secure the ship's mooring line around a bollard, ensuring the ship wouldn't drift away.

As Anakin was doing this, he kept William close to him, as if protecting him. They moved around the fo'c'sle of the ship, where Genevieve lay unconscious. After seeing that the mooring line had been tied, Anakin finally turned his attention to Genevieve.

Crouching down beside her, he poked her cheek and then turned to William. "I felt very odd when I saw this woman, William."

William looked at Genevieve when he heard Anakin's comment. After thinking for a moment, he nodded and spoke, "Me too. I also felt very odd meeting that knight fighting Mara now."

"Oh, that may be because of his weapon," Anakin said. "When we return to the Thran, we should take it with us."

"Of course."

Anakin's attention shifted back to Genevieve as he spoke with a small tone, "They sure are taking their time, these Storikya higher-ups."

"They indeed are."

Anakin continued, "Say, William, should we kill a few of these people to hurry them along?"

"If you say so, Anakin."

Anakin stood up, his eyes still on Genevieve. "Why don't we start with this storyteller?"

"Of course," William replied calmly.

Anakin scanned the area before his gaze settled on an attendant on board, who had a sword at his waist.

At Anakin's pointed stare, the attendant immediately understood what was wanted. Fearfully, he quickly approached and handed over his sword.

Anakin smiled at him. "Thanks for this, man."

But before Anakin could bring the sword down towards Genevieve, a sharp kick struck his lower jaw from beneath. The force of the kick sent him staggering back, and the attacker followed up with another kick that sent William, who was nearby, crashing onto the deck's surface.

Genevieve quickly jumped to her feet, flashing a wide grin at the attendant. She lifted the sword that Anakin had dropped and waved it around, addressing the attendant with a smile. "Thanks for this, man."