Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem

Zach and Nessa didn't waste any time. After bidding farewell to the Empress Dowager, they left the Imperial Palace and found Anerias waiting nearby. While Nessa waited for Zach to wake up, he had taken a trip around the Empire to check on the state of things and gather some supplies for the Underworld.

To Zach's surprise, Anerias hopped off Darkwing and greeted him with a tight hug.

Zach thought he had grown a lot lately since he was no longer felt like he was the shortest in every room he entered. Nessa had also put on some muscle and matured in the time they were apart.

But Anerias had almost undergone a complete transformation. He was a head taller than Zach and three shoulders wider. His body was a solid hunk of muscle. It wasn't just his body that had changed. His temperament had done so as well, considering he greeted Zach with a hug.

"I missed you, man," Anerias said, holding Zach by the shoulders with straight arms and looking into his eyes.

"I'm sorry we couldn't be there for you when you needed us." Anerias did not beat around the bush.

"No, it's fine. You guys have also struggled, and I was too busy to help you. It's just what happens now that we aren't in the same class and share the same curriculum," Zach said with a light shrug as he tapped Anerias' shoulder to see if he could push him down a little and make him shorter.

"Ah, I miss those times," Anerias said with nostalgia as he looked into the past, remembering their years at the Academy. It had only been a few months since they graduated, but they graduated directly after a break, so it was almost like it was half a year since they went to the Academy.

"Oh, you do? Good. We're making a quick visit there before heading to the Underworld," Nessa said, jumping up on Darkwing's back.

Anerias stiffened in the middle of his jump to do the same and face planted into the Darkwing's side before sliding to the ground. He looked up at Nessa with an awkward expression.

"You're joking, right?"

Nessa looked at Zach.

"Technically, it's not an emergency. But I met an alumnus of ours, someone the principal had tried to make his successor in the past. She was crazy and crazy strong. I was going to ask the principal about her."

"When you say crazy and crazy strong…?"

"If she wanted to, she'd trounce all of us blindfolded with her hands behind her back, and she'd do it smiling. She might also pop up out of nowhere when we're fighting for our lives. I don't think she'll do it, but it's better to be safe than sorry, right?"

Anerias sighed and pulled himself off the ground before crawling onto Darkwing's back.

Zach tilted his head. The Darkwing had also grown since last he saw it, but its back was not wide enough to carry them all when he included his familiars. He tilted his head curiously when he saw the red-skinned man with wings and horns in a suit on top of the Darkwing. That was a powerful familiar.

He turned to Mandra.

"You said you could teleport, right?"

"With some difficulty, yes, Master."

"Darkwing is strong, Zach. I was thinking that you wouldn't mind squeezing in tight with us and your familiars?" Nessa said.

"That's certainly possible. I could also make a barrier that Darkwing could pull or carry. But I want to try teleporting." After his experience moving to and fro Haven and through the Labyrinth of Jira's floors, he was curious what it would be like to teleport through orthodox magic.

He did not even bother hiding his excitement. Nessa sighed when she saw Zach's face. Maybe she should have emphasized the urgency of the situation in the Underworld. It was too late now, though. She turned to Anerias.

"It sounds to me like he wants to race."

Anerias' eyes lit up with a fire of competitive spirit.

"Hold on," He said and leaned down, hugging Darkwing's neck.

Darkwing shot to the sky with a flap of its wings that almost knocked Zach off his feet. He shot a glare after Anerias. That was intentional.

He turned to Mandra again.

"You know the way to the Academy, right?" He asked. He certainly didn't know the way.

She nodded.

"I have memorized the coordinates, Master." Mandra closed her eyes and concentrated as she started weaving magic energy to create a spell. Subtle dark blue specks of light escaped from the sphere of magic energy in her hands and surrounded their group.

Gradually, those specks of light increased in number and their speed as they covered the ground before spinning around the group, enveloping them in a whirlwind of magic.

Zach felt a pull tear him away from the ground outside the Imperial Palace and fling him through space. He felt Yanael, Alzara, Soara, and Mandra right next to him. Time seemed to stretch thin, extending a single second to an eternity.

That second was cut short abruptly and they were pulled back into the world again.

They had teleported.

But they hadn't arrived.

Zach cupped a hand over his eyes and looked around. He did not see the Academy or its tall towers anywhere.

They were in the middle of a forest somewhere.

Zach scrunched up his brow in confusion.

Had the principal moved the Academy? Maybe it was protected by some kind of magic that prevented anyone from teleporting to it. It wasn't impossible.

But…Would the principal, who loved trouble, especially the kind that affected his students, do something like that?

Slowly, Zach turned to look at Mandra, the one who had done the teleporting. She avoided his gaze.

As Yanael, Alzara, and Soara also looked at her, Mandra had nowhere else to look and could only bow her head in shame and look at the ground.

'Ah.'

How could Zach have forgotten.

His lack of directional sense was contagious.