"The reason that creature suddenly lashed out so violently was because of the formation covering Martial City," Xena explained.

"Based on my observations, this formation prevents Malevolent Phantoms from entering. That old man only got in because someone deliberately used a token to bring him inside. Even though he made it through, the formation still affected him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have killed so openly like you described."

Malevolent Phantoms were already difficult to deal with, and intelligent Malevolent Phantoms were even worse. But that raised a bigger question. How were they created?

"Since you've already taken care of it, I can at least report that much," Xena continued. "Felix, I really hope you can finish your mission soon. The capital desperately needs the warriors of Martial City to step in."

With that, the call ended. Felix hadn't gained much new information, so all he could do was continue following his plan.

After arriving at Misty Ridge, Felix immediately sens