The Star Seekers did not meet the Lotus clan. At least not for the next couple of days. Counting the days they had already spent in the Final World, it had been over twenty days since they began exploring the Final World. And in all that time, let alone the Lotus clan, they did not even see their allies. It was as if all those Wanderers had just simply vanished into thin air.

  Or eliminated from the Final Trial, Alnea thought, before laughing at his own thoughts. Eliminated? The Lotus clan? No, they were not so weak. Neither were they so foolish. Maybe they just missed each other. Or maybe they were still lurking around, hiding somewhere in the Forest that he had yet to explore, planning something nefarious. But getting kicked out of the Final World…

  Only he had the right to defeat the Lotus clan. They could not be eliminated before he met them. After all, he had to thank them for teaching him so many valuable lessons. Including the fact that the defences of his robe were not infallible. If not for their timely reminder, he would have suffered heavily in the Final Trial. It was only natural that he returned the favour… by showing them that their defences were not infallible either. And neither were their li—

  Alnea reigned in his Aspects, and the Concepts they were resonating with, as he cleaned the blade of his sword on the robe of the man lying on the ground. Though his team did not meet the Lotus clan and their allies, they did meet quite a few of the Dark Priests’ collaborators. Pseudo Heterodox Wanderers. People who had already taken half a step towards becoming Heterodox Wanderers. And their hapless victims, which often included their own teammates.

  Of course, not all those Pseudo Heterodox Wanderers controlled their teammates. At least not completely. Some of them preferred sacrificing them to the statues. Others, simply drove them away, but not before squeezing them dry, using their help to hunt Oren Beasts and sacrificing them to the Statues. By the time those Wanderers were driven away from their base camp, and returned to their senses, they had already been inexplicably tainted with Heterodox means, rendering their future back in their clans as bleak.

  In the end, whether it was to seek a path of survival for themselves, or to eliminate any possibility of the information of what they had done leaking back to their clans, most of them chose to return to their Captains. And those that did not, were taken care of by their teammates. Only a few of the Wanderers with some conscience managed to escape the siege of their own teammates. And those were also the only people related to Heterodox Wanderers that the Star Seekers spared. The rest…

  After ensuring that there were no stains of blood left on his sword, Alnea put it back into its sheath, as he got back onto his feet, and turned around to face the rest of his team. Most of them, just like him, were showing signs of mental fatigue, accumulated by killing too many enemies, but in a tolerable range. Like becoming irritated, or showing disgust towards blood and grime. Only Fran…

  The green robed man was practically shaking from excitement, exposing his teeth in a grin, as he dealt with the corpses of their enemies. Then again, he could not really blame the man. After all, his entire city had been destroyed by Heterodox Wanderers. All his friends and family… burnt to ashes by a terrifying green flame. That too, right before his eyes. If not for Goddess Ilea’s blessings, he too might have died that day. Still, to desecrate the corpses…

  “Don’t waste your Spirit Power, Fran.”

  “…Don’t worry, Captain,” Fran said, still grinning at the corpses. “I am not using any Spirit Power.”

  “…Your Aspects say otherwise.”

  “Oh? Would you look at that?” Fran said, blinking to show his surprise. “I did not even notice when they became so excited.”

  “…That’s not exactly something you should brag about.”

  “I know, I know,” Fran said, waving his hands, as he got up, wiping the blood staining his dagger on his own robe. “I will keep them in check.”

  And he did. Still, Alnea could not help worrying about his teammate.

  “You should not let your emotions overwhelm you, Fran.”

  “How many times are you going to repeat the same thing?” Fran said, rolling his eyes, before grinning once again. “Don’t worry. I am perfectly fine. Rather, I am better than ever.”

  Alnea stared at Fran in silence for a few moments, before turning his attention to the rest of his teammates.

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  “Vestia—

  “Already taken care of,” Vestia said, pointing to the remains of the metallic slag next to her feet, with occasional hint of red and metallic shine on some of the pieces being the only evidence of its former glory. Though it had been more eerie than carrying any glory. Maybe for the Heterodoxies, it could have been a work of art, or even a patron to worship. But for Orthodox Wanderers like them, the statue had been nothing more than an eerie figure that they could not wait to get rid of.

  “Thank you for your hard work,” Alnea said, nodding with a smile to show his appreciation, earning a smile in return.

  “It was not hard,” Vestia said, shaking her head. “Though I would not mind if you gave me a reward.”

  “Keep dreaming, vixen,” Cecilia said with a snort. “If anyone deserves a reward, it is me.”

  “Oh? And what did you do that deserves a reward?”

  “…I have been leading our team’s exploration for the past three weeks.”

  “But that is your job, right? Scouting for our team.”

  “So what? It still deserves a reward. Besides, you are talking as if what you did was not part of your job.”

  “It was not. I only offered to destroy the statues to help share Alnea’s burdens.”

  “But that was my idea!”

  “Yet, I am the one destroying them.”

  “You—

  “Alright, you two,” Alnea said, shaking his head with a laugh. The things which once used to cause him a headache, seemed to be relieving him from his stress. Not to mention how cute the girls looked with a pout on their faces, and their hands on their hips. Unfortunately, they had other important things to do, so he could only bring their act to an end.

  “If you have had your fun, then shall we focus on more important things?”

  “…Who is having fun with this vixen?”

  “…I concur with Cecilia on this. But you are right. We do have some important things we need to discuss,” Vestia said, glancing at the slag on the ground, before turning back to her Captain. “This makes it the twelfth statue that we have destroyed.”

  “Twelve Heterodox Artifacts…”

  “And that is just what we have discovered,” Ralph said. “There are so many statues that we must have missed in the past, and even more that should have gotten lost after that Spatial Storm… Just how many teams did the Dark Priests fool?”

  “Probably twenty to thirty,” Karl said. “Maybe more. But that does not matter. Most of the teams that we found with the statues were either half crippled, or had already self destructed, with barely any fighting potential left. They would not pose too much of a threat. But the statues…”

  “The more statues we destroy, the more we hasten the plan of the Dark Priests,” Yuri said, with a hint of worry leaking into her voice, as she stole a glance at Alnea. “We should get ready to deal with the aftermath of the storm we are going to cause.”

  “You are making it seem as if whatever is going to happen is our fault,” Zain mumbled, saving Alnea from some troubles. “We are the good guys here.”

  “If we succeed, that is,” Aren said. “If we fail, and let the Dark Priests succeed in whatever they are here for, then we would be the greatest sinners.”

  “…It does not matter how the world sees us. As long as we can kill those bastards…”

  “…I would prefer if we focussed on saving our lives instead,” Karl said in a grumble. “Considering how crazy the Heterodox Wanderers usually are, who knows what kind of ritual or sacrifice they have set up…”

  “Maybe if we knew who the statues are referring to…” Ralph said, echoing Karl’s concerns, only to be met with Fran’s disdain.

  “It doesn’t matter. All of them are the same. As long as we kill them, all our problems would go away…”

  “…That is not how the world works, Fran,” Alnea said in just as solemn a tone as the face he made. And not just because he was almost sure of what the Heterodox Wanderers were after. “These Wanderers… They are not the same as the ones responsible for the destruction of your home. Most of them have been forced by their circumstances to join the Heterodoxies, while a few have been fooled by false and empty promises. Of course, that still does not justify their betrayal. But hunting them down will not fill the hole in your Heart.

  “Sure, you may gain momentary satisfaction from killing their kind, but after a while, when the excitement fades away, you will be back to your empty self… filled with hatred and loneliness. Unless you find a purpose in your life, and I am not talking about avenging your people, I am talking about a real purpose, one that resonates with your resolve, you will never be able to get rid of your past.”

  “…I don’t want to get rid of my past,” Fran said, closing his eyes for a moment, before opening them to stare at his Captain, just as he clenched his fist. “Every time I close my eyes, I see a sea of green fire… ruins of buildings, scattered all around me… trapping people alive, as the fire raged around them… I hear the voices of my family… of everyone in the city…”

  “…You cannot let your memories overwhelm you, Fran. Neither can you let your emotions decide what you do. And if you cannot do either of those things on your own, then you must get rid of the memories bothering you.”

  “No!” Fran said, shaking his head, gritting his teeth, and clenching his fists. “I will never forget… Never.”

  “…Then get a hold of yourself, or your days of Wandering the Origin Sea will be over,” Alnea said, showing no mercy in his words. He had already shown enough of it in the past couple of days. Whether it was for the sake of his teammate, or for the sake of his team as a whole, he could not afford to be merciful anymore.