Hunting the Heterodox Wanderers—No, not just the Heterodox Wanderers, but all their enemies. That was the answer that Alnea had come to after Slaughtering the hesitations and fear lurking in the Shadow of his Heart. To never cower away from killing. Especially when the ones he was about to kill were trying to hurt the ones he was trying to Protect. Even if that meant…

  No, not yet. It was not yet time to take that step. For the moment, just the Clear Heart Stance and the Courageous Heart Stance were enough. It would not be late to change his mind if the enemies proved to be too strong for his team to handle. After all, from the light shining in their eyes, it did not seem as if they were going to give up without a fight. So, as their Captain, how could he let them down?

  “Are you ready to hunt?” Alnea asked his teammates, receiving a unanimous answer in response. A simple nod. But that was enough to show their resolve. Especially considering how they were still fighting against the blood fog’s attempt to stain their Hearts.

  “Remember your resolve. You will need it later,” Alnea said, finally allowing his lips to spread apart in a grin, before glancing at the bloody fog surrounding his team. “There are twenty enemies in total, with seven of them injured to various degrees. Not seriously, but enough to affect their movements to some degree. The rest should also not be in their best condition. Though that does not mean that we can take them lightly.

  “Despite their injuries and exhaustion, our enemies should not have any problem in bursting forth with their peak strength in battle. Not to mention that they are twenty in number. Even if we do not count those who are injured, we would still have to face thirteen Peak Stage Wanderers at once. That too, all Heterodox. Add in the fact that we do not know what more surprises their Ritual will bring us—other than tracking us and preventing us from escaping, of course— we can expect our upcoming battle to be one of the toughest ones we have ever faced. Especially since we too are not exactly in our best condition.

  “Still, it is not as if we do not have any chances of winning. Although our enemies are strong, we are not weak either. And we have means to lessen the impact of being outnumbered. In short, just do your part and trust your teammates to do the same. As long as you do not make any mistakes, we should be fine… mostly. At the very least, I can ensure that no one will die on my watch. As for the rest…”

  Alnea paused, and glanced over his teammates, allowing them to complete the rest of his words in their Hearts, before giving his final instructions.

  “You have roughly three minutes to prepare. Don’t waste this precious time.”

  Saying so, Alnea closed his eyes, and began casting his Arcana once again. This time, one more oriented towards battle. Just not of the offensive kind. That was not his focus. At least not for the moment. Back when he, Cecilia, and Yuri were deciding what kind of Arcanas to specialise in, he had picked up the role of a supporting Arcanist. Yet, just because he specialised in supporting Arcanas did not mean that he did not have any offensive Arcanas in his repertoire.

  Lia’s shine, for instance, was one of his more potent offensive Arcanas, strong enough to injure even some Peak Stage Wanderers. And that was when it was of the Intermediate Stage. Though its Advanced Stage version should not be enough to deal with them altogether, it should still be enough to seriously injure them. If it would hit them, that is.

  Unless they were restrained, no one in their right mind would stand still and let a pillar of light engulf their body. Or let their shadows entangle their bodies. It was a problem that was common with all his offensive Arcanas. Without their targets restrained, the Arcanas would be practically useless. Not to mention that they did not even have any decisive strength. Even when they hit, they would only injure, not kill.

  In contrast, his Glyphs were much more decisive. At least when in the form of Glyph Arrays. Unless his enemies were large as a house, with a skin thicker than stones, or were faster than the wind, few could escape the might of his Glyph Arrays. Even when they came at him in a group. Those who were hit by his Glyph Arrays would at least be seriously injured, enough to affect their fighting potential, if not incapacitated.

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  There was just one problem. Unlike Ralph’s Glyphs, his Glyph Arrays could not be used as traps. He could not just cast them in advance, and hope that his enemies would run into his attacks. Rather, he had to direct them manually at his enemies. Only then, would they achieve their intended effect. But if he focussed on casting Glyphs, then who in the Star Seekers would take his position to confront their enemies head on? Who would stop their enemies from reaching their support?

  …Maybe, casting a Glyph Array would indeed have been a better option for him, but for his team, he needed to act as their vanguard. He needed to confront their enemies head on, and not act as a Scholar. The best he could do was cast some Arcanas. Both, to support his team, and to suppress their enemies.

  “In the threads weaving through the gaps between the worlds…”

  Of all the Arcanas he could use to supress his enemies, those of the Gravity Series worked best. It was just that their effects were rather indiscriminate. Especially the Gravity Field. That was also the reason why he did not dare to use the Sorrow of Night, or it would have been the best Arcana to suppress the Heterodox Wanderers. Especially the way it acted directly on Spirits…

  “Stitching and breaking the forces that hold the world…”

  On the other hand, the Arcanas which were target specific were exactly suitable for his situation. After all, he was about to face twenty enemies, not two. Arcanas which acted on only one target at a time would not help him share the burden of his team. He needed an Arcana that could help him hold back most, if not all their enemies. Even if it could not hold them back, at the very least, it had to lower their fighting potential. Fortunately, his efforts over the past year had not been in vain. Especially his experience in the Trials of the Arcanist Hall.

  “I summon the essence of the Origin…”

  Though those Trials were a little difficult, he could not deny the help they brought to him. Especially in the field of manipulating Mysteries. He still did not have complete control over the Mysteries he had comprehended, but what he had was enough to help him elevate the Grade of his Arcanas by a layer or two. After all, Arcanas were never about just blind manifestations of Mysteries. They were more about subtle manipulations. Like—

  “To come and Shift Gravity.”

  Instead of bubbles of gravity, like the ones he used to release in the earlier version of Arcana, Alnea urged the gravity under his feet to bend to his will. It refused. So, he urged again, this time, to lend him its authority. To let him carry its will, and spread it to the world, far beyond the confines of what it could reach. Only then did the gravity relent, giving him a tiny piece of its authority, just enough to help him redirect some of its effects. That was, after all, what he had asked.

  Yet, for what Alnea had planned, just Shifting Gravity was not enough. No, Shifting Gravity was just first of his preparations. Next, he also made preparations to Shift Shadows. But that was not enough either. After all, both the Arcanas he had prepared required precise control even after being casted. Especially since he was about to be surrounded by both, his teammates and his enemies.

  Normally, if he was alone, or was not facing too many enemies, then just relying on the senses of his Spirit would have been enough to control both the Arcanas. But in his current situation… A small mistake on his part, and he would end up suppressing his own teammates. So, as precaution, he also laid out his Domain of Night. It did not matter if the Final World was not as dark as the Night Canyons. He was not going to use the Domain to search for hidden enemies anyway. He was going to use it just to control his Arcanas. And for that, the darkness in the forest was enough.

  As for whether or not the preparations he had made were enough… Alnea did not have the time to consider that question. Just moments after he spread out the Domain of Night into the forest, the blood red fog around the Star Seekers began churning, with wisps of blood red light seeping out from the cage. Almost thirty seconds in advance of the time Yuri had estimated.

  Just to be sure, Alnea reached out to the bloody fog with his hands. And as he had expected, he did not feel any obstruction from the fog. Their cage, it seemed, had finally collapsed. Yet, the wisps of blood red light did not seem to be intent on returning to the Origin Sea. They just kept meandering through the fog, almost as if they were looking for a new home.

  New home? Alnea paused, and glanced at his teammates behind him, before turning around, slashing through the hesitation in his Heart.

  “Let’s go meet our prey.”