The more that the Greenshield Captain spoke, the more excited he became, the more his Aspects reacted to his emotions, surging out of his chest, covering his body in a kaleidoscopic array of colours. Mostly in green, yellow, and white, with a hint of black around the edges, but a kaleidoscopic array nonetheless, just like the array that had once covered the Whitebud patriarch.

  Coupled with the content of their conversation, and how animated the expressions on the Greenshield Captain’s face were, it seemed that the latter, after being pushed to a corner, with no hope in sight for him and his teammates, had just given up on himself, and was hoping to drag as many enemies as he could to accompany him into the Origin Sea.

  Alnea, however, was not fooled. Such a desperate measure did not match the performance of a calm and collected Wanderer that the Greenshield Captain had shown earlier. Even the way he broke down seemed too artificial. Although he seemed distressed and cornered, he showed no hesitation or regret at the prospect of being devoured by his own Aspects. He did not even care what the fate of his teammates would be after his death.

  Moreover, the way he let go of his restraints the moment that negotiations broke down, and broke out with all his combat potential, was just too coincidental. It was as if everything that he had said since clashing with Alnea had been building up to his outbreak. That he had long anticipated his proposals to be rejected, and had just been buying time for his Aspects to take over. Maybe, even if Alnea had agreed with the man, he still would have made the same decision.

  Besides, it was not as if letting go of one’s restraints over their Aspects meant certain death. Alnea himself, even when wrapped in a layer of his Aspects, glowing in red, blue, sliver, and golden lights, with a hint of black in the centre, was perfectly fine. At least he was not in any danger of getting Enthralled. Sure, his immunity to his Aspects was because of his familiarity with his Concept, but who said that the Greenshield Captain could not have command over a Concept either?

  Of course, it could also be that the Greenshield Captain had other means to tame his Aspects. Regardless, Alnea was sure that the man in front of him was not sacrificing himself. All his actions till then had been just to buy time in preparation for his moves. To meet his enemy, and defeat him in an overwhelming manner, so as to quickly rescue his companions. Unfortunately for the Greenshield Captain, it was not just him who was buying time to finish their battle as soon as possible.

  While the Greenshield Captain was letting go of his restraints over his Aspects, Alnea decided to take an opposite approach, subduing his rampant emotions, reigning in his raging Concept, bringing it back under his control to get rid of its influence on his mind and Heart. Consequently, the kaleidoscopic layer of light sticking to the surface of his body lost most of its momentum, becoming more tamed and less dynamic.

  The Aspects, that had been flowing around his body at their whims just moments ago, became more restrained, slowing down at first, before coming to a rest, leaving some parts of his body completely exposed to the world around them. They still screamed of Protecting him at all costs, but only the places he wished to Protect. Just as they screamed to Slaughter only what he wished to.

  The strange urge within his chest that kept asking him to slash the man in front of him into pieces was gone. As were most of the other useless thoughts. The Greenshield Captain was still his enemy, but only he could decide how to deal with the man, and not his rampant emotions or impulsive thoughts. Regaining his Serenity in the midst of a battle, Alnea Oathkeeper had taken one more step towards his Clarity. Though it was not the time to ponder upon his gains.

  Withdrawing most of his Aspects back into his Spirit World, Alnea urged only the ones he needed to flow into his veins, summoning the ‘Primitive Golden Lighting of Life’, and cover his sword in the crimson light of the ‘Killing Winds’. Both derived from understanding the essence of the Martial Styles that he had mastered. The Lighting Stream Style and the Crying Wind Style. One to Protect, and one to Slaughter.

  Although he still could not summon the two forces without using their representative Martial Styles and their corresponding Concepts, there was nothing stopping him from employing either of those two things. It was only because he was lost in his emotions for a few moments, that he had been urging his Aspects to bless his attacks directly. Since he had regained his Serenity, there was no need to act like a brute.

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  With streams of golden lightning surrounding his body, Alnea flashed through the greyish fog, appearing in front of the Greenshield Captain in a fraction of a moment, bringing his sword, with the crimson winds flowing along its edge tainting the swirls of fog it left behind on its path with its shade, down upon the man glowing in the kaleidoscopic light of his Aspects. And as he had expected, instead of acting like a man on the verge of getting devoured by his Aspects, and face his attack head on, the Greenshield Captain brought up his shield to parry his attack.

  Though the clash between the crimson winds and the kaleidoscopic shield did not go exactly as the Greenshield Captain had planned. Maybe the latter had gained more strength by transforming himself, but he had lost all his finesse in exchange, and his sense of timing. At the same time, the ‘Killing Winds’ was not something that just a mass of Aspects could defend against. At least not the Aspects that False Wanderers could get in touch with.

  As such, when the sword glowing in a crimson light clashed with the shield alternating between all sorts of shades, rather than getting deflected by the latter, the crimson winds flowing along the former’s edge cut through anything and everything blocking its path, cleaving both the shield, and the layer of light covering it in half. And had the man glowing in kaleidoscopic lights not retreated in time, it would have been more than just a shield that would have been cleaved.

  Yet, the Greenshield Captain did not let the slight disadvantage perturb his Heart. Or maybe he had already been perturbed enough to not care about anything else. In any case, he did not even glance at the shield as he threw it away, before holding his sword with both his hands, and urging his Aspects to flow along its edge, preparing for his next move. A move, that Alnea was not going to let the man have.

  Going along with the flow of the crimson winds, the golden lightning flashed in the fog once again, tainting the swirls of fog left behind on their trail with a crimson and golden hue, as Alnea circled around the man glowing in kaleidoscopic lights, bringing the whispers of the ‘Killing Winds’ to his ears. Unfortunately, it seemed that Greenshield Captain did not like the whispers. Or maybe it was the winds.

  Before Alnea could come up with answer, the man had already brought up his sword to his back. He seemed particularly agile for someone who was about to be devoured by his Aspects. Yet, from the way he struggled to control his Aspects, he did not look like he was acting either. He could not even put up a decent defence, and had to borrow the momentum from his block to open the distance between them. Did he not know how to use his Concepts? Or had he not even comprehended any Concepts yet? Maybe…

  No, Alnea told himself, crushing the errant thoughts in his Heart, while stabilising his control over his Concepts. He could not underestimate any enemy. And neither could he show them any mercy. At least not until he had completely overwhelmed them. That was the only way to Protect. To Slaughter anything that could harm the things he wished to Protect. So, he wielded the crimson winds once again, riding on the golden lightning to clash with the aggregate of Aspects that had only force, and no skills.

  Once, twice, thrice… In merely a dozen moves, he managed to wound the man glowing in kaleidoscopic lights three times, causing wisps of green and white lights to leak out from his body, and disperse into the fog around them, as blood kept trickling down his chest and thighs. That was another strange thing that Alnea noticed. The wounds on the man glowing in kaleidoscopic lights.

  Unlike the Whitebud patriarch, who did not show any obvious signs of injuries until he returned to his human form, the Greenshield Captain was clearly bleeding from three different places. And as time passed, the wounds on his body only kept on increasing, both in number and size, causing more and more wisps of light to leak from the layer of kaleidoscopic light wrapped around his body.

  In the end, whatever means that the Greenshield Captain had been using to overload his Aspects finally failed to hold on against the relentless assault of the crimson winds and the golden lightning, causing it to shatter apart, and dissipate into the fog around them, just as a haggard green robed man lost all his strength, and collapsed onto the moist and ravaged ground of the forest.

  “…You have lost, Greenshield,” Alnea said, stepping next to the Greenshield Captain, and pointing his sword, still wrapped with the crimson winds, at the latter’s throat. “Do you choose to surrender, or do you choose death?”

  “…I—We surrender.”

  “…Remember your words. If even one of you resists, all of you will have to die,” Alnea said, before shifting a part of his concentration to ring adorning his Finger of Fate. “I did not keep you waiting for long, did I?”