“…Inkah’s beard,” Alnea cursed, ignoring the ravaging mad man in front of him, and quickly searched for his teammates in the senses of his Domain. Although the abrupt change in the world had made it mostly ineffective, at least it sharpened his senses. To an extent. There were more cost effective means he could use for the same purpose, but that would take time. And time was one thing he did not have. So, for the moment, he settled on continuing to use the Domain of Night.

  Roughly five to ten feet away from him, Cecilia and Yuri were fighting three Wanderers each. Three bloodied Wanderers. It looked like their opponents either did not have as many shields as the Wanderers he faced, or they went too far in their acting. Then again, Cecilia did have Forne’s help. And it was only natural for Yuri to easily subdue the three Wanderers.

  Vestia, on the other hand, was barely able to hold back three Wanderers on her own. And that too, when two of them looked a little injured. Though those three Wanderers also could not take any advantage of her. Neither could they retreat from their battle. Whenever anyone of them showed signs of retreating, she just dragged them back in the melee, ensuring that they did not disturb the battle of other Star Seekers.

  Of the five vanguards of the Star Seekers, it was Norren who was having the hardest time. His direct style of confrontation was easily countered by the weird means of the Heterodox Wanderers, and he did not enough strength like Cecilia to overwhelm his opponents. It was a miracle that he was still unscathed. But so were his opponents. Two unscathed Wanderers, different from the ones who had initially charged at him.

  Still, at least he did his job, and held back his opponents, forcing the seven injured Heterodox Wanderers at the back to deal with backline of the Star Seekers. That would explain why he had yet to receive any support from his teammates. Or all the different manifestations of Mysteries flying over his head. Not that he needed any support. As long as his teammates were fine, he could focus on dealing with the enemies in front of him.

  But first, he had to check one more thing. Shifting his focus from his teammates to the world around him, Alnea observed its changes once again. And once again, he came up with the same conclusion. The world had been dyed in the shade of blood. And not just in colour or smell, but on a more intrinsic level. It was almost as if—

  “Here, everything you say or do will be judged by the world,” Nikas Rosefield said, spreading his arms wide apart, while letting out a loud laugh. “You will be judged by the world.”

  “…You are not qualified to judge me, scum,” Alnea said, before blasting his Aspect into the ground, pushing himself towards the two Heterodox Wanderers, slashing his sword towards their chest, ready to blast through their shields once again. Yet, before his sword could reach their chest, the blood red ground under his feet squirmed, stretching a blood red tendril towards him, as if asking for him to stop. He did not. So, the world resorted to force.

  Tens, hundreds, thousands of blood red tendrils, sprung out from the ground, the fog, and even the trees, surrounding him from all sides, and stretched towards him, as if trying to engulf him, and make him a part of themselves. But Alnea did not panic. Instead, he stopped in place, ready to meet those bloody tendrils head on—

  The moment that Alnea stopped, so did those bloody tentacles. And after ensuring that he did not disobey their command, they returned the world back to what it was moments ago. The only thing that was different was the place he was standing. And the way the world looked at him. Like how Oren Beasts looked at their prey. Ready to pounce the moment he made a mistake.

  “How about it?” Nikas Rosefield said. “Am I qualified now?”

  “You can satisfy your vanity later,” Bassin Gorvein said. “Hurry up and capture him first.”

  “Why the rush? It is not as if he can escape our hands now. Let’s enjoy the despair on his face before we capture him.”

  “…How many times do I have to tell you, stop being so overconfident.”

  “So what if I am overconfident? You don’t think that he can escape the Blood Trial, right?”

  “…He cannot, but… Just get this over with.”

  “Fine. Fine. You have sucked the fun out of it anyway. Might as well capture him first, and then torture him later to have some fun.”

  “…As long as we complete our mission, you can do whatever you want.”

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  “That’s what you said. Don’t go back on your word later.”

  “I…”

  While the two Heterodox Wanderers were deciding his fate, Alnea was not just standing still either. He first observed the world again. Not in his Domain. He had already dispersed it after his earlier observations. Instead, he relied on just the senses of his Spirit. But that was enough. He could capture their entire battlefield in his senses, and from what he saw, it looked like none of his teammates were being targeted by the world.

  So, the rule applied just to him? Was he truly being judged by the world? And if so, what was he being judged for? The lives he had taken, or the destruction he had caused? Maybe both? It was not based on the things that the Heterodox Wanderers deemed as sins, right? Then again, the world did look a little eerie. Especially its obsession with blood. Maybe…

  “Do you know what is happening?” Alnea asked Evi, hoping that the ancient Divine Artifact would have some information. It did not.

  “How would I know?” Evi said in a nonchalant tone. Although the ring’s attitude had improved after Alnea had gained its approval, it had not changed in essence. It was still just as rude as before. “I am a Divine Artifact, not a recorder of all things strange and weird.”

  “…It is exactly because you are a Divine Artifact that I am asking you. You have lived for millions of years. Even if you do not know what this… Blood Trial is, you should still have some idea of what is happening, and how to deal with the situation, right?”

  “I can guess a few things, but why should I tell you? There is—

  “Hurry up, or I will tell Fae that you were complaining about her behind her back.”

  “…She will not believe you—

  “That she has grown fat in the years you were sleeping.”

  “I said no such things!”

  “Do you dare to bet whom she would believe?”

  “…I do not know much about Heterodox Wanderers, as they were relatively new when I slept. Still, I remember that back then, their means used to be… rather rough. Like the Heart of Light that stupid Wanderer used back in Anneve. This Blood Trial… It is a little different. Changing the world itself… such fine manipulation of Mysteries… These Heterodox Wanderers have made quite some progress in the millions of years that I slept.

  “Yet, no matter how much progress they make, no matter how much they change, there is one thing they can never change. Using the powers of the Origin Sea comes at a price. The greater the power you use, the greater the price you will have to pay. And the price for changing the world is not something that just False, or even True Wanderers could pay. Even Mystic Wanderers would have a hard time changing the entire Final World. But if it was just a small area…”

  “…Is that the information I am asking?”

  “Do you want me to tell you what I know or not?”

  “…Not if your information is useless. Anyone could see that this Blood Trial has only affected a small area around us. Tell me something useful!”

  “Do not doubt my information just because you do not know how to use your head.”

  “…Are you going to help me or not?”

  “That’s what I have been trying to do. Think carefully. What did I just say?”

  “…If you are going to only mock—

  “Not that. Before it. What was I saying before you interrupted me?”

  “…I don’t have the time to play riddles with you, Evi. Tell me, will you help me or not?”

  “…You may have grown a little, but you are still just as stupid,” Evi said, annoying Alnea even more than before. Thankfully, stupid as the ring was, it knew when to stop. “Like I said before, whatever means they have used to change the world, it is not something that mere False Wanderers like them can control. Most probably, they used a Ritual that they had prepared before coming to the Final World. And that means…”

  “…Forget it. I will think—

  “They cannot control the Ritual,” Evi said before Alnea to dismiss its help. “The changes in the world, the fog around us, or even the bloody tentacles that you saw earlier, they cannot control anything.”

  “Then earlier—

  “You triggered the conditions set in the Ritual, which led to being besieged by the transformed world.”

  “But why is the world targeting only me? Why can others move without any problem, but I get warned if I so much as even move my hands?”

  “…That is probably another condition set in the Ritual. It targets only you, and no one else. But such harsh conditions generally come with an even harsher price. Especially in an indiscriminate Ritual that can even transform part of a world. I would not be surprised if their Spirit Power is being constantly drained to maintain the effects of the Ritual, or even if some of their Aspects and Arcanas are restrained. This would also explain why they seemed so much worse than you expected them to be.”

  “Or why one of them seemed to be in a hurry,” Alnea said, just as the two men in front of him seemed to be coming to an agreement. “What should I do now?”

  “That’s not for me to decide. You are the Wanderer here. I am just a Divine Artifact. My job was only to tell you about the information I know. How to make use of that information to defeat your opponents is up to you.”