“…What did you do?” Nikas Rosefield said, practically yelling at Alnea, staring at him in horror, just like the man next to him. “What did you do!”

  Alnea answered by lowering his knees, and pushing him off the ground, to rush towards the man. He did not call his Aspects. Neither did he bother his Mysteries. There was no need for such superfluous means. They could not deal with the Cause lingering in the air anyway. Only his Sword, carrying the power of his Oaths, could cut through Cause of the blood tentacles trying to stop him. Only his sword could cut through the ridiculous shields of the Heterodox Wanderers like it was nothing.

  “Are you crazy?” the Bassin Gorvein said, cursing Alnea and his reckless behaviour, as he hurriedly brought up his spear to meet the sword stabbing towards his chest. In vain. The sword cut through his spear, just like how it cut through his shield. And if not for his spear being longer than the sword, the latter would have already pierced through him.

  “Do you want to die?”

  “No,” Alnea said, slicing through spear head, turning the spear into a stick. He was already dead. It was just that the Origin Sea had not come to collect its debt yet. So, while he still had some time, he had to make sure to take all his enemies with him. But there was no need to tell that to the yellow robed man. Or any of his enemies for that matter. They were all going to die anyway. What was the use of learning such information in advance?

  “What are you still in a daze for, Nikas!” Bassin Gorvein said, throwing away the spear in his hands, and summoning another one from his storage device, as he backed away from the crazy man chasing after his head. “Hurry up and help me. And you guys. What are you waiting for? Forget the others. Aim your attacks at him!”

  “It does not matter,” Alnea said, slicing through a Fire Arrow that came after him, while using his hands to catch the blue robed man’s whip. It stinged. Almost as if it was carrying lightning. But that was because of his own foolishness. The other attacks that came at him… The attacks that he did not have the time to block, like the Water Snake that came biting at his neck, or the Earthen Rodent that came flying out of the ground, rushing towards his back, none of them could break through the defences of his robe.

  “Nothing is going to work,” Alnea said, pressing the man again, destroying his second spear just like how he had destroyed the first one, by cutting off its spearhead, turning it into a stick. Against the Sword of his Oaths, nothing that the Heterodox Wanderers used was going to work. Unless they could also summon a weapon from the Heart of Rules. But that was impossible. If they had such conviction, they would not have fallen to Heterodoxies in the first place.

  “Stop struggling, and just give up.”

  “Shut up!” the yellow robed man yelled. “Nikas!”

  Right, the blue robed man.

  “I am going to kill you!” Nikas Rosefield said, rushing towards Alnea, while brandishing his sword. In vain. Alnea did not even bother to stop the man. He just stood there, and glanced at him, as the blue robed man’s sword reached his neck. In the next moment, a golden light flashed on the thorns of his robe, preventing the sword from moving any further.

  Yet, for some reason, the blue robed man did not seem to be bothered by his sword getting blocked. Instead, he doubled on his efforts, slashing at the black robed boy again, and again, and again…

  “It looks like you cannot kill me,” Alnea said, shaking his head. But he already knew that. Only the Origin Sea could kill him. That was their deal. And just like him, the Origin Sea also liked to keep its promises. “Though I wonder if I can kill you.”

  “Stop being so arrogant, kid!” Bassin Gorvein said, stabbing his third spear towards Alnea’s head. In vain. The golden light flashing on the thorns of his robe refused to let any attacks past its defences. Maybe, if the man had the dagger that Amira had stabbed him with, then things could have been different. But he did not. Did he overestimate the Lotus clan? Or were they hiding something?

  It did not matter. They would never get the chance to use it against him again. Just as how the blue robed man would never again have the chance to use his weird means to entangle him with Cause and Effect. Be it the Arcanas and Glyphs raining down upon him, the yellow robed man’s relentless attacks, or even the useless struggle of the blue robed man, nothing could stop him.

  “It looks like I can,” Alnea said, stabbing his sword through the blue robed man’s chest, causing him to throw up another mouthful of blood. This time, a bit slower than before, allowing it to trickle down his chin, and on to his robe. But Alnea did not flinch. Rather, just to be sure, he even twisted his Sword, destroying the man’s heart, watching the man’s life fade away from his unwilling eyes. Still, it was only when the man stopped moving, that he withdrew his Sword, and turned towards the yellow robed man.

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  “Next, it is your turn.”

  “…Perdia damn you!” Bassin Gorvein said, as he backed away from Alnea, before shouting at the rest of his teammates. “What are you idiots doing? Can you not see that this monster has broken free of the Blood Trial?”

  “Do you think we do not want to help?” said one of the Wanderers, a green robed one, ducking down to avoid the glowing white sword coming for his neck, only for the sword to change into a mace mid way, and come crashing down on his head. “We cannot even help ourselves right now!”

  “Inkah’s beard!” said the blue robed Wanderer coming to the rescue of his green robed companion, only for the mace to change into a whip and wrap around his sword, the third one he had summoned, before wresting it away. “Wasn’t this girl supposed to be just a civilian? Why can she use Martial Styles that I have never even heard of?”

  “Do you still think she is just a civilian?” said the red robed Wanderer, stabbing his daggers towards the white robed girl’s chest and neck the moment she wrapped her whip around his companion’s sword, only to be blocked by two whitish blue shields manifesting right in front of his daggers. Even the Lightning Fangs that came at her were blocked by the shields before they could so much as even touch her hair.

  “Which bastard was responsible for gathering intelligence?” said another Wanderer, a pink robed one, facing off against Cecilia and Forne, using his shield to block their claws, trying to find a chance to use the short sword in his other hand, only to be interrupted by either the two beasts in front of him, or the Arcanas raining down upon his shield. “And will you stop aiming your Arcanas at me!”

  “You are the one who is coming in way of our Arcanas!” yelled another Wanderer, a brown robed one, staying at the back to support his companions. Except, most of his Arcanas ended up either interrupting the pink robed Wanderer’s attack, or hitting him directly. Though the pink robed man was not alone in his plight. The other two Wanderers facing off against Cecilia were also facing the same problem.

  “Ilea’s tits!” said the red robed Wanderer facing off against Cecilia, cursing his luck, as Cecilia broke his shield with her claws, and twisted her body, dodging the man’s sword by barely a tenth of an inch, only for Forne to take advantage of the situation, and leave another gash on the man’s chest. “There is something wrong with this girl and her cat.”

  “Anyone can see that,” said the purple robed Wanderer, the third of the ones facing Cecilia. And the one most miserable of them all. As if getting injured by the sudden attack of the Star Seekers in the beginning was not enough, he was also the one to have his shield broken the most by Cecilia, sporting gashes all over his back, chest, and even his face. At times, he even had to face both, Cecilia’s claws, and his companions’ Arcana at the same time. There was definitely something wrong with the girl and the cat he was facing.

  “Who is the Heterodox Wanderer here?”

  “At least you can still see where that little bitch is,” said another blue robed Wanderer, the one facing Vestia. Or one of her phantoms. It was hard to tell. Especially with all the fog around them. Being distracted by their failure in capturing their target did not help either. And neither did the death of his companion. The call for help from his desperate companions only made matters worse. If only he could have faced the woman in more favourable conditions…

  Who was he kidding? Distraction? Fog? Those were all excuses. In truth, the man was just afraid. From besieging the woman in front of him to being besieged by her… How long had it been? Three minutes? Five minutes? He did not know. He did not even dare to count. All he could do was to keep fighting against the phantoms besieging him, while trying to find a ray of hope for himself. He never did.

  “We cannot even be sure where her true body is.”

  “…It almost feels like we are not the ones holding them back, but they are keeping us in check,” said a yellow robed Wanderer, slashing through one of Vestia’s phantom with a thin sword, only for two arrows to manifest behind him at that exact moment, giving him no time to dodge. At best, he could only shift his body a little, hoping for his shield to block the arrows. It did not. At least not completely.

  The shield did stop one of the arrows, but shattered along with it, disintegrating into some illusory fragments, before being brushed aside by the second arrow tearing through the fog and piercing into the back of the yellow robed man’s shoulder. Though he was not the only one to suffer from Vestia’s arrows.

  “…Be confident, and remove almost,” said the green robed Wanderer in a similar situation. No matter how many Vestias they slashed through, they never got to her real body, while she kept shooting arrows at them, figuring out all their information. And though their companions facing the rest of the Star Seekers were not faring as badly, they did not have a complete advantage either. If they let things be as they were…

  “Vina, you take a few people to go help Bassin.”

  “But—

  “There is no time to hesitate. Hurry up, or we will lose Bassin too,” the green robed Wanderer, pausing for a moment, before adding another sentence. “If need be, you can even use the dagger that we got earlier.”

  “…Be careful,” said the red robed Wanderer, who had been launching Arcanas from a distance, though her Arcanas did not seem to be having any effect. Not against their target, and not against the rest of the Star Seekers. Rather than continuing to waste their Spirit Power on Arcanas, it was better to fight head on, and use the strange dagger they had found earlier. Maybe…

  Alnea paused, glancing at the dagger in red robed woman’s hands. He could feel its threat. He could feel the breath of Death emanating from its blade… Another dagger blessed with Decay? Or something similar? Maybe… It did not matter. He had already expected to face such weapons in the Final Trial. And even had he not, it still would not have mattered. Nothing did. Be it him, or the Heterodox Wanderers, in the face of Death, everyone was the same.