Turing his gaze away from the woman, Alnea shifted his attention back to the Wanderer in front of him. The one panicking the most. Even more so than Ralph and Karl. Then again, he had never seen Karl panic. Barring the times he was induced by Mysteries, either leaking from their surroundings, or used by their enemies. He complained, and at times, even questioned him, but never panicked.

  Ralph, on the other hand, was the most prone of all the Star Seekers to panic. Especially when they were ambushed, and in a desperate situation. Like at the moment. Yet, despite being outnumbered, even when he saw his Captain being cornered, and injured, his yellow robed teammate only had a fierce determination on his face. In contrast, Fran…

  He should have known. Facing Heterodox Wanderers, the green robed man was bound to make mistakes. Fortunately, the Heterodox Wanderers seemed to have relied too much on the Ritual, and did not exert all their strength in the beginning. They even dared to divide into smaller teams to face the Star Seekers. It was only natural that then, that Fran’s mistake did not turn fatal.

  Still, it did disturb their rhythm. Not to mention the extra Spirit Power that Zain and Karl had to expend. Coupled with the respite that the Heterodox Wanderers got from the loosening of pressure, they were finally able to free up some manpower to help their yellow robed companion face the Captain of the Star Seekers. And if not for Aren’s timely intervention, they probably would have sent even more people his way. Not that it mattered. Nothing did.

  Even if his enemies carried weapons that could potentially get past the defences of his robe, it still would not matter anymore. He was going to die anyway. Why would he be afraid of just some mere injuries? Instead, he was more interested in the girl wielding the dagger. Was it the first time she was using the dagger? Did she know its special nature? If so, then—

  It did not matter. The girl was coming towards him anyway. He would just cut the dagger along with her. After all, special as the dagger was, it was just a mortal creation. His Sword, on the other hand, came from the Heart of Rules. It came from his Oaths. How could a mortal blade stand its edge? But first, he had to take care of someone else.

  The yellow robed man, not Ralph, but the Heterodox Wanderer in front of him, was trying to back away from him. That was a stupid choice. No matter how far or fast he ran, he could never escape from Oaths. Then again, the man did not have any ‘correct’ choice in his situation. No matter what he did, he was still going to die. The only difference his choice made was when. And running away from him only hastened the man’s death.

  Pushing his feet against the ground, he launched himself towards the yellow robed man, and in the next moment, appeared next to him, slashing his sword at the man’s neck. The blood red shield, the man’s spear, or the Arcanas raining down upon him, nothing could stop his Sword—

  Alnea paused, as he saw the man’s dominant hand slip down from his shoulder and drop to the ground. He stood corrected. To so decisively sacrifice his hand in exchange for another chance at life… The yellow robed man was much better than his blue robed companion. Probably because he did not let the failure of their plan overwhelm his Heart. Though he only delayed the inevitable. Raising his Sword—

  Ignoring the pale faced yellow robed man, Alnea turned around, and swung his Sword at the woman trying to slip her dagger into his back. Did she think he would not notice? Or that he would not care? He was confident, not stupid. The dagger clearly in the same vein as the dagger that Amira had stabbed him with. And though he was ready to die, he was not going to let some Heterodox Wanderers kill him. Besides, he did not wish to taste what Decay felt like.

  So, when the woman stabbed Decay at the back of his heart, he slashed it with Sword, cutting it in—

  A phantom? It did not matter. Glancing around, he found the woman retreating with the yellow robed man. She did not even bother to take the man’s hand with her. Probably to increase the chances of their escape. In vain. Just one step, and he was already next to the two of them, swinging his Sword at their necks. Even if one of them escaped, the other one—

  Another phantom? Alnea frowned, as he cut through the illusion, before glancing around himself. And as he had expected, he soon found a few more phantoms of the two Wanderers, all running away in different directions. Was it the Blood World? Or did the girl specialise in illusions, like Vestia? It did not matter. It was just some phantoms. It would be fine as long as he cut through all of them. One, two, three, four, five…

  “Impossible!” the woman yelled, as she collapsed on the ground, dragging the yellow robed man along with her. Almost as if she had lost all her strength. “How can you destroy all my phantoms so quickly?”

  “Does that matter?” Alnea said, walking towards the woman one step at a time.

  “You are not even using your Aspects!”

  “So?”

  “…Are you using your Concepts?”

  “Think as you would like.”

  “…What kind of monster are you?” the woman said, with her eyes widening in horror. She knew what was to come, what fate had in store for her next. But she did not resist. She did not even move. She just sat there, trembling, waiting for her death. Yet, instead of swinging his Sword down at her neck, Alnea stopped just one step away from her, and let out a sigh.

  “…Why do you keep struggling?”

  “Wha—

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Ignoring the woman, Alnea bent his knees and pushed his feet against the ground, but instead of moving forward, he moved a few steps behind where he stood, before swinging his Sword down, leaving behind a trail of blood in the air. In the next moment, the air in front of him shimmered, revealing the yellow robed man, with the dagger in his hand, in the way of sneaking up to where Alnea had stood a moment ago. Again, in vain.

  “…You… will…”

  With blood leaking from his mouth, and a huge gash running all cross from his left shoulder to his right hip, the man was trying to say something, but Alnea did not have the patience to listen to him.

  “Like I said, your efforts are futile,” Alnea said, pushing against the man’s chest with the tip of Sword. In the next moment, the part of the man’s body above the gash separated from the rest of his body and fell to the ground, leaving the woman on the ground in shock. So much so, that she even forgot to maintain her illusions. Or maybe she did not feel the need to maintain it anymore. After all, the man was already dead. And next, it was her turn.

  “…Bassin… but… I… how…”

  “Why do you have so many questions?” Alnea said, and swung his Sword at the woman’s neck, sending her head rolling down onto the ground. “You are all going to die anyway. What is the use of knowing so many things?”

  “Vina!”

  Alnea turned towards the voice, and found a red robed Wanderer staring at the woman’s body with wide eyes.

  “How dare you, Alnea Tresting!”

  “That’s the question I would like to ask of you,” Alnea said, turning around and picking up the dagger lying next to yellow robed man’s broken body. “It is not the first time you people are coming after me.”

  “Optah’s bastard!”

  “You should know what happened to the people who found me before, yet you still dare to come after me,” Alnea said, examining the dagger in his hand, not in the least bothered by the hysterical reaction of the red robed man. “Is it because of this dagger, or the Ritual you used earlier?”

  “I will kill you,” the man yelled, and tried to rush towards Alnea, only to be stopped by Vestia’s arrows. Though Alnea would not have taken him seriously even if Vestia had not stopped him.

  “Do you not know who the person behind me is? Or have you not suffered enough in big sis Serena’s hands?” Alnea said, putting the dagger away in his storage pouch, before turning back towards the red robed man. “How dare you think that I will not be able to deal with your weird Rituals?”

  “Fight me head on, bastard!”

  “…More importantly,” Alnea said, and took a step, appearing right next to the hysterical red robed man. “How dare you attack the girl I like?”

  “I—

  Before the man could react, Alnea had already sliced through his neck, giving him just as clean a death as the woman he was grieving for. Though it was not just the red robed man. He gave a clean death to all the Heterodox Wanderers. Even the ones who dared to attack Yuri. After all, he did not have much time left. And if he could, there was still one thing he wished to do before the Origin Sea could claim him.

  “…There are better ways to confess to a girl, you know,” Vestia said, dissipating all her phantoms, and appearing next to Alnea the moment he killed the last of the Heterodox Wanderers, finally breaking the last anchor of the Blood World, prompting the Mysteries maintaining its existence to dissipate, returning the world to its original state. But only the world.

  Everything else, including the bodies on the ground, and the wounds on the Star Seekers did not fade. So, as she walked out of the dissipating blood red fog, Vestia did not forget to take out a vial, with a bright blue potion sloshing against its walls.

  “Though I like your dominating style, I would prefer it if you do it while not on the verge of fainting from blood loss. Here, drink this—

  “No need,” Alnea said, shaking his head. There was no need for a dead man to drink such a precious potion. But Vestia did not know that. And neither did Cecilia.

  “Are you an idiot?” Cecilia said, glaring at him with a pout. “First you say that nonsense, then you steal my prey, and now you refuse to let yourself be treated? Are you trying to anger me to death?”

  “…I really don’t need it.”

  “Don’t think that just because your robe can clean itself, we will not know how much blood you have lost. Just drink the vixen’s potion before I beat some sense into you.”

  “…I—

  “Why are you still gripping your sword so tightly, Captain?” Norren said, glancing around the fog in confusion. The blood around them, except for that of their enemies, and what they themselves had shed, had all faded away, yet the tension in their Captain had not. “Are there still any enemies hiding around us?”

  Let alone any enemies, there were not even any flies around them. But Alnea did not dare to relax his grip. The Sword in his hand… It was not his usual sword. Once taken up, it could not be put down. Not if he still wished to live for a few more moments. He could not tell that to his teammates though. Not yet. So, he could only laugh it off and change the topic.

  “No, but… Just think of it as a side effect of using too much force. Anyways—

  “That’s not important,” Vestia said, helping him change the topic. “Are you trying to avoid me?”

  “…No—

  “Then drink the potion before you faint. Or I have to force it down your throat.”

  “…There is really no need.”

  “Seriously,” Vestia said, pouting with a worried face, before turning towards Yuri, standing a couple of metres away from them. “Will you talk some sense into him, Yuri?”

  …Yuri. The moment Vestia said her name, Alnea inadvertently found himself turning towards her, towards the one person he had been trying to avoid. And as he had expected, all he saw was guilt and despair. The loss on her face, the mist in her eyes… Her emotions were so apparent, that even Vestia could see that something was wrong with her. As did all the other Star Seekers.

  “…Yuri?” Vestia said, hesitantly calling out the white robed girl’s name, but Yuri herself did not care about her. Or about anything else. In her eyes, there was only Alnea. Just as in his eyes, she was the only one he could see.

  “…What did you do?”

  “…What I had to.”

  “…Why?”

  “Because I refuse to share you with anyone else,” Alnea said, letting go of his Sword, of the broken chains of his Oaths. The time had come. There was no need to keep on holding anymore. But before he could let the Origin Sea consume him, there was just one more thing he had to do. One more thing to make up for all his regrets.

  So, disregarding everyone else, even the call of Inkah’s Domain, he stepped forward and cupped Yuri’s cheeks, wet with her tears, into his hands, before pressing his lips against hers, taking sip of her taste, and a part of her with himself. All before his Fate could take him.

  “I love you…”