“…That’s it?” Cecilia said, withdrawing her right hand, still glowing in the greenish black light of her Aspects, from a crow’s chest, as its shrieks died out with its struggles, turning into just instinctive spasms. The crows, as they had expected, once cornered, did not put up much of a fight. They did not even make the Star Seekers sweat. But it was not the crow’s incompetence that disappointed the green robed Warrior girl.

  “Two crows? Seriously?” Cecilia said, turning towards Alnea with a pout. “After all that you said, you left just two crows for me?”

  “…It’s not my fault,” Alnea said, raising his hands to show his innocence, as he backed away from Cecilia. “I left more than half of them alive.”

  “…Yeah, right,” Cecilia said, glancing at the birds twitching on the ground. Not the ones that she, or the rest of the Star Seekers had killed, but the ones that had been hit by pillars of light named after her. Some of them were alive, indeed. Just with a part of their wings missing. Some even had half of their head replaced by fog. And all of them were smoking, almost as if they had been cooked in fire for an hour.

  “You call them alive?”

  “…I just overestimated their strength to bear a beating, but they are indeed alive,” Alnea said, barely holding himself back from using his Aspects to hide his emotions. “Look, even Forne agrees with me.”

  The stupid cat would, of course, agree with him. After all, it could only devour the Fortune of the living. But Cecilia could not say that out loud. So, she could only glare at him with a pout, while the dumb cat silently ate its meal. Over a dozen portions of Fortune, served on fresh plates, ready for its pickings. It was not every day that it could have a sumptuous meal. Especially after coming to the Final World, where they did not even have the time to sleep.

  Then again, Alnea did not think he slept much even before coming to the Final World. Except the times he fell into a coma. Or the day he chose to relax in the Lost City. But those were rare exceptions. Most of the days, he just replaced his sleep with mediations. As did the rest of the Star Seekers. Though he was sure that it was a common phenomenon for Wanderers in general.

  Training their Spirits, honing their use of Mysteries, reigning in their Aspects, tempering their Hearts, and most important of all, Wandering the Origin Sea, with so many things to do, all within the span of a day, how could any Wanderer dare to waste their time on sleeping? Especially those who chose to walk on multiple paths at once. Maybe, if he had one of Goddess Yul’s Divine Treasure, one that could let him have several times the time that others had in a day…

  Alnea paused in his thoughts as he felt a slight tingling sensation on his finger of fate. Flies? In the Final World? Pulling away from his fantasies, he glanced down with a frown but did not find any flies. Or anything for that matter. All he saw was the black ring adorning his finger, and a faint light flickering under its rim. It was dim, and went out completely just a moment after, but he was sure that he saw the light.

  Evi? If it had anything to say, it would have already done so. Why did it sting him? Because he was thinking about owning another Divine Treasure? Was it jealous? That was a funny thought. Divine Treasures getting jealous of each other. Though it did make some sense. After all, he already knew that Divine Treasures all had their personalities, and in a sense, could even be considered as living beings. It was only natural for them to be jealous of their masters desiring other Divine Treasures.

  Alnea could understand how Evi was feeling. Of course, Yuri would probably understand the stupid ring even better. But that was beyond the point. There was a reason why he got lured by fantasies of other Divine Treasures. His stupid ring… It did not even let him use most of its function that made it a Divine Treasure, and yet, it got jealous when he thought of owning other Divine Treasures… No, even before that, how did it even know that he was thinking about other Divine Treasures?

  …Maybe it was time to have a good chat with the ring, Alnea thought. But not at the moment. Signalling his teammates to keep quiet, he closed his eyes with a frown, and extended the senses of his Spirit to its furthest. Without the boost of Arcanas, of course. He was already taking a risk exposing himself as it was. Boosting his senses with Mysteries would make his Spirit too conspicuous.

  Still, even without his Arcanas, if he concentrated his Spirit in just one direction, he could easily cover over four hundred metres. Although it was not much, if there really was some disturbance in the distance, there was bound to be some signs in the forest. Like the fog—

  No, with how restless the fog had been recently, its movements were not reliable. So, he could only rely on the movements of the Oren Beasts. Or their lack, thereof. The Spatial Storm did cause a dip in the population of the beasts, but not to an extent that he could not even see their shadows for hundreds of metres. Especially when there had been a battle nearby.

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  The loud noise and movements aside, just the fluctuation of the Mysteries alone should have been enough to scare the weaker beasts out of their hiding holes, and sent them scurrying away in search of new homes. Yet, as he scanned the surroundings, he failed notice any signs of their movements. Not on the trees, not in swamps and lakes, and not on the ground.

  The only thing that could indicate the presence of Oren Beasts in their immediate vicinity was some claw prints near the lake, but that was days old. Maybe even weeks. Where exactly could the beasts have gone? And when—

  Alnea opened his eyes, staring solemnly into the depths of the forest. Why did he not notice it before? Was it because of his overconfidence? Or the sense of security he got from learning about his master’s protection? Whatever the reason, his negligence was inexcusable. Fortunately, he noticed the clues in time, or else, the consequences his team would have had to face might have been catastrophic. Literally.

  “Ralph, Aren, lay down as many traps as you can.”

  “On it,” Ralph said, taking out his Glyph Tools that he had just put away, just as Aren closed his eyes and began preparing his Arcanas. Again.

  “…Vestia, give one serving of Spirit Replenishing and Spirit Refreshing Potions to Aren and—No, make it for everyone.”

  “…Got it.”

  “Lia, prepare your Arcanas of the lineage of Fortune.”

  “…Is it necessary?”

  “You don’t have to use it right away. Just keep it prepared. We might need it later.”

  “…But keeping more than two Arcanas in semi active state interferes with my Aspects…”

  Although she said so, Cecilia still listened to his orders and began preparing her Arcanas. As did the rest of the Star Seekers. Especially Zain. As the Star Seeker with the largest repertoire of Arcanas, he was also tasked with the heaviest responsibilities. In contrast, Karl, with a similarly large number of means at his disposal, did not have to many preparations to make. Mostly because his Arcanas and Glyphs were not suitable for surprising their enemies.

  Though it was not just Karl. Yuri and Vestia also could not use most of their Arcanas and Glyphs for similar reasons. Their stronger moves were either too flashy, or would cause too large a commotion to go unnoticed, while the moves that could be used inconspicuously were too weak to deal much damage to a large group of enemies. Especially if they came prepared.

  Then again, given how many enemies they were about to face, even a frontal attack, when timed right, could bring surprising results. But the key in such attacks lay in planning and cooperation. Both of which took time to prepare. And time was one thing that the Star Seekers did not have.

  At most a quarter of an hour. Maybe even less if their enemies noticed his team’s movements. With such a short time at their hand, the Star Seekers could only go with the attacks and patterns they had already planned. Thankfully, they did not have to worry about some Oren Beasts suddenly attacking them from their blind spot. All they had—

  No, he could not afford any mistakes. Just in case, it would be best if they prepared some countermeasures for some Oren Beasts too. A periodic scan from his Night Domain? No. It would have fine if he did it just once. But launching the Night Domain periodically, just to check if there were no Oren Beasts sneaking nearby, would not be worth the Spirit Power spent in the process. The Shelter of Light would be out of question for similar reasons. That left him with only one option…

  “Does anyone have any questions?” Alnea said, downing the potions that Vestia handed to him.

  “…Did you see the Lotus clan?”

  “Not exactly, but I do not think any other group of Wanderers would clear out an area larger than ten square kilometres.”

  “…How much?”

  “Ten square kilometres. And that is just the area we passed through. There must be an even greater area ahead of us devoid of any Oren Beasts.”

  “…No wonder these crows were the only group of Oren Beasts we encountered today.”

  “Did you find any traps?”

  “Not that I can see.”

  “How come?” Ralph mumbled. “Did the Lotus clan suddenly change their ways?”

  “…They probably just cleared this area, and have not had the time to lay any traps yet,” Yuri said. “Still, they should have noticed our presence.”

  “And that is why we cannot waste our time,” Alnea said, glancing at the Star Seekers, pausing for a moment longer on the girls. “That’s enough questions for now. Focus on the things I asked you to do. And if you complete your preparations before our enemies arrive, then readjust your Heart. We cannot afford any slip ups this time. Does everyone understand?”

  The Star Seekers nodded in unison.

  “Good. As long as you listen to what I say, I promise that I will keep everyone alive.”

  “…Keep us alive? Are you not underestimating us too much?”

  “…I just want you to be careful.”

  “Being careful is all fine and good, but he does have a point. You really are underestimating us too much.”

  “Maybe its because of the mistakes we made… but we have not failed you when it mattered, right?”

  “Ralph is right. You may be our Captain, but we cannot let you do all the work every time.”

  “Besides, since we have come so far, should our goal not be clearing the Final Trial and entering the inner city?”

  “That’s right. Well said, Norren. Our goal has always been entering the inner city.”

  “…It is the Star we have been chasing after.”

  “How can we back down now?”

  “After all, we are Star Seekers.”