There were no stars in the Final World. At least none that anyone could see from within the forest. Even Enn and Orn were a rare sight in the dull, grey world, dominated by the ever moving greyish fog. At most, they could only see some wisps of light escaping through the gaps in the canopy of the trees, and making its way down into the forest, giving it what little light and colour it had. Or at least that is how the forest looked with naked eyes.

  When one unfurled their Spirit though, the forest would reveal its true colours to its beholders. A vast, never ending world, with a system of its own. One that made it seem as if it was a giant living organism. An Oren Beast, perhaps. Or a whole different species altogether. One of the extinct species that once ruled the world. Nothing else could explain its giant body, that exceeded all known Oren Beasts.

  But that was just Alnea’s guess. He did not know for sure if the forest could be considered as one giant living being. Though there was one thing he was certain about. The forest was alive. The trees, the ground, the rivers, the lakes and swamps, and even the fog, be it the grey, white, blue, or green, all of them were alive, forming a symbiotic cycle that could not—should not be broken.

  Unfortunately, his realisation came a little too late. Not that he could have done anything to alter the forest’s fate if he had known about its strange state in advance. After all, he could only restrain his teammates. The rest of the thousands of Wanderers, he had no control over. Especially the Heterodox Wanderers. They were the ones who had done the greatest damage to the forest, one that it was still reeling from.

  Though, given the battle that was about to happen, there was a chance that his team might replace the Heterodox Wanderers in the greatest amount of damage done to the forest. Already, there were a couple of trees, with their trunks and branches singed from the pillars of light that he had released earlier. And even more of them fell in the path of the traps his team had prepared. Once the battle began…

  “They are here,” Alnea said, tightening his grip around the hilt of his sword, as he stared into the direction with the greatest turmoil in the fog. There was no need to whisper. Not in the fog, where scouting with one’s Spirit was the only means of exploration. If his enemies could see him through the fog’s blockage, they would be able to hear him, no matter how low he kept his voice. And if they could not see him, no matter how loudly he spoke, it would all be lost in the fog.

  “Vestia, Yuri, spread out. Harass them from a distance. Try to hold back as many of them as you can. Cecilia, you come with me. Norren, you stay back and guard our rear.”

  “Let me come—

  “No,” Alnea said, relaxing his grip on his sword, only to tighten it once again. “You are not used to fighting a large number of enemies. Recklessly charging will only make you an easy target.”

  “Target? Sure. But easy? I would not be so sure about it,” Norren said, twirling his swords, with a wide grin on his face. “Besides, after all the battles that we have been through, I think I can take care of myself.”

  “…I know you are eager to seek battles, Norren, but trust me when I say this, you are not prepared to face this battle,” Alnea said, and after a pause, added, “None of us is.”

  “…You are just overthinking, Captain. Our enemies may be strong, but so are we. Do not forget that we once faced fifty Wanderers and still came out victorious.”

  “Victorious? Just the fact that we even came out alive from that battle is already a miracle. If not for their slip ups… And even if we won, it was pyrrhic victory, one that sent nearly half of us to the doors of death. Do you think we can afford such injuries in the forest?”

  “…We are stronger than what we were back then.”

  “And so are our enemies. Of the fifty Wanderers we faced in the desert, most were of the Intermediate Stage. Some were even of the Initial Stage. And yet, we still almost failed. That too, when we had Vestia’s sandstorm to divide them, and Yuri’s Arcana to help us navigate the sandstorm. This time, not only are all our enemies going to be at the Peak Stage, we do not have any means to divide them either. We can only face them head on.”

  “…Warriors are never afraid of—

  “And do not forget, this time, they are coming with a far greater number than just fifty.”

  “…How many of them can you see?”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  “I cannot see any of them yet, but given how much time it took for them to gather, so much so that they have not even had the time to lay traps in this area, I reckon that we will have to face at least a hundred of them. And that is if we are blessed by Goddess Ilea.”

  “…I do not think that Goddess Ilea has not shown us any favours so far.”

  “…Great. Thanks for the reminder, idiot.”

  “What? Did I say something wrong?”

  “Do you not know how blessings work?”

  “…Is there a rule about blessings too? Why have I never heard of it?”

  “Because it is just superstition.”

  “No, it is not, I swear. I have seen it work. As long as we pray to the Gods, and take the sufferings they put us through as their tests…”

  “…I did not know that Ralph was such a devout believer…”

  “Ignore him. He is just an idiot.”

  “That’s right. Who cares about blessings? Someone as talented me does not need anyone’s blessings. I am perfect as I am.”

  “…Should we…”

  “Ignore him too.”

  “…Regardless, you are not yet ready to charge into so many enemies at once,” Alnea said to Norren, before glancing at the rest of their teammates. The men who were arguing with themselves. “Besides, if you also rush ahead with me, then who is going to protect these idiots?”

  “…I guess, if you put it like that…”

  “Protect them well, Norren.”

  “Leave the rearguard to me, Captain.”

  “Who needs his protection?” Zain mumbled, just as the other men stopped arguing and turned towards their Captain. And it looked they also had a word or two say about his arrangements. But there was no time for them to waste. So, he quickly shifted the topic back to them.

  “It looks like everyone sure has quite a lot of free time on their hands. Have you finished preparing what I asked you to?”

  “With a snap of my fingers.”

  “…Not so easily, but yes, we did complete our preparations.”

  “And what about your Hearts? Did you adjust it to its best condition too?”

  “I do not know about others, but my Heart was always in its best condition.”

  “…I do not have any problems either.”

  “Me neither.”

  “I…”

  “…Everyone performed better than I expected. Still, just in case, you should try not to let your emotions get the best of you. Especially when we are so close to a battle.”

  “…We know. We were just fooling around to relax our nerves.”

  “As long as you know… Now, does anyone have doubts about my arrangements?”

  “About that, do you really want us to just support you from behind?”

  “That’s the plan, yes.”

  “But would that not mean that you and Cecilia will have to face all hundreds of them by yourselves?”

  “Who said that I will be alone?”

  “But—

  “I believe that I can trust everyone here with my back.”

  “…That’s right. Go ahead and leave you back to us with no worries. No matter who comes after you, we will blow them all up.”

  “No, we have to trap them first.”

  “It is the same thing.”

  “No, it is not. There is an order to how things are to be done. And we must follow that order. Or else, we will only be creating chaos.”

  “…Fine, we will trap them first, and then blast them apart.”

  “…For some reason, I don’t feel safe leaving my back to you people anymore…”

  “What? Did you say something?”

  “I said, you don’t have to focus on just me and Lia,” Alnea said, wondering if he should have just left these idiots alone. Or maybe take Norren with him. So what if there was some danger? People grew from facing danger. That was how he learned how to cheat death. Who knew, maybe Norren would have some fortuitous encounters of his own. And Faein knew he could use some practice…

  In the end, Alnea let reason win, and decided to not change his plans anymore. After all, he had spent months with these idiots, honing their teamwork. They should not make such a stupid mistake as blowing up their own teammates. Probably. Though, just in case, it would be best if he kept his defensive Tokens active at all times.

  “…You also need to support Yuri and Vestia. They are going to be in the most dangerous positions. And do not forget to keep an eye on the enemies heading your way. Otherwise, they will blow you up before you can even trap them. Also, try to conserve your Spirit Power. This is going to be a long battle. And I am sure that no one wants to leave the Final World as losers just because they did not know how to use their Spirit Power reasonably, right?”

  “…Right.”

  “…Alright, if no one has any—Forget it. Even if you any doubts, keep it to yourselves, and just follow what I said,” Alnea said, narrowing his eyes, while staring into the depths of the forest, piercing through the fog with the senses of his Spirit. He did not see any Wanderers, but the strange fluctuations that arose suddenly…

  “Come on, Lia,” Alnea said, when he sensed the fluctuations reach his body. “Let’s go welcome our guests.”