“Pervert!”

  Alnea let out a laugh when he heard the voice echoing around him. Only Cecilia could shout so passionately despite being exhausted to her limits. And though he did not glance back, or even extend his Spirit towards her, he could still imagine her, red with shame, glaring at his back, itching to get her hands on him. Fortunately, he ran away in time. Otherwise, he would have had to fight the bastards from the Lotus clan with a handicap once again. Not that he was afraid of those cowards.

  Even with an advantage of nearly forty to one, which was increased to nearly sixty to one later during their battle, they still had to rely on targeting his teammates to force him to exhaustion. Their numbers had decreased considerably since then. And he had recovered back to his peak. No, he had gone even beyond his peak. And he did not bring any of his teammates with him to their battle. He wondered how they were planning to deal with him this time.

  Bursting with confidence—

  “I am scared, Alnea…”

  Alnea Slashed through the confidence blossoming within his Heart, before shifting his attention to the enemies ahead of him. Thirty seven Wanderers. Thirty six humans, and one Fire Servant. Though most of them looked a little exhausted, and a little down on morale, that was still a formidable number. Especially since all of them were at the Peak Stage. And they all had weapons that could hurt him. If they could touch him, that is.

  Going against enemies that had absolute advantage in numbers, only fools would fight them head on. And Alnea was not a fool. At least not for those bastards. So, when he neared the Wanderers who had already regrouped under the threats and lure of the Fire Servant, instead of rushing into their midst right away, he first urged his Aspects to wrap around his legs, before calling for the Primitive Golden Lightning of Life to bless his steps. And they answered his call almost immediately.

  Everything flowed so naturally, that Alnea did not even notice what he had done until streaks of golden lightning were already flickering around him. A feat, which until just a few days ago, was possible only through the aid of the Lightning Stream Style, required just a thought for him to complete. Or maybe more than just a thought.

  ‘Primitive Golden Lightning of Life’ was a type of lightning intertwined with the Mysteries and Concepts of Life and Lightning. As his control over the Mysteries and Concepts of Life and Lightning grew, so would his control of the Golden Lighting. And though he had not comprehended any new Mysteries over the past few days, he did gain a new understanding of his Concepts. Both, of Slaughter, and Protect.

  He was Alnea Oathkeeper, a guardian. Though only of the things and people he cared. He was not a saint. But he was not a slaughterer either. Still, if the need would arise, he would not hesitate to Slaughter. Even if the one whom he had to Slaughter was himself. That was what he thought for a while, until he faced Death. Until he made Yuri cry.

  He was Slaughtering himself to Protect his Heart? Whom was he trying to deceive? He was just trying to run away. A coward, who did not dare face himself. That was his essence. From the very beginning, he never changed. Not when his father died, not when his friends betrayed him, and not even when Cecilia and his master appeared in his life. Even Yuri’s presence could not change him.

  On the contrary, the more his Heart evolved, the bigger of a coward he became, always choosing the easy way out, never caring about how his decisions would affect those around him. When things would go according to his wishes, he would dare to charge against the world itself, only to give up everything and run away the moment he came across a situation he could accept. That was how he had always behaved. Be it back in Anneve, or in the Night Canyons.

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  Things did improve for a while in the Lost City, but everything went back to how it was in the beginning the moment he was faced with a choice he could not make. To dare to take a gamble, and face the future with those around him, or give in to his Fate. In the end, he was just a coward, who never understood what it truly meant to Protect. At least not the kind he always projected.

  He had indeed learned how to Protect, but what he had always been Protecting was his own Heart, not the people around him. To Protect them, just saving them was not enough. He also had to save their Hearts. And the smile on their faces. He had to save everything about them. That was what it truly meant to Protect. It did not matter how helpless his situation became. He could not give up. And he could not run away. Because he was Alnea Oathkeeper. And he had to Protect. Just like the lightning surging from within his chest.

  Golden in shade, and sacred in their temperament, streaks after streaks of lightning spread around his body, wrapping it in their flickering shell, as Alnea reached out to his sword and pulled it out his sheath, slashing through the Lightning Tigers and the Raging Wind Blades that came rushing at him, sending them all back to the Origin Sea. He did not need to. Such attacks were useless against him. They would never make it past the defences of his robe.

  Yet, for some reason, he could not stop moving his hands, just as he could not restrain his steps, as they pulled him towards the second wave of attack that came at him. Birds of fire, riding along the waves surging within the earth. One to target his movements in the air, and the other restrain his steps on the ground. Neither worked. Before any of them could touch him, he was already slashing through their Mysteries, sending them back to the Origin Sea.

  Against the Golden Lightning, only forces of a similar level could stop him. Like the Fire burning within the lunatic’s chest. Though he did not seem to recognise the lightning. Or maybe he did, but just did not wish to join the battle himself. Regardless, he continued ordering his followers to keep throwing their attacks at the figure rushing towards them. In vain.

  No matter how many Arcanas and Glyphs came at him, Alnea just slashed his way through them, and continued rushing towards his enemies, reminding them of how he had crushed them a while ago. And that was when he was carrying someone with him. At the moment, he did not have anyone to slow him down. Or for them to take advantage of. Even the tears in his robe were gone, and so were the injuries that they had given him. Most importantly, he did not seem to be lacking in Spirit Power…

  What exactly was all their effort for? What exactly did so many of their clansmen sacrifice their lives for? And what were they putting their lives at risk for? Everyone knew the answer, but no one dared to speak out. Not after the ‘talk’ that they had with the Whitebud Wanderer. In the end, they could only obey his arrangements, and keep launching their attacks from a distance, only for a boy, years their younger, to tear through them all with just a touch.

  Though they had already expected their Arcanas and Glyphs to not hurt him in the slightest, understanding the futility of their efforts caused their already fragile Heart to shake once again, making some of them panic and fumble with their aim. And the closer the boy got to them, the more mistakes they made. Some even failed in casting their Glyphs and Arcanas, suffering the backlash of their Mysteries. Yet, even as chaos unfolded around him, the lunatic stood still, as if whatever was happening had nothing to do with him.

  The only times that the Fire Servant took action was when some of his followers tried to run away. Though he did not seem to be interested in soothing their Hearts or encouraging their morale. He did not even bother talking to them. Instead, he just turned them to ashes. Even those from his own clan. But he did not kill them out of spite or anger. He was just giving them their due punishment for turning their backs on their companions. And he was sure that if their clans knew what he was doing, they would also agree with him.

  Rather, they might even reward him for helping them get rid of such tumours before they could bring shame to their clans. After all, if those people could betray their companions once, they would definitely do it again. And once news of their betrayal got out, it would bring considerable losses to their clan. Instead of letting such traitors escape, and continue harming their clans, it would be better to just let them contribute to his cause and clear their names. In a way, he was even doing them a favour. It was only natural then, for them to do him a favour in return…