The Wanderers surrounding Alnea and Zain did not give them any time to think. Once the Whitebud man gave the signal, they rushed towards the duo from all directions. And they moved with the intent to kill. Or at least that is what it looked like to Alnea, when he saw dozens of Fire Balls, Wind Blades, Earthen Spikes, and Lightning Arrows rushing towards him.

  On second thought, those Arcanas and Glyphs were probably there to just distract him. They could not do much damage to him anyway. The real danger came not from those flashy Mysteries, but the ones hiding silently on the tips of swords and spears being thrusted towards his head and chest. And that of Zain, glowing in the white, green, and red light of his Aspects, and the shields covering his body.

  Idiot. He never listened. Though he could not truly blame the man. Anyone would panic when faced with so many attacks. Even Alnea was not any different. And he still had his semi-invulnerable robe. But that was not going to work. Not against the weapons of Decay. So, to save himself, and his stupid teammate, Alnea crushed a token he had taken out while talking with the Whitebud man.

  Right in the next moment, a red light surged from the broken shards of token, that grew brighter, and larger, covering both Alnea and Zain, before any attacks, elemental or physical, could arrive upon them. Of course, against the rain of attacks, the red shield could not last longer than a moment. But that moment was enough for Alnea to grab on to Zain, and Stream through the Skies of the forest.

  “Do not let him run away!”

  As if he would let them stop him. The Sky Streaming Style was not called as such just to sound interesting. It could truly let him Stream through the Skies. Especially after he understood its essence. Freedom. Freedom to do as he wished. And if that Freedom was used to save lives, then it could also connect with Life. Especially since the Primitive Golden Lightning of Life was also a part of Stream.

  Urging the golden lightning, flickering around his body, Alnea weaved his way through the web of chaotic Mysteries descending around him, and made his way—

  Bringing Golden Yearning up, in front of his chest, Alnea blocked a sword, wrapped in reddish black lightning, with a hint of Decay around its edges, just as it was about to slash through him, saving himself from another trip to the world of his Heart. But in turn, his bid to leave the circle of the Wanderers surrounding him was stopped. Stupid bastards.

  “Give up, Tresting.”

  Cursing several generations of the lunatic, Alnea quickly urged the golden lightning to move once again. Not to leave the encirclement of his enemies, but just to avoid the dozen or so swords and spear that came rushing his way in the brief moment that he was forced to stop. Yet, once again, just a moment later, he found himself facing another weapon of Decay. A spear aiming for his head.

  But that did not make any sense, Alnea thought, as he diverted the path of spear with his dagger, before rushing away once again. And once again, he faced the same situation. Being forced to stop from an attack that sprang up in his path ever so suddenly. And that was what confused him. Every time he moved, he made sure that he was moving away from his enemies. Yet, each time, he would find himself trapped from all directions. It was as if—

  “You cannot run away.”

  He was not moving away from his enemies, but towards them. His path… the Skies that he was Streaming… was already under their control. It was a not a surprise that they could divert his path to make the situation more favourable for themselves. A simple application of the most rudimentary Mysteries of Space. Or perhaps just an illusion. It did not matter. He could not leave their encirclement regardless. At least not before he could defeat the one responsible for trapping him in place. If it was just one, that is.

  “Stop resisting.”

  More likely than not, there were at least half a dozen people responsible for tampering with Space. And if one would fall, another could easily take his place. Not that taking them down would be easy. He did not even recognise who was responsible for trapping him. And even if he did, how was he supposed to get rid of the enemies hounding him? Allow them to stab him a few times?

  “It would only make things more difficult for you.”

  Though Alnea was sure that his master could save him, he did not want her to suffer the pain of being stabbed by the Mysteries of Decay. Not to mention that he was not alone. He could not possibly risk Zain’s life. If not for anything else, then for the Oath he had taken. He would ensure that all his teammates would live. Even if that meant fighting against both, Fate, and Death.

  “Just accept your fate.”

  “…You can take your fate, shove it—

  “Language, Alnea.”

  “…Finally,” Alnea said, blocking and dodging another wave of attacks, while pulling Zain along with him. “Are you ready?”

  “I am.”

  “What about the two of you?”

  “I am always ready.”

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  “Everything is ready on my side too.”

  “Then what are we waiting for?” Alnea said, glancing at the Whitebud man in the distance. “Since you are so interested in miracles, then let me show you one, Whitebud.”

  To the girls, he added, “Let’s begin.”

  And so, they did, reaching out to the Path of Stars, and tugging on it. All at the same time. And with the same strength. It was almost as if they were trying to bring the path down to the ground. Or at least, to the world around them. To the physical realm. But they were clearly not strong enough to pull the Mysteries out of its realm of existence. Not even Supreme Wanderers could do that. Or maybe they could. He just did not know about it.

  Regardless, the Star Seekers could not pull down the Mysteries. At best, they could only summon its projection. But they had already done that when creating the Path. So, when they pulled on the Path, when they pulled on the Mysteries once again, the Mysteries pulled them back, summoning them into its own realm of existence. Kind of like how their Roots summoned them to the Origin Sea every time they pulled on it with just enough strength.

  Except, the realm of Mysteries was not the same as the Origin Sea. At least the latter could accommodate the existence of Spirits. The former, however, existed in a plane that no Wanderer could ever fathom. So, when faced with the invitation of Mysteries, Alnea and the girls could only decline politely. And the Mysteries also understood their difficulties. But they had already made their invitation. And the Mysteries never went back on their words. Thus, they could only try to work around the problem.

  The Star Seekers could not visit their homes? It did not matter. The Mysteries would just create one around them. A world where they could exist alongside the Star Seekers. A world of Light and Darkness, a world of Day and Night, where change was the eternal theme. A world, where the Star Seekers could be together, despite being kilometres away. A world, for the Path of Stars.

  Roiling fog, trying to confuse his vision? Undulating ground, rising and sinking with each of his steps, trying to hold on to his ankles? Crazy trees, trying to block his path, and trap him in its web? All those things were just a story of the past. Against the overwhelming might of Day and Night, against the irresistible tide of changes, they could not hold on for even a moment. In the end, all that was left was a world of Black and White. A world of Light and Darkness.

  Not literally, of course. The world, in a sense, was still the same. It was just dyed in the shade of the Mysteries of Day and Night, washing away all the other Mysteries lingering around him. Be it the trees, the ground, the fog, or even the water bodies in the distances, everything returned to their normal state. Just in the shade of Light and Darkness. In the shade of Black and White.

  Yet, those were just the most superficial changes that the descent of the Mysteries brought. The more important changes happened around man who brought down the Mysteries. Enough to change the world itself, even if only temporarily. But the Wanderers of the Lotus clan and their allies did not care about those changes. At least not at first.

  Ignoring the changes in the world, those stupid Wanderers just charged at him, intent on bringing him down. That was until the Mysteries surging around him burst forth with all their glory. And against the might of the Mysteries, everything was forced to a still, even the swords and spears that were just inches away from him. The only thing that moved was the Mysteries. After all, they were still not done with him.

  “…What—

  Showering him with their gifts, the Mysteries dyed him in their shade, bringing him closer to themselves. And they did the same with the girls on the other end. It was only natural then, for Alnea and the girls to become close as well. Not metaphorically, but in a literal sense. Just not on the physical plane. Rather, in a plane where only Mysteries could exist. And not just the ones summoned by him.

  It did not matter who summoned the Mysteries, or if they even contributed to the creation of the plane or not. The plane where the Stars of the Path met did not discriminate. As long as it was a Mystery summoned by the Star Seekers, a Mystery summoned by one of the ‘Stars’ of the ‘Path’, they could all exist at the same time. And they could be used by all of the ‘Stars’ alike.

  “—did you do?”

  “Nothing,” Alnea said, with an ever growing grin on his face, just as the number of Mysteries at his disposal kept growing with each passing moment. “I just created a miracle.”

  “…A miracle, you say,” the Whitebud man said, staring at the boy, who had been dancing in his palms just moments ago, but at the moment, stood with a stupid grin on his face, and a shimmering white glow around the edges of his black robe, with no fear of death. Not of his own. And not that of his teammate. Because no attacks could reach the boy. Not till he was still surrounded by the strange Mysteries of Black and White.

  “You, who know nothing of Gods… know nothing of the time past…”

  The Whitebud man, blessed by a miracle, forced himself to move against the will of the Mysteries, raising his hand to brush his chest. Right where he had stabbed himself, where an outline of the strange crystal was engraved. Though it was more than just an outline. If Alnea was not wrong, the entire crystal was within the man’s chest. Or at least, within his body. The outline was just a mark. A symbol, perhaps, for the Ritual he had conducted. Or the sign of a miracle…

  “Tell me, Tresting. Do you even know what a miracle is?”

  Alnea did not. At least not the kind that the Whitebud man was talking about. The only miracle he had evener experienced was meeting his master. And that was all the miracle he needed. That, and meeting Yuri too. Though, if he was counting her, he could not forget about the other people in his Heart either. Like Cecilia and Vestia. Even big sis Serena. Not mention his mother, still waiting for him back in Rian.

  Regardless, he had no interest in the miracle that the lunatic in front of him was talking about. But that did not stop him from fooling the man. So, instead of answering him directly, Alnea reached out to the plane of Mysteries, and called for the Mysteries of Fortune to descend on the Wanderers around him. And the weapons they were carrying. All before the Mysteries of Day and Night could retreat back into their plane.

  Yet, that was just the initial preparation. To fool the lunatic—lunatics, he needed to give them a little a push. So, he did. Literally. Raising his hand, he pressed his finger against a spearhead just inches away from his eyes, changing the direction it was pointing at, and gave it a little push, before repeating the same process with all the other weapons pointing at him and Zain. Then, and only then, did he answer the man.

  “This,” Alnea said, just as the Mysteries holding the Wanderers in place returned their freedom back to them, along with a chaotic mayhem, that saw them stabbing each other. And though most of those stabs were blocked by other weapons, some went through, piercing through their allies, reducing their number by at least half a dozen. All without him even making a move.

  “—is a miracle.”