Fire Arrows whizzed past Yuri’s ears, rushing into the Wanderers of the Lotus clan’s alliance, as she raised the sword in her hand, turning it into a whip midway, before lashing it at a Wanderer trying to go around her to attack Aren. The yellow robed Wanderer, in turn, blocked the whip with his sword, but was entangled by its end, and thrown back to the rest of his teammates. Or colleagues. Whatever it was they called themselves. She did not care.

  At the moment, the only thing that Yuri could think of, was Alnea. It had been a while since his Path of Stars of wore out, yet he had not reached out to her even once. What was that fool thinking? Was he alright? He should be alright. With big sis Nyssa watching over him, nothing should happen to him. Maybe, even if the entire Final World collapsed, he would still be fine. But…

  Why could she not get rid of the nagging feeling at the back of her head? Why did her mind kept going back to him again and again? Should she reach out to him instead? No, it might disturb him. Unlike the rest of their team, he was facing nearly eighty enemies all by himself. Well, there was also Zain. But he should not be of much help. Just like Aren in the distance, sending useless Fire Arrows one after another. Though his apparent uselessness was mostly because of his current state.

  In the beginning, the pink robed teammate did help her a lot. It was only when the wounds and fatigue he accumulated reached past a certain threshold, that he could not continue fighting as before. The poor man could barely even stand. Still, at least he could stand. It was much better than what usually happened to people fighting against enemies several times their number.

  Nine against a hundred and eighty four. That was a difference of over twenty times. Fortunately, Alnea had spread out their team earlier, attracting most of their enemies to himself—Was that his plan from the very beginning? That fool. She would deal with him later. First, she had to deal with the enemies in front of her. Or at least, what was left of them.

  Of the thirty five Wanderers who had come to her, only ten were left. The rest were all dead. And the ones who were still standing were not in any good shape either. At best, they could only display half of their combat potential. And that was a conservating estimate. Though it was not like she was faring much better. The Path of Stars may be a brilliant Arcana to deal with enemies several times their number, but it had its limits. And it drained her Spirit Power too quickly.

  Even if that fool had not interrupted his Arcana, she would not have been able to hold on for long. And that was despite her Spirit Power already being at the Peak Stage. Cecilia would only be having an even harder time. And though Vestia’s reserve of Spirit Power was greater than hers, the number of enemies she had to face was also greater. Hopefully, Norren and Ralph should be able to help share a little of her pressure. Just as Aren was doing a while ago.

  Despite having focussed on the path of Scholars and Arcanist all his life, when the situation needed him to come forward and help her hold off their enemies, Aren did not hesitate to charge ahead with his daggers. It did not matter how many enemies there were. His steps never faltered. Though, most of the time, he had to be rescued right after. After all, he could not become a qualified Warrior by just having some courage.

  In such situations, Karl was much more reliable. He may be a little annoying at normal times, always questioning Alnea about his decisions, but when the situation called for it, he could assume any position. Maybe this was why that fool partnered him with Cecilia. She needed his help more than her and Vestia. Her fool had indeed become a good Captain. She would have to reward him later. A special—

  Yuri reigned in her Heart before it could wander any farther, just as she urged the Aspects in her hand to change their form from a whip to a sword, blocking the sword coming for her head, deflecting it to her side, only to change her sword into a shield right after, blocking a couple of Serpents of Lightning, along with some Fire Balls and Wind Blades. In return, her enemies had to block a couple of Fire Arrows themselves. Not from her, of course.

  Ever since the disappearance of the Path of Stars, Yuri had focussed almost completely on holding off their enemies, while Aren stayed at back, trying to take them down with his Glyphs and Arcanas. Not to much effect, as was evident from how easily their enemies blocked the Fire Arrows. Then again, what else could they have expected from one of the most basic attacks from the lineage of Creation?

  Maybe, if the Fire Arrow also had the burst effect, along with the properties of the fire sticking to the targets, then it could have had some effects. It would have been even better if it could be imbued with the burning effect, and have the temperature of its flames raised to the limits of the False Rank. And those were just the most basic enhancements she could think of. A Wanderer specialising in the lineage of Creation would surely be able to think of many other ways to strengthen his attacks. There was just one problem.

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  To implement even those basic enhancements, either the Arcana in the hand of the Wanderer had to be of the Perfect Grade and above, which Aren, having an estranged relationship with his clan, would not be able to afford, or Aren himself had to be from the lineage of Creation, and create it on his own. But from what she could tell, his Roots were from the lineage of Life and Time.

  Though, even if his Roots were from the lineage of Creation, she did not think he could create such an Arcana. Not even Zain could accomplish such a feat. And he was from a lineage of Arcanists famous for creating all sorts of Arcanas. Of their peers, only her fool had the hopes of creating such an Arcana. No, he had already created Perfect Grade Arcanas. And that too, more than one…

  In any case, Aren’s Fire Arrows were not strong enough to take down their enemies, Yuri noted, as she raised her shield, transforming it into a spear, before charging into their enemies once again. All ten of them. She could not risk letting them past her and reach Aren’s side. Not after the promise Alnea had made. He was such a fool. Always inviting trouble for himself. Like that vixen…

  She had to teach him a lesson. Not right away. She was not so overwhelmed with jealo—

  It was not for jealousy. It was for his own good. So that he would not invite more troubles in the future, and have her and big sis Nyssa wipe his butt. But it would have to wait until after they left the Lost City. She could not distract him at the moment. Just as she could not let herself be distracted, Yuri noted, changing her spear into a pair of daggers, and weaving through her enemies, leaving behind several small wounds on their bodies.

  Once again, she successfully fooled those stupid Wanderers. But she was not happy. And not because of Aren’s apparent incompetence. He should be just putting on a show to have their enemies let their guard down. She had already guessed what he was preparing. Constantly releasing useless Fire Arrows in a humid forest rife with moisture… Either he had something wrong with his head, or—

  Yuri paused, both in her thoughts, and her steps. But the Wanderers around her did not take advantage of her hesitation to rush towards her. Instead, just like her, they too stopped in their actions, and glanced towards the skies. Or at least, tried to. The canopy of trees above their head obscured their vision. And their Spirit was not strong enough to observe the skies directly.

  Yet, even without looking at the skies, they could tell what was happening above their heads. Not because they suddenly developed clairvoyance. But because they could hear its voice. They could hear its rumblings. And they could it feel it lock onto them. They could feel its breath…

  “Finally,” Aren said, with a pale face and weak legs. Though the latter probably also had to do with the wounds scattered all over his body, and the breath of Decay he was carrying. Even with over thirty metres between them, Yuri could still smell the breath. Thankfully, the breath was faint. As were his wounds. He should be fine for the moment. Just a little exhausted.

  “Take cover, Yuri. I am still not proficient with this Glyph Array. It might hurt you if you get in the way.”

  …He should have said that before activating his Glyph Array, Yuri thought to herself, noticing the glowing Glyph Disc in his hands, as she dodged the Wanderers trying to hold her down. Though it would have also alerted the other Wanderers. And had she not guessed his actions already? Why then, was she feeling so… impatient? Why was she feeling so irritated? Almost as if—

  …Subduing the irrational restlessness within her Heart, Yuri quickly drew her distance from their enemies, just as Aren’s Glyph Array began taking effect, sending down waves after waves of lightning strikes. And not just the average lightning strikes that Wanderers manifested through Mysteries. No, the lightning bolts he summoned were natural, albeit of the weakest kind.

  Still, summoning natural lighting at the False Rank was not something that just anyone could accomplish. Just creating the rain cloud alone required having enough mastery over the Mysteries of Fire, Water, and Wind, while directing the lightning bolts necessitated an even greater understanding of the Mysteries of Lightning. Not to mention the large amount of Spirit Power spent in the process.

  Despite having reached the Eighth Level of the Peak Stage, possessing Spirit Power upwards of eight thousand units, Aren still could not help feeling a little weak in his legs after summoning the lighting. And that was not even counting the additional cost that came with daring to summon natural lightning. Being hated by Lightning, and suffering from occasional stray bolts, that just happened to slip out of his control.

  Unlike the Wanderers of the Lotus clan’s alliance though, who were caught unprepared, and could only use the weapons in their hands to defend themselves, Aren knew what he would have to face even before he began preparing to summon the lighting. So, he did not panic. Instead, he took out a blood red tear from his robe, and crushed it, conjuring a blood red shield around himself.

  Unfortunately, the shield was not invulnerable. Once the damage it suffered exceeded its limits, the shield broke apart into tiny shards, before submerging into his body, bringing him a cool, refreshing sensation, that was soon followed by electrocution. Or should it be a lightning massage? Aren could no longer distinguish between the two. And did it even matter? He had already fulfilled his responsibilities. Next, it would all be up to…