“Wonning,” Vestia said, flashing a hint of regret on her face, while twirling the dagger in her hand. “It is a pity. Your reactions are much better than those of your clansmen. No wonder you were appointed as their leader.”

  “…Are you trying to provoke me?”

  “Not at all,” Vestia said, as she stopped spinning her dagger, and put it away. “I am just stating the facts. You are indeed much better than your clansmen, even if only in running away. And you are also much calmer. All of you. Your other clansmen did not even have the decency to pause our battle for a talk. Though, I should thank them for hurrying to their deaths, or I would not have arrived here in time to stop you from touching my dear Captain with your dirty paws.”

  “Do not fall for her words, Nomar,” the green robed Wanderer said, summoning his Glyph Disc. “You can never let a Weina lead you around, especially in a forest, or you will not even know how you died.”

  “…You do not have to tell me,” the brown robed man said, summoning a short sword. “I can guess how evaded our Spirits, but how did you evade our Glyph Arrays?”

  “I can also guess how you defeated my dear Captain. Probably by taking advantage of his naivety and his kind Heart. That is what you are famous for, after all. To exploit the weakness of your enemies’ Hearts. But how did you turn him into a Flame? That is not something that mere False Wanderers should be capable of.”

  “And it is also not something that you should know.”

  “Oh, but I already have a few guesses. For example, the miracle that you have been talking about.”

  “…It looks like you have been here for quite some time.”

  “Not much, just a couple of minutes. I only heard you talking about miracles. But that also gave me an idea of my dear Captain’s current situation. Is he being possessed by an ancient being?”

  “…There are some things that you would have been better off not knowing, Weina.”

  “…So, my guess is right. My dear, reckless Captain has indeed been possessed by an ancient being.”

  “…What can you do even if you know about it?”

  “I may not be able to do anything, but I am sure that my clan will have records on how deal with such situations. After all, it is not the first time a human has been possessed by some strange being. Back during the dusk of the Age of Gods and the dawn of the Age of Wanderers, when the other races were in decline, quite a few of them chose to possess humans, either to hide among us, or to learn from our ways. Regardless, since I know the cause of his mutation, it should not be a problem for me to find a way to save my Captain.”

  “…I thought that Weinas were not supposed to interfere with local war amongst Orthodoxies. That is the one rule you must follow.”

  “True. But my dear Captain is not from any Orthodoxy. And I have already chosen him to be my partner. That alone is enough for him to receive protection from my clan. And if they hear about his talent, they might even be willing to send some Grand Wanderers to bring him back.”

  “…If they hear about him.”

  “Are you threatening me, Blonsten?”

  “…Is it not a little too late to be worrying about threats at this point?” the yellow robed Wanderer said. “Do you think we have forgotten that you are the main reason why we suffered so many losses in the Black Desert? And that is not even counting the people you killed in the Trial.”

  “Are you sure that they are dead? Maybe some of them are still alive, just incapacitated from their wounds. Though I am not sure how long they will be able to last. If you are so concerned about them, why not rush to their rescue? Who knows, you might be able to save all of them if make it in time.”

  “…Stop with your tricks, Weina,” the blue robed Wanderer said, conjuring a wisp of fire, and shaping it in the form of an arrow, aiming it at the woman in front of him. “We may be wary of the Serpia clan, but that is only because it is close to our clans. The Erwein forest is too far away for us to fear its wrath.”

  “…It looks like you know too little about my clan. Or else, you would not make such a bold statement.”

  “…Do not think we will fall for your bluff, Weina. Sure, we admit that your clan is strong, and has contacts, and even Wanderers of its own spread all over the world, especially the Tes Domain. But that is also why it must restrain itself, or risk losing everything it has developed over the years.”

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  “And how do you think we have survived all these years?” Vestia said, glancing at the red robed man with disdain. “We imposed those rules on ourselves. Naturally, we also know how to exploit them. Why do you think we are counted amongst the strongest Grand clans in the world? Just because we have some connections, and a few more Grand Wanderers than others?”

  “…For some reason, I suddenly have the urge to bash her head.”

  “…You are not alone. It should be one of her Arcanas.”

  “Or it could just be one of her natural talents. After all, Weinas are known for messing with the Hearts of their enemies, killing them without even lifting a hand.”

  “…Regardless, we cannot let her lead us.”

  “I say we just blast her with our Arcanas.”

  “…That is a good idea,” the green robed Wanderer said, activating the Glyph he had carved, summoning a torrent of Wind Blades, which then all came together to form three vortices, each roughly three quarters his height, hovering next to him, just a little above the ground, all patiently waiting for his command.

  “Do you want to bet how long she can hold on under our attacks?”

  “One minute,” said the blue robed man, conjuring another half a dozen Fire Arrows, all circling behind his back, a little above his head. And as if to not be left out, the other Wanderers also manifested the Mysteries of the Origin Sea, each in different form, but possessing just as much threat to the woman in front of them as the rest. Like a pair of tigers, formed completely of lightning, and a bear, that stood at least four metres tall, towering over everyone else, even some of the low hanging branches of the trees.

  “Five minutes at the very least.”

  “That is too much. I do not think she will be able to last even one wave of our attacks, so I will go with half a minute.”

  “I think you are forgetting that she just defeated around forty of our Wanderers. Though five minutes is indeed overestimating her a little too much, so I will go with three minutes.”

  “I get what you are trying to say, but it is exactly because she wasted so much of her strength in dealing with other Wanderers that she should not much Spirit Power left. Still, she did prove her strength. Maybe, if she was not exhausted, she might have even had a chance of escaping unscathed. As expected of a Weina. Just for that alone, I will bet that she can last at least two minutes…”

  As the Wanderers in front of her kept casting their Arcanas and activating their Glyphs one by one, Vestia did not show any reaction, except glancing at them with disdain.

  “…How about I also take part in your wager?” Vestia said. “I will bet that I can last as long as it takes to defeat you.”

  “…I think you do not understand your position right now,” the pink robed Wanderer said, caressing the head of the Lightning Tigers he had summoned. “If your next words do not satisfy us, then it might be the last words you ever speak.”

  “Go ahead then,” Vestia said, raising her hands to show that she was not carrying any weapons or Glyph Tokens. She did not even urge her Aspects. At the moment, she was truly defenceless. Yet, she stood fearless. “Give me your worst.”

  “…Do you really think we would not dare to attack you?”

  “Oh, that I have no doubt about,” Vestia said, bringing her arms back down to her side, as she shrugged her shoulders. “Like you said, my clan is indeed a little too far from yours. As long as your actions do not threaten the interests that my clan has already laid claim over, it would not have any excuses to trouble your clans. But do you really dare to attack me right now?”

  “…As expected of a Weina,” the pink robed Wanderer said, nodding at the fearless, blue robed girl. “Indeed, as long as you stand next to the Flame, none of us would dare to attack you. But are you going to just stand there all the time? Do you not wish to save your Captain?”

  “…I already know how to save him. Why should I risk losing him to you once again by fighting you head on?”

  “And are you sure that method you know is right? Are you sure that the records in your clan will give you a way to save him?”

  “…Do you think you can shake my Heart with such lousy excuses?”

  “Excuses? Perhaps. But they surely are not lousy. Just think for a moment. Is solving the possession of a race that barely produced any True and Mystic Rank beings the same as solving the possession of race which are born at the Grand Rank?”

  “…Are you even listening to what you are saying?”

  “I know what I am saying, but it looks like you are not comprehending the gravity of your Captain’s situation.”

  “…Even if what you are saying is true—

  “Do you know what exactly is the being your Captain is possessed by?”

  “…It does not matter. Almost all the races still active at the dusk of the Age of Gods tried possessing humans at one point. Although I do not know what race the being possessing him is from, as long as I bring him back, it will be easy to find clues from the records.”

  “And what if the being possessing your Captain is from a race that had already withdrawn from the world before the dusk of the Age of Gods? What if the being is from a time even before the Age of Gods?”

  “Then that being would already be dead, and not sealed in a broken world, that barely looks a few millennia old.”

  “Can you be sure?”

  “…Do not think that you—

  “Are you willing to bet the life of your Captain on some assumptions?”

  “…Those are not assumptions, but facts that I deduced from my observations.”

  “Maybe,” the pink robed Wanderer said, raising the edges of his lips upwards in a smirk. “But it seems like you missed accounting for one observation. What did you hear us calling the being possessing your Captain?”

  “…An ancient being…”

  “An ancient being. Now, are you still sure in your deductions, Weina? Are you still willing to take the risk?”

  “…You won, Rosefield,” Vestia said, letting out a sigh, just as the rationality suppressing the rage within her Heart began to shatter. “But soon, you will wish that you had lost.”