Fire. For as far as Alnea could see, all he saw was Fire. Be it in the forest around him, or within his own chest. A fire, that had countless wisps trying to run away, snaking their way through the air, coiling around each other, as they rose into the skies, only for another, much larger wisp, to leap from below, and swallow them whole, before returning back to their mother flame, beginning their cycle anew. And at the moment, he felt just like the tiny wisps of flame flickering behind the Fire Servant.

  “…What does my father’s death have to do with anything?” Alnea said, hoping, praying, that his guess was not true. His prayers, however, never seemed to work.

  “Everything,” the Fire Servant said. “It is where everything began… At least for you.”

  “…Do you know what you are saying, Whitebud?”

  “That your father’s death was not accidental,” the Fire Servant said. “Though you should have guessed that part already. After all, who in their right mind would ask an Initial Stage Wanderer to test an Advanced Stage Arcana?”

  “…Get to the point.”

  “That is the point, Tresting,” the Fire Servant said, raising the edge of his lips ever so slightly. “Do you know the name of the Arcana that led to your father’s death?”

  “…No.”

  “Then will that name, along with the information I just revealed, be enough to satiate your curiosity?”

  “…Does the name of that Arcana have any special meaning?”

  “You will know once you answer my question.”

  “…Fine,” Alnea said, exhaling a heavy breath once again, suppressing the Fire surging from within his chest, threatening to devour the flames before him, before withdrawing the lightning flickering around his legs, straightening his knees, and letting go of his sword’s hilt. “Tell me about that Arcana, and we will call it a truce.”

  “…Greedy as always,” the Fire Servant said, widening his grin. “But that is what I like about you. The hunger in your eyes, the craving in your chest, always striving for more. We are alike in that way, you and me.”

  “I think I warned you not to compare us,” Alnea said, narrowing his eyes. “Do not test my patience, Whitebud.”

  “…Even the way you keep threatening every other sentence,” the Fire Servant said, licking his lips. “If it were not for our position, maybe we could have been friends.”

  “So that you could have sacrificed me to gain even more strength?” Alnea said, restraining his urge to smack the Fire Servant’s face. “Just tell me about the Arcana before I change my mind.”

  “…There is no need to be shy,” the Fire Servant said, before glancing at the pillars of flame in the distance, that had already shrunk down to a height of just about two metres. “But you are right. We do need to hurry up.”

  “You. You need to hurry up.”

  “In any case, where was I?” the Fire Servant said, turning back to Alnea, just as Alnea returned his right hand back to the hilt of his sword, forcing the grin away from the Fire Servant’s face.

  “…I guess there is no harm in giving you a little more information,” the Fire Servant said, as if justifying his compromise to himself. “The Arcana that your father was asked to test was not a new Arcana developed by the Wanderers of Anneve. Those arrogant, self conscious, good for nothing—

  “Get to the point.”

  “…I do not really know who created that Arcana, or whether it was even created by someone from my clan. I just know that the Arcana has been in possession of my clan for thousands of years, if not even more. Maybe even from the Age of Gods. I am not sure about that part. But you get the gist. The Arcana was not new. And it did not need any testing. And certainly not from an Initial Stage Wanderer.

  “Besides, even if they were planning to let an Initial Stage Wanderer try it out, they could have just let him use its Initial Stage version. Yes, you heard me right. There is also an Initial Stage version of that Arcana. Along with versions for each successive Stage up to the Tenth Stage of the True Rank. And that is just what is publicly declared in the library of my clan. Maybe there are versions of even higher Stages and Ranks.”

  “…Then why…”

  “Why did they ask your father to test it?”

  “…You know the answer…”

  “Perhaps. But even if I do, why should I tell you?”

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  “…Think over your words carefully, Whitebud.”

  “…I think you have a misunderstanding,” the Fire Servant said, just as shrill shrieks rang out in the distance. “It is not me who has to be careful, Tresting, but you.”

  “…Were you just delaying for time?” Alnea said, glancing at the last vestiges of the pillars of flame being swallowed up the abominations that released them in the first place. “I knew that I should never have trusted you.”

  “But we really did have a truce, did we not?” the Fire Servant said, shrugging his shoulders. “I even gave you some free information.”

  “…What are you planning, Whitebud?”

  “I am not planning anything. Well, except for a little revenge. But that is what enemies do, right? You cannot blame me for it.”

  “…Do not forget that their first target will be you, not me.”

  “…If I stay here, that is.”

  “And you expect me to stay behind to cover for you?”

  “…I would not mind if you covered my escape, but I do not think our relationship has reached that point yet.”

  “The only relationship we have is that of enemies.”

  “…In any case, I have no intention of forcing you to do anything.”

  “…This is why I hate your clan. You never ‘force’ anyone. You just do not leave them with any other choice.”

  “There is always a choice. You just have to have enough strength to look for it.”

  “…Just tell me the name of the Arcana so that we can both leave this place before those abominations come for us.”

  “There is no hurry,” the Fire Servant said, raising the edge of his lips ever so slightly. “I have answered so many of your questions. How about you answer one of mine for a change?”

  “…What is it?”

  “How did the defences of your robe fail?”

  “…What does that have to do with anything? And do you not know the answer already?”

  “Just entertain me.”

  “…Because of the Fire Spirit’s transformation.”

  “Which resulted in the failure of the Glyphs inscribed on your robes,” the Fire Servant said. “Then why do you think that the Glyphs on your Blood Card would be any different?”

  For a moment, Alnea stood still, staring at the Fire Servant with wide eyes, as his face contorted into a mix of shock and disbelief, before hurriedly reaching for the Blood Card in his robe, only to abandon that thought in the very next moment, and hurriedly retreat a few steps, just in time to avoid a Fire Ball blasting into the ground.

  “What is the hurry?” the Fire Servant said, separating a few wisps from the flames behind him, and shaping them into a ball, making it hover above his hands. “You can check your Blood Card later. How about we go for that second round that you were asking for first?”

  “…I thought we had a truce,” Alnea said, glaring at the Fire Servant, only for the latter to throw the Fire Ball at him, forcing him to dodge once again.

  “Exactly,” the Fire Servant said, manipulating the flames behind him to create another Fire Ball. “Had. Besides, truces are meant to be broken.”

  “Are you sure you want to do this, Whitebud?”

  “This is the least I can do to answer the grieving Spirits of my companion.”

  “…Companions, whom you killed with your own hands?”

  “Not all of them died at my hands,” the Fire Servant said, launching Fire Balls one after another, forcing Alnea to keep dodging, giving him no chance to reach for his Blood Card. “Only some did. The rest were killed by you and your teammates.”

  “…So, you care for your companions only when it suits your needs?”

  “Is that not the same for everyone?”

  “Do not compare me with you.”

  “You are right. There is no point in comparing myself with a dead man.”

  “…I thought that your clan wanted you to capture me alive. Are you not afraid of what they will do to you once they learn that you pushed me to my death?”

  “On the contrary, only when you die will my clan value me more.”

  “…You really are a lunatic, through and through,” Alnea said, gritting his teeth, while searching for ways to escape the Fire Servant’s siege. There were none. Every time he tried to run, the lunatic would just throw Fire Balls at him, forcing him to either dodge, or face those attacks head on. But if he dared to fight those blood red flames head on, then he would end up falling even deeper into—

  Alnea felt the breath of the chaotic Mysteries blowing onto his face first, before he saw the abomination lunging at him. A humanoid creature, with no mouth or face, covered entirely in a kaleidoscopic layer of lights, that kept rippling and shifting with the creature’s movements. Or maybe, it was with time. It was hard to tell. Be it with the abomination lunging at him, or the ten other similar creatures around him.

  Regardless, Alnea did not have any time to think about the peculiarities of the Enthralled Wanderers. Cursing the Fire Servant once again, he met with the abomination’s claws with his sword, pushing it back, before retreating once again. Thankfully, the Fire Servant did not attack him this time. Mostly because, just like him, the lunatic was also being besieged by Enthralled Wanderers. Unlike him though, the Fire Servant already had his Blood Card in his hands.

  “Before I leave, let me complete the agreements of the truce we made earlier, lest people say that I do not keep my words,” the Fire Servant said, weaving his way in between the Enthralled Wanderers besieging him. “Think of it as a last present. A farewell gift, for accompanying me for so long, and helping me in fulfilling my wish.”

  “…Do not think that you have won, Whitebud,” Alnea said, sending a glare at the Fire Servant for a moment, before shifting his attention back to the abominations. “I have survived worse situations. I can do it again.”

  “Perhaps,” the Fire Servant said. “Perhaps not. Only time will tell. Though, even if you survive, it will not affect me much. On the contrary, it will only lower the punishment set by my clan. So, do your best, Tresting. Both, for your sake, and mine.”

  …Alnea affirmed his thoughts once again, to never trust the Wanderers of the Lotus clan.

  “As motivation, let me give you another piece of information,” the Fire Servant said. “The Arcana that led to your father’s death is related to the ‘Twin Nature of All Things’. And that is also where it gets its name. ‘Lotus of Harmony’.”