Stellar Echo: Heart of the Myst

[lordanl]

"Where did you get all this, Erik?"

Ethan asked as he looked over each of the materials with a complicated expression. Erik smiled calmly and replied.

"Trade secret."

"…"

Ethan looked at Erik with a somewhat helpless expression, at which point Christine stepped forward and remarked with a smile.

"There are things it's better not to ask about, Ethan."

Ethan looked at Christine for a few seconds, then at Chen, who was calmly inspecting the items with apparently not a shred of curiosity about their origin. Though curiosity was eating at him, Ethan let out a heavy sigh and nodded, then spoke in a steadier voice.

"… You're right. It's not a good idea to try to pry into other people's secrets." Ethan gave a slight bow to Erik and continued in a serious tone.

"I'm sorry, Erik. I overstepped."

"Don't dwell on it. Let's just focus on deploying the formations." Erik said, his tone calm but firm, and the others quickly nodded.

"Then let's get to work." Chen said seriously, then picked up metal ingots, a flask of blood, a bone, and a couple of pieces of wood and handed them to Erik.

"Erik, help me refine these ingredients a bit while I take the measurements."

"Then I'll ask for help with the 'ink' as well."

Ethan quickly took more blood, some charcoal, a copper ingot, and some herbs and passed them to Erik while speaking in a serious tone. Erik nodded quietly as he took everything, and Christine chimed in in a sing-song voice.

"Disciple Erik, allow me to help. I'm not an alchemist, but as an artificer, I can be of use when it comes to refining materials."

"Thank you, Disciple Taylor." Erik nodded with a calm expression, then looked at Ethan and Chen as he took a notebook and a pencil from his storage pouch.

"I need the specifications for each thing."

…

Once he noted all the specifications Ethan and Chen gave him, Erik pulled a worn piece of chalk from his storage pouch along with a stone mortar, a wooden bowl, and two boards. After dividing the tasks with Christine, Erik split the worn chalk and gave half to the beautiful blue-haired girl along with a board, then got to work.

While Ethan conjured different runes in the air—dividing them into two groups, one he spread evenly throughout the area and the other he arranged neatly in front of him—Chen performed eight hand seals, then formed a square with his fingers in front of his right eye. As if his fingers were a window that let him see the invisible, Chen began to study the surroundings in detail while stepping in different directions to measure the terrain.

Meanwhile, Christine and Erik drew different runic-geometric refining circles on the boards and began refining various materials. Christine handled the Falamite ingots, which, after she refined them a bit in the refining circle, she struck with an ice hammer, then refined again—slowly changing their shape, turning it into a flat hexagon.

At the same time, Erik ground the charcoal and some of the flowers in the mortar, then used his machete to shave tiny filings from the true copper ingot. Once everything was ready, Erik began adding a little blood to the mortar while activating the refining circle, which caused all the materials to fuse into a kind of iridescent ink.

Quickly, Erik poured the ink into one of the wooden bowls to the side, then drew two new refining circles. Leaving a mana crystal on one of the circles, Erik set the bowl of ink on it, then placed a broad bone on the second refining circle. He then began carving it with his machetes into a hexagon similar to the one Christine was making.

…

"Erik, do you have the ink?"

Not long after, Ethan asked in a serious tone, with what looked like a fractal hexagon made up of a great many runes in front of him. Using a phantom hand, Erik delivered him the bowl with the iridescent ink, and Ethan quickly took from his belt what looked like a handmade brush.

With a focused expression, Ethan dipped the brush into the ink and began drawing runes on the ground, using the fractal hexagon as a reference—though the runes he drew looked simpler. At that moment, Chen, who had been sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them and looked at Erik.

Without saying a word, Erik sent over six different hexagons of wood, metal, and bone. Along with several mana crystals and several small vials of blood mixed with different proportions of plants, charcoal, and SARI, plus an improvised brush made from a branch and the hair of some magical creature.

"Thanks."

Chen thanked him in a serious tone, quickly took the brush, dipped it into one of the blood vials, and began drawing runes of the Zazen Discipline on one of the Falamite hexagons.

Erik watched with visible curiosity as Ethan and Chen used different magical systems to create the same thing: a "formation." Formations were artificial structures designed with different runes, materials, and patterns tied to the geographic location that allowed the surrounding Myst and mana to be manipulated in a stable, repeatable, and programmed way to achieve various goals.

In other words, formations were basically stationary spells many times more powerful than the mana user capable of deploying them. Essentially, they turned a "place" into a sort of extremely powerful "pseudo-magical artifact" with almost infinite applications. Setting aside the fact that they couldn't move, there was practically nothing a magical artifact could do that a formation couldn't replicate.

For that reason, formations were one of the most studied and developed disciplines in the galaxy, as they formed the cornerstone of territorial defense. For example, the shields that protected planets were "intelligent formations" that allowed passage only to those who met certain requirements and defended against any external attack.

As proof of the colossal power of a formation compared to that of an artifact, there was the case of the shield of the University planet. It was capable of withstanding the full onslaught of a Legend-level being and remaining intact as long as it had enough mana crystals to feed it—something practically no magical artifact could achieve.

To make the best use of such power, many formation specialists throughout history attempted to control and streamline the deployment of formations, which led to the birth of formation disks and formation flags.

Formation disks were extraordinarily complex artifacts that allowed formations to be deployed almost immediately. Their internal structure housed a wide variety of materials, formation runes, and wisdom runes that preconfigured the design. However, once activated, the formation remained fixed, and its power was less than that of one developed by traditional methods.

Formation flags, on the other hand, were created to improve the control and power. Each formation depended on different nodes interconnected through the Myst to function; those nodes were the system's weak point. The flags—magical artifacts designed to maximize efficiency—replaced those nodes.

Thanks to this, a formation that used flags reached at least 50% more power than an equivalent one without them and offered near-surgical control of its operation. Moreover, being specialized artifacts, they incorporated defensive mechanisms that made attacking the nodes exceedingly difficult, making the formation several times more resistant and robust.

…

(Maybe I should set aside some time to study formations in more detail…) Erik mused with a calm expression as he watched Ethan and Chen work, but he quickly shook his head and turned to look at Christine.

"Disciple Taylor, shall we complete our transaction while the formations are being deployed?"

"Sounds good to me." Christine nodded, then began explaining every aspect of the method for creating formation flags to Erik.

After a while, as Erik took notes with a focused expression, he suddenly stopped writing and turned toward Ethan and Chen, which caught Christine's attention. While Erik curiously analyzed the movement of the Myst in the area, Ethan placed a mana crystal at the center of the fractal hexagon of runes. He then tossed another six mana crystals a few meters out from the corners of the hexagon.

At the same time, the runes Ethan had conjured that were floating in front of him—a fractal hexagon several times more complex than the one drawn—moved to align with the one on the ground. The moment they aligned perfectly, Erik could feel the Myst beginning to organize in a structured way around several large runes that formed over the mana crystals at the corners of the hexagon.

Soon, a strange mist began to fill the area, completely covering Ethan's figure, then started to rise into the air, somehow forming a "hexagonal castle." Immediately after, all the mist vanished at once along with the runes, as if it had only been an illusion—but Ethan could no longer be seen anywhere, as if he had turned invisible.

Though through the Myst, Erik could tell Ethan hadn't moved from his spot—he simply couldn't see him anymore. After a few seconds, Ethan reappeared, walking toward them looking a bit tired. When he reached Erik and Christine, Ethan let himself drop to the ground, then looked at Chen and said in a weary voice.

"I'll let you do the honors."

Chen nodded with a serious expression, then placed around "Ethan's hexagon" the six hexagons of different materials that Erik and Christine had made, which were filled with runes of the Zazen Discipline. As he positioned each hexagon, Chen set a mana crystal on top of each one, and once they were all perfectly arranged, he began executing at least a dozen hand seals with both hands in rapid succession.

When he finished, Chen struck the ground with his hand, causing the six mana crystals to light up along with the runes on the hexagons beneath them, and the Myst began to move erratically. In Erik's perception, the Myst soon reordered itself into a hexagonal pattern interconnected by threads, at which point large amounts of mana began circulating throughout the array.

Over each of Chen's mana crystals, what looked like doors made of shadow took shape. They remained for a few seconds, then all shut at once and vanished.

With the disappearance of the doors, the entire area returned to normal, making it practically impossible to notice anything strange. Even for Erik, he could only feel that the Myst was moving unnaturally in the area, but little else.

"It's done. This should hide us from anyone below the Illuminated level." Chen looked at the group and said with a satisfied smile. Christine quickly stood and spoke in a soft, sing-song voice.

"Can I test it?"

"Of course." Chen answered calmly, then formed a hand sign and stepped backward, disappearing like a mirage.

Seeing Chen vanish, Christine quickly extended her Ethereal Projection to the maximum, creating a sphere of just over 50 meters of pure mana around herself, then took a step forward. But no matter how hard she searched the place, even while staying as alert as possible, Christine couldn't find a single trace of Chen. Erik couldn't find him either—whether through the Myst or with his Mystic Awareness.

"How was it?" Out of nowhere, Chen appeared like a mirage a few meters behind Christine's back, taking a step forward, and asked with a smile.

"… Impressive."

Startled, Christine quickly spun around, then spoke in a somewhat complex tone. Chen and Ethan laughed enthusiastically. At that moment, Erik put his notebook and pencil away in the storage pouch at his waist, then stood up and brushed off the dust with light pats as he commented,

"Although this is more of a temporary base than a proper one, it's more than enough for now. Let's regroup with the others—our three hours are almost up."

"Sounds good. This is pretty much the best we can build without formation flags. For a more stable and durable base, we'll definitely need the flags." Ethan said, looking at Chen, who nodded in agreement and added,

"With Erik's and Disciple Taylor's help, getting the flags isn't just a dream, so we'd better make the most of the time to gather the materials."

"Then let's go. Tomás should already have arrived with what we had stored at the base, and there are some quite interesting things there for creating formation flags."

Christine rejoined the others and spoke with a smile, so the other youths nodded and started running toward the stairs.

***

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[lordanl]

Not wanting to run into the golems they had "defeated" before again, the group decided to head for another of the stairways Erik had pointed out on the map. After dodging a few groups of hunters, they finally reached the exit, where—after passing through a narrow tunnel—they could once again see the fading sunlight.

"I'll try to find the others."

After inhaling a lungful of fresh air, Erik announced calmly, and the others nodded, so Erik closed his eyes. Extending his perception to the limit with the help of the Myst, Erik was soon able to sense Frank approaching from afar with another group of youths. At that moment, Erik opened his eyes, looked at the others, and spoke in a steady voice.

"One of my companions is on his way back; the others shouldn't take long."

"How about we make the most of the time and continue with our business, Disciple Erik?" Christine remarked with a small smile. Erik nodded with a calm expression and picked his notebook back up, while Ethan and Chen started a discussion about formations for the base.

…

"I see everyone's here already!"

After a while—once they had all gathered, bringing with them at least a hundred carcasses of magical creatures of different sizes—Tomás landed and spoke in a powerful voice. Erik, who was making a small inventory along with a rationing plan, turned to look at Tomás and commented as he watched the nearly twenty-meter boar falling from the sky.

"We set up formations for a temporary base, but for something more lasting we'll need formation flags, so we want to see what we have and what we're missing to try to make them."

While creating a Myst platform with a magic circle to catch the giant boar, Erik spoke evenly. Tomás eyed the Myst platform with a hint of curiosity as he answered with energetic confidence.

"Good thinking. I brought the most important things from the base, so we can do a quick joint inventory while we start processing the meat for preserves."

"Sounds good. Let's do that."

Erik replied calmly; at that moment a magic circle appeared on the ground a few meters from the group, making the earth move as if it had a will of its own. Soon, several crates emerged from the ground, which were quickly enclosed in Myst barriers that flew toward Frank and Elara. Erik then spoke evenly.

"Frank, Elara, I'm counting on you."

"Understood."

Elara nodded quickly, her tone serious, and Frank nodded as well. For his part, Tomás glanced at the crates with a touch of curiosity, but he quickly loosened the pouch at his waist and tossed it to Ethan while ordering calmly.

"Ethan, Christine, I'm leaving it in your hands."

"Got it!" Ethan answered with a small, triumphant grin, while Christine turned to look at Elara, flashing her a mocking smile, which made the beautiful mage snort in annoyance.

Erik, meanwhile, approached Tomás and spoke quietly as he surveyed the large number of corpses around them.

"Although there's no one nearby for now, that could change at any moment, so we need to hurry. How do you want to handle this? Do we split the food among the groups that hunted it, or do we come to an agreement?"

"Let's work on everything at once and then divide the meat and different materials into equal shares. That would be the fairest and most efficient."

Tomás spoke in an even tone, fully aware of the implications of Erik's words. They weren't a single team yet—they were two separate teams working closely together to survive, but they still had independent chains of command. Unless one group submitted to the other, there would be two leaders, and they had to treat each other with due respect in order to cooperate effectively.

"Sounds good to me. It's a deal." Erik said calmly as he extended his hand to Tomás, who quickly took it and replied with a confident smile.

"Then let's get to work."

"I'm already on it."

Erik spoke with a smile, which made Tomás turn to look around with a flicker of alarm. At that very instant, at least a dozen carcasses rose into the air headfirst, as if invisible hands were holding them by the legs. Tomás raised an eyebrow at the sight, then looked at Erik with a composed expression, finding only a kindly smile on the young man's face.

(You're anything but simple, Erik… and you even have a certain elegance to your displays of power.)

Tomás reflected without changing his expression, once again understanding the young man's implicit message. He was basically warning him, subtly, that although he was weaker, catching him off guard wouldn't be difficult—so assassination was always on the table. They were on similar footing, and it wasn't a good idea to underestimate them.

Smiling, Tomás nodded to Erik and, after releasing his hand, turned to look at the youths in his group and commanded in a firm, resonant voice.

"Family! Time to work—we have to finish this in under two hours."

""Os!!""

The group of six youths shouted in unison, then split up and began taking on a beast in pairs, while Tomás drew his sword and headed for the giant boar he had brought. Erik looked at his own team—Zoe, Chen, and his two companions—and began to assign tasks while reeling in the corpses he had grabbed with his ghost hand.

"Zoe will handle the butchering with me. Chen and Hiyori, you'll take care of the smoking. Haoran Leng will handle the smoke and storing the blood, and Dalai Lin will cut bamboo to make containers for the blood and boxes to store whatever doesn't fit in the storage bags."

""Understood!!""

The group answered in unison and each got to work, so Erik fashioned some temporary containers out of nearby rocks, then slit the corpses' throats and began draining the blood with the help of a small liquid-control magic circle. This greatly sped up the work without affecting the blood's properties, as it would be needed for formations and for crafting artifacts and potions.

Though a bit surprised at how the fox spirit obeyed Erik's orders, Tomás quickly focused on his task, as did his team. While Erik's group worked like an orderly assembly line, Tomás's group performed like seasoned butchers, managing to break down the beasts in pairs at great speed.

Moreover, unlike Erik's group, they had an ice mage who moved from pair to pair, freezing the meat, blood, and more, which spared them the need to smoke or prepare containers.

Even though their methods differed, the efficiency of the two groups was quite similar, and they managed to finish half the corpses in just under an hour. At that point, Elara announced in a calm voice that could distract anyone from their work.

"The inventory is ready."

"If we combine what both teams have, we've got more or less the ingredients to make some basic flags, though I'm a little worried about the cores—we might come up a bit short." Christine interjected in a sensual, melodious voice. Erik nodded calmly and replied.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, let's focus on preparing as best we can."

"I agree. I think it's better to start taking the supplies inside to make the most of our time." Tomás added evenly. Erik turned to nod and asked in a serious tone.

"Works for me—who leads?"

"I do. I want to go in and take the chance to get a few more storage bags. They'll make our lives much easier." Tomás said, resting his hand casually on the hilt of the sword at his waist. Erik nodded, understanding the implications.

"Fine by me. Same price for the modifications?"

"Same is fine. You can take your cut once we're set up." Tomás nodded, and so did Erik, who shortly after turned to Frank to give a firm order.

"Frank, you'll be in charge of carrying our stuff."

Frank nodded firmly, but in that instant he noticed Erik shoot a subtle glance at Lirio above his head, then shift his eyes to his feet, which left him a bit confused. After a few moments, though, Frank grasped the implications. Lirio and his shadow were key. Clenching a fist tightly, Frank replied in a serious voice.

"Understood, boss."

Meanwhile, Tomás's gaze narrowed ever so slightly when he saw the subtle change in the young air mage's expression. Although they had hidden it well, it became fairly obvious to Tomás that a message had been passed somehow, though it wasn't a sound transmission. And judging by Frank's subtle micro-expressions, the message had to do with him.

But though it seemed to involve him, instead of hostility or something like that, Tomás noticed Frank was concealing a subtle caution. So, if he had to guess, he'd say that rather than wanting to do something to him, it was more like Erik had told him not to let his guard down.

(Erik is pretty two-faced. Firm and full of confidence when he speaks and negotiates, but incredibly cautious and distrustful underneath… Although I don't much like that attitude, it really is what a leader needs in this situation. Plus, if he's that cautious, what he's shown is probably far from his true full capability… Interesting.)

After analyzing the whole situation in a matter of milliseconds, Tomás reached a conclusion that let him understand Erik a little better. But the blue-haired youth quickly dismissed his train of thought and looked at Ethan, then ordered in a calm voice that seemed inherently charismatic.

"Ethan, you're coming with us. Christine and the others will focus entirely on processing the rest of the hunt."

""Os!!"" the group of six announced in unison. Christine, for her part, smiled seductively and commented while looking at Erik.

"Then I'll help Disciple Erik. With my ice magic, it'll be faster to preserve the ingredients."

Tomás simply nodded, then turned to look at Erik, only to find him holding a pair of vines. At the same time, several magic circles materialized in front of the wooden crates and blocks of ice, conjuring Myst barriers to surround them. Erik handed the vines to Tomás and spoke in a steady tone.

"The barriers' relative position is linked to these vines, and they'll last a couple of hours, so you can carry things more easily."

"Your magic is quite convenient…" Tomás said, somewhat surprised as he took the vines, causing the barriers to move along with them. Erik smiled and replied.

"Only in this odd situation—a storage ring is much better."

"That's true." Tomás agreed; after all, outside of a ruin, running out of storage artifacts would be pretty unlikely.

After handing the vines to Ethan and Frank—who quickly tied them around their wrists—Tomás took his leave and headed into the strange mountain. At that moment, Zoe spoke calmly while shooting Christine a venomous look; Christine made no effort to hide her obvious intentions toward Erik, sidling up to him like a cat in heat.

"Let's continue; we can't waste time."

"Chen, let me help you with the smoking." Elara approached Chen and said evenly, and he nodded.

"That'll be a great help, Disciple Belmonte."

"Let's begin; we need to finish this as quickly as possible."

Erik looked at his teammates and commented calmly, fully assuming the role of his team's overall leader. Everyone nodded back, and soon the group started working again. With the addition of Christine and Elara, however, efficiency increased, allowing them to be even faster than the six youngsters in Tomás's group.

But after a while, just as everyone was growing accustomed to their tasks, a sharp sound of shattering glass echoed throughout the place. Erik's eyes widened in disbelief as he turned to look far off to his left. The others did the same, while an inexplicable chill spread through their bodies.

[The barrier collapsed.]

At the same time, Erik heard Ebonique's heavy voice in his mind, confirming his fears. With a solemn expression, Erik turned to the others and ordered in an incredibly serious voice, even as magic circles sprang up to surround all the crates, carcasses, and ice blocks.

"Inside, now!"

Erik's shout snapped everyone out of their momentary daze, and they quickly pushed their mana to the limit. In that instant, a brutal roar—accompanied by a terrifying shockwave and what seemed like an apocalyptic gale—hit them.

Simultaneously, magic circles and runes formed out of nowhere, preceding the appearance of layer upon layer of barriers that tried to interpose themselves in the shockwave's path. But as if they were made of paper, the barriers were torn to pieces, and several crates and beast carcasses were sent flying through the air. At that moment, Erik's voice rang in everyone's ears.

"Down!"

Almost instinctively, they all threw themselves to the ground, at which point the earth deformed as if it were a living liquid, covering them completely. This created an aerodynamic geometry of solid rock that deflected the hurricane-force winds, which were tearing down trees hundreds of meters tall, long enough for them to sink deep enough into the ground to avoid being blown away.

With an incredibly dark expression, Elara turned her head and saw Erik with his machetes driven into the ground and a massive magic circle glowing over the earth, wearing an expression not so different from her own.

***

You can support me on patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 19 advanced chapters.

 

[lordanl]

"Was that the basilisk…?"

At the same time, Christine's trembling voice rang out through the place, which only darkened the expressions of those present. Especially Tomás's teammates, who had always hoped Erik and his group were lying or exaggerating. But from the power a single roar had shown, not only were they not exaggerating—they had actually fallen short.

"I'm going to use a spell to move us underground and avoid the wind, but to get into the mountain we have to go out first, so mages, get ready—you'll have to use every drop of your mana to conjure barriers."

Without even looking at Christine, Erik announced in a serious, somewhat dark voice. Elara, who was already looking at Erik, replied in a solemn tone while taking all the mana potions from the woven bamboo pouch at her waist.

"I'll do everything I can."

Without blinking, Elara slid the potions along the ground to the mages in Tomás's group, who took them with serious expressions. That action managed to snap Christine back to herself; she bit her lower lip so hard it bled, then likewise reached into her storage bag to hand out several mana potions to the others and announced in a dark, slightly trembling voice.

"If anyone holds back even a single drop of mana, I'll kill them."

"I'll handle that."

Zoe soon added in a low voice as her hand went to her katana, and white flames began to spill from Hiyori's muzzle. Meanwhile, Chen took his mana potions and handed a pair to Haoran, then pulled a cork with his teeth and declared.

"We're ready to move at your command, Erik."

Seeing Chen raise the open potion to his lips, all the mages did the same, then looked at Erik and nodded. Erik nodded back and quickly created a new magic circle, which formed a barrier of light around them all and soon sank them into the ground as if it were liquid.

With solemn expressions, the mages gripped their staves tightly and crouched, taking advantage of the new space the barrier had given them. For his part, Erik closed his eyes and focused on the Myst without stopping the barrier's movement through the earth. Soon, the group reached their destination, so Erik opened his eyes and announced in an incredibly serious tone.

"Out we go!"

At the same time, the barrier shot upward at great speed. The mages formed magic circles, runes, or rapid hand signs in quick succession as they mobilized all their mana. Soon the group could see sunlight again, and they quickly conjured barrier after barrier with everything they had to protect themselves—barriers that were swept away by a brutal, unstoppable tide of wind.

Using every ounce of their strength, the group hurled themselves toward the narrow entrance, barely managing to slip inside. But even though they got in, they were sent flying, slamming hard into the walls and ending up with varying degrees of injuries. None were fatal, but even Hiyori came away hurt.

As for Erik, though the impact knocked practically all the air from his lungs, he didn't worry about the pain; instead, he looked around in surprise. Although there was a strong wind blowing into the mountain, it was far from as brutal as outside, losing much of its force and destructiveness and dropping to a level he could handle without too much difficulty. At that moment, Ebonique's worried voice echoed in Erik's mind.

[Are you okay?]

[Just a bit banged up, nothing serious.] Erik replied calmly as he tried to get his breath back and checked his companions' condition. Having managed to recover a bit of air, Erik asked in a hoarse voice.

"… Any serious injuries?"

Hearing the question, the rest turned to look at the star-haired young man and shook their heads as they too tried to catch their breath. In that moment, Erik felt a strong "presence" approaching at high speed, which put him on alert. But realizing it was Tomás, he relaxed a little and sat down on the ground.

"What happened?!" Not long after, Tomás's worried voice echoed through the narrow passage. Erik replied, still a bit hoarse, as he pointed outside.

"The basilisk woke up…"

Tomás's eyes widened in disbelief, but he quickly recovered and began checking his teammates' condition. Then Erik struggled to his feet and moved toward the exit to look out. Everything out there was a disaster; the wind and the shockwave had torn everything to pieces in their path, shredding the forest as if it were made of paper.

"That thing has to be at least Arcane level…" Tomás's solemn voice sounded from behind Erik, who nodded without taking his eyes off the outside.

"At least this place really can hold out…"

"…"

Tomás fell silent and stood gazing outward with a grave expression, running through countless scenarios before speaking in a serious tone.

"Even though you can only feel a strong wind at the back, the Hunters won't take long to come check out what's happening."

"We have to move."

Erik nodded, then turned to head in—but at that instant a great number of runes from the Zazen discipline began to appear on the walls, lighting them up completely.

Eyes full of surprise, Erik turned to look outside, where he saw an incredible scene. Even with the narrow field of view, he could see several pillars of light rising into the sky. At the same time, the Myst began to fluctuate so violently that he couldn't move it more than two meters from himself.

But although he couldn't move the Myst, Erik could still feel it perfectly, and he could only widen his eyes in surprise as the Myst began arranging itself into thin threads that covered everything. Equally astonished, Tomás turned to Erik and asked in a heavy voice.

"Any idea?"

"It's a formation… Something's going to happen—something not very good."

[Erik, the spirit's aura is covering everything! If it keeps up, it'll be very hard for me to do anything!]

At the same time, Ebonique announced in a dark, worried voice, which only deepened Erik's expression. He gave the outside one last look, then turned and started to run, urgency filling his voice.

"We have to get to the base now! This isn't over yet!"

The first to react were Elara, Zoe, and Chen, who quickly tightened their grip on their weapons and ran after Erik, followed closely by Tomás, Christine, and the others. But the deeper they went into the mountain, the more solemn their expressions became, because the number of runes on the walls only increased, making them ever brighter.

Soon Erik could see Frank and Ethan in the distance running toward them, so without slowing, he shouted in an urgent voice.

"To the base—run with everything you've got!"

Without even blinking, Ethan and Frank wheeled around and started running back the way they'd come, soon being caught up by the others. The moment Frank's shadow, about to disappear, touched Erik's, something passed between the shadows, allowing Erik to let out a small sigh of relief.

From now on he was going to need every bit of power; it was no longer viable for him to separate from the wolves, especially since earlier Tiberius hadn't been able to open a portal to his shadow. Whether because Tiberius had been inside the mountain while he was outside or for some other reason, he had to take the situation seriously and move cautiously.

The wolves represented a very important part of his power, so he couldn't afford to be apart from them—especially now that Ebonique would be so sharply limited.

…

Running flat out, the group soon drew close enough to the staircase to see it from afar. But in that instant, Erik brought his hands to his waist and drew his machetes as the Myst began to move erratically, dark electric arcs flashing across his body while two magic circles formed behind him. In a cold, focused voice, Erik announced.

"Four hunters on the stairs. One Revealed-Peak, one Revealed-Expert, and two Revealed-Competent."

Right after he spoke, Erik shot forward at an impressive speed, though he ended up behind Tomás, who moved at the same time he did. Zoe, reacting a moment later, quickly formed three hand signs and launched herself ahead with her hand on her katana's hilt, while the mages began preparing their spells. But inevitably, the beautiful warrior stayed a step behind.

Upon reaching the stairs, Zoe saw Tomás suddenly appear in front of one of the Hunters as metallic flashes flared in different places at once. Zoe's eyes widened in disbelief as she realized what those flashes were: the result of an exchange of sword strikes so fast that not even she, with her heightened perception, could follow it.

Impactful as the high-speed duel was, Erik was in no way falling behind. Breathing raggedly, Zoe watched the magic circles behind Erik fire crystalline arrows that took the other Hunters by surprise. Meanwhile, Erik himself was shrouded in something like a mantle of dark lightning and moved at a terrifying speed.

Like a bolt, Erik zigzagged down the stairs, arriving just where the Hunters were leaping to dodge the arrows, taking them by surprise and managing to decapitate one and split another's chest open. Meanwhile, a third Hunter failed to dodge the arrows, and one struck him full in the forehead, followed by four more that hurled him into a wall.

Simultaneously, a fine line of light appeared before Tomás, and the Hunter in front of him ended up with his body split in two, flying backward to slam into one of the walls. Without stopping his run, Erik dispelled the shroud of black lightning around him and pulled a healing potion from the storage pouch at his waist as he spoke in a solemn voice.

"Don't stop!"

Immediately after speaking, Erik downed the healing potion in one go as some of the belongings of the Hunters he'd killed flew toward him. Tomás quickly took the storage bag from the Hunter he'd slain, then looked back to find the entire group staring with incredulous expressions. Although he too was surprised by Erik's performance, Tomás didn't let his mind wander and spoke firmly.

"I've got a really bad feeling too! Let's keep moving!"

"Erik! I can carry you!"

At that moment, Hiyori quickly announced in a solemn voice. Erik turned to the fox spirit with a hint of surprise but soon nodded and ordered in a serious tone.

"Go ahead, Hiyori! Everyone else, jump!"

In an instant, Frank, Elara, and Chen jumped—just as an explosion of white fire erupted from Hiyori's hind legs, hurling her down the stairs. Zoe, surprised by what she'd seen and by her contracted spirit's actions, quickly leapt as she saw Erik do the same.

"Jump!"

Remembering Erik's barriers, Tomás quickly ordered as he jumped as well, and his team promptly followed. Soon everyone landed on small, crystal-like platforms. The moment they touched down, they all heard Erik's serious voice again.

"Hold on tight!"

Without thinking, they all pushed mana into their feet to stick themselves to the platforms—just as they felt a powerful yank carrying the platforms down the stairs. Managing to steady herself, Zoe looked ahead, where she could see Hiyori racing down the passage, leaving a trail of white fire that exploded with force, propelling her forward.

At the same time, Elara noticed the light on the walls growing more intense and the Zazen runes upon them beginning to move slowly, which made her heart tighten with a sinister premonition. After taking a deep breath to calm herself, Elara slipped her hand into the bamboo pouch at her waist and took out a mana potion and a healing one while channeling all her mana and gripping her staff hard.

Seeing Elara's actions, the other youths in the group also felt a terrible foreboding in their chests, so they didn't hold back; they steadied themselves on their platforms, clutching their weapons, fully ready for a fight to the death.

[Ebonique, how are you doing—can you use any power?]

***

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[lordanl]

[Ebonique, how are you doing? Can you use some strength?]

As he merged all the platforms of Myst into one, Erik communicated with his trusted spirit while staring ahead with narrowed eyes, gripping his machetes tightly. The dragoness replied with a solemn voice, though traces of anger and frustration were clearly detectable in her tone.

[Nothing beyond what this contract incarnation allows, and I have to use your mana. It's too risky to use my own mana with that bastard collector's aura being so thick.]

[That's better than nothing. Your special ability and affinities will be a great help to me.] Erik responded with a composed tone, then asked.

[But who is this 'collector'? What can you tell me about him?]

[He's a spirit on the same level as Ignis and myself.] Ebonique paused briefly to gather her thoughts before continuing her explanation.

[Though under normal circumstances, he wouldn't pose a threat to either of us, in our current situation, he's the worst enemy we could have. He's an annoying bastard who distracts himself from boredom by collecting all sorts of things. From roadside pebbles to other people's treasures. Mainly because his ability makes it easy for him, and because of that hobby of his, he's sparked countless wars over time.]

[Sounds like a really troublesome guy, but how much damage can he do through this 'aura' you mentioned?] Erik asked with a serious tone. Ebonique replied solemnly.

[The 'aura' is more like a part of our mana, or rather, mana oversaturated with spiritual force—something all living beings, especially the powerful ones, produce unconsciously. Through it, various things can be achieved. For example, detecting others through their aura—though with limitations, allowing others to detect us, but more importantly, it's possible to activate certain abilities remotely through it.]

[…What is his ability?] Erik asked with an even darker expression. Ebonique thought for a moment before starting to explain.

[I don't know the exact details of his ability since no one is willing to fully reveal their weaknesses to others, but in our circle, he's nicknamed 'Possessive Bond.' He can basically create an almost unbreakable connection with nearly anything, and it inevitably returns to him. And when I say anything, I mean anything. I heard that once he 'stole' all of someone's mana in a fight.]

[The golden chains…?] Erik asked, feeling his heart tighten. Ebonique gently shook her head, still hidden within Erik's hair, and explained.

[Although those chains do carry some of his aura, it's not exactly the same as his ability… They're more like a low-quality imitation.]

[Can a spirit's special abilities be imitated?!] Erik asked, his eyes widening in disbelief. Ebonique replied with a composed voice.

[Well, special abilities also use mana to function, and even we integrate them into our affinities, so technically, it's possible to achieve a similar effect with a spell. Though in reality, many have tried, and only a few have had 'relative success.' Even when they manage to create something that works similarly, it's always been pathetically weak and absurdly inefficient.]

[… I think I'm starting to understand how they created the island… They used that 'Possessive Bond' to gather samples from everywhere.] Erik commented with a dark tone. Ebonique nodded and replied.

[It's likely, but there must be more than just a replica of that cunning bastard's ability, because even though his ability is powerful, it has some limitations, and an imitation should have even more.]

[…]

Erik fell silent as he reflected, splitting his focus between his Mystic Awareness and his thoughts, sending subtle guidance to Hiyori to change their route and avoid confrontation with other hunters. But as they neared the 'base,' Erik's attention inevitably shifted to the walls, which were already glowing so brightly that their original black color was no longer visible. Now, only endless runes could be seen moving as if they were lava lamps.

But at that very moment, with just one more intersection left before they could finally see the 'base,' something changed. As if some critical point had been reached, Erik felt the Myst slip entirely out of his control, only able to manipulate it within a one-meter radius around him. Simultaneously, the walls began to shine so intensely that it became impossible to see anything.

"Get ready!!"

As he shouted with force, Erik conjured a massive rune-geometric circle along with several smaller geometric circles. The rune-geometric circle was one of the countless tests he had developed in his attempt to understand the theory behind its functioning.

With a dark expression, Erik felt six angelic light wings materialize, then embrace the entire group, at which point a spherical light barrier formed to envelop them completely. At the same time, several prismatic Myst barriers formed inside the light barrier, offering multiple layers of protection.

Though the rune-geometric circles hadn't been fully tested, making him cautious about using them since they could be dangerous, Erik had no other choice. While his Myst barriers were powerful, without proper control over the Myst, he couldn't create anything too resistant. Therefore, in an unknown situation, the safest option was to use a light barrier.

But at the same time, unable to mobilize the Myst, he couldn't use Mystic Confluence to empower spells with Myst. This indirectly increased the mana cost of an elemental spell for him by a significant margin. This inevitably forced him not only to use the runic-geometric circles but also to push his overdrive to the limit, to the point where he could feel his body greatly straining.

Meanwhile, the team's mages quickly reacted and began conjuring barriers, but before they could achieve anything significant, the very space around them trembled. As a debilitating dizziness washed over them, everyone on the Myst platform felt something grab them by the waist and pull them with force, causing them to crash into each other but grouping them together.

While the world still spun for her, Elara forced her narrowed eyes to study their surroundings. But before she could examine anything, her field of vision was filled with the image of Erik behind her. The young man with starry hair had a dark, pained expression, the veins on his forehead bulging, blood trickling from the corner of his lips, and a strange smoke emanating from him.

"E-Erik!"

Elara shouted with a hoarse, trembling voice as she saw Erik bring a healing potion to his lips, revealing the muscles in his hands twitching violently and the veins in them even more pronounced than on his forehead. After downing the potion in one gulp, Erik gritted his teeth for a moment, and as four magic circles appeared around them, he announced in a rough voice.

"Prepare for battle."

Hearing Erik, Elara hurriedly turned to look around, but what she saw made her swallow hard. Beyond the barriers covering them, Elara could see they were in one of those gigantic halls, and there were hunters recovering from dizziness everywhere, as well as two individuals who seemed to belong to two other factions.

One appeared to be from the Lotus Union and the other from the Boreal League. But even more terrifying, golems began emerging from the walls. At that moment, Myst arrows formed in front of Erik's magic circles and shot out at high speed toward the recovering hunters.

Just then, in the middle of the hall, what appeared to be a hologram of a humanoid figure formed, though it was unrecognizable. Likely due to damage over time or something else, the figure looked like a whitish silhouette with volume. But the instant the hologram appeared, Erik's Myst arrows vanished into thin air along with the magic circles, followed by an almost robotic voice echoing through the space.

[Emergency security system activated due to a critical failure in the facilities. As no 'adult' presence has been detected, evacuation protocol 7854 is initiated. Please, 'little ones,' follow the logistic units to the nearest evacuation portal. Do not worry, you will find responsible adults outside the portal, and the logistic units will handle any intruders.]

Though the voice spoke in an unknown language, somehow, everyone present could roughly understand its meaning. The moment the message ended, the figure disappeared, but to the dismay of everyone present, strange music began to resonate in the area. The odd pattern of the unfamiliar song led Tomás to comment with a hint of disbelief.

"A lullaby…?"

"Let's worry about that later; they're coming for us…" Erik remarked with a solemn voice, then took another healing potion and conjured more magic circles.

With that report, everyone snapped back to reality and gripped their weapons tightly, as the hunters began to gather into two groups, and the two youths from the other factions looked at each other in terror and disbelief. At that moment, the golems, which had accumulated to nearly a hundred, raised their arms forward in unison as glowing runes began to shine on their forearms.

Before anyone could do anything, beams of pure energy shot out from the golems' fists, targeting everyone present indiscriminately. As the beams struck Erik's light barrier, the angel wings around them quickly began to vanish one by one, at which point Elara, who had created several magic circles, announced in a serious voice.

"Phoenix Veil! Fiery Plague!!"

Quickly, a fire barrier covered the group while hundreds of fireballs began to fall from the magic circles above, like an apocalyptic rain. At the same time, an ice barrier formed, complementing the fire one, followed by a whirlwind of ice dust.

"Frozen Aegis!! Chilling Cyclone!"

"Expansive Pressure!"

"Combustible Gas!"

"Twilight Rain!"

Simultaneously, Frank, Ethan, and Chen announced their spells, at which point a giant fire rune formed in the air, from which tiny 'fire drops' began to fall. At the same time, several spheres of what appeared to be compressed gas shot out to meet the falling fireballs and 'fire drops' from above.

At the moment of impact, brutal explosions began to occur throughout the enormous hall, creating powerful shockwaves laden with cutting ice dust, capable of piercing through most defenses.

But despite the impressive power, none of those present changed their expressions; all looked incredibly dark and apprehensive. After all, everyone knew how resilient the golems were, and now they seemed even stronger. They had seen how the hunters died like dogs under the onslaught of the golems' lasers, including the pair of youths from the other factions.

As if responding to their thoughts, even as furious shockwaves struck against the barriers, everyone could feel a new barrage of lasers hitting them. As if they were paper, Elara and Christine's barriers were destroyed, followed by Erik's light barrier. But the Myst barriers Erik had conjured managed to halt the onslaught, leaving just two layers of Myst barriers protecting them.

"I'll create illusions to buy time! We have to escape and reach the 'base' as soon as possible!"

As the other mages, along with Erik, conjured barriers with everything they had, Ethan announced in a voice full of urgency. Around Ethan, a large number of runes released a thick mist.

"All knights with me, we'll repel the approaching golems while heading to the third exit on the left."

Tomás announced with a solemn voice as six small magic circles formed on his sword. Erik, who still had smoke emanating from him and veins bulging across his body, announced in a similar tone.

"Hiyori, we'll do the same as before!"

"Understood." The fox spirit replied with an equally serious voice as white flames materialized around her.

Within moments, everyone was on a Myst platform, and Hiyori ran with all her strength, propelled by fire explosions while exact figures of them split into four different directions. But just before the illusions could separate enough, a new rain of attacks hit the group, though the mages noticed a significant difference. This time, it wasn't the laser rain; it was a combined spell striking their barriers.

Due to the brutal onslaught, the barriers weakened significantly, causing Christine to look back in panic, where she could see a group of surviving hunters surrounded by barriers and running toward the opposite exit. At the same time, Christine could see the golems' fists lighting up again, while new golems leaped into the air, heading toward them with an agility they had never shown before.

(Is this the end…?)

[Erik, run!!!]

***

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[lordanl]

[Erik, run!!!]

Suddenly, Erik felt the Myst begin to rush into his body on its own—hurried and disorganized, almost in a panic. Somehow that made the world around him slow down to the point that Ebonique's panic-filled "scream" in his mind sounded like a slow-motion recording—drawn out and elongated.

But instead of panicking, Erik felt completely calm, as if the death before him meant nothing. With a cold, almost calculating expression, Erik watched the beams of light from the golems' fists closing in on them. Then he lowered his gaze to his shadow, about to vanish, where he saw Kaiser and Tiberius begin to emerge in a panic.

With the same calm, Erik looked at his companions' panicked expressions—especially the mages, who were moving in slow motion to conjure barriers. They were so slow that even Tomás, the fastest person there, who was trying to swing his sword forward, seemed to take a full second to move it a few millimeters. Then Erik focused on the Myst around him.

The surrounding Myst, in addition to trying to force its way inside him in a rush, had a portion that remained outside, seemingly "battling" the Myst he couldn't control. This caused the Myst beyond his control to tremble violently, almost as if it were starting to "boil" somehow.

Meanwhile, the Myst inside him began to communicate with him, almost aggressively demanding that he mobilize his mana to follow it. Though a bit surprised by the Myst's "aggressiveness," Erik—already used to being guided by it—followed almost instinctively, and soon his mana was circulating through his entire body, then passing through the mana gathering point in his head and descending.

Soon, Erik could feel it moving through his chest until it found his third mana gathering point—one he had discovered some time ago and which had been the secret to "elementalization." That third point in his chest was known as Jianggong in the Zazen Discipline, Anima in Sacred Geometry, or Hjarteldr in the aegis system.

That mana gathering point, just like the one in the head, had "special functions," as it was the gateway to total connection between mind and body. Although, as he had heard from his masters, "touching" it prematurely could be potentially lethal, for those who succeeded, it translated into a total connection between their minds and bodies. This granted bodily control and mana control beyond what was "humanly possible."

But while that sounded incredible—and it truly was for an ordinary person—for Erik it had little to no use. Naturally, he had bodily and mana control beyond all norms, as if he had been born with a perfect mind-body connection. But this changed when he tried to circulate elemental mana through the three points.

Somewhat awed by achieving Elemental Synchronization by following Master Jessica's advice and making use of his contract with the wolves, one day Erik tried circulating a combination of elemental mana synchronized with the Myst.

When his mana interconnected across his three mana-gathering points, something magical happened. He became a being of pure energy—a living bolt of lightning—what he now knew was a master-level technique of mana control and harmony with the Myst called Mystical Transcendence.

But although Mystical Transcendence was impressive—making him intangible to physical blows and enhancing his speed and elemental mana control to an absurd level, among other advantages—it was not without problems. Among them, apart from how exhausting it was physically, mentally, and in terms of mana, was the fact that he could still be injured by spells or mana.

Therefore, Erik couldn't understand why the Myst was guiding him to that third point, especially without using Elemental Synchronization—something that wouldn't save him either but would at least make a bit more sense.

But although he didn't understand what the Myst wanted to do, Erik still followed its instructions as he stretched out his hand to touch Kaiser—the only thing that might save him. Since Tiberius had informed him he couldn't create a shadow portal. But just then, Erik realized that his body couldn't follow his mind's speed. He moves painfully slowly.

At the same time, Ebonique, her face full of panic, clenched her jaw hard and took a deep breath while her mind raced at full speed, searching for an escape route. This caused the dragoness to see the world even slower than Erik, but just like him, her incarnation wouldn't withstand moving at the same speed. Even thinking alone was taking a toll on her incarnation, threatening to fade at any moment.

But no matter how much she thought, the dragoness couldn't arrive at a satisfactory solution. Her Erik was about to die, and neither her incarnation nor anyone present had the power to prevent it. Space was sealed, so moving through shadows to another place was impossible; Kaiser was fast, and Erik could move at a terrifying speed with him, but it still wouldn't be enough to escape.

She also couldn't conjure a barrier on her own strong enough to protect him or flee with him in her current state. Therefore, her only option was to flip the table—materialize her true body to destroy the ruin—and to keep that bastard collector from discovering her Erik, she would have to erase any trace of him. In other words, she would have to erase Erik's entire home galaxy from existence without sparing anyone.

After lasting mere milliseconds—which for her felt like hours—Ebonique made a decision and let out a long, heavy sigh, which seemed to make space itself tremble. She was going to destroy everything; even if Erik hated her for thousands or millions of years, as long as he was alive, there would be a chance for reconciliation. Anything was better than letting him die.

(I'll make you pay for this… I'll tear you to pieces and seal them for the rest of eternity while I destroy any trace of what was once yours and those who remember you… Seraphius Archivum, this is a blood debt I will collect until the end of time.)

With the light beams just a few meters from them, Ebonique began to rise slowly into the air, emerging from Erik's hair, while her eyes turned incredibly cold—filled with infinite killing intent. At the same time, Ebonique's body began to grow as dark bolts started to coil around her, but at that very instant, the Myst went mad.

Under Ebonique's incredulous gaze, the Myst moved with such force and in such synchronization that the dragoness could feel a brutal gravitational wave spread through space, scrambling time itself for a few milliseconds. In that instant, the light on the walls dimmed slightly, and around the group there appeared a prismatic Myst barrier that managed to block the lasers just before they struck the group.

But although the barrier was transparent, within it the only thing that could be seen from the outside was darkness. A darkness that seemed to absorb light itself and let nothing escape filled the barrier completely. Soon the golems that had leapt from afar reached it and began pounding on it with fists entirely covered in golden runes from the Zazen Discipline.

After several seconds, the barrier finally couldn't endure anymore and cracked like glass before shattering into pieces. Without the barrier's support, the golems atop it fell to the ground, passing through a dark mist that soon vanished—revealing that there was nothing inside the barrier.

As if showing their confusion, the golems looked at one another for a few moments but quickly organized themselves into several orderly groups. Two of the groups began to pursue the hunters' party while the rest moved nimbly down different corridors with the goal of locating and eliminating any intruders.

…

(Did I die?)

With her heart pounding and her short life of less than a century flashing before her eyes, Christine moved her head in the total darkness surrounding her, so confused she even thought she had died. But at that instant, the darkness vanished all at once, allowing her to see her entire team with Erik at the center—but he looked strange.

His green eyes shone so intensely it was hard to look at him, while his starry hair rose against gravity, its tips almost fading into nothing, as if merging with space. But even more impressive were the patterns of stars and galaxies in his hair; they emitted light and moved at great speed, as if it were a true image of the universe.

But that almost divine image soon disappeared; Erik's face grew greatly paler, and his hair and eyes returned to normal—at which point the young man fell to his knees and vomited a great mouthful of blood onto the floor.

""Erik!!""

Elara and Chen shouted in unison as they ran toward Erik, snapping everyone out of their momentary stupor. But before they could touch Erik, a magnificent oriental black dragon a few meters long appeared, coiling protectively around him, surrounded by thick arcs of dark electricity.

"I'm okay… Let's move to the base… We're still on the second floor… Keep straight along this path, Hiyori…"

With a hoarse, broken voice, Erik ordered as he sat on the Myst platform they were still on. Hiyori, who was looking at Erik as if he were a monster, quickly reacted and looked around, realizing they were in a corridor and more golems were starting to appear in the walls—though much more slowly than in the hallway before, and far fewer.

Without a word, Hiyori rose into the air and began to run along it with paws wreathed in white fire, speeding forward near the corridor's ceiling. Meanwhile, Ebonique asked, full of concern, as she could see Erik's veins and muscles twisting violently, looking quite gross.

[What happened to you? Are you okay?]

[I'm fine. The Myst showed me how to force the 'rebellious Myst' in the surroundings to obey me, and that somehow let me use the shadow portal that Tiberius couldn't open on his own. But it's far too draining; my mana system is in rough shape. It's still manageable though. A few potions and some healing spells will do the trick.]

Erik replied through the contract in a calmer voice while moving his trembling hand toward his storage bag. Ebonique took in Erik's miserable state with a sharp gaze and, though she was still surprised by what had happened, decided to focus on something that worried her even more in the moment.

[…Why do you do this to yourself to save these kids? You could have fled alone; I'm sure it would have been less taxing for you.]

[The difference wouldn't have been much. The Myst's abrupt movement let me synchronize with Tiberius for a few moments and activate the shadow portal for an instant, though it wasn't free. Practically all my mana vanished at once just to open the portal; bringing them along didn't really cost me much.] Erik answered calmly, but Ebonique shot back in an angry tone.

[Don't lie to me! Your mana vanished all at once because you opened a portal bigger than necessary!!]

"Erik, let me help—I know some healing spells."

While Ebonique was "scolding," Elara spoke in a voice full of concern, gripping her staff tightly and conjuring barriers around the group with the other mages. Ebonique looked at the young blonde mage, then at the rest as her anger mounted.

Seeing that everyone was watching Erik with different expressions—but all with some apprehension—and given that Erik was struggling even to get his hand into his storage pouch, Ebonique let out a cold growl and spoke in an authoritative voice.

"You two—tend to Erik until he recovers." Ebonique looked at Elara and Zoe, then looked at the rest and continued, letting her killing intent seep out.

"The rest of you, form up around my Erik and say not a word. From this moment on you will breathe only to place yourselves between him and harm. If a single splinter so much as grazes him, I will dismember you piece by piece until you beg to die. Understood?"

The moment Ebonique finished her speech, her purple eyes shone with a dark purplish light while her dark arcs began to spread across her entire body. At the same time, her horns grew, more claws appeared, and her entire being changed from an elegant dark dragon into something closer to the pinnacle of what a dragon was—a goddess among dragons.

***

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[lordanl]

Upon hearing the dragoness's cold, murderous voice, all the youths present felt their muscles go rigid, leaving them like statues. Instinct told them the same thing: they were facing a being of a higher order, and their minds and bodies wanted to submit to her at once. It was as if that were the natural outcome—when the dragoness spoke, they could only obey, without debate, without question, blind obedience to something beyond their understanding.

But Tomás wasn't willing to accept that. He was born free thanks to his father—a freedom won with blood and tears—so nothing and no one could enslave him. The only way to take an Arismendi's freedom was to kill him. They, a clan of just two, would fight to their last breath for their freedom, utterly convinced it was better to die on their feet than live on their knees.

Clenching his teeth, Tomás used every last drop of willpower to grip the hilt of his sword and rouse his mana. Even if he knew he was going to die, at least he'd go out in style, landing a good slash on that arrogant "higher being." That dragoness would have to understand that even insects defend themselves when provoked.

"Ebonique."

At that moment, Erik's hoarse voice rang out, blowing away the heaviness and fear running through the youths, who all turned to look at him. Erik—veins bulging, hair duller than ever, traces of blood at his lips—stood up and looked at the dragoness, his green eyes shining dangerously, and continued speaking.

"I don't know who you are, Ebonique, but I am a humble human, and we deal with one another through mutual respect and cooperation. I don't kill unless someone threatens my life or my family's, and that will never change, no matter what."

Erik declared this in a voice on the verge of fading, yet so steady that Ebonique could only stare at him in silence for a few seconds. But that lack of response seemed enough for Erik, because without another word, Ebonique saw him tighten his grip on his machetes and turn to face forward—at the same time she felt her contract with him begin to "tremble."

He was trying to force her back to the spirit world by breaking the contract—something that would leave him gravely incapacitated by the "backlash," which would strike even harder given his current weakened state. In a serious voice, Ebonique looked at Erik's back while she studied the strength of a group of hunters in the distance—hunters Erik had sensed as well and was preparing to confront.

"The world is much crueler than you think, Erik. Not every place is like this remote region where slavery is taboo for fear of a certain individual. The strong take everything, Erik. In this world, where millions of the weak together can't harm a single hair of the strong, the mutual respect you speak of is only possible between beings of similar power. For the weak, servitude to the strong is a blessing and their only means of survival."

"Then allow me to resign from serving you, Ebonique. Thank you for everything, and I wish you the best in your future. It truly was special having you as my contracted spirit all these years, but I—even if pathetically weak in your eyes—am a free man, and I will die as a free man, not a servant."

To the disbelief of everyone present, Erik answered in a ragged voice that sounded incredibly calm. In that instant, his hair rose again, and the stars and galaxies within it began to swirl and layer upon themselves, while the pores of his skin began to release blood instead of sweat.

"Don't break the contract! You are not my servant, Erik! You are my equal—my contractor! My first and only contractor!"

Though Ebonique wanted to correct Erik's naive, childish thinking, when she saw the state of her beloved contractor and felt he truly was about to break the contract, she panicked and cried out. Emotions long forgotten—only now returning thanks to how special Erik was—betrayed her. The dragoness didn't really know how to handle them.

"There's a group of six hunters a hundred meters past the bend up ahead. They're fleeing at least a dozen golems. It's best to hide and avoid the fight, but we need to be ready." Erik announced in a voice so hoarse it was hard to understand, then wiped away the blood that had escaped his mouth.

Feeling a strange mix of emotions, the group quickly tightened their grip on their weapons and prepared for battle in complete silence. Meanwhile, Ethan conjured a multitude of runes that released great amounts of illusory fog, shrouding them completely.

[Erik, I just don't want you to die! I don't want to lose you, and having these kids with you is only complicating your life! They're a burden! Alone, you could run from all this without too much trouble, and you know it! Playing the hero is killing you, Erik! Please, snap out of it! I beg you!]

Ebonique, feeling the contract on the verge of breaking, sent a message in a panic. Erik, silently thanking his masters for strengthening his mana circulatory system—the only reason it hadn't torn apart completely—replied in an even tone.

[There's so much I want to say, so much I want to question, Ebonique, but now is neither the time nor the place. This might be the last day of my life, and as such, I want to live it to the fullest. So I'm going to live as I have every day of my life—doing what I think is best—so I can go without regrets. But I understand you don't agree, and a being of your level doesn't have to follow me in my foolishness.]

[So you're going to kill yourself for strangers?! You'd even cast me off so you can throw your life away without worries?!! Is that what I mean to you, Erik?! An obstacle to get rid of?!!!] Ebonique shot back in equal parts rage, indignation, and pain. Erik watched calmly as the group of hunters below fought and fled from the golems, then replied in a composed tone.

[I'm a rare and delicious snack to you, Ebonique—one you don't want to share and for which you'd do anything to keep hidden. It doesn't take a genius to know that Seraphina, Sigrún, and Eleonora—important witnesses who've known me all my life—are a major obstacle to you.

[You're thinking of getting rid of the people I love to keep me hidden, aren't you, Ebonique? That's why you're using your mana and not mine; you no longer care if you're discovered because you're going to erase every trace of my existence.]

[!!!] Ebonique's eyes widened in disbelief at Erik's words. He sent another message as he gripped his machetes, his instincts warning him things were about to get ugly.

[It's possible your plan goes even further than that. I'm not stupid, Ebonique. We've been together for years—I know you—and thanks to these ruins, I've confirmed and discovered new parts of you. You're someone at the top, used to giving orders, and you see us—the weak—as less than insects. Our lives or deaths don't matter to you; only your goals do. And while I was willing to play dumb about that, the situation has changed.

[Now that I, your rare and delicious snack, am about to die, you've gotten nervous, and you're thinking of acting to save my life at the cost of who knows how much death and destruction. Even at the cost of my masters' and my maid's lives—the people I love most. So let me tell you this, Ebonique: to lay a hand on my family, you'll have to go over my dead body. Once you're back in the spirit world, don't bother returning—you'll find only a corpse with no ability to produce mana.]

[Wait! You're wrong!! I don't care about your mana anymore, and I wasn't going to kill your masters or your maid! I swear it!!] Ebonique replied in a panic, just as the golems raised their fists to target him, detecting them even through the illusion. Erik smiled calmly and sent a message in a soft voice.

[You already lied to me once, Ebonique, and I owe Sigrún, Eleonora, and Seraphina my life and the happiness I can enjoy, so I won't take the risk. If I get out of this alive and well, maybe we can talk again and come to an understanding.

[But for now, this is goodbye. It was a genuine pleasure to know you; along with my masters and Seraphina, you're what I've loved most in this world. Regardless of everything, you've been very good to me, and I truly carry you in my heart. Thank you for everything, Ebonique—you're super cool and powerful!]

[Don't do it, Erik!!! I swear it! I never meant to kill them!!! I never even thought it!!! Erik!!!! Please!! I care about you, not your mana!! Erik!!!!!!!!]

Ebonique cried out in despair as she lunged toward Erik, who was conjuring magic circles at the cost of his mana circulatory system to create barriers. But no matter how much she screamed, Ebonique turned into tiny wisps of light and vanished into nothing just before touching him.

………

"AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

In the middle of a colossal, oriental-style palace, a breathtaking woman with black hair, seated in the lotus position upon an elegant, comfortable purple cushion, suddenly opened her eyes and let out a heartrending scream that made space itself tremble. The quake caused spatial rifts hundreds of kilometers long to open everywhere, making it seem as if the world itself was about to collapse under her colossal power.

"What happened to Erik?!"

At that moment, a woman of no less stunning beauty, with blue eyes and blue hair, seated in the lotus position not far away, opened her eyes and asked, visible panic in her expression. The black-haired woman didn't answer; she only looked at the blue-haired woman with her shining purple eyes as tears began to stream down her cheeks, her hair lifted against gravity, black scales began to cover her body, and horns sprouted from her head.

"I never should have followed you in that lie…"

Soon, black scales covered the woman completely, and she spoke in a voice full of pain. In the next instant, she transformed into a dark electric bolt that shot toward the sky, where it took the form of a colossal black eastern dragon that bore the beauty and dignity of a goddess.

"What happened?! How is Erik?!" The blue-haired woman became a blue blaze that flashed to the dragon's side and asked, transforming into a phoenix of blue fire no less huge and impressive than the dragon.

"Seraphius Archivum! How dare you steal from me! If I don't tear you to pieces, I am not Ebonique Nox!!!"

Instead of answering, the dragon let out a roar that spread through space, fracturing it further and virtually destroying the dimension, then turned into a dark bolt and vanished. Stunned, the blue phoenix froze for a few moments, but soon her blue eyes shone with realization and coldness, and she loosed a phoenix cry no less powerful than the dragon's roar.

"Seraphius Archivum!!! How dare you trespass on my territory!!"

In that instant, the colossal phoenix turned into a blaze of blue fire and disappeared just like the dragon, leaving behind a mansion that still barely stood—thanks only to the incredibly rare and exotic materials it was made of—while all the surrounding land was shattered beyond recognition.

Curiously, in the mansion's main guest hall—totally upended and half-destroyed—there was a sort of transparent crystal box that seemed immovable, unaffected in the slightest by the dragon and phoenix's rampage. Stranger than the box, however, was what it contained: a simple, plain black leather bag. The bag was made from the hide of a magical creature so weak it wouldn't even qualify as an insect to the mansion's owner.

And yet the bag occupied a central place—one normally reserved only for the most valuable treasures of which the host is proud. Which could only mean that, to the owner, that bag was so immensely precious that it needed to be placed in the most special spot while being protected by something capable of concealing anything that might make it special. It was almost as if the owner wanted the world to know she kept something very special just for herself—something only she could truly appreciate.

***

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[lordanl]

The moment Ebonique disappeared, Erik spat a mouthful of blood and fell to his knees on the ground; at the same time, his hair fell and dimmed considerably. Panic-stricken, Elara ran over and held Erik up as she cried out, all while continuing to conjure barriers to help withstand the onslaught of laser beams together with the barriers of solidified Myst.

"Are you okay, Erik?!!"

"…I'm fine… More importantly, we need a distraction so we can get out of here."

After coughing up large clots of blood, Erik spoke in a weak voice as he tried to stand with the help of the wolves, whose fur was standing on end and who looked quite frightened. But at that moment, Zoe stepped forward and placed her right hand on Erik's shoulder. Looking at the black wolf at her side, Zoe spoke in a solemn, heavy voice as her face lit up in shifting hues from the barrage of light striking the barriers.

"…You've sacrificed too much for us, Erik… You even broke your contract with your spirit because of us… I know it, all of us know it… You could always have fled on your own and avoided this whole mess… You're only in this state because of us, but that's enough… At this rate you'll die with all of us… You don't have to do that… Run on your own, survive, and tell those outside what happened to us… Survive and avenge us."

Hearing Zoe, Erik inevitably turned to look at her, which let everyone see his glassy eyes, the veins on his forehead about to burst, and his near-death pallor. He looked at Zoe's solemn expression, then at everyone else, seeing the fear and apprehension they tried to hide behind grave faces.

But even though he took in everyone present, Erik's eyes couldn't help remaining a few moments longer on the pale faces of the girls in the group. While Zoe and Elara gripped their weapons tightly and tried to hide their fear, Christine didn't bother to; her expression laid bare deep panic and terror, and she almost seemed to want to shout at Erik to run away with her. But though she really looked quite pitiful, Erik couldn't laugh in the least.

(Old man… Being a 'real man' really isn't easy…)

Slammed by a wave of dizziness and weakness, Erik couldn't help drifting for a few moments into his memories as his expression turned a bit wry and self-critical.

+++

In the middle of a wide field stood a cozy wooden house surrounded by fruit trees, a patch of different flowers, and a stable not far away. Looking out one of the windows was a boy of about thirteen, with black hair and bright blue eyes, who seemed amazed by the torrential rain that beat mercilessly outside the house.

"Erik, close the window; you might catch a cold."

Suddenly, the boy heard a voice at his side, so he quickly turned to look, and there he found a woman of about fifty gazing at him with a gentle expression as she offered him a steaming cup. The boy took the cup and lowered his head as he spoke in a very calm, even somewhat flat voice—nothing like what one would expect from a boy his age.

"Thank you… Grandma…"

"Do you like watching the rain?"

The woman laid her hand on the boy's head and began to stroke his hair gently as she asked in a kind voice. Erik nodded slightly as he turned his gaze back to the window, which once again made his eyes go distant, as if the torrential rain had the power to absorb all his attention.

"Hahaha, men really are simple-minded creatures; your grandfather is the same. He gets lost staring at random things." Seeing the boy's state, the woman couldn't help remarking in amusement, but at that moment Erik murmured softly.

"People?"

Hearing the murmur, the woman looked at him a bit puzzled, then focused her gaze on the view through the window, which after a few seconds let her see two humanoid figures struggling closer. Startled, the woman quickly exclaimed as she set her steaming cup on a nearby table.

"Old man!! Come help me—someone's coming through the rain!!!"

Hurrying her steps, the woman moved toward the door, just as a man of about the same age came from another room holding a shotgun and an umbrella. With long strides, the man quickly reached the woman's side and handed her the umbrella while he opened the door and fixed his gaze on the distance, gripping the shotgun tightly.

"Any idea who they are?"

"No idea—Erik saw them, but I could barely make out blurry figures." The woman replied hurriedly, at which point the black-haired boy spoke in a calm voice.

"I think it's the neighbors. I can see a big belly on one of them."

Hearing the boy, the old man's eyes widened in surprise, and almost instantly he set the shotgun aside and ran toward the approaching figures. Meanwhile, the woman turned to the boy and ordered in a voice full of urgency.

"Erik, get towels and a chair ready! Something serious must have happened!"

The boy nodded and set his steaming cup aside, then ran to the back of the house. Soon, the old man returned, helping a couple in their thirties, the woman with a large pregnant belly, both of them completely soaked. A few meters from the door, the old man shouted in a serious voice to his wife.

"The baby's coming, old woman!"

"Erik! Get clean towels and heat some water!" Hearing the shout, the woman yelled into the house as she herself rushed toward one of the rooms.

…

"Thank you! Thank you so much! The car got stuck in the mud while we were on the way to the hospital! I have to get her to a hospital right away!"

While the elderly couple helped the visibly pained woman to sit on the bed, the young man spoke in a panic, not even caring about the open wound on his arm, most likely from barbed wire on some fence. After settling the woman on the bed, the old man looked at the young man and spoke in a serious voice.

"Calm down. With this weather it's impossible to move along the muddy road, but my wife has experience as a midwife; the baby and the mother will be fine, but you need to calm down."

"No, it's not time yet—the baby still has a month to go! I have to get her to the hospital!!!"

The man replied in panic, trying to push past the old man. At that moment, the old woman, seeing Erik approach with a basin of hot water and white towels, spoke in a firm voice.

"Get him out of here, old man. I need to deliver the baby now!"

"Let's go!" The old man nodded and grabbed the young man firmly by the shoulders to try to get him out of the room, but the young man resisted and began to shout in a panic as he struggled.

"No! I have to take her to the hospital! Let me go!!!"

"Get him out!"

The old woman took the water from Erik and ordered sternly, and the old man nodded. Then he promptly gave the young man an uppercut, knocking him out instantly, hoisted him over his shoulder, and looked at Erik as he spoke in a calm voice.

"Come on, Erik; this is your grandmother's work."

Erik quickly nodded and ran after the old man, who shut the bedroom door as they left. Once outside the room, the old man laid the unconscious man on a nearby sofa, then walked to the door while Erik followed him like a newborn duckling following its mother.

Soon, the boy picked up his cup of hot chocolate from the table and stood beside the old man, who stood in the doorway watching the rain as he tapped a pack of cigarettes with his fingers. In complete silence, the old man smoked, and the boy drank his hot chocolate while they watched the torrential rain, which only seemed to worsen with each passing second.

"Erik, remember never to end up like that excuse for a man with no backbone. Women and children can be careless, but a man cannot. A man has the obligation to be an unmoving pillar, able to withstand everything head-on and without fear."

After a while, the old man, his voice mingling with the sound of the heavy rain as he glanced at the unconscious man out of the corner of his eye, spoke calmly. Erik, a bit confused, tilted his head to look at the old man, then asked with genuine curiosity.

"Why?"

"Because that is the duty Mother Nature entrusted to us in exchange for the 'advantages' we innately receive. Men are stronger, faster, and more decisive than women, and, unlike women, under normal circumstances we operate at 100% of our capacity all year long.

"Meanwhile, women, who were entrusted with the duty of giving life and bringing the future, pay a huge price. Every month they suffer pain and weakness, and when it comes time to bring new life, they pay the entire price. Their bodies change permanently, they are weakened, they suffer pain and discomfort, and they never become the same again.

"But a man pays no price, to the point that a man could impregnate many women at once and be none the worse for wear. But that's because our duty is to protect them and protect the future. That's why we must keep ourselves strong and agile—our strength cannot wane. Because, if necessary, a man must fight to his last breath and give his life to protect the future.

"A real man must never collapse, panic, or die after a woman does. A real man has to be the unmoving pillar upon which his wife and children grow. So enjoy your last years as a child, because you, as my son, can only be a real man."

"A real man…"

Erik spoke in a thoughtful tone as he fixed his gaze on the rain. The old man nodded, but at that moment a piercing cry rang out from the room, so the old man flicked away the cigarette butt in his hand and looked back as he spoke in a solemn voice.

"If you ever act like this mockery of a man, or worse, if you let a woman or a child die in front of you, forget that you had me as your father. You are a ***, and only a real man can bear that surname. Trash will never deserve my surname nor my time. I'm not raising trash; remember that well."

"I'll remember… I'll be a 'real man' who protects the future…"

Erik replied with a calm, almost empty expression as he turned to look at the room, just as the door opened and an old woman came out smiling, holding a baby who was crying with all its might.

+++

(Old man, it took me years to understand what you said, and in the end I could never agree with you 100%. While I share the idea that a child deserves protection, do all women deserve something similar? Nothing could be further from the truth. Even following your logic, many will never be mothers, and another batch will be terrible mothers who will bring only a bleak future.

(Even in my past life, your ideals were too caveman-like, old man—senseless and even insulting to many, and in this world full of magic? Worse still. Here, women don't suffer a monthly weakness, and their strength matches that of any man; besides, what is a child in this world where someone with centuries of life is considered young? It's nonsense to even think about it, but…)

Recalling a moment from his childhood, Erik couldn't help reflecting with a faint smile, and his gaze inevitably settled on Ethan, who was sweating profusely and downing mana recovery potions like water. In a hoarse, heavy voice on the verge of giving out, yet still laden with unmistakable pride, Erik asked slowly.

"Ethan, you asked about my surname, didn't you?"

Confused, Ethan looked at Erik with a strange expression, almost as if he were wondering whether the star-haired youth had lost his mind because of his condition, but without pause, Erik declared in a firm, proud tone.

"My name is Erik Verne—remember it well."

At the same time that Erik announced his full name for the first time in his new life, everyone could see his complexion grow even paler as his hair rose into the air again. Before him, two never-before-seen magic circles appeared—runic circles. As the shock made everyone's eyes go wide, Erik took a step forward and, tightening his grip on his machetes, declared in a ragged but resolute voice.

"Now then—women and children to the back. From here on, it's the men's job to hold the fort, hahaha!"

***

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[lordanl]

Amid Erik's broken, almost deranged laughter, the runic circles created a huge ball of fire and a ball of darkness, which shot downward and collided halfway. The impact triggered a brutal explosion that released shockwaves laden with black fire spreading in all directions, at which moment Erik jumped from the Myst platform and spoke in his ragged voice.

"Hiyori, I don't know if you're willing to listen to me now, but get the girls out of here."

"Hahaha!!!"

At that moment, a laugh no less crazed than Erik's echoed through the place, making everyone turn to look at Tomás, who gripped his sword tightly, then leaped after Erik while announcing with a wide grin on his face.

"You really are crazy, Erik, but I like your style! If we get out alive, join the Bikerea! We need a madman like you!!"

Stupefied, those who remained on the platform watched as the black fire engulfed the golems, melting their surface and sending them flying in different directions. Just then, Chen couldn't help laughing as if he'd heard the funniest joke in the world, and he quickly began forming hand signs with both hands while proclaiming loudly.

"Hahaha! I knew you couldn't be right in the head, Erik!!"

"Well, I can't let my sister's good friend die, can I?" Ethan remarked with a somewhat helpless chuckle, then downed a mana potion in one go and created a large number of runes as he jumped after Erik and Tomás.

"Bikereas, to the front!"

At the same time, one of the six youths following Tomás shouted, and the four knights among them jumped after Tomás, while the two mages began conjuring magic circles. For her part, Zoe smiled with visible exasperation, then put her right hand on the hilt of her katana and leaped after Erik, announcing in a firm voice.

"I don't know where you got that nonsense, Erik Verne!! But I am never going to stand behind anyone and wait for them to protect me!! A warrior always steps forward!!"

"We're going to fight to the end!!" Elara declared as dozens of magic circles formed in front of her. She then turned to the terrified Christine and added in a mocking tone.

"Though you can take the chance and run while you can."

Visibly pale and with bluish lips, Christine stared at the star-haired youth who was marching to the front flanked by two wolves while creating more runic circles, her expression full of disbelief. Though her whole body trembled and urged her to flee, she truly couldn't, and she remained frozen on the platform.

"I'll support you with everything I've got!" At that moment, Frank drank a mana potion and created a large number of runes that whipped the wind around him and carried his words to resound powerfully.

While the group of youths on the ground drew the golems' attention and engaged them in close combat—hundreds of illusions attacking from different angles—Hiyori, the fox spirit, stood watching Erik with a look of incredulity tinged with apprehension. She truly couldn't fathom how anyone would willingly give up being at the side of one of the most powerful beings in the universe—a colossal, unstoppable force capable of destroying everything.

(You've just made the biggest mistake of your life, Erik. Even if you get out of this alive, you won't be able to live much longer. Offending an Eternal is something only another Eternal can afford. You're too arrogant and ignorant to know what kind of being you just turned down.)

Hiyori's gaze turned somewhat cold as she looked at Erik, and she quickly moved toward Zoe with no intention whatsoever of listening to him. A lunatic like that didn't deserve her attention or her time, especially now that she had to think of a way to deal with the consequences of that brat's recklessness.

…

"Kaiser, Tiberius!"

After downing several healing potions in quick succession, Erik wiped his mouth with his shoulder and called his wolves, who transformed into lightning and darkness and fused with his machetes.

With his machetes releasing bolts and a dark mist, Erik created more runic circles while channeling his mana through the least-damaged parts of his mana circuit. This formed arrows of electricity and darkness that shot toward the surviving hunters and the golems.

"These golems are weaker and slower!" Tomás, who had sped ahead with impressive velocity, managed to cleave a golem with a single slash and shouted.

"They're also distracted by illusions! Though they can see through them when I try to hide!" Ethan, moving with almost feline agility among the golems, reported loudly.

"It's possible to stop them from firing their beams—you just have to hit them when they're charging!!" The one who seemed to be the leader of the youths following Tomás announced in a serious voice as he and his three companions took down a golem.

"Erik! The burns from the previous explosion are what weakened the golems! You can pierce their defenses with spells if you strike precisely at the burned spots!" Elara called from the sky as several magic circles around her conjured flaming arrows.

Hearing Elara, Erik watched the golems being destroyed one after another with a somewhat thoughtful expression while he took another healing potion. But at that moment, he felt a rather strong presence approaching him, so he quickly leaped to the side while creating two new runic circles—one conjuring fire and the other, darkness.

Just then, a dark figure shot toward him at high speed, holding a dagger in its hand that released a kind of dark mist. Simultaneously, the runic circles conjured a small ball of darkness and one of fire, which streaked toward the dark figure at great speed.

Taken by surprise, the dark figure tried to dodge by moving his body out of the small balls' trajectory, but unfortunately for him, the elemental balls collided with each other less than a meter from him, triggering a brutal explosion. Hastily, Erik created a Myst barrier that protected him from the shockwave, and soon the group could see what had happened.

The lower half of a human body slammed into the opposite wall, with the upper half nowhere in sight, as if it had been erased from existence. Struggling not to let their jaws hit the floor, the group watched the storage pouch on the "corpse" fly toward Erik, who looked equally astonished.

"You're terrifying… That was a Revealed-Peak…" Ethan suddenly materialized out of nowhere not far from Erik, holding his dagger, several runes floating around him with arrows of fog conjured and ready to strike.

"If I told you I didn't even know myself, would you believe me?"

Erik replied a bit dumbfounded after drinking a healing potion. Although he knew the explosive power of fire-and-darkness spells was terrifying from the event before entering the garden, he never imagined it would let him kill a Revealed-Peak so easily.

"Not in a million years—you're a monster." Ethan answered with a somewhat forced smile. At that moment, Tomás, who was up front, spoke seriously.

"We have to push forward. With Erik and the concealment formations, we've got a good chance of surviving this disaster!"

"Erik, avoid attacking and focus on recovering—your black fire is the key to our survival!" Zoe, who had managed to cut down a golem with Hiyori's help, said in a grave tone as she sheathed her katana again.

"Let's move!"

Erik nodded and said seriously, then jumped and landed on Kaiser's back, who emerged from the machete along with Tiberius and grew to a height of about two meters. Soon, Erik created a Myst platform on each side of him and surged forward at full speed while shouting loudly.

"Get on!"

Without a second thought, the Bikereas, Ethan, and Tomás quickly jumped onto the platforms, and the whole group advanced along with the platform in the air, where the team's mages were. Meanwhile, Zoe climbed onto Hiyori's back and followed the team closely, though her eyes couldn't help but look at her contracted spirit with doubt.

It was evident that Hiyori's attitude toward Erik had changed radically, from obeying his every word as if she were a subordinate to outright ignoring him. To the point that the Myst platform where the mages stood no longer moved to the fox spirit's rhythm, but to Erik's. The star-haired youth had switched the anchor point of Hiyori's platform to himself, making the rift blindingly obvious.

[Were you following Erik because of his contracted spirit, Hiyori-sama?] Eyes fixed ahead, Zoe asked through their contract while gripping her katana's hilt tightly, but the fox spirit fell silent and simply kept running.

[…Hiyori-sama… Did I offend you somehow?] Zoe asked in a somewhat apprehensive tone, which led the fox spirit to reply with a slightly regretful note.

[That would have been better than the situation that boy dragged you into, little Zoe… I don't know how this will turn out, but if you manage to get out, the first thing you must do is summon me again and ask me to erase all your memories of what happened in this ruin.]

[What happened?] Zoe asked, visibly surprised. Hiyori replied in a serious tone.

[Don't ask; the less you know, the better. Just don't forget to do what I told you. That's the only way you can gain a small chance to survive this disaster. Though your only fault was being in the wrong place at the wrong time, for the strong, their dignity is more important than life—never forget that.]

[…]

Zoe fell silent, having grasped the message between the lines Hiyori conveyed, which inevitably led her into deep reflection. But after a few seconds, Zoe let out a long sigh and tightened her grip on her katana, then sent a message to her contracted spirit through their bond.

[Hiyori-sama, with all due respect, I don't think Erik is guilty of anything. If anything, once again he risked his life to give me a chance to survive, because that dragoness wanted to force us to die for him. But instead of taking advantage of the situation, he gave us the chance to fight. He's a great man—one I'm willing to give my heart to.]

[You're still too young, Zoe. There are things you don't understand. He is a dead man—maybe in a few days or some centuries later, it doesn't matter. He's already signed his death sentence, and I assure you his death will be horrible.] Hiyori replied in a critical tone, which only put a smile on Zoe's face as she answered confidently.

[I don't think so, Hiyori-sama. Erik is a man destined for great things. Just look at those magic circles made of runes—that's a miracle never seen before. From now on, Erik will only rise to new heights.]

[You're still too young… You've seen far too little to understand how the world really works—how the truly strong really think. Although the boy is truly impressive, none of that matters; he's far too weak.] Hiyori replied with a small sigh. Zoe chuckled softly and answered with confidence.

[Well, only time will tell, Hiyori-sama. But I will follow my heart, and my heart tells me Erik is a man worth following—that his future is limitless, beyond anything anyone has ever seen.]

[We'll see.] Hiyori replied with a hint of mockery in her tone, to which Zoe answered with a small smile.

[When the time comes, I'll intercede for you with Erik so he'll forgive the attitude you're showing him, Hiyori-sama.]

[You're millennia away from being able to joke with me, little one.]

Hiyori replied with an imperious air, though a trace of tenderness could be seen in her eyes. After all, she had known the brave girl since she was a baby. She had watched her grow, and in that time the girl had claimed a small part of her heart.

[Hehe, sorry, Hiyori-sama. I'm just speaking from the heart. Erik is the man my heart has chosen, and I'll follow him from now on. But I assure you he'll even manage to surprise you!] Zoe replied softly, which made Hiyori snort before she ended up quickening her pace in silence.

***

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[lordanl]

(What silence… What emptiness… Though it was necessary… The risk was too high…)

As he advanced through the enormous hallway atop Kaiser, Erik couldn't help but let out a silent sigh while looking ahead with slightly unfocused eyes, retrieving a healing potion from his bag. It had only taken a minute to shatter a relationship of nearly 20 years, more than enough time for someone as emotionally distant and asocial as him to genuinely grow attached to another person.

As if sensing its master's emotions, Tiberius, in his small form, climbed onto Erik's shoulder and began rubbing his head against him. Erik, with a faint smile, extended his right hand to pet the little wolf while conjuring runes around himself. As the runes emitted a soft green light, healing him little by little, Erik took the healing potion and then announced, his voice sounding slightly better.

"There are 8 Golems at the end of the hallway. To prevent more from gathering, I'm going to pick up the pace. This will be the last encounter before reaching the formations."

"Then stay in the back after a black fire explosion, Erik. You don't look well." Tomás, on the platform beside Erik, commented in a serious tone while closely observing the state of the young man with starry hair.

Erik's appearance was far from his previously neat and elegant style. Now, the young man looked pale, covered in blood, with slightly dimmed eyes. Moreover, his hair, once as black as coal and adorned with stars and galaxies, now appeared withered and dull, to the point that its starry pattern was barely visible.

"Perfect, let's do it that way." Erik nodded calmly, then gave an order while pulling another healing potion from the storage bag at his waist.

"Kaiser."

At his master's call, Kaiser was immediately surrounded by electric arcs before shooting forward at high speed. For his part, Erik took another potion, then gritted his teeth and conjured two new runic circles as thick beads of sweat began to roll down his forehead.

Soon, the group finally spotted the golems in the distance down the hallway, now numbering 9, as one more had managed to emerge from the wall. At that moment, a fireball and a sphere of darkness shot forward at high speed, causing a sonic boom. Just as they reached the golems, who were about to unleash beams from their fists, the fireball and darkness sphere collided, triggering a massive explosion.

"Mages, aim upward! Ethan, confuse them! Bikereas, with me!" In that instant, Tomás ordered with a firm voice, then kicked Myst's platform, visibly cracking it.

As Tomás shot forward at such a high speed that he even disappeared from sight, the other four young knights also kicked Myst's platform and darted after him. Meanwhile, the mages on the upper platform prepared their spells, aiming upward, just as Zoe, riding Hiyori, arrived beside Erik with her hand on her katana.

"I'll be your guard, Erik."

"Thanks, Zoe."

Erik replied with a calm expression as the runes around him intensified, practically surrounding him with a greenish halo, while he reached for another healing potion. At that moment, Zoe looked Erik up and down and asked with a serious voice tinged with traces of concern.

"Are you feeling okay, Erik? You look pretty worn out. I've got some healing potions here."

"I've still got enough, but if I run out, I'll count on you."

Erik replied with a small smile, to which Zoe nodded seriously before turning her gaze back to the front, her right hand firmly on the hilt of her katana, ready to fight at any moment. For her part, Hiyori, seeing that the star-haired young man didn't even bother to look at her, couldn't help but let out a low huff before completely ignoring him.

In the explosion zone, which was filled with smoke obscuring visibility, several figures suddenly shot upward, piercing through the cloud of smoke. Already waiting for their moment, Elara, who was at the forefront of the group of mages, pointed her staff forward, and the magical circles in front of her fired a rapid succession of fire arrows.

In sync, the other mages unleashed various elemental projectiles that struck the figures directly, piercing them at different points before exploding. At that moment, Tomás's voice echoed from the center of the smoke cloud.

"The black fire really weakens the golems significantly! The path is clear!"

"Let's go!" Erik quickly ordered while leaning his body slightly forward, prompting Kaiser to start running, surrounded by lightning.

Soon, the group of knights and Ethan climbed back onto the platforms beside Erik, at which point they could see various pieces of strange blackened metal and shards of crystal flying from different directions into Erik's hands.

"The golems?" Ethan asked, somewhat curious, as he watched Erik store everything in his storage bag. The star-haired young man nodded and explained calmly.

"Yes, the black fire is something I only recently discovered, so I know little to nothing about it. I want to start by figuring out why it's capable of weakening the golems."

"Now that you mention it, I've never seen the collision of two spells create something like that. How did you manage it?" Ethan asked, visibly curious, after taking a mana recovery potion. The young people in the area, including Tomás, couldn't help but pay attention, equally intrigued.

"I have no idea, actually. When I was fighting the hunters to enter the garden, I collided a fireball and a darkness sphere, and the power was impressive. So I went closer to look at the crater and discovered the black fire."

Erik explained while carefully examining a piece of black metal after taking another mana potion. Then, Erik looked up at the high ceiling of the hallway and continued in a reflective tone.

"But I really don't understand why it formed. It's not the first time I've collided elemental spells, but nothing like this has ever happened… According to Ebonique… my contracted spirit… the black fire is close to the first step in creating a perfect synergy, so that strange property might come from there…"

"…If it's a perfect synergy, then that exaggerated power makes sense. From what I've heard from my master, perfect synergies are truly terrifying." Ethan commented in a somewhat uneasy voice, choosing to ignore the shift in Erik's tone when mentioning the dragoness.

"They are. My masters achieved perfect synergy and showed it to me once… It's pretty frightening." Erik remarked with a somewhat ironic smile, but he quickly shook his head and looked at Ethan, adding seriously.

"We've arrived. Start activating the formation to hide us."

"Chen!" Ethan quickly nodded with a serious expression and turned to call out to Chen Ming loudly. The young man immediately nodded with a serious expression and began performing hand signs.

Meanwhile, Ethan conjured several runes that spread through the space, while a small group stayed in front of him, forming a kind of fractal hexagon the size of a hand. At that moment, a dense, dark, illusory fog filled the area before disappearing into nothingness, at which point the 'vice leader' of the Bikereas asked while Tomás looked around seriously.

"Will it work…?"

"Let's hope so."

Erik commented in a low voice while ordering Kaiser to start ascending into the air and taking another potion from his bag. The wolf quickly created clouds of lightning, forming a staircase. Meanwhile, the others remained completely silent, their gazes fixed on the walls, visibly tense and nervous.

After all, although no one dared to ask so as not to affect morale, each and every one of them knew there was no guarantee that the formations could hide them. In fact, the odds were against them.

After all, the golems had been able to detect them when Ethan hid them with illusions. Not to mention that this strange black labyrinth didn't seem simple at all, and the ruin itself had even managed to leave legend-level beings defenseless.

As she wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, Elara watched as the golems slowly emerged from the walls until they finally detached completely. At that moment, they took a couple of steps forward and began looking around. As her fists clenched tightly, Elara heard a subtle swallowing sound but couldn't tell where it came from, as her gaze was focused on the golems to the point that she didn't even blink.

After looking around for nearly a minute, the golems began walking down the hallway in groups, allowing everyone present to let out a gasp of pure relief as their bodies lost all strength. As all the mages collapsed onto Myst's platform, Elara began to feel her eyes sting, at which point she heard a subtle sob not too far away.

Turning to look, Elara found Christine on the ground, tightly hugging her staff as tears began to stream down her cheeks. This seemed to spread to Frank, who rubbed his eyes hard to discreetly wipe away tears, a smile forming on his face. A very similar situation to what Chen and the others were experiencing.

Looking down with tears clouding her eyes, Elara could see Tomás spreading his arms before giving Erik a big hug, which, for some reason, brought a smile to her lips. But that smile quickly faded when Erik coughed up a large mouthful of blood, his complexion growing significantly paler as all the runes around him vanished instantly.

"""Erik!!"""

Tomás, Elara, and Zoe shouted in unison, at which point Elara leapt from the platform with worry and fear written across her face. Upon shouting, Tomás widened his eyes slightly and turned to look at the golems while reaching for the sword at his waist. However, upon seeing they remained as before, he let out a sigh of relief and soon refocused on Erik.

"Erik, what's wrong with you?!"

Zoe asked, nearly in panic, just as Elara landed on Myst's platform using a jet of fire from her feet to soften the fall, speaking urgently while hastily creating a magical circle as the wolves howled in pain.

"He's overexerted his body and is going into cardiac arrest! We need to resusci—"

Elara's words were cut off mid-sentence when, to her absolute shock and that of everyone present, a runic circle the size of a palm formed in front of Erik's chest, right over his heart. At the same time, Erik, clinging to consciousness with all his strength, raised his right fist and struck his chest hard, directly over the runic circle, which released electric arcs.

At the moment of impact, Erik trembled for a few instants before taking a deep inhalation, then drink a healing potion and breathing heavily as he spoke in a broken voice. This caused everyone to stare at him as if they were looking at some kind of strange animal in a zoo.

"…I'm fine… I relaxed for a moment… But I'm okay now…"

"You're not fine!"

Elara shouted, her voice on the verge of tears, and quickly activated the magical circle, which released a soft light and began healing Erik. At the same time, Elara grabbed Erik's wrist and circulated her mana through his system, at which point her eyes widened in disbelief. She brought her free hand to her mouth to cover it, her jaw dropping at what she discovered.

"What happened?!" Zoe, on the brink of panic, asked while shaking Elara's shoulder. The pain from Zoe's incredible strength gripping her shoulder snapped Elara back to reality, and she commented in disbelief and pain.

"How did you end up like this…? No… Why did you push yourself to this extreme…? You've nearly completely destroyed your mana circulatory system, and your body is a wreck… Now I understand why you were taking so many healing potions… The potions are only delaying the total decay of your body… They can't heal you…"

Upon hearing Elara, Zoe, Tomás, and the others present widened their eyes in disbelief and looked at Erik with expressions that screamed they weren't willing to believe what they heard. At that moment, Erik spoke between deep breaths while conjuring runes around himself, which began to emit a greenish light.

"It's not that bad… I can still use magic."

"Even in something like this, you're a monster… A normal person would have died long ago…"

Elara commented as tears gathered in the corners of her eyes, while the others felt a deep emptiness in their stomachs, a lump forming in their throats. For his part, Erik took another healing potion, then sat up straight on Kaiser and began petting the saddened wolves with his hands, commenting in a calmer, more regular voice.

"I'm a bit injured; it's not a big deal. Actually, I have a solution, and I have an idea to get it." Erik turned to look at Tomás, who gazed at him with an expression full of solemnity, respect, and gratitude, and commented with a small smile.

"And I'll need your help for it, Tomás, so I hope we can come to a good agreement."

***

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