"Ascent," the runemaster muttered the name, savoring it. "I love how simple it is. However, I thought you wanted to be expelled rather than leaving," asked Ori as he twirled the ice in his cup.
"That was the plan, but I didn't think I would create a guild. Also, the bastards pissed me off," replied Arthur as his eyes never left the letter he was holding. "Our application has been approved."
"...we are revisiting Runera," sighed Oriole with reminiscence. "I know that we have been there once before, but at that time, you did not have your memories, and you had to die."
"It was the same plan for this timeline," smiled Arthur as he the letter away. "This exploration might reveal what Diana did in this timeline."
"The two words were 'My Seika,' and it can be someone else. For example, the witch Gala, or the snake-woman Larza," Ori tried to keep his hopes down, and Arthur nodded in understanding. "Furthermore, it can also be a trap by the guardians."
"I have no choice but to go," replied Arthur as he rose and walked toward the table. "It is indeed the perfect trap for me, the only person capable of cracking the encryption, but this is the current clue."
"I will tag along, then," said Ori as he poured Arthur a drink. "A toast to new beginnings, anticipated danger, and Ascent."
"To Ascent," Arthur smiled as he took the drink, and the two clinked their glasses. "And now, we deal with these reporters," he said while looking at the crowd outside their workshop.
***
Rae stepped into the empty coliseum an hour after the fight. It has been closed down for repairment after Alexie obliterated most of the arena, but no one dared refuse the saint of Shon.
Her memories were still fresh from the fight as she was there among the crowd. It made her furious that the amount of strength Alexie showed was nothing compared to their last fight. However, it made her happy that he did not back down from a duel again.
"This is true power," she muttered while standing in front of the destruction. There was not a single grass touched by the attack, as if his level of control had reached a microscopic level.
"I share the sentiment," said a voice from behind her, and Rae glanced back to find the Divine Swordsman sitting on the ledge of the stands. "We were both blind to what he was hiding, Saint of Shon."
Yurirl said before he glanced at the sky. Rae stared at the Divine Swordsman with apprehension because he was the one person that she wanted nothing to do with.
The strongest swordsman was a dog of the seven families with common origins. The mere thought of it filled her with wrath for this fool whose life would be spent laboring for those who never care about him.
It was true that a single family did not control God's Blade, but its members were still a part of those lineages. The Era of Resurrection had begun, but this foolish swordsman was still wasting his talents as a dog.
"I am not here for a fight," he said with a smile without looking at her. His senses were still abnormal. "I am here to persuade the saint of making her choice."
"Are you talking about Ascent?" asked Rae with a frown, and the swordsman nodded before he jumped downward. "You are overstepping, enslaved dog."
"We are all enslaved by our dreams," he said sadly, "and the people that we miss. However, Ascent is an exception from that. You have seen his might."
"I will not abandon my Shon Theocracy to follow a nomad with unrealistic ambitions."
"Are we not supposed to aim for the stars as Alexie did?" said Yurirl as he reached toward the obliterated arena. "The world will soon realize that Alexie is a madman, but one with great potential. But, unfortunately, we have all fallen too young for the great schemes of politics and nationalism."
"My Shon will..."
"...never let you go, saint," interrupted the swordsman as he balled his palm into a fist. "I know that you think Shon is a home, but we have no homes in this world. There are greater powers than ourselves that we must submit to, and Alexie knew that."
"And that's the reason he didn't want to join a guild but create one," she continued. "However, you were invited in front of the whole world. It says a lot about how enslaved he thinks you are."
"And I appreciate his offer," smiled Yurirl as he retracted his hand. "However, there is something I desire, and I will stop at nothing to obtain it. Alexie can offer me the world, but in the end, he will never let me do anything to achieve my goal. His dazzling morals and beliefs will prevent me."
"You want a nest that allows for your corruption and whims," sneered Rae. "I had always believed Alexie was a spineless fellow when the real one was the one worshiped by the world."
After she said so, Yurirl didn't answer and stared at the sky instead. Rae felt that he was a hopeless case and soon left the coliseum, going through the gate in the stands. The tunnel led her outside, but it was now long and dark.
As her heels clanked along the tunnel, sending resounding clicks to its distal end, Rae allowed her thoughts and doubts to carry her. Alexie Linan was the same as the children's book that she once found beneath piles of Faiths, tempting but forbidden.
However, no matter how magical and exciting the book was, it was still a fairy tale with no relation to the real world. And when she was done with reading it, her father would summon her to remind her that there was hellish training to follow if she wanted to protect their people.
Rae was never allowed to meet those people, and in the end, their mention brought her anger. The thing she craved in that children's book was the freedom to go anywhere and do anything. However, she always needed to protect people who never cared to visit.
"The Saint of Shon seems to be distracted with a small-time fly," muttered a man standing at the end of the tunnel. "I must warn you that Alexie does not seem to be the one he claims."
"You have a lot of free time for a senior, Erin Voldor," she snapped, her usual rage never leaving her. "I have no need for a madman to warn me."
"That is harsh," he said with a shrug. "I was the sanest person in that incident. I had reasons that the Theocracy of Shon could never understand to harm that princess."
"We indeed have no interest in the fights among children," she rebuked. "Trial of The Holy Crown is nothing but a joke after it was broken."
"We are indeed not as capable as we once were," Erin did not deny it. "However, the seven families still have hidden monsters and dragons that not even I dare offend, and neither should you."
"I don't understand, Erin. If I leave Shon, it would be a celebration in your Ilios Empire. Instead, I will be called the idiotic princess in every street as toasts for my stupidity are raised."
"And yet, here I am to warn you," he said as he pushed the wall behind to stand straight. "Let's say that our anger to the world brings the two of us together. I saw the duel, and I could tell that Alexie used an artifact against the rules. That is the only reason that he can win."
"A cheater?" she muttered with a frown. Erin shrugged before turning and walking away, waving her hand at her. "Big mouthed bastard."
Rae couldn't deny that the two of them were similar in a sense, as their anger controlled them most of the time. However, she would never be his ally after the incident, which made him suspended.
As she remembered it, Alexie was also a part of it, but he did not interfere a lot in the end. One of the incidents made Alexie fold himself away from the world, and it must have been because of the Ghosts Summoner.
Her arrival was as quick as her absence, and she was nothing more than a fleeting memory in their minds. Nevertheless, her fame was still rising as her ghost, Witch Annabel, grew stronger.
Rae watched Erin walk away with an odd frown as one of her spies appeared behind her. In his hand was a scroll that must be the information he found about Alexie Linan, sealed and untraceable.
"Your hunch is correct, my saint," muttered the man. "Alexie Linan has indeed shaken the world with his declaration, but most guilds believe he is nothing but another arrogant youth. Finally, however, a single entity threw him an olive branch."
"A single entity?"
"It is the city of runes, Runera."
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