Myrin's limbs remained frozen in place as the colossal predator of a man before him continued his bloodthirsty gaze… Even though he wanted to activate his Soul Weapon—to do anything… He couldn't. Any movement would spell instant death.

And yet, death came knocking regardless. Without even an ounce of hesitation, a single blink from the Elven Songster was enough for the giant Sentinel to disappear from view. One second he was there, the next he was gone…

"Nope!~ That's cheating."

Just as the icy grip of death was about to wrap around his neck, Myrin felt the world shift once again… It felt as if space itself had twisted and turned in a bizarre fashion.

Turning his head slightly, he saw the visage of Soren appearing from within a veil of violet butterflies. His smile was rather obvious, as if to say, "Oho? Were you scared?"

Just as that thought churned in his mind, he felt the wind shifting in his direction—Rodrick had launched another attack! Fortunately, Soren managed to somehow avoid it once again.

"What is happening!? What did you do?!"

Soren didn't answer. He simply held tightly to Myrin's hip and lifted him up with him on his flying sword. Without an ounce of hesitation, he shot through the air away from their enemy. Even though the circumstances were already strange, it was what he was seeing around him as they flew forward that confused him even more.

The buildings of the city… They were no longer just upside down. They were moving and shifting in all directions and angles. As if they had passed through a section of space that was being stretched around them in a loop. Every twist and turn between the old alleyways left him more confused…

"Relax," Soren said calmly. "I am using [Eyes of the Fairy]—I know the way."

"That doesn't exactly explain why this is even happening, you know?!"

Soren chuckled while shifting the flying sword's trajectory, avoiding another wind blade aimed at their necks. Myrin watched in awe as the attack curved with the space around them, as if its trajectory was nowhere close to where they were.

Suddenly, they turned upside down. Beneath them, an array of stalactites could be seen—like spikes of doom itching to impale anyone and everyone…

"This city—it's always been under a magecraft formation!" He yelled then twisted his body to squeeze in between two buildings. "After analyzing it, I realized that it can be manipulated by me slightly… I used it to twist the space around us into a maze!"

"A maze?!" Myrin was shocked, but he couldn't refute his claim. Everything he was observing went with that exact logic. He turned around slightly as his frown grew more and more… Rodrick's figure could be seen in the distance—distorted and twisted, as if his proportions had been changed. Never-the-less, the coldness of death emanating from him didn't cease one bit.

He was truly trying to kill them.

"What do we do?! I doubt your anima can last long enough to escape him! The dungeon hasn't shifted yet either!"

Soren smiled. "Who said we're escaping? We still have another guest to wait for!"

"Guest?! What guest?!"

Soren didn't answer. He focused on maneuvering his flying sword once again through the ruined maze. By now, Rodrick had already stopped holding back. A volley of attacks maneuvered their way to them… It was as if they were a needle trying to navigate a hurricane of blades….

"The Runic Acquisition Festival—when does it begin?" Soren asked quietly. His sharp, glowing gaze observed everything around them all at once.

Myrin was surprised by the question but decided to answer anyway. "The Saintesses have probably already announced it!" He yelled. "I am awaiting the arrival of the Blossom Command Sigil!"

"The Blossom Command Sigil?"

Myrin nodded as he held tightly to his cone hat. "Yes—it is a blessing bestowed by the Saintesses to those who will participate in the festival! A marking that gives proof that I am willing to challenge the kindred spirits!"

"I see. Tell me when that thing appears then."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Myrin didn't understand why he was adamant on knowing that when they were currently on the verge of death, but he decided not to question it further. His eyes naturally trailed toward the vibrant golden necklace that was attached to a crimson jewel amulet.

"Why are you trying to obtain the Blood Amulet? Won't it endanger the Safe Zone?!"

Soren didn't answer his second question. "We will need in the future. For our fight against the Whispering Dream."

"It's that necessary? Couldn't we have done this another way?"

There was a moment of silence in between the raging storm of wind blades aimed at their throats. After dodging in between another two buildings, he finally replied:

"Yes. It's necessary."

"....." Myrin couldn't say anything back. There really wasn't anything left to ask—what's done has already been done. Regretting their choices now was pointless.

Just as he was about to command his flute to twist into a paint brush, he felt the wind buzzing by closer than ever before.

Myrin touched his neck. Blood… had been spilled. If he had moved his neck just a bit to the left, he would have been done for.

Soren noticed what had happened and grit his teeth. "Crap. He's finally adapting to our anima signatures. Deceiving him will be harder now…"

Myrin looked at him for a moment then sighed. While flying in between buildings, he began to draw a few Spirit Beasts from memory that all manifested into reality.

"I'll see if this could buy us enough time."

Soren nodded back, "I think it's time we start the second phase…" With that idea racing in his mind, he addressed the ancient demon directly:

Don't you think so as well?

Over on the other side of the battlefield, a volley of attacks continued to bombard the ancient city. The ruins had likely turned to rubble as more and more buildings collapsed under the barrage of wind blades. Rodrick didn't want to give even the slightest of openings to his enemy.

After all, although these two pair of magi were relatively weak, his decades of experience and instinct were telling him this:

Do not underestimate them.

It was a rather strange feeling. On one hand, he was excited. Rarely does he get to face enemies this powerful. The Shepherd of the Nameless Fold was one such entity, but that ended rather quickly… He couldn't even land a single attack on Her. Beyond that—it looked as if She was simply looking at an annoyance rather than a threat. A measly bug that could be squished under her feet at any moment.

However, he also felt a slight sense of uncertainty… It was a sensation that had plagued him ever since the expedition began… A growing suspicion that there was something he was missing about this situation…

When was the last time I felt that way? He thought to himself. During the 7 day war against Staterra? No—even then, I was still able to kill a few of their generals—they all feared me… The only bastard I couldn't touch was their Wyvern Battalion Commander…

Regardless of what will happen, he was going to savor this battle. Rodrick was curious to see what these brats who have never seen a single war in their lives would do against him.

Suddenly, he noticed a strange sensation from his Inherent Ability.

"Hahaha! I finally found you bastards!" As he said this, he slammed his right foot forward, causing the entire ground to crack, and then, with one heavenly swing, a colossal storm surged from his sword that flew at supersonic speeds towards the enemy. Buildings flew out of the way as the entire dungeon shook violently.

The attack was aimed at that exact sensation—the anima signature he just felt earlier! Although its trajectory seemed twisted due to the nature of the magecraft formation they were in, he was confident that it would hit its target.

A second later, his guess was confirmed… But not in the way he expected it.

In the distance, Rodrick noticed a flying, glass-like sword hovering alone… It was positioned exactly where he had attacked. But there was no one else there. The glass sword had instantly shattered from the attack, leaving only debris in its wake.

Suddenly, Soren's voice echoed in his mind:

"I expected more from the famed Dungeon Slayer. Are you not the Headmaster of this city? How can you not know where your enemy is hiding?"

Hearing his cheap provocation, Rodrick chuckled. "Interesting, this is so fucking interesting!" Though, rather than a proclamation, it sounded more like a lion's roar.

Soren flew between another pair of demolished buildings while gritting his teeth from the vociferent outcry. Though, most of the pain came from both abusing [Eyes of the Fairy] and his own anima using the Hermit's Eye.

This won't last long… He thought.

Using the same technique to hide himself from his enemies with Violet Mirage, Soren utilized the Hermit's Eye Inherent Ability to position the center of his anima flow away from his own body. By manifesting the Fiary Blades from a certain distance, he could use the anima utilized in their spellforms to deceive Rodrick of his actual location.

Though, none of this would have worked without Tazzith's help. Currently, his Soul Realm had become inflated to the size of the ruined city itself. Clearly—this was never going to last long. But that was never in his intentions anyway.

Those swords… They weren't just decoys. They were creating the right environment for the next phase of his plan.

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