Tales of Xalthia

Chapter 30: Mark of the Sigil

Tsuki and his companions had received information about where Setzu and the surviving soldiers of a nearby outpost that had been attacked fell back to. Thanks to the information provided by the bartender, Claude who used to be one of the best scouts to serve under King Raiku, they knew that the outpost survivors retreated to the nearby forest just on the outskirts of the town. The forest wasn't exactly very big and there were no other exit points besides from the direction they originally had entered from so it was good for them because they didn't have a large area to search through but it was also bad for them because if they were to be pursued, they would have nowhere else to go. They didn't have time to waste.

Before they decided to head out, everyone split off on their own to buy new supplies that the previous towns didn't offer. They spent about thirty minutes shopping before everyone met up at the exit of town. Outside the gate was a vast plane of greenery, forests and wildlife. Once everyone all convened at the gate, they wasted no more time and left town. Once they left town, they immediately headed to the east from the town gate and headed towards the forest that was off into the distance. Along the way, they saw a structure not far off from the forest. About twenty minutes of traveling across the grassy plane, they approached the structure. The place was in ruins. What appeared to be watchtowers were destroyed and burnt down, the buildings were in shambles and signs of fighting were clearly evident despite apparent efforts to hide all traces of a fight. It appears that they've reached the outpost that was attacked several days prior. It was completely deserted. There were no signs of any recent activity within the ruined outpost.

Ramza stepped into the outpost and looked around the area. All he could hear was the whistling of the wind through the broken windows and structures. Seeing the outpost in its current state confirmed his fears. The mysterious swordsman and his band of fighters wiped out the outpost. "So, the old man's information source was spot-on. I was kind of hoping that the information about the outpost being wiped out was wrong too" he said. He stood in the center of the courtyard, clenching his fists in frustration.

Luan walked up to Ramza and place her hand on his arm. "Ramza..." she said. She looked up at him with a worried expression. He wasn't a soldier in Esseand's military but he knew some of the people that were stationed at this outpost, some of which were good friends of his.

Ramza looked at Luan and released his fists. He then patted her head then looked back at the destroyed buildings in silence. The group gave Ramza a minute to cope with things so they spent the few minutes of silence and looked around through the debris for anything that they could use. Unfortunately, whatever documents that the outpost held were removed along with any evidence that could give them some answers. Once Ramza was ready, they regrouped and left the ruined outpost. They made their way towards the forest with haste. With eleven survivors, including Setzu himself, Ramza felt like Setzu had enough protection but if they were all injured according to what Claude had said or if they were pursued by a larger force, then their odds at survival weren't very good. About Twenty minutes later, they reached the outskirts of the forest. All they could hear from within the forest was the rustle of the trees blowing in the wind.

Before stepping into the forest, Ramza stopped on one of the dirt paths that led into the forest. He looked down at the ground and saw a series of footprints mashed together as if a stampede had walked across the dirt path. Knowing what he was looking at, he motioned to Tsuki and the rest. "Guys, I found footprints. It seems that they used this path to trek into the forest. If they headed to a safehouse, then we should follow these tracks and see where they lead" he said.

Tsuki looked at the footprints and examined them. The tracks were fairly old which matches up to the information that Claude had told them about the survivors entering the forest several days prior. Exposed to the outdoor elements, some of the tracks were hard to follow. "The tracks are starting to degrade from the elements. We better get a move on before we lose them" he said.

They nodded in agreement and followed the tracks into the forest. The forest path was winding and confusing as it branched off into several different directions. As usual, the forest was home to various types of monsters from boars to wolves that they had to fight through. The forest itself, despite being small in size, was very thick and dense, making traversing off the dirt path difficult. Eventually, they came to a point where the tracks came to a stop. There were no further signs of any footprints on the dirt path and it didn't appear that they were covered up by the outdoor elements.

Ramza was confused when the tracks suddenly came to a stop. "It appears that the tracks end here. However, I don't see any evidence of them going any further" he said. Ahead of them were two separate paths that branch off into opposite directions. He had no idea which one to choose. "Maybe we should split up?" he asked.

Elle looked around the area to see anything that seemed out of place. Off to their left, she saw several downed tree branches and bushes that appeared to be deliberately set up to try and hide the direction that they went. However, the blocked path appeared to be recently tampered with as if their pursuers discovered it. "It looks like they went off the path through here. If they were trying to shake off their pursuers, they didn't do a very good job at covering up their escape route" she said.

Ramza examined the hidden path that was covered up. Upon looking closely, he could make out another dirt path that was covered by leaves, branches and various forest debris. The fact that they had to cover up the path that they used in a poor and rushed manner tells him a grim fact. They were being pursued and were closing in on them fast. "Damn, looks like they were being pursued. Otherwise, they wouldn't of done such a sloppy" he said. He then looked up ahead and saw thick bushes that were sliced through. If they were trying to hide the path, they wouldn't of sliced through bushes. The pursuers were right behind them and they were running out of time. "Dammit!" he said. He then charged down the pathway in a hurry.

Tsuki was examining the path when Ramza rushed forward. "Ramza, wait! It's too dangerous to go off on your own!" he said. Unfortunately, Ramza had already disappeared behind the thick brush of the forest. "Damn. We better follow him" he said.

They nodded in agreement then rushed down the path to catch up to Ramza. If these were the same pursuers from the outpost, then it was too dangerous for people to split off on their own. Judging from the remains of the outpost, they weren't average fighters. The path was a little hard to make out due to all of the forest debris but after about ten minutes, they came to a clearing. Just outside of the clearing, they saw Ramza crouched behind a tree, looking at a small hut in the center.

Tsuki walked up to Ramza and looked at the hut. "Is that a safehouse?" he asked. The hut appeared to be a normal log cabin. It didn't appear to have any outside defenses to it which was odd if this was a safehouse. After all, it's in the open and it stands out. "Something's odd with this picture" he said.

Ramza nodded. "Yes, it appears to be one of the safehouses. You're right; there's something wrong here. Where are all the guards? The outer defenses?" he asked. He then looked around the area and after a few minutes of silence, he stood up and slowly made his way into the clearing. "Let's check it out but keep your guard up" he said.

The group slowly approached the small hut in the center of the clearing while keeping an eye on their surroundings. They were in a perfect place for an ambush as they were completely exposed. All seemed to be quiet and normal until they got closer to the hut. Upon approaching it, they were met with a grim scene. The hut appeared to be ransacked as if a fight broke out. The windows were shattered, the front door was blown off its hinges and they could smell sulfur and blood in the air. What made the scene more alarming was that the smell appeared to be very recent because it was fresh. Once they walked up to the hut and looked through the front entrance, they saw a horrific scene. Blood was everywhere and once Ramza stepped inside, he immediately saw the bodies of four Esseand soldiers, two of which had a severed arm and leg. It was a grizzly scene.

Seeing the bloody sight put Nagi in a sudden state of shock. Her body became completely frozen. The sight immediately caused flashbacks to occur of the night Tomoha was attacked and her time in captivity at Prophet Castle. She was having a relapse. Moments later, she held onto the sides of her head, eyes widened as her body started to shake uncontrollably. "So much blood...I can't..." she said. She then slowly started to back up against the wall. "No...get away from me...!" she said. It was as if she was reliving her times of the Tomoha attack and captivity.

Tsuki walked up to Nagi and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Nagi! Hey, it's alright! You're safe! You're with friends" he said. He had no idea how to calm her down since this was the first time she's had a mental relapse. He then hugged her tightly as it was the only thing that came to his mind. "It's okay. No one's going to hurt you" she said, trying to calm her down. He could hear her breathing hard and fast as well as feel her body shaking.

It wasn't until a couple moments later when her breathing started to calm down as well as the shaking of her body. After another minute or two, her mental relapse started to subside. She slowly started to come back to reality as she became more calm. The presence and touch of Tsuki helped significantly. However, the experience still shook her up and terrified her. She soon looked up at Tsuki with tears rolling down her face with a terrified look. "T-Tsu..." she said.

Tsuki looked at her, placing one hand on top of her head and petted her gently. "You're okay" he said. He then looked over at Cheria. "Cheria, can you take Nagi outside and stay with her? I don't want her to see what else is inside the cabin" he said.

Cheria nodded. "Sure" she said. She then walked up to her and grabbed her hand. "Come on, let's go sit out by the tree outside for some fresh air" she said. She then walked out of the front entrance, gently pulling Nagi behind her.

Ruko watched as the two left before looking at Tsuki. It was too risky to let them to wander out by themselves when there could be enemies still around considering the fact that Nagi had no means to defend herself which left Cheria with her bow which wouldn't be effective close range. "I'll go with them and make sure they're alright. Call on us when we're ready to leave" he said. He then followed them out the front entrance and headed to the tree outside.

Once they left, Ramza looked around a bit. If there four dead soldiers, that would leave eight survivors including Setzu. He didn't sense any evil presences around so the place appeared relatively safe. "Let's look around and see if we can find anything that might help us determine where to go from here" he said.

They nodded and then split off to look around inside and outside of the cabin. Ruko, Cheria and Nagi stayed by the nearby tree as Ramza, Lynette, Elle, Tsuki and Luan looked around the area of the cabin. They spent about ten minutes with no luck. That is, until Lynette started to make her way to the back hallway of the cabin. The hallway had three separate rooms with a back exit that appeared to be blown of its hinges, just like the front entrance. As she made her way down the hallway, she heard something crash and hit the ground which caused her to jump. Moments afterwards, she started to hear groaning sounds which put her on edge. Ramza was still in the main room where the four bodies were, Elle was outside walking around the cabin, Tsuki was walking around upstairs and Luan was on the porch of the front entrance. "What's that...?" she asked herself quietly. She slowly approached the room to her left, pulling her staff off her back and held it tightly in case she was attacked. Once she stepped in front of the open entrance way, she was shocked at what she saw. There was a wounded Esseand soldier on the ground up against the wall, still alive and conscious with a terrible going across his chest. "Oh no! Ramza!" she shouted loud enough for them to hear her. She then rushed over to the soldier, sliding to her knees, putting her hands out in front of him and used her healing artes to try and save him.

Tsuki, Elle, Ramza and Luan heard Lynette scream from the back of the cabin and all rushed towards where Lynette was. When they did, they saw that Lynette was in a frantic state as she desperately tried to heal the wounded soldier. However, despite her best efforts, her healing artes weren't working. It appears that the wound that was inflicted on the soldier was fatal. Lynette's current healing abilities weren't strong enough to heal a wound like this.

Lynette, refusing to give up, pushed herself as much as she can to try and save the wounded soldier. However, she quickly realized that no matter what she did or how much Mana she uses, nothing was working. She just wasn't strong enough. "It's...it's not working! I can't stop the bleeding!" she said.

Ramza knew the soldier was going to die. There wasn't anything they could do to save him. However, he had to know what happened. He walked up the the soldier and kneeled down next to him across from Lynette. "Can you speak?" he asked.

The soldier struggled to lift his head to look up. Once he did, he saw Ramza and Luan and immediately recognized them. "L-lord Ramza...? L-lady Luan...? Is that...you?" he struggled to ask.

Ramza nodded. "Yes. It's us. Can you tell us what happened here?" he asked. The soldier didn't have much longer. He could see the life slowly fading from his eyes. He needed to act fast if he wanted to learn anything and this may be his only chance.

The soldier knew he wasn't going to make it. He had to pass on what he went through as it was very important and knowing that Ramza and Luan were there helped reassure him. "W-we were attacked at...the outpost. We were using this safehouse...to recover from the ordeal and hide from our pursuers. C-captain Tsubaki...was targeted by that swordsman. That man...no matter what we did, we couldn't touch him. He...was a monster" he said.

What the soldier said matched up to what they already knew about the mysterious swordsman. This was no surprise to Luan. However, she was more concerned about Setzu. He was previously injured by this man and fled and it seems that he came back to finish the job. "What about Setzu? What happened to him?" she asked.

The solder turned his head to Luan slowly. "He fled further into the forest...with three others while the rest of us stayed here to stall for time so that...he could get away safely" he said. He then started to cough up blood. His condition was worsening.

Ramza learned what he wanted to know. Now, all that's left is to figure out the direction that they went in. If that swordsman wasn't here anymore, then there was no doubt that he continued his pursuit of Setzu. "Which way did they go?" he asked.

The soldier was losing the fight to survive. He felt the strength leave his body. He could no longer feel anything below his waist. "T-they headed...to our secondary location. Go out the back exit and go east. You'll come...to a large tree in the center of another clearing. From there, head north and you'll be there. Please...save the captain" he said.

Ramza nodded. "Don't worry. We'll make sure he gets to safety. Your sacrifices won't be in vain" he said. There was nothing left for him to say.

The solder gave him a soft smile and moments later, his head dropped down. He had succombed to death. Once the soldier died, Lynette stopped her healing artes.

Lynette reached her hand out and checked his pulse. She felt nothing which left a bitter taste in her mouth. She was a healer and yet she couldn't save one life. "He's gone..." she said. She felt like she was a failure of a healer. It was her job to keep people alive and heal their injuries, no matter how severe they may be. "If only I was strong enough..." she said.

Ramza shook his head. "Don't let this burden you. You did all that you could to save him. Unfortunately, we arrived too late. He was far too gone past the point of saving. At least, he was able to pass on what happened before he died" he said.

Elle watched in silence as the soldier died. She sighed heavily, turning around and walked out of the room. She then started to walk towards the back exit, looking inside the remaining rooms. The rooms were trashed but that's all that there was in them. She soon stepped out through the back exit where she saw four more bodies of Esseand soldiers. They were already dead. "Guys, there are more bodies back here!" she shouted.

Tsuki, Ramza, Luan and Lynette soon followed Elle out through the back exit and saw the bodies. They were running out of time. There were now three remaining survivors, including Setzu. They didn't have any more time to waste.

Ramza became more worried and anxious as the number of survivors were declining. It put him in a state of panic. "We need to hurry. The survivors are dropping like flies. Setzu won't last much longer if he's still injured" he said. He then walked around the house and saw that Ruko, Nagi and Cheria were still hanging out by the tree. "Hey! We're heading out! Let's get moving!" he shouted at them.

Ruko, Nagi and Cheria looked at each other, nodded and headed around the house to meet up with the rest of the group. Once they regrouped, they headed east through the forest with haste. As usual, they had to fight through a series of monsters to reach their destination. Since there was no path to indicate where they were going, they kept going east. About twenty minutes later, they came up to the large tree the soldier had told them about. However, once they arrived, they saw yet another body of an Esseand soldier up against the tree. Ramza walked up to him and checked for his pulse but he was already dead.

Tsuki shook his head. He was starting to doubt whether or not that they would find Setzu in time. "Just two more survivors which means there's only one more able-bodied soldier left to protect Setzu. Things are looking rather-" he said,

Just then, they heard a flock of birds freak out and fly from an area further to the north of them. Moments later, they felt a surge of power shoot out from the north like a powerful gust of wind. They could feel a tremendous amount of energy ahead of them. They knew that this was the result of a possible fight going on so they wasted no time and headed in the direction where the sudden surge of power came from.

As they made their way to the north, they could feel the air around them grow heavier. It wasn't long before they came up to yet another clearing where they saw three people standing across from each other. Two of which appeared to be the remaining survivors from the outpost and the other appeared to be the swordsman that everyone's been talking about. The Esseand soldier appeared to be fighting off the swordsman while a wounded man was on the ground with his back against a tree and watched. The wounded man was in blue and red armor with an injury to his left shoulder and appeared to be unarmed. The soldier charged at the swordsman and clashed swords briefly with him before being forced back when he parried his last attack. Moments later, the swordsman swung his sword, releasing a diagonal wave of energy at the soldier. The soldier tried to block the energy but was easily sent flying back and crashing into a tree. Once the soldier was down, the swordsman turned to the wounded man and slowly approached him.

The swordsman stopped several feet in front of the wounded man and pointed his sword at him. "It appears that you've reached the end of the line" he said.

The wounded man looked up at the swordsman, glaring at him. "So, it appears that the stories about you are true. You're no ordinary swordsman" he said.

The swordsman chuckled a little bit. "Flattery won't get you anywhere" he said.

The man coughed up a bit of blood as some of it dripped from his mouth. "Why are you doing this?" he asked.

The swordsman held out his free arm, making a fist with a menacing grin on his face. "This world is so fragile. So weak. Only the strongest can lead this world to a bright and better future. There's no place for the weak. Under King Caius of Honegroth, this world will be better off" he said. He then got down on one knee, still keeping his sword pointing at the wounded man. "The downfall of the Holy Kingdom of Eresseas was a weak kingdom which made it the perfect staging area for His Majesty's grand plan. However, he can't leave Esseand and Nargelond be as they are Honegroth's major threats. Rather than using our own troops to seize those lands, it was more beneficial to fan the flames of an already hostile region and let them wipe each other out" he said.

As the swordsman spoke, Tsuki and the others tried to get as close as possible to them without alarming them of their presence. Luckily, they were close enough to overhear the conversation. It would seem that the swordsman was indeed in league with the Menorion forces and it would also appear that one of their theories about what they were planning to do turned out to be correct. They all knew that this swordsman was a dangerous opponent so they couldn't afford to act recklessly. If they were to attack, they had to do so swiftly. Tsuki and the others hide behind the brush of the clearing as they couldn't get any closer without exposing themselves.

Ramza was eager to leap out to save the wounded man but he knew that would be too rash and reckless. "Damn. He's got Setzu cornered. What do we do now?" he asked.

As the two spoke from within the clearing, Tsuki looked at the others. "Alright, here's the plan. Ramza, you, Luan and Lynette make your way around the clearing and try to get Setzu out of there. Me and Ruko will confront the swordsman to try and draw his attention away. Elle, I want you to stay with Nagi and protect her as she can't defend herself. Cheria, you'll use your bow and artes to support us as we confront the swordsman. Agreed?" he asked as he formulated a plan.

They all nodded in agreement and split off. Ramza, Luan and Lynette started to slowly make their way around the clearing as the rest remained where they were. They needed to wait for the right opportunity to attack.

The swordsman soon stood back up, opening up his arms. "Well, as much as fun as this conversation is, I think it's about time we get on with things, shall we?" he asked. He then took an attack stance as he readied his sword.

At that moment, Tsuki drew his sword as he and Ruko shot from the brush. Tsuki leaped into the air and swung his sword in a downward slash at the swordsman as Ruko used his steel gauntlets to deliver a swift and powerful punch to his side. However, the swordsman smirked as he quickly spun around, dodging Ruko's attack with ease, grabbing onto his wrist tightly as he blocks Tsuki's aerial attack.

Tsuki was speechless at how easy it was for the swordsman to anticipate two simultaneous attacks. "What!?" he said.

The swordsman chuckled as he swiped his sword to the side with enough force to send Tsuki crashing into a tree. Once he forced Tsuki back, he then swung Ruko around and threw him back. His attention then went to outside of the clearing where Ramza, Luan, Lynette, Nagi and Elle were. He swung his sword, releasing two diagonal waves of energy at them.

Ramza, Luan and Lynette were still trying to make their way to Setzu when he noticed that the swordsman had caught onto them and launched an attack. "Get down!" he shouted.

They hit the ground as the wave of energy shot above them, just barely hitting them. The wave of energy sliced through numerous trees, causing them to collapse. As for Elle, she summoned a barrier around herself and Nagi. The wave of energy impacted the barrier and broke apart, leaving them unscathed. Meanwhile, when the swordsman appeared to have dropped his guard, Cheria attached two arrows to her bow as they were enveloped by a coat of energy. She then released them, firing two energized arrows at him. However, the swordsman easily dodged them. Once he did, he vanished in a blink of an eye and moments later appeared in front of her. Before she could react, he grabbed onto Cheria's neck and lifted her up into the air with a tight grip.

The swordsman tightened his grip on Cheria's neck as if he was trying to suffocate her. "Is this really the best all of you can do!? Did you really think that you guys had the upper hand because you outnumbered me!?" he shouted. He then gave Cheria a menacing, cold look as his grip grew tighter. "Fools! I'll show you not to underestimate me by making an example out of this girl!" he shouted.

Due to his tight grip, Cheria was having a hard time breathing. There was nothing that she could do to break free as his grip was too strong. Tsuki slowly got up to his feet, still reeling from the impact against the tree. That's when he noticed that Cheria was being strangled by the swordsman. "Cheria!" he shouted.

Just then, he felt a surge of power grow from inside of him. His eyes turned color from blue to blood red. The air around him started to grow even heavier. Elle could sense the power inside of him start to fluctuate once more, just like when he fought against Caius in Basilwell. Except, there was one slight difference between then and now. Once his eyes turned red, a strange and mysterious symbol formed in his eyes. Moments later, he shot towards the swordsman with intense speed. Before the swordsman could react, Tsuki had delivered a fast, strong shoulder charge against him, causing him to release Cheria before sending him crashing into the ground. Once Cheria was released from his grip, she fell onto her back and coughed violently as she put her hand over her neck.

Once her coughing fit was over, Cheria looked up and saw Tsuki standing above her. She could immediately tell that there was something different about him. "Tsu...?" she asked. The air around him was completely different.

As the swordsman laid on the ground from his shoulder charge, Tsuki took the opportunity and charged at him while he was down on the ground. Once he was close enough, he leaped into the air and swung his sword downward once more. However, once Tsuki landed back on the ground and brought his sword down, the swordsman made a quick movement with his right leg and kicked his hands, knocking the sword out of Tsuki's hands and sent spiraling into the air before impaling the trunk of a tree. Once Tsuki was rendered unarmed, the swordsman quickly jumped up onto his feet and swung his sword in a diagonal motion as if to cut him in half. Tsuki saw the attack coming and jumped back in front of Cheria before he could hit him.

Nagi saw that Tsuki was rendered defenseless as his sword was knocked away from him. She then looked at Elle with a panicked expression on her face. "Elle, you have to help him! He has nothing to defend himself!" she said.

Elle looked at Nagi. While she wasn't in a panic, she was concerned. They were clearly up against someone far out of their league. Not only that, but there was something about about the swordsman but she didn't have a chance to get a clear picture on who he was quite yet. She gripped her sword that was still sheathed on her waist but she hesitated to move. There was something that she was missing but she couldn't figure out what it was.

The swordsman gave Tsuki a menacing smirk. "Well now, you're an interesting guy. This could be fun" he said. He then examined Tsuki more closely. From his appearance, he seemed like a normal human. That is, until his gaze got up to his eyes. His grin grew a bit more as a slow chuckle slowly turned into maniacal laughter as if he had lost his mind. After his laughter, he then pointed at Tsuki. "Those blood red eyes! That symbol! Oh, how I've waited for this day to come!" he shouted. He then pointed his sword at Tsuki. "This explains why I couldn't find the Sigil anywhere. You've had it for all this time! Well, if you would be so kind as to hand it over, we can resolve this ordeal quickly" he said.

When the swordsman mentioned something about a Sigil, Elle's eyes widened. How could this person know about something that shouldn't be known to many? "The Sigil!?" she said. She then looked over at Tsuki as she felt his power continue to grow inside of him. "I see. So that's why..." she said to herself. It was as if she realized something big.

Tsuki wasn't moving from where he stood nor did he speak about this Sigil that he mentioned. The swordsman grew impatient rather quickly at his lack of response which irritated him. After a few more moments of silence, Tsuki assumed an offensive stance despite without having a weapon to use.

The swordsman chuckled a bit as he got ready to attack him. He had no other weapon and he didn't appear to be very adept in magic Artres. All he could do was shake his head in disbelief. "You're still going to put up a fight? I've disarmed you and you don't appear to be a mage so long distance offensive Artes are out of the question. How do you plan on fighting me?" he said.

Tsuki grinned a bit, chuckling. He then held both his arms out as red sparks of energy started to appear from his hands. "Unarmed? Hardly. Who needs a physical weapon..." he said in a deep tone of voice. Just then, the red aura around him started to gather in front of him as the red sparks of energy became more violent. Moments later, a red, energized axe appeared in his hands. The axe was nothing but pure Mana in one of many physical forms. "...when I can use Mana to form a better one?" he asked. It was like Tsuki was a different person. His personality had completely changed and it was as if someone else took control over his body.

The swordsman raised an eyebrow in interest. To be actually able to form a weapon completely out of Mana and to be able to wield its physical manifestation was an incredible feat. An ability extremely rare and believed to be a thing of legend. This made the swordsman chuckle some more as he covered his face with his free hand with, grinning in delight. "Well, this just keeps getting more and more interesting! You've already progressed with the Sigil this far? I'm impressed" he said. He then quickly lunged at Tsuki, swinging his sword at him.

To Tsuki, it was as if the swordsman was moving in slow motion. He brought the axe down and blocked his attack, causing sparks of red lightning to shoot out from the clash. Unlike before, his movements and reactions were more precise.

Tsuki turned his head a bit and looked at Cheria. "Go to Elle. It's to dangerous to be near me right now" he said.

Cheria looked at him and nodded. "A-alright. Don't push yourself, okay?" she asked. She then stood up and made her way over to Elle

Once Cheria moved away, he lunged at the swordsman once more and continued to fight. As the two started to clash with each other, Ramza, Luan and Lynette eventually reached Setzu who was still up against the tree. Lynette quickly started to use her healing Artes to heal the injuries he's sustained. Thankfully, his wounds appeared to already be treated so she should be able to patch him up.

Ramza kneeled down in front of him and checked to make sure that there were no other injuries he should be aware of. Once he checked up on him, he placed his hand on his left shoulder."Setzu, you alright?" he asked.

Setzu looked at him and nodded as he placed his hand on Ramza's arm. "I'm alright but where the hell did you guys come from?" he asked. He wasn't expecting anyone to come save them as they never got around to requesting for reinforcements.

Luan gave him a stern but worried expression. "We came to find you once we found out what happened" she said.

Setzu then looked at Luan with a surprised look on his face. He definitely wasn't expecting one of the people to find him would be Luan. "Luan...how did you guys find me? Who are these people that you're with?" he asked.

Ramza fell silent for a moment, thinking back to Claude and the soldier that pointed them in the right direction. "We had some help from Claude and a dying soldier. As for these people, think of them as allies for now. We'll save the explanations for later" he said. He then reached into his bag and pulled out the pair of daggers that Claude had gave him. "Take these. Claude instructed me to pass these onto you when I see you. He says they're a superior version to the pair that you had previously. Try not to lose these this time" he said, setting them in his lap. Their attention then went back to Tsuki and the swordsman who were fighting in the center of the clearing.

Tsuki and the swordsman appeared to be equally matched. Neither seemed to be weakened or tired. They were just locked in a seemingly endless clash of pure strength and swordplay. They both clashed once more and stared at each other for a couple of moments before jumping away from each other.

The swordsman appeared to be enjoying the fight even though there seemed to be no end to it. He was both equally impressed and delighted that he finally found someone who could stand up against him and fight on equal terms as he is. "It appears that the new Sigil bearer is no pushover this time around. Your combat skills are exceptional and with the power of the Sigil, it's almost a perfect blend. However, your skills remain vastly unrefined which opens you up to many counterattacks. You've got a long way to go, boy" he said.

Tsuki chuckled a bit, shaking his head. "I appreciate the feedback and I'll be sure to take that into consideration" he said.

Once the fighting came to a brief stop, Elle looked at Nagi. "Nagi, go to check up on Ruko. I need to verify something" she said.

Nagi looked at her and gave her a slight nod. "O-okay" she said. She then made her way around the clearing to where Ruko was. Once she was in the clear, Elle came out from the brush and walked up next to Tsuki with her sword in hand.

The swordsman looked over at Elle as she walked up and stood by Tsuki. He examined her a bit and grinned a moment later. "Well, this is interesting. Not only have I encountered the Sigil bearer, but an Ancient as well. I never expected to see one on this side of the world" he said.

Once Elle was close enough, she examined the man more closely. She was silent for several moments until she realized who the man was. Her realization left her shocked and unsettled. "What the...? How is this possible? What are YOU doing here!?" she shouted, assuming an offensive stance. It took her a bit to realize who the man was and now she knows that this man was an extremely dangerous individual. The gravity of their situation completely changed.

The swordsman chuckled menacingly. "Sealing Artes degrade over time if they're not properly maintained which is how I'm standing before you. I have to thank the Ancients for their lack of incompetence. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have discovered some interesting stuff" he said. He then pointed his sword at them once more. However, he didn't make a move. He stood motionless for several moments without saying another word. Then, he suddenly sheathed his sword. "As much as I would love to stay here, I'm afraid our time is up for now. I look forward to the next time we meet" he said. Just then, he was enveloped in a shroud of black.

Elle suddenly rushed the swordsman with her sword ready to strike. "Wait!" she shouted. She then leaped into the air and swung her sword downward at the dark shroud of energy. Unfortunately, her sword seemingly went right through it like mist and struck the ground instead. The black shroud of energy, along with the swordsman, was gone. She could no longer feel his presence so it appears that he had left the area. "Damn. If he's loose and allied himself with Honegroth, then this changes everything" she said.

All that was left was silence. The enemy presence was gone and all they could hear and feel was the wind blowing through the forest. In the mysterious mans' wake, he left behind even more questions and concerns. Just who was the swordsman? What was this Sigil that he referred to and how does it relate to Tsuki?

To be continued...