The past two nights had been enough for his broken arm to heal. Even if most of the ruins were cursed by a rogue spirit, the amount of pure El in their camp was strong enough for him to recover most of the energy he had wasted making the group ignore his frequent disappearances.

He meditated during the night, trying to reach the goddess or monitor the distance of the El. The goddess continued to remain silent, but he was reassured to know that the El was not far away from them.

Then, this night, it moved as if it was on a horse's back. He tried to know where exactly it was being taken, but the rogue spirit cut his meditation short. He saw the campfire again and heard the elf woman whisper before walking away.

Ainchase watched her go again to the ruins they had just explored. She was covered by a magically enhanced cloak and more arrows than she usually carried. He could not trust a creature who defied Ishmael by her silence about the curse that covered this place with its foul nature.

The servant of the goddess reduced his appearance to that of a weak light, as bright as a faraway star. He followed Rena from above as the elf dashed through the ruins, avoiding each trap as if she had known the place like the palm of her hand. This only made his suspicions grow, and he told himself he did well on following her this far.

Rena reached a dead end: a crumbled structure that had perhaps been a temple or a palace, considering the colossal size of its ruins. There, she used some sort of spell that opened a hidden underground entrance two steps behind her. The stairs leading to it were almost completely intact, only sullied by some stains of darkness that, from where he was, could either be mud or blood.

He went right behind her and hid his presence within the light of a torch Rena took in her way. The elf was breathing heavily, not so much due to her running but because of a helpless fear she had tattooed on her face. She muttered something in elven and took a deep breath. That was enough to calm her down, though the Celestial could still see the spark of fear in her eyes.

The elf archer took her bow in her hand and formed a mana arrow. Its point was too curved to ever harm anything. She nocked the arrow slightly above the nocking point, making the arrow point up. Ainchase, as a warrior who had only fought with blades, found her technique intriguing. Rena tilted her bow slightly and fired the arrow.

It followed a fast curve to the left, leaving a trail of mana behind that lit old torches. Before it impaled itself over the floor, all of its mana had already been used. Rena repeated the same shot, but this time nocking her arrow slightly down. The similar arc of light lit the torches to the right. The corridor of stone was now clearer and extended for at least half a mile. It was wider than the entrances to other parts of the underground labyrinth that were limited by the last deep shadows within the corridor. The first thing that grabbed his attention were the walls themselves. They were decorated with glyphs and old divinities, all of them tied to death.

It suddenly became clear to him what kind of place this was. It was no wonder Rena called it a sacred place. Yet, the ruins were too big to only be those of a mausoleum. Or an abandoned monastery, for that matter. However, the other option that he thought about was far too grim. The goddess would have warned him about that massive threat if it were real.

The thought of a spirit who had gathered the souls of most, if not all, of the elves that once lived here troubled him. Rena continued down her path, but her confident large steps soon seemed to him like a desperate attempt to flee. She wondered deeper into the crypts, lighting the torches as she needed it. Ainchase doubted that she had to, given how precise her aim was through the pitch-black corridors.

She knew exactly where to go, sidestepping blocks that were slightly dirtier than the rest. They were cleverly hidden traps for mortals who could mistake the dirt for shadows, but he could feel the malicious mana overflowing beneath them. With the same confidence, Rena took each turn and pushed each secret door open as she descended deeper into the crypts.

Ishmael's servant was no longer infuriated by the elf's knowledge, but he grew restless at how the foul magic got stronger as Rena ventured down. Did she wish for death? Even for a Celestial, dealing in a crypt where dark magic overflowing from every stone could be fatal. There was no longer a doubt about it; the spirit trapped here had used elven lives to empower itself. Perhaps hundreds of them. The elf ranger was either suicidal or plain stupid to think of ever facing that sort of power alone and getting away with her life.

Assuming she was at least somewhat strategic in battle, he could take them both away. If not, they'd both pay the price of her folly. He thought about the goddess. Would she give him the strength to defeat the evil that had been trapped here?

He tried once again to reach her, telling her about the great danger that lurked in this crypts but, once again, only silence followed. Did the goddess trust him? Did she not care? No. There was no way she could not care about him if she trusted him with a mission. How dumb he was for doubting Ishmael even for a second. His goddess trusted him, now that he was at the peak of his strength. This fight would be hard, for sure, but it would be won. That was what the goddess thought by answering him with silence.

A giggle echoed to Rena's left. The torches ignited to life, letting the silhouette of an elven woman draw itself within their crimson light. Her the purple roots that contaminated her blonde hair and her lilac eyes made clear that she was slowly turning into a dark elf.

"Rena, it's been a while." The corrupted elf said excitedly, rushing towards her with a happy jog. Her smile was too white and too wide. She was not a living creature anymore, but Ainchase did not think it could be the spirit who was at the heart of the cursed nature of the crypt. No mana was emanating from her, not even a trace of dark magic. It was all around her, but not coming from her.

"It has." Rena whispered, knocking a silver-pointed arrow and firing it, enhancing its strength with wind magic. The arrow whistled, then roared as it gathered more air and power, advancing far too fast for the other elf to dodge. She stopped and held still, not even attempting to block the arrow.

It was then when Ainchase felt, for the first time, the kind of terror that froze even his thoughts in place. A barrier made of the Mist of the Damned, black as night, rose as a dome to protect the corrupted elf. The bright arrow, which had seemed overwhelming just seconds ago, was completely absorbed by the Mist as avidly as if it were only a snack. That overwhelming power, however, was not what scared him the most.

It was the voices of all the souls that made the Mist. They were enchanted with Dark El and, in this form, he was the most vulnerable to them. The Mist leaped towards him like a hungry wolf, their voices calling him to join their side. They put horrible images in his mind, fake whispers of his goddess telling him he was but a useless tool.

If he stayed in his spiritual form any longer, he would eventually succumb. It was either revealing his divine form right now or perish as a small speck of light in an ocean of darkness. Ainchase used his power to dispel the wave that drowned him, and he appeared next to Rena in his Spiritualism form. His hair and skin were whiter than snow, and his coat dyed with the same blue brightness of the El itself.

His crown and wings, which marked his status as a warrior of the goddess, hovered over his hood and shoulders. They were made of crystals that resembled blades, and their brightness kept the Mist completely away. He faced the purple-eyed elf with his imperturbable blue gaze, whose only darkness rested in the pupil of his right eye. It was the only reminder of the sea of darkness he had drifted through before he made it to this future Elrios.

"...Ain?" Rena asked, her eyes widened with surprise.

Suddenly, the Mist was all over them, making Rena cough and causing her eyes to tear up. She used wind magic to disperse the darkness that was choking her and uncovered enough of the ground to see two skeletal hands break through to grab her ankles. She stepped out of their range before they could grab her. Ain used his magic to throw a purifying orb of light that dispersed the mist completely. It was then that they saw her again.

The corrupted elf leaped towards Rena and was only seconds away from hitting her with nails covered by sharp crystal-like claws that, if it weren't for their disgusting lilac colour, would have resembled Ain's projection weapons.

Rena had barely the time to turn around and duck, but the claws still cut generous locks of her hair. The left side of her hair was cut in a diagonal that left the silhouette of her hair end in a single-edged spike. Without letting her motion show any openings, Rena imbued her left leg with wind spirits and, as soon as her hand touched the ground, she firmly rooted her right foot as a pivot point. Her left leg spun with enough force to crack her opponent's ankles and make her crumble to the ground.

As soon as he heard the crack, Ain readied a long spear of light in his hands to throw at the direction where the undead was. He would use it as a way to teleport right in front of the elf and cut her head right off. It would immediately die, and they would keep searching for the real rogue spirit to defeat it. The Celestial executed everything he set himself to do flawlessly, but right when he was about to deliver the killing blow, the elf vomited the Mist of the Damned right over his face, and the few seconds of blindness were enough for a set of skeletal arms to pin him against the wall, making his hit barely miss the spirit's weak spot.

The Mist smelled foul, and it stung his eyes enough to cloud them with tears. It was even more powerful than what he expected. The skeletons that held him down were embedded with that same magic, and it made his shoulders, forearms, wrists, knees and ankles sting as if he had open wounds all over his extremities. He had left a deep cut across her clavicle, but that did not seem to affect the corrupted elf in the slightest. Her smile was even getting bigger as Rena fired another silver-pointed arrow. This time, she imbued light spirits into it. Its glow blinded the enemy for seconds, seconds that Ain needed to unleash more of his power and reduce the skeletons to ashes.

Attacking her in melee range was perhaps out of the question, but he was not some lowly celestial.

"Abschluss." He said, his voice echoing with the light held within the arrow and enhancing it.

This made the spirits spread under the authority of his status and formed two circles of divine magic that overlapped perpendicularly with each other. The corrupted elf was still healing from her ankle injuries and could not stop the magic from hitting her. The Mist did not even try to stop the two attacks. Before the arrow reached her, the undead elf was already completely immobilized in a prison of white and aquamarine. The arrow pierced right through her heart, and she laid still for two long minutes of silence.

Ishmael's warrior, despite this, knew that this was not the end of the combat. No undead died by an arrow through the heart, especially around so much Mist. He had to cut her head right off when she was like this. He formed a sword of light and glanced at Rena, who took a step to get closer as well.

"Do not approach, elven woman," he ordered, and the elven ranger froze in place, surprised and powerless against the divine power that emanated from his current form. Ainchase frowned at the thought that he would have to use even more of his power to make her forget she ever saw him like this.

"Ain…I must be the one to put to rest those who died here. I have to."

She was uselessly struggling against his power, but she could not make another step. She could barely shiver in place.

Ain scoffed. "Mortals should not concern themselves with such delicate matters." He turned his back to the elf and took another two steps towards the prison where the undead laid unconscious over the floor. The arrow was slowly turning her chest to ashes. That silver was probably blessed by Ishmael herself if it could have such an effect.

Still, this matter would not be over until he cut her head. Ainchase formed a dagger within his right hand. "The troubles of the Spiritual Realm are only for Celestials to solve. Such is the will of the goddess."

"Ain, let me put an end to this. You can't do what I swore to do way before we met. I must-"

At that moment, the lilac eyes opened again and darted in the direction where Rena stood. Her ankles twisted back to their normal position and the arrow disintegrated as her other wounds healed. Ainchase increased the power of his barrier, but the woman still found the strength to stand. She glanced at both of them, and her gaze fixed onto Rena's anxious green eyes. The woman chuckled.

"The demon girl and her servant were interesting companions, Rena, but I had never thought you'd ever befriend such a high-ranking spirit! A Celestial! And a warrior on top of that!"

The woman's voice slowly filled itself with envy, just as her eyebrows furrowed. "Oh, but you were always Branwen's favourite, weren't you?" Her voice got angrier and louder. Ainchase felt that the dark energy all around her was slowly entering her body. That elf was indeed the spirit who controlled the curse. He increased the force inside the prison to force the elf back on her knees, but it was to no avail.

The Mist began to gather around her again. Black fog and lavender lightning spun all around the barrier, punching small holes and cracking its surface. "She always said you were the best. That old hag always put you on a pedestal while she threw me to the ground. Not fair. Not fair at all. I was the one who wanted to go see the world. Not you."

Ain had to break his restraining spell before any more Mist gathered within it. The pressure the black fog released as it expanded everywhere pushed Rena straight to the chamber's wall two steps behind her. The booming sound of the lightning flew across the room like wild arrows that would disintegrate anything on their path.

Rena yelped in pain as a ray of purple burnt through her shoulder, leaving a hole of burnt flesh and sending fragments of the stone behind her as shrapnel all around the wound. The elf had passed out from the pain, but the enemy was still growing strong.

"How easy. For the first time since you've come to my palace, your friends end up being stronger than you."

The rogue spirit laughed as Ainchase sent multiple orbs of divine energy across the room. He focused his fire on the Mist closer to the absurdly strong mana that kept being poured into one single entity.

Divine magic had the capacity to nullify any spell coming from an undead, and the orbs only had to graze the elf for her power to disperse for at least half a minute. He became increasingly certain that he could not beat an undead that used the souls of hundreds of powerful mortals like elves. A diversion was all he needed to escape with Rena. The corrupted elf evaded all of his concentrated orbs of energy charged from his clenched fists with grace. Once he fired the last one, he opened his hand, and the sphere dilated into a projectile four times its size.

The enemy had nothing but a ceiling of stone to hide from the sudden blast. Although she blocked it with her arms, the effect was immediately felt. The Mist retreated into the darkness below the floor, and Ain threw his spear once again. He imbued his wings with the destructive power of Ishmael and fused all of his essence into the lance once he threw it.

The corrupted elf ducked it, but he emerged right as his weapon passed above her and put all his weight over her as he gripped her skull, immobilizing it before she spat Mist at him. She crashed into the ground head first with such incredible momentum that it cracked her head and the floor below right open.

He panted. Ainchase felt his mana and his blessing running at their limit. That last hit was filled with almost all the energy he had gathered in all his time living among humans. He got up and crouched in front of Rena, who was barely regaining conscience again.

The Celestial formed a small crystal over the palm of his hand and used the blessing of the goddess to heal Rena's wound. The green crystal shattered into hundreds of smaller crystals, and all of them gathered inside the burnt hole over Rena's shoulder, slowly closing it.

"...couldn't move." Rena mumbled with a hazy gaze that soon hid behind her eyelids again. The glow vanished and Ainchase was relieved that her body had absorbed all of it. He looked at the wound again, and he could not believe what he was seeing.

Her wound barely healed. That could not be right. Divine magic had no equal and was certainly not inferior to anything else. Something was off.

Ain had barely the time to process that the curse was focusing itself again in one point before he groaned as one of his wings was torn apart by the burn of the Dark El. He turned around to throw a knife at what had attacked him, only to be immediately hit by a skeletal foot that sent him rolling to the other end of the chamber.

His power was dripping like crystallized blood from his back. A skeleton, whose hollow eyes held a lilac flame within spoke with the same voice as the enemy he had just defeated. No, that was impossible. He had defeated it as surely as any target, just like he had learnt to do for the goddess.

"Ain...was it? You have my thanks for that healing. Truly, it makes me want to forgive you for ruining my best vessel."

The Celestial's eyes widened in shock. No undead had the power to absorb his healing magic for themselves. It just couldn't be. That elven woman, she was an abomination. The skeleton formed a dagger of pure mana in its left hand and prepared to swing it to tear open Rena's gut. If it was ever done with Rena, he would have no chance of ever fighting back. He had to flee.

"Explosion!" Ainchase yelled as he consumed more of his energy. A sphere of light paralyzed the walking skeleton. Ain clenched his fists tighter, and the sphere decreased in size, forcing the bones to slowly crack under the pressure or twist themselves into impossible angles.

The enemy chuckled. "Oh, you are afraid now."

No. He did not fear an undead. Celestials were miles above them. Warriors like him were the ones who defeated the souls who wandered off their path after death. He had simply been cautious around her. But not afraid. No, mortals were the ones who feared death. Not him.

"You are worthy of being my friend. That is, if you can take William's place."

He groaned under his effort to keep shrinking the prison. The enemy's jaw cracked, and soon its back followed. Ain flapped his remaining wing, and a rain of blades pierced the sphere he had created, splitting every remaining bone into a pile of bone shards.

He was forced to return to his human appearance. All the power he had gathered had ran out in a single fight. His head felt light, and his ears rang. Still, he could not flee alone. The priest lifted Rena in his arms, touching her bruises as little as possible. Some of them were swelling enough to hide a few broken bones.

Ainchase was forced to walk slowly out of the maze, navigating with less than a quarter of Rena's grace. He smelled the Mist following right behind him. The priest would have used his power to fly right away, but if he forced himself to attain his Spiritualism Form again, he could vanish.

Perhaps, this time, for good.

'You will join us, Celestial. Your true form will liberate us once it fuses with the Amulet.'

Ainchase frowned at the nonsensical words the Mist was spewing. "If that is so, then come. This is the last shot you're gonna get."

'We won't cut Lua's hunt short. Not when she knows that even beings like you can shiver in terror at her power. She thought you only feared us in your weakest form. But this changes everything, Celestial. You'll remain here.'

The priest made his wing appear once more, and its brightness made the voices of the Mist shriek in pain as they backed away. That last effort made his last wing crack and break into countless shards. Ain yelled in pain, but he managed to hold himself straight on his two feet.

He could not drop Rena down until he made it back. Ishmael's servant went up the last set of stairs that led to the corridor Rena had first entered. His eyes hurt as he looked at the bright white light beyond the first underground gate. Ainchase squinted his eyes as the muffled chirps of birds to his right and the clear, far-away ones to his left sang the melody of any other fall morning.

The air felt crisp and burned his torso as he took each breath. Each deep breath in and out was painful, as if a hundred needles pierced his side. He had to force himself to keep shallow breaths, even if the effort of carrying Rena back made his current form beg for more air.

Ten minutes of walking. That was all that separated him from the rest. He could do it, for he was the chosen Celestial to accomplish Ishmael's will. He would never falter until he fulfilled his duty. Yet, he had been awfully close to completely fading away. Ainchase knew he had thought on fleeing like a coward instead of fighting until the bitter end. That wasn't what his goddess had taught him. All of it was unbecoming of a warrior. Warriors never bent to fear, but to the words of Ishmael herself.

Do not delve deep into the matters of mortals, Ainchase.

Those had been the words of his goddess, her direct orders. Yet here he was, carrying a mortal to safety, almost dying himself in a battle he could have left before it even began. He wondered if he had offended Ishmael, somehow, by sticking with all those mortals.

He wondered if he should interpret her silence as something completely different from the unwavering faith she often said she had for all of her servants.


Elsword was the first one to wake up. The trees around the place filtered the light so much it was often hard for the morning light to reach directly their eyes. Given how much their short scouting missions had exhausted them for the past couple of days, most of them would wake up almost at midday.

Aisha was the exception, almost always up at the crack of dawn. He beat her at that this time. But it was nothing to celebrate, as both Ain's and Rena's makeshift beds were empty. He rushed towards Aisha and shook her shoulder. The mage frowned at him for a brief moment before her eyes widened, and she got up in a hurry, barely noticing that her skirt had folded a bit too close to her thigh.

She took her staff and her shield and ordered him to take his weapon as well.

"Rena and Ain went missing."

"Oh." She turned and saw the tossed sheets and scrambled bag next to Rena's cover, and she frowned at the street Lu had turned to a charcoal black. "Then we better hurry to make sure they're alright. Something changed in the curse of this place. It's even more hostile than before."

Elsword put his gambison on and grabbed his sword. He looked back at Ciel and Lu, who were still asleep. "Shouldn't we wake-"

"What good will come from waking up two injured demons?!"

He frowned as Aisha dashed towards the ruins. "Because if we leave them alone, who will protect them?! Tell me that, petty mage!"

The young knight followed her and accelerated his pace to run right beside her. "Tell me!" he repeated, staring at her.

"If they die, it'll be a good riddance." she muttered as she gathered magic within her staff and spun it to teleport herself half a building beyond him. Aisha repeated this two more times and Elsword stopped, hearing something rustle to his left. He saw a glimpse of white clothes and green approach.

"Who goes there?" he asked.

The person did not answer, and Elsword repeated his question as loud as he could. The boy walked cautiously towards it, and he quickly recognized Ain's silver hair, but his tired eyes and defeated wheezes of pain were unlike him.

"Elsword." Ain's voice weakly answered once he glanced up towards him.

The red-haired knight widened his eyes at the swollen limbs and burns all over Rena's body and the blood dripping from the priest's back. He had to call Aisha to teleport them all away.

"Aisha!" He hollered again and again, even if he felt his voice grow hoarser.

Ain's legs were trembling, and his bruised wrists were almost as swollen as Rena's. Elsword could not understand how a priest found the strength to carry anyone with broken wrists for Ishmael knows how many hours.

The young boy had never seen him like this, smiling not with confidence but with deep regret buried in his green eyes. It reminded him somewhat of his own gloom before he decided to train. It was a hurt beyond physical pain, but he had a feeling that saying anything to him right now would not help Ain. But he had to help his friends somehow, or how else would he ever face his sister?

Elsword heard Aisha's steps behind him as she rushed back, barely even sweating. She did not ask any questions but ordered Elsword to step aside as she gathered the necessary mana to teleport the two injured back.

"No."

"I can't teleport all of us back, you know?"

Elsword did not move and shook his head again. "You can go off on your own later. If you are as much as a good mage as you pretend to be. I'll take care of them."

Aisha glared at him. "You're stepping into something that doesn't concern you, Elsword. I don't believe for a second you can treat an injury."

"You'd be surprised. So, do you want to teleport us back today or tomorrow?"

Her frown deepened, "Fine, have it your way."

The purple-haired mage muttered a short incantation and barely two seconds later, he was back on the camp. Ciel opened lazily an eye, but as soon as he caught a glimpse at Rena, his eyes opened wide, and he rushed in to take her from Ain's arms.

"What in the El's name happened to you?" he asked as he laid down Rena and took out the medical kit to pour healing potions and wrap Rena's arms with bandages. Ain crumbled on his knees and almost instantly closed his eyes.

Elsword dampened a cloth with the precious red liquid and looked closely at Ain's face. His left ear had a trail of dried blood. The other ear looked fine, but it only made his young mind wonder what kind of dangers his two friends had faced before coming back here. Elsword turned him slowly to the left to treat his back wounds.

He saw two deep cuts over the back of his shoulders. They were messy cuts, as if someone had put wings into his flesh only to tear them apart as they ripped them out. Elsword took a pocket knife out of the medical kit Ciel had carried out to cut Ain's clothes and see the extent of his injuries. Besides the cuts, there was a big bruise to his side, right where the ribs were.

That explained the short breaths Ain was taking, but not his incredible will to stay awake carrying someone through the ruins. Elsword softly put the damped cloth over his back. Ain groaned softly as soon as it touched the open wounds, but the weak golden glow underneath the cloth reassured Elsword ofthe effectiveness of the potion. Aisha's magic glowed, and she appeared in front of Ain, her purple eyes glowing with fear and anger.

"Whatever they did to open that passage will screw us over. I cannot see why any of them would have a reason to go right back there after what happened. Are they suicidal?!"

"I don't think Rena would ever wish us harm, Aisha."

"Well, tell that to the curse of this place, dummy! It's even more hostile than before, as unlikely as that is. That blind faith of yours towards people you barely know will get all of us killed." She scoffed. "And the worst part is that you still think that mindset will get the El back. It worked wonderfully with Banthus, didn't it?"

"...Why are you so loud at this time, you brats?" Lu lazily asked as she woke up.

Elsword got up with his fist clenched to hit Aisha, regardless if she was a girl or smaller than him. He heard the sound of a shot right next to him and turned around to see Ciel truly angered. "Will you two ever stop it?!" he hissed. "Aisha, you're acting like a shitty brat. Elsword, you either continue your job, or let Lu do it for you while you get your sorry ass beaten by a mage. Again."

"Ciel, this place is getting even more dangerous than before. The curse is growing stronger and deadlier. Whatever these two digged up in that underground is going to go straight for our lives." Aisha continued to argue with her squeaky voice.

The mercenary continued to bandage Rena's injuries as he replied. "And what do you think you'll get by taunting your companions? Reduce our chances of survival?"

"Ciel, you're old enough to know that it's only this kid who's useless in battle. Not me."

"Both of you would be useless in a real battle." Lu gravely answered. "You two might have potential, but against that kind of power, you would only be cannon fodder."

"I'll have you know that I handled myself just fine against the six golems who attacked us three days ago."

Lu rolled her eyes. "And you think that with that attitude, we'll have your back when you run out of mana? Elsword can do teamwork even if he's the weakest one of us, but you?" she frowned. "If you didn't fear Rena's scoldings, I doubt you would have brought Elsword with you after you were done fighting those golems."

Elsword continued his task and was relieved to see that the wounds had stopped bleeding. He'd still have to bandage them, but they were miraculously not seriously infected. He listened in silence as the people around him spoke. He could not say that Lu was lying, but continuing to show his anger would not help. Aisha remained silent and muttered something he did not understand before walking away. The young knight had no idea where she was headed to, but he was still calming down from what she had said to him.

This group was completely different from the squads of other young knights he had been with. They were always united, even if he didn't know them much at the beginning. Sure, they sometimes disagreed, but they never lived under bad terms for long. Banthus or Lowe made sure of that, just like Rena kept somewhat the group from falling apart. Even when Aisha kept nagging him or when Ain never called anyone but him by their name.

He did not understand why Ain treated everyone but him with contempt, but he cared enough to go rescue the others. That was at least something, but the more he was left to think about it, treating Ain's grievous injuries, the more he wondered about what Lu had said. It made Aisha venture away from everyone in the midst of a dangerous place. That was as bad as that mage's attitude, or perhaps even worse. He had always listened to what his team had said before, but Rena was not there to truly lead them all. Maybe, even if he was the weakest, he should step up. Until Rena healed.

He finished bandaging Ain's injuries and got up. "I'll go look for Aisha."

Lu looked at him with a cold gaze. "We can't split up with two injured people to look out for."

Elsword sighed. "Lu, getting a third one won't help anyone, will it? We're trapped here. She shouldn't be too far."

The demoness was visibly angered by his reply, but Ciel spoke before she said anything. "I'll go with you, Elsword."

"Ciel, you should know better!"

The gunslinger put his weapons on his back and took a deep breath to calm the frown that still carved wrinkles on his forehead. "Lu! Don't you see what would happen now that Rena is like this? What you said to Aisha might be true, but it was not the moment to be so blunt about it. You don't want people to betray you anymore, right?"

Lu's frown deepened, and she spat her words like poison. "Don't you dare mention betrayal, Ciel."

"It is the perfect moment to mention it, Lu. You don't want them to betray us, so practice what you just preached to Aisha. You should know that you don't need your power to intimidate people so they work with you or befriend you."

Lu looked to the side, with all trace of her anger slowly fading away. She took a deep breath and covered her face, not saying a word.

Ciel's gaze softened, but it still held some indiscernible mix of hurt that reminded Elsword somewhat of the days he missed his sister. "We came here to live peacefully again, didn't we? But that can't happen if we leave people behind and don't bring the El back."

"Shut up and go if you must, Ciel. Don't take too long."

Her voice was only a whisper, but it was closer to guilt than the hissing anger she often showed. She got up and sat in between where Rena was resting. "I'll look after her, don't you worry."

Ciel nodded and told Elsword to follow him. The young knight followed and, once they were far enough from the camp, asked him if he had seen Aisha go that way.

"Mages leave a trace of their mana when they use a spell. Luckily, we followed her before that mana dissipated."

Elsword nodded and smiled. "Wow, Ciel, you're a lifesaver! I must learn how to detect that too, one day."

The man smiled sadly. "I hope you never need to."

Next to them, like a small invisible star, a green glow of divine magic hovered all around them, as if desperately asking them to notice it. However, it was too faint, and the sunlight of midday hid the fading light. Once they passed through the invisible speck of light, it stopped moving.

It hovered in silence within the forest for a minute. Then, it slowly returned within the shadows of the trees surrounding the camp, hiding itself in front of Rena, next to the demoness who was carefully using what little spiritual magic that she knew to absorb the one that impeded her burns to fully heal.

The light moved swiftly again when Lu glanced at it, but the small speck of Ishmael's energy quickly realized that although she had seen him, her mind had immediately wiped out any memory of it. The light got fainter, weaker until it was almost completely dying out.


A/N: Finally, the peak of the Ruben arc is approaching, guys! That means that chapters from now on will probably be longer reads, so sit tight and please share your thoughts! I am really happy and grateful for everyone that has followed the fic so far. Truthfully, I didn't hope for much when I started, but you guys have been the best.

See you soon for chapter 10!
~Kalafinn