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Everything happened so fast. It was peaceful, relatively speaking. The imminent rampage was still far away, or so Aedan presumed. He had no doubt that Erin would come to his rescue. It was only a matter of when. He bade his time and prepared himself for Erin’s eventual arrival. However, others beat her in the race.

Followers of Mordius ambushed them. Skinwalkers, they were known as. Aedan wasn’t aware of any history between the Rust Faith and the Skinwalkers but this was the reality. Once the Rust Faith became aware of the Skinwalkers’ assault, the situation escalated into an all-out battle. If Aedan wasn’t paralysed by the Wyvern’s venom, he would have long given his captors the slip.

“Watch him! Don’t let him get away” was the instruction given by the strongest Apostle among the Rust Faith before he went off to join the sortie. Uriver was his name, Aedan recalled. He also recalled how he took Uriver’s arm and the Apostle had failed to get back his arm. This brought Aedan some comfort but not by much.

Aedan tried to move or struggle but the venom was potent enough to overwhelm his natural resistance to harmful substances as a True Dragon. However, the potency wasn’t enough to last for a whole day. He had not been slacking. He had consistently kept himself in a combat-ready state. The venom would wear off before long. The only problem was to keep this fact a secret from his captors.

Fortunately, his two watchers were not competent to see through his ruse. The youthful-looking Billy was knowledgeable and cautious but even he was none the wiser.

“Great, we’re officially allocated to guard duty,” Giri grumbled.

Despite her complaints, she had done the least to move Aedan into the dilapidated cathedral. It was missing a roof but the walls were still standing strong and there were plenty of rooms underground.

“Save your breath and strength, Giri,” Billy chided. “We may be the only ones in this ruin but we are not safe. We do not know why the Skinwalkers attacked us with such a huge force. We best be on our toes.”

“Isn’t the reason obvious? We dabbled in arts that they deemed heresy. People always fear what they cannot understand.”

“Do you think it’s a coincidence that they chose to attack now of all times?”

“What does it matter? We only need to destroy this cowardly rabble. We can gauge their reason afterwards. I reckon this battle will be over much quicker if I join in.”

Billy stared Giri down. “You will do no such thing. Uriver wants us here.”

“He’s not our king. We do not have to listen to him. He is the Grand Apostle. He outranks us all. He may not be our king but we are still beneath him. If you will not abide by this, then you shall not be one of us.”

“Alright, alright,” Giri relented. “I will stay put.” She lay down on a bench just beside the paralysed Aedan.

“Now isn’t the time to be resting, Giri. We are here to guard our prize.”

“Oh, come on. They may have the numbers but we have the strength. I doubt they can even make it up the hill. Weren’t there arrays being set up around the cathedral?”

Billy narrowed his eyes. “How do you even manage to live this long?”

“I always make the most sensible choices. And I don’t have a flair for convoluted schemes. Such as what we’re doing here.”

“This is all necessary.”

Giri snorted. “Like hell, it is.”

“How will you go about this then?”

“I will find some way to dispel the seal on our first confrontation instead of bringing him all the way here for some stupid ritual.”

“Pray tell, what is this supposed streamlined way you speak of, specifically?”

Giri shrugged. “I’ll find out.”

“You won’t. There’s no such spell that can lift the seal without an elaborate and thorough preparation.”

Giri laughed. “There’s a spell for everything. The Rust Faith is the exemplar of that idea. No one thought it would be possible for divinity to be moulded with demonic essence but here we are.”

Billy tutted. “Just keep your eyes peeled and your wits about you. We never know who will surprise us.”

Giri was about to return some snarky words but she didn’t. Instead, she shot up from the bench and rushed for Billy, her daggers in hand.

Steel met steel. Sparks flew. And a deafening silence followed. Edge against edge, each threatened to cut into the other but both were equal in strength and toughness.

“You’re so right, Billy,” Giri said.

“Indeed, you are.” Billy nodded.

“You are sharp,” praised Aedan who had broken free of his paralysis earlier than he himself anticipated. He immediately brandished a sword against Billy, who was closest to him, but Giri had intercepted him all too quickly.

“Didn’t you strip him of all his possessions and trinkets?” Billy asked as he produced his own sword.

“I did.”

“Don’t blame her. Even I forget about it sometimes but it always comes back to me at the right moment.”

Giri tittered. “I’m glad that you are free of your ailment. I crave a good fight.”

“Giri, don’t forget.”

“We just need him alive, no? Besides, if he wished to die, he would have killed himself instead of attacking you. Could it be—”

“I don’t know but we best not take any chances.”

“Poor choice,” Aedan said and took out another sword from thin air.

Billy rushed in and clashed his sword with Aedan’s. “Absurd.” Billy raised an eyebrow. “I felt it. The storage spell came from an enchantment inside of your body.”

Aedan didn’t respond and pressed on with his attack.

Billy received a few blows but none got past his guard. “You carved the runes onto your bones, didn’t you?”

“Is that even possible?” Giri questioned as she deflected a few strikes.

“It is but the process is excruciating.” Billy stared straight at Aedan. “How did you do it?”

“There are a lot of things significantly more painful than self-mutilation,” was all the explanation Aedan offered before unleashing a flurry of energy bolts on the two.

Giri tossed herself out of harm’s way while Billy defended himself with a barrier made of multiple Arcane Aegises.

“How in the hell did he cast such a spell?” Giri yelled.

“You’re hiding a lot of tricks.”

“Thanks, I suppose?” Aedan said and summoned a vast ball of fire.

“You crazy bastard!” Billy blurted out. He countered the fireball with a blast of water.

Immediately, pillars of dirt rose in between them.

“Careful, Giri! This lunatic has most likely carved a bunch of enchantments on his entire skeleton!”

Pillars continued to rise until they were no longer visible to each other. The interior of the cathedral became a maze.

Giri chortled. “Well, he’s certainly well-prepared. Can’t fault him. In fact, it’s admirable. He found a way to circumvent the seal.”

“Focus, Giri! He’s not to be underestimated!”

The dirt pillar in front of him exploded and a sword flew out of the dust and smoke.

Instead of clashing steel with steel, he grabbed the sword. His hand had turned as black as the night sky when he curled his grip around the blade. The same darkness enveloped his other hand. With a forceful tug, he pulled the sword out of Aedan’s hand but the person himself was nowhere to be found when the smoke cleared.

Elsewhere, there was another explosion.

“Son of a bitch!” Giri yelled. Followed by a clangour of steel.

Billy darted towards the sound, plunging through the dirt pillars. The darkness enveloped his entire body and his body began to shift. When he reached Giri’s side, he had morphed into a dark beast, standing over three feet, that was unrecognisable from his human self.

“He scuttled off into the shadows,” Giri said calmly. “Are you sure you should be using this form when we’re this close to a town?”

“If we lose him, we won’t be able to face the consequences.”

“Well, then. Allow me to let loose too,” Giri said and brandished a scythe that was longer than her. The blade alone was a third of her height. With a single swing, she took out most of the pillars.

“Behind,” Billy said. He spun around with his huge claws swinging. His claws crashed into an ethereal barrier but it failed to shatter it despite his strength.

Aedan countered with a thrust but he, too, failed to penetrate his enemy’s defence.

“Silver Steel,” Billy huffed. “Do you think so little of me?”

Before Aedan could answer, if he even intended to, Giri came swinging. He dodged low and flipped away from the two. When his two feet were planted on the ground, Billy was upon him. He twirled out of harm’s way and retaliated with a slash.

Billy growled and caught the blade, snapping it into half with just his strength alone.

The right tool was already in his hand. A smoke bomb. The pin has been pulled. However, before he could set it off, claws came and tore apart his hand. He saw the claws coming but he was too slow to respond. Still, he didn’t surrender just yet. He still had his other hand. He still had plenty of enchantments engraved on his skeleton that he had yet to reveal.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Giri hissed. She swooped in and sliced off his other arm.

Aedan grunted and that was all the sound he let out. This degree of pain was no stranger to him. He endured it without a shrill. He had lost both of his arms but he still had his legs. Even if he couldn’t fight now, he could still run. The runes also ran along his legs, a matter of course. It wouldn’t get him far. Using spells this way was very draining, spiritually and physically. If anyone else tried this method, they would have fainted due to the agony. He only used this as a last resort.

“Not so fast!” Giri giggled. She moved directly in front of Aedan and shoved him harshly to the ground with her heel. She raised her scythe and swung down.

“That’s enough!” Billy shouted.

Giri stopped, just inches away from cutting off Aedan’s legs. “What?”

“Unless you wish to be the one to take care of him until the ritual, I suggest you refrain yourself from cutting his legs off.”

“I agree.”

Both Giri and Billy immediately turned around. The words came from neither of them. It came from behind. A voice of a complete stranger.

A girl stood amidst the rubble. The shadows were just behind her. A single step back would have her completely in the darkness. Instead of retreating, the girl strode forward. She was an Apostle, that fact was evident to everyone present.

“And who are you?” Billy asked.

“Shauna…” Aedan muttered.

Billy frowned. At first, he presumed the girl was Aedan’s companion or ally but he knew no one named Shauna among the information he had of Aedan.

“Lass, I don’t know who you are or how you get so close to us without us knowing, but you’re at the wrong place and the wrong time.”

“I disagree,” the girl replied calmly. “I’m right where I want to be, where I need to be.”

Then, there was a distant roar of a dragon. It sounded far away but knowing their capability, it would be here in no time at all. The puzzle pieces fell naturally into place for Billy.

“You’re an Aeryon.”

“Aerysian. I follow the true Dragon God.” Shauna smiled. “Now, please hand him over.”

“That’s not possible,” Billy said. Unlike Giri, he was more cautious of the girl in front of them. To be able to sneak up on them was no small feat, especially when they had arrays in place.

“You’re insane,” Giri snickered. “But I don’t dislike that. Since you’re here, maybe you can be my opponent!!”

Shauna returned the snicker. “So be it.” And she stomped the ground hard. Cracks radiated from her foot and a bright vermilion glow shone through these cracks before a large pillar of flames engulfed the entire cathedral.