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In the end, Erin had to kill them all. It wasn’t her intention, at least not from the start. She had no qualms about killing, not anymore, but that didn’t mean she took joy in it. She was well aware of the addiction, the seduction of reigning over someone else’s life. She tried to seek a path devoid of violence and death. However, fate had other plans for her.

The Aerysians were incessant with their onslaught. There were hundreds of them, thousands even. Erin lost count. By the time the zealots had stopped coming, there were corpses littered around her. There were no signs of maiming. All the corpses had clean strokes or cuts. They died quick deaths but their faces and expressions of these corpses would suggest otherwise.

Those weren’t the expressions of agony but shock and surprise. Among the dead, not a few of them were individuals in the realm of sixties and above. They were confident and fully assured that Erin would not be a match against tens of them who equalled her presumed level. However, they found themselves to be on the disadvantageous side. They were pushed back by a single individual who used only her sword and nothing else. They were utterly shocked when she decapitated a level seventy-two without any difficulty. It was simply impossible but she did it. From then on, the Aerysians were in complete disarray and all of them fell one by one until there was no one left.

Erin herself was not spared from wounds and injuries. Without the System, even an Aerysians in the level of twenty-five was able to cut deeply across her shoulder. It was a momentary lapse of judgement due to her exhaustion and also the fact that she was crossing swords with two high-level opponents at that time. Though she accumulated a lot of mistakes and blunders, she pushed through the ordeal and came out the victor in the melee.

Erin didn’t know how much time had passed but the sun had already begun its descent from its zenith, inching closer to the westward horizon.

“Damn it,” Erin cursed. Not only had she wasted a lot of time, she had also wasted a lot of her stamina and vigour. Even if she was still able to catch up to Aedan, she would be in no state to fight. She could still swing her sword but she would be slow and weak. Still, she continued to press on, dragging her heavy body forward. Then, suddenly, she stopped. She sensed a presence approaching her from behind, fast.

The air was plagued with the pungent smell of death. Therefore, Erin could not discern the identity of the presence. She gripped her sword tightly and turned around just as the presence made itself known. A look of surprise and relief washed over her face. She loosened her grip and her sword dispersed into nothing. Having surrendered her body to her exhaustion, Erin fell forward.

“Whoa, easy there, milady,” Amyra swooped in and let Erin fall into her arm instead of the ground. “You have outdone yourself once again.” She sighed as she saw the bodies strewn about the area. “You just don’t learn, do you?”

Erin forced a smile. “What can I do? Someone needed help and that someone is a part of my heart…”

“I don’t think he’ll appreciate you exerting yourself this much just to save him. I know I won’t.”

Erin glanced around and found no one else besides Amyra. “Where are the others?”

“Behind. They’re catching up. The road up to here is a gentle slope but a slope nonetheless.” Then, Amyra’s eyes narrowed. “What happened?” she asked.

“Is it not obvious? They tried to kill me, so I killed them all.”

“I’m not asking about them. I’m asking about you, milady. Did something happen to you? I can no longer see your status, milady. This is… strange, too strange. It isn’t inhibited or concealed. It’s just… nothing. There’s simply nothing. Just what in the hell’s name has happened? Are you feeling alright, milady?”

“I’m fine, Amyra,” Erin assured. “In fact, I’m feeling better than ever before.”

“But—”

“I am not enfeebled if that’s your concern, Amyra. I am merely… unbound from the shackles and load that have been weighing and dragging me down.”

“Unbound… You’re released from the System?” Amyra’s eyes widened. “That’s… unheard of. How is that even possible?”

“Long story. I can explain everything later but for now, Aedan needs our help. We must get to him quickly.”

“I concur.” Amyra nodded and put her hand on Erin’s shoulder. “But only after you get some rest, milady.”

Erin wanted to retort but Amyra was quick to shut her down.

“No arguing. It is the order from His Grace. Your life above his when it comes to situations like this.”

Erin slumped into Amyra and she clicked her tongue. “Who does he think he is?” she grunted. As much as she wanted to defy him, she couldn’t deny the truth that she did indeed need some rest. And so, she relented to Amyra’s insistence and took her rest under a tree.

While Erin rested, Amyra went around and took care of the bodies by dragging them and then placing them into a pile, which she then burned. She also got rid of the bloodstains by burning them away.

Sometime later, Lyra and the others eventually caught up to Erin and Amyra.

“Erin!” Lyra exclaimed in glee but having rushed through miles of a slope, she was too exhausted to throw herself into her lover’s arms. Instead, she limped over to Erin’s side and slumped down beside her.

“What happened here?” Lilian, the Dryad, muttered in wonder as she gazed upon the burning pile of bodies. “A slaughter?”

“Something like that…” Erin answered meekly.

“It is expected,” Siv remarked, walking over to Erin slowly. She neither looked distressed or tired. Her gaze simply fell on Erin, and after scrutinising her for a short while, a small smile of relief adorned the Beast-kin’s face.

“A massacre,” Nivia said in between her breaths. Out of everyone present, she seemed to be the one that was most out of breath. “Erin, you need to be considerate of others. Do you know how hard it is for us to keep up with you?”

Erin smiled wryly. “I’m sorry… but I’m afraid this won’t be the last time. I’m just that inconsiderate.”

“Say, did something happen to you?” Nivia asked the moment she got a good look at Erin after she had steadied her breath. “The Spirits are… clamouring around you as usual but… they seem distressed.”

“Hmm… Now that you mentioned it, that does seem to be the case. It’s like… they are at a loss. Or rather, grieving a loss.”

“Kyu!” Following the cute squeal, Ruri hopped off of Lilian and rushed up to Erin. She stared at Erin with her wide bulging eyes as if trying to ascertain something.

Erin extended an arm with an open hand.

Ruri looked at the hand for a while before slowly climbing onto it with little to no reservation, all the while staring curiously at Erin.

“Be honest with us, Erin. What in the name of all Spirits happened?” Nivia inquired further.

“Long story,” Amyra answered in Erin’s stead. “One that we would be told later, after the end of this ordeal. It is nothing harmful.”

Nivia looked discontent but Amyra’s words were sound. They still had a mission to complete, a companion to save.

Aera, the last of the party members, approached Erin shyly. “Erin, is Aedan—”

“Aera, there’s nothing I can say that will make you feel any better. You just have to have fate in Aedan. I can still sense his presence and it has not moved for quite some time now. They are most likely resting just like us.”

“Then what are we doing here, standing around instead of chasing after him while we have the chance?”

“We need to rest too, Aera,” Lyra said. “You should rest too. You are as pale as one can be. Your legs are shuddering, lest you don’t realise.”

“I-I know, but—”

“You can’t expect us to force ourselves forward at the expense of our health and ability,” Lyra cut her off. “We would just be serving ourselves to the enemy on a fine platter. Besides, we need a plan, don’t we?”

“No plan,” Erin answered. “We do not know the strength of our enemy. Considering they can send hundreds of their own people in such a lax manner, their forces and strength are not to be underestimated. We must tread carefully, that’s the best plan we have.”

“That is foolish, Mistress,” said Siv. “We are outmatched and outnumbered. Our enemies are Apostles, Acolytes, Zealots, those lots. We would lose in a direct confrontation. Moreover, I believe we would be a burden to you.”

“I would rather go alone but I know my limits now. I would be overwhelmed by their numbers. It would be a different story if they were just mindless beasts but they are not. Still, we have no other way. We can’t sneak up on them. I’m sure they would sense us before we even got close to them.”

“This is certainly a dilemma…” Lilian sighed.

“Hmm… there is something we can try,” Amyra mused.

“Kyu?” Ruri tilted her head at Amyra’s musing as if she, too, was curious about it.

“Let’s hear it,” Erin said. “It’s better than nothing.”

“Strength above all else, that’s their creed. The strong thrives, and the weak perishes. This is the belief that is deeply ingrained in each of them. It’s a dangerous and volatile mindset to have but we can use it to our advantage. They happen to have a tradition, similar to the Dragons. We can challenge them to a duel. The loser will have to obey the winner’s wishes. No exceptions.”

“What’s the catch?” Erin asked.

Amyra sighed and smiled wryly. “You would first have to be worthy, in their eyes, to issue such a challenge. I reckon only milady and I would be worthy in their eyes. No offence. And of course, there’s no telling if they would keep their word since there isn’t an Arbiter present.”

“Who could be an Arbiter?”

“Someone as powerful as His Grace, before his power was sealed, of course.”

“How likely are they going to keep their word without an arbiter?”

“As likely as the sun rising from the west. They say strength above all else but it’s actually ego and pride before all else.”

“Then it’s just a bunch of hogwash in the end,” Nivia grumbled. “We can’t fight them in a direct confrontation. We will lose.”

“How about we pick them off one by one from afar?” Lyra suggested.

“Easier said than done,” Nivia retorted. “The moment we shot one down, the rest would just come straight for us.”

“Unless we set traps along the paths that they would take to get to you,” Lilian added. “Booby traps, to be sure.”

“We can also plan an ambush,” Siv chimed in.

“Excellent ideas but we’re short on people for those ideas. Not to mention, they have some high-level individuals on their side. A few of them alone would be enough to deal with our schemes.”

“The duel remains our best option,” Erin muttered. “They had the numbers and strength. We have neither. If we went for a direct confrontation… it won’t end well. So, how do we approach them with such an intention? I doubt they would just let us walk right up to them and hear what we have to say.”

“There is a way,” said Amyra. “We will approach them with a torch in them. A long torch.”

“How long?”

“About nine feet. We approach them with a long torch in hand with our weapons drawn but lowered. And this brings up another problem.”

“Another problem?”

“I just thought of it, actually. The problem is… whether any of them know of this ancient way.”

Silence suddenly ensued among the group.