Raven’s eyes widened with shock. Even though she had cleanly sliced Eli’s hand off, the Paragon paid no regard to it. He blocked her strike instantly—not just that, his movement was fast, too fast. She hadn’t expected him to twist his hand in midair without proper stance and bring the strange rod down a second time.
Raven wondered in that moment.
’Should I use my ability...’
But she immediately decided against it—she didn’t want to kill the Paragon or drag this into a drawn-out battle.
She was out of options as the rod came down. She would have to take the blow. However, a surge of wind rushed toward her, strange and different, with a thick green flow.
Thalen. The tide of wind struck Eli’s flank like a pillar and sent him reeling through the air.
The green wind twirled and scattered, revealing Thalen, whose hand spun as he descended slowly to the ground.
His body had changed. He’d grown taller. His hair flowed down in green waves, with pointed ears and emerald eyes that shone with ethereal grace.
"I’ll stop him from killing himself. Lady Raven, you find a way to knock Ul out."
Raven looked at the elf strangely and nodded.
"Alright. Thank you."
She turned to Ul, but suddenly something strange happened.
The space shrank.
Everything distorted in a way she didn’t understand. She was closer to Thalen, who had just run toward Eli—but now Thalen was running toward her, with Jeci and Lynus close to where she thought she’d been.
For a brief second, she caught no glimpse of Ul and Eli. Especially Ul, who had been to their right with Jeci and Eli—but now was nowhere to be found.
They all froze, stopping and looking around, noticing how the space had collapsed and their locations had been switched without them knowing how or when.
Drip.
Drip.
Right in front of Raven, crimson liquid began to fall drop by drop. She frowned, her face paling as she lifted her gaze.
In the sky... were Ul and Eli. Her hand was buried in the Paragon’s bowels, punching out from behind, drenched in his blood.
Her mouth opened in shock, her throat going dry at what she saw.
Lynus and Jeci raised their heads, shocked, horrified by the sight.
Ul was preached and treated as the ego of the world. She was Tra-el. And Tra-el was her. She was the voice the world itself grew in order to save them.
In other words, she was the force of awakening talent. The quencher of the early calamities.
Somewhere in their hearts, they’d developed a conclusion that Ul was benevolent, kind, the queen of mankind who had humanity’s best interests at heart.
A sole guardian created for mankind’s protection. The axis of goodness and humanity itself.
However, in this instant, that illusion came undone. They were realizing it was all lies.
They had no idea where the lie had started, but the truth was undeniable. This was the macabre face of the one they’d deemed guardian of their world. Tra-el’s supposed voice.
And it terrified them.
Ul looked at Eli with a cold, indifferent expression. Her form—Terence’s form—was changing.
Terence’s white hair fell longer, reaching beyond her feet. Her eyes grew sharper with a golden glow radiating from them. Her skin paled, and golden markings began to flow across it as her armor reformed, streaming and solidifying over her body with insane speed.
When the transformation finished, she looked like a warrior dropped from the bowels of divinity itself—exceptionally beautiful, her eyes radiating cold, calculated ferocity.
She withdrew her hand from Eli’s stomach, and the Paragon, with a hole in his chest, fell toward the ground.
Thalen’s green wind swept across the landscape in a second, and he was there to catch the Paragon just before his dying body could touch the ground.
Thalen stared at Eli with quiet despair. They didn’t know each other for long, but the little time they’d spent together was enough for him to feel honest pain for the dying man.
He was in agony.
Eli was trying to say something, his face pale, his mouth and eyes trembling. He tried to force the words out, but it was too much. Eventually his mouth fell slack and his eyes turned glassy as his breath ceased.
Thalen felt the pain deepen as he watched Eli die in his hands without being able to do anything about it. Even if he’d tried to heal him, it wouldn’t have been possible.
Eli wasn’t just injured—all the vitality of his soul had been sucked away. He was a hollow shell. Thalen had no idea how anyone could live without a soul core, so death was the better option.
Still... it hurt... unbearably.
He laid Eli’s corpse down gently and slowly stood, looking at Ul with an intensely furious expression. His green eyes blazed, and his hair whipped wildly as the air around him grew hot and heavy.
"Damnit. I haven’t been this angry in a long time."
Raven observed Thalen, then stood herself. Her gaze was dark and cold. Her hair changed—one half became white while the other remained black. One eye was black and the other white, making her look like a strange, anomalous existence.
"Me too... you wretched bitch. You’re going down today."
Jeci and Lynus were equally furious. Lynus’s glassy wings expanded and began spreading over his body while Jeci spun her sword and got into stance.
Her voice rang out with demented glee, a grin playing across her face.
"Looks like it’s been decided then. We’re slaying our evil guardian!"
Ul looked down on all of them with utter disgust.
"You think I have a shred of muscle in my pristine body willing to bother with you vermin?"
She looked forward and blasted off like an arrow released from a bow.
However, the unexpected happened. Pillars of green wind plunged into the air in quick succession, chasing her as she fled.
They exploded from beneath the ground like volcanic eruptions and continued surging forward.
Ul glanced back in slight worry and increased her speed, flying even faster. Suddenly there was another figure chasing her far behind.
One wing was white, the other black, and both extended over a vast, impossible distance. One flap alone generated a wind vortex that could send roofs flying from wooden houses.
Both of them chased her with insane ferocity burning not just in their eyes but in every desperate attempt they made to close the distance.