Immovable Mage

– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 215, Season of the Rising Moon, Day 84 –

The viscous liquid transformed into the shape of a man. It looked as if his hair was melting and he was sporting a disgusting grin.

Cadence glared and gripped her baton tightly.

“That slimeball cultist is called Vicious at the Guild.” Sigille told Terry. “Ranked second among the rookies. His real name is Eric. A channeler of a creature they call the Shapeless Pond. Also a mana cultivator. Whatever you do in Tiv, stay away from him. If you ever encounter him without me or Matteo around, run.”

“Darkwater?” Terry had heard about the aspect before. Like many of the darkness-related aspects, it was not purely inflicting damage. Instead, it debilitated the victim by inflicting a wide range of maledictions.

“Yes, although there is something else in there that has not been classified yet. The slimeball has plotted against one of my disciples before. Avoid any interaction with him as far as possible.”

Apex struck out with her palm and a snake of thunderfire assaulted Eric’s shoulder.

The man’s shoulder liquified and avoided any contact with the thunderfire.

“Now, now, Apex, we’re working on the same mission,” said Eric. “It’s natural to help each other out.”

Wow, he even sounds slimy.

Terry grimaced involuntarily.

“Who needs your help?! Screw off, you shit stain!”

“Careful with that temper.” Eric smirked. “It could be construed as obstructing Guild-business.”

Apex appeared behind him and smashed his face with a mana-coated fist as a response.

On impact, the viscous liquid dropped to the ground. A moment later, Eric’s figure reshaped itself at a different location.

“See if I care,” growled Apex.

“Heeheehee.” Eric giggled. “Maybe you do, maybe you don’t. It sure looks as if you want to interfere and help the Mad Kid.”

“I’m helping nobody,” growled Apex. “Stay out of my fights or you’ll regret it. Do your mission elsewhere.”

“Heeheehee. Works for me.” Eric moved his eyes over the others. He frowned when he saw Sigille. His eyelid twitched slightly.

“I have to agree with Appy,” said Sigille. “You seem to resemble shit more and more, Little Eric.”

“Stop calling me that, old hag!” Apex screamed while throwing a kick at Matteo.

“Guardians are not supposed to interfere with Guild-missions.” Eric spoke coldly. “The Kid has not accepted the mission as far as I know, and you have no business here.”

“Since when do you care about rules, Little Eric?” Sigille returned his cold gaze. “You did not care about them when you ambushed your fellow trainees.”

“Slander and libel.” Eric spoke with obvious insincerity.

“Cut the crap.” Sigille glared at him. “You always had a rotten personality and now you have found a cult to match it.”

“One day, I’ll kill you, you decrepit—”

“Don’t sing it, bring it.” Sigille motioned with her hand and taunted him to come. “If you dare, that is. I used to hope that you would learn your lesson and get your act together, but that time is long gone.”

“I held back when I caught you harming the other students. I held back when we kicked you out of the Guardians.” Sigille stared into Eric’s eyes. “I am done holding back. If you force me to move today, then you will experience what that means.”

Eric’s whole body trembled like the surface of a lake when it was hailing. It took a while before he had calmed down.

“Not today. I am just here for a mission. I don’t need to fight you for that.” Eric smirked and muttered under his breath: “And I am not the only one with a mission.”

***

“Brutus!” “Here, Brutus.”

Two children had snuck out of the shelter because the terrier had suddenly gone missing. It was the same pair of honorable knights that had settled the matter of the princess’s honor with a jousting match.

“Can you smell him, Millie?” asked Chris.

“I th-think over there.” Millie pointed. She felt a bit guilty for sneaking away when Romana and the others were distracted by the noise outside, but it could not be helped. The two children were really worried about the little dog and the adults did not seem inclined to do anything about it.

The two turned the corner and froze. Brutus was sleeping on the ground. Next to the sleeping dog stood a person.

“R-Romana?” Chris’s eyes widened. “Weren’t you…”

Millie felt weird. She could smell nothing from Romana. Not like usual.

“Come here, children,” said the melodic voice of Romana.

The two hung their heads – worried about being scolded – and walked up to her.

“Huaaahhmm…” Chris yawned loudly. “Huh?”

*Plop* Millie had fallen down. The last thing she had seen was the odd smile on Romana’s face.

A moment later, Chris was sleeping on the ground next to her.

A tall man whose eyes were completely white stepped away from the dog and strolled to the sleeping children. His steps did not make the faintest noise.

Devon dashed around the corner. He saw the back of Lizzy that was approaching Millie and Chris. Without hesitation, Devon charged at the figure and struck out his palm.

A bright red blast of hellfire flung the man away from the children. The man crashed into a building on the side.

“Don’t you dare touch any of them,” growled Devon.

The white-eyed man stood back up. His white suit was burned in several places, but the person itself was unusually unharmed for someone that had been struck by hellfire. A cold light radiated from him and his suit mended itself.

“How quaint,” spoke the man. “It is better to finish missions quickly. People are more likely to surrender if you take young hostages. If everyone surrenders, then this mission will be quick. Step aside.”

Romana and two death knights were attracted by the ruckus.

“What is going on?” asked Romana. She only saw Devon with his back to the two sleeping children.

“Take them away quickly,” said Devon. He summoned netherfrost at a location where Romana saw nothing.

The light above the netherfrost bent in several places, which made Romana’s head hurt, but it was only for a moment.

Devon struck out his palm towards a different location. The hellfire engulfed the white-eyed man that had been invisible before.

Romana’s eyes widened. Whoever this person was, he had completely escaped all of Syn’s detection mechanisms.

The man emitted a bright and somehow cold light, which recovered his body and apparel. He examined Devon and spoke calmly. “You are not supposed to sense me, and abyssal aspects are quite annoying. Why don’t you all lay down for a while?”

Romana was overwhelmed with drowsiness. One of the death knights caught her before she fell.

“Romana?” asked the death knight.

“Undead are also annoying,” said the man before he blinked away.

Devon slapped his own chest and burned himself with hellfire to have the pain expel the sleepiness. He summoned another sheet of netherfrost where the man had teleported.

“Take them away!” shouted Devon, and then jumped at the white-eyed man.

“This is getting bothersome. You may be able to sense me somehow, but you are slow.” The man blinked away and evaded Devon’s attack.

A white panther with purple markings raised its head out of the shadows. In another location, Ying’s face contorted with rage.

“Just surrender to make it quick,” said the white-eyed man.

“DIE!” Saul’s inhuman voice reverberated through the area. He had appeared out of thin air and tapped his staff on the ground.

The white-eyed man was shackled by dark chains and then skewered by several bone spears.

The man’s eyes started to glow intensely. “My life to serve PAX!” Raging lights tore at the chains.

“Accursed channeler,” growled Saul. He had a mental transmission with Ying. “You’re not welcome here.”

While the white-eyed man was escaping from his restraints, Saul opened a dimensional gate underneath the man’s feet.

The white-eyed man fell through the dimensional gate and disappeared.

“All lifefolk and vampires must be accompanied by skeletal warriors,” said Saul. His voice was amplified and resounded over all of Syn. “Carlos, known as Sudden Death in Tiv’s Guild, has invaded this place.”

Saul moved his staff to close the dimensional gate.

“Wait for me.” Devon jumped through the gate first.

The cyan light in Saul’s eyes flickered, and he closed the gate.

***

A dimensional gate appeared in the sky, and Carlos fell down on the ground.

“The creep went after the children,” growled Ying and he became surrounded by a purple glow.

Terry flinched at the frightening mana that was being emitted from Ying.

“As much as I would like to tear him apart together with you, remember that we are still trying to buy time for Amelia,” said Sigille. “Having the mission cancelled is the best-case scenario for Syn. Even if you were to manage to kill the creeper, it would only serve to fan the flames against Syn.”

“He went after children.” Ying’s eyes were bloodshot. He made a step towards Carlos, who was standing up and recovering his white suit.

Devon fell out of the dimensional gate. He brought a giant blast of hellfire with him.

Carlos blinked away.

The corner of Ying’s lips curled upwards, and he rapidly cast a dimensional gate that had Devon appear right on top of Carlos’s new position.

*WRAAAMMM!* Hellfire enveloped the area.

“Oh boy,” exclaimed Lizzy.

“Or, we could do that,” said Sigille flatly. “That works, too. Will cause more trouble in the long run, but sure feels better.”

“Isn’t that freak a Guardian from Tiv?!” demanded Eric. “That means you’ve crossed the line.”

“Are you sure that you want to take off the gloves?” questioned Sigille with intimidating eyes.

Eric shuddered under her gaze and ripples moved across his skin.

Megumi stepped forward and unbuttoned the leather straps that secured her push daggers.

“My companion can’t be expected to be familiar with every shitty Guildhead,” said the Captain.

“I did not realize there was a Guardian present,” said Carlos emotionlessly. His face and chest were severely burned, but he spoke as if he did not feel any pain at all.

Ying grimaced in dismay at the fact that Carlos was still breathing.

A cold chill ran down Terry’s spine when he saw the white-eyed man. The expressionless face together with the burns from hellfire was one reason. The odd silence surrounding him was another. The biggest reason, however, was that Carlos was a mana user, but Terry could not sense the slightest trace of mana.

Devon was charging forward again.

“Devon!” reprimanded Lizzy.

“Huh?” Devon stopped in his tracks. “That one threatened to hurt Chris and Millie! He even went after Brutus!” He glared at Carlos and hellfire escaped from his clenched fists.

“Please come here for now,” said Megumi.

Devon did as requested while giving the stink-eye to Carlos.

“I apologize for failing to comply with the required protocol, but I had not been informed of potential Guardian presence,” said Carlos in a monotone voice. “I am a citizen of Tiv and a member of the Guild. I am here on a mission from the Guild. Guardians are prohibited from interfering in Guild-missions unless explicitly enlisted as partners for the mission.”

“Oh? Could you recite the regulations for me?” asked Sigille.

“If required, that—”

“Don’t listen to her crap,” said Eric. “She is the Kid’s Guardian-partner. She knows the regulations. They’re just stalling for something.”

“A Guardian can’t be expected to accept the words of a random stranger,” said Megumi. “At least we will need to check identification.”

Sigille snickered.

“Of course.” Carlos agreed without objections.

Terry raised an eyebrow at the man’s behavior.

Sigille whispered to Terry: “Pure channeler from a cult called the Serenity of Pax. The more advanced the channeling with the creature they call Pax, the less ego they preserve.”

“Are you shitting me?” jeered Eric. “Are you trying to claim that you have never heard of Sudden Death – the person ranked first in the Guild’s rookie ranking? Yeah, right.”

“Of course I have heard of that name,” retorted Megumi. “But anyone can claim a name. I’ve never met this person. I’ve never met you either.”

A loud explosion rang out.

Sigille glanced towards the source. She could see an enormous crater with Apex standing in it and a retreating Matteo.

“Damn it, Apex! Back off!” shouted Matteo.

Sigille shook her head lightly and returned her attention to Carlos and Eric.

“You seem to know the decrepit hag.” Eric spoke to Megumi and pointed at Sigille. “Why don’t you ask her? She has met us before.”

“Meh, memory is a funny thing,” said Sigille with a smirk. “It gets worse the more decrepit you get.”

“Are you saying you don’t recognize me?” Eric snarled. “Maybe I can find a few personal possessions that belonged to some common acquaintances to jolt your failing memory.”

Sigille’s eyes turned cold. “I remember you as a coward plotting in the dark. Now, are you trying to make me angry again? Where did you suddenly find the courage, Little Eric?”

Ripples rushed over Eric’s fluid skin.

“I don’t think you can count on the assistance of the other two,” said Sigille.

*BOOM!* Apex was still chasing Matteo around.

“Protocol requires identification if the Guardian party demands it,” said Carlos. “I have a mission. We may have teamed up, but I will not assist in personal squabbles.”

“The decrepit hag can identify us!” screamed Eric with trembling eyes.

“Maybe I could, maybe I couldn’t,” said Sigille. “In any case, I am not obligated to. Right?”

“That is correct.” Carlos’s emotionless response was grating to Eric’s ears.

Megumi received a Guild card from Carlos. She took her time examining it and only handed it back after several minutes had passed.

“I’ll need to verify the mission as well to determine the scope in which you have been authorized to act,” said Megumi calmly.

Sigille nodded approvingly.

“Here is the mission writ.” Carlos handed over a mana contract sheet.

“The writ is claiming to be directly from Guild management,” said Megumi. “No reference to an actual client. That seems unusual and therefore suspicious. I will need to confirm a few things.”

“You little—” Eric was fuming and his body’s surface resembled a pot of boiling water.

“You, I don’t like you.” Devon interrupted Eric and glared at him.

Eric flinched at Devon’s abnormal mana signature.

Megumi did as many checks as she could get away with. She even created a copy of the mana signature from the writ by sacrificing one of her own mana contract sheets. Eventually, she had to take a different avenue.

“Are you aware that the mission is being contested?” asked Megumi.

“That has no relevance for the current validity,” retorted Carlos.

“The mission writ is claiming that the citizens have been abducted. Did you verify this claim?”

“That detail is from the introductory information. The mission goals are not affected by the introductory information.” Carlos spoke in a monotone voice. “The primary goal is to return the citizens to Tiv. The secondary goal is to eliminate anyone that stands in the way of the primary goal.”

Megumi frowned because Carlos was right. The writ had been phrased and structured just like that.

“I have ascertained that it is only the citizens’ choice that keeps them here,” continued Carlos. “Therefore, I have taken steps to change that choice in order to achieve the primary goal as quickly as possible. Your companion interfered and complicated things.”

Devon narrowed his eyes at Carlos and then turned to Lizzy: “Did that make sense to you?”

Lizzy glanced at Devon but quickly focused on the Captain again.

“You say that the mission goals are not affected, but the introductory information makes it clear that the mission was issued under the premise that the citizens have been brought here against their wishes.”

Sigille sighed at Megumi’s attempt to reason with the ego-less creeper. It was evident that this was their first interaction.

“If that premise is false, then the mission—”

“The mission goals are not affected by the introductory information, which makes the introductory information irrelevant.” Carlos interrupted Megumi. “The mission goals make no reference to the citizens’ wishes.”

Carlos wore a thin smile.

“Your actions could put the citizens at risk,” said Megumi.

“The mission goals make no reference to the citizens’ health,” retorted Carlos.

Megumi’s expression hardened.

“HAHAha! That’s right!” exclaimed Eric gloatingly. “I had not even thought of that.”

“I am allowed to defend people,” muttered Devon and glared at Carlos with hellfire escaping from clenched fists.

Ying teleported next to Devon. “Only use hellfire once you’re close. Then I can help you reach him using unanchored transports. Faster and costs less mana.”

Devon nodded and extinguished the hellfire he was emitting from his palms.

“Your companion’s behavior can be interpreted as a threat.” Carlos spoke to Megumi. “Have you confirmed everything to your satisfaction? If so, then protocol dictates that you Guardians are not to interfere.”

“You are mistaken on one point,” said Megumi.

“Oh?”

“A Guardian’s first oath is to protect innocent life. Your narrow mission interpretation violates that.”

“Irrelevant,” dismissed Carlos. “I am not a Guardian. The regulations outline the expectations for interactions with the Guild.”

The Captain jumped back and unlocked the sheaths of two curved shortswords. Terry had never seen her use those before.

“Then we have a problem,” said the Captain firmly.

Lizzy transformed her equipment and took her battle stance.

“It is you that will have problems,” said Carlos. “The regulations clearly state the penalties.”

“HAHAha.” Eric transformed into a stream of water and headed through the air towards Syn City.

With a loud bang, Eric’s fluid shape was smashed back by a divine hammer.

“Little Eric,” growled Sigille. Her right bracer was glowing with bright runes.

Rings of runes became visible on Sigille’s boots. A moment later, she appeared in the air above Eric and dropped several round objects.

Eric’s pupils contracted and his body liquified to escape through the earth below.

Sigille pulled back her arm and another set of inscriptions appeared on the bracer. A translucent golden surface blocked Eric’s path of retreat.

The round objects detonated and spread a powdery substance.

“ARGH!” Eric’s body jellified.

Sigille dropped back to the ground and slowly walked towards Eric. “What do you take me for, Little Eric? Did you believe I was bluffing? Did you believe your borrowed powers are enough to protect you from the consequences of your actions?”

Carlos blinked away.

Matteo dodged on instinct and a glowing ice spike missed his head by a hair’s breadth.

“OY, SCREW YOU!” Apex threw a fiery fist at the nothingness from where the ice spike came. “THIS IS MY FIGHT!”

Apex only hit empty air.

“He’s over there!” Devon pointed.

“It is common sense to eliminate distracted enemies first,” said Carlos, who became visible in the location that Devon had pointed out.

“Matteo, it appears that you are interfering with a Guild mission,” said Carlos. “The regulation—”

“You can stop right there,” interrupted Matteo. He moved his hand to the hilt of Soul Fury. “First of all, it is your mission, not mine. I am a free person.”

“You are a member of the Guild,” said Carlos. “The rulebook says—”

“The rules you are referring to were unilaterally proclaimed after my membership,” said Matteo. “I accept the penalties. The Guild is not my master.”

Matteo stared at Carlos with a resolved look. “My ma has made it clear to me that I am never to yield my mind to anybody. The only master I accept is my own conscience. You and your rulebook can piss off.”

Matteo drew Soul Fury and swung the katana at Carlos. A thunderous grumbling echoed through the air and a purple lightning bolt headed towards Carlos.

“Your opponent is me!” yelled Apex and charged at Matteo.

“That is enough, Appy!” shouted Sigille.

“Screw you, old hag, I—” Before Apex could finish her cursing, she crashed into a translucent golden surface. A divine hammer smashed her right towards the feet of Sigille.

“I said enough.” Sigille looked down at Apex, who was sprawled on the ground in front of her.

“Hmph.” Apex channeled mana, but before she could do anything, she was hit by an intense disruption discharge from Sigille’s foot that had appeared on Apex’s chest.

“I know you have a battle crush on Matteo.” Sigille spoke in a stern voice.

“If by that you mean that I will crush him in battle, then yeah!” Apex snarled at Sigille.

“I know that your aim is the spirit-infused lightning of the dragon soul.” Sigille sounded a bit tired. “I could tell you it won’t work, but you wouldn’t believe me, anyway.”

“No shit.”

“Have I ever stopped you from battling before?” Sigille still had her foot on Apex’s chest and stared into Apex’s eyes. “What did you call it before? ‘Shield’ him?”

“...”

“I believe Matteo needs to fight his own battles. I have never stopped you two from fighting before. However, for today, playtime is over and if you don’t back off now, then from now on, I will interfere just out of spite. Whenever you want to challenge him, I will be there to stand in your way.”

“You can ask around.” Sigille’s gaze turned intense. “I am good at holding onto grudges.”

As if to underline her statement, choking noises escaped from Eric’s throat. He was writhing in pain further away.

Apex glared at Sigille but remained silent.

Sigille withdrew her foot from Apex’s chest and jumped back. She glanced towards the fight with Carlos.

Matteo had summoned the purple lightning dragon by infusing his own mana into Soul Fury. The dragon soul was guided by Matteo’s spirit and instinctively pursued Carlos.

Devon pointed at a location and then Ying teleported Devon into the path of the escaping Carlos. Devon smashed a palm of hellfire into the invisible man.

Carlos blinked away.

Megumi opened her eyes and slashed with the curved shortsword in her right hand towards the air disturbance she had sensed after the blink. A concentrated blade of air cut into flesh.

“I won’t be threatened by anyone,” growled Apex. Despite her growling, she was still standing close to Sigille.

“Lass, that was not a threat,” retorted Sigille calmly. “I was appealing to your sense. Although, you’ve rarely shown any hint of having any.”

“OY!” Apex’s face was turning purple again.

“The mission is bad and will be cancelled,” said Sigille.

“So what?”

“Haah…” Sigille placed a palm on her forehead. “Appy, I don’t know why you are so desperate for power, but I always thought you had a brain between your ears. Make your own deductions. Does this look like a fight where you will be able to get what you want?”

“...”

“...”

“My life for PAX!” The intense shout of Carlos reverberated through the area. Afterwards, a blast of bright light appeared, with Carlos at the center. Hundreds of glowing ice spikes were thrown everywhere.

Sigille raised her hands with palms facing each other. Inscriptions at her wrists were lighting up and translucent golden sheets of mana blocked the ice spikes in several directions.

“ARGHH!” Apex stomped the ground and stormed off towards the desert of red sand.

“I’ll kill you,” growled Eric with hate-filled eyes looking at Sigille.

“You will do no such thing.” Cadence had approached the fallen Eric. Her left hand had turned completely golden while her right hand was gripping her baton.

Cadence pointed the tip of the baton at the jelly that made up Eric’s body. Afterwards, she channeled a mixture of her own mana and the mana from the Bright Lady into the baton.

Golden flames wandered along the baton.

“Wh-what? NO!” Eric screamed loudly.

Sigille raised an eyebrow. “Huh.”

The golden flames engulfed every part of Eric’s body.

“There,” muttered Cadence. All the golden flames concentrated on a spot on Eric’s left heel.

Channeling anchor.

In Terry’s mana sight, the left heel was the source of the foreign mana in Eric’s body.

“You bitch!” Eric glared at Cadence. “The Pond will drown you.”

The area underneath Cadence’s feet glowed and became cold.

“Wh-what?” Cadence was taken off-guard.

In the next second, Cadence had been pulled away by Sigille, who was bursting her mana. Half a breath later, glowing icicles rose from the location where Cadence had been standing.

Carlos slapped a palm on Eric’s back, and a small light roamed around the jellified body. Wherever the light touched, the body turned more liquid again. The light repeatedly moved out of the body and expelled a powdery substance.

Carlos’s eyes glowed and the world around fell silent.

“CEASE YOUR ACTIONS!” Amelia had appeared in the sky with her mage staff in one hand and a sheet of paper in her other hand. Simultaneous to her shout, she channeled mana into the contract sheet.

A bright red symbol shone in the sky above Amelia.

Carlos stopped his channeling and retrieved the mission writ. It was glowing red because of the resonance with Amelia’s contract sheet.

“The mission has been cancelled,” said Amelia. “Any actions taken so far will be scrutinized. No further actions will be sanctioned by the Guild.”

Amelia looked coldly at Carlos. “Anyone that has accepted the mission is to return immediately. Statements are to be given in person.”

Amelia smiled lopsidedly. “Guild management apologizes for any inconvenience.”

“Go to hell!” shouted Eric. He had recovered from Sigille’s assault with the help of Carlos. He liquified his body and his right arm transformed into a whirlpool to attack Cadence.

Before Eric could unleash his attack, however, he was faced with Carlos, who had blinked into his path.

“We are to return immediately,” said Carlos with an expression devoid of emotion.

“Are you serious?!” Eric was seething with rage. His hatred for Cadence had reached his limits after she had threatened his channeling anchor. In contrast to Sigille, his hatred for Cadence was not dulled by fear.

“We have teamed up for this mission,” said Carlos. “We are to return immediately.”

Sigille snorted and snickered from the side.

“Fuck that!” growled Eric.

Eric attempted to distance himself from Carlos.

After another blink, Carlos grabbed Eric by the shoulders and channeled a cold light into Eric’s body that prevented him from liquifying again.

“We will return immediately,” said Carlos. He ripped a transfer scroll that teleported both of them away.

Amelia flew down to Sigille and Matteo. Matteo had Soul Fury sheathed again and kept his left hand on the heart-seeker dagger.

“Thanks, lass,” said Sigille.

“I don’t have much time,” said Amelia. “There were no other transfer mages at the Guild, so I will have to collect the others that had accepted the mission.”

“Thanks, Amelia,” said Matteo. “Does this mean Jee hasn’t returned to the Guild yet? What about his nominated mission?”

“Unfortunately, I’ve made no progress on that front,” said Amelia. “Apparently, Jee’s mission has been classified with a very high sensitivity. It would take a lot of time to even get access to the exact mission parameters. The grapevine is whispering that it’s only transport, but even if it wasn’t, I could not do anything about it at the moment.”

“And you know Jee…” Amelia sighed and shook her head dejectedly. “I can’t even locate him. Best I can do right now is pick the order in which I collect the Guildheads.”

“That’s already a big help, thank you,” said Matteo. “Most important is that the Venom Siblings don’t reach this place. If you could keep Elenec and Vell for last, that would help, too.”

Amelia nodded. “Let’s chat later. I’ll be off.” She soared into the sky and then teleported away.

***

Roughly ten minutes after Amelia had departed from the scene, Terry turned his head because he had noticed a mana distortion.

Ying clenched his fists.

Sigille and Matteo narrowed their eyes.

A small dimensional gate appeared at the location of the mana distortion. Through it walked a dwarven man.

Mage. Multi-aspected, but definitely aspected. Gifted in the space aspect. Not a channeler but…

The man was short – even for a dwarf. However, Terry did not have time to dwell on the man’s height, because it was the man’s eyes that truly caught attention. They looked like round mirrors. No iris, no pupil, just a smooth, silver, reflective surface.

Why do his eyes look like that?

Before a second could pass, the dwarf’s hands moved and the dimensional gate expanded to become as wide as a primary travel gate in Arcana.

Gasps resounded through the area.

“Well, shit,” exclaimed Sigille. “Terry, come here. You need some equipment upgrades.”

“By the Lady, this…” Cadence was stunned.

Lizzy’s stomach sank.

“I knew it.” Yancey rose up from liquified earth. The cyan lights in his eye-sockets danced in fury. “Always the same.”

Yancey was about to make a snarky remark to Megumi, but when he saw that the Captain was already preparing her equipment with determined eyes, he hung his skull and then returned to the earth below.

“That confirms the Preacher as the client,” said Matteo with a grim expression. “Seems he wanted to showcase his new Devout Division.”

Ying was silently shaking his head.

“Are they insane?!” roared Logan in despair.

The silver-eyed dwarf moved his hands and the dimensional gate slipped over a large group of soldiers.

“That's several times more channelers than we have people in Syn,” said Ying. He continued shaking his head. “Even counting all the manaless, children, and elderly.”

***