"Y-You! And?!"

Lucian saw the worst sight of his life. More terrible than seeing Kiel die, more serious than losing his 'toys', and more despairing than being the last alive of the three.

Orion and Florian, two of his top enemies, where in front of him.

"What have you co-"

But for Orion, who didn't care a single bit about the enemy, the buzzing noise of Julian's voice didn't even register.

He crouched faster than he ever did, and in the blink of an eye, formed Alcyone and fired the deadliest arrow in his arsenal, the three-bladed triangle shape, devastating spinning arrow.

There was not even a shred of questions inside Orion's mind. This man was his enemy, full stop. No care for his story, no care for his words, and no care for his life.

The man looked with dread as the arrow went for his stomach.

"Wai-!"

*Dink*

A huge noise, metallic in nature echoed through the little forest. The full power of Orion was behind it, Second Gear, and Arm Overdrive.

An arrow that could simply pierced through the toughest of metal created by Amelia, had been... stopped?

"Of course..."

"I told you, it won't be that easy."

With a slide of his foot, Orion stood up and looked in front of him.

-

"Florian, tell me a little more about the enemy."

Just before Orion was about to leave, he asked Florian.

"About Julian?"

He received a silent nod in return.

"That's a great idea. With that, I also get reminded of his dangerousness."

"Is he that problematic?"

"In many ways, yes. That's why I was unable to capture or kill him at the time."

Florian turned around, and pushed his glasses back up his nose like he always did.

"Julian is supposed to be the strongest of the three. Not particularly because of his regular strength, nor because of any impressive magic."

Orion looked a little surprised.

"Is that possible to be strong in these conditions?"

He received a nod.

"Specifically, it's his ability that is the problem. Julian is able to copy multiple magic, and merge them together."

"Wait."

Karteira, who was listening, found this strange.

"How is that possible? I thought abilities were only able to be linked with physical prowess?"

And that fact was undeniable. For exemple, 'Calm Analysis' forces the brain to process faster. 'Inferno', even though it is a fire linked ability, is still a slash by itself.

"That's the problem. This seems to be a mutation from drinking the corrupted sludge."

Not familiar with the Ceremony, and having only learned about it from Orion, there was a lack of understanding appearing on her expression.

But the same couldn't be said for Orion.

"So the sludge doesn't only give physical and magical strength, but also creates abilities?"

"Seems like it. There was no sign of such an ability in the past, and he his also one of the most recent Apostles besides Olivia. Maybe a new development happened with him at the center, or is it a coincidence? I can't answer that."

With what she learned, Karteira continued.

"So, what do we know about him? How does that ability works?"

Getting back to the conversation, Florian explained.

"There's not much we know. As Apostles, we don't have to give each other any report on ourselves. It means that I know that he possess such an ability from my previous fight with him."

"Quite observant."

"Indeed. When you see the magic of a dead man, of course you began to question everything."

"By 'dead man', are you talking about Kiel, the first Apostle I killed?"

With a stern look, Florian looked at Orion.

"Kiel's magic was water. He had a special ability in that he could bounce a ball around in an empty space. If there was no walls, the ball could bounce in the air. Now imagine with a medium sized rock, and a gradual increase in speed, and you have Kiel's 'Fast Ball'."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"That is not a very original name."

Karteira couldn't help herself.

"From the scum of our rank, we can't expect more than that. Can you imagine my surprise when I saw something similar happen during my run against them?"

His face turned dark.

"I saw his own magic, the 'Metal Sheet', and the 'Fast Ball' together. By the way, 'Metal Sheet' is exactly what you think it is."

"Either a layer of metal in front of him to negate impacts, or full protection around his body?"

"It is more than that. I said 'Metal', but do you think it is simple metal? Julian is able to create one of the strongest alloy in our continent, steel. His sheets are literally impenetrable with simple attacks, and I'm sure even the hottest of fire would have difficulty in getting through. Worst is, he can create more than one at a time."

Knowing that, Orion had to know the continuation.

"What about the two merging together?"

"The bouncing water had a layer of steel around them. Though they had lost their velocity and impact, and were quite easy to dodge, this was a terrible news. Do you know why?"

The one who answered was surprisingly Karteira. She had understood the underlying problem.

"Is it because he could have absorbed the magic of the other Apostle that died? L-Le-Lan-"

"Leonis."

"Yes! The Apostle Leonis."

Orion found that cute, but he quickly switched to his serious expression.

"If this is true, then what are we against? Someone that can throw slow metallic spheres and something else?"

This was the problem. Something Florian didn't want to admit.

"With Leonis now dead, and the prediction that Julian managed to absorb his friends magic... this couldn't be worse. Leonis' ability, 'Hound's Maw' was a massive hammer made of titanium and could boost the user's arm strength tremendously.. Two of these guys had an earth element, and the three magic complement each other well."

"Another thoughtless name..."

Even Orion had enough of those stupid names. Why couldn't they be more accurate? In the end, an ability is named by its user, but some were really unimaginative.

"Now, let's say that the orbs should be able to move faster... if the fact that his magic copy ability is true, and that he his smart enough to come up with the same idea as me."

Orion nodded.

"We just have to kill him before he would be able to use anything against us. How does that sounds?"

"I think it will be harder than that. A coward always has ways to avoid dying."

It had to be said, this was an undeniable truth.

"We'll at least have to give it a shot. If it doesn't work,-"

-

"Florian, do whatever you want against him. Karteira, find opportunities to strike at him. You can even act as decoy and try to bring down any defenses that form around him."

Orion gave simple orders. Florian was his own master, just like Kamala, so it is up to him to make choices.

With Karteira preparing to fight, she felt a disgusting gaze fell on her that made her shiver.

The arrow Orion fired exploded when it made contact with a thick wall of steel that couldn't be compared to a sheet in any ways.

And behind that wall, from the side, Julian was looking at Karteira with desires in his eyes.

'This piece of shit!'

That made her instantly angry. She knew that this man was an horrible person that took other factions' members as his playthings.

*GRIT*

Her eyes darkened, and she clenched her fist in anger. The grinding of her teeth made Orion a little anxious if she would be able to remain calm, as she had one rage moment in the past, but he quickly placed his trust back in her.

'Cerulean Armor.'

The plates began to grow from her wrists and ankles, and encased her body inside a thick protection.

'I don't give a fuck about that man. No one as the right to look at me like that!'

Her mind was painted with raging thoughts, and she couldn't wait.

Just like Orion asked, she ran toward him, and punched the plates with everything she had.

*BANG*

The sound of two hard surfaces was heard, multiple times following the first strike.

"You won't get through my defense!"

Julian was thrilled. He knew that nothing would be able to stop him. He managed to stop the strongest arrow of his friend's killer, and he would be able to avenge them by killing them both, while taking a woman for himself.

"That's what you... THINK!"

Karteira punched the wall so hard that she almost shattered her wrist on it. But, she managed to push the wall back, with Julian behind it.

Though there was no crack on it, it was still an achievement, that Florian did no miss out on.

Lightning magic exploded from him, and he disappeared in an instant.

"Julian, we can't let you live."

But he had already recovered from being pushed a few meters back, and stared at Florian with a smile.

Another wall formed, right in front of Florian, who disappeared once again to stop on the other side. Then, when the wall appeared again, he moved behind him, and kicked him.

Julian's face bumped on the metal walls, as he felt a burning sensation in his nose.

"B-Blood..."

He stared at his blood flowing from his nose, and onto his hands. His eyes blinked red, more vividly, until only red was left. Julian had changed.

"RAAAAGH!"

He shouted, before turning toward Florian. Throwing a punch this slow at Florian was not the greatest, but it was enough to make some distances.

"What do you call me when you arrived? Do you have the guts to say it again?"

The walls vanished as if they had never existed. Julian looked at Orion and asked him to repeat.

"What? That you are a coward?"

Florian appeared behind him and tried to punch Julian in the face, but that did not happen.

A wall formed between them, before said wall began to move toward Florian.

He managed to avoid the impact, but had to take some distance.

'Without even looking at me?! What happened?'

The sudden change made him question his sanity.

"Co-COWARD?! ME!"

Julian grabbed his head and began to twist it weirdly, without injuring himself.

"Ah..."

A weird exclamation left his mouth, and he looked at Orion.

'Rush.'

Powerful magic shockwaves came out of Julian as its center. A water orb formed in front of him, while a massive hammer appeared in his right hand.

To support the weight of the hammer, his arm tripled volume. The water orb then found himself enveloped in a layer of steel, making it deadlier.

"I have to erase everything."

He slammed the queue of the hammer on the ground one time, and lifted it back up, before making it rotate behind him. The stance he displayed was one similar to a warrior ready to run and jump at you.

But nothing like that happened. He stopped spinning the hammer, making the shockwaves stop altogether, and smashed the orb with all of his strength.

The metallic orb bounced on trees at high speed, and destroyed them at the same time. Orion, Karteira, and Florian had to be extremely careful. The fast velocity of the orb could instantly break a few bones if it made contact.

'That's what he said by being smart... This is not good.'

Just when Orion thought that it was a bad situation to be in, surprise took hold of him.

Julian was hitting metallic orbs one after the other. The little forest was instantly razed, and the ground flattened.

Karteira had worked out quite a lot of steam punching the wall, and also had the fire element stored inside her armor, which helped her create steam faster. It was time to switch out.

'Cerulean Storm.'

Steam erupted from Karteira, and she began to rush past the orbs, while carefully watching not to be hit by any, and attacked Julian, while being covered by Orion.

A few arrows went past her, and touched the orbs. It seemed that he was able to deviate the trajectory of some orbs with an arrow, but that was all he could do. If he tried to attack Julian directly, a steel wall instantly formed in front of him to block the arrow.

Florian was easily dodging the orbs with his speed, but he was in a same situation as Orion. He had no way to attack.

Only Karteira, with her strength unrivaled by anyone, even Orion, would be leading an aggressive tactic against him.

Both men decided to support her.

*BANG*

Another loud bang echoed, until it arrived to Amelia's ears, waiting at the foot of Albriar's wall.

'Orion... Karteira.'