Trusting himself, he had finally overcame the mental barriers that had always held him back. With no shadow of a doubt, Jin knew he could win this battle if he managed to use his full untapped elemental potential.

Approaching the minotaur at great speeds with the thrust of the earth itself, the elemental aura around him was completely different. Crude affinity in its most primitive and impure form surrounded him, drawn to his awakened nucleus.

A side cut was deflected followed by another in quick succession, but in contrast to the hand-to-hand combat he'd faced in the beginning, the creature stood his ground, not giving him an inch further than needed to dodge his blows. With each attack he deflected, he had enough time to guide his blade towards his opponent only a single time.

And where before there were hints in his fighting style of sloppy openings and swings with an awkward angle there was no more. Instead, Jin sensed a feeling the enemy had gotten fatigued, his stamina draining as blood continued to flow downward.

And suddenly, between the clashes of the sword a figure could be seen approaching the duel in which the two were engaged. An alluring woman who had stepped out of the carriage had suddenly volunteered to help Alaeria to her feet. Wearing a long dress adorned in glittering jewels highlighting her voluminous chest, with black eyes she turned to Jin. A frown molded her expression the moment she cast her eyes on his stature.

"Please stay back you two, this is not your fight!" Jin warned as loud as he could, "Hurry to the nearest command post and ask to send reinforcements to my position!"

Though they were fighting in a scrubbed area, the road to Sanctum was known to be well guarded by command posts at each league. Used as a means of communication during the Divine War in the past decade, today it served as centers where travelers filled their stomach and exchanged intel while on the road.

The noblewoman grinned. And although Alaeria had somewhat regained consciousness she could only keep herself balanced on the strange woman's shoulder; To Jin's eyes probably a noblewoman the minotaur had taken hostage in order to escape the Kingdom of Elba unscathed. But the truth was much darker. For Alaeria's cry had been suppressed by the cold, sharpened dagger beneath the pitch-black dress and all the chaos.

Ulfrik turned about in frenzy. Despite his best efforts to accomplish their goal, he had been betrayed.

"Lucretia...You fucking whore!" He angrily uttered, veins leaping in his face like a cauldron bubbling with rage.

Lucretia’s face feigning innocence made Ulfrik forget the throbbing pain that pulsed through his entire body without any rest. A smile lightly engraved in the corner of Lady Umbra's mouth. A sickening unfolding Ulfrik was stabbed with as his two horns were suddenly cut in a single sharp slash of the blade.

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And there was no sign that a man like Jin could defeat a minotaur that size. He had seen how a Disciple and a Sentinel were, of course, extremely different in strength. The monster in front of him certainly had Vendrick's strength, but the same couldn't be said for its speed and awareness. If anything, his height caused fear and stress in opponents with a murderous aura, but by any measure the weight difference between the two was a big plus for Jin.

Able to dodge faster than the hornless fiend, Jin had more to work with as long as he had space. And he was starting to gain ground, in the face of constant slashes that stabbed again and again at the one arm the monster depended on.

For the Kantoff and the other great clans, the size of the horn was more than a reason for pride for the minotaurs. A custom already traditional since the times of the Alanothian Empire; for it had always been through the size of the horns that the mightiest of warchiefs decided their heirs, future leaders for rallying the banners.

For the members of their race did not differ from humans only in their height and great superhuman strength; but mainly by harvesting elemental energy and using their horns as elemental catalysts.

A hornless minotaur in combat was a bigger fool than a wingless bird trying to fly, for no matter the height, birds would always have the ground to walk on. Ulfrik had no place to be in, and as he got pushed further and further back with slashes he was too slow to dodge from, he realized he was in trouble.

Unity had fallen thousands of years ago. When The Purge came for all of them and changed the world forever, the fates of all Kantoff was sealed the night they were deemed uncivilized, inferior to men; even for Ulfrik, who had not even been born yet, it had long been decided.

For the Ravnos he was born in, and the Ravnos his ancestors told him were nothing-alike. Such were the consequences of the Fall of Alanoth, its tragedy still marking the brutal reality haunting the present. Coming to terms that he would not live to see it through was not the worst of thing, no. For the ages always come to pass. And a deadly winter would always be followed by a hopeful spring. Though the stories of old would for now continue to be but stories.

And in the years to come, who is to say they would not be seen as myths? Dreams of a season when we were looked upon as citizens, equally viewed as fathers, brothers and sons would, for now, just be.

Retreating like a wounded animal, Ulfrik Kantoff now lost space at every turn. His fist had sustained so many cuts that there were no more muscles capable of directing an attack in Jin's direction. Guiding the sword according to the whispers in his ear, Jin had focused much of his offensive on slashing blows to the horns. Isabella Bahaeryon's pact proved essential in bringing this monster of nature to the ground.

After an intense close range combat, the beast had finally perished. Whether it was the large amount of blood lost, or the lacerations he had caused, it no longer mattered. As Jin saw it, good had prevailed. And for the first time, he had played his part as an elemental warrior helping mankind to prosper. A heroic act that would make his mother proud, certainly wherever she was. And whenever this good news reached the ears of free men in the four corners of Elba, there would surely be reason to cheer. After all, one more monster had been slain, and no doubt men and women throughout the Kingdom of Elba would sleep more peacefully this night for the horned ones had finally been eradicated from Ravnos.