Norren charged through the dark storm, not even bothering to enter his Spirit State. With the black sands blocking his senses, it would have only drained his already exhausted Spirit. Besides, Vestia had already pointed the direction that led straight to the enemy. She had also brought them as close to the enemy as she could without alerting the man. Next, he just had to charge at the Lotus clan’s Wanderer, and take him down in a surprise attack.
Or at least that was the plan. As a Peak Stage Wanderer himself, Norren knew how dangerous a Peak Stage Wanderer at his peak could be to an exhausted Wanderer like himself. Even with his senses blocked by the storm, the Wanderer would still be far too formidable for him take down in his state. Especially since his own senses were also being blocked by the storm.
Not that he was blaming Vestia. Or Yuri. The two girls had already done much more than what anyone had expected from them. In a sense, if not for the two girls, then they might not even have had a fighting chance against the Wanderers of the Lotus clan. So, when he finally got a chance to prove himself, how could he blame the girls for his own weakness?
No, Norren was not trying to shirk his responsibility. On the contrary, since he knew his weakness, he was trying his best to make up for it. The last battle had already told him what he was lacking in the most at the moment. Speed. For any sneak attack to succeed, speed was the key.
So, even if his actions increased his headache, Norren did not hesitate to use the last trickle of Spirit Power that he had just recovered to boost his speed as much as he could. As he rushed through storm of sands though, the faster his speed became, the more he felt the raging winds of the storm battering his body. Not to mention the sizzling sands hitting his face…
Thankfully, Vestia had already brought them quite close to the Wanderer of the Lotus clan, ensuring that he did not have to suffer the torment of having face being picked by countless searing needles for long. Just a few moments after he rushed into the storm, he saw a vague silhouette of a person appear in the curtain before him. Ensuring that his grip around his swords was still as tight as ever, Norren tore through the last layer of curtain separating him and the blue robed Wanderer, before slashing his swords at the man’s neck and abdomen.
“…Finally. About time that someone came to me,” the blue robed man said, as two octahedral shields, blue in colour, translucent in shade, and about twice the size of his head, manifested just in time to block the swords.
“Red robes… The Redwin boy? Although I was expecting someone else, you will have to do for now.”
Norren sighed in disappointment, as he felt the resistance of the shields from his sword. Judging from the thickness and integrity of the shields, they did not look like shields that could have been conjured hastily. Yet, the shields had not appeared until the very last moment…
Understanding that he had fallen into his enemy’s trap, Norren slammed his left foot on the ground, forcing himself to—
“No, you don’t,” the Bluebud Wanderer said, extending a blue rope, condensed entirely from his Aspects, from the cuff of his left sleeve, wrapping it around Norren before he could retreat, tying him up with his arms by his side.
“You are my way out of this storm. How can I let you go so easily?”
“…You sure about that?” Norren said, not showing any signs of panic on his face. He did not even struggle to break free, choosing to stand quietly in place, facing the blue robed Wanderer’s inquiring gaze with a smile. “How about we make a bet?”
“…I thought that the Redwins were supposed to be—
Hearing a faint sound of something cutting through the air coming from behind him, Norren ducked down just before a shiny white crystal, attached to the head of a stick about two arms thick, whizzed past where his head had just been, heading straight towards the blue robed Wanderer’s head, only to crash into the translucent blue curtain of light hovering in front of the blue robed Wanderer.
The crash was not loud, nor did it result in something flashy. Yet, for a fraction of a moment, time almost came to a standstill, as waves after waves of ripples spread out from where the staff met the shield. In the end though, it was still the shield that came out on top. But the staff had done its job, catching the blue robed Wanderer off guard, distracting him long enough for Norren to quickly break free of the rope, and roll back into the thick, dark storm surrounding the blue robed Wanderer.
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“Bastard!” Norren cried out towards Zain. “Are you trying to kill me too?”
“Huh? There is no need to thank me,” Zain said, using the reactionary force from the shield to withdraw his staff, before retreating back into the storm. Or at least tried to. But how could the Bluebud Wanderer let his only chance of retreating safely from the sandstorm slip past him so easily.
“Stay here!” the blue robed man yelled, bringing his palms near his chest, before slamming them against each other, releasing a wave of blue, green, and purple lights that spread towards the two Wanderers who had just tried to attack him… and three more Wanderers.
“…Idiots,” Fran cursed, using his shield to block the wave of light, only to be flung back by a few metres from the force of the impact.
“…Huh?” Zain mumbled, ducking down under the wave of light, glancing towards the direction Fran’s voice had come from. “Did someone say anything? No, wait, why does there seem to be one person missing… Don’t tell me someone took on that attack head on?”
“…Focus on the man in front of us,” Ralph said from the side, using his spear to regain his balance, before rushing towards the blue robed Wanderer. He was still a step slower than Aren though.
Wielding his dagger close to his chest, the pink robed Star Seeker had been running as low to the ground as he could. So, when the ring of light reached him, he just let himself fall to the ground, using his momentum to roll forward and pass under the wave, before getting back to his feet and stabbing his dagger towards the Bluebud Wanderer’s groin, only for the shield hovering in front of the man’s chest to move on its volition and stop the dagger before it could reach its master.
“Five of you teaming up against one of me, I must say, you are looking up to me,” the Bluebud Wanderer said, paying no attention to pink robed Wanderer retreating away from him. Or the brown robed Wanderer wielding his spear, only to be blocked by his shield, just like rest of the pathetic Wanderers in front of him.
“If I was ignorant, and did not know of your conditions, I might even have been scared into fleeing.”
Instead of worrying about the Wanderers attacking him, the Bluebud Wanderer leisurely separated his palms, revealing a translucent bluish purple sphere hovering in front of his chest, that thumped like a heart, and expanded like the Wanderer’s greed.
“But there are no ifs…”
Before anyone could react to the sudden appearance of the sphere, it had already expanded to the size of around ten metres in diameter, covering all five Wanderers around him.
“…What is that?” Zain said, staring at the faint blue light flickering all around them that even the storm could not swallow.
“…A cage,” Fran mumbled, glancing around him in a daze. The storm was still raging as fiercely as ever. He could barely even see Zain’s vague figure. As for the rest… he could only guess their positions through the faint distorted sounds of their voices. Yet, as he felt the familiar feeling wash over him, he knew, that even if he were to try, he would not be able to leave beyond the boundaries of the bluish purple light flickering around them.
“Give up,” the Bluebud Wanderer said. “You cannot escape. And you are in no position to fight. Giving up is your only way of survival. As long as you listen to me, I promise that I will not…”
“…What is the Bluebud bastard saying?”
“…Probably asking us to surrender.”
“Surrender? Is he serious?”
“…It looks like it.”
“Should it not be the other way around?”
“…Why don’t you go tell that to him?”
“…Forget it. It looks like he has a little problem with his head. We better put our efforts into defeating him.”
“…He is not as stupid as the last Wanderer.”
“Does that even need to be said? Though, in front of me, all our enemies can only be said to be stupid, still, this Bluebud bastard does have his own strong points,” Zain said, and paused for a moment, before continuing. “How much time do we have left?”
“…Less than one minute.”
“…What are we waiting for then?”
“…The signal,” Fran said, raising his shield in front of him, while pushing his legs into the ground, taking on a charging stance. He was not finished with his preparations though. There was still something missing. After all, how could a charge without Aspects deserve to be called as a charge?
Hollowing out his Spirit Power down to its very last drop, Fran gathered what little Aspects he could around his feet, and the centre of his shield. And yet, he still felt that something was missing. That his charge was not ready… Subduing his dizziness, and a headache that threatened to devour him whole, he glanced around himself, and recalled the day—
Fran finally knew what was missing. So, he did not delay in channelling the fire hidden within his Heart to the shield he was carrying, and letting out a war cry fuelled by his very soul, penetrating tens of metres with his voice, before charging straight towards the Bluebud Wanderer.