Ashe couldn't use protection at long distances or control the fragments that had transformed into shards at long ranges. Therefore, he had to act in concert with Aigis.

This led to another division of his concentration. In the middle of the battle, he had to protect himself as well as the girl's safety. It wasn't an effortless task, and the boy's mind was working until it burnt out.

"This is so cool!" Aigis exclaimed after receiving protection from the barrier.

The fragments used on her changed colour. When Ashe used the fragments on himself, the blue colour prevailed, while on the girl, the black hue was leading. This visual effect had an unknown meaning.

"Don't relax just yet; I can't protect you every time." The boy warned, and who knows how many times Wolfgang stuck him.

[2.02% - 1.11%]

Almost half of the fragments had already been used up. You couldn't say the same about the monsters. However, their combined forces increased their killing speed. Especially Aigis, who decided to be even more deadly.

She became much faster. Both her body and her hands were arranging the lamps. Her acrobatic movements became more visible, inhuman, and flexible. Moving between Wolfgangs sometimes seemed like she was dancing on their bodies.

With graceful movements, her work paid off and left a large pile of corpses. At every moment when her body was frozen, Ashe managed to protect her at the last instant.

In order to block the Sinarchs' attack, he had to spend a large number of fragments. Although his control increased and the cost decreased, the numbers in his head were declining rapidly in the face of so many opponents.

The whole confrontation had also brought him good. It was new information that he learnt about his abilities he didn't know before. Ashe could create Shards from fragments obtained from monsters. There were few of them, and they didn't even come close to his total supply, but each creature added additional energy.

'Why didn't I know this before?' he thought and applied more force to his sword. As a result, he felt pain in his wrist as he hit the monster in the bone, and it was demanding to cut it. 'I have to kill one rank higher to get a fragment to use in battle.'

His opinion was close to the truth. 'Unbound is an exception? He was an Eminent, wasn't he?' He thought, taking a deep wound that ended with a claw on his shoulder. Likewise, he could neither jump nor create a barrier.

The battle lasted for several more minutes, and the blood trail on their bodies kept accumulating. There were about 20 Wolfgangs left. Unfortunately, the energy to deal with them was exhausted.

[2.02% - 0.23%]

The more fragments Ashe spent, the weaker he became. It was as if his body was returning to its human state. He realised this when his rate fell below 0.50%. Even the animals he killed couldn't compensate for the fragments he spent. The parts of the prophecy he received from them did not have the same value as those in his being.

Aigis wasn't in good condition either. Her black robe seemed to be torn in several places. She was breathing deeply while trying to stop the blood flowing from her thigh with her hand.

Ashe felt weakness for the first time in a real battle. He didn't mind admitting defeat against the Humpborn, but it simply didn't count. In every confrontation, his talent shone, his teachings helped, and the prophecy protected him.

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Against the sea of opponents, it seemed like all this wasn't enough. He needed more, more than he didn't have.

"When will you stop?" the boy asked.

"What?" After two breaths, the girl answered with a question.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. I wasn't born today. You're Eminent, and you've never used a proper ability. If you keep acting, we'll both die." Ashe told her confidently. It wasn't a guess; he knew it.

Aigis didn't say a word for a few seconds. She moved again, and with a small explosion, knocked over the next monster. "You got me, you little bastard." She said, and her maniacal face came back. The secret she was hiding had just been revealed, yet there was no effect on her face.

"Watch me carefully." She warned Ashe and immediately went into action.

The boy also followed the instructions and eyed the girl. He had to get closer to the monsters and use all the protection for himself.

Ashe wasn't born, just a warrior. Being the chosen one also meant that one day he would have to lead people. To guide armies and confront what Fracture would bring. For this, he had to know how to become a proper leader.

He had been taught everything theoretically, but it was all based on ancient knowledge. Understanding that couldn't take into account his situation and condition. He was the only one; there was no one like him, and there was no similar experience.

Accordingly, he would have to forge the entire path himself. He had to take the leadership of the people and the warriors upon himself.

This day was his first step.

A moment when he wasn't fighting alone. Ashe had a helper and could rely on her. He barely knew the girl, but in this particular battle, they were on the same side. For Ashe, that was more than enough.

Don's last words were to put his life above everything and everyone, and he had been following that advice ever since. Ezio's situation was one example.

While Ashe was running through the monsters, Aigis turned off the switch. As if she no longer needed it. She spread her left hand on the ground. A multitude of threads emerged from her hand and spread out like webs across the land.

A path divided into sections was created, and each bend was illuminated by a lamp. This construction reached the monsters, covering their entire bodies and even the meadow. It covered 10 meters behind them, creating a siege and covering the monsters near Ashe.

The entire ground, covered with lamps, glowed in different colours. The boy was waiting for the next, more powerful explosion.

Nothing like that happened. The power of the lights simply increased. The light covered the entire area so much that it would have been impossible to open one's eyes. Especially the light on the monsters' bodies, which was blinding.

This whole event lasted a couple of seconds. Then it faded so quickly that the falling darkness became difficult to get used to. In this darkness, each Wolfgang fell to the ground. The fragments that came out of them went towards Aigis and merged with her, unnoticed by the girl.

Ashe felt he could call these fragments to himself, but he didn't do so. For one, it wasn't needed, since there weren't many of them, anyway. The other reason was that he wasn't exactly happy about taking away the girls' findings.

The corpses remained. The bodies didn't disappear; it only happened to the creatures Ashe had extinguished. Aigis noticed this at the beginning of the fight but left it without comment.

The girl herself seemed even weaker after what she had done. It suggested that she lost punch and had trouble standing on her feet.

Ashe rushed to catch her. He helped her, and the girl leaned on him. "Well, that was cool." She briefly and simply assessed what she had done.

The boy wasn't well-versed in the friendship department.

The only person close to him was Avi, and she was difficult for him to understand. As for Don and Bugator, he rarely saw them.

Aigis dragged herself to the carriage. Inside, the driver, Gogi, and Maia were sitting pale. All three were shaking and appeared half-dead. When they saw the pair, the first emotion was fear; after that, they sighed in delight.

The girl asked the boy to give her a bag. "I need sugar. I want something sweet." She repeated the words in a delirious tone until she got what she demanded.

Aigis fell asleep after eating and said nothing more. Ashe convinced the driver that they should continue their journey and return on their way. He took the supplies to treat wounds from the girl's bag.

After taking care of himself, with the help of Maia, he took care of Aigis as well.

The rest of the journey took less than two days. Piranesi, the magnificent capital of the planet, could be seen, and the boy witnessed the largest city from afar.

His reaction clarified that this was his first time. "You'll like it here," Aigis said, her wounds almost healed.

Ashe nodded and looked at the tallest fortress wall he had ever seen. The entire city was enclosed in a metal frame. It covered over 50% of the human-occupied part of the planet.

Piranesi was the city where the most important parts of his adventures would unfold.