The battlefield in front of King Roshan's castle had become awfully quiet.

The sizzling of flames and the whirring of flowing mana had taken over the skies. A sudden cough brought the field back to life.

Vijan was running low on oxygen, and his own ally choking him wasn't making things any better. He looked at the brown vampire who had his head down and eyes lacking any soul. Omar had Vijan lifted by the throat, holding him in place with his teeth clenched and eyes a quarter open. The pain Vijan was feeling was beginning to be unbearable.

With Anderson standing grimly holding the tip of his fire blade lying against Vijan's forehead, he began to realize that Sophia had backed him into a corner. She stood behind Anderson with a smirk all over her face.

Vijan: [S...Sorry–]

He let his arms down, and with them, a small black kunai fell out of his sleeve. Managing to catch it and raise his left hand, he stabbed his kunai into Omar's cheek. Jumping out of his grasp and pulling the same blade out of Omar's head, he prepared to block against Anderson's sword.

Coming in blazing, the blinding red sword aimed for his head and was blocked by the small kunai. From the first interaction the two blades made, only the large one made it through. Anderson pulled back as Vijan dropped the melting kunai.

He backed away to catch his breath. His lightweight attire made it easy for him to take his breaths, but it required him to remove his shirt revealing his skinny yet muscular form. Still, out of breath, Vijan knew he couldn't fight against the three of them and make it out alive.

Stabbing Omar's right cheek didn't release him from his captivity, either. He was still in Sophia's hypnosis. It was slowly patching itself back anyway, so damaging him wasn't the answer. Vijan had to think or this would be the end of him.

RK Sophia: [How did you get that through me?]

Vijan: [I don't... I don't know what... you're talking about.]

Sophia stared at him with an eagle death glare.

RK Sophia: [An action without thinking it through. How did you do it?]

Vijan chuckled then shook his head.

RK Sophia: [Don't make things complicated.]

Vijan stood tall with a damaged smirk and wiped the drool that slipped out of his mouth.

Vijan: [Well, now that I know your weakness, I will abuse it until you die.]

RK Sophia: [Do you honestly think you can beat us?]

Vijan: [Yeah, a 3-on-1 fight isn't really that fair, but,]

Vijan summoned a chunky blade that had no handle and grabbed onto a large ring that was holding it together. Swiping the blade by his hip, the single blade split into four and became what looked like the blades of a windmill being held together by the ring. The black windmill shuriken was tall and wide, nearly meeting the height of his torso. Vijan smiled maniacally and held the shuriken in front of him.

Vijan: [I like those odds!]

He let his free hand out.

Vijan: [Give me everything you got.]

Sophia chuckled at his courage and then turned to the Paladin by her side.

RK Sophia: [He's an idiot. There's nothing going on in his head.]

Paladin Anderson: [Literally or figuratively?]

RK Sophia: [Literally. His mind is as blank as an unused sheet of paper. Without access to his brain, doing anything will be tough.]

Paladin Anderson: [If that's how you control them, I'd consider what he's doing as a genius tactic.]

RK Sophia: [Don't compliment him.]

Vijan: [WHAT ARE YOU TWO WHISPERING ABOUT?!]

Paladin Anderson: [Don't worry about it, bitch!]

Vijan stuck the middle finger at Anderson despite his current condition. After flicking him off, Vijan turned to the hypnotized Omar.

Paladin Anderson: [Will you be able to do anything if I lower his guard?]

RK Sophia: [It depends. If you can manage to make him think, then that'll be our best bet.]

Paladin Anderson: [Sounds like a plan. But how do I–,]

Sophia placed her hand over Anderson's mouth before he could finish and quickly turned towards Vijan. With absolute terror on her face, she stared at the blank expression Vijan was giving Omar. After a moment of silence, she stepped forward with her teeth clenched.

RK Sophia: [You're crazy!]

Confused, everyone on the battlefield turned toward her.

RK Sophia: [THAT'S THE REASON WHY YOU–!]

The purple strand in her hair began to dim away.

RK Sophia: [Shit!]

Omar suddenly gasped for air as life returned to his eyes.

Omar: [FUCKING FINALLY!]

Anderson stepped back as he watched Omar stretch with joy.

Omar: [I felt like I was going to suffocate outside of my body!]

Vijan: [It worked!]

Omar walked towards Vijan and gave him a high five. Omar licked his fangs and grinned as he stared at Sophia.

Vijan: [You owe me four diamonds for saving your life.]

Omar: [Yeah, yeah. I'll get you them in a few days.]

Paladin Anderson: [Wh-h-What just happened?]

Sophia stared at the two while clenching her teeth together and narrowing her sharp black eyes that were covered by her shadow-black bangs. Anderson could hear her growl.

With a bright smile, Vijan pointed his index finger toward Sophia.

Vijan: [I've figured you out!]

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Widening her eyes in fear, Sophia became nervous to hear what he had to say.

Vijan: [Confusion and stress are your hypnosis's weaknesses!]

Sophia tightened her fists. Vijan chuckled at the response.

Vijan: [Looks like I was right. The first time it stopped after Heirloom's badge came off, and this time, it stopped after you overheard my inner monologue. Your face is enough to prove that I'm right.]

Omar: [Confusion, huh? So only a brainless nincompoop can take her out.]

Vijan lost his smile and looked at Omar with narrow, embarrassed eyes.

Omar: [I'll need to get serious around her, then.]

As he closed his eyes, Omar's entire apparel transformed into a bright blue light and a slim black coat began to form and flow with the wind. The bottom of the coat had blue markings that looked like waves, and on his back, a light blue magic circle hovered while continuing to rotate clockwise. Along with all of this, Omar's hair changed to a light white that had hints of blue from his coat.

Ultimate Form – Satanizing Wraith

Vijan: [Don't let her get the better of you again.]

Omar hovered his hand over Vijan's windmill shuriken, making it glow the same color as his shirt.

Buffs Applied:

Speed Boost

Power Up +

Durability ++

Strength

A sword formed in front of the magic circle on Omar's back, which led to him reaching for it and pulling it out of its sheath. After waving the light sword and cutting through the air around him, Omar caught a feel for his sword. Staring at each other, Sophia's party was trembling in place while Vijan and Omar smirked like cocky brats.

Anderson: [Is there hope?]

Sophia found an opening and immediately cast a spell.

Sophia: [They figured me out, and I wouldn't count on anyone getting here soon. This is where we die, Paladin.]

Vanishing into the air, Omar's entire presence completely disappeared. Frightening Sophia, she looked at Vijan to see if he knew where he could've gone.

Vijan: [He's gonna attack you from behind,]

Sophia immediately turned around and put up a mana barrier. However, as she did, Omar reappeared behind her with his blade over his head in an attempt to cut her from head to toe.

Noticing him from the corner of his eye, Anderson saw the flow of mana flowing before Omar could reappear. He quickly jumped in the way and parried the strike with his fire sword, demanding it to emit more flames than ever. The heat was too much for Omar, forcing him to jump back to avoid any damage.

Once Omar landed, he watched as Sophia turned back to them, her eyes wide and teeth trembling. She couldn't read his movements, and for the first time, almost led to her death. Omar couldn't help but smile at her fear.

Paladin Anderson: [Are you okay–?]

RK Sophia: [SHUT UP! Let me think!]

Omar: [Give up before it's too late.]

Sophia turned to Anderson with her teeth clenched. Once he caught sight of her absolute terror, he put a hand on her shoulder.

RK Sophia: [I'm gonna have to use my last resort.]

Paladin Anderson: [It won't kill us, will it?]

Sophia turned back to the Hydra warriors in front of them, her eyes suddenly burning with hatred. Omar's maniacal smirk and Vijan's casual narrowed glare were enough to trigger her rage.

RK Sophia: [Maybe. It's a risk I'm willing to take here.]

Anderson was unsure of how to respond. With a bit of hesitation, he defused his sword and sheathed it by his waist.

Paladin Anderson: [... If that's what it takes.]

Sophia let her left hand out, instantly forming a large bubble around the four of them on the battlefield. The people fighting around them were caught by surprise and couldn't help but pause what they were doing to watch.

Sophia: [Mental Abyss.]

Everything turned black for everyone inside the bubble, but to anyone else, the four of them disappeared.

----------------------------------------

On the mountain away from the other battle, OJ stood watching Heirloom whisper into Erma's ear. With the other four gone, the only noises were the flow of mana and hardly audible whispers. OJ stared at the now excited Erma as Heirloom moved his head away from her ear.

OJ: [Are you two done yet?]

Erma: [You made a mistake giving us this much time.]

The two of them looked at the crystallized OJ and feared the massive amount of mana leaking out of his body in the form of smoke.

Paladin OJ: [There's nothing you can do that will faze me.]

Heirloom pulled the Dragon Master's sword out of his inventory.

Heirloom: [I wouldn't be too sure about that.]

As soon as he finished, OJ disappeared into thin air.

Heirloom: [OFFENSIVE!]

Heirloom rested the Dragon Master's blade in front of him like a shield, and a split second later he felt a large crash. With enough force to numb his hands, he was sent sliding backward with his sword still intact. With his hands numb, Heirloom released the sword and watched it flail on the stone ground. He could barely feel his hands yet attempting to move them made him wince.

Erma rushed over to OJ with a fist of flame that illuminated the evening sky. OJ noticed her coming before she could strike and easily evaded her punch. Watching her body stumble in front of him, OJ rose a fist and hammered his hand downward only to be stopped by the sudden uprise of coal-black wings coming out of her back.

Surprised, OJ became immobile. Erma quickly turned around, and with the fist of flames, she delivered an uppercut with enough impact to create a burst of wind.

OJ was sent flying in the air like an arrow shot into the sky.

Erma: [He hasn't activated it yet! This is our chance!]

The both of them inhaled a mouthful of air, and like a lighter was between their windpipe, they both blew large orange flames out of their mouths that went straight toward OJ. The two flames joined together forming a large ball of fire.

Noticing the temperature dramatically increased, OJ turned around midair only to see a majestic orange-yellow ball of fire heading right towards him.

OJ let out his hand and channeled some of the leaking mana onto it.

Paladin OJ: [Aquatic Prison.]

A large sphere began to form from the palm of his hand and was big enough to completely swallow the entire fireball.

Heirloom smirked once he saw the sphere cover the flame.

Heirloom: [You're weak against oil flames.]

OJ's eyes widened in shock.

Heirloom: [Now, Erma.]

After a quick nod, Erma let her hand out. A magical pulse flew across the field but didn't seem like it did anything. Only moments later, the sphere that covered the fireball quickly exploded into a cloud of vapor and further fueled the flame.

Now with the battlefield covered in water vapor, Heirloom lifted his sword and whispered.

Heirloom: [Winter's Flame.]

He concentrated some mana into the sword, making a crystal encased in the blade light up a bright orange. The crystal released a beam of light from within the blade that flowed to the tip like a flame. Two metallic resting dragon heads opened their red eyes and mouths and began moving as if they were alive.

The white and black blade was now emitting a fire-like aura like the Paladin of Jime. Releasing his crimson black wings, Heirloom flew into the mist while following the enormous fireball.

OJ had a hopeless expression on his face as he stared at the fireball that would cause his inevitable doom. As it roared its way toward him, he lost access to his Palou power. His body began to fall right into the flame from head to toe. Eyes closed and all hope lost, he fell into the ball of fire.

The fireball conjured together and blew up like an old star. Embers scattered around the battlefield leaving OJ floating in the middle of the sky with his armor and clothes burned to a crisp and skin fried beyond saving.

WARNING

– EVIL PRESENCE DETECTED –

Heirloom suddenly stopped when alerted. A wave of evil mana suddenly hit him like a gust of wind coming from the unconscious Paladin. Heirloom remembered this feeling. He quickly flapped his wings and flew towards him at the speed of sound, however, he wasn't able to make it in time. A creature cloaked in dark mana snatched OJ out of the air and darted to a cliffside away from the battlefield. Heirloom's eyes followed the shadow until it disappeared into the fog.

Heirloom landed beside Erma and informed her of the current situation.

Erma: [Seriously? We were just about to win!]

Heirloom stared in the direction where he felt the mana head, but there was no hint of anything nearby. Like the entity completely cloaked its presence. Using his enhanced eyesight, he looked through the mist and noticed five figures, three male and two female, gently placing OJ's body on the ground.

Heirloom: [The Paladin has returned... and with backup.]

Erma: [Does that mean they beat the Hydra?]

Heirloom silently groaned at the thought. He watched as one of the girls stood up after staring at OJ's body, and let both her arms out. With enough magic to blow all of the mist away, the girl stared at Heirloom and Erma with narrow Alice blue eyes. She conjured a smile and lowered her arms. The battlefield was cleared, but the tension seemed to have remained.

Erma: [Who is that?]

Faith: [CHEERS, LOVE!]

The girl's sudden scream surprised them.

Faith: [The cavalry have arrived.]