Crimson mana spread from above, shattering reality. The dark, granite floor tiles became hardwood floors, the simple, plain walls became lavishly decorated, and covered in tapestry. The clutter covering most of the room wasn’t that – it was seats, rows, and rows of seats that Ash had seen from above one before already.

A second, crimson sigil appeared on the ground, next to the woman who’d just arrived, then a man leapt down from above, landing gracefully on the sigil.

“Oh my…” The masked woman touched her mask, repairing the damage done by the other woman’s mana in an instant. “An inquisitor and his lapdog…” She clicked her tongue, seemingly unbothered by the two powerful people who had just arrived.

“The cult leader of the Dusk Worshippers attacking a group of High Tower Academy students,” The man’s mana weaved into a blade so fast, Ash could barely follow its movements. “How far you’ve fallen, Apostle.”

The masked woman’s lips curled up into a smile. “And an inquisitor coming to the rescue of a bunch of students is so very chivalrous, right?” She mocked him.

Her mana spread, and with it so did the inquisitor’s. Ash was immediately reminded of two cats hissing at each other, both trying to scare off the other by raising their fur. In this case, both mages’ auras kept growing, the Apostle’s mana creating more tendrils, and the Inquisitor’s growing in size like a flame.

While they stared at each other, gauging their power, Leon took a few steps back, retreating to where Maya was standing, next to the locked door. Ash motioned to take a step back as well, but he froze as the Apostle’s gaze locked onto him.

“Well then, I have my prize in my sights.” She spoke. Her mana weaved itself into complex patterns, spells Ash couldn’t recognise. The Inquisitor’s mana remained the same, though he did raise his blade in a defensive manner.

“Prize?” He scoffed, “Why are you after the life of a group of children I don’t understand, Apostle, but I won’t let you touch them!”

The woman simply laughed, then with a wave of her hand, finalised her numerous spells. A blade formed in her hand, while her mana formed into a volley of arrows, raining down on the inquisitor and his ally.

The Inquisitor’s mana quickly weaved into a barrier blocking the volley of arrows. As soon as they hit the crimson barrier, the spell holding them together shattered, leaving wisps of mana all over it. In the meantime, the Inquisitor’s ally rushed at the Apostle, slashing at her with that glass dagger, only to miss as the apostle leapt high into the air.

She landed next to the inquisitor, slashing at his crimson barrier with her dark blue mana sword. As their mana clashed, Ash took a few steps back, retreating towards Maya and Leon. He could probably run away right now, but he didn’t want to draw any attention to himself – or to Maya and Leon.

The Inquisitor and the Apostle continued to clash, while the other woman hesitantly waited. It was clear that she didn’t want to risk getting in the way of the two powerful figures. Her falcon-like gaze was filled with annoyance as both the Apostle and Inquisitor leapt back to regain their composure.

Without hesitation, the inquisitor’s ally dashed towards the Apostle with inhuman speed. Ash blinked a couple of times as he saw a faint, white outline around her body. He could only catch glimpses of it, but he was sure of the colour – pure white just like the mana of that millennia-old tree.

The woman slashed at the Apostle’s arm, drawing a few drops of blood as her dagger grazed against her skin. The Apostle leapt up once again, empowered by her mana, and landed at the edge of the platform. She immediately rolled to the side as roaring flames burst towards her from the inquisitor’s extended hand.

Ash narrowed his eyes, watching the battle as he clenched his fingers around the amulet. The battle seemed decided already, the Apostle could do nothing but avoid the inquisitor’s attacks. She didn’t have the time to stop and cast any offensive spells since the inquisitor’s ally chased her around like a cat chasing a rat.

Despite that, he knew perfectly well that he, Maya, and Leon were far from safe. They needed to get out of here, since they could easily get caught in the crossfire. “Try the doors again!” He hissed at Leon, slowly taking a few more steps towards them. The young man nodded, and forced the door again, but to no avail. “Is there another way out of here?” Maya asked, not taking her eyes off of the inquisitor.

Leon shook his head. “No, just the main entrance,” He pointed at the door at the far end of the Auction Hall. If they ran, they could reach there within less than a minute, but the battle taking place between the door and them made that impossible.

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Ash turned his gaze towards the Apostle again. Aside from that small cut on her arm, she was unharmed. None of the Inquisitor’s spells had touched her, and she didn’t seem tired at all. Her mana was as vast as it was when the battle started, though the same could be said about the inquisitor as well.

The Inquisitor shot a ball of flames towards the Apostle, which she easily dodged by leaping to the side. His ally dashed at the Apostle as she tried to regain her balance, slashing at her with her glass dagger.

The Apostle suddenly smirked as roots burst out of the ground. Ash’s eyes widened – he hadn’t even seen her cast a spell! The roots caught the other woman’s legs, wrapping themselves around her up to her thighs.

While she slashed at them, the Apostle quickly retreated a few steps, then with a burst of speed augmented by her mana, she dashed at the Inquisitor, striking his barrier with her mana blade. Ash gasped as he noticed the remaining bits of blue mana on the Inquisitor’s barrier from her first attack. They were quickly weaving themselves into a spell.

“Look out, on your barrier!” Ash shouted at the top of his lungs. The Inquisitor shot him a surprised glance as his barrier immediately emitted a crimson wave, shattering the forming spells of the Apostle.

She staggered for a moment, then hit the ground with her foot, prompting more roots to break out from below the hardwood floorboards. “You just can’t keep your mouth shut!” She hissed as the roots lunged at the Inquisitor. He retaliated with a powerful stream of flames, burning some of them immediately, and weakening the others.

The Apostle’s mana formed a complex weave in her hands again, which she shot towards the Inquisitor’s ally who was still trying to cut the roots around her legs. With a single strike of her glass dagger, she cut the incoming spell in half, destroying the weave completely, nullifying the Apostle’s spell.

Leon gasped. “They work?!” He exclaimed, referring to the glass dagger she was wielding.

“Enough!” The Inquisitor’s shout echoed in the Auction Hall as he burnt away the last of the roots. The Apostle smirked. “Agreed,” She hissed, pointing behind Ash as a small weave formed in on her fingers.

Ash recognised it immediately – it was a smaller version of those lances she had created when she attacked Professor Maple. Blood drained from his face as he shouted, “Run, Maya!”

The small, dagger sized lance shot off from the Apostle’s finger, at the same time, a crimson wind passed by Ash, knocking him off his feet. Maya screamed, Leon gasped, and Ash saw a flash of light that was now familiar to him – a spell clashing with someone else’s mana.

The inquisitor was standing in front of Maya, his hand emitting a small barrier as his blood slowly returned to his pale face. His other arm was wrapped around Maya’s shoulders. “Dad!” Maya cried out with a shaking voice. A moment later, her face went pale again “Ash!” She screamed as a hand caught his arm, pulling him back to the edge of the platform.

He felt the cool touch of mana around his neck as the Apostle pressed his back against herself. “Ah, so she’s your daughter.” She said with a chuckle. “That explains why you came running here as soon as I arrived.”

One hand gripping his throat and the other holding the mana blade against his throat, Ash didn’t dare move. His heart was racing as he felt the cold touch of the blade against his throat.

“Let him go,” The Inquisitor stepped forward, but the Apostle immediately pressed the blade against Ash’s skin, drawing blood. “Don’t take a step closer, Inquisitor.” She spoke calmly. “Now then, how should we do this…?” She muttered as she glanced around.

“You will let go of him,” The Inquisitor spoke, “And I will give you a fair trial.”

The Apostle ignored his words. “First of all,” she let go of Ash’s throat, and snatched the pendant from his hands. “This is mine,” She chuckled, shaking it to get rid of the cloth.

Ash drew a sharp breath as the black cloth fell down, revealing the finely crafted pendant. A dark mist-like mana spread from the pendant, reminding Ash of the mist that sometimes slowly rolled downhill from the north.

“Have you lost your mind?!” The Inquisitor shouted as the dark mana spread. Ash held his breath as it enveloped the Apostle’s hand, and slowly reached for him as well. Something told him that this was more dangerous than he first thought – perhaps it was the shocked, pale expression on the powerful Inquisitor’s face, or perhaps it was this low hum that filled his ears. His hands moved before he thought, grabbing the pendant, and pulling its chain out of the Apostle’s grip.

A sharp pain struck his hand, followed by almost instant numbness.

The blade pressing against his skin faltered for a split second as took a sharp breath, and Ash used that chance to push her hand away, turn around and hit her mask with the pendant as hard as he could.

She let out a shriek as the dark mana latched onto her. She staggered backwards and held onto him to keep her balance as they struggled for the pendant. The sharp edges of the pendant cut into her skin and scratched her mask while Ash’s glove at least kept his hand from getting further damaged.

They struggled back and forth for a few seconds at the edge of the platform. If only he could make her fall down… Then he could wrap the pendant in that cloth again!

“You little kid!” The Apostle’s voice sounded odd, distorted by the dark mana latching onto her face. Her mana appeared, tendrils reared back, then lashed towards Ash like a whip, but as soon it touched the dark mana cloud growing larger between them, it stopped.

Ash’s eyes widened as he saw the blue tendrils slowly grow darker until they became pitch black. A cold shiver ran down his spine. The Apostle shrieked again, her voice distorted and odd. “Let go of it! It’s mine!” She let go with her right hand, while her left hand still clenched the pendant. Mana gathered in her palm, a mix of blue and black.

“Kid, get away from her!” He heard the inquisitor’s voice from a distance.

Ash let go of the pendant and kicked her in the stomach with all the strength he could muster. The Apostle staggered backwards, but before she fell, she caught his robes, “Mine!” She hissed, and the mana gathered in her palm burst, sending them both flying in opposite directions.