“Listen,” Light said, pacing left and right before the two elves, a sword of light in his hand. “I don't really want to fight. I just want to know what you've found in the Undercity. And once I know, I'll go~!”

“You're lying,” Adelaide replied immediately.

“You're not here to let us go.” Nadier added.

The smirk on Light's face broke the handsomeness as a bent would to clay. “I'm not lying. Not entirely. I'm not The Watcher, you know~?” he sang his way with a glee that felt sick. “I don't lie all the time. Just enough to get me by.”

A question hit the dark elf, and he asked, “How did you know I was in the Undercity?”

Excitedly, Light exclaimed, “I was watching you, my little monster.” He pointed back towards The Tower. “From over there.”

“How did you see–?” Nadier paused and looked towards The Tower before staring around at the sky in shock. He turned back to Light with a seriousness in his eyes. “What did you do?”

Light chuckled, “Oh, look, you figured it out.” Then, his brow cocked aside as he thought out loud, “But that must mean my dear Watcher has already seen through it a long time ago.”

Adelaide asked, “Seen through what?”

“He did something to the sky. Think back, Adelle. A hundred years ago, could we see as far as we could now?”

Light spread opened his arms. “That’s right! I 'flattened' the waves of light over Eltar. I can see as far as I need, as far as I want. Nothing escapes my eyes.”

Nadier did not move from his spot. Something stirred within his head as he stared blankly ahead while puzzles began to piece themselves.

Almost instantly, Light grew angry, his voice growling as he said, “What's with that look? I know The Watcher has that look. He's the only one allowed to have that look!” He pointed his palm forward and charged up a blast of light.

He fired. Adelaide jumped towards Nadier, fingers reaching out towards the dark elf. The tip of her nails scraped him, and she teleported the both of them a step to the left just as the beam of light shot through where they stood, blasting apart the ground behind them in a shower of dirt and mud.

“Nads!” She shouted at him. “Get a grip! Focus!”

Light stepped menacingly towards them. “I grow tired of this. Tell me what you've found out in Ta'Galadul, or my next attack will not be so kind.”

Nadier refocused and plainly told Light, “The dark elves are preparing for war.”

“Is that right? That is not something I wanted to hear.” Light mused. He did not question Nadier's statement, somehow knowing it was truth without confirmation. He held the sword of light like a one-handed spear. “I'm afraid you have outlived your usefulness and I tire of playing with you. I have a war to plan.”

A grenade arced through the air, thumping into the ground at Light's feet before the spear of light was thrown. The small cannister exploded, sending a rocking blast and shock wave outwards, pushing grasses away and sending chunks of dirt flying. Nadier took a quick look back towards the town to see Luce darting back into the cover of an alley wall.

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“Adelle!” he shouted, taking a grip of the elf's shoulder.

She teleported them behind Light, the man still coughing within the cloud of dust. Her axes spun forward, slashing into where the Lord stood. The man raised his arms, blocking the two weapon with the shell of magic that surrounded his body. Nadier stepped around Adelaide and spun a stabbing dagger towards Light. Light reacted with unparalleled reflexes, bringing down Adelaide's weapons with the force of his body as he ducked at Nadier's attack. But the dark elf felt the tip of his blade nick at familiar soft skin, the Neverite tipped blade cutting through the shell of magic. Light gathered another collection of energy within his body. Nadier placed a hand on Adelaide's shoulder and she teleported them away.

They reappeared where they started, but Light still charged his spell. With a roar, the man opened his arms and released the blast, knocking the two elves off their feet. Behind them, the shrapnel of light chipped off parts of the walls of the buildings.

Nadier and Adelaide laid on the ground, body aching and cut. The force of the blast had saved them, counter intuitively pushing them away from the shrapnel. But they were still sliced at parts of their skin, clothes tattered and tissues bleeding gently from the wounds.

Adelaide was out cold and Nadier was in no condition to recover. He looked back to the alley and saw Luce ready to charge out. The dark elf softly shook his head and the Titan Ranger reluctantly stood back into hiding.

The sound of footsteps crunched towards them and Nadier turned back to Light who had manoeuvred closer to within a dozen steps away. Somehow, the dark elf managed to get back on his knees but he found no strength to stand. Instead, he redirected his energy for a hate-filled glare.

“Impudent children. So young. So full of hope. So stupid. But I do give you credit for cutting me,” Light lectured, his right shoulder bleeding from Nadier's cut. The Lord raised his left hand, palm opened towards the sky. Rays of light started converging above his hand, a ball of light slowly forming. “I'll let your death be spectacular. Crystal—”

Nadier braced for the attack.

“Fantasia!”

The orb of light exploded, rays of hard beams pierced through the air in thousands of random directions. Nadier did not blink and kept his eyes opened, determined to face his end without fear. That courage was helpful in witnessing what came next. A triangular wall of ice burst out of the ground before him, the light shards passing through them as they would glass, the beams refracting and hitting everything around them except their bodies. The waves of projectiles lasted a second. Two. A total of ten seconds passed before the barrage stopped. Standing between the elves and the wall of ice was Miguel Vallertes, the Grandmaster Enhancer of Aleynonlia.

The smirk on Light's face widened through the refracted ice. “Well, well, well. Miguel Vallertes, in the flesh. I'm honoured. You know, I lost track of you after Ra'Kalen.”

“The Watcher's smart,” Miguel replied. “He left first, and had Nadier leave second. Knew you would keep your attention on them while we left third and that you would not risk following The Wanderer into Ta'Galadul.”

“That sounds like him. Always think five steps ahead,” Light said. He then asked, “Did you throw that grenade?”

Nadier knew then that Light did not know of Luce's involvement and hoped Miguel was smart enough to have caught that.

Miguel replied, “Of course.”

Nadier internally whispered a silent thanks.

Light warned, “Attacking me is akin to a declaration of war.”

“I didn't attack you. My hand just slipped.”

“And the wall of ice?” As Light said that, the wall of ice shattered into sparkling dusts.

Miguel grinned, “My magic just slipped. You know how fickle they can be.”

Light continued with a menacing growl, “Well, I suggest you step aside and keep your hands under control. Or I'll have to consider your next move a declaration of war.” Light raised his palm again, slowly generating another ball of light. “What do you think your king will say to you dragging an entire continent to battle?”

The Enhancer stood his ground. “You know who I am. Do you really think my king – heh, no, the Clovers, will not move if I decide this was a fight worth entering?”

“Honestly,” Light admitted. “I think I can take you all on.”

From his hands, Miguel materialised two daggers within shines of icy mist. He held them both in reverse, and brought the hilt of both weapons together, holding them aside the left of his waist.

“Crystal—” Light began.

“Ex—!” Miguel started.

A sword pierced through the air between them, stopping both men in their cast. A second sword fired across like an arrow, closer to Light and slammed point first into the ground at his feet. And a third followed even closer. A fourth. Fifth. The sixth was aimed and shot directly at the Lord, who in quick steps, seemingly vanished from the spot, reappearing a jump away. Another sword shot at him. Another vanishing step. A barrage of hundreds of swords followed, seemingly without end, Light seamlessly dancing around each and every attack.

Then, as suddenly as they had started, the attacks stopped, a lone sword embedding with a tang into the ground behind the Lord, the hundreds before vanished as if they had never been there, unseen.

Light noted, “It seems The Watcher has arrived.” The group looked out to the horizon where the time traveller approached with a confident swagger. Light continued, “As much as I would love to stay. I don't think it's time for me to meet my dear friend just yet.” He turned to smile at his enemies and after engulfing himself in a beam of light, vanished from where he stood.

With the immediate threat gone, Miguel knelt down beside Nadier. “Are you alright?”

“Y-yeah...” Nadier turned to Adelaide, who was still unconscious.

Luce ran out to aid the green-haired elf. “She's fine,” the Titan Ranger reassured. “Just knocked out, it seems.”

Miguel helped Nadier to his feet as The Watcher continued his slow approach. The dark elf sighed, a hand on his wounded right shoulder.

Miguel asked, “What's wrong?”

The dark elf replied, “You, Watcher, Light, you're basically gods.”

With a dead seriousness, Miguel replied, “We killed the gods in the last war. You know that, right?”

“Honestly? I can't tell the difference anymore.”