“I’m sure most of you know how creation came to be…”

  Arthur began to explain how existence was forged. Although Yor already knew this, the gentleman’s way of telling it was a bit different from hers yet still the same.

  He started by telling them that before trees, seas, stars and even before the air in their lungs, there was only the Supreme Creator. There was nothing, no sky, no lands, just Them. Then, They split the nothingness apart.

  Day and night, mountain and sea, earth and sky. They filled the heavens with stars and hung the sun and moon somewhere at the vast expense of the cosmos.

  From the light of the Supreme Creator came the first of the worshipped deities. That being the Mother Goddess of Immortal Springs. She who woven Life into existence. From breath and clay she pulled forth all mortals.

  Then came the Eternal Shining Star Above. He shone like the brightest flame you could ever imagine. He who lit the world proper, created fire and heat and all that shines.

  Fitting for his other moniker of the Ancient Cruel Sun.

  And from the Supreme Creator’s shadow walked the Lord of the End. He who brought upon balance, the master of the path none can escape and monarch of Death itself.

  Then came the last one, the Howling Evil God of Chaos. It is just change for the sake of destruction. Madness with teeth. People often didn’t like to mention its terrifying existence, even more so in churches.

  This was the reason why Yor couldn’t recall it the last time Grace had asked her to recite how creation came to be.

  Naturally, at first she thought it was far-fetched. But after a couple of days in this world, now it seemed to be likely the truth. And those deities might actually exist and are real horrors.

  Also, Yor noticed something. Instead of calling Them the God Almighty, Arthur referred to Them as the Supreme Maker. Was that Their other name or was it a title?

  On earth, gods tended to have multiple variations across distinct religions. Each one interpreted God in their own image. She wondered if the same applied in this world as well.

  It probably did. Humans could never collectively come to agree on a single thing without someone else having a varying opinion all for the sake of being different or to stand out.

  At any rate, Yor raised a hand and when she was picked, she asked.

  “Um, sorry for interrupting. I wanted to ask, why are you telling us this? You said it yourself that we already know how our world was created, but what does it have to do with learning about Sealed Techniques?”

  This might have seemed like a stupid or redundant question, and she agreed with that notion. However, Yor was getting impatient and couldn’t wait around to be told stuff she already had a good idea on.

  She was impatient mostly because of the need to report about the strangeness of the black lake as quickly as possible. She could have done it sooner but that would have stripped her of the chance to learn about the strange abilities this world had to offer.

  And knowing how overprotective and dotting Marcille is, she didn’t know when she would get such a chance again. Also, Temperance and the others could be back at any minute now, depending on how their investigation goes.

  ‘Besides, I could have been seeing things. There is a first for everything after all’

  By the looks of it, everyone shared her sentiment. The twins and Elias didn’t try to disagree with her words or tease her.

  The gentleman stood in silence for a while before he gave a small chuckle.

  “Don’t misunderstand, Miss Drapes. I’m not just telling you all for the fun of it. The point is, those deities are not just old tales. They are tied to how Sealed Techniques work. Every one of them is coloured by one of the three cosmic forces. Life. Death. And Chaos. They are what are called Alignments”

  He ticked them off on his fingers.

  “Life means resilience, rebirth, protection and control over vital processes. Death leans toward annihilation, decay, martyrdom, and survival. Finally Chaos, although rare, Sealed Techniques aligned with it manifest unpredictably, often breaking logic.

  Ascendants do not choose their Alignments as it reflects the spirit. The more you try to deny or resist it, the harder the technique will become to awaken or control, let alone ascend.”

  He paused before snapping his fingers. The sharp sound made the kids flinch, pulling them back from drowning in that drop of information.

  “Here’s something you must always keep note of. All Sealed Technique Alignments are dependent on the bearer of an Inscription they are derived from. We are simply their playthings in the end”

  ***

  Yor took a deep breath and exhaled. Normally this would have been a lot for her to handle, but this time she found it surprisingly bearable.

  But after hearing all of that, she became more skeptical about awakening a Sealed Technique. Though she didn’t know how that was done and it was going to stay that way. At least for now.

  She wanted strength, oh she wanted it badly. But not if it meant handing herself over to be someone’s tool.

  This was the exact reason she doubted becoming an Ascendant because she knew that meant she was going to be under the ruling government of this country. And there was also the possible risk of dying inside a Chaos Regions.

  ‘Still, there is another way I can go about this. Arthur said Sealed Techniques are derived from an Inscription’

  The way the gentleman put it, he implied that Inscriptions were higher than Sealed Techniques and pulled all the strings for those below them.

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  That one caught her interest. The thought lit something sharp in her chest, until she was snapped out of her thoughts by Elias and the twins lighting up beside her.

  They bombarded Arthur with a ton of questions, questions such as…

  “When can we get ours?!”

  “What kind of power will I get?!”

  “Can we choose Death? Death sounds wicked, don’t it, Silas?”

  Yor immediately shut both her ears with her hands and hummed to tune them out. That kind of talk was dangerous for her.

  ‘If I hear Arthur’s response, I’d start chasing after it no matter the risk. I know myself that much’

  She forced her focus away from them and waited for a while before realizing that the gentleman didn’t pay them any heed. The fortunate part was that he didn’t give the boys a response…

  The unfortunate part was that it wasn’t for good reasons. Yor could see the sharp caution in Arthur’s astris flaring like a wire drawn taut.

  ‘That’s not good’

  “Lower your voices”

  When she uncovered her ears, that’s the first thing she heard from him, raising his hand. The boys did as instructed, though confused. Yor on the other hand felt it, and it had the hairs along her arms standing on end.

  Turning her attention to the black lake, there were bubbles on its surface. Soft at first but grew louder and thicker, as if something was coming.

  The water itself churned in lazy spirals and gurgled violently.

  She was not paranoid after all, but she was already too late.

  ‘I messed up’

  ?? Incoming. A horde of Fallen Souls has been detected ??

  Piercing through her looming fear was the familiar voice of Sawatari.

  This was odd, she had never warned her about threats before. Was this a new function of hers? Or are they going to face something she considered a threat to Yor’s life?

  If that was the case then they were screwed. However, the Manifestation did not provide her with something she didn’t already know.

  Her brows knit as she bit back a hiss and snapped internally instead.

  ‘I know that already! Tell me something useful!’

  From the first time she could not perceive what was under the depths of those dark waters, it was blatantly obvious that some horror was going to crawl out of there eventually. She noticed that first but failed to relay it to the others.

  She cursed herself and her strong curiosity for distracting her.

  Looking at the black lake was like being blinded all over again. Unlike how she saw the world normally, those waters had no outlines, no pulses of energy or anything she could use her perception on.

  It was just an endless, smothering void swallowing all sense of form beneath its surface. She wasn’t sure if she was the only one who noticed this or was it just unique to her cause she seemed to be the only one having this issue.

  It was not until they broke through the surface that she was able to perceive them. And by all that is holy, she wished she couldn’t.

  “What the hell…?”

  She muttered nervously to herself.

  Fallen Souls had risen from the depths of the black lake. Their shapes, sizes and appearances varied a lot, some were short with a single gaping maw running down from their forehead to their chin. Rows of endless teeth promised a quick and painful death.

  Fewer in numbers were a dozen others with taller stature, melted, waxy skin whose heads were tilted and distorted into blurred faces. As expected, Yor couldn’t make out their facial features. Not that she minded not seeing them.

  The Fallen Souls all shared a couple of traits. They were thin humanoids with arms stretched down to the ground err…the lake’s surface. Their hands ended in elongated claws, each finger tapering into sharp wet points.

  There was no doubt about it, these monsters were grotesque and terrifying beyond belief, especially for someone like her, who was not only a novice to these kinds of stuff but also how she saw their true chaotic essence.

  Through astris, Yor saw their flickering outlines, and unstable bodies. Each Fallen Soul was a knot of chaos stitched into mock human frames, from their insides seething with static and emptiness, to the horrifying forms of their outsides.

  She unconsciously took a step back, almost breaking into a full spring back into the forest. Fortunately, her reasoning stopped her from taking such a dumb move.

  If she left the protection of Duskfall and flailed wildly on her own, she would die for sure.

  Wanting to turn back now reminded her of the gatekeeper they faced before coming here. She may have not felt the same crushing pressure as she did with that nightmare, in fact, the ones in front of her seemed lesser in comparison.

  Knowing that somehow calmed down a racing heart.

  But another issue was, unlike where the gatekeeper was one….there were nearly 50 of these Fallen Souls and counting. The water kept bubbling as more spilled into the world.

  They dragged themselves from the black lake and slowly made their way toward the shore. Every wet squelch of their steps pressed harder against Yor’s nerves. She kept herself together though.

  ‘76 of them now…Arthur and Agnes can’t possibly handle that many on their own, can they?’

  And thinking of Agnes, where the bloody hell was she?!

  The only capable one here was Arthur. The twins could somewhat fight, which was proven when they tried to ambush Marcille in the Crown & Coffin bar. But they easily got beat, even though they had weapons.

  Her faith in them plummeted immediately.

  Elias was definitely a no, no. At this moment, he was just as scared as her. His astris quivered like a trembling rabbit, a step away from making a break for it.

  Lastly was herself, Yor Drapes. She was good with a sword thanks to Azure Ooze’s Unique Ability: Intoxication. But she didn’t have a sword or weapon to defend herself. Even if she was able to dodge them with her flexibility, without any flashy abilities, she was practically useless here, a defenseless blind little girl.

  She dreaded that thought and feeling of it. All she had was her awareness and the bitter taste of helplessness rising in her throat.

  “Silas, Seth. Form a wall protecting Elias and the lady. Don’t fail”

  Arthur’s voice had a serious edge as he unsheathed his cane sword with a smooth hiss. He slid into guard, daring the first of the now 100 monsters to make a move.

  “Yes sir!”

  The twins affirmed at the same time. They drew their daggers and stepped forward as a barrier between Yor and the horrors dragging themselves ashore.

  “Don’t cry, Yor. You’re under our protection now”

  “I wasn’t cr—”

  “We won’t let a single one pass. That’s a promise”

  Yor’s lips parted as if to argue, but after getting cut off by Seth, she didn’t have the strength to do so anymore. Instead she swallowed hard and clenched her fists at her own uselessness.

  The moment the first horde of Fallen Souls touched land, everything changed.

  Their bodies straightened, spines snapping upright with a grotesque series of pops. Then they scuttled forward in unnatural speed, not as fast as the gatekeeper because Yor was able to track their movements quite easily.

  But that did not stop her from flinching back. Elias let out a gasp, already turning to make a run for it, but her hand shot out without thinking. She grabbed his wrist and held him still.

  “Don’t. If you run, you’ll die”

  As frightened as she was, her voice came out rather firm. It was enough to stop the boy’s reckless action.

  At the same time, Arthur’s foot touched stone one after the other. He strode forth toward the horde of monsters like walking across a ballroom floor. His cane sword was angled low at his side.

  “Spirit Flow Art: [Ten Step Confusion]

  Sealed Technique….”

  In an instant, he was gone. No, not gone, more like he split. Afterimages of Arthur burst like shards of glass across the shoreline. Each drew the Fallen Souls toward a false trap, their claws only striking illusions that cracked and fizzled into nothingness.

  And when he had them all in place, his cane sword thrummed like a tuning fork as he swung in a single horizontal arc.

  What followed was not like steel cutting flesh, but the world itself splitting. The invisible wave tore through the monsters as though their bodies were made of wet paper.

  “...[Resonance]”

  In a single dash, Arthur appeared on the far side of the horde, where his attack did not reach. He did not look back. Frankly, he didn’t need to. All of them collapsed to the ground, their bodies cleaved apart into halves and quarters by a force they couldn’t comprehend.

  Elias squeezed her hand without realizing. Even she hadn’t realized her hand was being squeezed. Like the boy, she was also in awe.

  “Bloody hell…”