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“Rang Seidaren, for the crimes of familicide, attempts to practice the heretical arts of necromancy, theft of the grand treasury, murder of Count Menec, and treason against the Kingdom of Magnian. You shall hereby be stripped of your title of ‘Seidaren’ and your runic artifact ‘Resuin’. his majesty, the sovereign ruler of the kingdom has decided to leave the rest of the judgment to knight commander Rudgaar Kishval.”

The messenger of the king stepped back as he finished the message, he looked at the subdued man with enmity and disgust.

“Tch! Disgusting traitor, I pray your death doesn’t come easy.”

Muttered the messenger under his breath, he quickly turned around and left the room.

Another man stepped up, he wore a well-tailored brown overcoat that extended up to his knees. his black boots made a heavy stomping sound every step he took on the stone floor. The two swords he had at his waist side clanked as he walked towards the man on the floor.

“I am here today, not as Lord Rudgaar Kishval, Duke of Magnian. But as Knight Commander Kishval, Judge and executioner of his majesty’s will.”

Though his attire suggested otherwise, this man was the greatest knight in the Magnian kingdom. A hero who had fought off the great conquest of the Empire. A man who Rang once looked up to as a mentor and friend. But now, he was to be the blade that severed his neck.

He unsheathed a heavy broadsword from his waist and held it to Rang’s neck.

“Ha… Hah! Don’t make me laugh. Cut it with all the theatrics, why don’t you just cut my head off, nice and clean, and let me rest?”

Kishval’s eyes started to glow a dark blue as he raised his blade

Rang closed his eyes, anticipating the release of death, but it never came.


Instead, he felt a deep and painful gash form on his face.

 It had not been his neck that had been cut. Kishval’s slice had aimed for Rang’s eye, and the cut blinded him in his right eye and scarred his face.

He cried out in pain as blood poured from the wound. Immediately, healers began rushing in to provide medical aid.

“Rang Veidaren, for your crimes against the kingdom. I hereby strip you of your sight, be grateful. This is the most lenient punishment that his majesty would allow me to give you.

Kishval looked at the writhing mess on the floor with a mixture of sadness, pity, and disgust. The dark blue glow in his eyes had now faded and he left the room as quickly as he had entered.


They bound Rang in cuffs and bandaged his face. With the sound of clanking metal, they threw him into the carriage.

Kishval looked at the prison carriage as it rode off into the distance, worry evident in his eyes. But he shrugged it off, after all, he had other important matters to attend to.
—————————————————————

Dozens of guards surrounded Rang’s carriage; no brigands or external force would be able to interfere with his transportation to the camp he was being sent to.

The carriage that Rang himself was sitting in had two guards in it, one right next to him and the other directly facing him.

He chuckled lightly, wearing his signature sly smile.

“Don’t you think it’s funny?”

The guard showed no response.

“I mean, all this precaution… just to guard a single man in cuffs and chains. I’m human too, you know? Don’t treat me like a beast.”

The guard that faced Rang wore a grim expression and said

“A thing like you ought to be treated like trash. If it was up to me, I’d have killed you on the spot. You lost your right to call yourself a human the minute you killed your own kin.”



“Ohohoh! A fiery one. Say, why do you think I killed my own parents? Did you think that it was just meaningless slaughter, like the rest of all my murders? No, it had a purpose. All of it did.”

The guard looked disgusted, “What the hell is he rambling on about…”

“I won’t ask you to understand, after all, how can a crow understand the works of a phoenix? I just want you to know that none of it was meaningless. Just remember my words when the day comes.”

“Crazy bastard… just ignore him.”

Rang looked disappointed, they were likely not going to listen to him anyway, so what was the point of continuing the conversation? He sat there in silence, waiting for anything to relieve his boredom.

Hours passed before anything notable happened. Rang stared out the window, gazing at the scenery outside as rain started to pour.

“Damn it, rain? Tch, we’re gonna have to start speeding up”, said one of the guards.

The rain quickly turned into a heavy downpour, as the pitter and patter of the water droplets sounded out, Rang sensed someone approaching. The guards looked completely carefree, meaning they likely didn’t sense what he did.

‘And an opportunity presents itself~’, he thought to himself.

“Say, do these cuffs bind Nema?”, he asked one of the guards.

“Wha-? No, they don’t. But don’t you dare try anything funny, you know you can’t escape. Especially in that condition”, the one facing him replied.

“Aha, I was just being curious. No need to be so aggressive.”

Their conversation was interrupted by the carriage’s screeching halt.

“The hell!? What’s going on out there?”, he tried to see what the commotion was.

“SOMEONE’S BLOCKING THE WAY!” said one of the other guards.

“Sir, please move out of the way!”

The man who stood before the entourage of guards wore a pure white coat, his long black hair flowed to his shoulders. In his hand was a long, pitch-black spear, it emanated an other-worldly aura.


“Agh! Just forget it, we all know no one would be on this road. Look at his spear! That guy is definitely an assassin. Grab your weapons!”

As soon as those words were said, screams and shouts of pain sounded into the air. One of the guards protecting Rang prepared to leap out of the carriage, but suddenly Rang slammed his elbow into one of them. Sending them both flying out of the carriage and into the wet grass and mud outside.

The other guard quickly jumped down to apprehend Rang. But as he ran towards him, he saw the carnage that had unfolded just moments prior.

The torn corpses of the guards littered the field. Each and every single one of them had large puncture wounds, whether on their heads or stomachs. Every single guard had been brutally pierced through.

As he gazed in shock and terror of the sight, he too, was punctured. He looked down to see what had hit him, only to see a large icicle protruding through his stomach.
“This doesn’t make any sense…”, said the guard as he collapsed on the floor, his last words quieter than a whisper.

Rang stood up to see the last remaining guard fleeing. He turned to face the man who had just slaughtered more than a dozen guards by himself.

“So, who sent you? Who even are you anyway?”

He broke Rang’s cuffs using his heavy spear in one fell swoop before speaking, “This is Elias’ way of repaying a favor. Here, take this.”

He handed him a ring. Rang clutched it in his palms and tried to make out the magic it possessed; it was one of the two Runes that his family had possessed, their most priceless treasure. Haduan, the warp-maker. Though, it was thought to have been lost years ago during a battle.

“..How’d he find this one?”

“Elias has his ways, I will be going now. Oh, and before that, I should probably take care of him.”

He pointed his spear towards the fleeing guard, the droplets of rain coalesced around him and formed into icicles.

The fleeing guard was stabbed by a hundred icicles, each the size of a small dagger. He collapsed on the floor, coughing out blood.

Rang fiddled with the ring in his hands, remembering her. His memory of her was the last thing keeping him going.

‘Elaine! Look what I got you, it’s a matching ring! My parents allowed me to take it from the treasury. I think it would suit your fighting style.”

‘Elaine! Are you crazy!? Don’t be so gung-ho about battle all time. You could get yourself killed, you know!’

‘So.. you’re Elaine huh? Kishval’s told me about you, I thought you seemed a bit interesting. My name is…’

He stopped reminiscing about his memories with her and focused on his current goal.

“Well, I guess it’s time to visit Galentina.”

Using Haduan, he warped space and transported himself to the Cathedral of the Third Cardinal.

————————————

Rang found himself in the empty Cathedral, there seemed to be no one in sight, though, he couldn’t actually tell.

He faced the doors leading to an altar room and opened them.

Entering the room, he found her kneeling on the ground. Praying to a god above.

“So, this is where you’ve been holed up in. Galentina?”

“Welcome, I’ve been expecting you”, she said. Her voice soft and almost-like a calm whisper.

She stood up and turned to face him, her eyes covered by a blindfold. Rang tore off the bandages covering his eyes to face her.

“Hmph, of course you were. Wearing your Rune, huh? I guess nothing gets past those eyes of yours.” He said, his tone sharp and spiteful.

“I have seen a vision, a vision of a ruined world. Seas blanketed with the flames of a madman, land consumed and corrupted by the adversary’s firstborn, rain that causes madness in the hearts of man, and much much more. However, none of this is absolute, it can all be prevented. Granted, I’ll need your help, I can’t do anything especially in this state.The Fourth Cardinal is keeping a watchful eye on my every move.”


Rang chuckled slowly, his light and soft laughter turned into a mad cough

“Hehehaha! Isn’t that just wonderful? You want me to be your little puppet, dancing along to every little pull of the strings, to be one of the oh-so valiant heroes that save the world. Isn’t that right? But of course, as a merchant first and foremost I’m not gonna offer my services for free. And you know what my price is.”

Galentina slightly wavered after hearing Rang’s theatrical voice, it seemed as though he had gone mad. But alas, he was her last hope.

“Of course, I know why you came here in the first place. I solemnly vow that you will absolutely capture Dream-eater Vironta and reacquire Elaine’s soul, considering this a binding contract.”

Rang looked at skeptically, but she too was the last hope he had. Not Elias, not the Emperor, not the King, and certainly not any no-name necromancer.

“Well, that’s the least you owe the two of us after all…”

His tone was hateful but also had a tinge of sadness laced within it, he felt regret about the past. But it couldn’t be helped at this point.


Rang left the Cathedral, but now, he was certain. His paradise was in reach, and nothing would stop him.

————————————


Years ago

“Ah, Elaine. Could you hold me, please?”

Rang laid his head on her lap as she caressed his head.

“Huh? Sure, I guess.”

Elaine complied with his demands and held him in a tight embrace.

“Tch! The hell you’re resting for, jackass? We still have work to do. Get up and get ready.”

Galentina interrupted the two with an important topic. Her tone was quite irritated, though, most of her ire was directed towards Rang. It was no wonder why she was restless, the three of them had just recently returned after a week-long reconnaissance mission. And by the time they returned, dawn had already broken.

“You’re just jealous of me because you’re singl-”

Rang’s provocation would not go unanswered, as a kick aimed at his face silenced him instantly.

“Leave the lovebirds be, Galen. Besides, Rang’s had a hard week, no? The reconnaissance missions have been pouring nonstop.”

A fourth voice interjected, it belonged to their compatriot and coworker; Qulren. He entered the room holding a pot of tea and a plate with eight empty cups.

“Hey, need I remind you who was the one that was forced to work overtime and go nearly blind for said reconnaissance missions?” She fired back.


Her face twitched in anger and her brow furrowed, the week prior had been hellish for her. As only her, Rang, and Elaine were suited for such missions within their unit, they had been the ones carrying most of the workload.


“Have some tea, don’t let Rang get to you.” Qulren offered Galentina a cup of hot green tea to calm her down, but unfortunately, her hatred for Rang transcended reason.

“Hahh… I swear to god, he’s just so incredibly unbearable. I don’t even know how Elaine puts up with him.”

“You’re just mad because you’re shor-”  Rang provoked her again, which was not a very wise decision.

A fist came flying up to his face, but it stopped just an inch short from hitting him. Galentina tried to hit him, but Qulren had restrained her.

“Stop being so violent all the time! If Kishval walked in on us, how would you explain this?!” His reasoning fell on deaf ears.

“I’m sure the commander would understand, especially since he’s been with that asshole the longest out of all of us. LET ME GO, QULREN. I AM GOING TO TEAR HIS LIMBS OFF!”

“What’s with all this racket in the morning?”

A fifth voice chimed in, it was Poidat, the de facto captain of the unit. Aside from Kishval himself. He looked at the four of them and clicked his tongue in annoyance

“This routine again? Get your heads together, this is an embarrassing showcase.” With only a few words, Poidat had managed to reign in the two troublemakers with ease.

Galentina went back to her seat and shuffled in silence and embarrassment, this was not the first time this had happened and it was likely not to be the last.

Rang sat in the corner with Elaine, though he had been forced to apologize to Poidat and Galentina for his behavior, he was most probably not going to change his ways anytime soon.

Qulren offered Poidat a cup of tea and the two of them started a discussion

“Thank you, Qulren. Your tea is simply delectable, I don’t know if I could live without it.”

“I appreciate your compliments, sir” He replied with a radiant smile.

“Ah, aside from that. I heard Sir Kishval is coming himself to congratulate us for our success soon. He’s probably gonna be arriving by next week, and also you should wake the others up.”

Sehlad, Ignaz, and Thulow woke up in quick succession and quickly finished their breakfast

“I just hope sir Kishval brings us a treat, it’s been a really hard week you know?” Said Sehlad.

“If you keep on expecting rewards from people for doing the bare minimum you will be sorely disappointed, and most of the work was done by the reconnaissance unit. Not you, so even if he brought things with him, you certainly would not be the one to receive any of them.” Rebuked Poidat, in his usual calm and harsh tone.

“Tch! Would it hurt for you to be less stingy, captain?”

“I’m afraid so. Being nice is not my forte, if you want someone to coddle you then go to Ignaz.”

Meanwhile, Qulren, Ignaz, and Thulow sat in the corner of the living room, playing cards with each other.

Galentina sat by her lonesome, reading a book in peace and quiet.

Though the cabin was large, it could barely handle eight people at once. Though, none of the residents could particularly complain, after all, being stationed at a mountain outpost such as this was still far better than being on the frontlines. Where a war could break out at any moment.
—————————

The sun had started to set by now. Two cloaked figures encroached on a cabin, the noise from inside the cabin was loud enough to be heard from the outside.

One of the figures stretched out their hand to knock on the door.

Knock

Knock

Knock

The three resounding knocks silenced the noise from inside the cabin.

“Could it be a supply drop?” Inquired Qulren

“No, it’s far too late in the day for that. And we already received our supplies yesterday, remember?” Whispered Thulow

“Then it could just be a traveler.” Said Galentina

“What kind of traveler would end up here? This place is restricted, the only things here are us and the monsters down there.” Rang rebuked

Poidat clicked his tongue, “Everyone, get into position. We might have to fight. There’s at least 2 of them out there.”

He grabbed a dagger from the table and approached the door, holding the weapon in his left hand. He opened the door with trepidation.

Right as the door opened, Poidat lunged at the hooded figure with his dagger, but the man caught it between his fingers with ease.

Poidat reacted with haste and tried to kick the man in the head, but once again his attack was blocked. The man raised his hand to intercept the kick and then held his arms up in the air as a sign of surrender.

“Oh! Calm down, team captain. It’s just me!”

The man took his hood down to reveal his face, it was Kishval.

“Uh–Um.. Sir, my most sincere apologies… I was not expecting you to… arrive so early.” 


Immediately, Poidat kneeled to the ground and started to apologize to Kishval. His error could have cost him greatly, however, Kishval was not the type of man to hold grudges.

“Haha, stand up. Hold no shame, team captain. I know my arrival was quite sudden and that you are paranoid from your time up in these treacherous mountains, I apologize for that. I should have specified my exact time of arrival in the message I sent.”

The other members of the unit came out to see Kishval

“The commander is here? Oh my, you should have told me sooner! I’ll prepare something for him right away.”

“Did he bring any snacks?! Treats?! Anything!? I’m getting tired of the same old boring food up here!”

“Kishval’s here? Well, no wonder I couldn’t sense one of them.”

“Ah… Commander’s here.”

A bunch of voices started from across the hallway, everyone was excited to see the Commander after such a long time. 

Rang came up to greet Kishval, but he found something peculiar.

“Who’s this with you? A new recruit?”

Kishval looked back to face his companion

“Ah, that’s–”

She held a finger up to her lips, signaling him to not say anything. She took off her hood and made a peace sign with her hands

“Heyo, the name’s Dantalian. You greenhorns can just call me Dali, though.”

Galentina and Poidat, who were both next to Rang, looked at the woman with contempt. They were not the types to take being belittled very well.

“Alright, that’s enough for introductions I guess? It’s freezing out here, so I’m gonna go inside.” Dali made way into the cabin, ignoring the hateful gazes of the two.

As she made her way into the cabin, her way was blocked by Rang.

“Woah~ Isn’t that just amazing? Judging by your attitude, you must be pretty strong. Say, what unit are you originally from? Are you from the Knight Order? No wait, are you an independent hire? You must be an independent hire! Oh, also what’s the box that you’re carrying?”

He bombarded her with questions, but the thing he was most curious about was the wooden container she was carrying with her.  He touched the container, feeling the powerful energy of a Rune seeping through, but his hand was slapped away by Dantalian’s

“Oi, don’t touch my stuff without my permission. Got that, punk?”

“Ah~ Sorry, I just couldn’t help myself. I got too excited, it’s my fault.”
 

Galentina watched from afar as Dantalian chastised Rang, “Sir, with all due respects. Although I have no doubt about your choice in personnel… isn’t she just a bit too rude for our unit?” she asked.

“Rest assured, Dantalian has the skills to back up her arrogance. She’s not even meant to be a part of your unit anyway, she was a mercenary that I hired for the new mission assigned to you. At most she will be staying for 2-3 weeks here for her contract.”

“Mercenary..? But we’ve never had to hire mercenaries for our missions before. What’s so special about this one?”


He had a grim look on his face, “I’ll explain it once we get inside, as Dali said before. It’s getting a bit too chilly here, isn’t it?”

—————

After they headed inside, Kishval revealed a basket of gifts that he had gotten for the unit. 

Thulow and Ignaz declined any gifts that Kishval had prepared for them, but the rest gladly accepted what he had to offer

A box of treats from the finest bakers in the kingdom for Sehlad

A limited edition book for Galentina

A well-tailored suit for Qulren

A cheque of money for Poidat

And a bouquet of flowers for Rang and Elaine.

“To commemorate your anniversary, have this.” Kishval handed the two of them the bouquet of flowers.

“Ah. Thank you, commander,” Said Elaine

“Oh~ Much appreciated, Kishval!” 

“I wish you two would just retire as soon as possible, you’ve already done plenty of work at such a young age and I’m sure his majesty would understand.” Kishval sighed as he said

“I wish that too, Kishval. But, you know what Elaine is like. She follows the scent of battle, I can’t stop her at all..” He chuckled a bit after finishing his sentence.

Kishval looked at them with pity, but he chose not to speak up. He hoped for the best of the two of them.
.

“Well, that aside. Let’s start the mission debrief, shall we?”

From his basket of goods, Kishval extracted a bunch of papers and read them out loud for the unit to listen to

“To summarize, an extremely powerful and old Great Beast has escaped the grasp of the Knight order. According to the last reported sightings of it, it made its way into the mountains while being chased by the Knight Order of Magnian before disappearing completely off the map. It’s been a few weeks and there have been no signs of it showing, so it is likely that it is still within this mountain range. However if it ever manages to show up again in public, then the damage it could cause would be too great to calculate.”

The group began to murmur amongst themselves

“What’s the monster like?”

“It’s a mimic-type monster. From what has been reported it seems to have the ability to shapeshift and copy people, one to one. Even their equipment, including their Runes. Considering it is one of the older Greater Beasts near this region, it has likely mimicked dozens or even hundreds of people. We must approach it with the utmost of caution.”

Dantalion sighed, “Kishval, what’s the point of explaining this to them? From my point of view, no one here is suitable to join the hunt,” She stole a glance over at Elaine “Well, aside from that one over there.”

Sehlad glared daggers at her, “You picking a fight?”

Poidat signaled to the young man to stand down and tried to defuse the situation.

Sehlad clicked his tongue and backed down, to which Dantalian provoked him further.

“Sure sure, run away with your tail between your legs. Saves me the disgrace of fighting you,” She laughed as she mocked him.

This time though, it was not Sehlad who responded to her challenge. But Poidat instead.

He drew his dagger and pointed it at her, “You’ve been boasting so highly about yourself. Why don’t we prove that supposed skill of yours?”

She smirked and took hold of the wooden container that held her Rune, her hand looked as if it was about to break the box open and retrieve the contents inside. But before the situation could escalate any further, the container disappeared from her hand.

Puzzled, Dantalian looked around the room and then saw Rang holding the box.

“Hey, we’ve treated you quite hospitably so far. So what’s all the animosity for? You should calm down a bi-” His words were cut short as Dantalian charged towards him, fist readied.

She attempted to pulverize his face, but her fist was blocked by Elaine.

“Didn’t I tell you to not touch my stuff?” Her voice peaked with loathing as she looked towards Rang.

Kishval clapped his hands, creating a loud and booming sound that silenced the entire room. “Alright! That’s enough, you should get along. This is going to be a long and arduous mission, and any mishap could spell disaster for the entire operation.”

He looked over towards the Sehlad and Poidat

“Sehlad, Poidat. While I do appreciate you two standing up for the rest of your team, it was frankly unnecessary. You must control your anger, if you respond to every little provocation then your vision will be clouded by the enemy’s deceit.”

He then turned towards Elaine and Rang

“I believe you two handled the situation quite suitably, especially you, Rang. Attempting to de-escalate the situation was a smart option, however, you must be careful who you’re dealing with. As you can tell, Dantalian dislikes her belongings being touched.”

And finally, he looked at Dantalian. His eyes turned a bright Azure blue and his voice grew more stern than ever. His presence overwhelmingly bright and crushing, he spoke to her.

“And Miss Dantalian, I would appreciate it if you stopped picking fights with my subordinates. I have judged them sufficient enough for this operation, and as your employer, that is final.”

She shuddered in fear at his words, but responded quickly, “Sorry, sorry~ It’s just my tendency to establish a pecking order, you know? I’ll try to control myself next time, Sir Kishval. It was my fault.”

He sighed and concluded the debriefing, “Well then, I believe that should be all, correct? Tomorrow will be a long day, we should get some sleep.”

The cabin could barely accommodate eight people, so Dantalian and Kishval did not have any rooms to sleep in. Kishval suggested that she take the couch, but Dantalian declined his offer. She slumped her back against a wall and sat down, though it was not a comfortable position to sleep in. She was not one that complained about comfortability.

––––––––––

“Say, I’ve been wondering. How do you even patrol this mountain? Seems too large for just 8 people to cover,” Dantalian asked.

“We have our methods, but we mostly rely on those two.” Ignaz said as she waved towards Elaine and Rang

“Well ain’t that interesting huh?” Dantalian looked at them curiously

-

“Alright,” Kishval divided the eight of them into pairs, “Here’s the formation layout; Rang and Elaine will patrol the perimeter. Since they are the fastest and the most perceptive of your lot, they should be able to cover the perimeter without any difficulty unless they encounter the mimic. 

Poidat and Qulren will survey the southern side of the region, Qulren, your long range of fire and high perception should make spotting and suppressing the mimic long enough for reinforcements to arrive an easy task. If anything goes awry, then Poidat will always be there to cover for you in close range combat. 

Thulow and Galentina will survey the western side of the region, Thulow will provide the defensive support to Galentina while she tracks the mimic’s marks using her Rune.

Ignaz and Sehlad will survey the northern side of the region, since you two are the least suitable for hunting. You will instead stand guard at the northern side and notify the rest of us if the mimic is spotted.”

Finally, he looked towards Dantalian, “Dantalian, as you are the most capable among the fighters. I will send you alone to survey the eastern side of the region. I trust that you will be able to navigate your way through the mountain, if you need any help. Please refer to the map I have given you.

And finally, myself. I will be stationed at the center of the mountain, since you all know of the mimic’s capabilities. It would be most troublesome if I was the first to encounter it. However, if there is any trouble in subduing the beast, then I will personally arrive to take care of the matter. Though, this is just a precaution. I hope that I will not be needed in the proceedings of this operation.” He finished.

“And–” He took out multiple fireworks “–If you are in need of assistance, set off one of these fireworks. The red ones are to alert that the mimic has been spotted and that reinforcements are needed, and the purple one is to request my assistance.”

Kishval handed over two fireworks to everyone, and then set them on their way

—

Rang and Elaine rushed past the lush forests of the mountain. It had been more than 8 hours that they had been traveling for, and though Rang seemed to have tired quite a bit since he had started, Elaine looked as if she still had plenty of energy left.

The vermillion evening sky shone so brightly, it was a beautiful, vivid sight. The radiant orange and red hues only intensified their sprint through the woods, the chase for the mimic had yet so far yielded no results. But they had plenty of time still, they would find the mimic eventually. No matter where it was hiding.Suddenly, Rang dug his feet to the ground and halted.

“Elaine, wait,” he said.

He looked over to the western side, sensing something beyond, and then saw a red firework light up in the distance, immediately. The two of them began rushing towards the western side of the mountain.

As they were running, Elaine stretched out her hand for Rang to hold. He grabbed her hand and suddenly, the ring on her ring finger glowed, Nema whirled and coalesced around it and in a flash of light. They teleported.

Haduan, the warp-making relic transported them to the Western region

“This was the approximate location of where the firework was set off, right? That’s weird. I can’t sense that mimic anywhere around here. Does its presence change with its form?” Rang wondered.

The two of them heard rustling from the bushes, and out from them came a little girl.

“H-have you seen my daddy? Please… I’m lost, I don’t know where I am,” the little girl said.

“A child? What’s a child doing he–” Before Rang could finish his sentence, Elaine dashed past him and unsheathed one of her silver Scimitars and then struck the child with her blade.

The head of the little girl flew through the air and landed on the grass. Rang looked on in exasperation, he had made a blunder that almost cost him his life, “I almost actually fell for that, haha… sorry for that. Elaine, I spaced out for a bit.”

With blood on her cheek, she turned to face Rang, “It’s alright.”
They turned their focus towards the headless corpse of the little girl, which was still standing straight. A black mucus poured out from its stump of a neck.

“How putrid, let’s finish the job,” he said and Elaine nodded. She moved towards the mimic while Rang used his Rune, Resuin, to summon a longbow.

The creature transfigured its body and turned into Thulow, wielding a basic, steel broadsword with a golden hilt. It moved towards Elaine and held its sword high and then swung it down at Elaine, but its attack was intercepted by Rang, who shot the mimic’s arm while it was still in motion.

While the mimic was temporarily stunned by the attack, Elaine rushed in and drew her other scimitar. Using her two swords she carved at the monster mimicking Thulow. Easily slicing its arms off and rendering it unable to fight.

The monster, terrified with the thought of possible death, ran away as quickly as possible. Elaine and Rang tried to chase after it but it transformed into a monstrous horse and sprinted off into the distance.

Rang clicked his tongue, but he knew the hunt would continue, be it sooner or later. For the next 4 minutes, they spent chasing after the trail that the monster had left, which soon led them to reunite with their compatriots.

Elaine spotted a figure in the woods that seemed to have the same appearance as Thulow as she ran, immediately, she changed her trajectory and bolted straight to the figure. Ready to decapitate what she thought was the mimic.

But before her blades could sever the neck of the figure, she was pulled back by Rang.

“Elaine! That’s the real Thulow, look closely.” He chastised

“That was close…” Galentina interjected as she saw the both of them

“Hrmm, I take it that you have encountered that creature, too?” Said Thulow, he stroked his beard while he spoke as though he had not narrowly avoided death.

“Yes, senior Thulow, I made sure to strike it with my Runes. I’m also sorry for my rashness.” She profusely apologized to him

“Don’t worry too much about it, we all know what you’re like during a hunt. Besides, Rang was there to stop you. All’s well that ends well.”

“No–Thulow, you really shouldn’t encourage that in her. You almost died there…” Galentina said, exacerbated by their casualness.

“That aside, do you have any clue where the mimic’s gone? We were chasing it before it transformed and outran us," asked Rang.

“Yeah, I used my Rune to track where it would go. It seems to be in a clearing around this area,” replied Galentina, “Now all that’s left is to finish the hunt,” added Thulow.

They walked for a few minutes before coming across the large clearing that Galentina had spoken of, the mimic laid in the center. In its horse form, nursing the wounds that had been inflicted upon it by Elaine.

They set off a red firework right before they descended to face the monster, usually, alerting the monster to their presence would not have been the correct choice. However, the beast was injured and most importantly, it had been struck by Elaine’s Runes.

Thulow and Elaine came to the forefront, the vanguards of this battle. While Rang stayed at the back with Galentina, providing them support and protecting the seer, who was to command the two fighters.

The mimic, sensing danger, immediately shapeshifted. The form it took on was Elaine’s. Flowing silver hair, and cerulean eyes. Fully equipped with her two scimitars and space-warping ring. 

“It’s smart enough to know who’s the strongest here, huh?” Galentina said from the back, “This is gonna be a headache” She added as she wore her Rune and covered her eyes.

Immediately, the mimic rushed towards Elaine, who it knew was the biggest threat amongst them. However, its charge was interrupted by Thulow who swung his large sword at the mimic.

It stopped its charge to block Thulow’s strikes with its two blades, the weight of the sword fell upon the mimic and started to break the earth apart. But it was not going to fall so easily, the two blades parted to make way for Thulow’s sword to fall upon the ground. The mimic turned to dodge the path of the blade and then aimed for Thulow’s neck.

“Elaine!” Galentina shouted

Elaine blocked the strike aiming for Thulow’s neck using her own sword. The two silver scimitars met and sparks of metal clashing of metal flew through the air, and then, a brawl ensued.

Thulow charged into the battle and his broadsword was suddenly coated in a mercurial liquid, from which it formed a massive, serrated greatsword. He swung the sword at the mimic, clashing blades once more.

“Rang, take out the lance. If you help them pressure the mimic then we can get this over with quickly.”
“Roger~”

Rang summoned a sharp and slender lance, he jumped into the battle and swung it at the mimic. Who, due to the sheer amount of attacks being thrown at it, was being pressured to endure some of them now.

He stabbed at the mimic repeatedly, the lance’s blows were all deflected by the mimic’s scimitars, but the point of the attacks were not to damage the mimic, they were to create an opening for his comrades.

Thulow swung his greatsword upwards at the beast, unable to block the blow it was forced to take devastating damage. Which led to it taking further damage from Elaine, who quickly took the opportunity to slash at the monster.

“Use the bow now, the monster is on its last legs.” Galentina commanded

Rang put back his lance and summoned his bow instead, “Dear, even though I know it’s a monster. I’ll still feel bad if I kill something that looks like you, so… do I have your permission to absolutely obliterate that parasite?” He asked

“Sure.” 

Though Elaine’s response was cold and hollow-sounding, she assured Rang.

The fight grew more and more intense as the monster had to deal with the constant suppressing fire and the heavy offense of Rang and Thulow. Eventually, it descended into feral madness.

“Alright, Rang, Thulow. Step back, Elaine’s the only one that can handle what’s to come.”

The mimic that looked like Elaine held its two swords and started to chant a word. Elaine, ironically enough, copied the mimic’s movements. Knowing what was to come,

“Manifest.”

Immediately, brilliant white light enveloped the being and it was soon covered head to toe in a luscious, white armor. 

“Valkyrae Ultimas”

“Manifestation… and a double one at that, I’m surprised that thing really can copy a manifestation,” Said Thulow.

The two white knights faced each other, and then disappeared–No, rather. They became mere sparks of white light. Their sheer speed was beyond normal human comprehension, and only Rang could see them clearly.
Elaine and the mimic exchanged blows with each other, creating sparks wherever they clashed, while stopping periodically and taking time to cool down. The two of them sliced through the wind and whooshed through the air.


“They seem to be evenly matched,” Said Thulow

Rang smiled as he watched the battle, “No, they’re not. Elaine is still faster, but only by a slight margin. Remember, the mimic was struck by her rune first. Even if it copies her, it’ll still be slower.”

Elaine wielded three Runes, two of which she had mastered and was able to fully manifest at the same time.

Crestia, the Speed-eating Scimitar, a Rune that slowed the target that was hit by it, with their speed only lowering the more they were hit. A self-sustaining cycle.

Hutra, the Defense-weakening Scimitar, a Rune that increased the damage that a target, who was struck by the rune, took, with the effects of the Rune only becoming stronger the more the target was struck.

And finally, Haduan, the warp-making ring. A gift given by her fiance, Rang.

These three Runes made Elaine incredibly powerful, however, truth be told. She did not even need Haduan to be considered the strongest fighter amongst her unit, as she was one the few people in the world to have mastered the art of “Double-manifestation”.

And now, she was truly showing off her skill.

The mimic could simply not keep up with Elaine, bits and pieces of armor came flying off as her blows simply tore off the mimic’s defenses. The mimic tried to clash with her again, but failed, as Elaine simply outsped it and then severed one of its limbs off.

She then stabbed the mimic with Hutra, puncturing a hole in the monster’s chest and leaving it defeated on the ground. At this point, the battle seemed to be over, it looked as though Elaine had won. As she stood over the mimic with a triumphant look.

However…

“ELAINE! GET BACK, IT STILL HAS ANOTHER FORM!” A shout from Galentina hinted otherwise.

Hearing her desperate cry, Elaine immediately leapt back to see the mimic shifting its form once more.

“Is that the monster?!” Just as the mimic started to use its trump card, Sehlad and Ignaz showed up at last. Perfect timing.

The mimic’s body assumed a figure that of a man’s, outfitted in a sleek black outfit with a blue cloak that was embroidered with a symbol of a lightning bolt on its back.

It emanated an intense and powerful presence, one that felt as though it would crush everyone there.

“Who.. is that? That thing is now almost as strong as Sir Kishval… No, I can’t compare them. Their types of strengths are different. If he was like an overwhelming ocean… then this one’s like an outrageous storm,” commented Rang.

The mimic crouched down and then dug its feet into the ground, in an instant, it leapt towards Elaine and attempted to punch her, luckily, she was able to narrowly avoid the strike.

Though she was still faster, the physical strength of the mimic was far too much for to handle.

Ignaz and Sehlad attempted to ambush the mimic, Ignaz used her Rune to freeze the mimic’s legs in place and Sehlad threw his Chakram Rune at the mimic’s body. But it was for naught, as the mimic simply broke free of its binds and dodged out of the way of the projectile.

It dashed towards Sehlad and then struck him with its fist, knocking the young warrior back. Ignaz tried to cover for her companion but the mimic chased after her and then kicked her in the stomach.

“Activate your manifestation, this will not be an easy fight,” said Galentina.

The figure stood silently and watched as its enemies all activated their ultimate abilities, as though to mock them.

Sparks of electricity started to surround the mimic as it flicked its coat and revealed its sheathed sword, it unsheathed the blade and pointed it at the humans.

“Are you serious? It doesn’t even consider us worth using Manifestation over. Is it that confident in its trump card?” Sehlad was anxious, but so were all the others. They were just better at hiding it.

A ferocious battle raged as disks of light, icicles of frost, sparks of metal and lightning flew through the air. The mimic, even in spite of facing multiple opponents who had all achieved the pinnacle of mastery, was holding its own ground with ease.

Sehlad conjured dozens of light disks and threw them at the mimic, but it simply parried all of the attacks using its sword. Then, it charged up a bolt of lightning from its blade that it fired at Sehlad.

Thulow jumped in front of the young man to shield him from the lightning bolt, a piece of his mercurial armor fell off as he tanked the blow. He dug his greatsword into the ground and conjured spikes of metal beneath the mimic, but the mimic flew out of dodge once more by using its sword to enhance its body’s speed with lightning.

Elaine tried to confront the mimic swordsman directly, however, even in spite of her superior speed. The mimic’s sheer power proved to be far too great of a challenge for her to overcome by herself. With each charge of a thunderbolt, the more her armor started to come off. The wear and tear was far too great to keep up with.

Eventually, their clash went up into the sky as the mimic launched itself high into the air using its lightning. Elaine leapt up to meet him, but it was a mistake. The two furiously clashed in the air, but it came crashing down as the mimic’s sword aimed at Elaine.

With no way to dodge the lightning bolt attack as she was immobile in the air, Elaine was forced to bear the brunt of it. The armor protecting her tore to pieces as the thunder impaled her while she fell down to the ground.

“Elaine!” Rang cried out, he rushed over to her still-breathing body and brought out numerous potions for her. After he finished administering the medicine to her, he charged at the falling mimic. Mixing between his lance, bow, and sword while fighting it.

However, all it took was another simple thunderbolt from the mimic that forced Rang out of the battle. Ignaz, Thulow and Sehlad were hesitant to rush in blindly, after all. They had seen what could go wrong if one went in unprepared.

But it was then when they heard a new, somewhat-familiar voice.

Galentina’s face contorted with worry, but then it relaxed. Her nose was bleeding from all the overuse of her Rune, but at this point. She knew it was gonna be okay, she took off her Rune and stared at the source of the sound”


“Wow, this thing really beat you guys up, huh? Well, I suppose that would happen. Don’t worry, I brought Kishval and those other two as well. But they’re mainly just there to make sure that thing doesn’t escape.” 

Before she could take a single step, the mimic pointed its sword at her and a thunderbolt surged, aiming straight for her facing. But Dantalian simply blocked the attack by using her box to cover herself.

“You cretin… you broke my stuff. Haah~ this is so irritating, I’m gonna have to get a new container now,” Dantalian’s presence became suffocating, like a cloud of black smoke. It was now she who had control of the battlefield, not the mimic. “Hey, can you guys step back for a bit? I need to blow off some steam, so I’ll handle this one on my own. Kay?”

She pulled out her Rune from the broken container and brandished it in front of everyone. It was like a curved greatsword, but partially covered in charcoal-black chains. It emanated a black, smog-like aura that held everything around it in a deadlock.

The Chained Secare.


Dantalian pointed her sword at the mimic and the chains that wrapped around her sword extended to ensnare the mimic. As soon as the mimic was caught in her binds, she swung her sword and slammed the mimic into the ground.