As the two carriages reached the short alley that led to the treacherous cliff ledges of the hillsides, the rain began to fall in earnest and thunder soon raged across the dark clouds.

“Erin, this is getting way too eerily familiar, won’t you say?” Lyra asked as the carriages entered the alley.

Since the alley was narrow, the carriages could only enter it with one carriage at the front and the other at the back.

“As long as I don’t fall off the ledge, all will be fine,” Erin retorted frivolously but her expression was stern and uncompromising.

“I don’t hear anything behind us,” said Aera, who was taking the reins of the carriage at the back. “Is the Lindwurm not coming after us?”

“Your judgement is immature, Aera,” Siv chided. “Most threats and danger are not easily perceived until they are close.”

“I-I understand,” Aera nodded meekly.

“Just focus on the front and the horses.”

The exit of the valley eventually slipped into view after a short while, marking the start of the precarious and truly dangerous part of the journey.

“We’re nearing the ledges. Hold on!” Amyra shouted from the forefront.

The entire group swallowed their fear and braced themselves for the turbulence. However, the turbulence came early as the Lindwurm appeared from above them and dropped right into their path.

“Enemy ahead!” Nivia screamed.

“Torch it!” Aedan bellowed.

“Gladly, your grace,” Amyra chuckled with glee as she stood on her feet on the coachstand.

The Lindwurm slithered towards the group like an arrow shot from a crossbow. At the same time, Amyra conjured an orb of inferno in her hand. When she threw it at the Lindwurm, the fireball grew into a blazing vortex.

The Lindwurm saw its demise in the flames and instantly changed its trajectory, but the inferno was a few steps faster than the quasi-dragon’s instincts of self-preservation. The blaze engulfed the Lindwurm and its agonising cries echoed across the small alley.

Its throes of anguish were louder than its size suggested, making the alley tremble and shaking a few rock pieces loose.

“The whole place is coming down!” Amyra shouted.

“Abandon the carriages! Everybody hold hands!” Aedan barked his orders and no one questioned him. He exchanged a brief glance with Erin and also a nod.

Erin dispelled all four of the horses, which were all her summoned Familiars.

Everyone hopped off the now useless carriages and they huddled together, forsaking their pieces of luggage, as the alley continued to crumble.

“Everybody joined?” Erin asked.

Everyone nodded and raised their held hands for all to see and confirm.

Right around this moment, more Lindwurms emerged from the top and they streaked towards the group like some crazed and hungry beasts. Just as they were about to sink their claws and teeth into the group, they disappeared and reappeared right outside the alley where they were safe from the alley’s collapse.

The Lindwurms were not so fortunate, however. They ended up being buried by the collapse of the Lindwurms.

“We lost our bags…” Lyra muttered.

“Our bags are just decoys, did you forget?” Nivia reminded her.

“I didn’t but… one of those bags alone is worth more than all of my belongings combined.”

“She’s right,” Aedan affirmed as he looked at the rubble with a melancholic gaze. “The carriages too, they aren’t cheap. They cost a pretty penny.”

Nivia rolled her eyes. “We can talk about reimbursement and compensation later. Can we move?”

Aedan looked towards Erin, who was on the ground, panting. “Can you move?”

Erin nodded. “I will need a minute,” she said in between her rasped breaths.

Aedan’s melancholic gaze turned fretful. “Will you be alright?”

“It was my first time using Warp with a group. I’m a little out of it but I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?”

Erin smiled. “You’re such a worrywart, Aedan.”

“Because I know you are rarely honest with the state of your well-being.”

Everyone nodded at Aedan’s words except for Siv.

“Suddenly, I’m surrounded by traitors.”

“Oh, you’re being dramatic, milady,” Amyra said and hoisted Erin onto her shoulder without asking.

“Amyra, what are you—”

“Apologies, milady, but we have to move now.”

Just as the Augur said so, howls and cries of various beasts resounded from afar but the distance didn’t reassure the group in the slightest.

“What are you waiting for then? Move your arse!” Erin urged.

Amyra began running with Erin on her shoulders. Siv followed behind the Augur and she, too, took off sprinting.

Nivia and Lilian each summoned a horse using their Spirit Magic and they both shared their horses with Lyra and Aera respectively.

As the four got on the horses, Lilain turned to Aedan.

“Aedan, what of you?”

“Don’t worry about me. Just get moving,” Aedan said and cocked his rifle. Instead of running away from the collapsed alley, he trod closer to it.

“Aedan, what the hell are you doing?” Nivia asked in disbelief.

“What I do best,” he retorted dryly.

“Getting yourself killed?” Lyra scoffed with a dry chuckle.

“Well, second best.”

“You’re barely a tenth of your prime, Aedan! Your sacrifice will mean nothing!”

“I don’t intend to sacrifice myself, Nivia. I’ll be fine. So, get moving. We’ll meet up again at the next town.”

The beasts howled and cried again, signifying their imminent appearance, along with some footsteps coming from people.

“If you don’t go now, you’ll be joining me in this fight.”

“Damn it, Aedan. What am I going to tell Erin?”

“Pot, kettle,” Aedan said and took aim with his rifle.

A monster appeared from atop the rubble mountain and Aedan immediately shot it down with a single bullet to the head. The monster’s head exploded into bits and pieces with just a single shot.

Aedan cocked his rifle and glanced over his shadow. “You’re welcome to join me or you can start moving your arses now.”

Knowing no other words could convince Aedan to join them, they spurred their horses into a gallop across the narrow and steep cliff ledges.

Aedan turned his gaze back to the heaps of rubble and trained his rifle at the few possible places where the enemies could appear.

“Ah, shit,” Aedan cursed and instantly swerved his aim to his right, where the cliff was, just as a lightly armoured individual leapt up from the ledges with their swords brandished and swinging.

The attacker was dressed in religious garbs, and clad in armour plating. Aedan barely dodged the swords that threatened to take his head. Once he had moved out of the reach of the attacker’s swords, Aedan quickly fired a few shots without taking aim.

The zealot dodged the bullets by bending his body in a very fluid way as if his bones were rubber. He then quickly moved in and lunged at Aedan with his swords flourishing.

Aedan holstered his rifle and met the zealot’s swordplay with his own using a dagger kept by his waist. They exchanged a few blows with Aedan gradually being overwhelmed by the zealot’s superior ferocity and prowess.

However, the exchange tilted in Aedan’s favour a second later as he led the zealot into a few ruses and feints that ended up with the zealot’s arms getting sliced off. Aedan holstered his dagger and drew his rifle, which he then stuck the barrel into the zealot’s mouth before pulling the trigger.

Before Aedan could wipe his face of the blood, skull bits, and brain matter that he was doused with, a piercing screech resounded once again from the sky.

It was another Wyvern but not just one. More piercing screeches filled the air. Aedan counted four in his head and two already flew overhead. He thought about shooting those two down but his attention was drawn to the hills of rubble, where a man climbed onto one of the many crumbled peaks.

The man was dressed in a religious garb like the one before him but he donned a full set of heavy armour over his garb. Also like the others before him, his armour was painted in markings and symbols of the faith.

“It has been too long, your grace,” greeted the man with a blatant sneer even though his face was obscured by his helmet.

“Kang…” Aedan muttered in response, lowering his rifle. “You’re alive.”

The man named Kang chuckled. “Thanks to the true sovereign of all dragons, Aerys.”

Aedan sighed. “It’s been so many years but you’re still the same.”

“No, your grace. I have changed a great deal and for the better. You have changed too but for the worse, I see.”

“Let’s agree to disagree.” Aedan cocked his rifle, ejecting an empty casing.

“You’re weak. I no longer sense the oppressive presence you used to have.”

“Maybe it’s just your sense of self-preservation has become dull.”

“As sardonic as ever,” Kang scoffed and brandished a greatsword out of thin air. “Aerys will be delighted when I offer your head to her.”

“The Dragon God is long dead.”

“Your god is dead. Mine is still very much alive.”

“You conceited sap,” Aedan said and pulled the trigger.

A shot rang out.

Kang stumbled backwards from the shot but he was unhurt. The bullet fell to the floor harmlessly.

“For an Apostle, you sure love your secular tools,” Kang jeered.

“Consecrated means or not, it gets the job done.” Aedan fired another shot that ended with the same result.

Kang let out a scornful bellow as two more Wyverns flew overhead. “You know, in spite of your infidelity and insolence, Aerys still wants you to succeed her throne.”

“The Dragon God is dead. Whoever you’re talking to, it’s not Aerys.”

“Your lack of faith does not equate to Aerys' death.”

Aedan rolled his eyes.

“Enough of your impudence. I’ll see you dead.” A red aura surrounded Kang and then it seeped into his greatsword and armour. “See this? This is the blessing of Aerys! The real Dragon God is not dead and I am the absolute proof of her living magnificence!”

“You’re noisy,” Aedan said and proceeded to unload shot after shot until he was down to the last round.

None of the bullets penetrated Kang’s invisible barrier that took the shape of his bodily figure. “Your bullets cannot break the protection of a divine. Submit now and I shall not cripple you.”

“Sow your own farm with your own seed,” Aedan scoffed and unloaded the last round right on the zealot’s face.

Though the bullet only fazed Kang a little, the humiliation that came with it was immense. “Be glad that Aerys wants you alive.”

Aedan shrugged and stowed away his rifle. In return, he took out a long sword that looked unremarkable in every visual way but only to the eyes of a layman.

“You intend to trade sword blows with me?”

“Do you prefer to be shot in the face again?”

Kang roared and pounced towards Aedan with a thrust.

Aedan flourished his blade work swiftly and precisely, deflecting Kang’s thrust while also retaliating with a quick cut that drew a shallow wound across the zealot’s cheek.

“This cannot be!” Kang snarled and pressed in for a flurry of blows.

“Your swordplay certainly didn’t change for the better,” Aedan retorted and parried the barrage with deft movements.

“I am level fifty-seven. You are currently beneath me. How are you doing this?”

“The strength and power granted by the System is nothing more than a lucid illusion.”

“Power is power!” Kang charged in with another flurry of attacks. “All these fancy words and pretty philosophies are nothing more than the denial of the weak!”

“Then you are about to lose to the weak, boy.” Aedan received those blows and skillfully parried all those that came at him.

“Your thorns are sharp as ever, old man, but I have grown.” Saying so, Kang ceased his attacks and drew a few steps back. “If you think I will fall for your tricks repeatedly, then you have become senile… my master.”

Aedan shuddered with a wince. “Taking you in as my student has got to be one of my biggest regrets.”

“Keep wallowing in your regrets, old man.” Kang raised his sword to the sky. “Only those who looked to the future instead of dwelling in the decrepit past are deserving of true power!”