XLV

With stomping strides, Mornen was about to exit the temple and have a life and death exhibition with the Order. But what he saw was a different scenario. A huge hand made of earth portruded from the ground and squeezed a Watcher of the Order.

"P-Please, Lady Mika..." The watcher had a hard time breathing as the earth hand gripped his chest, squeezing it tighter, "I was just carried away because these women followed a sinful path!"

Mika glanced at the sister of Irsela who was on the ground, holding her reddened cheek.

'What a brute! Slapping a woman without reason!' After a moment of mental scorning, Mika released the watcher with a wave of her hand. She returned her attention to the entrance of the temple and saw a blue robed man holding a mace.

"Lady Mika! That's a Vigilant! They commit heinous acts across Gaia! We must apprehend him!" One of the watchers shouted.

'Vigilant?' Mika repeated in her head. She then raised her guard as she sensed the hostility the Vigilant emitted.

>>Vigilant of Threndal, Lvl. 37<<

'Lvl.37! I must act quickly!' Mika lowered her hand until it reached the ground and a magic circle appeared and shattered. When she raised her hand, earth followed. Almost immediately, she blew air to the essence of earth and it swarmed towards the Vigilant that stood in place, not moving.

"Earth Breath: First Form of Imprisonment!"

The Vigilant was subdued by the earth essence. Soil started to cover his entire body and solidified into crystals until he ended up as a crystallized statue. However, the crystals started to emit silver lights until they cracked and crumbled, revealing the Vigilant covered in Brilliant Aura.

Mika's eyes widened, she was about to cast another magic but the watchers intervened.

"Leave this to us, Lady Mika!" Four Lvl. 30 Watchers surrounded the Vigilant.

"Pray to Threndal, you bastards!" The Vigilant snarled.

"We only pray to, Mirath! Now taste his fury!" A watcher retorted.

"Threndal do not hurt innocent women!" The Vigilant raised his mace and slammed it on the ground.

The impact caused the four watchers to stumble.

"You'll pay for that!"

The four watchers chanted and Brilliant Aura shone around them, but of golden light. They clashed with the Vigilant. After a moment of metals clashing, the watchers realized that they can't overwhelm the Vigilant and one of them had a broken arm from the earlier exchanges. They exchanged glances at each other before nodding.

A short union of chant made the space tremble. The Vigilant knew what was coming and made an attempt to escape the encirclement. But before he could make a step, a golden circle imprisoned him emitting golden lights that subdued his Brilliant Aura.

"N-Noo! Threndal's light can----" The Vigilant struggled as the golden light invaded his consciousness. He let out a pained groan as he fell to the ground.

Mika was frowning the entire time. She stayed still and watched the Watchers restrain the Vigilant. However, before they could magically bind the Vigilant, a voice reverberated from the hallway.

"Force Push!"

A breeze of pure force viciously slammed on the watchers and threw them away. They spurted blood when they landed on the ground, some of their bones broken from the first impact and not the landing.

Dusts were aroused and formed a thick fog. From this fog, Kzel exited wearing his mask. He unsheathed the Blue Titanium Sword and circled to a distance, occasioanally whirling the sword. When he reached the unconscious Mornen, he halted and faced the battalion of the Order, shifting most of his weight to one foot then announced with muffled voice, "I am a servant of Threndal, 23rd god of Justice!"

Naturally, with the Scarf of Death around his neck, the Order and the Player can't view his information.

'The way he mysteriously exitted.. The way he casually walked around the face of danger.. The way he carried himself.. The way he stopped and posed infront of me.. He is so cool!' Mika's eyes sparked with interest to the fellow player. Deep inside, he was a sweet girl. A mysterious man would no doubt thrill her. She was just acting tough because she was the leader of this battalion of watchers.

When Lessi was given a special event of ceremony, Mika immediately took the quest of the Order to investigate the trail of the Chaos Cultists. She did not want Lessi glancing at her, showing consideration.

But being mysterious and cool were not enough for him to seize her heart. She would still carry her duty. However, there was one thing that bothered her. With an angry face, she turned to the watchers behind her and scolded, "They are from the faction of righteous! Why are we attacking them?!"

The watchers trembled. They did not correct the watcher who spouted the words earlier, but agreed with it. How are they suppose to explain to the Lady that the Order was not in good terms with the faction of Justice. But one with cunning mind spoke, "The Order does not agree with the ways of these Vigilants. They think they can uphold the law and punished innocent men and women!"

'They punished innocent men and women?' Since Mika was not familiar with this world, she can only trust their words. She spoke calmly at the fellow player, "Come with us, peacefully. I guarantee you no harm before the trial!"

'Trial! No, no! She misunderstood! There's no trial! They will go straight to the Absolution Prison!' The watchers nervously glanced at each other but didn't voiced their mind. Maybe the Lady was trying to trick the Vigilants.

"I refuse. Me and my friend here are in a hurry." With the vast influence of the Order, Kzel knew that it can easily frame the Vigilants.

Mika frowned as a magic circle shattered, "I'm afraid I can't let you two go!"

A volley of hardened earth descended to the Vigilant Player. Mika's eyes widened when countless pieces of earth started to float around the Vigilant Player and barraged her hardened earths. 'Is he a mage too? I thought he's a cool swordsman! But I didn't saw a magic circle!'

When Mika's hardened earths fell harmlessly on the ground, the Vigilant Player turned his attention to her and willed countless matters from the ground to float.

"Get back!" Sensing the imminent danger, Mika motioned the watchers to retreat. She summoned translucent borders around her. Rocks, soil and branches barraged the boulders but they held firm. When it was over, Mika dispelled the boulders only to find that the Vigilants were gone.

Mika sighed. She was relieved and disappointed at the same time. 'I didn't get to know his name..'

It was at this moment that a figure exited the temple and Mika felt pressured from the sheer presence of the person.

>>Mother of the Third Coven, Lvl. 210<<

Mika unconsciously took a step back but steadied herself when she saw no hostility on the beautiful woman's face.

"It seems you fell for that man," The Mother whispered and spoke the next sentence louder, "Why don't you join my coven? I can teach you how to charm him the next time you meet. Besides, you and these group of tugs created a huge commotion inside my territory. I'll accept your membership as compensation for the damages you caused."

"Lady Mika! Don't listen to her!" The watchers nervously surrounded her to protect her from the Mother's influence.

Mika's face was red. She strolled towards the Mother with her head lowered.

'Oh no! Lady Mika is under the Mother's charm!' The watchers panicked. They wanted to stop her but they couldn't touch a Lady of Power. However, the words that came out Mika shocked them all.

"Old hag! You don't accuse someone without material evidence!" Mika pointed a trembling finger at the Mother in short range.

The watchers were even more surprised when the Mother laughed. She brought a hand to her hooded face and covered her mouth, "What did I accuse you of?"

"The--The--" Mika can't say the next words. Why should she even say it out loud. 'Falling for a man I just met. How dare this old hag!' It was obvious that they did damaged the entrance of the temple and one of the sister of Irsela was slapped by a watcher under her command and she can't find a way out. She just hatefully stared at the mother.

"Oh dear! You're so beautiful when you're angry!" The Mother teased and motioned her to follow, "We shall make you even more alluring that that man you fell for will notice you the next time you two meet!"

"You!" Mika gritted her teeth as a counter appeared on her mind. She would follow the mother inside and would look not impress to everything that the Mother would show her. That would be enough to agitate the presumptous old hag.

"Stay!" She ordered the watchers as she trailed the mother inside the Temple of Irsela.