The Flow of Fate

The explosion that came from the celestial tower was not only noticed by Lumi, but also by the king, the archmage, and the priests who were scattered across Aclaria trying to clear up the mist and get rid of the monsters.

-- Meanwhile --

"What a familiar blade," the man said. "Why do you, a mortal, have it?"

As the man leaned to touch the soulless, golden light gleamed and shot towards him, making him jumped away from the spot.

From down below, the cloaked man saw the culprit.

A girl stood on the streets of Aclaria, with divine power shielding her and attracting the monsters at the same time.

"Oh?" The cloaked man smiled. "Isn't this interesting?"

Lumi stared at the cloaked man from above. However, the man quickly vanished from her sight, then—

Lumi's eyes widened as she immediately turned around, realizing that the man was now behind her with his hand filled with concentrated power.

Too late to anticipate the cloaked man's attack, a wave of foreign power shot towards Lumi—but then, landing in front of her was the soulless, which was then etched to the ground, blocking the power.

The nullification of the unknown power sent a ringing noise that resounded to the background.

The cloaked man lifted his gaze as Siegren landed towards him, fist clenched. Siegren's propelled arm into a punch was stopped mid-air as the man conjured an invisible force, stopping Siegren.

Force exerted from Siegren's clenched fist sent explosions that resonated to the base, vibrating the terrain as lightning directed from his clenched fist that gathered concentrated forms of malevolence scattered to the buildings that surrounded the proximity.

The hood from Lumi's cloak then fell, with her blond hair fluttering from the sudden gust of wind sent by the force that was generated through the punch.

The cloaked man then responded with an attack. But Siegren has backed away, grabbing his greatsword, nullifying his attack.

"Siegren, behind you!" Lumi exclaimed as debris of concrete fell to Siegren. With her divine power, she devised a barricade that deflected the debris from trampling Siegren.

The cloaked man then vanished from their sight, making Lumi and Siegren look around to find him.

Siegren panted as he tries to sharpen his senses as he examines the vicinity. However, he couldn't detect the presence of the man anymore.

"Siegren—"

Another explosion occurred, making both Siegren and Lumi get caught off guard. The two get thrown athwart the ground, rolling to the pavement.

The explosion was free of flames, as if only an unknown force have broken them down.

'What type of magic is this person using?' Lumi slowly rose from the ground as she felt her body throb from the impact.

"Siegren," Lumi exclaimed, "Mana… this person has mana… but other than that, I can't detect anything else."

The cloaked man walked calmly to the two.

Lumi was at her limit. With the mantle of malevolence covering the skies, it was impossible for the blessing of the goddess to reach her. She then glanced to Siegren, who has grabbed his sword in defense.

He was fighting the cloaked man incessantly with mana that hasn't even been replenished.

They're currently in no state for a fight.

Realizing this, Lumi used all of her strength to create a stronger barrier, creating layers of divinity that shielded them from the cloaked man.

The person who was shawled in mystery stopped a meter away from them. Vigilantly, Siegren and Lumi stood side by side, readying themselves for a battle that may take place at any minute now.

"What a strange pair you are," said the man. "One who desires the numen, and one that is the closest to the goddess."

"But that's the end of it—" The man then slowly lifted his hand, which in turn started an upheaval.

The ground below shook in shallow vibrations until it slowly escalated into stronger upheavals, vigorously creating an earthquake whose magnitude was enough to shake the entirety of the Aclarian kingdom.

"You cannot change fate." The man said, clenching his fist.

Suddenly, the upheaval stopped.

But then—

A deafening scream resounded in the entirety of the nation of the Firehawk, coming from aboveground.

In the purple skies, the corpse of the saintess let out a piercing shriek, like that of a banshee; the chains that hung beyond the heavens rattled as the corpse began to struggle.

The cloaked man smirked.

"What did you do?"

Siegren glanced to Lumi, who was looking at the cloaked man.

"What did you do!?"

"The flow of fate is now where it should be," the cloaked man said. "That is just the natural laws of this world."

The man's gaze then shifted to Siegren.

"No mortal can harbor the numen of the fallen god," said the man as he began to shatter Lumi's barrier by simply walking towards them.

"My job here is done," he said.

"Until we meet again, Siegren. If you don't die, that is."

The man then vanished.

Lumi then flinched. The man was now gone in the blink of an eye.

"Where—"

Before Lumi could continue her sentence, the saintess' corpse let out another squawking shriek, like that of an animal being butchered.

Then, they saw it.

The chains around the saintess slowly began to break, freeing one of her arms.

The corpse's bony fingers then commenced; forming cracking sounds as it tries to make its long, bony hands to move.

Silence.

The sounds of bones cracking echoed.

Lumi gulped as she felt the impending doom that was coming as the saintess' corpse began to tilt its neck as if to test the elasticity of its flesh.

The first chain has now fallen, and the second one in her other hand was the last thing holding her rotten corpse from breaking loose.

With a lift of the hand of the Saintess, she pointed to the Aclarian kingdom.

Purple light emanated from the tip of her index finger permeated with rot.

Then, the purple light shot towards the area she was pointing, which was next to Lumi and Siegren.

The place was then set aflame by hellfire.

The corpse then pointed onto random positions, firing concentrated malevolence bursting into hellfire into the entirety of Aclaria.

Siegren's grey eyes glued to the saintess' heart, where a purple-colored light glowed with only his eyes could see.

"The power of the fallen god," Siegren whispered.

"How is a corpse able to use it?" Lumi continued, puzzled at the dissaray.