The quarterfinal fights passed by almost unnoticed, especially considering that my opponents chose to surrender without a fight. I didn’t insist — my goal lay much further ahead. Though, the semifinals did give me a bit of a scare: the capital academy’s team nearly lost, leaving only two mages out of ten on the field in the final moment. That would’ve been a real disaster. As for my opponents, they shared the fate of the previous ones and left the arena in less than a few seconds.

  And finally, the judges announced: the final match of the Northern Empire’s magic tournament would begin in ten minutes. I didn’t wait for the signal — I jumped onto the arena and greeted the roaring crowd in the stands. Today, I intended to show something more.

  Soon, my opponents entered the arena as well. They looked very different from just a few weeks ago. Back then, their eyes burned with arrogance and overconfidence, but now there was no trace of it left. They had seen me in action, and their only hope now was a miracle.

  “What, haven’t decided to just hand me the two ninth-class cores and walk away alive?” I threw at them, playing with a hint of contempt.

  Their captain silently raised a protective stone into the air, as if trying to show that I couldn’t do anything. I stepped closer to him and whispered into his ear:

  “You really think those trinkets will protect you? Ha-ha, fools… you’d better start looking for ransom money for your lives…”

  “Teams!” the judge proclaimed loudly. “Take your positions!”

  With a smile, I threw over my shoulder:

  “Too late, scum. Get ready — you’re going to die here.”

  “Ready? The battle will begin once the barrier is set!” came the judge’s voice.

  The next few minutes would be decisive for everyone.

  I activated the magic of all six circles. To others, everything looked as always: I surrounded myself with six magical circles, while my opponents hastily created mana seals in front of themselves. But this time, I didn’t use the time-stasis spell. Instead, I summoned a fifth-circle fire-element spell — Inferno. However, this time I added something else — a thin, nearly invisible layer of my bloodlust, interwoven with the flames that filled the arena. It was imperceptible even to the keenest observer, but its power was relentless.

  The thin veil of bloodlust, hidden in the blazing oxygen, crept into the mages’ minds and, like a web, tore their consciousness to shreds. I saw their faces begin to distort even before the wave of fire engulfed their bodies. In that same moment, they turned into ghostly white rays and vanished from the arena. I quietly stopped the flow of bloodlust, allowing the magic to disperse.

  I knew I had won. My eye caught the figures of ten mages crawling helplessly behind the barrier, their gazes empty. Their minds were destroyed, but their bodies still tried to move, driven by instinct alone.

  My gaze met Vist’s. She had already realized something had gone wrong, watching the helpless students writhing on the floor. I smiled triumphantly, knowing how much it would enrage her. Her scream was already the answer, cutting through the silence before the barrier had even fallen.

  “…admit what you did to them?!”

  “Lady Vist, it seems there’s some kind of misunderstanding. I didn’t do anything forbidden to them. Looks like your boys just got scared out of their minds.”

  Well, I was almost telling the truth now.

  “No, no, no, that couldn’t have happened! You’re lying!”

  “Lady Chief Judge of the tournament, are you accusing me of lying as a participant in the magical tournament, or as a Battle Ancestor of the higher degree? Think carefully, Lady Chief Judge, about how you word your response!”

  I released my aura, spreading it across the arena, and the stone floor cracked with a web of fractures. Despite my warning, Vist still reached for her staff. Without hesitation, I pulled a spear from storage. Go ahead, just try, you bitch, open that filthy mouth and I’ll crush your stupid skull so fast you won’t even realize it.

  “Stop!”

  “Calm down!”

  The mages next to Vist took her staff and forced her back into the chair.

  “Medics, check them and do whatever you can!” one of the mages shouted loudly, although the medics were already tending to them without needing his command.

  I dismissed my aura and spear. The tension that had bound the air above the arena moments ago slowly began to fade. Applause and shouts of congratulations started rising from the stands.

  “The winner of the Northern Empire’s Magic Tournament is the magic academy of the city of Matan, Kingdom of Lygote! Let’s hear it for them, spectators!”

  The stands erupted in wild applause. I bowed gratefully to the crowd a few times, which only made the ovation louder.

  “And to conclude,” the judge interrupted, “it is my honor to award the cup and ten staffs of the seventh tier to the winning team!”

  Yeah, we were supposed to be ten… I stored that bundle away and raised the cup high above my head. So that everyone could see it, I began to rise into the air — when I suddenly noticed an arrow flying straight toward my face.

  Damn it! Dodging would mean the arrow would head into the packed crowd in the stands, where the casualties would be far greater than on the street last time. I grabbed the arrow mid-flight, and it instantly exploded into a web of fire-element spells.

  It hurt, damn it! I burst out of the fireball and frantically looked around for a follow-up shot, trying to spot the archer with all my might. Nothing. Absolutely nothing and no one. How the hell was that possible? I just couldn’t understand why I didn’t see a single trace.

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  I knew only one tribe of bastards that could mask themselves so well — the Nine-Tailed.

  Could it be that Louie’s daughter had found me for revenge? Or his widow? Damn it, if my guess was right, they were the last people I needed.

  Fine, now’s not the time to deal with this. I looked at my palm, where the arrow had exploded. The skin was intact, but the muscles were badly damaged, nearly crushed by the blast.

  I quickly swallowed a few recovery pills. One alone wasn’t enough now that my body had been reshaped by the mana of a God. I pulled a long hooded cloak from storage and threw it over myself — my clothes were now little more than the burnt rags of a street beggar.

  There was chaos in the stands. Arena personnel tried to contain the panic, erecting magical barriers and directing people toward wide exits. All the high-level mages, along with Vist, had cloaked themselves in mana shields.

  Damn cowards. Instead of calming people down, their actions only made the panic worse.

  I leapt into the sky — screw the ban right now. If the assassin fired again, it would only intensify the panic and cause more casualties.

  My two watchers followed behind me at a distance. Had they also failed to find the archer? Or hadn’t tried at all because they were in on it?

  Vasa entered my room just as I was changing clothes. I looked sadly at the lock that had been broken a few days ago. Well, even if I’d propped the door with a spear out of habit, it wouldn’t have stopped the Goddess of War.

  “So, how were the matches?”

  I tossed her the cup and kept dressing.

  “Looks like you really took a beating…”

  I shook my head.

  “No, someone’s still hunting me. The same archer as a few weeks ago.”

  Vasa made a surprised face, as if she didn’t understand anything.

  “Come on, remember? The explosions were near your palace… Never mind.”

  “Listen, kid, how many people have you pissed off that half the Empire wants to kill you?”

  “Respected Vasa, how many Nine-Tailed are there in the city? Fourth tier and above?”

  “Now that’s a question! Who knows? As long as a Nine-Tailed doesn’t reveal themselves, you’ll never identify one. But definitely a few hundred. Why?”

  “Just suspicions, don’t mind me. One more question. Do they cooperate with the church?”

  “Hahaha, you kidding? Of course not. In a way, they’re even enemies.”

  In that case, my assumption that a Nine-Tailed was cooperating with the church had to be wrong.

  “One more thing, dear Vasa. Where could someone from the Nine-Tailed tribe get their hands on magical arrows of at least the fifth tier?”

  “Listen, Aney, I’m not an information bureau. Go ask them yourself…”

  She scoffed and walked out of the room.

  “Respected Vasa, what’s an information bureau?” I shouted after her, but she pretended not to hear.

  To hell with her. I now had to work out a plan to slip out of the capital unnoticed. The only option I saw was to put on the belt gifted by the second prince, blend into a crowd, and try to escape the watch of the two Gods of War.

  Not a simple task. It’s not that I feared a fight with them, but starting a massacre in a crowded place with potential for heavy casualties seemed like a terrible idea.

  Unless they cornered me and left me no other choice.

  Suddenly, a few hundred meters from the hotel, I sensed an aura that shouldn’t have been there.

  Goddamn it, what is she doing?! I dashed outside, still hoping it was a mistake — that there could be someone on this continent with an absolutely identical aura.

  I lost my reason and acted on impulse.

  What should I do now? Use the belt? Cover her with my aura? Try that trick my teacher used when we fled Matan?

  No, all useless. If I’d found her, then the Gods of War surely had as well.

  You fool, how could you hand them such an ace yourself?!

  I stared at the slender back, covered in messy blond hair, and over her shoulders, in the sunlight, glowed two long pink ears.

  It wasn’t a mistake.

  It was her.

  Irgen.

  I grabbed her from behind and carried her back to the hotel.

  “Ouch!” Irgen began to struggle, still not understanding who had grabbed her, but after a moment she exclaimed, “Captain! I’ve been looking for you for so long, I went to Vasa’s palace, but there, there…”

  “Quiet! You fool, I want to tear your ears off right now!”

  Irgen fell silent and pondered what had made me so furious. I dragged her to the room, sat her down on the bed, and covered us with an aura cocoon. The girl grew embarrassed under my gaze and dropped her eyes to the floor. Damn it, I could be angry all I wanted, but it wouldn’t solve the problem. What I really needed now was a new plan. I couldn’t fight my enemies with her by my side, that was certain. I pulled a cup and one of the ten magical staves from the storage.

  “Here, take it. You deserve this more than I do.”

  “So you won’t yell at me?”

  “I will, I definitely will, but not now.”

  “So, am I screwed now?”

  “Big time. But the question now is how to get you out of it. I’ve had two Gods of War and who knows how many mages tailing me for nearly two weeks. I’m sure even the last dog in the Empire knows about you by now. Just a few minutes ago, I had a plan that could’ve made them all look like fools. But one long-eared girl threw everything into chaos, so now I don’t know what to do…”

  “Sorry, I… I…”

  “It’s no use now, we just have to come up with something new.”

  I took a deep breath and lay down on the bed. My thoughts were bouncing around like mad, trying to figure out how to fool those old foxes. They had so much experience, it seemed hopeless to outwit them. Leave Irgen in the capital and make a bold move to draw attention away, hoping they’d forget about her? No, on the contrary, she’d instantly become a hostage, with no chance… Put the second prince’s belt on her so she could slip away unnoticed?

  I didn’t believe in that either, because they knew we had met, so they’d be watching even more closely. Ask Vasa to help and escort Irgen out? But I still didn’t know what orders the Goddess of War had from the imperial court… It could turn out that I’d only make things worse with my own hands. Hunk had said he owed me a favor… But asking him to go against the Church would be too much.

  “Captain, maybe I should still try to sneak out…”

  “Come here, you fool,” I pulled her by the hand and laid her down beside me, “she’ll try, huh…”

  “We can still come up with something.”

  “Yeah. We need to wait for some kind of mass event in the city, then we might be able to pull something off.”

  “Will you tell me?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, go on then, I’m listening carefully. And I won’t disobey you ever again, never ever!”

  She sat on top of me, as she often liked to do.

  “I have one magical item that completely hides a person’s aura. The one who gave it to me swore that even a God of War wouldn’t recognize you under its effect unless they grab you by the hand. So here’s what we can do… In the crowd, I’ll cover you with my aura, and you’ll put on the belt. There, I’ll try to copy your aura onto myself as much as possible, and then we’ll go separate ways. My aura will fully disappear in half an hour, after which you’ll become invisible to those watching us. I just hope the ones trying to catch you will follow me.”

  “And then?”

  “Then I’ll kill them. You just have to run, leave the capital unnoticed. And don’t take off that belt until you’re out of the Northern Empire. I’ll find you later, I promise.”

  “Yoohooo!” Irgen began to bounce happily, sitting astride me, her joy infectious. “I knew my captain was the best!”

  But something wasn’t right. That feeling—barely noticeable, yet relentless—like a shadow hiding behind the laughter. My instincts were dulled by the aura cocoon, and only because of that I didn’t sense the danger. And then… everything fell into place.

  A metal lightning bolt tore through the room’s ceiling like divine wrath. First came the crack—deafening, horrifying—and then my protective cocoon shattered into pieces. I barely had time to grasp what had happened when cold pain pierced the world. The blade of a glaive, like a phantom, burst through Irgen’s back, passed through her delicate body, and emerged from her chest. Her eyes opened wide in disbelief, and hot red blood immediately began to flow down, coating the blade now sticking out between us. Time slowed down. I saw the drops of blood falling on me, one by one. Her hands trembled, she herself trembled slightly, slowly lowering her gaze to the bloodied blade still quivering inside her. Her breath, her heartbeat—it all vanished. The look that met mine wasn’t filled with fear or pain. No. There was only one question in it, like a sentence carved into my soul: “Why?” And that gaze, that unspoken question, was heavier than any blade that shattered against my body in that moment.