Metal Sigils have fought mostly through contact for centuries. The power of this mark strengthens their bodies, so they can cut through incoming attacks like a knife. They also have a strong aura around them that distracts opponents, preventing them from focusing their thoughts. Although they could manipute metal by touching it, the process is very slow and completely useless in combat.

  Apart from these weapons, Kiyeri could finally manipute energy outside of his body, so many other tricks were in his sleeve. There were dozens of ways to deal with Dali and Ruki without killing them — especially since it was unclear whether they were immortal like him. They weren't reborn through sacrifice, but through corruption, and there is no evidence that Ruki died under that building. Moreover, even if they were immortal, Kiyeri was reluctant to send them to the Beyond. It was far too cruel.

  The siblings attacked from a distance. Dali's wooden staff was completely covered with a vine that twisted and coiled like snakes. The vine constantly formed new small leaves, which immediately grew and flew towards Kiyeri, cutting the air like bdes. Countless leaves turned everything green in Kiyeri’s eyes. In this way, Dali covered his victims with thousands of small cuts.

  At first, Kiyeri dodged, but he became curious to test how thick his new skin was, so he met the flying bdes directly.

  Ruki supported her brother by feeding his attacks—water mana could strengthen them. At the same time, the water barrier surrounding her occasionally fired bullets, thus restricting Kiyeri's movements as he retreated. He avoided the bullets — even with his protective yer, they could pierce through.

  As Kiyeri suspected, the leaves didn't do much damage, just a few scratches on his clothes, Kiyeri's aura was too strong and could even protect those. Seeing this, Dali changed tactics, he grabbed his bow. Self-made arrows from a wooden stick intertwined with mana formed one after another in his hand, while Ruki took the initiative and showed the next level, she drew a sign in her palm and the air began to fill with moisture.

  Everything was enveloped in fog. Soon the fog gathered into condensed points from which fist-sized ice crystals formed. The entire flower field, from ground level to head height, became a minefield. Crystals hung at different heights, and the jagged ice spikes were as sharp as bee stingers. Kiyeri realized that he could be hurt if those crystals flew at him at the speed of bullets, so he had to act quickly and unch an attack on Ruki directly.

  While Kiyeri ran towards her, Dali began to retreat continuing to make arrows, but Ruki remained standing still and began to shoot crystals at Kiyeri.

  Hitting a moving target is really difficult, most of them fell to the ground or flew sideways, and the ones that could hit - Kiyeri cut through. Jumping in front of her, he simply removed the girl from the fight with a single kick to her stomach.

  Turning to Dali, Kiyeri noticed the distance between them was ideal for an accurate and deadly bow shot, not too far and not too close. Dali fired the first arrow and hit immediately, piercing his chest, but thanks to the new barrier, even the pain itself was not so great. Kiyeri hadn’t expected such speed — but more than that, he felt like the arrow was sucking his strength away. Strange mana permeated his body and when he stumbled, a second arrow pierced his shoulder. Realizing the risk, he quickly sent a stream of mana around him that blew Dali and Ruki away.

  Both of them rolled in circles and were momentarily taken out of the fight by the shockwave. Kiyeri's hands trembled as he realized what was happening. He had pyed along, trying to understand their condition, and he didn't like the answer. They weren't themselves. All their movements seemed to be from instructions, unnatural. He knew every habit of theirs, every repetitive mistake, but now they moved and acted artificially, it seemed that they were just their shells, behind which there was no personality, no emotions, no life. Previously, Kiyeri had thought that their gazes in the Pace of the Sun expressed contempt, but now he realized that there was nothing behind those eyes at all, they simply saw the target.

  Unable to look at it any longer, Kiyeri gritted his teeth and decided to let them rest. While they crawled and got to their feet, he got rid of the arrows, cleared his mana, and formed a huge barrier that enveloped the entire park. Wanting to include only those who were needed, Kiyeri gnced towards the Temple, but there was no one there.

  Looking around, he realized that there were only three of them in the park, he, Dali, and Ruki. Thinking that his colleagues were chasing after Zeni, Kiyeri lowered the barrier and steped out.

  A rge translucent dome covered the entire rose garden, and inside that dome, among the white flowers, stood a girl and a boy in white clothes. They just stood there, not even trying to escape, as if they knew in advance that they couldn't get through. How do they know that without even trying?

  "As per instructions..." Kiyeri sighed sadly, "When it's all over, I'll come back. I'll get you out of it somehow."

  Kiyeri ran into the Temple, but found it empty. The Temple stood on a mountain, so he climbed onto the roof to look around, but as far as he could see, everything around was quiet, not a single person. “How could he escape from them in that weak state?” Kiyeri began to feel that damned lump in his throat again.

  Not knowing where to start looking, he returned to the Temple to concentrate. Sitting down by the stone, he developed theories. Zarines Sigil had returned and was still present in the stone, that’s a good start. If Zeni knew any other way to extract it, he still needed to be at a close distance from it. But if all the Celestial Stones are connected, he may also have some amulet, but why run then?

  Kiyeri looked at the giant boulder next to him, "Everyone is connected... Maybe it's somehow possible to synchronize and feel the location of other relics..."

  He reached out his hand, but stopped midway and frowned, "You're not going to put me to sleep again?"

  Having no other ideas, he held his breath and touched.

  After a moment of silence, the breath was released. Having cleared his mind and concentrated, he again began to see blue threads enveloping his body, stretching far beyond the temple, and passing through the walls. As his concentration deepened, other colours began to appear, the stone next to him was entwined with golden threads, they stretched out everywhere around him, vibrating and alive.

  Both blue and gold could be seen through any surface, so it was clear that the threads connected everything around, some stretched out as if from the sky, some flew everywhere like air currents, and some penetrated deep into the earth. The golden threads under the stone were very densely intertwined as if that boulder had a root and that root extended so deep underground that it gradually narrowed until it disappeared completely, touching the center of the earth.

  Although the visions were impressive, they didn’t help. Perhaps the threads of all the stones were connected, but Kiyeri had no way of seeing or feeling it, so he broke off meditation.

  “Are they Beyond?” he thought aloud, “No, that’s nonsense.”

  Walking around the temple once more, as if searching for a secret door, Kiyeri gnced at the two siblings still in the dome. They both stood there, staring straight at him with dead eyes. Kiyeri’s anxiety grew little by little, much like the lump in his throat, “What am I not seeing? What am I missing?”

  He walked in circles, rubbing his temples and forehead, nervously pulling out his daggers to put them back again. Guilt gradually added to his anxiety. He should have seen how they were holding up earlier, why had he let them get involved in the first pce?

  Kiyeri felt he was suffocating, it seemed to him that he was te somewhere, while walking in zigzags he said to himself under his breath, " I’m missing something. There has to be a thread — some rule, some condition. Blood. Dagger. Sigils. Debt. Stones. Sacrifices. Equinox. Holy... Equinox. The equinox has never appeared anywhere"

  Kiyeri looked up at the sky, the sun was near its highest point, "Why is the equinox important?"

  The Sun Kingdom performed rituals only during the summer solstice when the stones gained the most power. The Moon Kingdom had long since switched to equinox because people here were too weak and could not withstand such an amount of energy.

  The equinox sts three days and they consider all of them to be especially hard, and difficult to manipute mana on. Several times when other countries attacked the Moon, it was carried out precisely on these days. Kiyeri's roots were from the Sun Country, he hardly ever noticed that weakening, and now after rebirth, such a condition does not exist for him at all, but what about the others? Could Seyre and Ashiya be so weak that they could not catch up with that living corpse? What if he only looked like a corpse? If he really felt good, or maybe even had ways to get stronger, maybe they would be equal? ??Dali and Ruki were of pure Moon blood, but the equinox did not affect them at all. Could Zeni also be corrupted?

  Kiyeri's head hurt, and Ashiya's words that he had not finished saying at the pace were pying in his mind. He felt that time was running out, but he did not know why, he wanted to scream and shout.

  He began to falter, clutching his head, almost digging his nails into his skin, now he was really short of air. His vision blurred, that imaginary house he built began to fall again and he didn't notice how a figure silently appeared behind him. Crashing into it with his back, he turned — and the Millennium Dagger stabbed him in the chest.

  A familiar voice whispered in his ear, "That took a long time, I was tired of waiting… Finally, you let your damn guard down, Kiyeri"