They didn't have to go far, right outside the inner wall, in the garden, they saw Seyre coming with light steps. He was moving from the inner gate all alone along the path, looking as if he had gone for a walk.

  After going through the gate, team took their positions. Ruki and Dali were talented archers, but weak in duels, so they pced themselves on the wide stone fence. Ashiya and Mia walked ahead of everyone, Sonanta immediately behind them, and Kiyeri stayed a little further to the side.

  When he got close enough, Seyre spoke first, "How is it that no matter what I do to you, you still come out from all corners? Like real cockroaches."

  Kiyeri replied, "How is it that the most loyal warrior to the country devastated the capital?"

  “They didn’t listen to me.” Seyre raised his hands to the sides. “I came with good intentions, I offered the King more nds, and he started screaming nonsense like a madman: “You killed the troops, you killed the guard, you destroyed the pace, who makes such proposals?” I understood that the King was ill in his head and decided to repce him with another”

  Kiyeri could not believe his ears, “And who is the other one you repced him with?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

  “Me - of course!”- Seyre proudly decred, pcing his palm on the chest. “But I quickly realized that it was sad to sit here alone. I’m gd you came; we can chat before I go on a campaign.”

  “Perfect,” Kiyeri thought, the corners of his lips slightly raised. He needed time and peace to concentrate on the pnned use of mana. At first, he worried that he wouldn't have enough time to support the others in battle, but Seyre acted much calmer than he expected and it was important to buy as much time as possible. Although he hadn’t had a chance to discuss his pns with the team, they were more or less clear about his intentions. They recognized stalling just from the position conversation Kiyeri took, so they didn't dare to interfere and upset the bance.

  Some of them seemed to have something to say, even the corners of Mia's lips twitched, but she still refrained.

  "Speaking of the march," Kiyeri continued, "I was sure that upon return I would be surrounded by a sea of ??fire, but you surprised me, you like to ssh more than fry." As Kiyeri spoke, his mana threads were already spread widely under the pavement.

  "Oh no..." Seyre waved his hands. “Of course, I like to fry, but not my own people! Even I feel empathy. I only fried foreigners."

  Kiyeri gnced at Mia. Although he could only see a small side of her face, it was clear what she was thinking about that comment, even her teeth were visible.

  "If you feel empathy, maybe we could make a deal?" Kiyeri stalled, twisting the energy network under Seyre's feet, “We can expand the country together, it's much more fun like that."

  The conversation was becoming awkward, maybe even transparent. Kiyeri found it difficult to concentrate and run his mouth at the same time, he almost didn't think about what he was saying. Such words not only sounded stupid, but they even managed to anger Seyre. He began to ugh madly.

  "HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! DEAL? WITH YOU? Not only does this cockroach talk to me, but it also wants to negotiate?! What can you offer me? If someone wants to negotiate, they must have leverage!" he changed his tone to a cold snarl, "You are honored that I am talking to you, parasite."

  Kiyeri's trap was almost complete, only a few seconds were left, he wanted to say something else without thinking, but before he could, Ashiya intervened.

  "Oh yes, what an honor! Lord Seyre, “his tone was proud and mocking at the same time. “Such a great mind, who passed the exam only on the third try. Untarnished, untainted by the battlefield, because no one gave him a squad. Unable to become a Master, because his energy does not obey him. In some unknown way, he became a candidate and immediately received the Sigil at the age of thirty-five, a REALLY appropriate age, and SURELY not with Zeni's help. A deserving man, who worked as a nanny in the guard, what would the HONORABLE Lord's parents say about such a son?"

  Seyre was furious, "YOU ARE A DOG." He gritted his teeth, gathering manna in his palms. "I’LL SHOW YOU YOUR PLACE!""Ashi, that st sentence was really below the belt!" Kiyeri scolded in his head as he pulled the blue energy net over Seyre’s head.

  "Kiyeri, you think I don't see what you're doing? That I don't understand why you're wasting my time?!" Seyre waved his hand and the net of thin threads broke as easily as if it were a spider's web. "If anyone here is stupid, it's you! Do you think that with so much power I won't notice your tangles? I'm ignoring you! Because you can't do ANYTHING!"

  The mana accumuted in Seyre's palms had already turned into fmes, but as he spoke, it began to fade and shrink until only small fres remained. Unable to believe what he was seeing, he tried to increase them several times, but in vain, the mana did not listen.

  At the same time, Kiyeri was already retreating and jumped onto the fence standing next to Dali, "The whole point was for you to see." He tugged at the transparent thread of mana held in his hands, immediately after which Seyre's legs lifted up and he fell, losing his bance.

  The group quickly realized what had happened. While Kiyeri was talking, weaving a web around Seyre’s head, it was only visible to the two of them. At the same time, Kiyeri spun another thread under Seyre, which wrapped itself around his legs after a tug.

  The suppression of Seyre’s mana was the work of the barrier, a dome pced above everyone's heads that prevented them from using their powers inside. Kiyeri had worked on three fronts, and on the fourth - he was talking nonsense. Although you can't completely turn off the mana of someone like him and Seyre, one is too skilled, the other too powerful, that barrier was enough to even out the previous odds.

  When Seyre lost his bance, it signaled everyone to attack. Two heavy warriors jumped from their positions, but before they reached Seyre, both archers made several accurate shots, two arrows to the throat and two to the chest.

  Of course, it wasn't enough to kill Seyre, but their job was to provide cover, not the finishing blow. And so, the fight began. While Ashiya, Mia, and Sonanta exchanged blows with Seyre, who used as much mana as the barrier allowed him, Dali and Ruki covered them. Every time the trio was thrown back and Seyre was about to attack, the two of them fired at least one accurate shot, and Kiyeri watched everything while maintaining the barrier. Seyre quickly realized that he was trapped and changed tactics, shaking the ground, and causing dust around him to obscure the view, Kiyeri immediately reacted: "RETREAT. HE WILL TARGET ONE." The three in front returned in a fsh, and everyone tensed up in anticipation of the attack. Kiyeri was guaranteed that Seyre would target him and he was ready. Suddenly, a sword flew out of the swirling dust toward him. Kiyeri jumped back on instinct—only to realize, mid-motion, that the angle was off. A heartbeat ter, the bde struck Dali instead.

  Dali was thrown down from the fence with that force, and Kiyeri jumped after him. Ruki lowered her bow and called out to her brother, turning around. Other fighters were also momentarily confused, so Kiyeri gave the second command: "GET IN PLACE", but he was a little te and Seyre knocked Sonanta down with one blow, Kiyeri, already leaning towards Dali, shouted again: "GET IN PLACE WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LOOKING AT. I GOT HIM".

  Mia and Ashiya were fastest and quickly pinned Seyre down again. Ruki also recovered. Kiyeri healed Dali and taking that sword out commanded again: "NO MATTER WHAT, HOLD POSITION", then addressed the injured, "Dali, your bow broke, you will need to retreat. Stand by Ruki, protect her if he comes closer".

  Dali nodded his head several times while coughing up blood, Kiyeri looked out of the corner of his eye through the gate at the lying Sonanta. After healing Dali, he rushed to her. In such conditions, it was really difficult to concentrate, looking over his shoulder, healing and maintaining the barrier proved to be difficult.

  "Will you have enough mana?" Sonanta asked while her broken pelvis was being treated.

  "I will if you will be more alert," Kiyeri replied releasing her.

  When everyone returned to their pces, the odds were even again, but Kiyeri noticed another problem. Mia and Ashiya were injured. Enough to affect their movements, but not enough to make them retreat, "Shit, something is wrong... MIA GO BACK. DALI CHANGE".

  Dali immediately joined the fight, and when he appeared, Mia retreated to Kiyeri's side.

  "What's wrong with YOU?! You should be able to heal yourself, even under such a barrier!" Kiyeri spat the words out angrily, but still reached out to help.

  "I don't have anymore... mana..." Mia replied, barely catching her breath.

  "His blows are that powerful?! You used it all up?" Kiyeri wondered, immediately replenishing her reserves.

  "Yes... Ashiya won't st long... he can't even... use his own." Mia expined.

  Just then, an explosion rumbled. Kiyeri gnced and saw Ashiya flying away. "What’s going on - you’re all dropping like flies!" he growled, teeth clenched. He barked at Mia to stand back, then sprinted toward Ashiya. As he ran, he thought that if this continued, his mana would definitely run out and if the barrier fell, they would all be corpses.

  Jumping up to Ashiya, he found several burns and broken bones, "You're holding up better than it looked from afar."

  "What do you think about this?" Ashiya asked while being examined.

  “It's bad, I need to figure out something urgently.”

  “No time to refill?”

  “I don't have the medallion, it's gone.”

  “Where?”

  "If I knew where, I wouldn't say it was missing.” Kiyeri felt annoyed. “When I fell, I didn't have it in my hands anymore, I looked around one’s light hit, but couldn’t find it"

  Suddenly, Ruki's scream "KIYERI" was heard everywhere. Raising his eyes to the fence, he saw she was showing empty hands. She was out of arrows! Kiyeri wanted to explode with anger, "AAAAAAAAH, what's going on?!! Seyre should have been knocked down several times already!"

  "I don't know, but his body is too hard, nothing cuts, my saber broke! I'll take from some corpse when I get back." Ashiya said.

  "Too hard...?" Kiyeri thought he had misheard it.

  "Like a stone," Ashiya confirmed. Right after treatment was done he jumped behind the fence to look for the sword.

  "Something is wrong here..." Kiyeri tried to understand what was happening, but his train of thought was interrupted by Ruki's second shout "KIYERIII". She was still standing on the fence with empty hand. He gave her a sign to stand by.

  After some thought, he decided to check on Seyre himself. Drawing his daggers, he wanted to blend in with the crowd, but suddenly the barrier began to slip. That barrier required much more energy than he naturally replenished, and even with his reserves, it was no longer possible to maintain.

  Seyre immediately felt the difference. A ball of fire knocked everyone around. It was a big explosion, Kiyeri managed to cover his face, but his body was burned badly, part of the skin fused with clothes, the pain was so strong that he couldn't even concentrate, he gritted his teeth and groaned, his gaze was distracted, he caught several images of others who were in the same situation.

  It seemed that Ruki was the only one who escaped that ball because the shock wave itself threw her behind that stone fence she was standing on. Quickly getting up, she ran back into the yard, and Ashiya followed her, carrying sword in one hand, and the medallion in the other. Seeing this sight, they both froze.

  Seyre began to gather mana in preparation for something.

  Ruki, all scratched and dirty, pulled out a rapier from her side, a poor little sword, thin as a stick, which meant nothing against such a monster. It was only intended for a simple duel or self-defense. She looked at her scorched brother and began to tremble, unable to hold back her tears, then aimed the rapier at Seyre and started to run, shouting at the top of her throat.

  Kiyeri gathered the st strength he had and took a deep breath: "RUKI!" It hurt to breathe, but Ruki heard it and stopped to turn around, her face distorted with grief. Kiyeri gave her a task: "DO. WHAT. YOU KNOW." The girl did not take her eyes off Kiyeri for a few more seconds, then gritted her teeth, pushed the rapier back, and ran out of the courtyard.

  Meanwhile, Ashiya was already kneeling next to Kiyeri, he put the medallion in his hands, "Here, I found it not far from the gate...” his eyes looked very scared, he was shaking all over, “Concentrate, Kiye please."

  Kiyeri didn't say anything, just closed his eyes and Ashiya started to panic, "Kiye! Kiye, concentrate, can you hear me? Can you hear me??” Kiyeri was still silent, and Ashiya started to shake him by the shoulders, “Kiye!!"

  "AAAAAHHHHH... It hurts! Are you stupid?!" Kiyeri finally answered.

  "You didn't answer!!"

  "You said to concentrate!” Kiyeri shot back. “Isn't it funny when you're on the other end of a joke?!"

  Silence.

  "Ha ha, serves right for you, you'll know next time." Kiyeri's mocked him lightly. “I'm feeling better, I'm healing, who's holding the front? I hear blows."

  "Mia, she's almost unharmed, she had defensive barrier." Ashiya expined, “But there's something wrong with Seyre too, his movements are slowing down."

  Kiyeri chewed on information he was given, listened to the blows of Mia's weapons and concluded that the fight wouldn't st long, "Ashi, I have something very important to tell you." Kiyeri said quietly, eyes shut.

  "I'm listening," Ashiya replied, leaning closer.

  “Do you remember Lorena? That woman who sheltered us.”

  “Mhm…”

  “She said she hadn't even thought about how simple things could bring her happiness until she experienced them.”

  “Yes, I remember,” Ashiya's voice became even quieter.

  “For me, waking up in a strange pce, but finding you next to me was such happiness, “Kiyeri smiled, “And it took me far too long to understand that.”

  Ashiya held his breath for a moment, “…I think I can die now"

  Kiyeri started to ugh, but had to stop because of the pain, and added, wincing a little, "Please, don’t! You got through to me, so enjoy! Now go, I hear Mia is already struggling, I'm not saying she didn't deserve that, but still."

  Kiyeri heard Ashiya raise his sword and run away. After healing a little more, he opened his eyes and was ready to walk, at least. His first gnce was at Seyre - he was slow, eyes empty, but his powers still hitting hard at Ashiya and Mia. Kiyeri crawled to the nearest injured Dali. Finding him still breathing, Kiyeri sighed in relief and got to work. Dali started talking soon and in a barely audible voice asked if his sister was okay, Kiyeri expined to him sending her out. After that, Kiyeri crawled to Sonanta to help.

  Just then, Ruki returned. She jumped onto the fence with a fully loaded quiver, but after firing only one shot, she froze, at that moment Ashiya's ear-piercing scream was heard, "SERIOUSLY?!"

  Kiyeri called to Ruki, waving. She paused for a second on Dali before coming to him, "My arrow bounced off !" - she was surprised.

  "I know, I know. Ash said he's becoming more and more like stone, and look how slow he is. I guess we don't need to finish him off, he'll soon be like those three in the dagger, the more he uses mana, the faster he turns. Give me the arrow." Ruki handed Kiyeri one and he filled it with his energy, “Try it now."

  Ruki stood up, waited for the right moment, and fired, "It's in!"

  "Okay, give them all," Kiyeri ordered, filled, and handed it back.

  At this moment, things were not bad, Kiyeri himself was almost completely healthy, Dali and Sonanta could finally stand on their feet, Ruki had made cheese out of Seyre, only Ashiya and Mia looked exhausted, one of them had an arrow stuck in his leg...

  "Now is the right time," Kiyeri said to himself and, suppressing all his energy, he went around Seyre from behind. His goal was to take care of the Sigils absorbed before Seyre turned into stone.

  Seyre no longer looked like a human, his skin was pale as paper, his eyes were lifeless, and it was not known whether he was seeing images at all or moving only by instinct. His mouth was slightly open and crooked, as if half of his muscles were no longer functioning. Kiyeri slowly crept closer, then in one leap he closed the entire distance and grabbed Seyre by his neck, fttening him into the ground, instantly sucking mana out. Seyre fell like a rge brick with a thud and never again moved.

  If mana had a taste, this one was truly disgusting, Kiyeri felt sick. He could feel a lump forming deep inside him, like a ball, as bck as the abyss itself, and he concluded that this was the corruption. Realizing that such energy could not be given shelter, he directed it through his other hand and fed it to the medallion, which absorbed everything greedily. Although to do this required very delicate control, Kiyeri still managed to notice the worried faces of those around him. They gradually surrounded Kiyeri in a circle and seemed to want to intervene. It was probably a reaction to the expression on his own face, but after tasting such rotten mana... He couldn't really do anything about it, "I'm fine, it's just that corruption is very... unpleasant. It will be over soon, not much is left."

  When the sun rose, only Seyre's corpse remained lying there.