Magical Soul Parade

Back inside the world tear…

Finn was still seated on his throne atop Ryuga’s coiled form. He didn’t look like a man in a hurry, but his head lifted briefly as his eyes sharpened on the southern horizon, mumbling a short, quiet, “Oh?”

A bright green streak cut across the sky, looking like a meteorite as it tore through the clouds. As it descended with that speed, it didn’t impact the ground. Instead, it came to an abrupt, jarring stop right in front of him, hovering in the air.

Finn stared at his Errant Sword as it hummed and pulsed with frantic vibrations, as if eager to be finally grasped by him. He reached out and grabbed the hilt out of the air, feeling the familiar thrum of the blade resonate in his fists. It felt like a part of his own soul had finally come home.

He let out a long, slow sigh.

“So she lost,” he whispered to himself.

His eyes grew distant as he let his fingers brush against the flat of the blade. He already knew what had happened. He didn’t need a report or a witness to explain the situation. The mere fact that his Errant Sword had returned to him on its own could only mean one thing…

Althea was no longer in a state to wield it.

It seems they are not so dumb, Finn thought.

He had expected the Ossuary to be arrogant, but this was a calculated move. The fact that they had gone directly for the Order Bearer instead of coming for him first meant they understood the threat. They didn’t underestimate him as much as he had initially anticipated.

If the Order Bearer had been allowed to join forces with the Error Bearer, their combined concepts would have been practically unstoppable. It would have posed a threat the Ossuary couldn’t handle.

And that was why Althea was taken out first.

If Finn was bothered by the loss of his colleague, he didn’t show it. His expression remained a mask of calm, since he was fairly certain she could not have been killed. At the most, she was presently incapacitated.

But dead? There was no way the Ossuary would make such a move. The Order concept was too vital to be allowed to perish. They would look for ways to take control of it by all means.

So for the meantime at least, Althea was okay… Though that didn’t stop the flicker of surprise that remained in the corners of Finn’s eyes.

While he hadn’t banked on Althea being his primary support, he had expected her to be a force unable to be held down. Over the many years she’d lived, he had imagined she would have become a power so terrible that even the Ossuary would have to treat her with absolute caution.

The fact that she had gone to seek vengeance and failed suggested one of two things to him: Either Althea had not reached her full potential for some reason, or the person she faced was on a level of power that defied the current era’s standards.

Finn chose to believe the latter. He was not a man to be lax. It was better to assume his opponent was a monster rather than be surprised by his own arrogance in the end. Even though he was confident in his own strength, he knew Althea wasn’t weak. If someone had defeated her, they were worth his attention.

He looked up at the sky again. He could feel the happiness radiating from the Errant Sword through their bond. It was glad to be back with its master. But underneath that joy, there was a tinge of sorrow.

Over the years it had spent with Althea, the blade had grown a bond with her. It was a lingering grief that Finn didn’t mind. She was his colleague, after all.

He muttered softly to the blade, “Don’t worry. They are going to get what is coming to them…”

He paused for a moment, then looked down from the sky, turning his attention to Osmond and Madoc. The two were still atop Syf, watching over Micah, Isis, and Yvonne who were still unconscious, their breathing steady but their minds still far away.

Finn called out to them. “No one is coming.” He stood up from Ryuga’s side and dusted his hands, chuckling lightly. “They refuse to be the challengers. So they won’t come to me. Rather, they want me to come to them…”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“Bold. But it’s no matter anyway. In fact, I like this even more.”

His eyes held a mysterious, sharp glint. It was the look of a man who saw the pieces of a game falling into place exactly where they needed to be.

“You two. Here is what you will do…”

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Priest’s POV…

She lost.

Priest thought the words over and over, his teeth gritting together until his jaw ached. He looked at the vast expanse of blackened earth and ruin before him.

Althea most definitely lost.

He could still feel the traces of her power in the air, but they were fading, overwritten by a lingering, golden heat that felt like a permanent scar on reality.

He had tried to come after her the moment she left their safe abode. He had known she was heading into a trap, but she had been so headstrong. She hadn’t stopped to analyze why the Ossuary would make such a provocative move. She had let her emotions drive her, and now she had paid the price.

It was the same mistake he had made years ago… during the era where Finn had first returned — the mechanics of that return still marveled Priest, but he couldn’t dwell on that now. He lamented how foolish she had been, yet he knew he was in no position to judge.

He sighed, pulling his mind back to the present.

There was nothing he could do for her here. What he could do now was find a solution, and that meant finding the one man capable of shifting the balance of the current situation.

He had to get to the Error Bearer.