CHAPTER 34: NUMBERED NUMBERED

Vayne walked towards his party, his steps heavy, his eyes darting toward the shifting haze ahead. The mist writhed unnaturally, breathing as though it were alive. His body trembled in instinctive horror.

"The Mist..." Vayne whispered. The memory of its whispers clawed at him, and he clenched his fists to steady himself.

But to everyone’s surprise, Thane stepped forward.

"Master Expert Thane!" Vayne cried out without thinking.

Thane nearly tripped. "Umm... Master Expert Thane? Ermmm..." he scratched his cheek, clearly flustered.

"Never mind that. What are you guys waiting for?"

"The Mist...! It might—" Vayne started, but Thane cut him off.

"Don’t overestimate it. It’s just mist."

His voice was calm, steady, but sure.

"I know it dragged you down into despair before. It twists, it deceives, it digs into every insecurity until it makes you believe you’re drowning in darkness. But you’ve already been through that. You’ve seen the light and pulled yourselves out. The truth is, it can only hurt you if you give it time. Steel your hearts, guard your minds. Resist. Because I doubt you’ll even have time to fall into depression this time."

"What do you mean?" Vayne asked.

"Idle hands are the devil’s playground," Thane said.

"The only reason you fell before was because you lingered. You entertained its whispers. Not this time. The moment we step inside, I’ll call that demon out of hiding, and then we’ll fight it. As a famous knight once said, ’the swinging sword cuts through the thickest anxiety.’"

"Master Vergen..." Vayne muttered, remembering the legendary words of his master.

"You’re right." Vayne grew confident.

Stratus and Sayla tightened their grips on their weapons, their knuckles pale. Seraphina, on the other hand, simply smiled. Her gaze lingered on Thane, noting how his words gathered the others around him without effort.

"Let’s go," Thane said.

"The faster we finish this, the faster I get to watch TV. Erm... I mean—the faster we get out of here."

He strode ahead, and without hesitation, the others followed. His presence had shifted. Where once he trailed behind, now he led.

"Holy Light!" Seraphina raised her hand, her voice ringing clear. Radiance burst forth, pure and golden, striking into the mist. The fog recoiled, seething, as if the light burned its very essence.

Step by step, they advanced.

The mist clung to them like wet cloth, pressing against their skin, whispering in voices both familiar and alien.

The words slithered into their ears, but Thane walked unshaken. He had already crossed the abyss of doubt. He had already faced despair and found his anchor.

The rest were in deep thought, focused on maintaining their identity.

"You... can stand... in the Mist?"

It was a simple question, but all four of them trembled at this question.

"Ha! Don’t trick us. You’re just trying to make us doubt ourselves. They have endured and have been through what this Mist is. We won’t be drawn in by your lies. And might I say... Wow... you’re quite an ugly being."

The others froze, confused, and followed his gaze through the mist.

The mist writhed violently as Seraphina’s light drove it back.

Slowly, painfully, the haze began to peel away. It moved like curtains parting to reveal the stage.

And there it was.

Bound in chains of light and shadow stood a figure. Its shape mocked humanity: a skeletal upper body fused with rotting flesh, arms stretched wide in crucifixion against a massive silver pole. Upon its shoulders lay a massive rod, and at either end hung plates. An ancient weighing scale, yet its chains stretched from side to side, swaying with unseen weight.

But even more unsettling was the wrongness of its form. It was as though they were staring at a being too vast, too intricate, compressed into a shape the mortal eye could endure. Its body flickered at the edges, shifting between shapes that could not be described with geometric wings, impossible patterns, a halo not of light but of equations unraveling in the air.

It had eyes on its scales, and wings were appearing and disappearing behind it.

Its presence was suffocating. Time itself seemed to ripple around it.

The mist was not simply surrounding the being; it was leaking from it, like a storm of unbalanced thought, a constant bleed of judgment and despair.

Thane’s eyes narrowed. The name surfaced in his mind, unbidden, familiar only because he had once glimpsed it in an icon, a symbol on TV.

"...Libra."

The word left his lips, and the being stirred.

Chains rattled. The scales tilted.

And the Mist howled.

"It seems... my name... still remains among the people... I thought after the eons that have passed, my name has been... forgotten..." The being laughed.

"Libra?! The Angel of... Judgment!" Seraphina grew horrified. Never in her mind would she have thought that she would face the Angel of Judgment!

"Don’t panic, Princess. He is quite weak. He used up a lot of his power. He could only tie the bones with his magic, but why hadn’t he done that before to destroy the seals? Because he can’t. It would hurt him. The seals would prevent him from doing so, but he grew desperate and tried to summon the skeleton to destroy the seals, enduring the pain and damage that the seal’s spells had inflicted on him." Thane assured as he stepped forward.

"Am I right, Stratus?" Thane called out.

Stratus was startled and began to think.

She thought back to how the battle started and the actions of the skeleton.

"Right! He was using magic to animate the skeletons. He dared not summon skeletons, though the skeletons he could summon would be stronger! His magic cannot linger here! He was desperately fighting and pushing his magic to fill the halls!"

"What about you, Sayla? What do you think about his actions? Was he on the offensive or the defensive?" Thane asked. Being a master small-group leader, Thane had perfected the art of asking his members to contribute in discussions.

"He was always on the defensive! He made us climb up there and waited to weaken us! A coward’s tactic to starve us out! He never went on the offensive because... it was too costly!"

"What about you, Vayen? What do you think of this?"

"...He is scared of us. A knight is taught to always be brave, and that means to know when we are afraid but always learn how to position these fears as strengths! His desperation reeks of fear!"

"Good! That means... our humble team of four has caused this Angel of Judgment to cower and return in defeat!"

"Yeah!" Vayne cheered.

Stratus’s staff grew bright with flames.

Sayla’s shield gave a bright blue light as she activated her abilities.

Seraphine’s light shone brighter as it was no longer a small ray that pushed back the Mist, but turned to a bright sun!

"Master Expert Thane is right! I, Seraphina Luminar, stand before the bound angel of Judgment! With my companions, we have bested your schemes, foiled your attempts to be free, and wounded you to this state!" Seraphina roared.

"And so? What next? What have you got to do here?" The rebuttal of the angel came quickly as he laughed.

The group was surprised and became silent.

"Do not retreat!" Thane shouted.

"We don’t have any choice. If we want to escape this wretched place, it will do with his defeat! God has led us here, and it is not an accident. We will leave this place with the heritage of this temple in hand!" Thane declared.

"Princess! This pedestal seems to be the opening! It will unseal the Angel!"

"Ha! If you are pure enough! Only the Pure can Unseal me!"

"Princess Seraphina is a Holy Daughter of Sanctus Luminara! Remember her name, angel!" Vayne declared.

Feeling the push of confidence, Seraphina approached the pedestal that Thane stood by.

Before her, she saw the close form of the grotesque being.

"Everyone... Get ready!" Seraphina ordered.

The voice of Stratus once more spoke of three, as she prepared to cast her strongest spell.

Vayne did the same as he gathered his mana together.

Thane could even sense a faint energy of Spirit.

Sayla did the same as her shield began to be encased with ice.

Seraphine saw their preparations and also readied her own spell.

The Holy sun before her grew brighter.

But as she reached out to the pedestal, Thane discreetly placed his right hand on it as well.

"Unseal!"

A deep rumbling could be heard from far away.