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“What’s your relationship with Geomi and the Virtuous Hand?” Ashley asked, glaring at Vur and ignoring Kim Hajun.

Vur furrowed his brow and tossed the crystal with the orb hidden inside of it to Lindyss. “Why do you have so many questions?” he asked the woman dressed in white robes. Almost every sentence that came out of her mouth was, in fact, a question.

“It’d be stranger for me to not have any!” Ashley said and pointed her rifle at Vur. Her eyes narrowed, and her hair fluttered as mana surged towards the barrel of her weapon. “It seems like you don’t know how things work around here. I ask questions. You answer. Understood?”

“Yes, absolutely,” Kim Hajun said, staggering in front of Vur despite the injuries he obtained when Ashley shoved him into the wall. “I’m not currently in a guild or clan, but my friends here are part of the Extreme Heat Clan, founded by Deowi of the fire spirit race. We have nothing to do with the Virtuous Hand.”

“Except Miranda,” Stella said, her eyes brightening upon seeing a chance to undermine Kim Hajun’s words. The fairy queen beamed as she pointed at the bald monk. “She was a part of the Virtuous Hand, and then Kim Hajun here convinced her to quit.”

Kim Hajun’s expression darkened, and he turned around, giving the fairy queen a look that asked, “Why would you say that?”

Ashley sneered. “Nothing to do with the Virtuous Hand, huh?” she asked. “What about Geomi?” The mana accumulating in the barrel of her rifle became denser as Ashley’s hands squeezed her gun tighter, her finger placed on the weapon’s trigger. “If I were you, I wouldn’t try to deny it. I saw you using her threads earlier.”

Vur frowned as he pushed Kim Hajun out of the way and took a step towards Ashley. He slapped the barrel of her weapon, and at the same time, Ashley pulled the trigger. Vur twisted his body to the side, and a stream of bullets flew past his face, narrowly avoiding his nose. Vur’s eyes widened, and he pushed off the ground with his foot, launching his shoulder into Ashley’s chest. A thin film of light appeared over her robes; however, it wasn’t enough to absorb the impact. She flew through the air but performed a backflip, landing stably on her feet, sliding a few feet before coming to a halt. There was a light cracking sound, and the barrier covering her robes shattered like a broken mirror, the shards hitting the ground and fading into nothingness.

“So, that’s how you want to do this, huh?” Ashley asked and pulled on her weapon’s trigger. An explosion of light shot out of the end, and the force launched her backwards, distancing herself even further from Vur. She dropped onto one knee and aimed her rifle at Vur in one smooth motion. She pulled the trigger, sending a stream of bullets flying his way. They were covered in white light, and the sheer number of bullets flying out made it seem like she was shooting with a laser instead of individual projectiles.

Vur stomped his foot as he dodged to the side. Pillars of earth and stone rose out of the temple floor between him and Ashley, but they weren’t enough to stop the bullets. A few glowing projectiles grazed Vur’s arm, causing blood to fly as his flesh was torn. His eyes narrowed as he ran in an arc, guiding the bullets away from his group. A green light enveloped his injured limb, and his flesh wriggled as it restored itself. Vur’s eyes glowed golden, and blood-red flames filled the temple. A second later, he vanished before reappearing behind Ashley with his left foot forward and his right arm back. He twisted his waist and punched, aiming downwards at an angle to strike the back of the woman’s head.

Ashley tumbled forward, rolling along the ground to dodge Vur’s strike. She scrambled up with a flustered expression and aimed the gun at Vur, but he had already disappeared from his previous position. “Holy Smite!” Ashley shouted, and white light exploded out of her body as if she had been struck by a bomb. The blood-red flames in her immediate vicinity were washed away by the light, and Vur staggered out backwards from the space behind her, his chest slightly burnt.

Vur’s eyes glowed golden, and his body contorted, rapidly expanding as he hunched over. Ashley slapped her rifle, and mechanical tendrils burst out of it. The tendrils shredded the weapon, moving parts and pieces around. Less than a second later, by the time Vur had finished his polymorph, the rifle had turned into a rocket launcher. Vur sucked in a deep breath, causing a white light to build up in his mouth, while Ashley pressed her hand against the side of her bazooka, sending a huge amount of mana into the weapon.

Vur roared as he leaned forward and spat a beam of white light at Ashley. The Light Lord gritted her teeth and pulled the trigger of her bazooka, sending a huge ball of white light at Vur in return. Without warning, two massive portals appeared, one in front of the ball of white and the other behind Ashley. The ball traveled through the portal, striking Ashley from behind, and the portals winked out of existence, allowing Vur’s attack to land directly on Ashley from the front. An explosion occurred—centered around the Light Lord—as the two attacks collided. Rather than canceling each other out, the attacks amplified one another, causing the explosion of light to grow at a rapid rate.

Vur flapped his wings and retreated backwards while his group scrambled outside the temple and hid behind its walls. After the explosion died down, Vur blinked at the charred woman lying face down on the temple floor—which couldn’t really be called a floor anymore since the tiles had been replaced by a deep crater. Vur turned his head towards the entrance of the temple where Tafel poked her head through to take a look at the aftermath. She met Vur’s gaze and gave him a thumbs-up. “That’ll teach her to shoot my husband,” she said and sprinted over to Vur to examine his front leg. “How’s your arm? Does it hurt? Are you okay?”

Kim Hajun stepped into the Temple of the Light Lord with a dazed expression on his face. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. This wasn’t how they were supposed to go at all.

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