"They still send more?"

The man’s voice was hoarse and sounded as though he hadn’t spoken for years.

The trio remained silent. They did not have a response to the words.

So, the man continued.

"We had an agreement. All I asked was to be secluded. Yet, I am troubled every month. Tell me, do you think this is fair?"

As the man spoke, his voice echoed throughout the hall.

Neither Blodwen nor Lencho spoke, which was when Roseus realised that they were waiting for him, their captain.

Roseus stepped forwards slightly.

"Are you Mikoto, Priest of Susanoo?"

The purple-haired man let out a chuckle that almost made him choke.

"Priest? It’s been a long time since then. Prophet Mikoto is my title."

All three members of the trio felt a sudden urge to take three steps backwards. Most of all, Roseus.

Prophet... That must be the rank above Priest.

Roseus’ body broke out into a heavy sweat. He was prepared for the man to be powerful, which was why he had brought along the two men. However, he had not expected him to have reached the next pact rank of his Supreme System.

Prophet Mikoto must have noticed the fear that had suddenly filled the captain’s body. Because of this, he couldn’t help but pity him.

"You are all mice who cannot help but run into my trap. All who came before you fell, did you know? The sand has long since covered their skeletons."

Mikoto began to approach again.

"Three more is suitable."

As those final words were spoken, a sudden spark surrounded Roseus’ body.

Blodwen and Lencho both looked at him, alarmed. However, when they saw that the man’s clothes were sparking with yellow currents of lightning, they calmed down.

Beforehand, Roseus had filled them in on the unseen battle between Rai’zac and Susanoo. He had explained that all yellow lightning belonged to his domain, whilst purple lightning belonged to Mikoto.

As the sparks spread throughout Roseus’ clothing, he felt in tune with the element in ways he hardly ever had before.

This was his power, Thunder Seams, which gave him a resistance to all forms of storm. The heavier the clothing that the seams were applied to, the greater the resistance would be. He was currently wearing a heavy pirate’s coat, black pantaloons, and a white buttoned undershirt.

Mikoto, who was familiar with the skill, immediately lost all of his confidence. He took an involuntary step backwards.

"The storm domain?" the man said, before suddenly raising both arms, with his palms facing towards both Blodwen and Lencho.

His palms charged with purple light before erupting with a deafening crash. Two purple bolts of lightning shot from his hands as though they were clouds and travelled towards the two pirates.

Lencho the Quick used Flash Step and dashed to the side, just barely dodging the strike and allowing it to crash into the ground beside him, sending sand scattering everywhere.

Blodwen wasn’t as fast, and instead raised his hands in a cross guard that enveloped his body in a blue overshield. The bolt of lightning crashed into the shield, but seemed to be absorbed by it. The shark-wearer didn’t seem affected.

Meanwhile, Roseus was already dashing forwards. Being the only one with a resistance to lightning, he knew that he had to charge in and make use of it.

He would have preferred to use his storm powers, but it seemed that Priests had to rely mostly on the clouds, whilst Prophets could form bolts directly from their hands.

Prophet Mikoto spotted Roseus approaching with his sword drawn, so the man raised his right hand once again.

Another bolt shot out, but this time, it was off target.

He missed?

Before the thought could even finish, Roseus watched as Mikoto vanished from where he stood.

He was caught off guard, but only for a moment. His premonition as a Priest told him what was going on.

Storm Jumping!

Roseus turned towards where the off-target bolt had struck and saw Mikoto standing there.

The man now held a sword made from pure purple lightning in his hand. Its blade was jagged and let off fierce crackles as he lifted it above his head, ready to smite Roseus.

But before he could bring down his weapon, Blodwen had reached into the mouth of his shark and pulled free one of the treasures stored there.

He placed it to his mouth and blew, letting out a sharp whistling sound.

This sound made Mikoto hesitate momentarily.

That moment was detrimental to him.

Lencho dashed past the man and swung his blade five times, performing Quintuple Slash.

The first two strikes hit Mikoto’s right arm, creating an X-shaped wound that spilled blood. The other two were blocked by a purple overshield that fended off the strikes with sparks of lightning.

Prophet Mikoto turned towards Lencho, who was now a few steps away with a dripping blade. He started dashing towards him. However, the moment he did, Roseus managed to just barely thrust into the man’s hamstring with the point of his blade.

Frost began to spread around the point of impact, slowing his movements moderately.

Mikoto looked down at his leg for a single moment, and during that moment, Blodwen made a strange sign with his hands that resembled the mouth of a shark.

As he made the "mouth" close, Mikoto’s left arm was suddenly torn from his body, as though it had been devoured by a shark.

He let out a scream as blood flew from the wound, and the purple sparks in his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

Blodwen dropped to one knee, and blood began to fall from his lips, nose, and mouth. Whatever that attack was seemed to have taken a great toll on him. After all, his specialty was fighting in water, not on sand.

Yet he was given no chance to recover.

Mikoto outstretched his single remaining hand, pointing it towards the ceiling of the cave.

A great rumbling sound could suddenly be heard from above, causing sand to rain down on their heads.

Since they were so deep within the cave, it was hard to hear exactly what was going on. However, as a Priest of Lightning, Roseus was able to make a guess as to what was happening.

Mikoto had created a storm and was using his remaining power to collapse the cave on top of them.