Hordes of Robed Guardians and Guardian Knights were rushing toward the hall as they spoke, and Uriel didn’t doubt that a special team of sorts would be following along the way.

If Kael’s father loved him so much he named a city after him, would assigning a hidden team of experts to him really be that much of a stretch?

No, it wouldn’t.

But beyond that, Kael was strong. It was as simple as that.

Uriel didn’t know what Step the man had reached, but he knew that he was far beyond his own. He hadn’t managed to land a single true hit on him, and had only bested him through the spiritual plane of battle.

But even then, Kael always broke his Thrall effects and always healed through his flame.

If the man decided to truly forgo all restraint and whatever he wanted to regain from Samael’s brother, then it would be over.

But on the flip side...he was nothing short of an anomaly.

Kael didn’t know how the boy did it, but he repeatedly pulled him into traps using his spiritual abilities. Through that, Uriel had practically forced the man to tell him everything.

Because of this, Uriel knew what Kael wanted from Samael’s brother, he knew what had happened to his face, he knew what his relation to Korynth was, and so much more.

When Kael thought of it, he couldn’t help but be torn between rage and admiration. Uriel would be a fine addition to his ranks.

Especially considering the fact that the boy was, as he saw it, essentially immortal. Uriel had no heart, no lungs, had his Will and soul broken, and yet had somehow lived.

All while being an F-Ranker.

And who knew how many more tricks he had? Who knew how much more he could pull to shock him?

The two of them were at the end of their rope, and all that lay ahead was mutual destruction.

Or cooperation.

"..."

Samael stepped back until he stood beside Korynth, who was a couple of meters behind Uriel. The latter faced the void while Kael had his back to it.

He gave Korynth a look, then nodded. She looked at him and nodded back. As much as he hated it, in this situation, no matter what happened, they were on the same side.

Whether he liked it or not.

WHOOOSH!

The Mirage vanished, then reappeared a step behind Uriel, standing as a looming figure, the creature’s loyalty and intent practically etched into the fabric of its Will.

Kael gave it a glance, but then ignored it, clearly unimpressed. He knew it was in control of everything in the hall, but with his own breakthrough, it didn’t matter.

They were, truly, evenly matched.

WHOOSH!

From the void beyond, a cold gust of air flowed, sweeping past them and filling the silence that stood between them. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Uriel looked past Kael and at the coffin that stood in the void. He stared at it for a while. If he’d had a face, he would be frowning as he looked at it.

For some reason, his Sin was reacting heavily to it. The same way it had reacted to Lucianna and Miquella, the same way it reacted to Mariah and Ophanis.

And the same way it reacted to Samael and Korynth.

Something was brewing here, and he could feel that the zenith of it all was rapidly approaching. But he didn’t know what that would entail, and he didn’t like it.

Not one bit.

"No," Uriel said with a sigh, the echo of his words making the duo behind him stiffen.

Would it be a battle, then?

"No?" Kael asked with a narrowed gaze. "I didn’t think you’d be so foolish."

Uriel shook his head. "No, it’s not that. You said that we both have much more to lose than to gain, did you not?"

"We do not. You have quite a bit on the line here as well."

Uriel waved a hand, pointing at the runes of blood drawn across the hall. "We may die, but I think we both know death sometimes is mercy, do we not?"

Kael’s face twisted into a faint sneer. "This? What would a spatial formation do to me? I think you’re underestimating me."

Now that his mind was clear once again, Kael had been able to easily see through Uriel’s formation.

He wasn’t a rune expert by any means, but being able to read runes was the most basic of requirements to survive as an ascendant of higher Steps.

"That’s the issue," Uriel shook his head, "people never think beyond the immediate implications of their actions."

"Nor do they ever think of the echoes of their past actions."

Uriel had discovered two secrets about Kael, the city.

The first was when he was undoing the lock that led to the mirror realm, the place where Lucianna had lured him through Emrys.

He learned that the Spire was alive.

But it wasn’t so simple. It tied into the words of Lucianna’s servant—

—

["It is unfortunate that we meet in such circumstances, but it will have to do. We mustn’t show our bond of affiliation, for ’they’ are always watching."]

["If they learn the truth, your people will suffer."]

—

—but it also tied into the second secret of Kael City.

A secret he’d found while trying to inspect Samael’s status as they waded through the spatial maze to reach the lock.

Back then, he’d failed to do so, so he turned to one of the random inhabitants of Kael that had been passing by them. It was a random mailman.

He looked into the man’s weave, and that was when he discovered it.

And it had horrified him. But also enlightened him.

It explained how Samael had found him even in spite of his veil on that day, it explained why the Guardians all wore veils, and it explained the strange color of their eyes.

It was always either green or gold.

It explained everything.

"Look."

But it also opened a can of worms Uriel would never be able to close.

WHOOOOOOSH!

The entire hall shook, the runes of blood lighting up with furious crimson light as all the aether in the atmosphere collapsed into seas of spatial aether.

The spatial aether flowed across the runes, the arts of harmony echoing through the air as the Mirage used part of its authority to bolster the formation.

A blinding flash of light erupted in the hall and then—

BANG!

—Emrys teleported into the hall, falling from the skies and gently dropping beside Uriel.

"Kih!"

Uriel gave Emrys a smile, then lightly patted and ruffled his head. What was odd, though, was that in his maw, Emrys carried a bloodied and blue heart, void of any life.

Uriel extended a palm, and then Emrys dropped the heart onto it, instantly shaking to free himself of all the blood covering his once pristine white fur.

Uriel pointed the heart at Kael. He softly squeezed down on the heart and then...

"ARGHHHHHHHH!"

...Kael began to scream as if his soul was being torn in half.