Those who possess unique and rare Affinities in the magecraft world are labeled many things. “Useless,” “Outsiders,” “Freaks.” These were certainly just the basics of the basics. There were many more like “Outcasts,” “Possessed,” and even the fabled “Abomination?”

Really? Abomination of all things?

Soren simply couldn’t understand it when Myrin informed him about these terms. He just couldn’t imagine anyone saying something that idiotic simply because he possessed a rare affinity like Mesmerism.

But then again…

Staring ahead at the colossal figure standing deep within the clouds of debris, Soren could only smile softly as his hands continued shaking in silence. He glanced at them for a moment—examining the exact emotion causing this strange sensation coursing through him.

Was it fear? Anger? Perhaps both?

No… He thought inwardly. This is simply excitement…

There was a part of him that was thrilled to see this development. His curiosity had risen significantly—far beyond even his own inner control. What he was seeing was just too exhilarating.

The script had changed in such an interesting way!

With each passing second, his mystic eyes fed him more and more information about this newly appeared foe. And with it, his smile would only continue to grow.

“Mordred, the Black Thorned Knight… One of the Twelve Seat Holders of the Round Table…”

He wasn’t underestimating Him. The opposite actually—Soren could sense death’s grip with every glance he made towards Him. But those emotions were simply too shallow in comparison to his curiosity. The world no longer felt real, he simply saw everything through the lens of a story that included him as a character. Not even his Magecraft Persona could control this sensation any longer.

As he was thinking this, a sudden thud shifted his gaze. He turned to see the disheveled figure of someone familiar standing to the right of him.

Ynixia.

Her gothic dress was torn and bloodied as the darkness surrounding her scrambled to fix the wounds. It appeared as if she had just emerged from the dust cloud—thrown forcefully by something.

Gritting her teeth, the Shepherd turned toward him angrily. “What took you so long?! You could have easily left that banquet hall with your abilities!” She then shook her head while wiping the blood dripping from her bottom lip. “Either way, get ready! We need to deal with this bastard quic—”

Before she could finish her sentence, she felt a strange sensation wash over her. It was hard to explain…

“W-what is this?” The air was wavering under the pressure of something vivid. Something… wondrous…

“My Soul Realm,” Soren answered promptly as he stood up and dusted his clothes. Her eyes instantly widened.

“You’ve broken through the barrier… You’re finally a 3rd Circle magi?”

Soren didn’t say anything, but his silence was practically a confirmation. Ynixia smiled slightly.

“Good timing! We will need all the strength we can muste—”

“Say.”

Soren interrupted her again as he stared into the distant dark silhouette. “Back during the height of Avalon’s rule, were magi who possessed rare affinities like me ostracized?”

“Why are you asking something like that right now?!”

She clicked her tongue, “Obviously not—magecraft was limited to only scholars and those who were trained to use it in battle. It didn’t matter what affinity they possessed, since grimoires were far too rare for any one affinity to gain prominence.”

“In my era, rare affinities were ostracized.” Soren followed up swiftly, “So it makes me wonder—would those same people be willing to insult my affinities if they were able to witness the scene unfolding in my mind?”

Ynixia paused for a moment—lips still hung open, attempting to reply. In the end, she simply closed her eyes and sighed.

“I assume you’re fully aware of our current circumstances then?”

Soren nodded. “Biblion just sent me everything I needed to know using [Record]. The past loops, the battle you fought against Mordred and Morgan, the Throne of Glass…”

She shook her head slightly. “How convenient… Well then, let us begin.”

The moment she said that, the Traveler’s figure immediately began to crack as if it were a delicate glass sculpture. It shattered instantly, followed by a soft chuckle from Soren who had vanished from sight.

All that was left behind in his wake was a golden card which the Shepherd swiftly reached for, obtaining all the information about his experiences in the banquet hall and his plans for the following confrontation. Indeed, what he was planning—the scene unfolding in her mind… It was far too crazy even for her to fully process.

She smiled slightly then shook her head.

“Y-Ynixia… I…”

A soft voice suddenly grabbed her attention. She turned back to see the disheveled figure of someone very familiar sitting plainly right next to another golden card half-stuck beneath the rubble. The cascading violet colored hair, the golden eyes reflecting the dim chandelier light that was rocking back and forth due to the impact, the cautious yet fearless expression masking her inner curiosity… She wore the crimson dress her sister once cherished very dearly.

Ynixia could only continue smiling… “It's nice to see you again, Camilla. How many decades has it been?”

Tears swelled in the girl’s eyes. “Y-you finally remembered me… I—”

“Stop.” Ynixia interrupted with a chuckle. “We will have a proper reunion after me and my knight finish dealing with that damned witch. Dearest friend, will you help us in the meantime?”

There was a slight pause as the young woman glanced at the floor in silence. She eventually wiped her tears and nodded toward Ynixia with a slight smile. “I will.”

Pleased with the answer, Ynixia shook her head again and sighed with a soft smile. In an instant, the surrounding darkness gathered around her palm, morphing into a colossal rod that then extended into the shape of an even bigger hammer.

Camilla could only stare at this strange spectacle in shock. This was completely beyond her expectations—Ynixia’s short stature paired with the monstrous hammer was somewhat comical to see. But also eerily terrifying…

Seeing her friend’s twisted expression, Ynixia chuckled again. “Bigger enemies require bigger weapons to slay. Don’t you agree?”

Ash rained down from above as the world swirled with darkness.

“Mutilation…

“Deprivation…

“Isolation…”

The words hung loosely, echoing off the sheet metal of His armor. Whispers He could no longer understand, but the solace they gave still left Him yearning for their presence.

They repeated endlessly within the darkness of His inner world. The metal sheets shifted and vibrated to their tunes as they endlessly morphed and transformed…

“Mutilation…

“Deprivation…

“Isolation…”

The voice was faint but kept HIm steady. But like all things, they were never meant to be eternal.

[Awaken.]

A colossal bell rang within His mind followed by a menagerie of other whistling sounds. The whispers drowned within that cold abyss. And the world… became no longer still and motionless. The silence had been replaced by blaring entropy.

Standing silently above a colossal pile of rubble, Mordred analyzed the turbulent realm below once more—the battlefield had transformed significantly from just a few moments prior.

At least, according to the vibrations corresponding to some strange past memories.

Whether these scenes were truly His or not didn’t matter. There was only one sensation that filled His heart with its rhythm that He wanted to focus on. A rhythm He could only understand through a simple Dulvali word:

Longing…

What was He longing for?

He certainly didn’t know anymore. But this sensation was compelling Him to move forward. To completely reject the inner void within Himself and look outward instead.

And yet…

[Pitiful fortress, Sinner of Sinners abandoned by both enemies and allies alike… Reject those who dare to stand before you. Embrace your inner flame that drives away the dark…]

The voice once again commanded. The rhythm within His heart fluttered to its call. Yes… This was now His existence. He felt that an answer to His queries had finally arrived.

This voice that was compelling Him to move… It must be what He was longing for. It just had to be…

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He sensed the vibrations before Him keenly once again—observing the figures that watched Him carefully from a distance. There was a colossal skeletal beast to the left. It resembled the dragons of old, but also humanity’s greed. Next to it lay an unconscious woman whose tattered clothes seemed oddly unfamiliar. But He did recall bringing her somewhere on behalf of that strange voice’s orders.

Where did He bring her again?...

Mordred couldn’t remember.

Continuing His observations, the Black Thorned Knight sensed the vibrations of the rest of this colossal room’s occupants. Before Him, the woman cursed by the abyss stood defiantly, mulling over her plans of escape or survival, no doubt. Though, He wasn’t that concerned about her presence.

Behind her stood another woman who he sensed familiarity to—the curiosity in her eyes seemed distinctly obvious and yet His memory couldn’t fully decipher where He had seen her…

However, his attention quickly focused on someone else instead. Standing firmly before both women was a disgusting moth that no doubt believes it could fly above them all. The radiance of its eyes rejected the silence of the void—a treachery in its own kind. It reminded Him of Her in a way…

“Traitorous, huh?” The moth’s voice echoed within His hollowed armor. But the vibrations quickly vanished, leaving only fragments behind. “I like that descriptor too…”

Hearing this, Mordred instinctively lifted His arm in less than a blink, allowing [Thorn Cannon] to emerge from within the Fortress’ confines. He quickly chose His target: an eerie presence hiding deep within the surrounding dust clouds—its vibrations reflecting the figure of an arrogant young man grinning shamelessly as his white burial robes fluttered with every motion.

Without giving the enemy a chance to dodge, Mordred's arm recoiled, blasting an armored shell toward the distant figure. An explosion rang out soon after, drilling the surroundings with His presence—thorns embedded themselves into everything, even the air itself.

Moments passed by as the dust slowly began to settle. And yet… Mordred still hadn’t sensed anything. The arrogant moth had vanished completely!

“I’m traitorous, remember?” The arrogant voice reached the Black Thorned Knight once more—this time from a different direction. He quickly aimed His [Thorn Cannon] toward it without waiting a second longer!

But this time, the unexpected happened.

He sensed an incoming projectile heading His way. It was somehow the same cannon ball He had shot out just seconds earlier. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

His attack… It had been reflected back at him!

Mordred quickly activated [Unbroken Pillar], momentarily merging Himself with the surroundings as if He were an immovable object. The explosion was immediate—the fortress shook violently as the cold metal sheets slid against each other chaotically. Then in response, [Thornmail] automatically activated, sending out the same damage back to the attacker.

But rather than Him sensing the moth’s demise, He instead felt the vibrations of something else shattering in the distance, the image of which was captured by His embedded thorns:

A reflection of not just the attack itself… but of Himself as well?

Before He could process this development, the voice called out again—this time from two separate locations:

“Is this really the extent of the power one of the Twelve Knights holds? Why are you holding back this much?”

Mordred remained silent against his taunts. It was all far too strange—the vibrations of the stranger’s presence were identical to one another even though they were clearly illusions of some kind. Such an elaborate trick wasn’t normal at all.

And yet, He wasn’t annoyed or angry. He wasn’t sad or afraid either…

The enemies before Him were far too inconsequential for HIs attention. They were nothing more than little wasps vying for the attention of something beyond their measly lives. And from the apprehension His thorns were sensing, they were never truly dedicated to this matter either. He could feel the fear dripping from their gazes.

But these thoughts reminded Him of something. The fortress hadn’t felt any motivation to continue this struggle—it was attempting to search for something else instead. Although the commanding voice was compelling Him to move, the radiant lethargy of the void was clawing against the sheet metal compelling Him to return to His slumber.

Only now did Mordred realize what He had been longing for all along…

“War.” The arrogant moth’s fragmented voice announced to the whole world. It continued echoing within His hollowed armor:

“I declare war on you.”

This time, he didn’t use illusions to say this. The strange moth simply walked up to Mordred proudly—a cold grin plastered across his face. But the Traveler’s warm, amber eyes hid flames that seemed to enjoy piercing through His inner abyss. There was no fear in them whatsoever—only desire and excitement.

“That’s what you want, don’t you?” He crossed his arms. “War… A challenge. I can give it to you.”

Hearing this, Mordred for the first time in centuries began to feel something strange emanating deeply from within the Traitorous Fortress, It was as if ancient rivets and bolts had somehow undone a millenia of rust—the movements He resigned Himself into forgetting were once again returning.

His Black Thorned armor… was now truly awakening.

In an instant, Mordred slammed His thorned blade into the mired marble floor. The audacious challenger watched silently as its shadow dwarfed him in size, its serrated edge forming new cracks in the ground with every passing second.

Hearing the loud rattling of His armor, Soren smiled deeply. He gazed into the dark blade curiously, taking in the details of its shape. Though, his mystic eyes revealed far more than its exterior…

He shook his head slightly. “So I assume you won’t hold back like before, right? It will be more interesting that way. This is no longer a mindless battle that you’re commanded to carry out by someone else—we are now at war. My banner will soon conquer that rusty armo—”

Before Soren could finish, the giant serrated sword suddenly exploded, shooting out all the thorns that were once wrapped around its darkened form. The Traveler’s figure instantly shattered into hundreds of shards. But not before launching an attack of his own!

Soren had quickly activated his new 3rd Circle spell, Mirage Shatter. This allows him to detonate any illusion of himself into a cloud of mirror shard shrapnel that pierces anything in its way. The moment the declaration of war happened, he had already swapped his presence with an illusion without Mordred noticing!

The Violet Mirage illusion that had just been destroyed by the sword’s thorns began to explode on its own as well, scattering shards across the entire vicinity.

Emerging from a distance, Soren used [Hymns of the Unseen] to feel the presence of every one of Mordred’s thorns that had been embedded into the surroundings. He smiled as his mystic eyes gazed into the now Traitorous Fortress. The scattered shards surrounded the dark knight from all sides, forming many reflections of HIm across their surfaces.

He chuckled slightly. “This is my first time sieging a fortress on my own. This should be exciting.”

“Are you forgetting me again?!”

Another voice emerged from the distance—Soren shifted his gaze upwards, noticing a familiar silhouette descending from the sky above Mordred’s horrifying figure.

The Black Thorned Knight looked up as well—the thorns that had been embedded in the ballroom's ceiling were announcing her presence. He could see Oblivion’s Cursed Maiden holding a colossal shadowed hammer that was far larger than her size, readying to slam it against Him with full force.

In response, the Traitorous Fortress once again stirred. A greenish fog began to seep from every crevice and gap in the darkened armor, forming a colossal pool on the fractured floor.

[Boundary of Vengeance].

From the sky, Ynixia saw the pool forming swiftly and gritted her teeth. She had seen Him use this exact skill once before—it allowed the giant knight to manifest strange ghostly creatures that fight on His behalf. Within minutes, an entire army could form before either of them could stop Him!

“Screw it…” She once again activated her skull ring, allowing the black flames to coat the entire hammer.

On the ground, Mordred seemed unconcerned by the approaching enemy. He continued forming the strange monstrosities that now plagued the surrounding fog—all of them seemed tiny in comparison to His presence. Then, He activated another skill called [The Siege].

From a distance, Soren could see all of these developments happening through his mystic eyes. Although he had already been overusing it for a while, he knew he had to continue pushing himself into chronicling more information anyway—this battle required it.

[The Siege] skill, however… wasn’t like anything [Eyes of the Fairy] expected. Even through the Beyond, Soren sensed no direct changes—only the sensation of anima being stirred quietly could be felt. However, he did know from its description that it was likely tied directly to what he was longing for… A declaration of war from a worthy enemy.

Soren had provided him exactly what he needed for this skill’s activation. As for its manifestation, it didn’t take long for him to realize that as well.

It was hard to notice at first, but once the Traveler did, looking away became impossible. Second by second, the giant knight was beginning to grow larger and larger, dwarfing everything else in size.

And even more strange, Ynixia who had leaped into the air for her attack had still yet to fully descend either. As if the very space between them had remained the exact same despite His indescribable growth and the passage of time.

But just when this scene couldn’t be any more confusing, Mordred activated a new skill: [Fortress Armory]. The description Soren had obtained for this one was fairly simple, but it couldn’t have prepared him for what he saw next.

The shattered remains of Mordred’s once fractured blade began to gather together magnetically, morphing into a completely new shape: A colossal hammer even bigger than the one Ynixia had manifested with her shadows!

The Shepherd’s eyes instantly widened but it was too late to avoid the confrontation. With a twist of His now expanded form, Mordred swung the mountainous hammer toward her with full might, creating several shockwaves in the process! Not willing to hold back, Ynixia grit her teeth and did the same.

The clash was immediate.

The walls, floor and ceiling of the ballroom all began to crumble at once as the force of the impact shook everything in its surroundings. Fortunately, Soren was fast enough to activate Fairy Barrier on Camilla, Victoria, Ynixia, and himself simultaneously in the last second.

But despite his best efforts, they were all still thrown back several feet—the impact of which blew out the air in his lungs completely.

Lifting himself off the rubble after going unconscious for a few seconds, Soren assessed his surroundings again. Indeed, his spell had shielded them from most of the damage, but that didn’t mean they weren’t injured… He could feel a slight sting from one of his left ribs. As for the others, they were relatively fine since they were farther away from the impact than him.

Ynixia on the other hand… was a separate story. She had fortunately survived, but was now partially unconscious on the other side of the ballroom and covered in blood. The shadows that clung to her had all melted onto the surrounding rubble, as if no longer being controlled.

Next to her stood Albert who had moved Victoria with him, shielding both girls from Mordred's terrifying presence.

The mere fact that all of this had unfolded in just a fraction of a breath… Soren shook his head slightly.

Surrounding the now gigantified Mordred was a growing pool of greenish fog filled with eerie screams. It continued to birth these monstrous unknown entities that seemed hungry to consume them. And it seemed there was far more that His Soul Weapon could do as well that they have yet to experience….

Soren couldn’t help but chuckle nervously to himself. “So that’s why they call Him the Traitorous Fortress…”