"What do we do?"

"Run. Head for the Cross. If we find it and poison it, we leave. If not, we use Reversion." Lucimia spoke, breath a thin mist in the cold green.

The two girls flickered through the mountain forest, Instant Movement flashing like fireflies, then sprinted through bramble-shadowed paths.

"Ahead—there's the river. Break this thicket, and the river zone is right there," Lucimia said, eyes catching a strip of silver like a blade.

"Got it," Desty answered, her voice taut like a drawn bowstring.

Instant Movement's on cooldown; they could only run, legs drumming like rain on leaves.

Behind them, rats hissed in shrill squeaks. The swift ones sprang when the gap closed. Desty swung her sword, severing fur and teeth, carving time from the chase.

Close—so close. Relief brushed her chest like a warm breeze. Burst from the trees, dive into the water, use Disguise Power to turn into a fish-beast, and move like an arrow beneath the surface.

Lucimia clenched Desty's hand, heart thudding like a drum. She shielded her face with her arm and smashed through branches and grass, bursting out of the woods into light.

Good. Next, turn into a fish-beast. The moment they hit water, Instant Movement would finish cooling. Time the jump, then blink away, clean and seamless.

She ran the sequence in her mind like beads sliding on a string, then sprang forward.

But as she hung in that brief weightless beat, a sapphire flash knifed across the edge of her right eye.

Two azure arrows tore in, wind and thunder chained to their flight, screaming toward them.

Shock hit like cold riverwater. Lucimia’s pupils tightened to pinpoints.

Who? An enemy? Did the pursuers catch up?

She cut the thought short and snapped Disguise Power over them. Two small fish flickered into being; tiny bodies made aim slip like rain off stone.

But in the next breath, each arrow fractured into needle-fine darts. By cruel luck, two lined up to hit them.

It can do that?

No time—dread rose like a dark tide. That blue glow screamed of the Purification Deity. If the arrows carried a brand, they couldn’t risk it. She decided—

"Devouring!"

Forced to burn energy, she shouted. The Fuzzy Orb popped from thin air and gulped the incoming darts in one bite.

The Devouring jolted her. Pain bloomed where an eye had sprouted on her left forearm, a thorn twisting under skin.

"Tch... how much energy did that cost? Did those arrows carry Authority Power?"

With that worry nibbling at her like cold fish, the two fish dropped into the river and vanished.

—

A red-haired man flew in from afar, a magic longbow in hand. He halted above the river, eyes sweeping the current like a hunting hawk.

"Heh. They run fast."

It was Nat. He had just used the ability Vosh granted, borrowing Purification Power for a short span.

Lev had told him the rat swarms tracked Lucimia. Nat used them as drifting markers, read her route from high above, laid an ambush, and struck on the heartbeat.

Arrows with Purification Power hit like temple lightning. Pity—they were unraveled by Devouring Authority.

"That Authority Power is thorny. But my lord’s order is simple—force them to use their Authority Power again and again, drain their energy."

As Nat finished, a mass of footsteps rolled up behind him. The Purification Knights arrived, light azure armor gleaming, postures straight as pines.

One figure among them stood different, a dark stone in a field of blue.

Lev stepped forward in pitch-black heavy armor, slow as a grinding tide.

"My people wear the Purifying Light. They’re spread through the forest. What do you plan next?"

Nat glanced down at Lev and answered slowly. "Simple. I’ll spread my men through the hills. You and I will hunt them in the river zone. The rat swarms mark Lucimia, so she’s easy to find. The sky’s anti-flight Magic Array doesn’t affect our allies, so advantage is ours. The only worry is if they slip out of the valley."

Lev nodded, voice steady as iron. "Relax. They won’t get out. My lord laid a fog barrier around the valley. They can’t teleport away unless they use Authority Power, which suits us. My lord says Lucimia’s condition is poor. First goal—make her burn energy. Second—capture or kill. And she lacks Purifying Light. The valley teems with rats. If she doesn’t want them to eat her, she burns vast mana or Authority Power. Both are good for us."

"Good. Then let’s begin."

Nat couldn’t wait. He turned, ordered his men to deploy across the hills, then teamed with Ment to chase Lucimia, following the rats like a dark river.

Purifying Light lanterns hung at their waists. The packed rats all around dared not bite; they parted like wheat before fire.

One above, one below. Nat skimmed the river using a Flight Spell, his longbow drawing mana into ready arrows. Lev ran the bank, feeding lightning into the water. Dead fish rolled belly-up, pale coins on the surface.

That was their tactic—smoke Lucimia out of the water with thunder. The instant she surfaced, Nat above would loose arrows laced with Purification Power.

Usually, this strategy is near-invincible. But Lucimia has Devouring, and the board changes.

If she uses Devouring and slips from the river zone, the knights and soldiers deployed elsewhere will report in. The two will rush to support.

For example, Nat set a Swap Magic Array on every Purification Knight. That array lets two positions exchange in a blink.

So, if a hill soldier spots Lucimia and calls it in, Nat triggers the magic. Their places switch. The soldier becomes Nat, and Nat delivers a heavy strike.

And Lev? He can resurrect from one of his soldiers—a direct body swap. The soldier’s life either gets sacrificed, or a monster takes his place.

In short, their plan was thorough and tight, net cast wide, threads knotted on every edge.

It might not guarantee a capture or kill. But it would force her to use Authority Power just to escape.

That was the purpose—drain Lucimia’s energy. Call that success.

—

Elsewhere, Lucimia and Desty slipped into the river as tiny fish. They kept swimming through silken water. When Instant Movement cooled down, they fired it at once.

They swam and swam. Then Lucimia stopped, like a leaf catching on a stone.

"What is it? Why aren’t we running? Check the upstream zone for the Cross." Desty halted too and called back, voice rippling through the dark water.

"Wait. I’ll set a Teleportation Array." Lucimia slid to the deep riverbed and began laying the Magic Array, lines etching like frost.

"Huh? Why set another array?" Desty couldn’t understand, confusion stirring like silt in a current.

Anxiety pricked her like nettles. They were hunted. The priority was to scout upstream and see if the Cross even exists.

If it doesn’t, then use Reversion. Their situation would lighten like clouds breaking after rain.