How about we sit down for a cup of tea.

I meant to serve them tea anyway. The original plan? Drop every Heretic Inquisitor, then politely pour tea while the steam waved like a white flag.

Now I could only ask, swallowing pride like bitter leaves.

You are... Andor? The Hero Academy’s hero, Andor Mephy?

Maki let me go. Under the pointed hood was a man’s face, plain as a river stone under rain.

We could sit and talk about—

We’re hunting a heretic. Sorry, no time to chat. Stragglers, clear out.

He cut me off cleanly, a door slammed by wind. He nodded and turned, ready to leave at once.

So be it. I’d hoped to quench fire with water.

Lord Andor, what is the meaning of this?

Worthy of the world’s summit of warriors. My sneak strike, and Maki slipped aside like a shadow past a blade.

I hadn’t expected a cheap shot to kill him. If it stalled him, I’d be happy as a thirsty man finding a spring.

I know the heretic you’re after. Nagash, right? Our captain, Stini, wants to turn him back to the light. Give her a little time?

No.

Why—

Maki’s fist came like a hammer from clear sky. He’d seen through my stalling.

I caught it with my Greatsword, bleeding the force aside. Even so, numbness bit my hands like winter frost.

Only taking hits never wins. That’s class one, combat track, Hero Academy.

I swept the Greatsword wide, ready to eat one blow for one opening.

His first kick cracked into my ribs. The second smacked my hand, nudging my blade off-course like a gust to a lantern. He slid away.

My insides twisted like ropes in a storm. My spleen and stomach traded seats.

What did I eat for breakfast yesterday? Judging by the rising tide in my throat, I’d remember it the hard way.

This pace loses for sure. I wiped spit and blood, raised my Greatsword to guard. His barrage hit harder than the high-tier spell Meteorfall, like boulders dropping from a thunderhead.

Maki was too fast. He fought with steel claws he could shift into fists, changing rhythm like a river changing channels.

He was the passive-adaptive type. No set form. No tailored counter.

He’s strong, he’s fast. I should open distance with magic, pull him into my waters.

Normally, yes. But a few days ago I swore to make fights playful, not a funeral march.

Wait, I surrender!

If you can’t win, why fight? Drop the sword and raise the cup.

I lobbed my Greatsword at Maki. He didn’t even shift his weight. He just flicked it aside like swatting a flying coal from his robe.

Good. My hands were empty, and my heart was clean. Heretic Inquisitors wouldn’t bully a man coming with tea.

The Silver Era was an age of heroes. Even the Heretic Inquisition, the face of human “evil,” exists for the sake of “good.” They fight so the world can go on. Heroes walk toward light too. We don’t want justice eating itself.

Even now, Maki’s strikes skirted my vitals, rain that spared the roots, careful not to kill.

I’ll give it back when I return. Maki picked up my Greatsword and waved the other Heretic Inquisitors forward.

Can’t you wait a moment longer? Give Stini a chance. I think she can do it!

I wanted to settle this Dispute slow and easy, like steeping tea. Maki’s efficiency cut like cold iron. Looked like only battle would brew.

...The Stini you mean, is she a Hero?

I was about to throw magic across the path when Maki paused mid-step, turned back.

Yes. The Hero Stini Saya. Her father is Augustus Saya.

Maybe peace after all?

My answer only sharpened him. His voice frayed like a bowstring.

All units, advance at full speed!

Sure enough, bridges between people collapse like sandbars in a flood.

Maki brushed me aside with his eyes. To him, I was just Stini’s stalling stone.

Then he’s wrong. The Hero Squad’s members bite as hard as the Hero. Judge by faces and ages, and even a Demon King will choke.

Shadows shaped into blades and sliced Maki’s cheek. A few drops of blood flew like red petals. He jerked away at once, almost clear, but not clean.

You—

Serpentine blades danced wild, a nest of vipers across the Greatsword’s spine. Maki’s palm strikes shattered three with a crack, but the tide didn’t ebb.

Darkness pooled. The Shadow knit itself back into a man.

Not bad, right? This move—Polarized Thousand Shadows.

I gripped the Greatsword Valor I’d just snatched back. I panted, wiped sweat like rain off my brow, and smiled like a boy who stole a peach.

In the Slaughter Demon King interception, Abigail tore me up. I built new organs from Shadow mana, a net of darkness to keep the lamp burning.

Now I took it further. I elementalized the whole body. Shape held together by imagination, like mist holding the outline of a man.

Maki’s killing intent gathered on me, a mountain pressing the chest. He barked to the others:

Go on. I’ll deal with him and catch up.

Don’t think so! Stay right here!

Shadow surged from every pore, ink soaking every inch. I became Shadow, became blades.

Dozens of blades split off, a black grove blocking the Inquisitors. I aimed to pin their hands and heels. They broke every blade like snapping twigs.

Can’t you give Stini one chance? I don’t even believe she’ll succeed. But let her try and own her failure—what’s wrong with that!

Because the world can’t afford it! She’s the world’s hope. If she gets swayed instead, what then!

Maki shouted over the wind of mana. He wrapped his fists in power and punched, scattering every Shadow blade with a thunderclap.

Shattered Shadow shed substance, thinned to a concept like fog, then drew together again. My inner wounds closed. My mana drained like a leaking gourd.

Mid-tier Shadow magic, Elemental Resonance, is a common mage’s tool. You resonate with elements, draw more, refine them into mana.

When you’re torn up, you can mold some mana into organs. But mana’s poison and medicine both. High concentration fires the flesh, then burns it to ash.

So you cast Elemental Resonance at every junction between mana-organs and flesh. You raise the body’s tolerance and hang your life on that thread. That kind of needlework is for high mages.

What I did was resonate every cell. I made my whole body elemental. Even if the elements are scattered like leaves, I can sweep them back into a body.

I meant to pair this with the Hero Squad’s next rise, a grand send-off for Anna. I didn’t think I’d spend it here.

Impressive. But do you think this lets you beat me?

No. I don’t. That’s why I wanted to surrender. Sit, drink tea—how hard is that.

Maki drew deep, his mana swelling like a tide under the moon. Enough to make you hold your breath. He’d realized unless he crushed me, his people wouldn’t get away. So he got serious.

We hadn’t fought long. Count it—he’d kicked me twice. No mana in either, just to throw off my blade. Those probes almost ended me.

One kick to my left hand. One to my side. Fractures and bruised organs. Test jabs near about killed me.

Maki’s burst outstrips Augustus. His stamina trails far behind.

Too bad for me. I fear storms that kill in one wave. Even the legendary spell Defiant Death might not save me.

His fist streaked for my head. I dissolved into Shadow again, blades sprouting to meet him edge for edge.

I hardened all my mana into blades. Since I am the mana, I can reclaim what I spend. Cost stays low. It’s like throwing your full strength again and again from the same well.

It’s a trick only I can do, with the domain-permission of Shadow—what I call Polarized Thousand Shadows.

Each sinuous blade was an all-out strike. Maki’s claws swung, heavy with mana, ripping the curtain of blades like tearing sails.

Falling Shadow pooled and made a body. I grabbed the Greatsword. As Maki spent that burst, I pivoted and swept.

He reached his right hand back, caught my blade steady as a rock. Then he turned, dragged the edge, and drove a fist at my chest.

The air trembled around that punch. If it landed, I’d be living at the Sanctuary of Life for days.

Good. He missed!

At the instant of impact, I scattered my elemental body. My blade crashed onto his right shoulder.

Blood showed. That was enough. I took the omen and ran.

Mana roared behind me as Maki exploded like a volcano. If I’d been slower, that surge would’ve washed the mana from me. I wouldn’t have enough left to rebuild.

Shadow heaved the Greatsword high. At the peak I took flesh, then chopped. Even Maki didn’t take it clean. He caught it on his left hand.

His right hook came snapping. I turned to element mid-swing and met it. Many Shadow blades shattered head-on. Enough got through to score his arm.

We broke apart, air between us like a drawn bowstring.

Truth is, Maki was being kind. His damage was light. He could’ve pressed me when magic forced me to breathe.

Stand down. Your mana’s nearly spent. It’s a dazzling move, but keep going and you won’t have enough left to make a body.

His wounds glowed gold, light blooming like dawn. The bleeding stopped fast. He folded his arms, storm still caged.

Are you kidding me? I’m blessed by the Elemental God. I can keep this up for days. Until Stini’s done, we keep fighting.

I swallowed a cough like a pebble. I hid the hollow in my chest. I put on a mask and played strong.