The woman did not call the man by his name. And since the man, just like all the other Wanderers around them, did not dare to even glance at the woman, he had no way of knowing that she was looking at him. Yet, the moment he heard her voice, he knew that she was talking to him. And he did not dare to play dumb.

  “…Forgive me, Lord—

  “What did you call me?”

  “…Forgive me, your Highness—

  “I did not hear you clearly.”

  “Forgive me, your Highness. I—

  “You Highness… It seems like you have heard of me.”

  “…I have heard of your legends, your Highness. The Grand Lady of Raining Thunder.”

  “…Since you know who I am, then why are you still standing?” the woman said, and in the very next moment, all the Wanderers around the Blood Hall, even those who were just watching a show from the side, all went down on their knees, with sweat trickling down their heads.

  “Now, you look more like the worm you are,” the woman said, nodding to herself. “And what should worms do when they encounter a Raining Thunder?”

  “…I… Please, forgive me, your highness. I… I was just following the rules of the city.”

  “Wrong answer,” the woman judged, and the skies responded, raining down lightning from a clear, night sky, striking all the Wanderers kneeling around her, causing them all to throw up a mouthful of blood. It did not matter Rank or Stage they were. The Thunder judged them equally, striking with just enough force to injure them, and even leave behind some burn wounds and lacerations, but not enough to kill them. At least not in just one strike.

  “When facing Raining Thunder, worms like you can only pray for their Gods, and hope that your death will be swift,” the woman said. “But I am not just Raining Thunder. I am the Grand Lady of Raining Thunder. I am a Wanderer… So, I will give you another chance. Tell me, worm, who gave you the guts to threaten my daughter?”

  “I… I came here… on my ow—

  “Be careful of what you say, worm. Or it might be the last words you speak.”

  “…I—

  “Are you bullying children again, Daena?” said another voice, cutting off the quaking man’s words, allowing him, along with the rest of the Wanderers, to heave a sigh of relief. And dread. Because, just like the woman’s voice, the man’s voice also came to their ears as whispers. Even the way he appeared behind the quaking man was very similar. In a gust of wind, that coalesced into the figure of man, clad in a green robe, with the emblem of a green tower on his chest.

  “It looks like you have made no improvements in the past decade.”

  “Why not find it for yourself?” Daena said. “Who knows, you might be able to make me sweat this time.”

  “…That is a very tempting offer, but I am afraid that I will have to decline.”

  “If you are not going to fight, then get out, Vern. I have a worm to punish.”

  “…You know I cannot let you do that, Daena,” Vern said, shaking his head. “We are not allowed to interfere in the city’s affairs.”

  “I think I made myself quite clear fourteen years ago. If someone dares to use underhanded tricks against my daughter, then be ready to bear my wrath.”

  “…There may be a misunderstanding here, Daena. No one is—

  “You heard what the worm said.”

  “…It is just an empty threat from a child. Why do you have to—

  “It did not look like an empty threat to me,” Daena said. “And why are you trying to save him so much? Is the ant that ordered him from your clan?”

  “…That is not what I said—

  “If you do not give him to me, then I will have to get my answer from the ants of your clan. And trust me, you do not want that happening.”

  “…You do not have to dirty your hands, Daena. I will look into the matter myself. And trust me, if someone is really playing underhanded tricks, then he will get his due punishment. But you cannot be the one to carry out the punishment. There are certain rules to how things are done in the Lost City. And as the guardians of those rules, we must never break them, or there would be no meaning to those rules.”

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  “You should have thought of that before targeting my daughter.”

  “…We have never targeted your daughter. On the contrary, the city’s council has even helped her cover up several of her violations.”

  “And? Do you expect me to be grateful to those ants for not punishing my daughter?”

  “…I am just asking you to be a little more understanding, and stop your daughter from interfering with the city’s investigation.”

  “Investigation?” Daena said with a sneer. “You sent an Elite Blood General to investigate a Blood Lord?”

  “…The kid is not a Blood Lord,” Vern said. “And we have some doubts about the results of his Final Trial.”

  “The city has already made its judgement. What more doubts can you have?”

  “…The city can make mistakes. Is that not why your daughter was punished in the first place?”

  “…How convenient of you to finally gain your conscience when it suits your narrative,” Daena said with a scoff. “You want me to stop my daughter from interfering with your investigation? Fine.”

  “Maa!”

  “Quiet,” Daena said, not even glancing at Daes, as she flicked a strand of her Spirit Power to freeze her daughter, along with her friends, in place, before continuing with her words. “As I was saying, I will stop her from interfering with your so called ‘investigation’.”

  “I knew you would underst—

  “You just need to remove the restrictions the city has put on her.”

  “…Now you are just deliberately making things difficult for us.”

  “Why? Did you not just admit that the city made an error while judging her? What is difficult about correcting that mistake? Is that not what you are trying to do with the kid?”

  “…You know that it is impossible for us to lift the city’s restrictions. If she wants to be free of the city’s control, then she must become a Grand Wanderer.”

  “But you can deprive a Wanderer of all his privileges on your whims?”

  “…Not whims. We have evidence that he deliberately targeted other Wanderers of the city, and even pushed them to become Enthralled, before using excessive force to damage the Trial grounds, leaving it completely tattered and unusable for at least a thousand years. And if not for the sole survivor of the Lotus clan risking his life to give us that information in time, we might even have lost the entire Final World.

  “More importantly, the kid even released an ancient being sealed in the Final World. You should know what that means, Daena. Just that last charge alone is enough to exile him to the Grand Chasm for a hundred thousand years. But first, he must pay for the damages he incurred to the city. Destroying the Trial grounds, killing hundreds of Trialists, maliciously inducing his fellow Wanderers into being Enthralled…”

  “Let me guess, you want him to hand over the secrets he uncovered, which allowed him to gain a three star privilege in just the outer city?”

  “…Since he damaged the city’s foundations for a thousand years, it is only natural for him to compensate with what he has gained in the city.”

  “Such righteousness… Such fairness…” Daena said, clapping with enough force, for its echoes to reach even the outer city. “It is a judgement worth going down in history.”

  “Enough,” Vern said, adding a bit more edge to his voice. “Are you really going to oppose use for just a False Wanderer?”

  “He is not just a False Wanderer. He is also my daughter’s friend.”

  “…If you just want to take your daughter out of the city, then I can arrange for another Wanderer. You will not have to pay anything. Just—

  “Do you think I cannot afford a few thousand Contribution Points?”

  “…Then what do you want?”

  “I want you to get out of my way.”

  “…You are making a big mistake.”

  “The only mistake I made was letting you go fourteen years ago. And trust me, I rarely ever repeat my mistakes.”

  “…Why did I even expect a Thunderbird to reason with me?”

  “Do not get me wrong. I am not opposed to reasoning. I just refuse to reason with hypocrites.”

  “This is it,” Verna said, finally giving up all his pretence. “I have been nothing but patient with you. Yet you refuse to cooperate—

  “My apologies. But just the thought of cooperating with you is making me nauseous… Do you mind refraining from uttering such disgusting ideas?”

  “…You leave me with no choice, Daena,” Vern said, unfurling his Spirit, prompting all the Wanderers around him to go from kneeling to being pressed completely onto the ground. Some of the weaker ones even coughed up another mouthful of blood before fainting, while even the stronger ones could not help themselves from shivering. And that was not even considering the terrifying heat emanating from the man’s body, causing the air to shimmer from just his mere presence.

  Yet, Daena remained unfazed from the man’s outburst. As did her daughter, and her friends. They were all being isolated them from the green robed man’s outburst by her spirit Power, after all. Still, she did not think that their protection was adequate. So, it was only after she had placed a couple of automated Glyph Tokens on their bodies, and returned them their freedom, that she armed herself with even more Glyph Tokens, before facing the man once again.

  “You are surprisingly much more honourable than you appear to be,” Daena said. “Then again, had you dared to attack while I was still preparing, then you would have already lost your life.”

  “…Do you think I was waiting for you?” Vern said with a sneer, before glancing towards his left. “The negotiations have failed. What are you still waiting for?”

  “…I stand corrected,” Daena said with a scoff. “But it does not matter. I have been preparing fourteen years for this day… Let us see who will last longer. You, or my Glyph Tokens.”

  The two Wanderers stood face to face, six to seven metres away, at a distance that even False Wanderers could cover in an instant, each waiting for the other’s movements. Or a sneak attack aimed at the woman. Yet, contrary to their expectations, what came next was the voice of a woman.

  “You can save your Glyph Tokens, Lady Raining Thunder,” the voice said, followed by a white robed woman stepping out of a shimmering layer of air right at the entrance of the Blood Hall. “I have ‘persuaded’ the two Wanderers called as reinforcements by your opponent to stay out of this matter. And without the aid of his ‘friends’, I do not think your opponent would be in interested in comparing himself with your Glyphs, or my Arcanas.”