Mysterious attacker

Hana, Ayumi, Rina and the dozen Enlightened following them were met with great applause as they walked to the east gate of the first stronghold. They were by far the most popular team, therefore this wasn't a surprise.

By far, the most mortals have come to wish their team good luck for the battle as well.

The entire team, especially the weaker dozen Enlightened enjoyed themselves plenty. Ayumi and Rina were too young to be accustomed or numb to such a gesture, and the dozen Enlightened had simply never received it.

Only Hana couldn't enjoy anything one bit. She seemed anxious and out of it as she walked with Ayumi and Rina right next to her. She didn't speak even once, which was extremely unlike her.

"Master, why are you anxious? Barely anything could go wrong with such a strong team, you know that, right? We'll protect you, and you'll heal us while we battle. Our synergy is flawless."

Rina and Ayumi sensed their master's anxiety and attempted to comfort her with an empathetic smile and reassuring words.

Once they started observing her, or much rather her flow of essence, more closely, the smile they had was replaced by a betrayed and angry expression. Their eyes widened in shock simultaneously.

"You… you broke your promise, Hana. How dare you? You didn't even succeed in reaching rank 4! We will never forgive you if any of us die because of your stupidity!"

They kept their volume down, despite their anger, trying to keep this matter under themselves. If any of the other Enlightened were to catch wind of this, they would undoubtedly become disheartened. The same would happen if any mortal caught wind of this.

"I'm sorry…"

These words were all Hana managed to speak. Her voice was shaky, and she gazed down at the ground regretfully. She had known the risks of her behavior, and to see these risks become reality gave her a sense of shame she had never felt before.

"Don't apologize. Do better."

Angrily, they passed Hana and started walking in front of her instead of walking side to side with her. She had known the siblings for a long time, yet she never saw them this angry.

All she could do was to remain quiet, and pray that her mistake wouldn't lead to deaths or permanent deep hatred coming from Rina and Ayumi.

It wasn't long before they had all reached the east gate, and exited through it.

The stench was completely unbearable to the dozen Enlightened following the trio, and they gagged and puked multiple times as a reaction. Ayumi and Rina reacted with a short grimace before managing to contain their disgust. Hana was unbothered. Not because she didn't mind the stench, but because she was too anxious to notice it.

It was eerily quiet as they walked to the jade palace. Usually, whenever the siblings go out with Hana, lots of bickering and pleasant conversations happen, but because Hana had broken her promise and angered the siblings, they refused to even just gaze at her.

The Enlightened detested this silence, and it caused them great confusion and nervousness.

Rina and Ayumi set the tempo. A very fast one at that. Since Hana was currently as strong as a mere mortal, she struggled greatly to keep up with them. The dozen Enlightened did too, but not as much as she did.

"Rina… Ayumi… I-"

"Save it."

Hana tried to apologize and communicate with the siblings on multiple occasions. Unfortunately, every single attempt was in vain. She was in no position to insist on speaking with them either, since she was panting and struggling to even speak, meaning that she had no other choice than to accept their rejections.

They had arrived at the jade palace shortly after they began their march. The gate was still shut, but it would take the siblings barely a few seconds to break through.

"Please, allow us to break the door open, yin and yang."

One of the Enlightened spoke up, trying to be of good use. Rina and Ayumi merely shook their heads and spoke dismissively, yet also in a gentle and polite manner.

"No need. We can do it more efficiently. It would cost you more essence in relation to your total essence than it would cost us."

After speaking those words, each of them summoned a massive wave of water, unhinging the gate with the pressure of the waves. Their fighting style and speed were perfectly synced and harmonious. It was as if they were a reflection of the other. The elegance they displayed as they fought was almost unmatched, and was only seen in one other Enlightened; Hana.

Inside the jade palace, peace and beauty were all to be seen. It was evident that they were the first team to arrive here, since no destruction nor death had happened yet.

The guards that were standing on the other side of the gate weren't just swept away, but also decapitated immediately by Rina and Ayumi.

By using the water with enough speed, and with the correct technique, killing would become child's play.

The entire team stormed inside, aiming to wreak havoc on anything they saw. The entire team aside from Hana that was. She took hesitating and anxious steps inside, remaining behind the rest at all times.

It seemed that no one had anticipated this attack. That would at least explain the shocked reactions of the mortals. There seemingly were no preparations made at all, and the mortals of the jade palace seemed uninformed of the war.

They screamed and scrambled, some tried begging for mercy, but all that were seen died.

Just when all of them thought this was going to be an easy victory, without any troublesome encounters, someone shot out from the distance, almost like a bullet.

It was hard to make out any details about the man's appearance due to his speed. Only his rather short build could be noticed. Rina and Ayumi handled the situation perfectly. Both dodged the attack, and protected Hana at the same time, who didn't even notice what had happened until it was already over.

The man was out of sight as quickly as he arrived. Initially, it seemed as though he achieved nothing with his quick attack.

A few seconds after he was gone, one of the Enlightened's arms started turning pale-green.

"W-what's this?!"

He screamed with a panicked voice as the green color spread across his body. Not only that, but the arm from where it had all originated, started turning purple and eventually decayed fully, falling off. The rest of his body soon joined in on it.

He screamed in severe agony, but there was nothing he could do. Hana was unable to heal him, and he had no chance of surviving this alone. He died a slow and agonizing death.

The Enlightened man who attacked clearly had a poison-based primary element.