There was a hiss, followed by a sonorous crack, as Somnus disappeared from the guardian's view. Somewhere behind the guardian was the source of the pealing thunder. [Lightning Step] was far more powerful than [Windwalk], which the goblins Det and Lod used. [Gale Step] was all about moving with the swiftness of the wind and the ferocity of storms.

The blade carved through one of the white robed mages—not the one that healed Somnus—his flesh being reduced to its component particles the moment the blade touched him. Even though the beam-sword looked like it was made out of plasma, and hot to the touch, it was not. If such a thing were to exist, it would be unusable. A blade that could output megawatts of heat would not only cause the opponent to explode the moment it touched their flesh, due to the water turning into vapor rapidly, it would also cause Somnus himself to catch fire at the very least. The beam-sword was not that kind of weapon.

The mage didn't even get to scream as both halves of his body hit the ground.

Somnus straightened up and turned to the other mages and the guardians.

Disdainfully, he sighed.

That mage was not even worth a single level. This was already taking more effort than it was worth. But he had come this far and he could not allow them to leave with the information they now had.

Already, he saw several magical circles in the air. Some were obvious, but the others clearly had camouflaging symbols to hide the circle from plain sight. They were not hidden to Somnus, of course. Somnus could not understand at least half of the magic circles surrounding him and they were all from the mages in the white robes. That is why he was targeting them; he was removing the unknown variables.

Two mages were casting fireball, one was directing a blast of force at him and another one was preparing a large spell that gathered ma.s.sive amounts of lightning-type mana. The fifth mage in black robes, the woman with black hair, was not doing anything. Perhaps she was too shocked?

An opportunity like that was difficult to pa.s.s up. Another attribute of moving like the wind was moving unseen. Not just unseen, but undetectable. Somnus could track those who moved with skills like [Windwalk] or [Lightning Step]; to Somnus, they were like arrows following a pre-determined line. [Whisperwalk] was a different skill entirely. If [Windwalk] was moving with the swiftness of the wind, and [Lightning Step] was moving with the ferocity of the storm, then [Whisperwalk] was walking with the softness of an unheard whisper. Somnus would not be able to see the movement of those using [Whisperwalk] because there was no movement involved. It was short-range teleportation. It had some limitations however. He had to be able to see the target, and the target had to be able to see him or have a line of sight to him. The target had to be an object, distinguishable from the background; it could be a person or a specific rock in a pile of rocks, not a random spot on the ground.

When he appeared before her, instantly, her eyes widened and her lower lip trembled. She straightened up, alarmed and shocked. In her eyes, Somnus could see his own reflection, he was that close. He didn't look human to himself; he never had the expression the girl had. In the reflection, all he saw was disdain and pity in his eyes, as the stars fell across the clear blue color and the universe burned behind them. Somnus never really understood why his eyes had that trait. Was it because of his [Magic Eyes] trait?

Ready or not to die, there are no innocents in war; only the dead and the still living. Perhaps the civilized races might disagree on killing someone that was too afraid to be a combatant, but to Somnus there was never such a distinction as "combatant" and "non-combatant".

His sword went through her chest with such ease that it felt like it didn't even collide with anything. The mage's expression turned from fear and surprise to sorrow. There was no pain, no hatred, not even regret. There was only sorrow.

She sighed.

As far as final breaths went, Somnus thought that one was used well. Such was the illness of the creatures that called themselves "civilized"; they were only capable of understanding the ultimate foolishness of war at the very end of their lives.

Somnus blinked and time iteself seemed to freeze as he closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes again, the mage stood several paces away from him, completely unharmed. Her right arm was outstretched and in her hand she held a sharp, metal sword. The edge gleamed, catching the cascading glow of the dungeon itself, as it approached to merely a centimeter away from Somnus's neck.

Reflex Cast: Barrier

The sword shattered into a myriad pieces as it collided with Somnus's neck and the shrapnel sprayed all over his face. He jumped back, eyes scanning for further attacks from the woman he thought he had killed.

What just happened? How was that even possible? Was it an illusion? Was he hypnotized or under some other form of mind-control?

He watched as the pieces of the sword rained onto the ground and then stopped before reversing backwards, following the same arc and trajectory they used to get there in the first place. The mage also retraced her steps perfectly and the sword pieces all came together, like a puzzle, to form a complete and undamaged sword.

A deep fear settled in Somnus's heart. No, it wasn't fear, it was something else. It was instinct, warning him of impending doom. What doom?

If she had just wanted to reform her sword through a spell, why did she have to go through her movements in reverse? Then he realized it wasn't a spell because he didn't sense a flow of mana or see any spell circles.

Somnus watched her take a step back to her initial position when he opened his eyes. Then she took a step forward and a hole in her chest appeared—the exact place where Somnus stabbed her. When she sighed, it did not seem like a final breath anymore. No, the disdain he was seeing in the reflection in her eyes was not his; it was hers. She was not afraid, or shocked, or even bothered by Somnus appearing in front of her. Somnus was used to seeing that so often that he misinterpreted the mage's expression.

She was saddened by the fact that she would have to kill one of her own kind—a human!

Without even realizing it, he once more stood in front of her. It was the same scene as when he had opened his eyes after stabbing her through the heart, yet instead of her being dead at his feet, she was swinging a sword at his neck.

Reflex Cast: Barrier

With a crack, the sword shattered, but this time it did not break into a myriad pieces and instead it broke in half, sending a large fragment flying across the room.

It was time control!

Without hesitating for even a moment, Somnus stabbed his sword through her throat.

His mind raced, trying to unravel the mystery before him. Time control was impossible. It should be impossible. He thought that it didn't matter if she was using a skill or a spell or something related to faith, the basic principles of the supernatural world did not allow for time control. It was all related to the Information Dimension in some way and effects that could change time would create paradoxes in the Information Dimension, something Somnus did not think would be possible.

Was it causality then? Hypothetically, Somnus thought as he freed the beam-sword from the mage's throat, if she was affecting causality itself then the time-reversing effect he saw would be a consequence of that; it was the world rearranging to attune itself to the new future. If that was possible, then he should already be dead. It had to be something else.

This time, he didn't want to blink and miss whatever may or may not come. In fact, it was a good choice, because he did see it. Standing behind her, unreal and ephemeral, was the form of a phoenix. Except, this one had four wings which were in the colors of violet, red, yellow and light blue. Motes and sparkles fell off of it's razor sharp feathers and it's rainbow-multicolored eyes focused on Somnus. Somnus could hear his own heartbeat drumming and a sense of threat and fear settled over him as his instinct begged him to run. Run? From a chicken? Never. He was going to disa.s.semble it for parts.

Somnus thought about the previous mystery and this time he felt like he had the answer. Phoenix birds were often symbols of revival. If that is what was happening here, then that could potentially explain the things he has seen. If the bird could affect causality to prevent death, then that was even more reason to kill the bird and the mage.

The bird he saw was just a phantom image, it was not real. It was as if he saw into the heart of the mage and that is what he found there. It was a good thing and a bad thing. The bird looked extremely powerful—far more powerful than even Somnus. Still, if it was not real, then he didn't have an easy way to kill it. Maybe if he vaporized the mage?

His mind raced at the speed of light. From the moment he stabbed her heart, no counting the loops, only a second or two should have pa.s.sed. He still had time before he had to worry about his ba—

You have taken damage. -2431HP

You are stunned.

A sword suddenly pierced into his back and through his chest. Frantically, he tried to grab the blade, but each movement sent splinters of pain through his body. Human bodies were so fragile and weak.

Somnus turned his head to see the face of his attacker—it was the guardian that was asking him all those questions. Somnus should have killed him first. Honor? All those other things he thought about fighting fairly? Humanity was not worthy of those. If Somnus had known that the guardian and the others would not be part of the loop, then he would've done this differently. It was his fault for not making sure. He did not regret that at all. Still, he scorned himself for forgetting what Humanity was like and why he was working so hard to destroy them. They were terrifying, capable of anything and everything.

He fell to his knees, unable to control his body during the stun status effect.

For some reason, he thought about the voice in his head before he lost his body. Wasn't his soul part of Somnus now? Wasn't his mind also part of Somnus now? Somnus never found out, or bothered to learn, what happened to that person. He thought that perhaps he should've put more effort into that.

But now, It didn't matter anymore. He saw another person's shadow approach the one that belonged to the guardian who's sword was in Somnus's chest. The other shadow raised its own sword high into the air.