As soon as the temperamental sage Selen Votum's aria finished, a deep fog emanated from within the pores of her skin and leaked out of her scholarly robes' sleeves and hem, flowing out into the surroundings and taking the shape of an illusory rabbit.
Her eyes closed in relevant concentration, she ordered the rabbit to "Rush" and sent it running to the paralyzed group of guards. Immediately, the illusory rabbit made of fog burst into a cloud when it neared the group and slipped deep into their external orifices, entering their lungs, causing them to feel drowsiness like they had been working for days on end without a shred of sleep while relaxing their minds and easing their bodies' fatigue to help them calm down and sublimate to the feeling, reveling in the comfort of sleep.
At the moment that the drowsiness overtook their bodies and minds Vebsa released his hold on the guards' shadows but kept his very close, should an abnormality arise.
Thankfully, it did not. As the guards fell to the ground with a loud thump, Feng Xing Liu kept a vigilant air about her, and after a while, she signaled for the group to continue, but keep an eye out.
Zolovat, who had been watching all these through his activated Manavision, lowered his gaze and clenched his fists.
"Strong.." he muttered into the wind, closing his eyes and frowning his brows.
'There were at least ten people there, and maybe more in hiding… but that didn't matter; that blind woman seemed to have everything under control. Furthermore, they have the ability to restrict multiple people through their shadows and unknown method to survey the land, in a way possibly more effective than my own… These people are the ones responsible for training Aries.'
Quickly and methodically, Zolovat arrived at a particular conclusion. It was inevitable, really, given all the evidence provided.
'No wonder he's so tenacious. Even when his leg was pierced by my spears and his mobility lowered, he still continued to mobilize his superior agility against me. And that's with him being constantly bombarded with spears and losing copious amounts of blood.'
'I wonder who taught him, what exactly they teach, and how their lessons are like. His agility most likely came from the blind woman, her physique and the way she walks suggest great temperance and patience on the surface and deadly power from within. That dark-skinned man who's reminiscent of giants from legend looks brawny and is definitely a Fighter, but his spell list and shadow manipulation suggests a fighting style that relies on surprise attacks and explosive power.'
'The mage is definitely a Recreant with a wide variety of powers—something extraordinary considering most mages tend to specialize in one aspect only. Though, her use of a cumbersome Invoker suggest a lack in certain aspects. Most likely output or control; the former being the most likely candidate given the use of a staff.'
'That Mysta—Lady Alice's personal attendant, however… compared to the others, she's rather lackluster. Her physical strength and Augmentation powers seem to be subpar at best, which suggest a tricky or ranged combat style. Or maybe none at all. Her spell list could mostly compose of support or utility; that is certainly plausible.'
'But then, why is she here?'
As his mind raced to find the answer, the group had already gone ahead of him and passed the sleeping guards without waiting for him.
Just as he took a step forward, he felt like a bolt of lightning ran down his spine as a sudden thought invaded his mind.
'Does she have something to counter The Hatter's abilities?'
Before he could revel in it, however, the group had already opened the door fearlessly. Still, they kept the vigilance at the highest.
Knowing that they were about to face an Accomplice—the most tricky and complicated mage there is, they couldn't help but tense up as the door creaked, the runes outlining its frame dimming in color as the temperamental sage held a hand to one of its side.
With a loud thunk, the door swung open and revealed a large room with various suits of armor, deadly apparatuses, and various aged-old artifacts strewn around the room in a seemingly random manner. Bookshelves with no books lined the walls as if it was made of them, and tomes of ancient and mysterious origin lay scattered across the floor like a storm had hit the room at some unknown period since its construction. At one end of the room were the group of Exousia and Zolovat; at the other stood a single man with a round build.
The man wore a ruined green suit with a double breasted frock coat and a tall, black top hat with a yellow sash tied around it; slipped in between the yellow sash was the ace of hearts. At first glance, the man looked disheveled with a rather dilapidated air.
That was, until he looked into the man's eyes. They were bright green and seemed to be eternally swimming in an erratic manner.
The Hatter was plump in build and had round face with deep, sunken eyes with black bags set under them seemingly not as a result of fatigue or sleep, but a deep-rooted madness that trumped sanity, morality, and value of being.
By his side stood a cane the roughly three feet in size, carved from some sublime wood of black coloring, inlaid with silver at its shaft. Placing one hand over the Cane of Sagittarius, The Hatter spoke:
"Welcome, adventurers. What brings you to my humble abode?"
'He really is mad,' Mysta regarded, conjuring a myriad of blood red strings behind her back. Unlike at Eavesdrop, she was wearing black gloves with an intersecting web-like pattern sewn into the back of it. It had been borrowed from the Exousia family treasury for the purpose of preparing for an unlikely event; should they meet The Hatter or an Accomplice at a similar level or set of abilities, she was to employ its enchantment and use her strings as a medium—a catalyst for it its only power.
To the madman, Vesba smiled boldly and raised his voice as he said, "Oh, just strolling about. My bad. Was I interrupting something?"
The Hatter shook his head.
"Nothing too important."
Zolovat narrowed his eyes.
'This… What's going on? They said that The Hatter is somebody mad possessing a mind unlike any other, with whims made on the fly and decisions that baffled anybody…'
And yet, the supposed madman looked no different from a civilized, elderly man who had seen the vicissitudes of life a hundred times over.
Even now, despite the madman's crazy, seemingly random getup ripped straight from a story book, Zolovat found nothing odd about the man whatsoever.
And that thought, more than anything, caused an indescribable chill to permeate his bone marrows.
'All participants, especially those wielding the a proof of participation, are zealots in their own ways. Some seed chaos, others brew plots and schemes, other simply search for a purpose and answer to an undying question.'
Nobody who was this involved in the competition was normal by multiple measures.
Anybody who did were most either past insanity, or have overcome it and descended into even more corrupted depths.
Knitting his brows together, he exhaled and looked to the masters of Aries and the uptight attendant, searching with his eyes for an answer to the hypothesis he had already been building in his mind bit by bit.
Behind the tall giant's back, his hand waved like the shaking of head, and Zolovat immediately recognized it as them—or just the dark-skinned man himself—not knowing what the cause and reason of the apparent abnormality is, either.
With a wide smile that suffused an air of solemnity, The Hatter placed one hand on the Cane of Sagittarius and then placed another hand on top of that. His eyes narrowed, turning glassy, the green essence inside it swirling with chaotic fervor.
"I believe you lot have come for my head, have you not?"
Mysta narrowed her eyes and frowned. Opening her mouth, she used her renowned professionalism and said:
"No, not necessarily. Give us back Aries and hand over your proof of participation without a needless scuffle, then we'll leave your hair…"
"…As long as you keep your word, that is. The Exousia family is famously intolerant of betrayers," the temperamental sage said, sweeping a glance at Zolovat deliberately and looked back at the madman, muttering something under her breath.
At the same time, Zolovat's bad feeling stacked, with another problem weighing down on him again. He knew what the problem was, recognized it, and decided to move himself accordingly.
His desire to regain his lost honor trumped over his desire to resist other's control. Once he wrestled his way out of the Exousia's grasp, he planned on making another, different plan of attack.
And this time, he wasn't going to fail as miserably as he had previously.
Feeling the earth under his feet pulsate, Zolovat's determination reignited like a dying fire passed onto another torch. Only this time, the torch was more durable, with a longer-lasting lifespan and no intent to stop burning even in the face of a storm.
Clenching his fist, he lowered his center of gravity and stuck to the earth that he almost squatted. He hunched over, as well, like hyena ready to pounce at its prey at any second.
Vesba, seeing the angst teenager's fervor to fight from the corner of his eye, couldn't help but boldly smile.
To the uptight attendant's suggestion, The Mad Hatter can only shake his head in response.
"Unfortunately, that won't do. I have no way to ascertain the deal, and my soul cannot take another Vow. My limit has long been reached."
Zolovat could only chuckle hoarsely when he heard that.
"So it's come to this, after all." Though the outcome had not been outside his expectations, he still couldn't help but grimace deeply from the result.
At his words, the suits of armor started making clattering noises. Metal grate against metal, and in a matter of seconds, the seemingly static arcane statues were in motion.
The next second, the blind monk Feng Xing Liu thrust her palm to the ground with a groan, sending a blast of mana to the ground. Lit up in the temperamental sage Selen Votum's glowing sapphire eyes were a wide array of perfectly-shaped pulses Emitting straight out of the blind monk's thrust palm.
The mana pulse scattered in waves, disturbing the surrounding earth and any spell that worked in it. For a moment, Zolovat frown.
'What are they—'
But the confusion quickly disappeared when he saw the suits of armor clatter and drop to the ground suddenly, as if they were a puppet with its arms cut off. For a second, they almost looked like an expertly-crafted marionette.
Using her power to disperse of the initial offensive line, Feng Xing Liu quickly charged forward, followed by a tall giant who quickly melted into the shadows at astounding speed. The next second, that dark-skinned gigantic figure reappeared from within The Hatter's shadow, his gigantic fist outstretched like a giant log.
But then, he stopped. For a moment, Vesba didn't quite understand what happened, but then, he realized the giant problem.
His fist had met resistance. Taking step back, he stared deliberately at the barrier between him and the madman wearing a suit and holing a cane, drawing The Mad Hatter's gaze onto him like some kind of magnet, allowing for the blind monk to strike the barrier instead, her fist sending mana waves all throughout the barrier.
Unlike Vesba's strike, it wasn't that powerful nor focused, easily brushing off her deadly blow. But that wasn't her mission in the first place.
By now, through the mana waves sweeping the entire cylindrical wall surrounding The Hatter, Feng Xing Liu had already analyzed and figured out the ideal position and angle to attack.
Unfortunately, she did not notice any weak spots.
Fortunately, there was the temperamental sage—a mage capable of tapping into more than one element, something beyond the capabilities of mundane Adorned.