Siba Kamin, occupying Aura's body, stood out in the arena with an imposing presence. She demonstrated a confidence and arrogance that strongly contrasted with Aura's original personality. Her crimson eyes shone intensely as she prepared to attack Zigga.
With an ornate dagger in hand, Siba Kamin advanced against Zigga, unleashing a series of quick and precise blows. Zigga, as agile as ever, elegantly avoided each one. "Even becoming someone else, you're still as slow," Zigga mocked, laughing as she dodged. However, Siba Kamin kept a mischievous smile on her face.
Suddenly, Zigga noticed small rounded metal pieces around her. In a desperate acrobatic maneuver, she jumped back, trying to distance herself from danger, approaching the walls. "She got you!" shouted Siba Kamin, her eyes shining with triumph. Zigga, realizing too late, saw a small metal capsule embedded in the wall behind her, emitting a golden light. The capsule exploded, violently launching Zigga away.
Zigga fell to the ground, her right arm and leg burned, the excruciating pain leaving her dazed. In her thoughts, she wondered when Aura had placed that mana bomb on the wall. Noticing Zigga's confusion, Siba Kamin spoke up: "You must be wondering when I placed that bomb there, no?"
With a smile, Siba Kamin continued: "Actually, it wasn't me who placed it. It was Aura, while you were writhing and dodging her attacks." She paused, appreciating the look of surprise and pain on Zigga's face. "Aura is truly impressive, I'm glad to share a body with someone so prepared and intelligent. That's why I decided to share with her my unique ability, 'The Artificer.' That's why she has such talent for creating and manipulating artifacts of all kinds."
Upon hearing this, Hwin rose from her chair above, as the man known as 'The Golden One' collected artifacts but could only manipulate a few, and upon hearing this, she imagined that this unique ability could be her greatest strength. "Once I can use all the artifacts I have, nothing and no one will stop me!" thought Hwin with a smile.
Adonis and the others, observing from outside, were frightened by Aura's drastic change in personality. Adonis could not believe that was his younger sister. "Aura was never like this..." he thought, disturbed. Sahara and Markel were also impressed and worried, while Yorin remained silent, seeming to understand what was happening with Aura.
Pudim, caring for the still injured Nia, felt a bad feeling coming from Aura. Pudim said to Sahara: "Aura's spirit is not good. I can hear screams of desperation." Sahara became very worried about this but decided not to tell Adonis to not worry him further.
Then Siba Kamin approached Zigga, with a gleam of malice in her eyes. "Do you think I didn't notice you're using an artifact too?" she asked. Zigga was startled, but before Siba Kamin could grab the artifact Zigga guarded, Zigga mustered her strength and was able to stand up and distance herself.
"Who are you?" Zigga asked, trying to understand what was happening. "I thought I had already answered you. I am Siba Kamin, the demon princess of progress!" she responded with a scornful smile. Zigga insisted: "I have never heard of a demon princess of progress. Where did you come from?"
Siba Kamin laughed, a cold and disconcerting sound. "Well, well, it seems our name is no longer spoken of these days," she grumbled. Then, turning to Adonis and the others, she shouted: "Hey you, they forgot about us. Don't you think you've been sleeping too long?"
Adonis and the others did not understand what Siba Kamin was saying, but suddenly Yorin stood up and approached Hwin's barrier. He touched the barrier and said, "Break!" The mana maintaining the barrier dissolved as if it were nothing and began to disappear. Adonis and the others looked at Yorin, whose eyes, like Aura's, were crimson red, the same as Set's eyes.
"What are you doing, Yorin?" asked Sahara, perplexed. He then turned to Sahara with a strange smile on his face and replied, "I've been waiting for this for a long time." In the arena, Zigga was terrified by the breaking of Hwin's barrier and screamed for help. Siba Kamin approached Yorin and embraced him, saying, "Welcome, brother!"
"I've been here longer than you!" said Yorin laughing. Zigga, leaning against the wall with her right limbs burned, fell sitting as Yorin approached her. "And now, who are you?" she asked desperately.
Siba Kamin, taking the lead ahead of Yorin, said, "This is Saba Rekr, the demon prince of chaos, and he will have the pleasure of delivering the final blow!" Saba Rekr then fixed his gaze on Zigga and ordered, "Kill yourself!"
Zigga, grabbing one of her daggers, naturally placed it against her neck and slashed it, making blood gush all over the arena. All the bandits and slavers present were frightened and chaos began. They started desperately leaving the place, fearing the powers of the seeds.
Adonis, Sahara and Markel were stunned by the revelation and Yorin and Aura's actions. "What is happening here?" asked Adonis, still in shock.
Siba Kamin turned to the group, the smile still stained on her face with Zigga's blood. "Well, I think it's time to show the world who we really are. The seeds of the kings are awakening, and the world will never be the same."
While many mercenaries and slavers crammed through the small doors to escape the arena, an invisible blow struck Siba Kamin, throwing her away. Saba Rekr looked up, smiling.
"It was about time to appear," he said.
Above, Hwin jumped into the arena along with Amon and many mercenaries, forming a circle around Aura (Siba Kamin) and Yorin (Saba Rekr).
"I want your essences!" declared Hwin, her eyes full of ambition.
Aura stood up almost unharmed, her face sketching a confident smile.
"Nice blow, but this isn't even ten percent of the power of the gauntlet you wear!" said Aura, pointing to the gauntlet Hwin wore.
Yorin threatened to say something, but before he could, Aura shouted:
"Rekr, don't do that here, don't forget our brothers are still sleeping, this could affect them too!"
Yorin then stepped back, reluctantly consenting.
"Then I'll leave them to your care," he said, his eyes fixed on the enemies surrounding them.
Outside, when the first slaver crossed the threshold, he found an armed multitude led by the Blessed One and his companion. The crowd was shouting, wanting the heads of the criminals who had controlled Zoarlath for so long. When the first slaver passed, he was ripped apart, his limbs torn from his body by the furious mob. Those coming after retreated, unarmed, leaving Hwin's guards to fight.
However, there were thousands of furious people, and the guards eventually died. Many invaded Hwin's arena, while the Blessed One shouted outside:
"We will take our city back!"
Inside the arena, they felt the ground trembling with the arrival of the multitude. Fearing something, Hwin ordered his men to attack Aura.
However, when they approached Aura, a large fireball struck some men, killing them instantly. It was Adonis who had conjured the magic.
"She may not be behaving like my sister now, but she is still Aura, and I will not let you harm her!"
Cruxe stood up, shouting:
"They're coming, it's time for us to go, Aiya and Arphaxad have already set the plan in motion!"
Adonis concentrated his mana along with Meglin, who was also a powerful mage. Together they conjured a powerful magical missile that burst through the arena's ceiling, opening a large hole to the surface.
Up above, Arphaxad was already waiting and threw down a large rope for them to climb up. As Adonis climbed, he shouted to Yorin and Aura:
"Hurry up!"
Hwin was furious, realizing that all of this had been planned by the seeds of the kings. As the crowd invaded the arena, killing everyone inside, he fled through a secret passage, leaving everyone behind to die.
"I had everything perfectly planned, I had thought of everything, but why did my plan go wrong?" Hwin questioned himself, imagining it could be Kal's presence or Siba Kamin and Saba Rekr's appearance. But he remembered that the only ones who knew of his plan were the Fingers, and then the image of Lark came to mind.
"He wasn't here today! Lark was responsible for examining the seeds and leading them here, and he would have gotten a good share of their essences, but still he didn't show up today..." thought Hwin.
"Damn you, Lark!!" he screamed as he slinked away from that place.
In the arena, Siba Kamin stood up, observing the confusion around her.
"Let's go up," she said to Yorin. "Their plan is working, but we need to get out of here before something goes wrong."
Yorin nodded, still observing the surroundings with a satisfied smile.
"Let's take this opportunity to awaken our brothers, and when that happens, everything will be different."
As they climbed the rope, the mob invaded the arena, clamoring for justice. The Blessed One's cries echoed, inspiring the population to fight for their city. Aura and Yorin climbed quickly, meeting Arphaxad and the others.
"Is everything ready?" asked Adonis, still worried.
"Yes," Arphaxad responded.
"Where is Kal?" the boy asked.
"We don't know, suddenly he became something beyond our comprehension and disappeared!" said Adonis. Arphaxad became alarmed, already preparing to search for Kal, but soon calmed down knowing that Kal was different from anything he knew.
"He will return!" thought Arphaxad, pulling up those climbing the ropes.
The city was in turmoil, but the heroes had a clear objective. And as they distanced themselves, leaving the arena and confusion behind, Hwin, fleeing, swore vengeance against those who betrayed him and against those who rose against him.
"This isn't over yet," Hwin murmured, disappearing into the shadows.