The thirty-second countdown began as Hekaina stood between Argexes and Agrianos.

She floated in the air like a mystical goddess. Within her prismatic eyes was a corona of variegated light, shimmering with the unspoken truths of the world.

Behind her were nine rings forged of blue-gold mystic energies and radiating a brilliant light. How Hekaina wielded her Supreme Ciphers took mysticism to a level Kieran couldn’t fathom.

He was awestruck as he watched the Nine Supreme Ciphers rotate on an immaterial axis. The longer he looked at her bizarre application, the more Kieran felt the Ciphers were spreading apart, forming some strange formation.

The Supreme Ciphers continued to gradually shift as Hekaina looked away from Agrianos and right where Kieran’s “presence” was spectating the event. Her gaze didn’t stop beyond or before but on him.

It was as if she could see him.

Then, for reasons unknown, she smiled in Kieran’s direction. It was almost imperceptible, but it happened. Kieran was floored and even more awestruck, not by her radiance… but by the fact she could “see” him.

However, it wasn’t unthinkable.

After all, the Mystic Runemasters could see beyond veils. And what was the Tapestry of Woven Time if not a veil to protect the timeline?

Of course, these concepts remained far beyond Kieran’s current understanding.

All he understood was that her eyes could look into the inconceivably profound, which hinted at the station of the person responsible for the Trial. In terms of ability, Hekaina could perceive the workings of their weaving.

‘Did I ever catch what Tier Hekaina reached? The Enchantress is naturally amongst the strongest force on Xenith. Maybe she’ll tell me if I ask nicely.’

Kieran considered the thought but didn’t intend to indeed press the matter. It was just the ramblings of a baffled mind.

Argexes regarded Hekaina like a child who didn’t know what they were witnessing. He scanned her being, attempting to pick apart what she was, but he arrived at no answer. More importantly, the rings behind her back, which had now formed two partially fused tetrahedrons, alarmed him.

Not because it could kill him but because it was a peculiar menace.

“Magic tricks? Are you some kind of… witch, is it?”

“I’m not a witch, but I know a spell or two, foul creature.”

Intrigued by the woman before him, Argexes attempted to teleport past her and appeared before Agrianos, but where he ended up was not where he planned.

He was displaced while in motion and moved back to where he started. Hekaina was naturally responsible for the interrupted teleportation, evident by her hand gliding smoothly against the air.

Somewhat angered by his thwarted attempts, the ruinous flames around Argexes’ claws erupted into a raging inferno. It betrayed the laws of gravity, flowing skyward as opposed to earthward.

The flames were dreadful, but they didn’t shake Hekaina’s heart.

An orb of perilous energies appeared in Argexes’ palm as he Hekaina clapped her hands and sent forth a gentle palm.

The Nine Supreme Ciphers shimmered simultaneously. Their radiance could contest the sun, but Kieran was more concerned with the concepts embedded within. Every Cipher worked in concert to create a defense greater than the sum of its parts.

Then, she added a touch of her own Will.

“Purify.”

Kieran expected a cataclysmic explosion upon impact, but no such thing happened.

The blinding light accepted the dreadful orb composed of compact ruinous energies and then purified it, which in this case… meant dispersing it without allowing its consequence to afflict the Boundary.

However, Kieran noticed Hekaina stagger in the air, as if handling Argexes’ attack was more demanding than she let on.

“Accursed creature. Your wickedness knows no bounds. That is the truth I learned from touching your power. You are not meant to walk this Boundary. Leave.”

Argexes regarded Hekaina darkly.

“Not even my Father could utter a command that I’d obey. And you, puny woman, are much weaker than him.”

Argexes flashed across the air, bombarding Hekaina with abominable strikes, but giant mystic palms met his every strike, neutralizing or countering them without retaliation.

Hekaina opted for the soft approach, and even that was draining her. Her radiant complexion was dimming, as was her eyes, but combat had never been her specialty.

To endure tens of Argexes’ blows was already a feat worthy of praise.

However, the seconds were ticking by as she subverted the blows.

condensed the ruinous flame with his Will, and then he hurled it toward Hekaina, imposing his Will on the world.

“Ruin.”

And at the thirty-second mark, another attack came. Only its defense wasn’t handled by Hekaina at all. An arm stretched over her shoulder, effortlessly crushing the flame covering Argexes’ hands.

Argexes looked into Agrianos’ eyes and saw nothing. Everything that was there before… had been destroyed, leaving a stark impression on Argexes’ mind.

Until he couldn’t bear the strain… Agrianos had become Destruction Incarnate.

“You heard the lady. You’re not meant to walk the Boundary. You are causing it to be ripped apart. Either leave… or I’ll make you leave.”

“Wait… I have learned more.”

Hekaina placed her hand on Agrianos’ arm and injected many images into his mind, all more gruesome, bleak, and dreadful than the last.

“Have you seen it? Felt it? That is the fallout of allowing him to leave the Boundary. He is newly born yet stronger than a Paragon. Imagine what he will become if he weathers the tempering storm of Ascension. He is a power that can’t be… that has seen Ruin once before. We can not let that fate become a reality.”

Agrianos nodded, his expression unreadable.

“Understood. Prepare what you must.”

He paused, then spoke again.

“Raze.”

Argexes instinctively blocked, but it was no help against Agrianos’ ruthless attacks. Every strike carried the essence of destruction, exhausting the Origin he had bonded with.

Soon, it wasn’t Agrianos unleashing the attack, but a grand figure that Xenith itself almost couldn’t withstand the manifestation of. Argexes looked distraught and bewildered. He couldn’t understand how his foe attained such a massive jump in power, but he did.

Argexes snarled and fought back vainly.

“What stunt did you pull?!”

“Drain.”

The grand figure mirrored Agrianos’ strikes, inflicting dire wounds upon Argexes that caused him to bleed profusely.

“Unlike you, I have had my power for a while, which has allowed me to Incarnate. But enough of that. Your time is over.”

Hekaina looked up while the fused tetrahedrons split apart, the point of each one hovering above Argexes’ head and beneath his feet. The air was filled with endless permutations of runes, all in a hexagonal formation, each filled with her Will and carrying out a fraction of her intent.

“The Eye in the Sky is descending. That is how much of a threat he is.”

Agrianos looked up, watching the sky open up as something indescribable descended like walking down steps in the air.

Kieran’s heartbeat sped up, and he didn’t know why. He couldn’t see anything. The features and presence of the descending figure were indistinct and incapable of being gleaned.

Not to mention, in this form, he could not muster any of his ability.

Argexes’ blood, which should have fallen to the ground as Agrianos bled him dry with his attacks, was captured by the tetrahedron under his feet.

Then, as the scene started fading to black, Kieran witnessed all the runes encroach upon the emaciated Argexes, drained of all his blood and most of his power.

A sealing tapestry was woven from the runes, binding and shackling Argexes’ limbs with manacles designed to keep him bereft of power before wrapping him up in a cocoon. Then, mystic chains bearing an eerie resemblance to Anchor’s chains — aside from how thick and incorruptible they felt — enveloped the woven fabric until it gained a diamond-like exterior.

Hekaina gave him a final glance before smiling again.

Then, Kieran found himself drifting in darkness.

No, not darkness.

Everything was tinged red, and he tasted a familiar taste with his mouth open in a soundless scream.

Blood. He had drowned in blood, but he woke up.