"What do you mean by using?" Arthur frowned. Despite his sensitivity towards those loathsome creatures, he didn't know much about them. The only source he got to know of them is his legacy. As for the others, including Sier and Master Ronin, chose to selectively stay quiet about their existence.
"The Enders need a medium to manifest in the world. They can't appear for too long, so they use humans. Using greed and hatred as fuel, they corrupt the human soul and grant abilities toward the human."
"Just like legacies…"
"Exactly." Miko nodded. "That's why people with a legacy are safe from the Enders."
"What's their goal?"
"We don't know yet." She shook her head. "Many of the high-status personas of the seven families have fallen to their side. They dream of a common goal."
"A common goal?" Arthur remembered Jizo's words. However, he wanted to know how much Miko and her organization knew.
"Yes," Miko paused as she looked around. "Your friend is coming. I'll look around in the meantime for anything suspicious."
"Tell me their goal, Miko."
"It's only a matter of delusions and prophecies." Miko shook her head. "They call it the True World. We only know that what they're seeking would bring us doom."
"I didn't think you guys would be so benevolent to try saving the world."
"We're not." Miko grinned as space started twisting. "We're simply following what our ancestors dictated. The reason for our opposition to the other families is simple." Before her body disappeared, she left a single world. "It's revenge."
***
As Arthur sat on his chair for a few minutes, Yurirl came back. As soon as he did, he frowned and looked around.
"Did someone come here?"
"Just some staff, they brought you a few more bags of snacks."
"Oh," Yurirl smiled. "How considerate."
"Good duel."
"Good runes. I'm glad I didn't die."
"Did you think you would die?" Arthur asked curiously.
"I'm always prepared to die."
"Sure, ancient swordsman of the true path," Arthur said sarcastically and was speechless when he saw Yurirl blush.
"Thanks."
"… It wasn't a compliment."
After his loss against Arthur, Carlos challenged Mulan and won. The ranking shifted again and it was Abraham's turn. Unexpectedly, the grandmaster's son seemed to know of his capabilities and settled for the last place.
Then came Emma's turn to challenge. As Arthur expected, she challenged him right away. With a grin, Arthur inscribed the runes for Yurirl.
When Tin and Yurirl met on stage, the crowd's excitement was at its peak. Without hesitation, Tin took out the summoning card and the ethereal eagle appeared again.
Yurirl used the Weaken rune on the eagle after throwing several fireballs at it. The eagle's size grew smaller and weaker. After it had evolved, the Weaken rune could decrease the opponent's stats by 15.
However, Arthur had no time to watch the show. If the Enders were coming after him, he wouldn't just sit around and wait for them. Unlike what Sier has expected, Arthur felt that the attack would happen when he would least expect it. It would most likely take place in the Runes Apprentice Cup.
The space twisted next to him and Arthur smiled thinly. Miko, with her small stature and hood, appeared from nothingness.
"Found anything?" Arthur asked but Miko shook her head. With a nod, Arthur took out a stack of runic cards and handed them to Miko. She looked at him, bewildered.
"Take this map of the arena and spread the cards according to the locations I marked."
"Do you think a barrier is useful against the Enders?" Miko asked, baffled.
"Mine is," Arthur grinned sinisterly. "If they're coming after me, I need to welcome them properly."
"Arthur, the Enders are called eaters of mana. They can't be destroyed using normal means. That's even a weak one of them can wipe out a platoon of rei-rankers."
"I know, just trust me." Arthur knew as much. After all, he had seen how helpless the Li, Ivy, and Zas were against the crazed prince. However, he had also seen how his runes were able to damage the Enders.
With hesitation and a nod after, Miko agreed. She took the stack of cards and disappeared, leaving Arthur in the room.
Arthur sat down and sighed. Luckily, he had picked a proper rune last night. Even though it was weaker than his protection rune, it had a certain trait that allowed it to be powerful.
The room's door opened and the unfamiliar yet familiar face of Reece came in. He was still using the body of the giant man from yesterday.
"Junior, Li has arrived. Ivy and the rest are on the way. Are you worried? Do you want a hug?" Reece came forward but Arthur already had his dagger in hand.
"I'll stab you, Senior." Arthur smiled. He flicked the dagger and it disappeared into his subspace. "I have a favor to ask, Senior brother."
"Anything!" Reece beamed with pride. Arthur felt sorry for being a little bit manipulative, but he knew Reece knew his intentions.
"I think the attack is going to take place today, in the coliseum."
"That can't be." Reece shook his head. "The Ilios Empire can never attack Runera. If the Runes Association turns on them, it would be suicidal."
"They'll be using the same method of Prince Alfred."
"That's…" Reece's eyes grew wider. "Possible." He nodded with a frown. As he looked around the room, Reece continued.
Even though the rooms were monitored, that was only the case for mana changes. Arthur couldn't even inscribe runes unless the barrier around the table disappeared. That only happened before the duels began. The runes association didn't install any recording devices or runes, Arthur checked.
"You know about Si's ability. However, there's a reason Si couldn't foresee his younger brother's betrayal of the kingdom. The Enders are natural anti-magic creatures, so his ability doesn't work on them. He can only see the effect of their actions."
"That explains why he thought the empire itself was making a move."
"Yes, and it explains why he was hurt in the process." Reece shook his head sadly. "Junior, I think they're trying to take revenge on you."
'More like confirm whether I'm the outsider.' Arthur thought to himself as he remembered Jizo's and Master Ronin's words.
The seven families want to use him to get the holy crown. Arthur didn't know if he can get the holy crown, but it was the only way for the seven families after hundreds of years of failure.
That's the reason, Arthur guessed, that the Ilios Empire tried to cover the news of his appearance. If only Erin's followers knew about Arthur's identity, it was a simple thing to shut them up.
However, Arthur didn't know everything that was going on. What he knew that the empire was trying to get him without the others knowing about his real identity. If that was the case, he needed to stay low from now on.
Since that was the case, Arthur had a plan in mind. He only needed to get through today and guarantee the safety of his family. Using the untraceable phone that Ruby had given him, he sent a message to Master Ronin. Arthur's attention was brought back to the ongoing duel.
***
Yurirl's barrier broke but it managed to fend off the attack earlier. Yurirl then used a teleport rune and appeared behind Tin, using the Fire rune. The wind managed to push the fire back as the eagle hurried to rescue its master.
As the fight went on, the crowd noticed the peculiarity of Yurirl's fighting style. It was… extravagant. The crowd began counting since the first card Yurirl used until now it has been…
Ten cards.
Regardless of the question of how can so many cards be used with the mana of a rei-ranker, the creator of these cards managed to make these cards in an hour.
Twelve. Thirteen. The crowd kept counting as even Jumana wore a puzzled expression of shock. Participants were searched and their artifacts storage were taken. The table that provided them with the materials had a barrier that didn't allow the participants to inscribe outside of the timeframe. The room was monitored so that no harm would come o the barrier.
This means that Arthur Silver managed to create Thirteen runic cards in one hour. Yurirl teleported and appeared on the air as he took out two more cards, making them fifteen in total, and they were both fire runes.
The runes amplified each other as a coiling dragon of flames descended on Tin. The weakened eagle tried defending her but in the end, it collapsed as well as the flames obstructed everyone's vision.
In the end, Yurirl won. The crowd cheered and chanted the name of the genius that managed to create fifteen cards in an hour.
Arthur Silvera.
The zeal was over the roof and the arena shook with their chanting and stomping on the stands. Geniuses were revered in this world. They had witnessed the birth of not only a champion but someone that would shake the world of runes.
As the competition was broadcasted live, the whole world recognized the birth of a genius in the runic path. What they didn't know is that it would be a long time before this genius makes an appearance again.