So why is it dark this time ?

As darkness surrounded all of you on the battlefield, black chains emerged from the ground, wrapping around your arms and legs to prevent you from moving, as Atsura slowly walked up to you, leaving Lady Kogai trapped like evry single quester and, strangely enough, ice elementals. The only one who wasn't trapped aside from Atsura was Permafrost, and he looked very displeased by what was happening.

As Atsura came closer and closer to you, you noticed his eyes, his scleras (the usual white part of the eye) completely black, and his white pupils with no irises, as he spoke to you with a grin.

"The more we fight, the less I feel like fighting, isn't that weird ? After all, everyone here fights with a purpose in mind, don't they ?" He asked, showing you that even though his eyes were weird, he was still the same guy you saved and fought, before he added. "I have to say though, you are an interesting one, the first to survive a battle against us, and the first to not see a true god on the battlefield. Anyway, our plan was a success, we don't need to be here anymore."

Then, as you looked at right dead in the eyes, your anger and frustration slowly boiling in your veins, he suddenly snapped his fingers right in front of your face, startling you, before all around you, the ice elementals started being covered in darkness, before completely disappearing. It is only now that Permafrost come up to Atsura, before saying, in a very annoyed tone.

"Do you mind letting me end my fight, Atsura, or were you charmed by a weak human ?"

This question made Atsura laugh, a lot. He then put an hand on Permafrost's shoulder as he replied, his grin growing devilish.

"Aren't you a bit too eager to die, Permafrost ? You know the rule, when I say we're done, we're done. Either that, or you try to kill him and get killed by me in the process, alright ? You know we still need him for what Argos is planning, even though he's far too weak right now. But you'll see, there will come a day..."

He did not bother to finish his sentence, leaving it up to interpretation, but it seemed like Permafrost directly understood the true meaning behind his words, as he sighed all the while Atsura kneeled in front of your sword, staring at it with a hint of amusement in his eyes.

"My oh my, good sword you've got here. A shadow banish rune... That's useful to you... Too bad you don't know a whole lot about swordsmanship for now, you would have been able to stand on even ground with me if you were more experienced." He said, as he took the sword from your hand to have a closer look at it, all the while smoke started coming up of his hand, you assumed because of said rune in the sword, but he seemed to be unphased by this, before he finally dropped your sword on the ground, right in front of you.

"Come on Atsura, we need to leave before Balance finds out about all of this." Said Permafrost afterwards, seemingly anxious about the God of Balance finding out about the fight, for some reason.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm not the head of the Legion for nothing. Balance is still oblivious to this fight for now, but knowing him, he'll stumble upon it at the worst time for us." Atsura replied, far more relaxed than Permafrost was, before snapping his fingers a second time, the darkness suddenly evaporating, leaving you on the battlefield you were before, free from your chains, but unable to move, as both Atsura and Permafrost stared at you, the former with a devilish grin, that almost was pleading for you to try and get up to continue the fight, while the latter looked at you with an annoyed expression, before turning around to leave.

Atsura playfully bowed in front of you, before turning around to leave too, leaving all of the questers here, most of them paralysed by the display of raw strength Atsura did by teleporting every single ice elemental somewhere else, and a lot of them staring at you, trying to understand the meaning of this. After all, why would one Legion's higher-up and its head spare you ? Why would they say that you were a part of the God of Chaos' plan ?

Their stares quickly made you very uncomfortable. Your first real fight alongside other people, and everyone is already staring at you because Atsura wanted to put on a show or something. You sighed, avoiding to look at anyone directly into their eyes, before grabbing your sword and sheathing it while you got up, right before Lady Kogai gave you a hard slap on the back, throwing the air out of your lungs and making you stagger for an instant, as you struggled to get your breath back, all the while she said.

"You did a good job, Adam ! You were able to stand your ground against two very powerful foes, and that was really impressive !"

And this time, you were glad someone congratulated you loudly, because everyone seemed to relax afterwards, as they started congratulating each other.