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“Stand up already. Pull yourself together.”

The source of the voice finally became evident, as a man clad in a plain coat stood in one corner of the crumbling training area. The restrained assassin was also lying at his feet now, taken there while everyone was blinded by the fire barrage.

All the assassin could say in response was, “I’m…paralysed… I can’t…move…I’m sorry…

“And who are you?”

With his shield held ready, Noin addressed the man in the coat.
It was clear enough that he was on the same side as the assassin, and from the way he spoke and stood, it also appeared he had a higher position than the assassin.

“Interesting, so you can fend off Purgatory Blaze as well. You really live up to your name, White Vault. But I’m warning you, don’t even think of getting closer.”

He held something that looked like a box, which he threw out, then taking another one, and another one, repeating the same thing five times.
Seeing them, Noin stood in place, frowning as he looked at the man in the coat.

All of those boxes were Magic Wares called Purgatory Blaze.
They released a special type of flame, and anything that died burning to them would be reborn as an undead monster. That made them a banned Magic Ware.

Their power was also immense, able to burn through even the best built armor and walls. It was extremely powerful, extremely inhumane, and dangerous in any situation. And yet, that man in the coat spread them around like they were toys.

“Answer me, who are you!”

Noin repeated his question, and the man in the coat just smiled uncaringly, saying, “Just be patient,” as he took out a small bottle and doused its contents on the face of the fallen assassin.

“Algh…ghuh…”

That was the only means of giving it to him, as he could not move from paralysis. It had likely gotten into his nose and eyes as well, given his anguished reaction, but mere seconds later his face regained its color, and shortly after he regained mobility.

“I’m sorry, Master. I wasn’t able to complete my mission.”

He apologized as soon as he was able to, after which he took out a small bottle of his own, gulping down its contents in one go.
That was a proper healing potion, and a really good one at that, as all the injuries Mira caused healed in an instant.

“I was wondering why you weren’t showing up at our meeting spot, and turns out you were stuck all the way here.”

The man in the coat appeared annoyed as he said that, staring intently at Noin, making sure he would not make any suspicious moves.

“It’s just that the palace layout started changing out of nowhere… Wait, what happened to him in the end?”

All of the defensive systems built into the palace had trapped him in the training area, stopping him from regrouping with his superior. As he tried to explain what happened, he suddenly remembered something.

The man in the coat replied, “I got it done,” and the assassin lowered his gaze giving a somber, “I see…”

“I can’t believe it… How long are those guys going to ignore us?”

The assassin was stretching his arms in a carefree manner, and they even started talking at length, which annoyed Noin. But he did not move, still wary of the Purgatory Blazes scattered around.

If he was alone there, or only with Mira, he would have used Wedge Chain Bind much earlier to close the distance between them, as his defenses could easily nullify the effects of Purgatory Blaze.

Except that there were still those guards hiding behind him. The moment he closed the distance with the enemy, the guards would be too far to protect. And the man in the coat knew that, standing ready to activate the Magic Wares and burning off the guards at any moment. So Noin was pinned to that position.

Luckily for him, there was someone else who was just as powerful as him there.

“Don’t get so angry now. It doesn’t matter who they are, we just have to catch them and make them tell us.” Standing next to him, Mira announced that with a proud and daring smile.

While the man in the coat and the assassin stood there and talked without much care, Mira had plenty of opportunities to attack and restrain them, but she remained still. She was getting ready for something bigger that would ensure they had no way of escaping.
And now, she was ready.

“I don’t know who you are, but you’re completely surrounded now. You’ll do best to just turn yourselves in.” Mira warned them, appearing fully confident as she declared there was no escape route left.

“I think you should be more concerned with your own safety before you get ahead of yourself, Spirit Queen.”

The man in the coat looked around him, and then gave a sly grin, letting it slip that he knew who Mira was.

“Oh, so you know about me? Then you should be even more careful, just surrender before you’ve got no choice.”
“Heh, that’s funny. But hmm, I guess I’ll have to use something truly effective here.”

The man in the coat was hardly looking at Mira, still addressing Noin while staring at him, to an unnerving extent.

That was not surprising, as Noin was one of Nirvana’s Twelve Apostles, someone whose ability and experience far exceeded those of even the most active adventurers out there.

If someone was going to try something, it would likely be Noin.
But he was not ignoring Mira either.
He quickly threw out a knife, which struck the ground a few steps ahead of Mira.

“Now then, Spirit Queen, I’m guessing you’ve seen this before if you actually fought Chimera? Take a step past there, and not just you, but this whole city goes up in flames.”

As he spoke, he proudly displayed a type of bottle he brought out from his bag. If they tried to go after him, he would not hesitate to use it.

“You fiend…where did you get that..?!”

The moment Mira saw it, she became visibly angrier. That bottle, with what looked like an arm within it, was filled with agonizing spiritual power. And Mira had seen something similar, it was a Spirit Bomb.

Chimera Clauzen and Ira Muerte were connected, that much was known, and was the reason why such a cruel and wicked weapon had made its way into his hands.
Seeing that there were still people out there willing to use something like that only increased Mira’s anger and resentment towards the man in the coat.

It was best to let them be for now. Mira knew how powerful and twisted the effects of a Spirit Bomb could be. Not even Purgatory Blaze could hold a candle to that destruction.

The palace was in the middle of the city, which was already crowded with people wanting to watch the tournament. A Spirit Bomb being set off there would become a horrible incident that would never be forgotten in history.

“Wait, so what’s that thing?”