Showdown

Fifteen minutes before the "Beam" erupted, at the entrance to a watchtower on the outer wall.

Dawn had not yet broken, but faint morning light was already visible through the observation slits in the gray brickwork.

Where night met the horizon, a grape-dark indigo spread in layers like spilled ink. Amid that magnificent color, the Lightbearers could just be seen carrying the Holy Flame Battle Standard.

Xia Lun drew his gaze from the observation slit between the battlements and looked back toward the watchtower entrance.

Dust swirled in the air, along with the stale reek of sweat, wine, and steel. Guiweite, dark circles under her eyes, leaned against the doorway and kept rubbing her crooked nose.

As soon as the banquet ended, Xia Lun had gone into Stealth and begun shadowing Guiweite.

Now that he knew Guiweite was the Forgotten Saint, he could hardly let her move about unchecked. He had to watch her constantly for any suspicious move. Besides, it would improve the rate at which Tracking Focus developed Weakness Insight.

Xia Lun was no great detective, but he was good at taking action. When he decided to shadow Guiweite, he also left himself contingencies with King Guewen and Renee.

Although he was almost certain Guiweite was the Forgotten Saint, he still needed a backup plan.

Ever since he gained the Erudition Specialty and his Intelligence leaped to 21, his ability to process information had changed fundamentally. Combined with his Perception of 24, it produced an almost absurd effect.

He could now even sense information near pieces of his body that had fallen away!

In other words, if he left enough blood or hair somewhere, he could use it to gain a vague sense of the surroundings.

For now, he could maintain at most five "observation points," and how