"Wise elder," Horace Loux asked tentatively.
"Do you mean... the 'moon' might be the key to understanding certain predicaments, or even finding a way out?"
Miriel did not answer directly.
"Fate is like the paths of the stars, complex and intertwined. The full moon's light is too dazzling, often obscuring the faint glow of other stars... The stars, too, watch the moon. And the child watched over by twin moons may need the corroboration of fellow travelers all the more on her path."
Horace Loux grew thoughtful. Miriel seemed to be hinting that Rellana's fate held uncertainties because she bore the favor of the "twin moons."
And perhaps an unexpected visitor like himself, likewise connected to the "moon," could interact with Rellana in some way, even influence each other's trajectories?
Could this be a potential opening to break the current deadlock?
Regardless, the information Miriel had revealed was far from useless.
"Thank you for your guidance, Lord Miriel." Horace Loux bowed solemnly.
The giant tortoise nodded slightly. "If your people have no safe shelter for now, the highlands around this church are peaceful, though not fertile. Under my watch, the Academy and Caria generally will not make things too difficult for those staying here temporarily. You may make camp here, recuperate, and then decide what to do."
This was undoubtedly help in his hour of need. Under Miriel's protection, the church grounds could at least offer a relatively safe respite, sparing them immediate exposure to direct threats from the various factions.
"You have my deepest gratitude!" Horace Loux thanked him sincerely.
"Go, young warrior. Bring your people here. May we forge a good bond." Miriel slowly closed his eyes, seemingly preparing to enter his long meditation.
Horace Loux bowed again and turned to leave.
Just as he was about to descend the stone steps before the church, Miriel's deep voice sounded again, quiet but clear:
"One more thing... Knight Rellana seems to have taken an unusual interest in you. That wariness may not stem entirely from unfamiliarity. Sometimes, an unexpected convergence between moons can cause ripples... You must tread carefully."
Horace Loux paused briefly, then nodded to show he understood.
Of course he knew Rellana's wariness was unusual. Miriel's warning only confirmed it further.
That Twin Moon Knight probably would not let him off easily.
Sure enough, as he followed the path he had come by and barely left the highlands surrounding the Church of Vows, a cool voice came from ahead:
"Stop."
A silver-blue figure stepped out from behind an ancient tree. It was Rellana, who had left only to return.
She was not mounted, merely standing quietly there, her arms hanging naturally at her sides. But her two long, slender swords were already drawn and held in her hands.
Her mask concealed her expression. Only the eyes peering through its openings glinted in the shadows with a cold, keen light.
Horace Loux stopped, keeping a safe distance from her, and quietly rested his hand on his sword hilt.
"What further advice do you have for me, lady knight? As I said, I'm merely a lost traveler, about to leave."
"A traveler?" There was no discernible emotion in Rellana's voice, only cold scrutiny.
"Your words are riddled with contradictions to that attire of yours, from some distant wilderness. I dislike pointless arguments. They only thicken the fog."
She raised the longsword in her right hand slightly, pointing its tip at Horace Loux from afar, her movement graceful yet intimidating.
"If you wish to prove you are not an infiltrator harboring ill intent, or at least prove you possess the qualifications and mettle to survive in this land, then state your case with the weapons in your hands. Lies may be woven, but strength is difficult to disguise."
Before her words had faded, she suddenly raised the longsword in her left hand.
A strange hum filled the air as tremendous magical power gathered in an instant.
An unimaginably huge azure glintstone blade materialized out of thin air. Once charged, it nearly spanned the forest clearing, radiating heart-pounding waves of magical power and keen sharpness. It was Caria's combat skill-Grandeur of Caria!
With the momentum to cleave mountains, that giant magical blade came crashing down toward Horace Loux's head!
A forty-meter blade right off the bat!
Horace Loux's pupils contracted sharply. With no time to think, his body instinctively drove him diagonally backward with a powerful step.
He swept past the edge of the enormous glintstone blade by the narrowest margin, a slit torn in his cloak.
Before he could find his footing, Rellana had already closed in like a phantom!
The longsword in her right hand bore cold moonlight as it thrust straight for his throat. The strike was simple and swift, utterly without flourish, yet lethally precise.
It seemed this battle could not be avoided, no matter what.
Horace Loux's gaze sharpened, and he hesitated no longer. His twin swords left their scabbards at his waist, bearing dark-red markings and a faint aura of flame and lightning. He crossed them to catch Rellana's lethal thrust! Metal rang against metal, and sparks flew!
The battle had begun in earnest!
Like her appearance, Rellana's swordsmanship was elegant and magnificent, yet it also held Caria's distinctive rhythm of blending sorcery and swordplay into one.
At times, her twin swords fluttered like butterflies among flowers, weaving a dazzling web of blades; at others, they became thunderous blows, heavy and powerful.
More frightening still, she could seamlessly weave the power of sorcery into her sword techniques!
The azure radiance of Glintstone Sorcery shone on her left-hand sword, sometimes turning into swift magical projectiles that disrupted his vision, sometimes suddenly bursting into a Caria Slicer thrust as fast as lightning.
And occasionally, ancient pyromantic flames smelling of sulfur ignited along the longsword in her right hand-these were certainly not sorceries commonly seen in Liurnia, but seemed more like secret arts from a distant volcanic region!
The pyromantic flames were not only unbearably hot but also intensely explosive, forming a strange and dangerous complement to the cold sharpness of Glintstone Sorcery.
Yet amid the fierce exchange, Horace Loux keenly detected a subtle opening: Rellana seemed unable to perfectly accommodate Glintstone Sorcery and volcanic pyromancy on both swords at once.
When the glintstone radiance on her left-hand sword blazed brightly, the pyromantic flames on her right-hand sword grew relatively dim, and vice versa.
These two entirely different systems of power alternated within her swordplay, but had yet to truly meld into one and produce an effect greater than the sum of their parts.
Perhaps this was because she was still young, and her understanding and command of these two mighty powers had yet to reach their peak?
Compared with Rellana's intricate, elaborate fighting style that interwove sorcery and swordplay, Horace Loux's approach appeared much more "plain," even "savage."
His twin-sword technique was no profound inheritance, but hunting and fighting skills honed in the brutal struggle for survival in the wilderness: fast, accurate, and ruthless, seeking maximum damage at minimum cost, with clean, decisive movements.
Amplified by the precepts, his swords were astonishingly fast for a time.
Were the Land of Shadow's stats really this absurd? Who understood what it felt like to get one-shot by the greatsword lady at the entrance?
Her stats were high, but she still felt inferior to the richest man.
Whether Rellana's flames came from the ancient pyromancies of Mt. Gelmir was uncertain.
But that was irrelevant.
Judging by the color, they did not look much like Big Messmer's fire.
Rellana's flames were orange-red, more like volcanic lava. Messmer's fire was scarlet.
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