Having spent long days and nights alongside two gods, if anyone among mortals knew divine power best, it would of course be Alaric.
That said, the divine presence he felt near this shrine was far weaker than that of his two goddesses, and it carried a strange, heterogenous demonic taint , a power different from ordinary divinity.
"Looks like this is the place." Alaric nodded and was about to enter the shrine.
Suddenly, a gust of wind sounded behind him.
The next instant, a figure flashed in like lightning at his back.
A metal short sword sliced through the air and thrust toward Alaric's unguarded lower back, tearing his robe and, in a matter of milliseconds, striking at his vital kidney.
However, at that moment, as if a mechanism had been triggered, the wheel of time clicked and was turned.
Like a scene played in reverse, the swinging short sword traced back along its path, the torn robe mended itself, the attacker returned to their pre-ambush position, and Alaric himself stepped back as if returned to where he had been standing seconds before.
"Hm, the ultimate convenience measure. 'Time Reversal' triggered normally , test successful."
Alaric muttered to himself, his gaze turning toward the spot where the attacker had first appeared. "Also, this time, I found you."
Unaware that they had already struck once and then been sent back by the time rewind, the attacker , realizing they had been discovered , leapt out again.
"You noticed me right away? You're the first visitor to detect my trail so quickly."
A cold, elegant voice came from the attacker; even without seeing her face, one could tell by the tone she was a mature, commanding woman.
Her appearance matched her voice.
Tall and sensuous, with mature, alluring curves; though her eyes were covered, her facial structure alone made it clear she was a striking beauty.
She wore a black, dress-like tight suit, black stockings that outlined the generous curve of her thighs perfectly, and her purple hair fell past her knees like it had a life of its own.
Most eye-catching was the purple eyepatch.
Though the eyepatch sealed part of her beauty, it lent her another kind of mysterious charm.
Even Alaric, who was used to beautiful faces, couldn't help but admire her.
Before the woman could speak further, Alaric spoke first.
"Why attack my kidney?" he asked.
"What?"
The woman was puzzled by Alaric's abrupt question.
"I mean , why go for my kidney right away? Why stab at my kidney?" Alaric repeated; it was the thing he couldn't easily let go.
Although his earlier lack of guard had been a deliberate test to see if "Time Reversal" would activate as a defensive spell, nearly having his kidney punctured still bothered him deeply.
After all, it was his most prized organ for traversing the multiverse (the mist thickens).
But as a spellcaster, Alaric's ability to perceive the time rewind didn't mean the attacker could feel it too, so his question made little sense to her.
"I didn't stab your kidney," the woman explained earnestly, her voice frosty.
"I don't know why you'd say that, but you guessed right , I intended to. It's punishment for you outsiders who come here without reason and harm me and my sisters."
"I didn't come to hurt you or your sisters," Alaric waved a hand. "And isn't stabbing someone's kidney on first meeting a bit extreme?"
"Is it?" she shot back. "Then is repeatedly disturbing the peace of my sisters and me not extreme?
Is attacking us without cause not extreme? You outsiders all act like this one by one. I won't believe your lies."
Her tone trembled with emotion; she sounded wounded.
Hearing her words and picturing the life she must have endured, Alaric felt a pang of pity.
Especially because he sensed the power hidden beneath her eyepatch.
A force entirely opposite to the divine aura on her person , saturated with corruption and demonic nature.
"Ah…what a pitiable soul," the mage breathed softly.
"Truly, if an ordinary person faced this, they might have already shattered. To endure so long , I must say, you're a strong child."
As if struck, the woman's voice hardened.
"Strong…ha. You fake understanding and spew pity , how hypocritical. Because you feel you can't win by force, you try to trick with honeyed words?
Sorry, I've met smooth talkers before, but do you know how they end?"
She bent, then sprang forward, closing on Alaric.
"Liars like you deserve a sword through the kidney!"
In her hand she held a keen short blade , no, more like a thin spike meant to pierce. The spike was connected to a long chain, evidently able to bind and restrain whatever it pierced.
Such an exotic weapon was rare; a typical warrior would find it hard to counter.
And this opponent possessed formidable strength.
Alaric activated "Blink" and instantly reappeared ten meters behind his original position, narrowly evading her first strike.
The razor-sharp spike slammed into the ground, shattering the earth with violent force.
Who would have thought this woman could boast strength to rival the most powerful divine child?
Yet her opponent was a mage.
For a mage, exotic weapons and brute force mattered little.
In the next moment, a dense fog spread, shrouding the surroundings until one could not see a hand in front of one's face.
It was the work of the Mist Spell.
Alaric's voice then echoed from within the fog.
"You're such a lovely woman; why refuse to listen? Since you dared strike at me, don't complain when I punish you , the kidney way."
Under the Illusory Voice spell, Alaric's words seemed to come from everywhere, leaving the woman unable to pinpoint their source.
"The kidney way?"
The woman did not understand what punishment 'by kidney' meant, but she did not let confusion stall her.
"Pretty things trying to fool me with lies… that makes me angry…"
Then she dropped to all fours and, in a blur, lunged toward a direction inside the fog.
There was a sharp crack , she felt her spike strike something like stone or glass, not flesh.
She was sure the person's scent had come from that direction.
Before she could puzzle it out, a familiar voice whispered in her ear.
"Caught you."