Seer’s POV. Four seconds before the attackers moved.

He’s not here! Why is he not here?! Seer’s eyes flitted about manically. She scanned the skies outside the dome from the safe location where she stood within the crowd of Ossuarists spread across the plains surrounding the chasm of the Soul Sanctum.

She wore a simple black tunic, in line with the array of Ossuarists within the dome. It allowed her to blend in with ease, giving her the opportunity to use her ability to the best of her capabilities.

It wasn’t that she feared fighting head-on. In fact, she thrived in close combat. Every person that had underestimated her ability and chosen to come into close proximity to her in a fight had not lived to tell the tale.

Even the Sanguis family ancestor knew how dangerous she was with her ability. But it was just her preference to avoid fighting in close proximity unless the situation demanded it.

She much preferred to observe the currents of a battle from a distance where she could put her ability to the best use.

That girl is dangerous, Seer thought, observing the three individuals floating in the sky. Two were of unknown origins. Some alien-humanoid creatures of some sort, though they had enough soul density that Seer knew they were strong.

But the greatest threat of the three was the human girl scanning the dome with a scowl on her face.

Seer could not get a reading on her. In fact, she couldn’t get a reading on either of the three, simply because that girl was there. There was something about her presence that affected Seer’s scrying abilities.

That was the second sign that things wouldn’t go according to her plans.

The first was the glaring fact that the Error Bearer was not here. And that single fact bothered her more than anything.

Just like she couldn’t get a read on the three in the sky, she also couldn’t get a read on the Error Bearer’s location for the last ten minutes or so.

She had been able to track him easily up until ten minutes ago, the exact moment she had closed her all-seeing third eye to get ready for the battle.

At first, she had thought it was simply his strength and some passive ability of his that blocked the effect for the base level of her scrying ability to pinpoint his location.

But just minutes before she came out to the plains atop the Sanctum, she had opened her third eye for the last time... and she couldn’t find him any longer.

The three in the sky had appeared not too long after that, and without the Error Bearer anywhere in sight.

"He’s planning something. He’s planning something crazy..." Seer bit her lower lip hard, clenching her jaw with a torn expression on her face, before her gaze hardened as if she’d made a tough decision.

Decisively, she strode through the throng of Preceptor and Caretaker Ossuarists, heading towards the front with firm steps.

But before she reached the front, the girl in the sky moved, followed immediately by the two strange individuals behind her.

Seer’s eyes widened, and she felt the exact same unease the Sanguis family ancestor had felt.

None of the Ossuarists around her felt it, though. They still looked lax, many without their soul masses summoned at all.

"Incoming!" Seer had barely managed to shout when Sue reached the dome in a burst of spatial jumps, bringing her fist down with a terrifying surge of the most vile, sickening energy she had ever felt.

Seer had instinctively opened her third eye at that moment, trying to grasp what kind of power Sue wielded... And she had never regretted a decision as much as she regretted doing that.

Her long, vertical pupil shrank like it had gazed upon a blinding fire. Tears mixed with dark blood began to flow from the edges of the eye, streaming down her forehead as Sue’s fist pounded down on the dome with a loud, screeching noise like the sound of static.

Chaos! She wields chaos?! Seer thought in wild alarm as she processed what that implied.

"She’s from the Harvester Cult!!" Seer yelled for the Sanguis Ancestor to hear. He had come to the same conclusion on his own, but hearing it from her seemed to cement the fact even more.

This was very bad. They were up against the Error Bearer, whose exact location still remained unknown, filling them with a constant sense of fidgety unease. And now, they were up against a Harvester Cult member? One that, from the looks of things, was surely an Enforcer at the very least?

Both Seer and Sanguis exchanged a look in that split second of realization, and a silent message was passed.

Their plan was moot now.

The dome was coming apart from the Harvester Cult Enforcer’s use of raw Chaos. It had unraveled every semblance of structure the dome was woven with, and punctured a wide, jagged hole through the supposedly impenetrable wall, allowing the three attackers to enter the sanctum’s air space.

Had they become so arrogant? Had the lack of challenges over the years made them so soft?

They had severely underestimated their opponents. Without even getting to see the Error Bearer yet, their plan had failed on first contact, and now they had to react to the situation.

But despite this realization, the look in the two Inner Circle members’ eyes shifted to a dead calm. They had messed up, yes. But they weren’t high-ranking members of the Ossuary for nothing.

Even if the situation was much more dire than this, they still wouldn’t despair. Because the legacy of the Ossuary was right beneath their feet.

This wasn’t the main Soul Sanctum, but it carried the name for a reason. It was still a repository for the deep secrets of the Ossuary itself.

Wordlessly, Sanguis and Seer moved in perfect synchronization to carry out their backup plan.

Sanguis faced forward and reached for the three dazed Ossuarists they held as hostages, while Seer turned back and dashed towards the chasm of the Sanctum, chanting soul edicts and declarations under her breath.

At this point, Sue, Madoc, and Osmund had broken into the dome fully, heading straight for Isis, Micah, and Yvonne, much to the utter dismay and disbelief of the other Ossuarists, who had just processed what happened and began to react.

In that moment, though, a violent tremor shook the battlefield as Seer’s chants reached a crescendo. Her words seemed to be unleashing all the secret things the Ossuary kept within their Sanctum.

A series of deep, bone-rattling, spine-shivering cries and roars sounded from the depths of the Soul Sanctum, like the weeping of things that should not exist. Abominations from the lowest pits.

This was Seer and Sanguis’ decisive move. They could accept a defeat when it was obvious they were going to lose. But they could not sully the reputation of the Ossuary. So they were going all out. Every single abomination within the Soul Sanctum was being set loose by Seer’s order.

It was a lose-lose situation they were willing to accept just to save face at this point.

Seer was just about to speak the last words of the declaration to set all the abominations free, when all of a sudden, her third eye snapped open violently, sensing a terrible danger.

Right next to her, moving in tandem — step for step, stride for stride, movement for movement, breathing for breathing... was a young man with his black hair tied up in a knot atop his head, with stray strands falling over his face.

His eyes glowed an iridescent green, and the edges of his lips were turned up in a calm, soft, and playful smile.

Those green eyes of his were locked onto her as he moved in tandem with her steps. Particularly, he was watching her mouth as she spoke the last words of the declaration.

But right as the last word left her mouth, instead of hearing her own voice and her own name, she heard the young man’s voice and name slot in naturally like a subversion.

"...by the vested authority of Finnegan Slade, I declare..."

"Unbind and Release."

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A/N: Don’t forget to vote with Power Stones and Golden Tickets. It helps a lot. Also, if you’re enjoying the story, consider dropping a review.

Cheers 🍻

Astrl