47. A War of Seven

"So, how did it feel to watch your dear avenger grovel in front of those two?"

"Let's see. Mhm... It wasn't bad. In fact, I'm pretty proud of how you've handled that. Admitting you are going to use them also takes some guts!" Gauntmere answered with a smile.

"What can I say... I have a good teacher."

"Yumino..." a lady's voice interrupted the two. "Are you sure that ghost of yours knows what it's doing?"

Velmira looked at the elf with worried eyes.

"This whole story with dead elves is a bit hard to believe."

"Wasn't it in your nature to be curious? Can it be that you're disappointed there's no mystery left?" the elf retorted.

"Haha! You've read her pretty well!" Gavin answered on Velmira's behalf, laughing together with Yumino at the look the sorceress gave the hero.

"Okay! Enough of you teasing my poor little self... It's about time we get ready to meet our fans~."

But Yumino already knew that. His scar had already let him know that she was getting closer.

"Then so be it," said Yumino, his expression switching to the serious gaze of a capable negotiator within moments.

"I'll go ahead. You guys can come out if—no, when the fight breaks out."

Saying this, Yumino left his partners behind and exited the forest with a confident look.

There, in the open field covered in snow, two vampires and two humans were waiting for him.

"You seem in pain. What happened?" the lady vampire asked teasingly.

Instead of paying attention to her, Yumino looked directly at the other vampire.

"If I said I came here to surrender, would you let me stand next to you as I am?" he asked Lucien.

"Yumino... Now you're making me look like the bad guy! Why ask questions you already know the answer to? Do you really take me for a fool?"

With his sole attempt at negotiation falling through, the elf scoffed.

"As expected, lies don't suit me at all. All right then, I have one last thing I want to say," Yumino spoke, looking at the lady clad in heavy armor—this time with a helmet on her head.

"When the time comes, remember the answer I gave you."

Just as he finished his sentence, the elf reached for his bow. In response, the other camp readied themselves. Averin and Nima put themselves in front of Lucien. Meanwhile, Garron stood in front of them all, his towering build covering every opening.

With a sly grin, Yumino pointed his bow at the sky, shooting an arrow that split in two, then in four, then in eight. Soon, a rainfall of arrows was upon the others.

With the two girls busy dodging, Garron took the initiative to face the elf, but his initial attack was far from over.

In an uncharacteristic manner, Yumino gave up on looking for openings left by the giant and instead pulled out a pair of daggers from his hips.

"You better be as good as they say you are!" Yumino spoke in his head.

"That depends on how much your body can take. That aside, be careful with those daggers! They've been with me through thick and thin!"

Feigning ignorance at the request of the previous hero, Yumino leaped towards Garron with no hesitation. In response, the man readied his white claymore, but when he was about to swing it, something stopped his movements.

Behind him, vines had grown out of nowhere, holding on to his weapon and leaving the man exposed.

"At least give us a warning next time!" a voice screamed from the forest. The owner of that voice was a sorceress dressed in crimson garments, emerging from seemingly nowhere.

Only then did Garron remember. Gavin owned a peculiar sword, and the gray miasma it emanated could even kill the light that was reflecting off of Velmira, making her invisible as long as she stood close to the hero.

But all that was for him to worry about later. Quickly approaching now was the elf holding daggers in his hands. 

With no weapon left to parry, Garron did what he knew best. He tightened his muscles, making them as hard as steel and making Yumino's weapons useless.

Yet there was no need for the giant to go that far. The elf didn't even pay him any mind. Yumino passed the man as if he wasn't even there and headed for his true target.

With the two girls still busy dodging falling arrows, Lucien's personal guard ended up lacking. As such, Yumino sheathed the daggers he had used as a distraction, readied his bow, and aimed at the vampire lord.

Lucien looked Yumino right in the eyes, a sadistic grin blooming on his face. Before Yumino got to release his shot, Lucien's figure disappeared and appeared again in a flash right next to the elf. With a single strike of his palm, he hit Yumino in the chest and pushed him away, snow flying to the sides as the elf tried to stop himself from going backwards.

Lucien didn't stop there. Instead, he came at the elf from every side, leaving him full of bruises as he waited for a fatal mistake to give him the chance to take him out.

"Lord Lucien!" Averin's voice resounded, and before he knew it, the girl appeared at his side, using her body once again to protect her lord from a strike he hadn't even noticed.

"Averin! This really isn't the moment!" Gavin's voice resounded as he appeared out of gray fog.

"I've been wanting to use that move for the longest time!" he screamed, frustrated that he had failed to end the fight in one strike.

"So that was your plan..." Lucien concluded. "You were using yourself as a distraction so the heroes could do the dirty work."

"What? Not one for dirty tricks?" Yumino taunted the vampire.

"They are just... unexpected. Especially from someone like you."

In no time, Lucien regained his grin.

"But it seems I am being underestimated. What made you think Gavin is strong enough to take me down?" he continued.

"Hey! I heard that!"

As Gavin intervened, the fog surrounding him became thicker and thicker, blocking the elf's and vampire's view of one another.

"This guy's a bit too full of himself. I'll call you when I'm done with him, Yumino! Besides, it seems you have feistier opponents waiting."

Just as Gavin finished speaking, Yumino got attacked from two sides by a claymore and a dagger. He took a step back and dodged both attacks, but his heart was uneasy at the thought of who could be wielding that claymore.

Only when Lucien and Gavin took their distance did the fog clear enough for Yumino to see his adversaries.

"Phew..." Yumino sighed in relief. "I'm lucky it's you, Averin! I don't know how that would have turned out with Garron!"

As he spoke, Yumino glanced behind him. There, Velmira and Garron were staring one another down. That made the elf smile.

"So the groups are decided," he said.

"Disappointed?" the vampire lady next to Averin asked, every nuance in her voice bringing a different kind of burn in Yumino's chest.

"Not at all!" he answered, hiding the pain. "I would have stood no chance any other way!"

As such, the three battlefields had been decided. The light and the dark side of the moon both made their stance, bringing with them the stars they put their trust in.