“Long time no see… Jonathan.”

  Jon felt his Three Seas Of Knowledge tremble, glitching as though someone had erased specific memories from his Fragment Of Mind. Despite his excellent control and the inherent defensive properties of his imaginary mental construct, the concepts that formed it were weaker in comparison to a Fragment Of Mindless-Erasure.

  His eyes widening beneath the Shapeless Mask Of Thieving Lies as a painfully familiar face grinned back at him, smile malicious and dripping with venom. Theodore, whose face he had not seen in over a year sitting atop the near-lifeless body of the Voracious Swarm Mother, Luminous-Scarlet Knife and Rose-Fire Knife embedded in the neck and chest of the Sixth-Honoured Lord, each dripping with bright, indigo-coloured blood.

  If it was not for the strained rise and fall of the Voracious Swarm Mother’s chest, Jon would have thought that the System-generated Lord was dead.

  Theodore, shaking his head from side-to-side, letting out a small tsk as he softly patted the cheek of the Sixth-Honoured Lord.

  “I honestly believed that I would have at least a few more minutes before you arrived. I kind of wanted you to see the corpse of the Voracious Swarm Mother, allowing you to realize that someone had arrived ahead of you and killed the Lord before you had a chance to claim its-.”

  [Thou Art The Monarch Of Spears And Truth].

  Jon ignoring his words completely, extending the runic-spear glyph on his hand forward and manifesting more than a dozen bident-shaped spiritual constructs. Longinus-Rune Spirit surging within himself, humming violently in response to the man in front of him.

  The bident-constructs launching themselves forward at a moment’s notice, shooting towards the man sitting atop the Sixth-Honoured Lord.

  The corners of his Eris-Thieving Grin curling upwards as a shadow flickered past him, manifesting in the form of a four-foot tall floresiensis adorned in a liquid-scale armour. The Vessel Of The Metallic Mountain allowing his Memento Source Item to swirl in gleaming patterns across his upper body, surging with an incredible amount of armour natured spiritual energy.

  [Argenteum; Silver-Stream Liquid Cloth].

  Standing in front of Theodore, this floresiensis allowed his body to withstand being struck with several intangible spear-constructs. The Silver-Stream Liquid Cloth, born from his Memento Source Fragment repelling the effects of his Fragment Of Spirit.

  The sound of glass shattering echoed throughout the innermost chamber of the Hive-Womb Capital. Jon furrowing his brows in annoyance at the appearance of this unfamiliar figure before feeling his Fragment Of Instincts scream at him from the depths of his subconscious mind.

  [Bestial Intuition].

  The Thulian Rainspear in his hand slashing outwards, eyes widening as a familiar-looking figure struck his Fragment Of Weapon. Long, illusory-black claws formed form wolf natured spiritual energy striking Luin, causing his feet to scrap backwards along the ground, not expending so much strength behind this blow.

  Eyes widening in shock as he glimpsed at the face of his attacker.

  “Regulus! What the hell do you think you’re doing!” Jon roared, face scrunching up in anger as he deflected the blow, kicking out with one of his legs in order to put distance between himself and the Son Of Wolves And Hunger.

  Longinus-Rune Spirit and Yaochi-Mudra Prana stiffening as his Fragment Of Spirit and Fragment Of Prana were saturated with a debilitating wave of lust natured spiritual energy.

  [Lustful Spirit Curse]: Inflicts a continuous lust-natured damage over time effect.

  [Spirit Desire Maledictum]: Reduces the effectiveness of all abilities with the Spirit Trait. This effect cannot be cleansed. Additional stacks have an additive effect.

  [Depraved Prana Curse]: Inflicts a continuous lust-natured damage over time effect.

  [Perverted Lifeforce Maledictum]: Reduces the effectiveness of all abilities with the Prana Trait. This effect cannot be cleansed. Additional stacks have an additive effect.

  Head turning around in shock as the Decadent Princess Of Beautiful Luxuria smiled back at him. Her Fragment Of Wand and Fragment Of Grimoire manifested in both hands, enhancing the effectiveness of her lone dual-fragment pathway; Fragment Of The Perverted Prana-Spirit.

  Jon felt his mouth drop, anger surging from within his Three Seas Of Knowledge. Any hesitation that he once might have felt vanishing in an instant as his mind was overcome with an extraordinarily powerful rage.

  “Raflea! You too?! The two of you are working with that madman!?” Jon shouted, wood natured mana surging within his wood spiritual vein. Brightly green splotches of mana appearing between himself, Raflea and Regulus, swiftly sprouting into enormous tree-barriers.

  [Imperial Wood Art; Towering Tree Barrier].

  Both the Son Of Wolves And Hunger and the Decadent Princess Of Beautiful Luxuria swiftly retreating activating their movement-type fragments in an effort not to get trapped in close-quarters. Threads of mind natured spiritual energy pulling at their Fragments Of Mind, directing them backwards, gathered in the front of Theodore in a defensive grouping.

  The Murder Of Temperance And Humility grinning from atop his Sixth-Honoured seat.

  “Hey, not too bad. Fighting against three Third-Veined Knights all at once without too much of a disadvantage. The title of “strongest Knight of Springtown” is not just for show, is it Jonathan?” Theodore hummed, smirking while cradling his chin in his hand.

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  “Why don’t you come down here and find out for yourself just how true that title is, Theodore?” Jon retorted, words dripping with derision and hate. He watched from below the enormous form of the Voracious Swarm Mother as the blonde-haired man grinned, slapping his thigh in an overexaggerated manner.

  Nodding his head as though agreeing with Jon, chuckling all the while.

  “During our previous encounter Jonathan, I learnt that underestimating Mortals could result in near-fatal outcomes. You’ll forgive me if I brought a few friends this time to… even the playing field so to speak.”

  “Jonthan. Meet Nicolai. Nicolai, meet Jonathan. Although, I suppose that Regulus and Raflea both need no such introduction, considering that the three of you have been attending meetings and participating in tournaments together for the past year!” Theodore chuckled, gesturing towards the undyne and nadian standing on either side of him.

  The faces of Regulus Loxley Areum and Raflea Leaf-Songbird staring back at him impassively. The Son Of Wolves And Hunger remaining silent while the Decadent Princess Of Beautiful Luxuria opened her mouth to speak, her tone someone dry and emotionless.

  Serenity-Muse voice saturating the air around them with potent lust natured spiritual energy.

  “If you know what is good for you Jon. You’d turn back around now and leave the Hive-Womb Capital. Regroup with Wilheim, Sariel and the rest and figure out how to rebuild Springtown after this whole mess is over.” Said Raflea, wielding her Amethyst-Light Wand and Grimoire Of Cerise-Lust in each hand. Tilting her head backwards ever-so-slightly, she amplified the effects of her voice-mutation, hoping for it to have a greater imposition on Jon’s state of mind.

  The younger human male appearing unfazed at the comment, merely tightening his grip over his Thulian Rainspear. Lifting his head so as to observe Theodore, Jon shifted Lethe off his face, allowing it to hang loosely off the side of his head.

  “… I take it that you were the one that told them about this?” He said, more of a statement than an actual question.

  Theodore shrugging his shoulders in repudiation, although the smile on his face spoke volumes about his true feelings on the matter.

  “Perhaps I did. Perhaps I didn’t. Who’s to say really.”

  Jon exhaling loudly through his nostrils, biting his lower lip. Putting the Shapeless Mask Of Thieving Lies back on his face, he allowed his features to shift, transforming his appearance into one that mimicked the man standing before him.

  “Back then I always did wonder… why did you take Avahni? It didn’t quite make sense to me why you would take her and leave the rest of us alive. You had reached Knighthood at that point. You had the opportunity to kill us, or at least one of us before we were able to respond to your presence.”

  “What made her so important that you had to kidnap her for it?”

  Theodore stared back at ‘Theodore’ observing his reflection with a bored expression on his face. The Murder Of Temperance And Humility rolling his eyes at the question that Jon had presented him, shrugging his shoulders once more not revealing a hint of emotion as he spoke.

  “I did it because I could."

  “Does that answer your question?”

  ‘Theodore’ opening his mouth to reply, pausing half-way before smiling, nodding his head as though expecting such an answer. There was nothing else that Theodore could offer him or even say to him that would change the way he felt.

  Knowledge natured mana and weave natured mana flowing out behind him.

  The Son Of Wolves And Hunger and the Decadent Princess Of Beautiful Luxuria twitching in response to the provocation. Despite their Fragments Of Mind being enveloped in the intangible strings of the Mindless Thread Control, it did not eliminate or erase the feelings of fear or trepidation from their subconscious minds.

  The Vessel Of The Metallic Mountain watching on impassively, snorting in response to the surging shadows and flickering fears. Nicolai, having possessed his own shadow-mutation, allowed it to surge outwards, expanding his Centeotl-Armoured Shadow in response.

  Theodore tilting his head back, narrowing his eyes at Jon’s actions. Controlling the output of his emotions through his Fragment Of Mindless-Erasure.

  ‘Yes… Show ‘it’ to me. Show me the concepts that formed your Fragment Of Draconian-Shadows!’

  Shadow mutation expanding, sprouting dozens of wings, each large enough to obscure a football field. Hundreds of clawed-fingers scrapping against the hardened biomass around him, carving jagged lines into the soft-bellied shadows of dead insects all around him.

  Three draconian heads growing outwards from where his head should have appeared. Mimicking the appearance of the Threaded-Heart Of Terminus Est, each one possess scaled-whiskers and draconic horns that protected scaled-frills behind it.

  Jon releasing a short but shallow breath.

  “If you think that aligning yourself with Theodore will somehow prevent me from killing you, I promise, each one of you are sorely mistaken. There is no word in any language that can describe the sheer amount of rage that is coursing through my mind.” The corners of his mouth expanding further and further, appearance altered through the effects of his Shapeless Mask Of Thieving Lies.

  His ‘grin’ seemed to stretch beyond the natural limitations of his face, expanding towards his ears and curving around the sides of his head.

  A horrifyingly sinister set of jagged, blackened fangs appearing beneath his smile, sending shivers crawling down the spines of Regulus and Raflea.

  Nicolai on the other hand, let out a small harrumph, connecting his Silver-Stream Liquid Cloth with his Centeotl-Armoured Shadow. His shadow-mutation protecting his mind and spirit while his Memento Source Item shielded him from sources of physical damage.

  “If you think that a little illusion is enough to disturb our Fragments Of Mind then you are sorely-.”

  [Lethe; Shapeless Mask Of Thieving Lies].

  Nicolai feeling his pupils shrink to a pin prick as Jon stole the effects of his Fragment Of Mind. His expression distorting in horror as he gazed upon the writhing form of the Carcosa-Form Horrors, transformed to mimic the appearance of the Hades-Draconian Shadow.

  Lacking the defined structure of an imaginary mental construct, Nicolai felt his ‘fears’ and ‘anxieties’ overwhelm him, not able to control his emotions, feelings, desires or memories. Without a foundation to preserve and organize his thoughts, all he could do was flounder, listening to the sound of writhing tendrils and formless tentacles whisper to him in the back of his subconscious.

  Theodore feeling his breath hitch as he felt his Mindless Thread Control suddenly grow easier to control.

  Another effect description appearing in the corner of Jon’s eye.

  [Fragment Of Mind]

  [Mine Is The Iron And Gold, The Silver And Copper]

  (Metal, Mind, Passive, Ability, Enhancement, Resistance, Self)

  (Shield)

  Repeating the action threefold as Jon stole away each of their Fragments Of Mind.

  [Fragment Of Mind]

  [Mine Is The Wraiths And Spectres, The Ghosts And Ghouls]

  (Ghost, Mind, Passive, Ability, Enhancement, Resistance, Self)

  (Tomb)

  [Fragment Of Multicoloured-Mind]

  [Mine Is The Seven-Coloured Rainbows Of Light]

  (Light, Mind, Rainbow, Passive, Ability, Enhancement, Resistance, Self)

  [Fragment Of Mindless-Erasure]

  [Mine Is The Black Erasure Of Knowledge]

  (Knowledge, Mind, Erasure, Passive, Ability, Enhancement, Resistance, Self)

  Theodore’s eyes widening in realization swiftly moving to activate his own Fragment Of Mutation, overloading his Eris-Thieving Grin as he moved to steal back his Fragment Of Mindless-Erasure.

  Watching as Jon’s figure vanished, nothing more than a blur as a seven-pointed halo manifested in the space above his head.

  [Helel].