Edward’s clone wandered inside the palace, just like every other building it was but a ruin. The advantage was that the concentration of monsters in the area was the same as elsewhere, for the monsters this place didn’t have any particular importance. The clone delved through the rubble, attempting to stay as inconspicuous as possible while projecting his aura in a small bubble to probe his surroundings.

One loose rock broke away under his foot and hurtled through the loose rubble, Edward’s clone froze in place. Centipedes snapped their head in his direction. Some of them came closer to investigate but they didn’t attack yet. The whole capital was but rubble and it wasn’t unusual for some unstable wreckage to fall down. The clone already had the shadow cloak spell active and standing immobile he became one with the shadow, invisible to the naked eye. He used the delay the monsters took to come closer to retract his aura as well.

The centipedes crept but a few meters away and their stares gaze through his body without noticing him. Not discovering anything abnormal they slithered away after some time.

Edward was about to exhale from relief but he sensed a wave of aura sweeps where his other clone was standing. His clone had been moving when the aura swept by and Edward knew that it was discovered. Shit! That has to be Nephelin, he is still after me. Before he could do anything Nephelin appeared next to his clone and Edward lost all connection with it, it had been snuffed out just like a candle in the wind. Without acceleration and teleportation, my clones are useless against him. I’m glad Ignis and Adotinus have the acceleration power, otherwise, they would be dead weight as well. This guy is a tough opponent, he has both speed, devastating attacks, and strong defenses.

It will be dangerous if I come inside the city while he still searching for me, I’m not ready to take him out yet. Let’s continue to investigate with my remaining clone, he has already reached the palace after all.

The monsters had returned to their occupations dismissing the falling stone as just another unstable habitation falling to pieces. The clone was able to slowly progress through the palace searching for a secret passage. It had to be slow so as not to alert the monster and yet Edward didn’t want to go too slow either in case Nephelin came in the area.

After searching for ten minutes the clone finally found an entrance, but just like for the Vega mansion, the entrance was buried under wreckage and the clone had no way to access it, Edward would have to go by himself.

He hesitated, Nephelin was still searching for him, and he couldn’t beat that monster right now. He decided to wait for now, leaving his clones on stand-by, one at the Vega’s mansion and the other at the palace.

After an hour the runes were still inert above Pescara, Nephelin hadn’t renounced hunting Edward just yet. How long will he persist? My clones don’t have an infinite lifespan. The shadow cloak spell isn’t consuming this much mana while the clones are not moving, but still, their aura is starting to run low as well they won’t be able to last that much longer.

I could send other clones to replace them but if they get discover it will only reinforce Nephelin’s conviction to hunt me down.

Edward decided to wait for another hour while doing meditation exercises more to calm his mind than to increase his mana.

In the end, the runes above Pescara lit on not long before the second hour came to an end. It’s about damn time. My clones only have ten minutes of lifespan left. I’ll have to move in a hurry but it should be doable with my teleportation. I won’t have the time to explore both areas, but I can just renew one clone and move out to the next. From my position, the Vega mansion is the closest, let’s go there first.

Even though Edward didn’t have much time left, the advantage of waiting for so long was that the monsters had forgotten him in the meantime. They were back to languidly resting on collapsed buildings or rummaging through the rubble, searching for something to eat. Now that they weren’t reduced to mist summons, they couldn’t rely entirely on mana to survive, though they wouldn’t die from hunger for a long time.

It was much simpler for Edward to navigate the fallen city than for his clones. He was able to teleport from shadow to shadow while maintaining his shadow cloak and he had a clear direction from the clones’ positions. It wasn’t as fast as directly using the maximum reach of his teleportation, but with a delay of two seconds between teleportation it was still very effective.

It took only three minutes for Edward to reach an emplacement close enough to the Vega mansion to teleport to his clone directly. Appearing before it, Edward made his clone dissipate, the last dregs of energy it contained weren’t worth saving. The wreckage in the way wasn’t a problem for him, and he teleported directly inside the hidden room. He didn’t have the time to explore so he summoned a clone before teleporting back outside, he still had to reach the palace.

It took him an additional four minutes to reach it, short enough for his clone to survive and act as a beacon. Even while he was moving, he had his clone explore the Vega’s hidden basement, but it appeared to be devoid of people. Although no one was inside, it wasn’t completely empty either, there were a few dried food rations inside as well as spare swords and armor and even a few pouches of silver and gold coins. His clone surprisingly found a closet that had special adjustments to hold fragile items like glass vials but it was currently empty. It seemed the Vega patriarch had taken what it contains before his demise.

This place was clearly conceived as a last refuge, somewhere to fall back and with enough consumable to either escape serenely or attempt a counterattack.

This is the capital of the empire, I’m sure there must be things which we can make use of. Even Gobéliard had healing syringes. Edward winced, remembering the state the city was in. Most of it must have been destroyed. But I bet there must be some left inside the palace basement.

Advancing inside the palace’s underground level, Edward saw some light ahead. There are people here! He rejoiced internally. He projected his aura a bit further ahead and recognized Ignis and Adotinus. They made it safe and sound. Both of them also sensed his presence and came to join him.

“Edward! You made it back in one piece!” Adotinus greeted him loudly. “We were worried about you, you told us you would deal with it, but that guy is no joke.”

“Thank you for the diversion, with how things were going it would have ended badly if we couldn’t escape,” Ignis added. “I’m glad you were able to get away safely.”

Edward’s smile grew awkward, “To say I escaped safely is a bit much, but yes, I can outreach him. My teleportation has a greater range than his.”

Adotinus punched the wall leaving an indentation behind. “But seriously, this is pissing me off! We got rid of the mist and the situation is still the same, we are stuck here with no way to deal with that guy. We are back to the beginning.”

“Do not despair,” Ignis answered. “We did make progress. The mist was a major hurdle. Without it, we are at least able to fight even if it seems we are not up to the task just yet.”

“Then do you have a plan to deal with that bastard? Because if we leave for another attempt, I doubt it will go any better.” Adotinus vented in anger.

Ignis stayed silent.

“We need to deal with his minions first.” Edward asserted. It wasn’t the first time he was in a tough situation, and a stronger opponent, seemingly unbeatable, was far from enough to plunge him into despair. “Nephelin is stronger than any of us, but with the three of us together the fight will be tough but not one-sided. We need to eliminate outside variables and create an environment to our advantage.”

“Do you think he will let us destroy his army without interceding?” Ignis asked, curious about Edward’s answer.

“Honestly, that guy is more concerned about his rune system than about his troops. He is still trying to repair it. I killed a few monsters and the only time he showed his face was when I further damage the runes. I don’t know exactly what he is trying to accomplish, but it seems to be his primary objective.” Edward explained.

“I see…I was wondering why he wasn’t using his troops to search for us more effectively. But from what you are saying he doesn’t seem to be that concerned with us, those runes are more important to him.” Ignis mused aloud.

Edward nodded. “I can’t guarantee he won’t make an appearance if we destroy his army but even if he does, I will be able to escape again. I can take care of it.”

“Wait…are you saying you want to deal with his whole army by yourself?” Adotinus asked, flabbergasted.

Edward shook his head. “No, it will take too long. We can’t let him finish whatever he is trying to achieve with those runes. I have to periodically damage it, but the more I stall his plan the angrier he will grow. I’m afraid to push him too much, lest he really goes to hunt you down and manage to kill you. I’m not strong enough to fight him on my own, so it would mean a certain defeat. I simply want to get rid of the inconvenience first, which means the Manticores, the giant snails, those flying eyes, and any monsters able to disturb our fight with Nephelin. I don’t care about the centipedes. Besides killing those monsters and absorbing their essence will make me stronger.”

Adotinus’s face shook. “This is the first time in decades that I can hunt some strong monsters and that guy is hoarding everything for himself,” he mumbled.

“The strength increase will probably be marginal. Don’t expect it to be enough to defeat Nephelin.” Ignis warned Edward.

“I know, but it’s better than nothing.” Edward persisted. “We need to gather as many advantages as possible. Additionally, by damaging the rune system we have a way to make him come to us, we need to set up an ambush in advance.”

“Mmm…yes, this something that I can do. But what about his teleportation? It will be useless if we design all kinds of traps when he can simply leave whenever he wants,” Ignis asked.

Edward remembered his time fighting against the spiders. “If his teleportation works like mine, anything that is attached to him will be teleported as well. And teleportation has its limits, if he is caught and anchored by chains, he shouldn’t be able to teleport.”

“All right, I will trust you on this.” Ignis decided. “We may have a chance to defeat him after all.”