Vincent was silent once more, before sighing again.

"And yet I do." he said.

"I love you two like you were my own children." he told them.

"I can't help but worry about you... even moreso now." he went on.

"All I can do is hope this specialist can help." he lamented.

Even though she realised that someone was following her, whenever she stopped to scan her surroundings, she saw nothing out of the ordinary. She looked around for people that seemed familiar, like she'd seem them in other parts of the market, but nobody jumped out.

Then again, the marker was packed, so it would be easy for someone to disappear into the crowd.

Still didn't change the fact that she was aware someone was tailing her.

And it was unnerving her greatly.

It also didn't help that it was a particularly dry day, so the concerns for dust flying up was higher.

As deep as she could ended up being to where there was a dead-end, but it was clear that nobody would see her there. But it was also clear that someone had, indeed, been following her.

More than one person, actually.

For when she turned around, she saw a group of 5 people standing there, blocking her exit.

"Well, then." one said.

"Looks like this is the end of the line for you." they told her.

"Thanks for making this easier for us. Nobody'll see ANYTHING here." they added.

Another just sighed.

"Your existence is is a slight." they said.

"We're heard of you." they went on. "A PURE-aligned necromancer?" they asked.

"No. Those are not compatible." they told her.

The first one then stepped forward.

"Necromancy is for the dark. Pure is for good." they said.

"So we aim to restore balance."

"Ah-ah-AH." one of them said.

"Noooo teleporting away." they told her as the group started to advance.

"We're all of various different elements... so the barrage we sent to you should screw with your nerves." they went on.

"Especially HER electric mana." they added, gesturing to the female in the group.

"She's got potent mana. I'm sure your nerves aren't doing a thing you tell them to." they added with a laugh.

The one she had referred to stepped forward and brandished a pair of daggers, one glowing blue, the other glowing red. And they had serrated edges on them.

"Oh, yeah." he said.

"Been meaning to REALLY test out what these puppies can do." he told them, which caused the group to laugh for a few seconds.

"All right, all right." the leader said.

"We can have SOME fun." he relented.

"We should probably ensure her silence, though."

"Eesh, brutal." the leader muttered.

"You disagree with her method?" another asked.

"No, was just commenting." the leader shrugged.

The one with the daggers then stepped forward.

"I was told these can cause the maximum amount of pain... but won't kill. Not until I want them, to." he said.

"...I just need to be careful." he went on, approaching Aimee.

Just as they group was about to close in and finish her, the rune started to glow brightly and vividly.

"What the!?" one asked.

"Stop her!" the leader yelled, as the light of the summoning rune started to rise up. However, before anyone could say or do anything more, the rune started to glow blindly bright, and a massive bolt of white-hot lightning came crashing down from the seemingly clear sky. It illuminated the entire area for a few seconds, and when everyone got a chance to see once more, they saw a towering man with long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail standing between them and Aimee.

He looked imposing and muscularly impressive, and was wearing little more than casual pants, a casual shirt, and common shoes. The two things that stood out about him were his piercing blue eyes, and the sheathed sword that went horizontally across the small of his back.

In Aimee's eyes, he was almost the spitting image of the one that had saved her from the fire.

"..." he was silent, as he looked upon the group, narrowing his eyes slightly.

The orb never reached Aimee. In fact, what it struck was the blade of the sword that the man had unsheathed... far quicker than anyone would have thought. Nobody even saw him take it out and stab at the orb as it flew.

"..." he was silent as the electricity seemed to spark around the blade, but dissipated soon after.

"Who the hell ARE you!?' the leader demanded of him.

"...oh, sinners." the man began. "...you who test the infinite known as the almighty's patience. You who foster hatred and strife amongst living things. You who show the barbaric and ignorant side of your species..." he went on. "...you have little time to repent for your sins, and pray that your souls will be granted far more forgiveness than I will show." he told them further, bringing his blade forth and pointing the tip at them.

"...the fu-...?" the leader muttered in sheer irritated bewilderment, before the man continued.

"Feel the vengeance of one whose patience is infinite." he said, as the blade started to glow.

The other were following her cue, and summoning their own mana as well, and Aimee could see that it was a frightening amount of potent mana. They all then launched a barrage of their mana towards the man, and it all hit him square in his chest...

...where they all promptly either dissipated or fizzled into nothing.

"And thus, you have chosen how you wish to be judged." the man said.

He then let the tip of his blade fall to the ground, and a line of pure mana sped out from it, encircling the group that had attacked Aimee. By all rights, it appeared to be nothing more than a chalk outline of a circle, but with mana.

"Listen here, you-" the leader started to say, walking towards the man, only to become frozen in place when he tried to step over the line. The others noticed that they couldn't use their mana to teleport either, as they were trying.

The man then glowed for a moment, as gorgeous white feathered wings erupted from his back. He brought up his sword and held horizontally in front of him, the flat of the blade facing outwards (and inwards). He pressed his palm against the base of the flat of the blade, and ran it up to the tip, causing what looked to be floating runes of raw pure mana to swirl around it, before they 'attached' to the weapon.

"Make your peace now." he said.

"What...!? What is happening!?" one of the group exclaimed.