For the first time since the battle began, Knox remained where he was, quietly surveying the battlefield before him. Countless threads still stretched between pillars, shattered walls, and broken debris, yet their owner no longer moved alongside them.
It took Lethe only a moment to realize something had changed.
There was no sudden surge of mana, nor did any overwhelming pressure descend upon the chamber. At first glance, everything seemed exactly the same.
Then she realized what was missing.
The bastard had stopped talking.
Throughout the entire fight, the masked fool had treated every situation as an opportunity to make another joke, another comment, or another attempt at testing Lethe's patience. Seeing him suddenly fall silent felt strangely unnatural, like discovering a monster had stopped growling right before it pounced.
Beneath the mask, a crimson light briefly flashed across the masked man's eyes.
The glow vanished almost instantly, yet Lethe, Moses, and even Hamiel instinctively tensed.
Nothing around them had changed. The ruined chamber remained just as broken as before, and Knox still stood in the same place.
Even so, the atmosphere felt completely different, as though a bright afternoon had quietly faded into a cold, moonless night.
Faint violet mana gradually gathered around Knox, slowly spreading over his body until it formed a thin violet aura around him. Rather than flaring outward, it clung to him in silence, tracing the outline of his figure and the dagger resting in his hand.
Knox slowly rolled his shoulder before glancing toward the trio.
"Hmm."
The dagger resting in his left hand caught the same violet light as he casually rolled it between his fingers.
"Warm-up's done."
His gaze lingered on the three of them for a brief moment before the grin beneath his mask faded.
"...Time to get serious."
Almost at the same instant, several spears of holy light formed around Lethe and streaked toward him from every direction. Knox didn't move from where he stood. His dagger traced a single silver arc through the air, and the first spear split cleanly in half. Before the fragments had even reached the floor, the second, third, and fourth met the same fate in rapid succession.
Each spear split apart before reaching its target, as though it had crossed the path of an invisible blade.
Lethe's eyes widened.
She had encountered countless ways for holy magic to fail, from barriers strong enough to withstand it to opponents capable of overwhelming it through sheer power. Yet watching her spells get cut apart as though they were nothing more than ordinary paper was a first.
The priestess immediately summoned more.
If four spears weren't enough...
Then she'd simply make it twenty!
The air around her rapidly filled with divine constructs as more spears, arrows, and blades of holy light materialized overhead. Within seconds, the sheer number of weapons hanging above the battlefield was enough to make it look as though an entire army had begun its bombardment.
Knox quietly watched the countless holy constructs floating around Lethe before slowly raising his right arm. Violet threads immediately emerged from between his fingers, writhing around his hand like living claws waiting to be unleashed.
The next moment, his arm slashed through the air.
SHRRRRRK!
Several violet trails burst from his fingertips, sweeping across the battlefield with frightening speed. The attack looked deceptively simple, yet every construct caught in its path was torn apart before it could reach him.
Holy spears split in half.
Holy arrows burst into fragments of light.
Floating blades were cleaved cleanly down the middle before fading into countless glowing particles.
The destruction didn't stop there. Pillars standing near Lethe suddenly developed deep cuts across their surfaces, while nearby walls and furniture were carved apart as though an invisible beast had just raked its claws through the chamber.
For a brief moment, the battlefield resembled the aftermath of a monster's rampage. Countless fragments of holy spears, arrows, and blades drifted through the chamber, their fading light scattering across the ruined floor as they slowly dissolved into nothingness.
No one spoke as the last traces of holy light disappeared, leaving the ruined chamber in an uneasy silence. Even Lethe stood frozen, her eyes fixed on the place where her barrage had vanished without accomplishing anything.
Moses stared at the remains of the holy constructs drifting through the air and felt his expression harden. He would've believed someone claiming they could block Lethe's magic. He would've accepted someone overpowering it through sheer force. What he had just witnessed, however, was fundamentally different.
Without wasting another second, Moses moved.
Divinity surged through his body as multiple blessings activated simultaneously, strengthening his muscles and accelerating his movements. The distance separating him from Knox disappeared almost instantly as the future Archbishop rushed forward with a single objective.
Touch him!
Whatever bizarre abilities the masked fool possessed, they wouldn't matter if Moses managed to land his blessing first.
Lethe understood the plan immediately. So did Hamiel.
The priestess moved alongside Moses while Hamiel directed her spirits from the opposite side, creating pressure from multiple directions and preventing Knox from freely escaping.
Lethe, Moses, and Hamiel struck together, their attacks finally moving with the coordination they'd been building throughout the fight.
Every angle was covered. Every opening had been sealed. Yet as the attacks closed in from three different directions, Knox made no attempt to evade them. He simply stood where he was, calmly watching the trio advance.
The sight should have raised alarms immediately. Instead, everyone committed to the attack, and by the time the hesitation finally set in, Moses's hand had already shot forward.
"Got you!"
His fingers touched Knox's shoulder.
Or at least, they should have.
The figure standing before him suddenly dissolved into countless violet particles before scattering into the air, disappearing completely in the blink of an eye. Moses's eyes widened as the illusion vanished, and almost at the same instant, dozens of threads shot in from every direction, wrapping around his arms, legs, and torso before tightening all at once.
Before he could even struggle free, a violet streak flashed past the edge of his vision. Another crossed behind him, followed by a third from above, each one accompanied by the brief glint of a silver dagger that appeared and disappeared just as quickly. Every time Moses tried to follow one movement, another had already begun somewhere else.
Lethe immediately rushed in to help, but she couldn't keep up either. Whenever she caught sight of Knox, he had already vanished, leaving behind only a fading afterimage before another slash found its mark on Moses.
The entire exchange lasted only a few seconds.
An eerie silence settled over the chamber.
Then, as though someone had finally resumed the flow of time, dozens of thin violet cuts appeared across Moses's body all at once. His body jerked violently as blood seeped through his uniform, and his knees nearly gave out beneath him.
"Damn it!"
Lethe immediately rushed toward Moses, determined to buy enough time for Hamiel to reach him before Knox could press the advantage. Once they regrouped, they could figure out how to deal with the lunatic who somehow cut through holy magic as though it were ordinary steel.
It was a perfectly reasonable plan.
But, as the saying went, man proposes, God disposes.
Unfortunately for Lethe, Knox seemed determined to fill both roles.
Something large suddenly entered her field of vision from the side, moving far faster than it had any right to. Instinct forced her to raise her guard just before the incoming object slammed directly into her, sending both bodies crashing across the battlefield.
"Lethe!"
Hamiel rushed forward immediately.
Only then did she realize what had happened.
The thing that had struck Lethe wasn't debris.
It wasn't a projectile.
It was Moses.
Several meters away, Knox casually lowered his right hand while countless threads remained attached to the future Archbishop's body. The implication was obvious enough that nobody needed to say it aloud.
He had used Moses as ammunition.
Knox glanced toward the injured priest before shifting his attention toward Lethe and Hamiel.
"Don't worry."
A faint smile returned to his voice.
"I avoided the vital parts."
Lethe frowned immediately, but instead of charging forward again, she dropped beside Moses and began channeling healing magic into his wounds. The urge to punch Knox remained extremely strong.
Saving her teammate came first.
Punching the masked man could wait.
A warm light enveloped Moses's body as Lethe placed her hand against his shoulder and activated Greater Heal. The deep cuts covering his body gradually closed one after another, leaving behind only faint traces where Knox's dagger had struck moments earlier.
Moses slowly rose to his feet while fragments of torn fabric hung from his uniform. His sleeves were ruined. His coat looked as though it had lost a prolonged argument against a pack of wild animals. Combined with the dirt, dust, and dried blood covering various parts of his body, the once-pristine priest now looked dramatically different from the composed figure who had entered the ruins earlier.
The future Archbishop's expression darkened.
Losing the exchange was frustrating enough. Getting carved up in front of his teammates only made it worse. But being tied up with threads and hurled straight into Lethe...
That was a humiliation he had no intention of forgiving.
And all of it had been done by a masked weirdo!
A vein pulsed at his temple before an overwhelming surge of divinity erupted from his body.
"U-Um..."
Hamiel slowly took a step back.
"...I think his switch just flipped."
Moses ignored her and took another step forward, clearly intending to rejoin the battle.
"Stop fooling around!"
Lethe's sharp shout cut him off before he could take another step. Moses paused and glanced back, only to find her already glaring at him.
"Although I'm also annoyed by him, remember our mission! It's not that we cannot defeat him, but remember his purpose of fighting us! He clearly wanted to stall us!"
Lethe's words cut deeper than Knox's dagger.
Moses clenched his jaw but said nothing. Every instinct urged him to charge back into the fight and erase that infuriating grin from the masked fool's face, yet reason slowly forced its way back into his mind.
He closed his eyes for a brief moment before letting out a slow breath.
Lethe was right.
They had a mission to complete.
Hamiel looked between the two before cautiously raising her hand.
"So..."
The priestess pointed toward Gideon.
"What do we do now?"
Moses crossed his arms.
For once, he wasn't the one with an answer.
Both of them turned toward Lethe.
The priestess remained silent for several moments while staring at Gideon, who was still hanging nearby. Then her eyes slowly narrowed before a grin appeared on her face.
It wasn't a particularly reassuring grin.
"I got a plan."
Hamiel immediately smiled.
That was usually a good sign.
"Just buff me."
The reassuring feeling vanished immediately.
Hamiel decided not to ask questions.
A gentle radiance immediately spread from Hamiel's body as multiple support blessings settled onto Lethe. Strength increased. Speed improved. The flow of divinity throughout her body became smoother.
Beside her, Moses slowly raised his hand.
Lethe recognized the gesture immediately. She spun around and jabbed a finger straight at him before he could utter a single word.
"Don't even think about using that disgusting buff on me!"
Moses's forehead twitched.
After a long sigh, the priest reluctantly reduced the output of his blessing before sending a significantly weaker enhancement toward Lethe.
Several seconds later, a massive spear appeared above Lethe.
Unlike the holy spears she'd used earlier, this one possessed a physical form. Bands of divinity wrapped around the weapon while multiple blessings flowed through it simultaneously, causing the surrounding air to distort under the pressure.
Strength.
Rotation.
Surge.
The blessings spiraled around the spear like a gigantic drill preparing to tear through anything unfortunate enough to stand in its path.
"Eat this, you damned clown!"
Escrime exploded across the battlefield.
The enormous spear tore through the air while layers of rotating divinity surrounded its surface, creating a deafening roar that echoed throughout the chamber. The floor cracked beneath its passage. Broken debris was swept aside. Even the surrounding air seemed to twist around the attack's trajectory.
The spiraling mass of divinity tore through the air, racing straight toward Knox.
Even so, the masked fool remained where he was, quietly watching the attack draw closer. There was no panic in his movements, no flicker of surprise, and no sign that he intended to avoid it.
The crimson glow beneath the mask remained calm as his left hand lowered slightly, bringing the dagger into position. At the same time, countless violet threads gathered around his right arm, wrapping around it like living claws.
His right arm slashed across the air as the dagger traced a second arc beside it, both attacks arriving together in a single fluid motion.
BOOOOOOM!
The collision shook the entire chamber.
Holy power and violet mana erupted outward, colliding head-on before exploding into a violent shockwave that tore across the ruins. Dust, shattered stone, and broken debris were hurled into the air, quickly swallowing the battlefield from view.
For several long seconds, nothing could be seen beyond the thick cloud of dust. Only after it began to settle did the ruined chamber come back into view.
Knox was the only one still standing.
The massive spear had disappeared.
So had Lethe, Moses, Hamiel...
And Gideon.
Silence lingered for a few moments before Knox let out a quiet chuckle and slowly shook his head.
"Hehe..."
"You don't think I'm stupid enough to not realize your plan before, right?"
The masked fool glanced toward the tunnel they'd escaped through.
Their intentions had been obvious from the very beginning. Even so, Knox chose to play along.
After all, if you wanted to catch a fish...
You needed bait.
With everything unfolding just as he had expected, Knox casually stretched his arms before looking up.
"Alright."
A faint grin returned beneath the mask.
"Time for the next phase."
At first glance, it sounded as though he was talking to himself.
In reality, he was speaking to someone else entirely.
"Are you ready for your debut?"
A brief silence followed.
Then a cheerful voice answered from somewhere far away.
"Hehe~ Ready anytime you want ♪~"