Chapter 686: The Nuns (7)
“It seems I’m not too late.”
Kevin emerged through the ground, rescuing Joanna from within the dust and debris. His sudden appearance caused the fifty-five young girls and fifty-six nuns, who had been reciting their prayers, to fall silent and stare in astonishment at the altar.
Correction.
To be precise, they stared at what had been the altar. In his breakthrough, Kevin had destroyed the altar that had served as the tomb of the nuns. Gold threads, pure white lace, and the oil jars that had adorned the altar were now scattered and overturned across the ground.
There was no longer anything that could be called an altar.
The sight was utterly devastating, leaving everyone—girls, nuns, and even Sister Della, the mastermind behind this ritual—gasping in shock. How on earth had Kevin managed to sneak in undetected?
It was no wonder they were shocked. A contingent of Holy Knights had been stationed around the area to guard it. As knights with the keen ability to sense dark magic—and any magic, for that matter—their presence at this sacred ceremony wasn’t just for show; it was to prevent any possible intrusions.
And yet, here he was… a mage, of all people—a Red-skinned Warlock, no less—had so easily breached their defenses. Sister Della turned her questioning gaze to the Holy Knights nearby, who frantically gestured to indicate they, too, had no idea he was coming. Had they known, they surely would have responded in time.
However, Della was not inclined to believe them so easily. How could a mere mage slip past Holy Knights? Just as she was about to demand answers, someone muttered, “A spirit…?”
At this, both Della and the Holy Knights turned their eyes to where Kevin stood—and they saw it. A massive creature of light loomed behind him.
The spirit’s arms and legs glowed with a green hue, while its body shimmered with an earthy color, resembling a bear. But the most striking thing about it was the undeniable presence it radiated, an existence vivid yet beyond this world.
It was a spirit—a great Earth Spirit in the shape of a bear.
Kevin had relied on the power of this divine spirit, born from the hand of God, to sneak past the Holy Knights’ detection. Not only that, he had used the spirit’s power to tear through the black velvet that was binding Joanna—velvet enchanted under the influence of the Duchess, impervious even to magic.
Szzzzzzzt…
The velvet around Joanna’s form was beginning to rip under the spirit’s massive paw.
Seeing this, Della snapped back to her senses and shouted, realizing the ritual might truly be interrupted if things continued. That could not be allowed to happen.
“Holy Knights, stop him!! Everyone, keep praying!!!” Della’s desperate cry filled the air.
Hearing her command, over a hundred people immediately followed her instructions. The young girls and nuns, who had paused their prayers when Kevin appeared, resumed their kneeling and clasped their hands in prayer, causing the torn velvet to begin reattaching itself, moving to bind Joanna once again.
An inexplicable phenomenon, beyond magic.
Meanwhile, the Holy Knights drew their sacred weapons, swearing by God as they charged toward Kevin. Their intent was clear: to stop him from rescuing Joanna while also putting an end to him.
However, Kevin remained calm, meeting their advance with composure. He entrusted the rescue of Joanna entirely to the bear-shaped Earth Spirit, while he himself began to cast a spell.
[Diastrophism]
A wide-area earth magic that warped the entire surrounding landscape.
Centered around where Kevin stood, waves of magical energy spread out in all directions, distorting the ground in a series of layered faults that exploded outward.
Rumble—rumble—rumble—rumble—rumble!
It was like a wave of stone and earth, violently crashing forward with thunderous force and tremors.
At this rate, not only would the Holy Knights’ approach be hindered, but even the girls’ and nuns’ prayers would be interrupted. With such fragile bodies, they wouldn’t stand a chance against this wave of rock and earth.
Of course—
[Holy Light]
—the Holy Knights didn’t intend to allow that.
As Kevin cast his spell, the Holy Knights immediately responded with holy magic. Holy Light flared to life, a divine power capable of neutralizing dark magic and even greatly weakening other magic’s potency.
As brilliant yellow light surged from all sides, the massive wave of earth that had seemed ready to crash down on everything dissipated like a mirage, settling silently before the praying girls.
Indeed, it was Holy Magic—the power that had maintained order for humanity through countless ages.
“Die!”
But Kevin wasn’t concerned.
After all, he had anticipated this much.
“Now.”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Kevin signaled to someone for assistance.
In response, small geysers of water, frothy with white bubbles, burst out from cracks that had formed in the ground.
Ssssshhhhhhh—
This was the answer of the Ice Spirit, which Kevin had summoned to an underground water pipe during his descent. Although he had hoped to flood the entire area, the pipe’s small size limited the flow. But it was enough.
Kevin turned to the mermaid-shaped spirit beside him and requested it to freeze the entire area.
Hearing his request, the spirit waved its hand, and in an instant, white frost crystals spread throughout the underground chamber.
Crraaaaack!
The gruesome sound of flesh freezing and splitting filled the space as ice spread to cover everything underground.
Unmarked tombstones, coffins, girls praying, nuns, and even Holy Knights blessed by divine protection—all were frozen in place.
“What…what is this?!”
One young Holy Knight gasped, his breath visible in the frigid air, panic evident on his face. He was shocked that the ice had not disappeared despite their holy magic.
But his astonishment was unwarranted.
Ice created solely by magic would have melted away, but this ice was formed through the spirit’s power and pure water, making it as natural as could be.
Therefore, it couldn’t be dispelled by holy magic.
For the Holy Knights to break free, they would need to shatter the ice with their blessed bodies and brute strength, not magic.
“Everyone, break it with your strength! This ice is nothing—”
—Thwack!
Kevin had no intention of idly waiting while they freed themselves.
Moving with an agility one wouldn’t expect from a mage, he crafted several tomahawks out of the surrounding ice and hurled them at the Holy Knights in rapid succession.
Distracted by the ice’s cold and the restraints around them, one of the Holy Knights couldn’t evade in time. A tomahawk embedded itself squarely between his brows.
In this way, a group of Holy Knights was defeated by a single mage.
A meticulously laid plan, spirits attuned to the nature of holy magic’s limitations, and Kevin’s own quick, agile responses.
As silence fell over the frozen underground chamber, the girls and nuns all turned to gaze at Kevin.
The one who now held their fate in his hands.
Kevin observed them for a moment, then turned away and approached Joanna. Given that they had risked much to secretly bring Joanna here, she was likely the center of the ritual. Given the nature of his mission, it made sense to prioritize Joanna. Besides, she was an acquaintance of Zenon.
After a brief assessment, Kevin chose to focus on Joanna first, leaving the girls and nuns behind.
Crrraaaack!
Whether it was due to the freezing or the interruption of the prayers, the black velvet that had been regenerating as if alive was now tearing more easily than expected.
“Are you all right, Sir Knight?”
Kevin checked on Joanna’s condition.
She staggered a bit but seemed otherwise unharmed.
“Yes… I’m fine. No need to worry. Thank you for your help.”
Kevin watched her as he checked for injuries. Though her face was bruised, she didn’t appear to be in serious trouble.
“Hmm? Sir Knight, your holy magic…”
Something caught Kevin’s eye as he looked over Joanna’s condition.
He couldn’t sense any trace of holy magic around her.
“I…lost it,” Joanna replied calmly.
For a Holy Knight, losing the core of their power, their holy magic, was as catastrophic as the sky falling. Yet she was willing to move forward, deeming there were more pressing matters to address.
Kevin asked who had taken her holy magic. After all, holy magic, bestowed by a force overseeing the world, wasn’t something that could simply be stolen.
Joanna pointed ahead.
There was nothing where she gestured.
Boom!
Then, a blade of yellow light descended from above.
With the spirits’ aid, Kevin pulled Joanna back just in time.
As he retreated, the yellow blade of light cleaved the air, striking the frozen ground and scattering shards of ice everywhere.
“Is it that woman who took it?”
Kevin looked at Sister Della, wielding a blade forged purely from holy magic.
Joanna nodded.
“Yes…”
“That’s…unexpected.”
Sister Della pointed her blade of pure holy magic at Kevin and spoke.
“I expected interference, but I never thought a mage would disrupt things…especially a mage like you. How unexpected.”
“Strange thing to find unexpected,” Kevin replied dryly.
But Sister Della simply met his response with a knowing smile.
“Oh, it’s unexpected, truly. To be honest, I thought you wouldn’t interfere. After all, you’re Test Subject 162… I assumed you held immense resentment toward this world.”
Her tone suggested she knew something, and indeed she did.
As Roderick’s aide, she’d gleaned some information about Archive, including details about its disciple—a tragic and twisted tale of a test subject who’d become a disciple of Archive.
“It’s hard to understand. Would you care to answer me? Why are you stopping me? You, of all people, should understand just how wrong this world is, having lost family and friends because of the Red Warlocks. I’m only trying to set things right. Or are you unaware of the truth? Should I enlighten you?”
“No, that won’t be necessary. I’m not interested,” Kevin answered without hesitation.
His purpose in rescuing Joanna and disrupting Della’s ritual was simply that it was his duty as Archive’s disciple and a professor of the Tower of Magic.
He was only fulfilling his obligation.
“Hah…”
Sister Della chuckled lowly, then…
Swoosh!
In one fluid motion, she closed the distance between them and slashed horizontally, cleaving Kevin’s body in two.
Kevin’s torso and legs fell apart.
However, what she had split was an ice clone, and the real Kevin had already moved far away.
He had entrusted Joanna to the bear-shaped Earth Spirit, then, with the Ice Spirit beside him, rushed toward Sister Della.
Sliding over the scattered ice like a river, Kevin moved swiftly.
Della tried to swing her sword once again, but Kevin seized the opportunity to strike the frozen ground with his staff, sending ice shards and spears hurtling toward her.
Shhhhwwwt!
The sharp projectiles, forged with the spirit’s power, shot forward, unimpeded by holy magic’s nullifying effects. Della, however, remained calm. She summoned her stolen holy magic and crafted a radiant yellow barrier to block the shards.
"Did you really think something as trivial as a spirit’s power could stop me?" she asked with a confident smirk.
Indeed, while holy magic held a clear advantage over dark and elemental magic, that wasn’t its only strength. Holy magic also significantly enhanced the physical capabilities of its blessed wielder, granting them formidable physical force.
This was evident as Kevin’s ice shards met her holy barrier and shattered, unable to penetrate.
But Della wasn’t content to simply defend. Gathering her holy magic into the air, she formed several blades and hurled them at Kevin.
“Pierce him.”
Each blade, crafted solely from holy magic, soared through the air in response to her command.
It was a feat that would be challenging even for most Holy Knights.
The gleaming, lethal blades sliced through the air, honing in on Kevin, who quickly signaled his spirit to raise a massive ice barrier in their path.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
As the barrier of thick ice rose up, the glowing blades punctured through, each strike shattering layer upon layer of ice.
Though Della’s holy magic couldn’t entirely negate the spirit’s powers, it was strong enough to push them back.
Kevin, meanwhile, manipulated the ice-covered floor, shifting the terrain as he darted around, narrowly avoiding the blades of light with deft movements.
At that very moment, Della closed the gap between them again, swinging a massive sword of holy energy.
The ice around Kevin splintered like butter under her blade, shattering into fragments that flew through the air, each impact sending icy shards scattering.
Fortunately, Kevin’s spirit pulled him aside just in time, saving him from the lethal blow.
“Aha! So, that’s what it is!” Della shouted triumphantly, swinging the enormous holy blade like a baton.
“Just a dog!”
Her voice rang out as she charged with supernatural speed, her form a blur of righteous fury.
“Even though you lost your family, siblings, and kin… You’ve become a dog, seduced by the rank of Archive’s disciple!”
As she spoke, her holy blade spun in a blinding fury, leaving afterimages that closed in on Kevin.
“You’ve forgotten how to rage, how to hate. You’ve adapted to this rotten world instead! Isn’t that so—”
Smack!
Her tirade was cut short by a heavy impact that knocked her back, a chill spreading through the air as silence settled over the frozen chamber, all eyes now on Kevin.
Ice gauntlets encased his arms, and shin guards of solid ice protected his legs.
He had anticipated her attack trajectory and countered her relentless offensive purely with his own power, without holy magic.
In the face of such a feat, everyone stood frozen with shock. Kevin finally broke the silence.
“Let me tell you three things.”
“…”
“First, the world has always been wrong—from ancient times to the present. There has always been plunder, slavery, and war… The world has been flawed for as long as it’s existed, and yet, it’s endured.”
“…”
“Second, I haven’t forgotten my rage, nor have I stopped hating. Rest assured, I plan to take my revenge. In my own way, by my own will.”
“…”
“Third and last… Are you sure you’re acting of your own will? Because I’m not so sure.”