“Leave the upcoming battle to me, Loki.”
Ina stepped forward, placing Loki behind her protection.
She didn’t care whether the other party should display some kind of masculine valor or anything like that; in her heart, she only thought that after so many years of effort, she could finally show her true self in front of him.
This was an excellent opportunity to improve their rapport… as for Celulu, all she could do was wish her luck.
“There’s no need to make such a fuss. Just have Christine handle it directly…”
Loki felt uneasy.
He was already accustomed to sitting in the wheelchair named Christine.
Besides, this wasn’t a game—it was a deadly fight. The gap between the two sides wasn’t wide enough to be a massacre. And blasphemers like Solis often received blessings in a cheating-like manner at the last moment.
“Don’t worry, these guys aren’t my match. They’re just a bunch of rotten melons whose brains are about to decay. They can’t resist my magic at all.”
As her words fell, Christine waved her staff, and two gusts of energy howled through the air, piercing directly through the chests of two blasphemers, knocking them flying and pinning them to the wall.
But even so, they weren’t killed.
The bowl-sized wounds were quickly covered and thickened by new granulation tissue, and the internal organs and blood spilling out caused no harm to them.
Within minutes, they would rejoin the fight.
The rest emitted harsh, screeching cries, brandishing weapons as they charged forward, forming a dense formation that blocked the entire path.
But this wasn’t a fragile flesh wall that would collapse at the first charge.
The confined space greatly amplified the blasphemers’ advantages.
Though their malfunctioning brains had lost the ability to cast spells normally, their twisted souls could channel all the blessings of the Sea of Souls into their bodies, boosting their speed, strength, and regeneration to the extreme, and giving them a skin tough enough to be immune to low-level magic.
The assassin Loki encountered the night before was only moderately corrupted.
Blasphemers in that state could think normally and hide their mutations, only revealing their true form in moments of crisis.
But these deeply corrupted blasphemers before them were terrifying monsters and cocoons waiting to transform.
They no longer needed to rely on sacrifices to please their master; they themselves were singularities connecting the Sea of Souls to reality. As long as they continued devouring souls and accumulating enough, they would begin their demon ascension under the Great Lord’s blessing.
“Don’t forget our purpose here is to confirm that so-called ‘inheritance.’ Besides, these guys might be backed by even more terrifying enemies… That man called Solis looks like he’s below Rank 9.”
Ina spoke while swinging her staff, drawing circles in the air.
“Let me tell you, we witches are best at ‘means,’ not just fighting. As long as I don’t want to lose, he can’t do a thing to me. So if you have any hidden trump cards, it’s better to save them for the final moment.”
Just as she said.
Telekinesis, frost, fire, lightning, storm—unlike ordinary people who can only specialize in one, Ina wielded every type of spell with ease, sowing seeds of destruction among the blasphemers’ ranks.
In no time, she had carved a gap through the seemingly impenetrable flesh wall.
“Go, Loki, now’s your chance. I’ll cover you.”
She somehow produced a bottle of colorless potion and started gulping it down rapidly.
…It seemed she really couldn’t afford to waste power so casually.
“Be careful of that witch who hasn’t shown up yet.”
“Got it. If you think you can’t hold on, run immediately.”
Knowing the other had made up her mind, Loki didn’t hesitate.
“…Run? Hmph. I swear by the honor of Ina Iviko, I will not lose.”
Watching Loki’s quickly receding figure, she added quietly:
“No matter what.”
Troublesome.
Solis thought.
He hadn’t refrained from joining the final assault alongside his comrades.
But that witch was practically insane. He had never seen someone cast spells so recklessly. Even if the Chief were still alive, he’d have to consider whether a direct confrontation was worth the risk.
Most importantly, she could still spare her attention to disrupt him while handling the others.
It wasn’t that Solis lacked counters to magic, but the quality and quantity of her spells were so shocking that he suspected she might be possessed by a deity.
In terms of pure strength, Solis and Ina were evenly matched.
Rank 8.
The rank was a comprehensive evaluation combining spirit, soul, body, knowledge, and skill—an archaic standard passed down through unknown eras.
Though flawed, it was intuitive and easy to understand, so it was still in use.
…The revelation from the Lord of Fate couldn’t be wrong.
But that clearly didn’t represent the entirety of the other’s power.
Damn it. How could the gap between two witches be this vast?
…Considering that traitorous witches were already rare, Solis only grumbled silently.
After all, she was the only one on their side who could interpret the ritual left by the Chief.
Though progress was unknown… he could never let a traitor interfere.
—Ina thought the same way.
“Witch…!”
He cut through the tsunami of flames and hailstorm of ice shards with his saber and bullets, but was then tripped by the following gusts of wind and thunder.
Immediately after, an invisible force wrapped around his waist, dragging him backward against his will. He could only stare helplessly at Loki’s figure disappearing into the entrance of the ritual site.
Solis had to face reality.
This witch had to be killed.
The fight had to be swift and decisive.
…Damn it, how could this woman drink potions like water while casting spells? And they were all precious high-grade ones.
Looking at their side, only that wretched bishop and the crooked parliamentarian provided scraps—factory rejects at best…
Fortunately, as long as sacrifices were made, those items could be somewhat enhanced; otherwise, he’d probably have to endure mockery from that damned traitor about begging in Caesarnia.
“Hey.”
Ina looked toward Solis, who had given up chasing Loki and was now approaching her.
“That witch named Reese is on your side, right? Where is she?”
“Don’t ask your enemies questions in the middle of a fight, young lady. Didn’t your academy teach you that?”
Solis kicked aside a blasphemer whose limbs were severed and regenerating.
He swiftly carved several blasphemous runes on the body with his cavalry saber, then raised his gun and aimed at himself.
———
The ritual site was empty.
Loki stood at the exact center of the cone-shaped black obsidian.
He felt no unsettling power.
It seemed this place was completely unusable now; the remnants of the Hand of Truth hadn’t yet progressed to reboot the ritual.
He looked at the floor covered with paper filled with patterns and runes.
In a sense, the “inheritance” hadn’t been taken.
But…
The counterfeit imitations were bound to become popular.
“Though it’s impossible to replicate the original effect… if there are enough of them, it might cause even more serious consequences.”
“We must find the person who copied the ritual site.”
That said, the other had likely left long ago.
The ritual site had a passage connecting to the outside world. As long as the other escaped Caesarnia, no matter how much they searched, it would be in vain.
“In that case, I’d better return to help Ina first…”
Just as he decided to turn back, he suddenly looked toward the other side of the ritual site.
A strange woman in a long dress appeared there.
She muttered to herself and cast a curious glance at Loki.
“How strange… Wasn’t the person waiting for me here supposed to be a witch? Why did it turn out to be a man?”