Chapter 293. Rhapsody (8)
“I figured you’d be here, Pierrot Mask.”
Pram swung his sword casually and shook off the cut wires that had accumulated around his blade. He set his eyes, which were sparkling like crystal, on Pierrot Mask, standing between him and Romantica.
“Hoho. That’s great.”
Pierrot Mask let his ridicule show and took one step forward.
“I’m so glad you came here to see me! After last time, I really wanted to kill you myself.”
Soon something black and mysterious spilt out of his shadow and wrapped around his body. It soon solidified after forming a bizarre shape.
*Gulp*
Pram swallowed his worries and grasped his sword tighter. It was not just Pierrot Mask’s appearance that changed.
As he continued to gather aura, the air around the three of them began to pulse, and the pressure exerted by the sheer quantity of his aura made breathing difficult.
‘… He’s a monster.’
In that moment, Pram realized that their past interaction had only revealed a fraction of Pierrot Mask’s true power. What he used now was not just vastly stronger, but it was incredibly different in nature.
‘Is this even the same person?’
Pram knew he couldn’t afford to lose the initiative in this fight. Giving Pierrot Mask even a moment’s reprieve could very well result in Pram’s death. As he gripped his blade tightly… the world stopped around him.
In this paused world, only Pram’s sword could move.
The first blow struck diagonally across Pierrot Mask’s chest.
The second blow arced upwards from below.
And the final thrust aimed to skewer Pierrot Mask’s head and rip it straight off his body.
Three continuous attacks were launched towards Pierrot Mask, each coming from a different direction with no gap between the strikes.
*SWOOOSH*
Pram’s thrust had evolved such that it concerned even Raphaello, a Sword Grandmaster who specialized in defense, the so-called strongest shield of the Hebrion Empire.
*BOOOM*
An inhumane amount of aura poured into Pierrot Mask. Wires, which had been deeply implanted into the surrounding stone, were violently ripped out of place, and Pierrot Mask, the target of the man-made disaster, was launched several meters away.
‘I just need to maintain the distance between him and Romantica… ’
Despite achieving his original goal, Pram’s face was laiden with worry. From that attack, Pram realized that his refined skills wouldn’t leave a lasting impact on Pierrot Mask. His third blow was supposed to pierces his defenses and reap his life, and even though his blade clearly made contact, all Pram had felt was the emptiness of air.
“I’m sorry, but… ”
Pierrot Mask spoke, walking out of the dusty clouds. “That is not going to work.”
*Crash*
Countless wires soared up and decimated the roof beneath where Pram stood. If he moved a moment later, Pram would have been ripped to pieces.
“You cannot win, Pram Schneider.”
He could fight him on relatively even grounds in Pittsburgh, but against the current version of him, he could not even imagine himself surviving this encounter.
“Well, that’s okay.”
However, Pram refused to give up. He glanced behind him, confirming that Romantica still had control over the skies of Dresden.
“I don’t need to win this fight. It’ll be our victory when your plan fails.” *BAAAAM*
Silver light and gleaming wire collided with one another midair.
* * *
While Pram restrained Pierrot Mask, the Artemis Church started their siege of Adjest’s [Frozen Palace].
*Crack*
*CRACK*
Countless spell arrays appeared over the frozen fortress, varying between First-Circle and Fourth-Circle. It was safe to say, between the nearly ten thousand arrays, that Adjest was casting every single ice spell under her belt.
Adjest’s [Frozen Palace] was still staggeringly powerful. It was an infinite computational structure, which allowed her to perform countless magic spells in parallel as long as she had the mana to support the spell arrays. After lots of hard work, the current rendition of the spell allowed her to thoroughly dominate everything near her, establishing an absolute zone of supremacy where Adjest could exist unchallenged.
By combining that with [Frozen World] Adjest had created the ultimate battleground for both attacking and defending. Around her [Frozen Palace] lay an area just over one hundred meters in radius, a region that lay impassible to her foes, lest they wish to be instantly frozen to death. By combining the two effects, she could invoke thousands of spells until her mana ran out, severely harming the enemies numbers, while also preventing their movement, effectively guaranteeing the lives of her comrades.
Most notably, her biggest contribution was in preventing the spread of Rhea’s Baptism, which had decimated the Imperial army stationed on this front. In order for the Artemis Church to pass through the ice stronghold, they needed supporting firepower from their airships, and unfortunately, Romantica had taken control of the air, so it was impossible for them to operate their airships safely.
In order to regain control over the airships, the Artemis Church had sent Pierrot Mask to assassinate Romantica, but his attempt to do so was hindered by Pram.
The Starling Party worked together perfectly. If things continued unchecked, the Artemis Church would not be able to break through the Starling Party.
“Hmm… ”
Priscilla sighed quietly. Three single individuals had managed to ruin their plan, overcoming the gap between their military forces.
‘We should have taken them out at the same time as Zod and Desir… ’
She had known there would be some sort of resistance, but the fighting power of the Starling Party was beyond her expectations. She contemplated her next move silently, and finding a solution, spoke to the Head Inquisitor in a low voice.
“… Rhea, I permit you to unseal your power.”
“Thank you, Your Eminence. I was hoping you would let me put these heretics in their place.” Rhea smiled in delight and made a cross gesture above her forehead. At that instant, a petal blew in from afar, landing where she gestured on her forehead and catching alight.
*Crackle*
The horrible pain from it searing her skin did nothing to erase her mad smile from her face; rather, it only seemed to intensify it.
“My holy mandate is to purify all impurities in this world.”
Once the fire was put out, there was a ghastly cross-shaped scar seared into her forehead. Frightful red energy appeared and wrapped around her entire body as blood vessels rose to the surface of her skin. It seemed as though lava was flowing over her body.
Rhea raised her hands as if she was praising the Goddess.
“I shall fulfill my mission even if this body is burned and my spirit suffers for eternity.” *Crackle*
A flame appeared in her hand before quivering and transforming into a long hammer. “Caedite eos. Novit enim Domina qui sunt eius. ”
(Kill them. For the Goddess knows those that are Her own.)
Following her gesture, the flowers beneath her burst into flame and blazed far more intensely than previously.
*Whistle*
The flames began to stroke the stronghold of ice, powerful enough to withstand its chilling factor. Steam began to burst from the newfound seams.
*Craack*
Despite the cracks and thick fog that now encompassed the palace, it failed to collapse. It slowly recovered, reinforced by Adjest’s spell arrays, so it continued to endure the steady rate at which it melted.
Even still, Rhea smiled at the scene unfolding before her. It would be awfully anticlimactic if such a symbol of infidelity was toppled easily. Ready to join the fray herself, Rhea declaratively pointed her huge hammer at the stronghold.
“Erit enim tunc tribulatio magna qualis non fuit ab initio mundi usque modo neque fiet.”
(For at that time there will be great distress, the kind that has not taken place since the beginning of the world, and never will again.)
Fluttering petals appeared from all directions and gathered in front of Rhea before forming a giant flower bud.
Adjest’s eyes widened. The energy she felt it exuding was beyond extraordinary. “Take shelter everyone!”
She also jumped down from the fortress immediately after giving the order. At the same time, the flower bud unfolded and bloomed.
*BAAAAM*
There was a tremendous burst in the sky. The moment the flower bloomed, a blaze that had been nurtured inside the bud erupted and everything standing before it was vaporized. Even the ice stronghold could not handle such an attack. As one side of the fortress fell, the stronghold slowly collapsed in a chain reaction. Obviously, Adjest would no longer be able to cast spells using such a ruined structure, no matter how good she was. A pathway forward had been opened, and Priscilla intended to take it.
“Rhea, clean up after yourself.”
“Yes, Your Eminence. I will follow you soon.”
As Priscilla walked forward, paladins with golden insignias quickly followed along behind her. The heatwave had completely obliterated everything left in its wake, neutralizing the situation without further conflict.
“We must block them quick… !”
“Princess Adjest!”
The Imperial officers called out to Adjest in panic after Priscilla broke through, but she did not show any sign of moving. She dryly answered, staring at one person in particular.
“We can’t fight them with our current military force.”
“What do you… ”
While the commander commented, a giant ice shield appeared in front of Adjest. *BAAM*
The blast resonated and the tendrils of flame stretched over the lip of the shield. “Ergh!”
Despite Adjest blocking a majority of the blast, the Imperial soldiers suffered greatly under the radiant heat. Unwilling to break eyesight with her target, Adjest wordlessly unleashed the Center of Ice, allowing a cold breeze to protect the Imperial military from further hardships.
“The enemies of the Saint should know their place. I would ask you to kill yourselves to atone for your sin, but that would take the fun out of doing it myself.”
As the cool fog that formed after the clash of heat and cold lifted, the Imperial army was presented with Rhea’s lunatical smile, reinforced by her silver-clad heresy investigators.
Until the Starling Party had joined the battle, the Imperial military had been overwhelmed by just this one person. Even with their arrival, it would still be incredibly difficult for the
gathered forces to directly face their enemies in combat, and that was without factoring in Priscilla’s restorative ability.
“B-But, if the Saint is allowed into the city… ”
“There’s nothing to worry about.”
There was firm faith in her eyes. “Everything is going according to his plan.”
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