"How dare you…."
A voice trembling with rage.
"How dare you — my face…!"
Cardinal Teo traced the bullet graze along his cheekbone with his fingertips.
A clean furrow carved through flesh, following the path of the shot.
Red blood ran in a thin stream down the back of his hand.
He had always considered his handsome face his greatest asset.
A perfect appearance — befitting one blessed by God, or so he had believed.
He slowly raised his head.
His eyes ignited with killing intent.
"…You won't die quietly."
Whooom!
The air thrummed.
Condensed holy power rippled outward like a shockwave.
He had shown exceptional sensitivity since his orphanage days.
In the art of sacred magic, he was counted among the very strongest.
"I'll deal with that little wretch myself. The rest of you, stand down."
Cardinal Teo waved the holy knights back.
"And…"
Snap!
He flicked his fingers.
"Kraaaah!!"
"Eeeegh!!"
From the cavern below — the same passage Matyos had climbed up through — came a chorus of grotesque wailing.
Iron bars shattered, and things that could barely be called human came crawling out.
Twisted limbs. Malformed eyes. Not a single part of them was normal.
"Let the rats be handled by the test subjects."
Bang!
Another gunshot rang out.
But it bounced off the shield of holy power spread like a wall, utterly useless.
"…That trick won't work anymore."
"Shame."
Matyos carefully set Tiana down.
The excessive infusion of holy power had left her dazed, barely conscious.
Radiance seeped from her body — enough that the veins beneath her skin were visible through the light.
Matyos raised his sword.
In his mind's eye, an ink-dark star rose.
Dim mana flowed down the length of the blade.
Cardinal Teo brought both hands together, then spread them apart.
Light stretched long and coiled around his hands.
Crack!
It became a golden whip.
The whip bristled with thorns.
He snapped his wrist, and the whip curved like a serpent, driving in from a blind angle.
Matyos read the trajectory.
Half a beat ahead, he planted his sword at that exact point.
Thwack!
The whip was deflected.
"…Hmph. At least you're not entirely worthless."
Teo ran his free hand along the whip.
The light split.
Four strands.
"Let's see you dodge this one!"
Crack-crack-crack!
Four whips lashing from different angles at once.
One sword couldn't block them all.
Matyos recalled the private lessons his sister had drilled into him and threw up a barrier in front.
Thud-thud!
Two strands bounced off.
He cut down the remaining ones that aimed for the gaps.
But it wasn't perfect.
Two strands coiled around his blade.
Teo yanked.
Matyos's body lurched forward.
"Pathetically rolling across the floo—"
Crack-snap!
The whips of light exploded.
Dark mana ground against the holy power and tore it apart.
"What—!"
The whip came again.
This time it was severed before it even grazed the blade.
"…A strange power. Filthy and revolting."
"You're the last person who should be saying that."
"I, who was chosen by God?"
"God must be an idiot, then. Choosing someone like you."
"It's because there is something you, in your ignorance, cannot understand."
"God never chose you to begin with."
"Then who, if not me?"
"She's right there."
Matyos glanced toward Tiana.
Cardinal Teo let out a contemptuous snort.
"What could a girl who can't do anything on her own possibly accomplish."
Then he unleashed another burst of radiance.
"Enough games. Regret all you like — it won't matter. Die."
Countless spears of light materialized in the air.
Every tip aimed at Matyos.
"Shu…."
Matyos barely moved his lips.
Shu understood from that alone, and bestowed her blessing upon him.
[You have received the Great Spirit's Blessing]
[Strength increases by 15]
[Agility increases by 15]
[Stamina increases by 15]
[Mana increases by 15]
His physical capabilities surged explosively.
His legs felt suddenly, startlingly light.
He layered the power of Ink Star on top of that.
His body grew a tier stronger still.
A shiver ran up his spine.
"Huu…."
Dangerous.
Dangerously strong.
Using Shu's blessing and the power of Ink Star simultaneously made his body burn like a furnace.
Sweat was already pouring off him in sheets.
Matyos raised his sword and charged.
Spears of light rained down.
He dodged what could be dodged, cut down what had to be cut down, and pressed forward toward Cardinal Teo.
'Footwork and sword path.'
The intensive training Professor Vilhelmine had put him through was paying off now.
Footwork — light and swift. Sword path — unbroken, flowing like a single current of water.
It was his first time using it in real combat, but the brutal drilling had made it part of his body.
And as he crossed the line between life and death—
[Skill acquired: Wind Step]
Ten steps.
A spear of light came straight at him from the front.
Crack!
He cleaved through it with his ink-dark blade.
Five steps.
A shield of light shoved outward.
He split it apart.
Three steps.
The sword reached.
He brought it down on the man's head.
Bang!!
A dense halo of light formed a thick protective barrier.
Thick as an elephant's hide.
The ink-dark blade drove halfway through the barrier — and stopped there.
He had the edge in quality. But he was being overwhelmed in quantity.
Before the spears of light could skewer him, Matyos twisted the blade free and threw himself backward.
"Huu…."
His clothes were soaked through with sweat.
His hair clung to his cheeks and neck.
His breathing was ragged.
His stamina was scraping the bottom.
'I've already burned through seventy percent of my mana.'
Push it further, and his body would give out first.
"Tiring already?"
Cardinal Teo smiled with smug satisfaction.
He was standing in midair now.
Beneath his feet, condensed holy power glowed like a thin luminous platform.
Behind him floated an uncountable number of spears of light.
The tips crossed and vibrated faintly against each other, and with each tremor the air gave a thin, resonant hum.
"The sin of touching God's domain. Accept your punishment and—"
RUMBLE!!!
Before he could finish, the sky split open.
A massive bolt of fire-laden lightning fell in a straight line.
It was nothing like ordinary lightning. It was a colossal, ashen thunderbolt — carrying flames within it.
The protective barrier wreathed in holy power cracked in an instant.
Boom!
The barrier shattered into fragments and scattered like shrapnel.
Cardinal Teo's scorched body plummeted from the air.
His singed robes thrashed wildly as he fell.
"What the hell—!"
CRASH-BOOM!
A second bolt of fire-lightning hammered down into the middle of the holy knights.
An explosion erupted.
The ground heaved, and earth and stone were flung into the air.
Holy knights near the blast center were hurled several meters and slammed into the ground.
The crunch of dented armor and the dull thud of breaking bones mingled together.
And then.
Ashen hair drifted through the air.
Ofilienne.
She stood suspended in midair, arms folded.
She looked down with eyes that did not waver.
Cardinal Teo's composure cracked.
"How are you here so soon…? I had you detained."
"I shook them all off."
She descended at her leisure.
She landed lightly beside Matyos. Barely a wisp of dust rose.
"Where's Quistian, and why are you the one out here?"
"There were circumstances."
The fighting below was still fierce.
They were still in the middle of it.
Teo brushed off his robes and rose to his feet.
"So the siblings were in on it together after all. Stall for time, then steal her away. Not a bad plan."
"You look like you think you've already won."
"Do you really believe you can break through this encirclement? Even you, the prodigy of Moretti — it's impossible."
"With this many witnesses watching?"
Ofilienne cast a brief glance around.
City residents, woken by the explosions and thunderbolts, were flooding in.
A murmur spread through the gathering crowd.
The darkness was thinning.
Beyond the horizon, the first light of dawn was faintly bleeding through.
There were even what appeared to be journalists — the click of camera shutters sounded here and there.
"Things have come this far. They no longer matter."
"You'd kill them?"
"There's nothing stopping me. People who live out in a place like this — it doesn't matter how many of them die."
"You're worse than an animal."
"It cannot be helped, for the sake of the world. This world has fallen into corruption. Our Holy See must step forward and govern it wisely."
"Even your nonsense is thorough."
"I thought you, of all people, would understand. Ofilienne. Does your rule have any use for paupers who are worth nothing?"
"They're not without their uses."
"This has gone on long enough. What matters is that neither of you will be walking away from here today."
He raised his hand.
Holy knights closed the encirclement from every direction.
There were easily over a hundred of them.
Layers upon layers of light surrounded them.
"Mati…."
Tiana barely managed to open her eyes. Her voice was as thin as a breath of wind.
"Wait just a little longer."
"No."
Tiana's hand reached out and caught the hem of his cloak, as if feeling for it.
There was almost no strength in her grip.
"No. Mati."
She shook her head.
Once, and then again. Like someone who already knew how this ended.
"…Leave me behind."
"What are you talking about."
"I already abandoned you. Because of my own stubbornness and selfishness."
As the words left her mouth, Tiana passed through the time contained within them once more.
She had pushed him away because his beliefs and thoughts differed from hers.
Consumed by that, she had been missing what truly mattered.
"You were right there beside me — and I couldn't see it."
Tears fell without a sound. A swallowed sob escaped.
"…I can't let you all be put in danger because of me. If something happened to you because of me… then I would truly…."
"Tiana."
"…Yes."
"Shut up and pray."
Tiana looked up at him for a moment.
"…What?"
"Stop saying useless things and pray. That's what you're good at."
"But—"
Matyos smiled — the kind that said don't worry.
"It doesn't matter."
Those grey eyes turned toward her.
The same eyes that, just moments ago, had been tangled with hostility and killing intent — in this moment, they were strangely soft.
"Everyone here came for you. If I hand you over to that bastard, Taibeon will probably try to kill me."
At that, Tiana let out a breath that was half sob.
"…Even so."
"Don't worry."
Don't worry.
A common phrase — and for that reason, a hard one to believe.
And yet, strangely, the moment those words reached her chest, they lost their weight.
The fear hadn't vanished entirely, but a thin warmth settled over it.
The danger was still right in front of them. But he was smiling.
As though all of this were nothing more than a passing shower.
But it was good.
It was a smile she had thought she would never see again.
She wanted to see it just a little longer.
For that.
Tightly….
Tiana clasped both hands together.
It was not the fanatical prayer she had offered to God before.
Only the simple wish that Matyos and everyone here would be safe.
Her eyes had finally opened.
She understood now where her gaze had been pointed all this time.
She had believed she was looking at God — but she had never truly looked at the faces of the people beside her.
Drunk on her own righteousness, she had been judging the hearts of others.
Not anymore.
Now she could see.
The breath of those fighting for her. Their set jaws. Their trembling hands. Even the fear they were carrying.
Fssss….
Tiana felt a faint heat.
The backs of both her hands burned as though scorching. A sensation spread — like a great nail being driven in, like hot iron searing flesh.
But no scream came.
On the backs of her hands, a red four-pointed star slowly rose to the surface.
It grew vivid, as though pressing up from within the flesh. It was a mark written not in blood, but in light.
Yet Tiana was not alarmed.
On the contrary, she was calm — like someone recognizing at last something that had always been there, waiting. It was undeniably the first time in her life she had witnessed such a thing, and yet, somehow, that was how it felt.
Her heart settled into a stillness that was almost uncanny. Where fear had drained away, an inexplicable fullness rose to take its place.
Whoooosh….
The radiance flowing from her body grew steadily deeper.
The boundary between flesh and bone seemed to blur. The sensation in her feet grew distant, and in its place a gentle buoyancy wrapped around her body.
And then, once more — pure white radiance poured down….
FLASH!!!
Everyone shut their eyes.
It was a blinding light — the kind you might encounter if you looked directly into a sunrise with bare eyes.
The light was not merely bright; something hidden within it pressed against the chest.
And when they barely managed to open their eyes again —
Cardinal Teo's eyes went wide enough to tear.
He gaped, wordless, like a man who had lost language in the face of something too shocking to process.
Tiana stood there.
The face that had once crumbled under despair and regret was now still — still as a calm lake.
In her eyes, where resentment had been, there was understanding.
Where fear had been, there was compassion.
Her eyes were so full of love and understanding that one might have imagined a halo behind her head.
No.
"…!"
There truly was — above her head, a soft luminous ring was spreading in a gentle circle.
It was no mere trick of the eye. The very air rippled around that light as its center.
Someone drew a sharp breath.
It was real. A halo rested upon her head.
The color of the boundary where night and day meet — the edge of the dawn.
Thud.
One of the holy knights sank to their knees without thinking.
In a daze, they spoke.
"…The Dawn Saint."