The dim candles surrounding the entire church burned slowly.
Yet, as mories surfaced in their minds, talica and Adalbert suddenly felt the flas were consuming far too quickly.
talica glanced at the surrounding firelight, her mind racing with calculations.
Fifteen minutes? No, ten minutes!
Only ten minutes?
To defeat this guy?
In that instant of realization, an unbearable sense of absurdity crashed into the girl's heart, her gaze toward Makoto tinged with a stunned daze.
How could sothing so outrageous exist in this world?!
And to think, the ti limit was asured by their faith?
Amid the absurdity, a shaful sense of humiliation rose uncontrollably in talica's heart.
How could her faith in His Majesty Yhwach be so trivial?
This intense ntal shock translated into action, manifesting as a relentless, all-out assault.
"Don't mock , you bastard!"
"Our faith in His Majesty is not sothing a wretch like you can insult!"
talica's eyes widened, her voice a shrill scream.
Blazing Reishi wings flared behind her, and she thrust both hands toward Makoto.
This ti, her attack lacked the overwhelming, earth-shattering montum of before.
But as Makoto narrowed his eyes, he saw every angle around him completely enveloped by tal threads as fine as hair, leaving no blind spots.
talica poured her all into her Quincy ability to control tal, relentlessly enhancing the toughness and hardness of those threads.
In the mont their properties reached the "nanoscale," they transford into pure "sharpness."
Even for talica, manipulating at this level was imnsely difficult.
Faint beads of sweat glistened at her temples.
Her platinum eyes burned with fierce determination.
Her hands snapped inward.
"Die!"
Countless tal threads, invisible to the naked eye, tore through the space like they were ripping it apart, strangling the narrow area from all directions. The dense silver glints clashed, faintly sparking with minute bursts of light.
Bricks, chairs, stained glass, black satin drapes hanging from the ceiling...
Everything in the path of this onslaught was silently cleaved in two.
Every "slash" aid directly at the man in the center.
Yet, perhaps it was an illusion.
In talica's platinum eyes, Makoto's calm, composed smile reflected back.
Her heart skipped a beat.
Zing!
In the next mont, countless tal threads converged into a single mass, erupting in a shower of fierce sparks, stopping an inch from Makoto.
His form flickered, vanishing and reappearing.
Still standing in place.
As if... those threads hadn't touched him at all.
No! They hadn't touched him!
talica's heart was certain.
Not a single thread had felt the sensation of cutting flesh!
Makoto looked at the stunned expression on the girl's delicate face and let out a relaxed laugh.
"Don't be so slow."
"Haven't you figured it out by now?"
He took a step forward, completely ignoring the tal threads before him, passing through them as if his body were an ethereal shadow.
"From the very start until now, have any of your attacks... even grazed once?"
Hearing this, talica's expression froze, her entire being seemingly dazed.
As if she'd glimpsed so terrifying possibility.
Makoto continued to advance slowly toward them, extending a finger with a playful tone:
"If you've forgotten, let jog your mory."
"The last lie Liestya told you..."
"Do you rember it?"
The burly Adalbert stood rooted, his tone laced with shock and a hint of helplessness:
"Liestya...?"
[You can't touch him.]
Makoto spoke the words deliberately, one by one.
In that instant, both talica and Adalbert felt as if they'd plumted into an abyss.
Yes.
Liestya had said those words right after Adalbert had snatched her back from this man's side.
In that unguarded mont, neither talica nor Adalbert had taken the words seriously, casually interpreting them as an exaggeration of his speed.
And so, they had believed it so easily.
No wonder.
Since the fight began, only when this man chose to attack them did Adalbert have a chance to make contact.
In contrast, not a single one of Adalbert's initiated attacks had ever touched him...
In the mont of this realization, a wave of despair surged uncontrollably in talica's heart.
"This is your own Quincy power."
Makoto held his blade, advancing step by step, smiling: "You should know just how absurd a rule-like power like this can be, right?"
"I wonder if that guy Yhwach ever imagined his knights turning on each other?"
"Ever since Liestya's lie took effect, in my eyes, your movents have all been like slow motion."
talica and Adalbert stood frozen, the surrounding flas burning segnt by segnt, ti slipping away silently.
The church was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Until...
"Don't mock , you bastard!"
Adalbert suddenly stepped forward, veins bulging on his forehead, his exaggerated pectorals trembling. His fists clenched so tightly his nails nearly pierced his flesh, his face flushed red, half his visage marred by faint, pulsing scars from the corruption of Hollow power, faintly distorted.
"His Majesty's power isn't sothing for you to toy with!"
"A wretch like you could never understand!"
"The despair we've endured to gain this power!"
"Or our faith in His Majesty!"
"The power we received from His Majesty is nothing like what a lowlife like Liestya could compare to!"
He shouted about love, friendship, bonds, and the like.
His voice thundered.
For the first ti, his gaze toward Makoto carried unmasked hatred, as if his beliefs had been defiled, his heavy foot sinking deep into the stone floor.
With a roar, his massive form surged forward.
Makoto rely smiled at him, calmly stating: "In that case, let's establish the first [Temptation]."
"Betray your faith in Yhwach, and you'll gain even greater power."
As his words fell, Adalbert's towering figure was already before him.
His fist swung through the air, stirring a fierce gust.
Before Adalbert could react, a leg sharp as a blade sliced through the air, snapping straight and striking his thick waist, unleashing a violent shockwave. Large swathes of clothing tore apart, exposing his skin to the air.
Adalbert's form bent at a sharp angle like a snapped stalk, hurtling back faster than he'd co.
"Choose!"
Most of the force and impact were deflected, and Adalbert spat out a mouthful of blood, charging forward again without hesitation.
Makoto watched the near-frenzied Adalbert with seeming nonchalance, his peripheral vision catching sothing, sweeping his blade behind him.
"Clang!"
The blade clashed with tal, ringing out crisply.
An iron puppet appeared there, raising a spear high.
In the distance, the platinum-eyed girl's expression was taut.
Makoto raised an eyebrow, smiling at her:
"See?"
"Even if you abandon your faith, you've adapted quite well, haven't you?"
With a slight exertion, he tore the puppet apart, reducing it to scattered parts.
Yet, compared to the tal that couldn't stop his blade at the start, this was a significant improvent.
talica's expression remained tightly wound, silent.
Or rather, she dared not speak.
She felt it clearly.
After Makoto's first [Temptation], her control over tal had surged noticeably.
Though she refused to admit it, though she denied it countless tis...
Even talica herself realized.
Her faith in His Majesty wasn't as devout as she thought.
No!
That's not right!
talica struggled fiercely within.
His Majesty didn't care about their loyalty, as long as they were useful, as long as they could kill this man...
No matter what happened, His Majesty would trust them as always!
So... if it was to kill this man.
Even if she temporarily cast aside her faith, His Majesty would forgive her.
As long as...
As long as she could kill him!
talica stared fixedly at Makoto, unknowingly reaching this conclusion.
"Whoosh-"
In an instant, half the dim candles surrounding the church went out.
The original ti limit of about ten minutes was suddenly shortened to six minutes or less.
In the mont he noticed, Adalbert, who was fighting desperately against Makoto, turned his head in near disbelief.
"talica!?"
Before he could finish, a clear, flowing slash swept through.
A deep gash appeared on Adalbert's chest.
Blood gushed like a fountain.
"Shut up!"
talica ignored her useless comrade, her bloodshot eyes filled with the ferocity and despair of a gambler.
The girl raised her hand, and liquid-like tal coated her body, transforming the slender girl into a knight clad in thick, unyielding armor.
"The power His Majesty granted is invincible!"
Though her heart wavered, talica murmured as if deceiving herself.
The next mont, her form roared toward Makoto.
Boom!
Stone tiles shattered, her twin long blades whipping down.
Makoto smiled at her, seeming even more pleased, casually stepping to the side.
Yet, talica reacted faster, pointing at him.
"Threads!"
Imdiately, fine tal threads appeared at Makoto's side.
In front of him, talica's long blade swung down.
"If you can't hit him, block his escape routes?"
"Smart move."
"But..."
"How's your Zanjutsu?"
Makoto's smile carried a hint of disdain.
He stepped forward, his blade easily slicing between her twin swords, parrying the right blade like water while swiftly redirecting, the back of his blade clashing with the left, borrowing its force. His shoulder and elbow struck her thick armor nearly simultaneously, ringing like a struck bell.
talica was knocked back, her entire body retreating.
But her platinum eyes glead as if alight.
It worked!
In that instant of realization, dozens of arms wielding swords, spears, and halberds extended like tentacles from the armor behind her.
Countless weapons aid at Makoto.
"Oh?"
Makoto chuckled.
The next mont, his form was engulfed by a sea of relentless attacks.
Amid the dense flurry of arms and weapons, only countless fiercely flickering sparks could be seen, his entire being surrounded by blazing fire.
Every thrust, every slash, he blocked within the "no-harm zone," taking them all head-on.
Makoto's expression grew more exhilarated, his voice tinged with fervor:
"Not enough! Far from enough!"
"Now this feels like a fight!"
"But!"
"It's still too weak!"
"Not a single hit has touched , talica!"
Boom!
As his words fell, Makoto launched a kick, striking talica's thickest chest plate, the sound of twisting tal echoing.
talica flew back, crashing into the church's ruined wall with a boom.
Before Makoto could pursue, Adalbert's form smashed down from above, kicking up a towering cascade of earth, seamlessly continuing the fight.
The surrounding firelight had less than five minutes left.
Not enough!
Blood seeped from talica's mouth, the Reishi wings of her Vollständig form dimming faintly.
Her body and spirit were nearing their limits.
Was this all she amounted to?
Even... even after betraying His Majesty Yhwach's faith.
In that mont, weakness rose irresistibly in the girl's heart, her lips, tasting of blood, clenched tightly.
"Save ... Your Majesty."
No matter what, she didn't want to die.
Though decades had passed, the mory of facing death remained vivid.
As the youngest daughter of a noble family in a small Eastern European country, her family, tied to Western agents, beca targets of the Lichtreich's purge.
After her entire family was slaughtered, she was finally dragged from a cabinet in an underground cellar, hauled out for execution.
Until, monts before, a pitch-black figure appeared before her.
"You can face directly? You have remarkable talent."
"Believe in ."
And so, she was saved.
She even beca a mber of the Sternritter.
For decades after, talica lived solely for that one phrase.
But why did she believe in him?
Until this mont, she had never pondered it.
Until now.
To... live on.
What kind of faith was this?
Wasn't it just submission to the strong and victorious?
"Whoosh-"
In an instant, another swath of candles went out.
Less than three minutes remained.
"Damn it!"
Adalbert grew more frantic, yet he couldn't touch the man before him, lumbering like a clumsy beast.
His desperate, flawed movents were instantly exploited by Makoto, who slashed him back dozens of ters with a single strike.
"You're far less interesting."
Makoto slowly shifted his gaze from the battered Adalbert.
He turned to talica, rising slowly, feeling it was about ti.
A smile spread across the young man's face as he announced the second [Temptation].
"Fight each other to the death."
"The winner will take the loser's full power."
"talica-san."
"Let's make this ga more entertaining, shall we?"
At this, Adalbert's expression froze, then he roared: "Bastard! We'd never fall for your-"
But before he could finish.
"Pfft, pfft-"
The chanical tal arm embedded in her severed limb exploded with countless thorn-like spikes, spreading in all directions.
Being part of her body, talica's decisive action left Adalbert no ti to "Choose."
The burly man stared dazedly at the girl who had fought beside him for so long, struggling to speak, but only pink, bloody foam spilled from his mouth.
He collapsed with a thud.
"Huh."
Makoto seed slightly surprised, raising an eyebrow:
"...Quite decisive."
talica stood upright, her shattered armor falling piece by piece to the ground, clanging with each impact.
Yet, behind her, two massive Reishi wings roared to life, encircling her.
Like an angel descending to earth, she illuminated the dim church.
"I want... to live on."
***
Bonus Chapter:
100 Power Stones = 1 BC
300 Power Stones = 2 BC
500 Power Stones = 3 BC
700 Power Stones = 4 BC
1000 Power Stones = 5 BC
***
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