The monk's calm finally shattered.
The mont he tore the snake from his wrist, his expression twisted.
And it was not in pain, but in offense.
"Impudent fool."
Power exploded from him.
Divinity roared outward like a collapsing sun. The ground around him disintegrated into powder as a shockwave tore through the battlefield.
Hundreds—no, thousands—of snakes were obliterated instantly, their bodies bursting into mist and ash.
Others were hurled across the Precious Land, smashed into cliffs, dissolved mid-coil by searing golden light.
The sky scread.
Clouds were blown apart. Thunder recoiled.
Chiron skidded backward, boots carving trenches into stone, barely keeping his footing as blood ran from his mouth again.
But even as he staggered—he was laughing.
A low, hoarse sound.
He straightened slowly, licking blood from his lips, eyes still glowing yellow.
"So that's it…" he muttered, then louder, amused. "I thought my gain would co after the tribulation. After the so called stupid Heavens finished its punishnt."
His gaze sharpened, burning with hunger.
"But I had no idea," he said, voice trembling with anticipation, "that the tribulation itself was the al."
The monk's eyes darkened.
Before Chiron could press the advantage, the monk lifted a hand and reached into his robes.
Prayer beads spilled into his palm—ancient, worn smooth by epochs of devotion. As he wrapped them around his wrist, he began to chant.
The words were not loud.
They didn't need to be.
Each syllable caused reality to fold.
Runes ignited in midair—vast, complex sigils layered upon sigils, rotating like celestial chanisms.
They were not of this world's language. They burned gold, white, and a terrifying void-blue at their centers.
The air scread as it evaporated.
Mountains in the distance trembled.
The Precious Land groaned, its ley lines shrieking in protest as if the land itself knew—
this attack could erase it.
The monk stared at Chiron, displeasure etched deeply into his features.
"I truly did not know you were a heretic of Madayaki," he said coldly. "If i knew you were… I would have killed you the mont I arrived.
To think my suspection was spot on."
His chant deepened.
The runes multiplied.
"Even worse, you are sothing far worse. After this, ill send ssage to Lady Fate as thanks for givong the opportunity to eliminate such toxic trash."
Chiron gritted his teeth at the ntion of Fate.
The monk suddenly raised his finger again, this ti encircled by the spinning formation.
"This technique," he said, voice heavy with finality,
"is not sothing this world should ever witness."
The runes locked into place.
"Heaven-Severing Lotus Sutra: World-Purging Bloom."
The pressure beca unbearable.
Even the horizon warped, colors draining as if existence itself were being peeled away. It felt as though, once unleashed, the attack would not rely kill Chiron—but evaporate the Precious Land, erase faith, spirit, blood, and mory alike.
Yet—
Chiron smiled.
Wide.
Unapologetic.
The monk paused, just slightly, irritation flickering across his face.
"…Do you find your death amusing?" he asked.
Chiron's grin only widened.
Chiron didn't raise his weapon.
He didn't chant.
He simply pointed at the ground.
The gesture was casual. Almost lazy.
The monk followed the motion instinctively—and his pupils contracted.
Beneath them, far below the shattered earth, a massive rune formation blazed to life.
It was not a simple array.
It was vast—circles within circles, sigils layered like continents, runes interlocking with mathematical cruelty. Lines of light ran through the soil, the stone, the very bones of the Precious Land, pulsing like veins. Each beat sent a low, resonant thrum through the world.
Power.
Unmistakable power.
The monk's breath hitched.
And then he noticed sothing far worse.
His divinity… was draining.
Not dispersing.
Not being resisted.
It was being pulled away.
One by one, the radiant runes surrounding his body flickered, dimd, and vanished like dying stars. The chant broke apart mid-syllable. The Heaven-Severing Lotus Sutra unraveled before it could bloom.
The monk staggered half a step.
Weaker.
Noticeably weaker.
He turned sharply to Chiron, disbelief finally cracking his composure.
"What is this?" he demanded. "What are you doing?"
Chiron's smile deepened, slow and satisfied.
"This?" he said lightly. "This is my Precious Land."
He spread his arms slightly, as if presenting a masterpiece.
"Long before Heaven decided to drop its little tribulation here," Chiron continued, "I had D3 use the resources we acquired from the Elven Kingdom to construct an encompassing formation."
The ground pulsed again, brighter.
"The original purpose was simple—battle support. In case Heaven sent a beast instead of… you."
He tilted his head, eyes glinting.
"You see, the formation doesn't work on people."
The monk's frown deepened.
"And yet," Chiron said, voice soft with amusent, "you are just a person."
Realization struck.
The monk's gaze snapped back to the ground, then widened.
"The core…" he whispered.
Chiron nodded.
"Monts ago," he said calmly, "after I confird that you were weak to magic—and that your divinity could be interacted with—I had one of my serpents and D3 make a small adjustnt."
Deep beneath the earth.
Several feet down.
The heart of the formation had been replaced.
Faith Crystal Fruits.
Packed tight.
Each one pulsing with layered intent.
"Those crystals," Chiron continued, "are saturated with two things."
The air thickened.
"First—faith. The prayers of everyone living on this land. Worship. Fear. Reverence. Hope."
The monk felt it then.
The weight of countless gazes.
Countless beliefs.
Pressing against his divinity like sandpaper.
"Faith," Chiron said, "is corrosive to divinity that does not own it."
The monk gritted his teeth as golden light leaked from his skin, drawn downward in luminous threads.
"And second—magic," Chiron finished.
The runes flared.
The pull intensified.
"Magic, i have co to understand by your guidance simply..." Chiron said quietly. "It takes."
The formation roared to life.
Faith eroded the monk's divine energy.
Magic absorbed it.
Layer by layer.
Breath by breath.
The monk stood there, aura dimming, Heaven's radiance bleeding into the earth beneath Chiron's feet.
And for the first ti since his descent—
He felt sothing dangerously close to fear.
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