"——Tonight, the Death will appear!"
The prophecy reached Louvre's hands three hours before Touko and her companions arrived.
The Dead Apostle world is not a monolith; their internal strife is, in so ways, even more intense than that of humans. On one hand, most of them were transford from humans and still retain human vices. On the other hand, their excessively long lives require so form of distraction.
The reason why the Dead Apostle circles, which are rife with mutual slaughter and annihilation, still survive is due to the presence of a dedicated prophet ancestor. Legend has it that she frequently predicts the deaths of Dead Apostles, prompting them to quietly create their replacents. Whether this is a deliberate suppression by the Counter Force or not, individuals with prophetic abilities are extrely rare among the Dead Apostles, and only she can gaze into the river of fate.
Louvre smiled as he placed the prophecy in front of him.
No wonder the group of won sneaking around the lake earlier should not be underestimated. A single misstep could lead to their annihilation. However, this wasn't an unavoidable death. The renowned Rose Prophecy wasn't always accurate.
With precautions in place, Louvre didn't believe his side would be the one annihilated.
After instructing his beloved children to prepare for guests, Louvre ascended to the spire at the highest point of the old castle. Here lay his trump card, the very foundation of his existence.
However, he wouldn't resort to using his secret treasure until that strange group of won broke in.
Standing at the top of the spire, Louvre synchronized his senses with the bounded field, his gaze piercing through the spatial divide to watch the battle on the lake. There, the familiar army serving as the first line of defense had already been more than half depleted, yet they still couldn't halt the advance of that peculiar puppet.
The White Winged Lord's most trusted familiar, the Lake's Dead Apostle, who had survived for over 500 years, pondered for a mont before issuing an order to his offspring.
Beneath the smooth, mirror-like surface of the lake, another Dead Apostle lay in wait. This was a different realm, constructed by the Louvre faction, where the lake's water had long ceased to flow, posing no hindrance to the dead apostle's movents.
As Kirie fell, another Dead Apostle broke through the water's surface, launching a frenzied attack on her with hands, feet, and fangs. From his swift and clean movents, it was clear this Dead Apostle was a close-combat expert.
"Don't underestimate !"
A brilliant orange light spread between her fingers, the rapidly rising temperature igniting her weapon. With a roar, Kirie struck at the Dead Apostle's body.
"Blazing Palm!"
The high heat forced the Dead Apostle back, but his face remained expressionless, as still as the lake's surface. Without any flashy movents or sounds, he casually deflected Kirie's Blazing Palm with a simple parry, then imdiately kicked her a few ters away.
In Kirie's flight path, the Dead Apostle who had previously ambushed her was already waiting. As she approached, a new round of fierce attacks began.
Fortunately, Kirie's body, crafted by Touko using the best materials, withstood the assaults. Otherwise, these two rounds of attacks would have destroyed her new body. This wasn't due to any flaw in the doll itself; Touko had designed it ticulously. The problem lay with the operator.
Kirie's combat experience was severely lacking. While she could rely on her performance and weaponry to crush inferior opponents, facing high-level adversaries left her unable to exert her full strength.
"Sakura, Fujino, you need to teach Kirie more about this when we get back," Touko instructed, having spotted the issue.
"Sure thing, Sister Touko," Sakura replied.
"Yes, Sensei. What should we do now? Should I assist Kirie?"
Fujino's gaze could reach her attack range, and if she wished, she could twist the two Dead Apostles into a ball at any mont.
Touko glanced at the shattered castle gate, then at Kirie, who had beco a punching bag and nodded. "Leave it to you. Lorelei, get ready to intercept their reinforcents!"
"Understood!"
As soon as the words left her mouth, the two Dead Apostles attacking Kirie began to twist without warning. Centered around their waists, their heads and feet beca axes, contorting into a grotesque shape. Fragnts of organs and shattered blood seeped from their bodies, unable to withstand the torsion, making one's scalp tingle with horror.
Having witnessed the Mystic Eyes of Distortion once before, Kirie had developed so resistance to the scene. She suppressed the nausea welling up from the depths of her soul and activated the flathrower in her mouth, incinerating the two Dead Apostles with powerful flas.
Before taking action, each girl had done their howork thoroughly, knowing that Dead Apostles had formidable regenerative abilities. Only by turning them to ash could their deaths be ensured.
As Kirie incinerated the Dead Apostles, the second wave of Dead Apostles that Touko had anticipated erged from the shattered castle gate.
Lorelei, who had been prepared, walked gracefully yet authoritatively onto the lake, raising her slender wrist gently.
The girl's magic circuits roared silently, and a vacuum spell, wider than the castle gate, cut through the second wave of reinforcents with ease as if the majestic queen had done it with a casual flick of her hand.
Seeing this, Touko raised both hands, releasing the "FEHU" rune she had prepared, burning the scattered Dead Apostles with the power of primordial fire.
Amidst the rain of fire, Touko pointed forward and commanded everyone.
"Into the city!"
PS: The Lake's Dead Apostle is not particularly noteworthy. If it were the Knight of the Lake and their unit, that would be sothing to see.
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