Chapter 266: Chapter 266: On My Way To Meet You (3)

Tadat.

Iona was lightly running on top of the buildings.

Although it seemed like Iona was practically carrying the entire group by herself… thanks to the levitation magic reducing her weight, it didn’t look too difficult.

While entrusting myself to Iona, I sneakily glanced below.

The roaring sound and the thickly rising dust came from the monsters rampaging in the area we were just in a moment ago.

They must know there’s an intruder, but they can’t find us, so they’re probably angry.

Let’s see… three ogres, two minotaurs, two cyclopses, and one mutated orc?

The mutated orc might be small, but its strength was likely on par with an ogre. The crown-like horns on its head were a typical feature of an Orc King.

So, in this brief time, we’ve got eight large monsters gathered.

With Iris’s support, we could probably take down two or three, but dealing with the rest by ourselves would be a bit overwhelming.

It wasn’t impossible, but we’d be wasting our strength on these monsters and cultists who might come upon hearing the commotion, which was quite burdensome.

Hmm. This really was the right choice.

I nodded inwardly as I looked straight ahead.

The Great Church was approaching rapidly. The thought of getting closer to Helena made my heart flutter slightly.

“Huh? What’s that…?”

Iona began to slow down and then landed on the relatively intact rooftop of a building. However, no one hurried Iona along.

The barrier surrounding the Great Church. That red aura suddenly swelled in size and began to surge upward rapidly.

“Damn.”

The original plan was to jump into the ritual through the part the barrier hadn’t covered yet.

But for some reason, the ritual suddenly sped up.

There’s still enough time to leap in, but…

“You all get the gist, right? If we fail today, there won’t be another chance.”

“Right, right. We’ve at least located the altar. Maybe the ritual’s acceleration has caused the stealth mechanism to deactivate?”

“Well, that’s a relief. Can we enter right away?”

“Yes. But inside is their domain, right? It’ll be hard to maintain invisibility like now! So, what I’m saying is…”

“If we’re going to lose invisibility anyway, you want to prepare a big attack in advance, right?”

“Exactly! If this were a test, I’d give you a hundred!”

Iona smiled brightly and patted my head. Her touch calmed the anxious feeling in my chest.

…Did I make it that obvious?

I chuckled and spoke to the stiff paladins.

“How about it? I’m thinking we prepare a big one and strike the moment Professor Iona brings us in.”

“Understood.”

“O Righteous Radiance, watch over us.”

“As you will.”

“Now we can deal with the cultists instead of just monsters!”

Though their words were different, they all meant the same thing.

Holy power concentrated on each of their weapons. The invisibility spell, which was already fragile, began to tear from within.

Although stained with the blood of enemies, they didn’t appear fatigued. Their spirits were high.

Most of them were continuously recovering their stamina with the blessing of the Sun God, even if not as much as me.

Determined not to be outdone, I gathered my magic power.

Whoooong.

Mana from the surroundings responded to my will and began to converge.

With my improved mana affinity, my magical abilities had grown tremendously.

…I’d even reached the point where I could imitate things I once thought impossible.

“Come, small destruction.”

At the tip of my staff, a massive boulder appeared. It wasn’t an ordinary rock; it was burning on its own.

The flames weren’t just on the surface. The entire boulder itself was ablaze, as if it were a mineral made of fire.

“This is a divine punishment placed in the hands of man.”

In conventional elemental combinations, you divide one element into essence and form, then combine the two as you wish.

For example, a rock that flows like water or lightning that scatters like wind.

But in the end, this method forcibly merges two incompatible natures by relying on elemental affinity and mana manipulation.

It’s like shaking a bottle of water and oil together; it might seem like they mix, but in reality, they’ve just been broken into smaller pieces.

That’s roughly how it feels.

Of course, this method had its limits. To move on to the next stage, you must find a way to surpass these limits…

Fortunately, I had Iris as an excellent teacher.

By going beyond separating essence and form to pick and choose at will, you mix two essences and create something new.

Not just fire as hard as rock, but magic that is both fire and rock at the same time.

It might sound like wordplay, and it might seem like a trivial difference, but this was truly the next stage of elemental combination.

Simply mixing intermediate magic results in a better outcome because the materials are better.

But this… this was more like the process itself had evolved, making the result stronger in turn.

In simpler terms, it’s like the power multiplier has increased!

“Wait patiently for the right moment, and let your strength grow in my hands.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Finally, I added a holding and charging spell, overcharging the magic, and then looked toward Iona.

She widened her eyes, seemingly surprised, and asked.

“That one, that one. Can you keep it up even with a lot of movement?”

“If there’s one thing I’m confident in, it’s casting while moving.”

“That’s a relief. Because it’s going to get really shaky from now on.”

It seemed Iona had also finished her own preparations, as crimson energy was now flowing steadily from her entire body.

I was a bit worried since her levitation spell had been canceled in the process of exerting full power… but if all that magic was being diverted into physical reinforcement, she should be fine.

After all, a vampire’s natural stats are pretty formidable.

This time, I adjusted our formation a little, wrapping my arm around Iona’s waist, while the other paladins lined up behind me, holding onto my waist.

And yet, it wasn’t enough. Iona twisted her magic like a rope, connecting us all together.

It looked like we were playing a train game, but… with the levitation magic gone, the recoil on our end would get stronger, so there was no other choice. If we made even the slightest mistake, we’d be flung far away.

Everyone was preparing their big attack with one hand, while Iona focused her magic on her legs for just a moment.

Lowering her stance as much as possible, Iona spoke in a low voice.

“I’m going.”

A brief silence. Then, an explosive acceleration followed.

Boom!

The building we had been standing on collapsed from the recoil of her leap, but we didn’t have the luxury to care about that right now.

In an instant, our view soared to a height from which we could look down on all of Solaris. Iona, now above the church’s barrier and the red curtain, fixed her eyes on a single spot below.

Her eyes sharpened slightly. At the same time, Iona kicked the air. More precisely, she kicked off the walls of magic she had formed in the air.

Bang!

Not just once, but multiple times. She kicked over and over again.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

If someone had seen her zigzagging fall, leaking energy, they might have thought it was a crimson thunderbolt.

So, where did this thunderbolt land?

There’s no need to ask. Of course, it was in front of the altar where the ritual was taking place.

Just before reaching the ground, I decided the time was right and unleashed the magic I had been holding.

“Little Meteor!”

A burning rock shot straight toward the altar. Naturally, it wasn’t as strong as a real meteor from advanced magic, but…

The combination of Iona’s falling speed and the magic’s velocity created a power greater than expected.

Boom!

The translucent barrier protecting the altar shattered in a single blow. But did the trajectory shift slightly because of it?

Despite breaking the barrier, the magic continued and slammed into the arm of the one conducting the ritual instead of the altar.

“Kuaaagh!”

Was this person’s skin as tough as their brutish, monstrous appearance suggested, making it hard to tell if they were human or an orc?

Even after taking such a shock, they only had a broken arm. That was all.

But the profane chant they had been reciting until just now was cut off. With one strike, the ritual was stopped.

I felt a bit dazed. It must be the result of adding Iona’s falling acceleration.

However, it’s too early to celebrate. That was just the opening punch, signaling the start of the battle.

Just before hitting the ground, Iona stretched out her crimson energy toward the group.

I wondered how she’d handle the fall damage, but it seemed she intended to absorb all of it through a Blood Shift.

Boom!

Despite the massive shock that shattered the ground, there was no pain rising from my feet.

Iona, having taken all the recoil on her own, seemed unable to move for a moment as she dealt with the impact… but there were still four other people here besides Iona and me.

As if waiting for the signal, the paladins rushed forward from behind.

Their heavy armor and massive weapons didn’t seem to weigh them down at all, as their steps were light.

However, the holy power imbued in their weapons was anything but light.

The one-armed figure who had figured out our target urgently shouted.

“The altar! Protect the altar!”

“Do you think I’ll let you do that?”

“I’ll cut you down entirely, cultist!”

A brilliant white flash soared toward the altar. The cultists of the Reckless Roar desperately threw their bodies to block it.

Boom!

Despite being blessed by an Evil God and having muscles stronger than steel… it seemed they couldn’t withstand the full force of the paladins without proper preparation.

I blinked as the explosion of holy power momentarily blinded me, and when I opened my eyes again, what I saw were half-corpses, their bodies torn to shreds.

They had somehow managed to protect the altar and cling to their lives… but that was all.

The only one left who could fight was the one-armed figure, the one leading the ritual, the one I had struck and broken his arm.

And his face, twisted in fury, was strangely familiar.

Unyielding Gef.

The archbishop of Reckless Roar, who, if not dealt with now, would rise again as a cardinal in the future.

This mission was likely his promotion task.

Though he possessed strength beyond that of an archbishop, he had yet to reach the level of a cardinal. Now, he was merely someone with an incredibly tough body.

In other words, he was no match for Iona, who had just regained her stance.

Feeling confident in our success, I relaxed for a moment. That’s when Gef’s eyes, which had been glowing with anger, suddenly regained their calm.

Something that could never happen to a follower of Reckless Roar. Trusting my instincts, I forcibly summoned my magic.

Iona must have sensed something was wrong as well because she urgently cast a spell.

“Thunder Bolt!”

“Bloody Thorn Spear!”

Crackle!

Thunk.

Gef’s relatively fragile internal organs were fried by the electricity, and his neck was pierced by the blood-red spear.

Yet, perhaps due to his infamous tenacity, Gef, even with foam spilling from his mouth, shouted in a resounding voice.

“O… Reckless Roar! Hear my final roar!!”

Then, with his remaining hand, Gef tore out his own heart.

Raising it toward the sky as if offering it to someone, the moment I saw the still-beating heart, I knew.

Something had gone terribly wrong.