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Meanwhile, Sophia, who had revealed the true face of the port, didn’t directly participate in the battle. Instead, she consistently stayed back, emitting light and observing the situation. There was no real need for her to step in. Conra, Maria, Karl, and Brantley were more than enough to handle the monsters.

To be honest, even so, at this very moment, it was Sophia herself who was playing the most significant role. Just by standing there, the halo radiating from her was tipping the battlefield overwhelmingly in favor of the humans.

The monsters writhed in pain and weakened every time they were touched by the light. The distorted cityscape, warped by chaotic energy, shattered like foam and was purified in the light. Illusions that disrupted senses and ceremonies were shattered like fragile pottery.

On the other hand, the humans touched by the halo felt their excitement settle, replaced by calm reason and a fierce fighting spirit. Their limbs filled with vitality, and with Brantley’s formation techniques added to the mix, they were able to perform at a level incomparable to their previous selves.

“This is amazing! My body is overflowing with energy!”

“I can see the enemy’s next move. I even know how to counter it!”

The flow of energy through the formation not only enhanced their physical abilities and life force but also aided their insight into reading and reacting to the flow of battle. The warriors felt as if they were following a cheat sheet, leading to an unprecedented sense of omnipotence and a newfound desire to reach this level on their own.

Even if this was a temporary, limited power granted only for this moment, the warriors had no intention of wasting this experience. They engraved every sensation, every judgment, and every moment of the battle into their minds, vowing to reach this level through their own strength in the future.

While those who wielded weapons and physical strength reacted this way, those who explored the mysteries of spells had a slightly different perspective.

“What kind of harmony is this?”

The phenomenon of spells deviating from common sense was the simplest way to describe what the spellcasters were witnessing at this moment.

The halo radiating from Sophia? Well, they could accept that. The exact principles behind the light emitted by clergy had always been a topic of debate among spellcasters. Generally, it was considered an inexplicable phenomenon occurring on an incomprehensible level.

The real problem was the spellcasting currently being performed by Brantley.

Domain, main strength, spell waves, and spell phenomena. The relationship between these four elements had always been a core discussion in understanding the principles of spell phenomena.

The domain leads, followed by the spell waves, allowing the material, phenomena, and concepts that make up the world to exist. Similarly, main strength leads, followed by spell waves, resulting in corresponding spell phenomena. This was considered an immutable truth among spellcasters.

From the perspective of spellcasters who had always believed this, Brantley’s spellcasting was a phenomenon that directly contradicted this principle.

Outwardly, there seemed to be no issue. The rune stones inscribed with northern runes occupied their positions, and the warriors were clearly the axis moving the formation’s energy.

The problem was that such a setup couldn’t possibly produce the spell phenomena surrounding them now.

They prided themselves on knowing a thing or two about runes. After all, no spellcaster active near the Baltic Sea could afford to be unfamiliar with runes.

Based on their knowledge, the combination of runes Brantley had scattered couldn’t possibly create a phenomenon of this scale.

“That means there’s another element at play here, adding power beyond the runes.”

Having reached this conclusion, the spellcasters naturally turned their gaze to Brantley. Normally, in spellcasting, two things determined the nature and power of a spell: the spell medium and the caster’s main strength. Since the rune combinations didn’t seem to be the answer, it was only natural to focus on the caster.

The problem was that this wasn’t the answer either. The pressure of Brantley’s main strength, which was currently directing all this spellcasting, wasn’t as strong as they had expected.

The formation was the same. They knew that when many soldiers formed a specific formation before battle, they could exert stronger power and intimidate the enemy.

However, spellcasters considered this a phenomenon where raw thoughts, unprocessed by main strength, were shaped into a specific form called military spirit. Changes in the soldiers’ temperament or abilities due to shifts in the formation were interpreted as the military spirit unconsciously influencing them.

So, according to the spellcasters’ common sense, the charge of passengers, who had no military spirit to speak of, shouldn’t have produced any synergistic effects. Especially since there were spellcasters like themselves among them.

The thoughts of spellcasters were mostly processed into main strength, insufficient to be shaped into military spirit. And main strength was something that only revealed its power through the individual spellcasting of a spellcaster.

But the situation they were experiencing now completely defied this common sense.

The reaction and processing speed of the ethereal brain dramatically accelerated.

Spell symbols and signs were processed in real-time in their minds, and the recovery rate of spell sockets that had already released spells was unprecedentedly high.

Their vision of the battlefield expanded greatly, and they could instantly judge where and what spell would be most effective.

At this moment, every single spellcaster had gained the ability to control the flow of the battlefield using spells as tools. Even more bizarrely, this control didn’t clash but flowed organically.

All the spellcasting—spewing fire, growing plants, shaking the earth, and summoning storms—was now being used to shape the flow of the battlefield without a single wasted effort.

The spellcasters shuddered as if each of them had become a hand of some vast entity, sculpting the battlefield like a work of art.

They didn’t know what specific causality was producing this phenomenon, but it was clear that it would change their worldview of spells.

However, they couldn’t grasp anything beyond that. Without knowledge of Qi Men Dun Jia, it was impossible for them to guess what specific element was causing this spell effect beyond common sense.

At the moment when the crew and passengers had defeated all the monsters and secured the safety of the port area.

Sophia, who had been continuously emitting a halo, finally drew her longsword and took a step forward.

*Thud.*

The next moment, her figure stood before the Aarhus Cathedral, a short distance from the port.

{!!?!?}

{Krr※≫√≒Å□※√――!!?!?}

Scattered around were small groups of monsters. The monsters were in chaos, as if they had been hit by a sudden natural disaster.

Well, from their perspective, it made sense. A being suddenly appeared in the middle of the street, spewing harmful light everywhere. To the monsters, it was like a CBR (chemical, biological, radiological) disaster had struck in the dead of night.

Ignoring the writhing, agonizing monsters, Sophia pushed open the firmly closed doors of the cathedral.

*Thud.* Beyond the opened cathedral doors, there was no sign of life, only an eerie silence adding to the desolate atmosphere. Sophia slowly entered the church, looking around, and soon wrinkled her nose, twitching an eyebrow. The pungent smell of iron stung her nostrils.

“The smell of blood.”

And not the blood of monsters or beasts, but unmistakably human blood.

Sophia’s expression hardened as she followed the scent of blood.

Unlike the city, which had been distorted and twisted by the contamination of instruments, the interior of the cathedral remained uncontaminated. At first glance, it seemed hopeful. But Sophia’s expression remained stiff.

That was because, as she spread her senses throughout the church, she couldn’t detect any signs of living beings.

As if to prove it, scattered throughout the courtyard and corridors of Aarhus Cathedral were the bodies of those who had died resisting the attack. The fact that they remained intact, neither turned into undead nor eaten by monsters, suggested that each was the body of a clergy member who had trained in the power of light.

“……”

Sophia’s gaze, which had been impassively scanning the surroundings, fixed on one spot.

A trail of blood, as if something had been dragged. Wiping away the last trace of expression, Sophia followed the bloodstains on the ground.

The bloodstains led to the cathedral’s main hall. They weren’t just from one path. In addition to the route from the main entrance Sophia had taken, there were several trails from the back door, the dining hall, the office, and the dormitory building in the rear garden.

{This doesn’t feel good.}

Suddenly, the spirit Drayg-Haegis muttered in an uncomfortable tone. The dragon’s intellect, well-versed in the world of spells, had just thought of a certain possibility.

But ignoring the spirit’s unease, Sophia walked toward the main hall building without hesitation, following the bloodstains.

Finally, passing through the shattered entrance of the main hall, Sophia was greeted by the gruesome sight of an execution ground.

+++++

A swallowing sound came from behind Sophia. She didn’t turn around. She already knew who had arrived.

It was none other than Karl, Brantley, Conra, and Maria. It seemed they had followed Sophia’s presence as soon as the barrier was deployed and the port’s safety secured.

The group’s expressions stiffened as they took in the scene before them.

Well, anyone who could maintain their composure in the face of such a sight would either be a deeply disciplined ascetic or someone with a severe mental illness.

Brantley was the first to speak.

“The Blood Eagle execution, wasn’t it? I’ve heard it was a punishment and sacrificial method openly practiced in this land before the Great Master’s era, but this is the first time I’ve seen it in person.”

His tone was detached, merely reciting information he had only known intellectually. It was more of a meaningless muttering about how to describe the horrific scene before him.

The scene was shocking enough to elicit such a reaction from Brantley.

There were a total of five bodies. Regardless of gender, all were stripped naked. But no one among them focused on the nudity. The sight was too pitiful for that.

Though Brantley mentioned the Blood Eagle execution, even that term fell short of capturing the full horror of the scene.

(Description of the bodies omitted)

“They didn’t let out a single scream until the end.”

Despite the execution method that reeked of paranoia and malice, Sophia calmly spoke those words.

Conra asked, “Master, what do you mean?”

“These people, it seems their spirits weren’t broken even at the moment of death. No wonder the church remained intact while the rest of the city fell. It was all thanks to them.”

At Sophia’s words, the group took another look at the scene.

Strictly speaking, the cathedral buildings weren’t exactly in perfect condition. There were signs of damage everywhere, with burns and corrosion impossible to hide.

Especially the damage to the holy paintings, icons, and statues of the church’s former leaders was severe. The patterns of destruction suggested a blasphemous malice, making Sophia’s comment about the church remaining intact seem somewhat off.

But considering the current state of Aarhus’s streets, the meaning became clear.

Unlike the streets of Aarhus, which had been eroded and twisted into a grotesque landscape by the contamination of instruments, the interior of the church, though damaged, maintained a semblance of normalcy.

‘Ah!’

Conra and Brantley, who had some expertise in spells, quickly understood Sophia’s words.

Brantley sighed and said, “By maintaining their noble will to the end, they shattered the ritual ground…!”

Clearly, the monsters had chosen such a cruel execution method for a specific purpose. It wasn’t just an expression of malice.

Brantley mentioned the Blood Eagle execution, but the bodies before them had at least three different execution methods applied. And these methods were all connected to the ancient sacrificial practices of priests from before the Great Master’s era.

Specifically, the technique of offering the soul and flesh of a sacrifice, tainted with pain, fear, and despair, to summon the evil aspect of a god to that location—the forbidden method of the Divine Descent Site.

“Their bodies and souls are bound to an outer god, so the entity they offered the sacrifice to must be the same.”

Conra spoke with a bitter expression, then sighed and relaxed his furrowed brow.

“But from the looks of it, they must have taken a hit too.”

The sacrificial ritual of the Divine Descent Site was ultimately about offering a tainted sacrifice to the evil aspect of a god. Even if it had been corrupted into an offering to an outer god, the core value remained the corruption of the sacrifice.

So, there was only one way to break it. Simply not being corrupted in the end. Maintaining a spirit that could laugh in the face of unbearable pain, fear, and despair, holding onto hope without fear or despair, would shatter the foundation of the ritual.

Thus, the soul would be liberated and ascend as a holy spirit, and the demons’ secret hideaway would remain incomplete.

Simple in words, but nearly impossible in reality. The fact that it had happened in real life brought a mix of awe and relief to Conra’s words.

Though the mood wasn’t exactly cheerful, thinking of this place not as an execution ground but as the final battlefield chosen by great souls provided some comfort.

Karl and Maria, who had been frozen upon entering the main hall and witnessing the horrific scene, also relaxed slightly after hearing Brantley and Conra’s conversation.

However, despite the change in atmosphere, Sophia’s demeanor remained unchanged. In fact, her eyes were now focused not on the scene but on the presence that had caused it.

Though most of the traces had been erased by the miracle created by the victims’ nobility, faint, unclean traces remained. Sophia’s eyes relentlessly scanned these traces left behind by the perpetrator.

Then, suddenly, her gaze fixed on a particular spot.

*Click.* The sound of something being cut echoed as Sophia, having already switched her sword to her left hand, reached out with her right.

And then.

{Guwaaah!!?!?}

From beyond the torn space, something caught by her invisible force was dragged out. The entity, scattering chaotic energy and struggling to resist, was helplessly pulled into Sophia’s right hand.

What Sophia held was a bizarre creature. Resembling a reptile, it looked somewhat like a Lizardman, except for the two heads—one red and one blue.

Each head had four eyes on the left, four on the right, and three on the front, giving it a grotesque appearance. No one could mistake it for an ordinary Lizardman.

Around its neck were tentacle-like protrusions resembling a sea anemone, giving the impression of horns.

Its legs were reverse-jointed, with hook-like claws at the ends of its toes, which had suction cup-like pads reminiscent of frog feet.

It had six fingers—thumb, index, and middle fingers on each hand—and below its forearms were tentacles with suction cups, resembling octopus arms, with bat-like membranes between them.

Its snout resembled a theropod dinosaur’s, but its lower jaw split sideways like an insect’s, with a second jaw hidden near the throat, resembling a moray eel’s, lined with jagged, crooked teeth. Green, foul-smelling saliva dripped from between them.

On its head was a crown adorned with grotesque feathers, and its body was tattooed with blasphemous scriptures and symbols. In its hand was a strange weapon resembling a Middle Eastern chakram or an Eastern quan, but it was soon taken by Sophia’s telekinesis and crushed under her foot.

Like most demons, this one was grotesquely shaped. While some monsters were creatively designed, demons had a different vibe, as if multiple concepts were combined.

Yet, despite its bizarre form, the group felt no intimidation from it. Brantley and Karl quickly realized why.

‘It’s like last time.’

‘I don’t know the principle, but Lady Sophia’s right hand definitely has the power to subdue demons.’

Their thoughts were correct. At this moment, Sophia’s right hand was empowered by Geburah’s Sephirah. The malevolent presence that had once caused significant harm was now shattered and stripped of its advantages, leaving the demon trembling like a lamb.

Geburah’s authority was the power to shatter and strip away all the advantages that allowed demons to exist as demons. In an instant, the demon, robbed of its immortality, could only tremble in fear.

 

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