The Bishop looked stunned.
Her eyes exploded with awe and surprise.
Her mouth opened wide as she looked at Hope, signs of unease in her eyes.
Her cathedral had been destroyed, even though it couldn't be touched. It was as it appeared, loosely realised within reality.
Hope wore several grins at the expression the Bishop had.
"Now you cannot evade me."
Indeed, it seemed so.
The centre of the Bishop's supposed immortality was gone.
She was open to dying to one of Hope's attacks.
Yet, she wore a bright smile.
"Indeed! Brilliant! You can break through techniques with that wand! Brilliant!" she cried, genuinely amused.
For that was truly what had happened.
'The Flawless Flail of Ruin...' Replicus thought keenly. He had seen its description from the guidance field, but how it was expressed in the text only vaguely suggested what the wand was capable of.
It was only when he saw what it could do that he believed.
Apparently '...can disrupt and restore guarded energy mechanisms,' meant that the wand could actually puncture through techniques and destroy them too!
Guarded energy mechanisms!
Because the cathedral collapsed and the Cluster was leaking behind the Bishop, Replicus had it confirmed now, and his mind couldn't help but race.
A thought rose in his mind as he gazed at that wand.
'I need to get my hands on that...' he thought.
But first, the world spun again.
Just before it did, Replicus saw dozens of white arrows fly towards Hope who, this time, didn't bother to use the Flawless Flail of Ruin. As they reached him, the arrows soared up, as though their sense of direction had been altered.
They had been uplifted in a literal sense, by Hope.
Replicus heard and felt flying elements and screams with the world whirling around him twofold.
He didn't know if the Mad Bishop would be able to fight without her miraculous cathedral, which seemingly made her immortal.
He imagined it wasn't going to be easy for her now at the very least.
What did having your technique disrupted mean?
The Mad Bishop said Hope 'broke through it', which could mean anything when she said it. She could literally mean her technique was destroyed and couldn't be used indefinitely, but was too unhinged to feel despair from it.
Regardless...
'I need to get a hold of that wand. To be able to disrupt techniques, even if it's temporary, is a very valuable ability. It doesn't require taking several hits first like with [Epiphany],' he thought with an immense dose of greed. 'I suppose that's what that Curse has been doing to the arrows. Why do those nine keep shooting those arrows anyway? It's not helping at all...'
The Penetrator deliberated in his mind, considering everything he could.
He really hoped the Bishop would push on.
He had stayed here hoping that he would see what she was capable of, but now, he was getting something even more valuable, and she was vital to him getting it.
'Hmmm. Would I be able to learn the ability of that wand if I let it hit me? Would [Epiphany] register it?' Replicus wondered.
A part of him immediately warned against it.
While [Epiphany] was surely powerful, not every concept could be learned, since some could just destroy him on contact, not to mention the skill itself, like the current case.
'Or maybe I could use [Wealth of Spoils] to extract it...?'
That was plausible. He would have to see if Mythical+ grade tools were manageable with his capabilities yet. Extracting from Mythical grade objects, depending on the complexity could take several days to weeks.
Replicus sighed.
He needed to get the wand first.
How was he supposed to do that?
He couldn't even get close without being exposed to the creature's emotions, which the Bishop was somehow impervious to.
What to do.
Replicus was tired of being at the mercy of the Siphoning Axis.
Maybe it was only a matter of time before he was caught in something sinister. It wasn't like the Bishop and Hope were oblivious to his presence.
'Don't you dare lose, you crazy hag...' Replicus thought.
The world stopped spinning in that moment.
To his surprise, the world had turned hot.
The gold on the ground had melted and it was flying up and down, creating searing waves that splattered on everything in sight!
Replicus dodged blobs of gold that flew in his direction.
'Is this the effect of another wand?' he thought.
There was another staggering jolt of force that coursed through everything vehemently!
Replicus immediately looked towards the source.
The Mad Bishop and Hope were stuck in mid-air, grinding yellow sparks gushing from between them as though the two were rapidly clashing with swords !
But that wasn't the case.
The Mad Bishop who looked worse for wear and was laughing hoarsely had her fist, which was smothered by an outrageous amount of golden energy – Primus energy – extended forth, pushing against the natural protection surrounding Hope!
Right then, Replicus watched her fist go deeper, getting closer to Hope.
What the heck?
The Primus was staggering in volume!
It was astounding!
But...why was this suddenly a battle to penetrate Hope's guard?
Why wasn't the Mad Bishop attacking as she had been? With Creeds.
Had she run out?
And why wasn't Hope attacking her with his wands? He was gritting his three sets of teeth, but his hands were stiff, his wands pointed in different directions.
...!
But then it hit Replicus!
Hope was likely stunned with compulsion!
Unlike the other Curses who had been warned about it, he hadn't been.
However, he seemed a little too expressive for someone completely under the influence of it.
His soul was likely too strong to be subdued easily, quite like Incandescent Stagers' souls were less likely to fall for compulsion themselves!
But why not-
Replicus' sockets flashed.
'A lot of give and take happens with Creeds. The Bishop must have been successful with her earlier Creeds to pass through Hope's protective powers because she was only landing one hit at a time. She must be aiming for something else...' Replicus deduced.
Around the two, the Bishop's nine guards were flying at Hope again.
Again? What for?
The sequence of events grew more convoluted in by the second when a tide of gold hurtled towards the fighters!
Everything became golden as the tide rose, and spread, as though intending to bury the two, though obviously only one would truly be affected – the Mad Bishop.
Replicus imagined that Hope had already commanded the gold to do his bidding before he was stunned.
Replicus climbed higher into the sky, and only then did he realise that his Apostle had vacated to a higher altitude from the beginning, hence his absence around him. To be fair, he had fled from him first.
As he rose, he saw Hope grin and grunt:
"Let go, or you'll die. I'll recover soon, anyway."
"Let go? You are thinking too rationally," the Bishop cackled. "I have a good hold over your soul so far. Why would I let go? As a matter or fact, since you tempered with my ability to revive, it's only fair that you should pay with your soul. I have more reason to have you join my Faith now. You can use that wand of yours to restore that ability of mine, right?"
Hope frowned.
A shadow was cast over the two, and the wall of boiling gold drowned them!
Replicus was amazed.
So that's what the Bishop had been after!
She was still hellbent on making Hope 'join her Faith.'
He recalled that she had extended her hand for him to shake earlier.
Could she force him perhaps?
Maybe she needed to make prolonged contact with him.
How was that going?
Replicus looked down at the boiling golden sea.
It was tinged with an ominous red glow.
The Mad Bishop could survive something like that, right? Unless of course, the gold had other properties.
As Replicus looked down, he saw a figure drifting through the gold, unharmed.
Instantly, he shot down, manifesting an orb of darkness that hung just above the figure and spawned an attractive force that pulled him upward.
The figure didn't resist.
He wasn't able to, much like the rest of the Ardent Curses since Hope was unsealed.
Replicus looked at the figure as he materialised over a cloud he made, his vision alternating between Thrill before him, and where Hope, as well as the Mad Bishop had drowned.
"I wonder if you'll be cooperative..." Replicus said to the Curse.
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