Grander crouched in the center of the crater.
Holy spells, magic, and modern weapons poured down on her like rain, yet none of them managed to even scratch the crimson barrier surrounding her.
The harder they struck, the more they burned their strength in futility, as if irritated by her indifference. But to Grander, it was nothing but a meaningless waste of time.
Not that she had the energy to complain about it anymore.
Why was that?
Her long-awaited death was drawing near—and yet instead of joy or satisfaction, an emptiness welled within her.
She thought she knew why.
It was because of that foolish disciple of hers.
After all her effort teaching him, the boy was still out there somewhere causing trouble—and she found herself mourning the fact that she would part ways with him forever.
Without me, he’ll overextend himself again, won’t he?
Just like always. Even recently, on that distant island called Isla Machina, hadn’t he fought another wretched monster?
Had she not sensed the scent of his blood, pinpointed his location, and sent magical support, her disciple’s life would have been forfeit.
And that hadn’t been the only time.
Before that, there had been the incident in Dreamland, and even before then—had he not gone so far as to use her blood while she slept?
Her blood, a reagent more potent than any elixir, used only because he must have faced a truly formidable foe.
A thought crossed Grander’s mind.
Perhaps she should stay—if only for the disciple’s sake.
‘What am I thinking?’
She shook her head.
To be worrying about the living on her way to die.
He’ll manage on his own, as he always does.
Besides, he’s gathered companions around him. They might not be impressive to her eyes, but each had something unique about them—not bad, in their own way.
And she herself was about to depart.
What meaning was there in leaving behind attachment?
Yet the mere fact that she was having such thoughts annoyed her. So, with a flick of her hand, Grander cast a spell outward beyond the crimson barrier.
Kwaaarung!
A thunderous roar ripped through the air as the spell tore open the very fabric of space.
To her, it was nothing more than an ordinary blood spell. To the crusaders below, it was a cataclysm.
“It’s coming! Defend!”
“Cast the holy barrier!”
“Pour everything you have into it!”
The crusaders were not idle. They had been on constant alert for retaliation, and the moment they saw it coming, they activated the defenses they had prepared.
Golden walls of light formed to the sound of priests’ chanting, bolstered by magicians’ reinforcement spells.
Then Grander’s magic fell upon them.
Kwa-ching!
The layered defenses shattered instantly under the single casual blow she had cast.
Holy knights cloaked in divine energy stepped forward, raising their shields and radiating sacred power.
“Lumenis! Grant us your protection!”
“Blessing of Light!”
Divine energy filled their shields, and white wings unfurled from their backs—an advanced technique available only to high-ranking paladins.
Several knights together raised their shields and withstood the impact.
The blood magic, weakened after piercing through multiple barriers, failed to break their defense.
But those who blocked it did not emerge unscathed.
The knight who bore the brunt of the strike was flung backward, coughing blood. Others collapsed where they stood, their arms trembling violently around their shields.
Even with their bodies fortified by divine power and holy law, their bones cracked and their limbs went numb.
That had been a spell she cast lightly.
Had she meant it, not even the finest sacred art could have left a trace of them behind.
The crusaders didn’t know that. Trembling with fear, they still felt a surge of triumph—simply for having survived the monster’s attack.
Then, a signal flared from afar.
A white light burst high into the sky, and all eyes turned toward it.
“It’s the Cardinal’s signal!”
“They’re finally using the Divine Stake!”
The moment they had long awaited was here. Faces brightened with renewed hope.
At the news that the Church’s sacred relic would be deployed, even the magicians, mercenaries, and hunters among them cheered.
They had been fighting endlessly with no promise of victory, their spirits fraying.
The only reason they still stood here was their faith in the power of the Lumenis Church—more precisely, in the supreme holy relic they had prepared.
The Divine Stake.
A secret weapon beyond measure.
The air itself seemed to shift as something emerged from beyond the ridge in a blinding halo.
“Ooh... Is that the Divine Stake?”
“Just one look tells you it’s extraordinary.”
The Stake was shaped like a cross, but its lower end was sharpened to a lethal point. A divine radiance emanated from it, impossible to describe in words.
Holy knights bearing the stakes planted them firmly into the ground.
Just as everyone wondered what would happen next, the white stakes began to shine even brighter.
Kuwaaaah!
A pillar of white light pierced the night sky, rising upward before vanishing beyond the clouds.
“The Church’s supreme relic has been activated!”
Paladins and priests near the crater trembled in awe, as though witnessing a miracle.
The clouds that had swallowed the cross began to turn white, as if daylight had dawned within the heavens.
At the center of the glowing clouds, the light gathered into a single point.
It’s coming.
They all thought the same thing at once.
“It’s coming.”
From within the crater, Grander also looked up at the spectacle.
“So that is my death.”
No sooner had she whispered the words—
A column of pure white light pierced through the clouds and struck the crater’s heart.
────!!!
A soundless explosion of light.
The beam hit squarely upon Grander’s crimson barrier, directly atop her head.
The barrier that had withstood every assault until now was pierced effortlessly by the Divine Stake.
It was... astonishing.
Grander hadn’t suppressed her power; she had kept her defenses fully intact.
If this truly was to be her death, then that relic had to be strong enough to break through her magic.
And so it did. The Divine Stake—just as the Church had promised—broke through her protection and drove itself straight into her heart.
Thud!
“Ah...”
Grander smiled faintly at the pain blooming in her chest.
The stake injected divine power directly into her body.
Around her, something white began to writhe—threads of light wrapping around her form like a silkworm’s cocoon, enclosing her within a massive sphere.
When the glow subsided, a great white sphere—twenty meters wide—rested at the crater’s center.
It looked like a giant egg, and those who saw it could not help but shudder with awe.
“Was... was it a success?”
They could no longer feel the creature’s immense power.
The Divine Stake had not only worked—it had surpassed all expectations.
From the mountain peak, High Priest Melvin turned to Cardinal Patricio.
“Your Eminence! Have we finally done it? Have we slain that immortal monster from legend?”
“Yes, the activation succeeded,” Patricio replied calmly. “But to say we have ‘slain’ it—wouldn’t be quite accurate.”
“Not accurate? What do you mean?” Melvin asked, bewildered.
“The Divine Stake,” Patricio said softly, “a relic we’ve prepared through the long years our gates remained closed. What do you think its true effect is?”
“To kill the undying... isn’t that what it’s for?”
“To kill immortality.” Patricio’s eyes glimmered. “Don’t you find that phrase strange? Like an unstoppable spear meeting an unbreakable shield.”
“You mean—it doesn’t truly kill the undying?”
“Tell me, Melvin—what does it mean to live?”
“Eh? Well...”
Melvin thought for a moment before answering.
“To live means to see, hear, feel, breathe, and think—all those acts of perception and consciousness.”
“Precisely. To sense through the five senses, to think, to move as a living being—that harmony of body and soul is what it means to live. But what if the two cease to be in harmony?”
“If... they don’t?”
“For example,” Patricio continued smoothly, “imagine a body that still breathes and a heart that still beats—but one that can no longer feel, perceive, or think. Would you call that living?”
Melvin’s mouth fell open.
“No... That would be no different from a living corpse.”
“Exactly.”
“You mean—the Divine Stake’s effect is...”
“The annihilation of the soul,” Patricio said, smiling faintly. “It’s not a simple physical seal. The being trapped within that white cocoon will have its soul torn from the cycle of reincarnation—erased completely from existence.”
“My God...”
Melvin gasped as the truth sank in.
A relic that destroyed the soul itself.
To lose one’s soul meant to be denied even the afterlife—no salvation, no return, no trace.
Normally, the god Lumenis guided the dead through an endless cycle of reincarnation, allowing remnants of souls to linger as spiritual energy.
But the Divine Stake was different.
It banished the soul entirely from that system—from the very framework of the world itself.
“To breathe, for a heart to beat, for blood to flow—without a soul, such a body is but an empty shell.”
The annihilation of the soul—
That was the death Patricio had promised to grant Grander.
Of course, he had never explained that to her.
She sought rest—an end to her endless, painful existence. Even if that meant obliteration, she would not have refused.
Thus their bargain was struck, and Patricio had no fear she would resist the Church’s hunt.
“Your Eminence,” Melvin asked cautiously, “if it ends so easily... then what is the true target you called bait for?”
Patricio smiled thinly.
“Tell me, Melvin. Who is our current Pontiff?”
“Why, it’s His Holiness Salecin van Bretus, rightful heir appointed by the former Pontiff, Benedict van Bretus.”
Salecin van Bretus—eldest son of Benedict, who had driven out all other heirs to claim the papal throne.
“Correct. With His Holiness Salecin’s coronation, our Holy Theocracy could finally reopen its sealed gates. Of course, that process came with... some regrettable losses.”
“Regrettable losses”—he must have meant the purging of Salecin’s siblings.
“Still, through the benevolent guidance of Lumenis, certain members of the bloodline were granted proper positions, so that all might live in harmony. A peaceful ascension indeed—a miracle, by historical standards.”
“Then why bring this up now...?”
“But imagine,” Patricio murmured, “if an uninvited impurity had slipped in among them.”
“...”
Melvin swallowed hard.
If the Cardinal had gone this far, the implication was clear.
“You don’t mean... one of the former Pontiff’s blood still lives?”
“And in a most dreadful form.”
Patricio’s smiling eyes shifted toward the great white cocoon in the crater’s heart.
“A precious child of the Theocracy—taken and raised by that monster, twisted far from their original purpose.”
“Then... that bloodline is coming here?”
Melvin’s eyes widened in disbelief, turning toward the crater.
“To save the monster that is the Theocracy’s mortal enemy?”
“That’s why I called it bait,” Patricio said. “An irresistibly tempting bait.”
“Even if that’s true, what does it matter?”
Look around—who was gathered here?
The greatest warriors and magicians from across the continent.
The Empire’s elite soldiers. Archmages of color.
All of them, fully prepared.
A few injuries, yes—but nothing that mattered overall.
Would anyone dare approach such a place?
“That would be suicide, Your ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) Eminence. No one with sense would come here.”
“Ordinary sense, no,” Patricio agreed calmly. “But we are not dealing with someone ordinary. We are talking about His Holiness’s bloodline—someone for whom ordinary logic does not apply.”
“Still, to come here, with this many troops—how could anyone...”
Melvin froze mid-sentence as a chill ran down his spine.
What... is that?
His trembling eyes turned toward the ridge on the far side of the crater—toward the tents where people had been stationed.
From beyond them, an indescribable force surged like a receding tide turned inward.
Patricio felt it too.
“This is...”
For the first time, the Cardinal’s ever-present smile vanished. His face hardened.
