Ch.174Capability

Serena, Charlotte, and Christine silently stared at each other, ready to pounce at any moment. As always, their fierce battle of wills continued, but the reality was somewhat different.

First of all, Charlotte was no longer being overwhelmed by Christine in their psychological warfare.

In the past, Christine could have crushed Charlotte with just one finger. That’s how absolute mana nullification was, and how fatally it affected Charlotte.

But now things were different. Christine read the intensity in those blood-red eyes fixed on her and instinctively realized that woman had something she was confident in.

It wasn’t that mana nullification had stopped working just because Charlotte had gained knowledge of divine possession and inherited fragments of divine power. On the contrary, it was still working perfectly well.

Christine had already confirmed this by offering a sacrifice to her god before coming here.

Yet that woman, who had absolutely nothing left without her magic, was holding her ground? It would be stranger not to notice that she was hiding something.

The same went for Serena. None of the tension or anxiety that had shown on her face when confronting Christine in the past was visible now.

Of course, it didn’t matter either way since they would soon be dead, regardless of what they were counting on. Christine gently clenched her fists. The divine power surrounding her body intensified.

None of the three even slightly considered joining forces.

They were only absorbed in thoughts of how to kill the other two and how to rescue the boy. Cooperation? Such a thing was impossible among the three of them.

“Judgment upon the heretics.”

Christine was the first to make a move.

Spreading angelic wings made of divine power behind her back, Christine lunged forward, leaving a faint afterimage.

Her first target was Charlotte. There was no particular meaning to this choice. It was simply because Charlotte was slightly closer than Serena, making her the target of the preemptive strike.

And at this point, what did the order matter anyway? She would kill them all here if given the chance. The result would be the same regardless of who she attacked first.

In the blink of an eye, Christine closed the distance and pulled her shoulder back to throw a punch. The mere impact caused mild burns on Charlotte’s skin, making her wince as she activated healing magic.

That woman’s absolute divine power had increased tremendously.

This clearly wasn’t even her maximum output, yet a mere approach was enough to burn skin? It was obvious what would happen if she were to take a direct hit.

If this had been the Charlotte of the past—the Charlotte who would have been completely neutralized by mana nullification, unable to use any power—she would have been as good as dead the moment Christine charged at her like this.

Unlike Serena, who could deflect Christine’s indiscriminate punches and somehow avoid direct hits, Charlotte couldn’t display such abilities.

But as evidenced by all three being alive and gathered here, they were no longer the Serena, Charlotte, or Christine of the past.

A magic circle formed in Charlotte’s right hand.

From within the blue-glowing magic circle emerged a massive pillar of flame, easily five or six armspans in diameter, extending forcefully toward the charging Christine.

The attack didn’t end there. Dozens of flame chains formed from the sides of the pillar with a sizzling sound, then lashed out like whips. Intense heat lingered where the chains had passed.

The principle by which Charlotte had broken through mana nullification was simple: she simply erased Christine from her perceived timeline.

This meant that temporally, Christine didn’t exist in that space, so it was like casting magic into empty air, preventing mana nullification from activating.

If Charlotte had had more time, she might have even been able to break through mana nullification itself through the Dragon’s Eye.

But there hadn’t been enough time, and for now, this method was the best option.

Christine wasn’t at all surprised to see Charlotte using magic within the range of mana nullification. Hadn’t she already anticipated that the woman would have something up her sleeve?

Instead, she threw a punch at the approaching flame pillar, shattering it head-on. Sparks flew in all directions, and the flame chains, having lost their focal point, spun wildly and scattered.

The few chains that somehow maintained their original trajectory were caught with bare hands and snapped apart. Charlotte, as if having expected this, had already prepared her next spell.

“Did you truly believe you could kill me, blessed by God, with such paltry magic?”

“And did you think you could catch me with such petty tricks?”

After exchanging these words, Christine closed the distance. Charlotte no longer tried to evade. As long as she could use physical enhancement, there was no reason to avoid close combat.

“…!”

But then, sensing a chilling presence, she quickly used teleportation to escape.

The back of her neck stung. She ran her hand over it. Blood stained the tips of her fingers. The cut wasn’t deep, as the bleeding was minimal, but the fact that she was bleeding at all was more significant than the amount.

Activating healing magic again, Charlotte looked at where she had been standing. It was obvious who had attacked her.

It was Serena.

When her sneak attack failed, Serena unhesitatingly turned her blade and began exchanging blows with Christine. Christine naturally switched her target.

Unlike Charlotte, Serena apparently couldn’t overcome mana nullification, as her movements were noticeably slower than Christine’s, and her body wasn’t surrounded by mana.

In contrast, Christine’s skills had improved significantly compared to before, so it seemed all too clear who would win and who would lose if things continued this way.

Well, if Serena died fighting like that, it wouldn’t be bad at all. Charlotte began drawing a magic circle in the air, preparing to drop a meteor on both of them.

“Seek forgiveness from my God through death.”

Christine’s fist flew directly toward Serena’s head.

If she tried to dodge or deflect it carelessly, her arm would burn from the divine power before her head exploded, and if she didn’t dodge or deflect it, her head would naturally explode—so the fight seemed all but over.

“No, you’ll be the one to die.”

With those words, Serena swung her Wind Shear. Christine’s right arm, which had been aiming for Serena’s head, was completely severed from the shoulder, spraying blood.

This was accomplished solely with Wind Shear, without surrounding herself with mana or using any specific technique.

While Christine momentarily faltered from losing her center of gravity, Serena retreated to create distance. Her skin was slightly reddened, suggesting she hadn’t completely blocked the divine power.

Christine quietly looked down at her right shoulder, purified her severed arm lying on the ground with divine power, and created a new arm where the empty shoulder had been.

Her attitude suggested she felt no pain whatsoever.

Charlotte wasn’t idle either. Having completed her magic circle preparation, Charlotte unleashed a mountain-sized meteor along with dozens of lightning bolts, directing her attack at both Serena and Christine simultaneously.

Seeing the descending meteor, Serena surrounded herself with mana. Then, she swung Wind Shear at a speed invisible to the eye.

The falling lightning was torn into thousands of pieces and disappeared. The meteor met the same fate, shattering in mid-air like the lightning.

“Like a beast learning parlor tricks.”

Charlotte frowned at Serena, having understood what she had just done.

She hadn’t cut the result of the magic, but the magic itself. In other words, she had cut the very mana that constituted the magic.

It was commonly known as magic disruption. The difference was that she had done it with a sword rather than magic.

Christine didn’t just sit there taking the magic either. Divine power explosively erupted from her body, enveloping the surroundings and completely vaporizing the incoming lightning and meteor.

She had dissolved the magic with divine power, like salt or sugar dissolving in water.

“……”

“……”

“……”

Though it had been a very brief exchange, the three raised their guards even higher after sufficiently confirming each other’s abilities.

What had just happened would never have occurred if they had been their former selves.

Serena, Charlotte, and Christine all inwardly clicked their tongues. Each wished that only she would succeed in her mission while the other two failed and died.

Continuing to fight like this was like cutting into their own flesh, but none of the three were concerned about that.

After all, each believed she would be the victor.

“Keeping you alive would only hinder me. How fortunate. Rejoice, for I shall personally kill both of you here.”

“You talk nonsense well. My lord needs only me.”

“Ah, my God. Due to my unworthiness, these heretics blaspheme with their filthy tongues. This sin I shall wash away with their blood. Please wait just a moment.”

Just as Serena brought Wind Shear to her waist and assumed a drawing stance, as Charlotte drew hundreds of magic circles in the air, and as Christine fluttered her angelic wings behind her back—

“Fine, I’ll kill them for you.”

The sky collapsed, crushing all three of them.