“Declan!” Maven approached her partner and knelt. “Dec, are you hurt?”

The cleric slowly stood up. Then he sat on the floor with his chin on his left palm. He put his right hand on his chest, and his entire body was shaking.

“Ugh… there’s a magical barrier protecting the relic… I should’ve known even if no book mentions about it. I’m not hurt, but the pain is still there…”

“Eeh? So no one written about the way to cancel this last defense?” The baffled elf asked.

Declan simply shook his head.

Maven went silent. She then stood up, dropped all her weapons and almost all her armory. “Let me try then.” She volunteered.

“Don’t, Maven, you'll…!” Declan couldn’t prevent his partner, her hand had already entered the coffin. She was instantly stung just like Declan before.

Yet Maven wasn’t sent flying. Instead, she withstood the damage with her own energy in addition to the magical force barrier bestowed by Declan earlier. With her left hand on her right arm, she kept pushing and mustering all her strength.

Maven began to scream. The unbearable pain crept all over her body. But it was no match for all the suffering that she had gone through her entire life. Without natural parents, without natural, filial love, tormented by unrequited grudge, and even more deadly pain that awaited her should she fail.

“Nooo! This isn’t my limit! Need… more… power!”

With one final thrust, Maven pushed until her hands reached and grabbed the rosary. But when she tried to pull it up, it didn’t budge.

Red veins were already popping on her temple and hands. She seemed to reach her limit, or probably the border between life and death.

“Maven!" Declan’s scream no longer drew her attention.

Even if it seemed vain, Maven kept pulling the relic until her eyes and mouth gradually closed. She had resigned herself.

It was better die trying.

Rather then live in capitulation.

Suddenly a sound cut through the air.

“I don’t understand.”

Maven was aghast. Her concentration faded instantly, and she was beaten back to the ground.

She had not yet recovered from the shock when she found a figure of man, with white, ruffly hair and beard. He wore the priestly coat that was already torn apart.

Even if he looked much thinner then before, Maven could easily recognize him. “Fa… Father Nigel!"

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

However, instead of greeting Maven, the old man stare blankly. He then rambled, “I have driven away and killed many intruders. But you still keep coming, o' mindless corpses!”

Declan immediatly approached the old man and said, “Father, snap out of it! This is us, Declan and Ma..!”

Suddenly Nigel swung his trident, trying to hit Declan on his back. Fortunately, Declan quickly jumped backwards. The rusty trident almost scratched his chest.

The blonde man was then subjected to a barrage of trident thrusts. Even if he looked so frail, Nigel kept attacking as if he was possessed, not recognizing which is friend or foe.

Elsewhere, Maven was watching the sparring between Declan and his teacher. She then came up with a conclusion. Ah, it turns out Father Nigel has been here all along! After bequeathing his trident to Declan, he became the guardian of the real Saint Ambrosius' Rosary!

Nigel must had done it so that when Maven finally came, he would only ‘lend’ it to her. Yet it did not go as planned. The suffocating air underground and endless barrages by the undead every day must had distorted his mind.

Suddenly Declan’s scream startled Maven. It turned out Father Nigel had successfully stroke the very inheritor of his own Gracia Vadis real hard. What more, his attacks only grew stronger, faster and more unpredictable.

Under the pressure of his master’s move, Steep Path of Righteousness, Declan could only block frantically. Clearly he hesitated from using his full strength to bring his own teacher down.

Realizing the situation, Maven was obliged to interfere. The girl deliberately aligned her attacks with her partner's. When Declan attacked to one direction, she went to the opposite spot.

Her tactic seemed to work, pushing their own teacher back. Having trouble assembling his move, Nigel grew frenzier.

"Haaa...! It's infuriating!" screamed Nigel.

“He’ll kill us. We have to bring him down!” Maven yelled.

“With full power? He’s still our teacher!” Declan defied.

Maven crouched to avoid a horizontal slash while yelling back, “He’s no longer our Father Nigel! His mind is no more! He’s now no different from the undead he’s been fighting all this time!”

Still in doubt, Declan kept swinging his trident. Under the dim light from the torches, they could see Nigel’s wild and mindless expression.

Nigel's trident pierced Maven’s thigh. Her yell finally disenchanted Declan. The blonde priest immediately charged, thrusting his trident straight to his master. He yelled, “Forgive me, master! I have to use this on you. Singular Voice of Truth!”

The tri-pronged trident accelerated through the thin underground air.

Nigel’s instinct made him drew back his own trident to block the attack. Yet the trident didn’t move.

It turned out Maven had speculatively threw her weapons away to hold down his trident pole with her both hands. Nigel was stunned by this unexpected maneuver.

Within a split second, Declan reacted quickly, changing the course of his attack. He deliberately directed his trident to the ground beside his teacher. But he went further. Declan utilized his own move’s momentum to jump whie rotating backwards, then hooked his knee right on his teacher’s temple.

The old man was bounced back, his trident fell from his hands. His head hit the coffin and he fell sitting down. He no longer moved.

“Agh, did I kill him?” Asked Declan, recovering quickly.

“I think he just felt unconscious…. Urgh!”

The pain came back to Maven's thigh, which was still bleeding after being pierced by the trident.

Declan quickly grabbed the trident. “Let me pull it out. Bear with it, Mave!”

She nodded and closed her eyes.

And then she groaned in pain.

The trident had been pulled out, leaving a very wide wound that bled heavily.

Swiftly, Declan knelt. He put his hand on the wound, chanting, “Let me heal it. Don’t move! Viavitali!”

A flash of light shone from his palm. The warmth spread through Maven’s wound, gradually reducing the pain. The Great Heal magic spell closed the wound hole and reconnected the severed tissues. Although she still required time and natural recovery process to heal completely, at least there was no scar left on her skin.

Maven smiled at Declan. “Thank you very much.”

Declan scratched his head. “Oh.. don’t thank me all the time. We’re on the same team, so this is how it’s supposed to… Watch out!”