“Hmm?”

The priest noticed someone walking from the darkness. They had blonde hair and a limp in their step. Yet despite that, they moved far quicker than he could've.

He wasted no time stopping her and looked around. No one else had entered his light

(“Are they going to attack in close range?”)

A blade flew forward and he stopped it.

What he didn't see were the two other blades aimed at his back and arm respectively.

(“They're taking advantage of my disadvantaged state.”)

He calmly thought while running forward. He planned to use Elizabeth as a safety shield. And more importantly, he was sure if she were a sitting duck, her friends would leave the shadows to save her.

He kept his ears keen and heard the blades fly. He kept his gaze on one the moment it entered his range, and stopped all blades.

(“The advantage of my old technique is that it can cover a wide range around me if I have enough mana.”)

It seems they timed the three blades to impact at the same time. And he used this fact masterfully.

He continued running forward and used his magic once more on the blonde woman to stop her, buying himself more time to take her apart.

After stopping another set of blades he reached her. Why did she foolishly think she would be able to draw his attention with such a useless action?

(“So the more concentrated something is in mana, the less effect his magic has on it.”) She thought as his fist came ever closer to her face. (“Then this should work.”)

Both of their fists connected with the other's face.

(“Hmm? HMM? How is she moving? Based on what I saw earlier she shouldn't be able to move for another three seconds at least.”)

As his head flew back, he stopped her and brought his leg up for a kick.

(“With each moment I make, I can feel my movements getting closer to normal. I'm not sure if it's my body's regeneration or my survival instincts pushing it beyond its current limits.”)

It was too slow as Elizabeth broke out of his magic and tripped his leg.

(“Again, I thought I might have half-assed it but she's breaking out of my magic with little effort.”)

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(“I'm glad it turned out to be true. All I have to do is focus my mana for an attack and his magic lasts less than a second. I think, excluding the healing magic, this is the first time the mana my sainthood has granted me has been advantageous in combat.”)

He stopped her again and pulled his scythe out. Before he could slice her face, she grabbed his hand and threw him to the floor. He stopped himself before impact and stopped her in one fell swoop.

He landed a slice on her cheek before a shotgun-like punch crashed into his stomach. And he stopped again before, coughing a now dark, but still red blood.

She reached to pull her sword and he stopped her once again.

He didn't even notice the blade flying his way until it planted itself in his stomach.

(“I can competently handle her in hand-to-hand combat now. If so then those other four are finished.”)

He stopped her once again and began running. He'd focus his magic solely on her as he ran away. In a straight line, under normal circumstances, she'd be faster but his magic allowed him to create a gap between them.

As he went closer into the darkness the frequency of the blades flying at him increased until it stopped. He assumed they did so because of poor visibility due to him entering the darkness but it was far simpler. They ran out of throwing weapons, and his magic had rendered most unusable, thanks to stopping them. With his magic applied they wouldn't fly more than a few feet without stopping.

(“Damnit, I didn't think he'd be able to run before I ended it.”) Elizabeth thought as she was forced to start and stop chasing him. Her face looked closer to a demon's while glaring at him but it didn't help her to break out of his magic any faster.

As he entered the darkness, he listened closely and noticed footsteps other than Elizabeth's nearby.

He followed them like a greyhound and shot off his magic in their direction. He threw his blade and swung the chain. If the blade didn't slice on hit then the chain wrapped around the blade would do its job.

But he used his magic to stop his weapon when he noticed something give off light.

It was a spear and it had a very slight, bluish hue to it.

He used his chain to swat it out of the air. (“So she can move it without touching, is that why my magic couldn't stop it? It must require a large amount of mana to merit my magic slowing it down instead of stopping it.”)

Elizabeth had gained on him in the time this distracted him and stabbed her blade in his back. He stopped her and made sure to imbue her sword with his mana. What Furor described happening to his blade was a handicap Elizabeth could easily deal with. Unfortunately for her, Daniel had not used the divine powder earlier.

With his new power even Elizabeth felt overpowered. It was like trying to drag a feather through a river of tar.

She felt the handle creaking as she pulled on it and let go of it.

She had stopped his blade with her other hand but he stopped her once more.

He managed to get a cut on her hand before she regained movement and landed a swift kick to his knee.

And they both went down, with Daniel on his knee and Elizabeth flat on her back.

(“I nearly forgot, but she is fighting on an injured leg.”)

He brought his chain up and blocked the spear blade coming down on his head.

(“I nearly forgot about her.”)

He stopped her and a kick rocked his face a moment after. Elizabeth was grounded but that didn't mean he was allowed to take his eyes off her.