This was the pivotal point, whoever wins or loses will be subject to death.
Will the inquisitors live long enough to defend themselves or will the guild break through?
It was time to find out.
Reinhold kept conjuring odd objects, each one piercing through flesh and bone, unhindered as it flew by. He didn’t care about friendly fire, he was the sole leading source of death within the lower ranks. Inquisitors, and mercenaries, both were subject to Reinhold’s attacks, none survived.
Although it seemed extremely barbaric, there was no choice, if he didn’t fully focus on destructive power then they might not have enough time to push Yio and Higher Deacon Raxor back.
He vividly remembered everything that transpired. He remembered that unknown entity’s quirks. It only appears when someone’s paying for a favor. It listens, does the favor and immediately disappears. If what the Fanged Lioness said was true then they must’ve used up all their coins to pay for something, something they didn’t know about.
The odd wording from Higher Deacon Raxor made Reinhold start to question something.
‘You have enough time.’
This sentence really irked Reinhold since there was something odd about this but he couldn’t put it into place. Fortunately, Hannah was gazing outside for a while and managed to notice a small detail, the speed at which smoke raised to the skies.
Smoke looked like it as sped up, this one key detail led Reinhold instantly to a conclusion. Yio created another trial, this time it didn’t revolve around killing but instead about perception. They were going through time slower, making everything outside seem faster. They used that unknown ‘fear’ to prevent everyone from feeling the Trial of Time. The enemy was banking on the stalling for time to let their reinforcements back them up.
“Dammit! There’s no time! There’s no other choice! Go for suicidal attacks!” Reinhold shouted out, drawing out an Eminence into the air, no one understand how he did this other than the Fanged Lioness and Houston.
He embedded this weird-looking symbol into the body of a nearby mercenary. This person was left with no choice but to take it all in because, in this place, Reinhold held absolute power against those who couldn’t gather up their own laws.
This person felt an unbearable itch on his back where the Eminence was etched unto. He didn’t feel anything else other than that. He continued marching forward, fighting against the inquisitors. Meanwhile, Reinhold was conjuring up more of these strange symbols unto other mercenaries’ backs, their effects unknown. This would’ve been the case if Reinhold didn’t prelude this motion as a ‘suicidal attack.’
The Fanged Lioness was raining down punches on Yio. He was left with no choice but to bring out his ceremonial sword and pierce the ground with it. This motion acted as the last bastion of defense against the Fanged Lioness. She couldn’t hurt him but he couldn’t hurt her either. Cracks began to form around Yio’s defensive barrier, breaking apart the very ground they stood on.
Houston on the other hand, was fighting against Higher Deacon Raxor to a standstill. Higher Deacon Raxor had the complete advantage in terms of the solidity of laws due to his connection with the God of Trials but Houston had complete mastery over his core law and sub-laws. This experience let with bridge the gap between the sheer difference in power between them.
Higher Deacon Raxor only knew how to conjure golden red hands, meanwhile, Houston was able to create illusionary pain with Higher Deacon Raxor, a higher tier of application of their laws.
There were no words exchanged between them, only a counter for an upcoming attack.
Higher Deacon Raxor forced a golden red hand into existence, trying to grab Houston’s body. Houston reacted by blending into the shadow, his body disappearing into the ground, only for this black murky spot on the ground to move away at breakneck speed.
Houston’s experience and application of his laws were much more refined, showcased by his Combat System. He had his Law of Shadows to act as his mobility and his Law of Madness to act as his offensive method.
He popped up in another area, still edging on the range of his own laws. Houston then stared directly at Higher Deacon Raxor, causing his body to experience numbing pain.
Higher Deacon Raxor was completely angered by this, he couldn’t hit his enemy but the enemy could damage him. Although it wasn’t major, with enough time he would be rendered powerless. He couldn’t tell if this was advantageous to him or not at all.
“Houston! What the hell are you doing?! Hannah’s ready to ignite the effigy! Give her the opportunity!” Reinhold roared out, making Houston forcefully take Higher Deacon Raxor on. Reinhold didn’t bother being nice, he was using all his brainpower to keep the advantages over the mercenaries.
Reinhold didn’t care if the enemy heard him since knowing did not mean he could stop it. There was a clear trap for Higher Deacon Raxor. Fight Houston head-on and possibly have the effigy light up in flames or ignore Houston and try to kill Hannah to prevent the effigy from being lit. Either way, there were pros and cons to both decisions.
Houston exhaled, not even angry at Reinhold’s words. He also knew this was what he needed to do. He closed his eyes and breathed in even deeper until it looked as if he was out of breath. He was going to use an auxiliary skill, a berserk skill from his Law of Madness, Raging Body.
Higher Deacon Raxor looked back, seeing Hannah running from the other side of the battlefield, running towards the effigy that was only being held back by a few scant inquisitors, they may be Gifted and stronger than Hannah but he couldn’t risk it since Reinhold was still in the battlefield.
He was about to run towards Hannah when he felt an extremely terrifying feeling behind him. This entire time, Houston had been using hit-and-run tactics, forcing Higher Deacon Raxor at a loss. This time, Higher Deacon Raxor actually welcomed the head-on collision with Houston. He vaguely felt that although Houston became much more of a threat, it was actually much more beneficial for him since he was still stronger by a notch.
Houston’s body began to darken, it was as if his blood was turning from red to black. Extreme power came from within himself. His eyes darkened, his vision widened, and his body felt like it could break apart armor like paper.
Houston’s enhanced senses led him to experience the world in a new light. The light from the burning forest in the distance further emphasized the golden red barrier that was preventing them from leaving. His nose smelled blood once more, countless mercenaries were dying all around him, a life for a life. Tension was rising and the burden on his shoulders was getting heavier. He finally realized just how formidable the Gifted inquisitors actually were since they were dealing with mortal inquisitors this entire time.
Even then, Reinhold caused major losses to the enemy forces through his tricks and traps. He even managed to burn away half of the Gifted inquisitors, essentially managing to single-handedly force the entire enemy forces into dire straits by himself.
Houston’s speed was greater than ever before, his physical strength was now greater than the Fanged Lioness at her base form. He ran forward, not even using his laws to divert the enemy attacks.
A seven-fingered hand came from his left out of nowhere, it had a wide clawing motion, trying to catch and grind him to dust. He immediately stopped by using his foot to stop his forward momentum, he then jumped through the gaps on this hand's fingers.
Higher Deacon Raxor was a bit surprised at Houston’s crazy decision. It didn’t make sense for him to do that when he could’ve just dodged in the opposite direction. Unfortunately for Higher Deacon Raxor, Houston didn’t do this for nothing.
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Houston finally unleashed his Law of Madness that he was suppressing within himself. He reach out his hand and touched the back of the conjured hand, something black escaped from Houston’s body and entered this golden-red hand.
“Got you.”
Higher Deacon Raxor didn’t understand what just happened, he tried to dispel his creation, but it didn’t move. It was as if he lost control of it.
“What did you do?!”
Hannah was already being blocked by numerous Gifted inquisitors. She couldn’t pass by them, she didn’t have enough strength. Reinhold was trying his best to take out as many inquisitors with each attack as possible but there just wasn’t enough time to break through.
Although Higher Deacon Raxor was a little bit unnerved by Houston’s weird application of his laws, he could still conjure up more hands to fight with. He tried to make another hand, trying to squish Houston in between the one he stuck in place and the one he recently conjured.
Houston simply did the same move he used earlier. He disappeared into his shadow and moved away. This time, however, he went directly closer to Higher Deacon Raxor. He was extremely flustered at how aggressive Houston was right now. He didn’t know how to apply his laws other than creating these hands. His methods were extremely inflexible.
Houston ran through the gaps that Higher Deacon Raxor left, everything attack he made only used up his laws. Houston wasn’t having an easy time either, as unexperienced Higher Deacon Raxor was, he was still extremely formidable, one single mistake would render him to paste. Every single hand that came to Houston was rendered powerless the same way that he did so earlier.
Houston was now directly in front of Higher Deacon Raxor, only a mere two meters in front of him. Higher Deacon Raxor became a bit fearful of how seemingly casual Houston took his attacks. He was about to conjure up another hand when he realized something was wrong.
Higher Deacon Raxor felt his body was a bit empty. It was as if there was a part of him that had disappeared. It was extremely bizarre, his morale came down to an all-time low. He didn’t understand why he felt like this. His eyes could barely focus on Houston as he kneeled down. His breathing became ragged and heavy.
“Ha… haha… hahaha!” Houston eerily smiled as he kneeled down in front of Higher Deacon Raxor as well.
“Hahahahahaha!” continued mad laughter escaped from Houston’s mouth.
Both of them displayed the same amount of exhaustion, this was something Houston was banking on. The requirements to pull this off were so extremely stringent that he didn’t even believe he could pull it off. This was his own twist, his own comprehension of what the Law of Madness is.
For someone to understand another’s pain without reason.
Another person might not be able to understand Houston’s interpretation, but they don’t need to. Everyone interprets the same thing differently. To you, it may be wrong but to him, it was the very answer he arrived at.
This was how the world worked, everyone had their own perspectives and their paths. Blindly following others without thinking for yourself will only confuse you later on.
From Houston’s own personal comprehension, it was extremely clear to him that this was his own path. He mulled over this for countless hours, but he managed to arrive at this conclusion. It was pure madness, he channeled everything and created this move, using his Law of Madness, Another’s Pain. Otherwise, why did he feel so much pain when she died?
Applying Another’s Pain had extremely specific conditions, first of all, he had to ‘corrupt’ his enemies. Corrupting his enemies relied on either having them be mentally unstable or using his own Law of Madness and mixing it with his enemies’ laws. Both serve the purpose to have their enemies be mentally weak, he would then project his own circumstances towards his enemies, making them suffer alongside him.
“What the… huh… why is…” Higher Deacon Raxor was losing consciousness.
There was one key point that was still missing out. Why were the both of them feeling this much pain? It was simple, Houston’s Raging Body, his auxiliary move was finally bringing upon its backlash. Now Houston and Higher Deacon Raxor were both feeling the unbearable exhaustion that came with it.
“Now… before I….” Houston had his eyes drooping down, there was one more final card in his hands. This wasn’t an extremely powerful suppressive attack nor was it a killing move, it was a simple yet basic move.
Houston continued, “Hah… Madness Siphon…”
Madness Siphon was Houston's follow-up after they were both inflicted with Madness. With his enemy incapacitated, he could freely take away what his enemy had for himself.
“W-What is… grandma? Why are you here? You should’ve died alongside everyone else! How could you do ‘that’ to me!“ Higher Deacon Raxor started to mumble off by himself. He became extremely agitated as his mind started to recall extremely unpleasant memories.
Houston ignored Higher Deacon Raxor’s mumblings as he felt his vitality recover. His enemy’s body began withering as Higher Deacon Raxor’s eyes began to lose focus and his laws deteriorated.
Yio saw Higher Deacon Raxor fall down in battle. He was about to lose his ally, his heart started to beat even faster. To be brought down and see that the God’s Domain did not react to him dying made Yio realize that this artificial domain Reinhold created was extremely troublesome. Yio felt his blood turn cold as he continued on passively taking hits from the Fanged Lioness.
Everything was crumbling down, their once solid plan was now in tatters ever since Reinhold managed to figure it out in such a short amount of time. They were so close to finishing everything off, winning against their enemies with their wits, unfortunately, they were seen through.
Yio had one last final trump card, this was something that would render him completely powerless but it was his only way to survive. Yio removed his sword from the ground as if the soil was his sheath. Symbols started to glow in Yio’s ceremonial sword, these symbols were forming together into an Eminence.
Reinhold noticed this extremely delicate process happening in front of him. He immediately noted this observation and continued on with his main goal. He was still mowing down countless inquisitors, one kill after another, his path was now paved with blood, and even though he struggled to move, there wasn’t even a threat of death due to his insanely terrifying attacks.
Desperate times forced his hand, one after another, if he had a choice, he wouldn’t have done this. This wasn’t a matter of wealth, power, or pride, it was a matter of survival.
“You forced me…”
Reinhold was about to throw another odd metal ball toward the inquisitor’s army when he recalled this extremely terrifying feeling once more.
It was ‘terror.’
“How?” Reinhold couldn’t understand how Yio could still summon that entity, by his calculations Yio shouldn’t have been able to pay for a favor.
It was one twist after another, everything kept going wrong.
His eyes immediately looked at Higher Deacon Raxor’s withered body. Houston was sitting down in a kneeling position. His body was being rejuvenated by his enemy’s deteriorating flehs. He was completely unaware of the complete terror of what was about to happen.
His Law of Madness started to influence his thoughts, the emotion of elation filled his mind, and there wasn’t any room for fear to fit in.
Unbeknownst to Houston, Higher Deacon Raxor’s body started to melt, not wither, melt, as if he was a candlestick melting down into was. This change made Houston’s Madness Siphon steal a wisp of this innately corrosive substance, breaking his laws apart.
Houston opened his eyes and he spat out a mouthful of blood, his body was now fine, but his laws were in major disharmony, an unknown corrosive power was melting his laws away. Different from the completely oppressive Holy Fire, this corrosive power was weak enough to only temporarily weaken him.
Houston was still alive but combat-wise, he was out of the picture.
Yio’s eyes started to turn red, his entire figure started to shift, it was extremely grotesque. His body morphed, his hairline receded and scales started to replace his human skin. He was turning into a monster, a monster that was capable of killing everyone here.
Reinhold finally managed to figure it out. Instead of sacrificing coins, he sacrificed his own companion. Higher Deacon Raxor was stronger than Yio, by a massive margin due to Higher Deacon Raxor sacrificing two red coins. Yio was now sacrificing the equivalent price of two red coins toward this insanely monstrous figure.
Normally, Yio wouldn’t have been able to sacrifice Higher Deacon Raxor but his mind was currently breaking apart. Yio could freely sacrifice Higher Deacon Raxor now.
Yio’s ascension only cost him 100 blue coins. Blowing away Holy Fire, capable of burning away laws costs 200 coins. Now, red coins were finally being sacrificed, its power was beyond these normal coins. Just what kind of enhancement it gave Yio was unknown. All everyone knew was that whatever happened, they needed to run. They needed to run fast.
Yio turned into a questionable creature, Reinhold has never seen this kind of monster before. He had seen wolves with multiple mouths, two-headed snakes, and even beastmen from his travels. But he had never seen someone transform into a completely different creature.
The Fanged Lioness gathered up her Law of Iron, she used her strongest ability. It was even stronger than Houston’s Another Pain. Her entire body became one, the hardness of her body became equal to Yio’s earlier barrier. She was holding back from using this move due to the same reason Houston was holding out, the backlash was beyond what she could handle.
Adding on the fact she was getting on with age, she wouldn't use this if she didn't need to.
She winded up her punch, twisting her waist to generate as much force as she could, using her entire body’s force to punch Yio’s now towering lizard-like figure. She punched his scaled stomach, expecting to completely pierce through. The results were very different from everyone’s expectations. Not only did she not even damage Yio’s stomach, she didn’t even leave a dent.
This was completely contradictory to what happened under her feet. The ground cracked so heavily that everyone around them could barely stand up. The nearby mercenaries and inquisitors were blown away by the wind this force generated. It can easily be said to be able to break down the city walls with a single punch.
Yio looked down, his ceremonial sword no longer looked fragile, instead, it became a 3-meter-long longsword, the once countless runes condensed into one, turning into an Eminence.
Yio raised his sword and casually slashed down.
The Fanged Lioness was split in half.