The core of the plan hinged on whether Dietrich could use holy power.
If he could use it at all, the output didn’t matter.
“Well, I can use it, but it doesn’t go well with my awakened ability.”
“Yeah? Is it bad enough that you can’t use it?”
“Not exactly, but… it definitely feels like it weakens my abilities.”
“Then that’s fine.”
In a way, that was to be expected.
It would be stranger if an ability that leaves a “trace” on the world didn’t conflict with holy power, which seeks “wholeness”.
Since the two powers were inherently at odds, a bit of interference was actually fortunate.
“Besides, holy power is more defensive than offensive anyway.”
“Right.”
That’s why we could use Jeff as bait.
Because of the nature of holy power, even if there was a large difference in strength, he could still probably block at least one of Vidar’s attacks.
“The important part is perception. Making him misjudge the threat priority.”
“Understood. But… will that really work so easily?”
“It will. He’s a barbarian.”
Even if he knows it’s a trap, he’ll have no choice but to fall for it.
If the barbarian tried to act cunning, it would ruin Vidar’s entire plan.
He was fighting with self-imposed limitations.
For someone who placed his purpose above his life, that wasn’t a difficult thing to do.
“Got it? The key is the priority between holy power and awakened ability.”
We would use holy power as bait.
And with it, carve the ability known as “trace” deep into the Great Warrior’s body.
By the time Vidar fully grasped the extent of Dietrich’s power,
The order of priorities would shift once again.
***
Vidar who had been deeply slashed at the waist looked up at Ariel hovering in the air with a bitter smile.
His expression was completely different from before—
Now he wore the look of someone confident in victory.
So it wasn’t just that I got blasted away. Did they make contact in that time?
While he had fallen into a trap using holy power amidst the dust,
Ariel had likely reconnected with Johan and exchanged some sort of plan.
There was no other way she could now radiate such conviction after only a brief moment.
“Very well. Show me! Let’s see the extent of this scheme you’ve all devised!”
The wound etched across his waist continued to throb with pain,
But Vidar didn’t pay it any mind.
Pain and blood loss meant nothing to him.
If it was for the future of his people, he was willing to suffer as much as necessary.
Whooooooosh!!
A storm surged.
A tornado formed around the Great Warrior as the eye of the storm.
The dust that had briefly cleared returned to cloud his vision once more.
In the middle of that murky field of view,
Vidar narrowed his eyes at the swordsman standing before him.
“Since it’s come to this, I’ll at least ask your name. What is it, brat?”
“Dietrich.”
“Alright, Dietrich. I’ll remember that.”
Vidar clenched his fist.
Dietrich’s blade was sharp—
And the wounds inflicted by it didn’t heal easily.
Even so, Vidar still chose to face him barehanded.
He didn’t even bother picking up any of the rubble around him,
He was determined to beat back Dietrich’s sword with nothing but his fists.
“Hmph!”
Clang!
Sword and fist collided, sounding like metal striking metal.
Wounds spread across Vidar’s knuckles.
Starting from faint red lines, his fists became stained with blood each time they clashed.
Each exchange cost him dearly,
But he didn’t flinch.
Because he was certain.
Clang!
He was sure the sword would break before his fists did.
Compared to his body, steel was nothing more than a fragile toy.
“Haha!”
Smash!
Dietrich who was now disarmed looked up at him in disbelief.
Vidar struck him down and sent him flying.
Didn’t manage to kill him.
For someone frozen from being overwhelmed in battle, his reaction wasn’t bad.
Dietrich had instinctively raised the hilt of his sword to block Vidar’s strike.
Clicking his tongue, Vidar watched him fly.
Should he chase him?
If he let him go, it was obvious the kid would keep being a nuisance.
More than that, Dietrich’s ability was troublesome—
If he didn’t kill him for good, the wound would only continue to fester.
Vidar began walking.
And at that moment—
A strange feeling.
An unease flickered through his mind.
A gut instinct told him. He was being played.
Why did that brat suddenly choose a head-on fight?
Up to that point, everything had been a careful ploy to deceive him.
Even after landing a critical hit, why suddenly shift to a frontal assault?
No. Forget it.
Vidar cut off the thought.
Right now, he was just a beast chasing its prey.
The more he thought, the more his humanity would begin to show through his mask.
Whatever comes at me, I’ll crush it head-on.
With that, Vidar moved in the direction Dietrich had been sent flying.
And in that very moment—
Just as Vidar had feared, he walked right into a trap.
Shhhhhhkk!!
He heard the sound of something cutting through the air.
The tornado still clouding his vision had delayed his reaction to the sound.
The moment Vidar sent Dietrich flying and decided to pursue him,
Another presence that had been wiped from his mind rose back to the surface.
Whoosh!
Vidar turned his head.
He twisted his body toward the direction the slicing wind sound had come from.
Whatever it was, he would crush it head-on.
That, he believed, was the barbarian way.
It was a judgment that could prove fatal, but one he refused to bend.
And Vidar witnessed the consequences of that decision with his own eyes.
A girl holding a bow forged from holy power aimed it at him.
And from her fingers…. a bowstring was released.
A tiny arrow flew toward him.
“Ha!”
What Vidar had forgotten was the true master of the holy power that had sent the boy back onto the battlefield multiple times.
“The Prophet…!”
The sole living apostle of God in this world marked with the seal of Elysium upon her eye.
***
Holy power represents wholeness.
That’s why it’s mostly used for healing or defense.
Then, does that mean attacks using holy power are weak and insignificant?
“Helena, your big brother once completely overwhelmed Yuna and me with a single spear formed from holy power. How do you think someone with such a fragile body could do that?”
“Because he’s stronger than you, teacher?”
“No. Even if I’m weak, I was still stronger than Kult at the time…. outside of holy power.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Back then, Kult was physically weaker than me.
He was pretending to be sickly and hadn’t done any training to maintain that act—
So of course he was physically inferior.
But Kult overwhelmed us using only his mastery of holy power.
“Holy power is solid. That’s because it embodies the concept of wholeness.”
“That’s true.”
In other words, even the thinnest, sharpest sword made from it wouldn’t break easily.
Kult’s holy power was exceptional in purity and that’s what made it sharp.
Whatever weapon he wielded, it could slice through anything like tofu or paper. We had no choice but to dodge his attacks; there was no other way to respond.
And on top of that came a spectacle of light that dominated the very space around us.
Of course, expecting Helena to achieve something like that would be asking too much.
She had only recently become a Prophet, so it was natural that she couldn’t fully control her power yet.
But what if she had time? Even just once would be enough. If Prophet Helena could unleash a single arrow of holy power at her full strength…
“Got you.”
Crack!
It would be enough to pierce a body tougher than steel.
***
Vidar froze in place with his fist still extended.
A holy power arrow had pierced through his fist and lodged into his shoulder.
“Ugh…”
His fists were already covered in wounds from his previous battle with Dietrich.
Trying to deflect an arrow forged by a Prophet’s full power with such hands. It was, in hindsight, inevitable.
This was a fatal wound.
And a hidden one at that.
Vidar let out a short laugh as he looked at the holy power arrow, now slowly dissipating while still embedded in his shoulder.
“Ha…”
His body was already covered in blood.
One or two more wounds wouldn’t even show at this point.
The problem was that those one or two were critical.
They weren’t visible, but his condition had drastically worsened.
In such a state—
“Is this… the end for me?”
Vidar raised his head and looked up at Ariel floating in the sky.
Like the eye of a storm, power was converging on the small girl floating at the center of the tornado.
“I’ve been dancing to my opponent’s tune from beginning to end.”
He understood now. This had all been part of Johan’s plan. Johan had seen straight through his nature, with uncanny precision.
The final arrow had flown in at just the right angle for him to instinctively deflect with his fist…. clearly, he had been led into it.
Even predicting that he would insist on using his bare fists against Dietrich.
Wearing down his hands in the process, and then piercing through them at the last moment with a Prophet’s arrow.
It was a masterfully constructed setup.
And now, the one who seemed to have stepped back from the battlefield would be the one to bring it all to a close. The true protagonist of this stage.
“So it wasn’t just a diversion…”
The tornado hadn’t been to assist Dietrich or the Prophet’s attack.
“It was my mistake to take my eyes off you.”
The tornado had merely been a tool to concentrate power.
Ariel’s awakened ability was telekinesis.
A power with vast potential applications.
And Ariel had mastered it to such an extent that she’d risen to the rank of Archmage.
There were only two things she lacked.
One was a clear method for how to use her telekinesis.
The other was output.
But in this moment, both problems had been solved.
The first of how to use it was resolved surprisingly close at hand.
“Your strike was a power I’d never seen before.”
The pinnacle of pure physical force.
She had imitated Vidar’s strike.
“And someone I love gave me the hint I needed to mimic your blow.”
As for the insufficient output she had overcome that by breaking it down into stages of division and concentration.
The strength born from limited output.
She meshed the forces together like interlocking gears and set them spinning, creating a tornado.
The tornado itself was just the aftereffect. What mattered was the power concentrated at its core.
“It’s over now, Great Warrior.”
An overwhelming physical force surged from the heart of the tornado.
Creaaaaaaaaak!!
Then, like a ball of thread unraveling, the tornado began to dissipate and the immense force came crashing down.
“Yes.”
Vidar saw it.
She had only mimicked his strike. And yet, in the end, she had created a blow even more powerful than his own.
“Become a hero, Ariel Ether.”
Seeing the undeniable proof that she had surpassed him, the Great Warrior closed his eyes.
***
A thunderous roar and a blow that shook the ground.
The final moment of the Great Warrior Vidar.
Many people witnessed the scene.
It was impossible to miss—
The huge tornado that had formed in the heart of the city, and the torrent of power that tore through it and descended.
The majestic figure of Archmage Ariel Ether, and the fallen Great Warrior buried deep beneath the ground.
In this moment, Vidar’s plan had come to fruition.
The outcast barbarians had fallen, and the beastkin who had adapted to civilization survived.
“Hoo…”
Ariel could feel the deep fatigue wash over her. It was the aftermath of having unleashed all her strength.
But her role here was to become a hero.
And so, she remained suspended in the air, looking around her.
She saw the eyes filled with admiration.
She saw the knights who had at least indirectly witnessed the might of the Great Warrior gazing at her with eyes full of respect.
She saw the citizens, once trembling with fear, now breathing sighs of relief.
Unconsciously, Ariel smiled.
The woman who usually hid beneath a large hat, who always wore a near-expressionless face and acted with cold detachment, was now smiling more brightly than ever before.
As she looked around at the crowd, Ariel suddenly glanced downward.
At the center of the massive pit that had swallowed the Great Warrior Vidar—
“…What…?”
A beast was rising to its feet.
It was a sight only she who was floating in the air could see.
And the moment she realized what was emerging from that crater,
She was at a loss for words.
It had taken on Vidar’s form, but it was not Vidar.
The instant their eyes met, she knew with certainty:
She couldn’t defeat it.
No….no matter whose help she had, it was something no one could bring down.
A monster from myth.
A beast that devoured the sun and moon.
“Varg…”
It was the moment the origin of a race had descended, borrowing the body of the Great Warrior.
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