The beam of light that Gauche had reflected did not miss. It had struck true, a condensed spear of judgment turned back upon its creator.
Smoke billowed from the cave entrance, thick and choking. When it cleared, Licht was no longer floating with the grace of a deity. He was crumpled against a jagged rock formation, his white robes stained crimson. His left arm hung limp, unnaturally twisted, and blood streamed from a gash across his forehead, blinding one eye.
He coughed, a wet, hacking sound that rattled through the sudden silence of the cavern.
"You..." Licht wheezed, pushing himself up with his trembling right arm. His gaze swept over them—Yami, standing with his katana drawn; Asta, panting and clutching his anti-magic sword; Lencar, whose hands were still smoking from the heat of his last spell. The look Licht gave them was not merely anger; it was a vitriolic, ancient hatred. It was the look of a man looking at a disease. "You humans... You persist in your ugliness. You defy the natural order... you steal, you break, you defile."
Lencar tightened his grip on his claymore. Target status: Critical. Mana reserves: Fluctuating. He's injured, but the mana density around him is spiking, not dropping. It's a desperation trigger.
But then, Licht's wandering gaze landed on Gauche Adlai.
The hatred vanished instantly, replaced by a jarring, unsettling softness. Licht's remaining eye widened, filled with a sorrowful recognition that sent a shiver down Gauche's spine.
"You are here, too..." Licht whispered, his voice cracking. "I did not realize... under that human filth... you were waiting."
Gauche blinked, stepping back and holding Marie tighter. "Hah? Who are you calling filth, you headlight freak? Don't look at me like we're friends. I don't know you."
Licht smiled, a sad, broken expression. "You do not know yet. But you will. The mirror... it reflects the truth of the soul. You are one of the beloved. One of the apostles."
"Gauche," Lencar warned, his voice low. "Don't listen to him. He's delirious."
"I am not delirious," Licht spat, snapping his head back to Lencar, the venom returning instantly. "I am awakening."
The air in the cavern suddenly grew heavy. It wasn't the sharpness of Light Magic or the gravity of Dark Magic. It was a suffocating, primal pressure that tasted of despair. Behind the bleeding Licht, space didn't just tear; it collapsed. A massive, triangular portal opened, glowing with ominous, muddy mana that felt ancient and wrong.
"They are here," Licht murmured, his body relaxing as if a great weight had been lifted. "The erratic. The despair. The hatred. My comrades... My Third Eye."
Three figures stepped from the void.
The first was a beast of a man, towering and broad, with wild hair and teeth like a shark. He radiated a physical pressure that made the ground shake with every step. Vetto the Despair.
The second was a young woman, or she looked like one, but her eyes were dead, filled with a cold, burning rage. She floated rather than walked, surrounded by a heat so intense it instantly evaporated the puddles of mud on the floor. A massive, translucent spirit—a Salamander—coiled around her. Fana the Hateful.
The third was a slouching, bored-looking man who scratched his cheek as he surveyed the wreckage. He looked like he would rather be asleep. Rhya the Disloyal.
Lencar felt his heart stop for a beat. The Third Eye are here. Their Combat capabilities: Captain-Class or even higher. Vetto specializes in physical reinforcement and Beast Magic. Fana possesses the Fire Spirit Salamander. Rhya utilizes Copy Magic (Imitation magic) a low level version of my own replica magic. Analysis: We are dead if we are attacked for long and I don't go all out.
"Man," Rhya yawned, looking at Licht's broken form. "Licht, you look terrible. Beaten by humans? That's so uncool. It's a pain, but I guess we have to clean this up."
"They hurt him," Fana whispered. Her voice was monotone, but the Salamander behind her roared, a sound of pure fury. "They hurt him. Unforgivable. I will kill them. I will burn them until nothing remains."
Vetto grinned, a terrifying expression that stretched too wide. "Despair," he grumbled, cracking his knuckles. "I smell it. But not enough. These humans... they still have hope in their eyes. I need to crush it. I need to snap their bones and hear them scream until only despair remains."
Lencar stepped back, his mind racing through tactical options and finding zero viable paths to victory. "Yami," Lencar said, his voice barely steady. "We need to retreat. Immediately. We cannot win this encounter."
Yami held his ground, though sweat was beading on his forehead. "Retreat? With injured kids and a nun? We turn our backs, we die. Stand firm, kid. Push past your limits, or whatever."
"Punchline accepted," Vetto roared.
The beast-man moved. He didn't use a spell; he just kicked off the ground. The sonic boom shattered the remaining stalactites. He was in front of Yami instantly.
"Beast Magic: Bear Claw!"
Yami reacted, swinging his dark-cloaked katana. "Dark Magic: Lightless Slash!"
The two attacks collided. Darkness met bestial mana. The shockwave blew Asta and Lencar off their feet. But then, a sickening sound echoed through the cave.
SNAP.
Yami's eyes widened. His katana—the blade he would used to cut dimensions in the future—shattered. Vetto's mana-reinforced fist had punched straight through the metal and slammed into Yami's chest.
"Man," Rhya yawned, looking at Licht's broken form. "Licht, you look terrible. Beaten by humans? That's so uncool. It's a pain, but I guess we have to clean this up."
"They hurt him," Fana whispered. Her voice was monotone, but the Salamander behind her roared, a sound of pure fury. "They hurt him. Unforgivable. I will kill them. I will burn them until nothing remains."
Vetto grinned, a terrifying expression that stretched too wide. "Despair," he grumbled, cracking his knuckles. "I smell it. But not enough. These humans... they still have hope in their eyes. I need to crush it. I need to snap their bones and hear them scream until only despair remains."
Lencar stepped back, his mind racing through tactical options and finding zero viable paths to victory. "Captain Yami," Lencar said, his voice barely steady. "We need to retreat. Immediately. We cannot win this encounter."
Yami held his ground, though sweat was beading on his forehead. "Retreat? With injured kids and a nun? We turn our backs, we die. Stand firm, kid. Push past your limits, or whatever."
"Punchline accepted," Vetto roared.
The beast-man moved. He didn't use a spell; he just kicked off the ground. The sonic boom shattered the remaining stalactites. He was in front of Yami instantly.
"Beast Magic: Bear Claw!"
Yami reacted, swinging his dark-cloaked katana. "Dark Magic: Lightless Slash!"
The two attacks collided. Darkness met bestial mana. The shockwave blew Asta and Lencar off their feet. But then, a sickening sound echoed through the cave.
SNAP.
Yami's eyes widened. His katana—the blade he had used to cut dimensions—shattered. Vetto's mana-reinforced fist had punched straight through the metal and slammed into Yami's chest.
"Captain!" Asta screamed.
Yami was launched backward, skid-marking through the glass floor, coughing up blood. "Damn... that guy is... hard..."
"Copy Magic: Dark Cloaked Lightless Slash," Rhya drawled lazily. He raised his hand, and an exact replica of Yami's spell, made of copied darkness, fired at the downed Captain.
Yami rolled, barely dodging his own signature move as it carved a trench next to him. "Oh, come on! That's copyright infringement!"
"Die," Fana stated.
She raised her hand. The Spirit Salamander opened its maw. The heat in the cave spiked to levels that made Lencar's skin blister instantly. This wasn't normal fire. This was Spirit Fire.
"Spirit Magic: Salamander's Breath."
A torrent of liquid fire, hot enough to melt stone into vapor, poured toward the group. It was a wave of annihilation aimed at Asta, Theresa, and finral.
Lencar moved. He didn't think; he just moved. He knew Yami was recovering. He knew Asta couldn't cut something this fluid and massive entirely.
I am a Fire Mage, Lencar thought, his mind locking into a hyper-focused state. Fire does not burn Fire. It redirects it.
He stepped directly into the path of the Spirit Breath.
"LENCAR! NO!" Asta yelled.
Lencar slammed his Mana-Conduit Claymore into the ground. He didn't try to block the fire; he tried to become the path of least resistance.
"Vector Perception Field: Max Output."
"Composite Magic: Vacuum Tunnel - Eye of the Storm."
Lencar stripped the oxygen from the air directly in front of him, creating a localized vacuum tube that curved around the group. Fire needs oxygen to burn. The Salamander's breath hit the vacuum and bent, sucked into the slipstream Lencar had created.
The roaring inferno split around Lencar, curling past Asta and the children, and blasting into the cave walls behind them, turning the rock into molten slag instantly.
Lencar stood in the center of the split stream, his clothes smoking, his skin turning red from the radiant heat. He screamed as the sheer pressure of the Spirit Magic threatened to crush his organs.
"I... can't... hold it... forever!" Lencar roared, blood leaking from his nose.
The Salamander stopped breathing fire. Fana tilted her head, looking at Lencar with dead, curious eyes. "You resist? Why? It hurts. Just die."
Lencar collapsed to one knee, his sword clattering to the floor. He had saved them, but his mana was truly bottoming out now.
Vetto laughed, stepping toward the defenseless group. Yami was weaponless. Lencar was spent. Asta was battered.
"Now," Vetto growled, raising a massive, glowing fist. "Let me show you true despair."