The Cardinal World trembled from pressure.
An invisible weight pressed against reality itself. Vast, luminous, absolute. It radiated from a single point in the west…
And the world felt it.
---
The Sorcerer's Dynasty — Thalion
Within the floating capital of the Sorcerer's Dynasty, high above the forests, Queen Elmesia El-Ru Sarion paused mid-sip of her tea.
The porcelain cup cracked from mana pressure.
Her emerald eyes narrowed slightly as she gazed westward, through layers of reinforced magical space.
"…How vulgar," she murmured softly.
But there was no annoyance in her voice.
Only interest.
Her long elven ears twitched as she expanded her perception. Ancient runic arrays flared across the city's defensive framework in automatic response.
"An Angel?" she whispered.
No.
Not merely an Angel.
The density of magicules distorting the western sky was climbing, climbing past Demon Lord class… past awakened…
Her smile deepened.
"How fascinating."
Below her balcony, court magicians dropped to one knee, overwhelmed by the radiant pressure crossing continents.
"Y-Your Majesty… should we activate the Great Boundary Array?!"
Elmesia waved a lazy hand.
"No."
Her eyes gleamed with dangerous amusement.
"If that thing wishes to test my kingdom… it may try."
---
El Dorado
Far to the south, golden sands shimmered beneath a flawless sky.
Within the palace of eternal sunlight, five ancient beings felt it at once.
The air itself bent.
Wine in crystal goblets vibrated.
A faint golden hue painted the horizon.
Seated casually in a grand hall, Guy Crimson tilted his head slightly.
Then he smiled.
"Oh?"
Across from him, Leon Cromwell slowly lowered his glass.
"…That direction is the Jura Forest."
A heavy silence settled over the chamber.
Reclining lazily against a pillar, Dino cracked one eye open.
"…Can't a guy nap in peace?"
But even he didn't sound bored.
He sounded awake.
Beside Guy stood the Primordial maids.
Rain narrowed her eyes, analytical and sharp.
Misery remained silent, but her fingers tightened subtly.
Leon spoke quietly.
"That mana output… is approaching True Dragon levels."
Guy chuckled softly.
"Approaching?"
His crimson eyes gleamed like a predator catching scent.
"No."
He leaned back in his throne.
"It already passed that threshold."
The golden sky pulsed again.
Even El Dorado's space trembled faintly.
Dino exhaled.
"…That's angelic."
Guy's smile widened.
"Yes."
A pause.
"And not just any angel."
---
Jura's Distant Forest
In the vast lands of monsters, countless beings froze mid-motion.
Majin, kijin, ogres all looked toward the sky instinctively.
Even the great beasts felt it.
A declaration.
A judgment.
In the deepest section of the forest, ancient dryads trembled.
"It feels like… divine punishment," one whispered.
---
The morning sun gleamed innocently over the Holy Empire of Lubelius. Its city of Lune radiant under the translucent sheen of protective barriers that had stood for generations. Markets bustled, magicians hummed incantations of maintenance and patrol battalions marched in stately precision. Within the core of the empire, the Western Holy Church led by Hinata Sakaguchi oversaw both spiritual rites and military operations.
Today, however, silence simmered beneath the surface, an unease that even seasoned commanders could not shake.
The Sky Shattered.
Then the sky split.
Not with rumble or thunder.
Just a flash of impossibly pure white light, a beam descending like divine focus.
The barrier that protected the capital, the shield no attack had ever pierced shivered.
Like a whisper against steel.
The citizens below gasped as an immense beam of golden radiance struck the ground outside the city. Towers of light tore through fields, forests, and rolling plains toward the heart of the empire. Each strike was deliberate and precise.
Then another.
And another.
Just pillars of holy light plummeting from the sky, immortal and relentless.
In the capital courtyard, Holy Knights drew their weapons, faces pale behind gleaming helmets. Soldiers and mages on patrol stilled as distant explosions shook the ground, shaking the city of Lune like a cradle in an earthquake.
"H-holy barriers are failing!" shouted a senior Rook Genius, his voice barely above a panic-stricken rasp. He cast reinforcement runes desperately but to no avail.
Magic that once repelled unique threats, demon armies, and ancient calamities now dissolved before the assault like mist under sunrise.
A grim silence followed.
An entire section of the outer wall vanished, melted into radiant dust at a single strike.
From the citadel balcony, Hinata stood rigid.
Her violet eyes narrowed, repulsion and steely resolve steeling her features beneath the morning glow.
Hinata didn't waste a second.
Her voice, calm yet authoritative, carried across the courtyard like steel tempered in ice.
"Deploy Holy Knight battalions and Rook Geniuses. Standard formation Delta-A. Hold every perimeter! Protect civilians and collapse inward only if ordered!"
The Holy Knights saluted and moved like living instruments, precisely drilled, obedient to every command.
Behind her stood Nikolaus Spertus, Cardinal and shadow strategist of Lubelius, expression twitching only once as Barriers collapsed on the far horizon.
"Light assaults of this purity and magnitude," he murmured softly, "piercing through our barrier without disruption. This is not ordinary light."
Hinata's gaze hardened.
"Can we protect Lubelius from this threat?"
High above the clouds, impossibly far yet impossibly near a figure glowed in blinding brilliance.
He wore robes of immaculate white and gold, eyes like twin suns burning with serene clarity.
He did not descend.
He simply existed there and his voice rippled across the world like scripture made audible.
"To all who worship false gods…"
His words were neither angry nor haughty.
Just absolute.
"…your faith is a mockery next to our master."
Below, shockwaves tremored outward from his presence.
Mountains quaked.
Oceans rippled.
The air burned with pressure alone.
His next words resonated.
"You shall kneel… or be erased."
In the deepest sanctum of her palace, Luminous Valentine, ruler of Lubelius and worshiped as the deity of the Luminus Faith, was struck mute.
Her heterochromatic eyes, one crimson, one sky blue blinked in disbelief as radiant beams tore through defensive wards that were designed to withstand even dragon-level attacks.
She placed a hand over her mouth.
"That power… is not light as we know it."
Her voice was measured, but her heart thundered beneath.
Mobilizing the Crusaders
No longer content with defense, offensive orders rolled forth:
3,000 Holy Knights were dispatched toward the breaches Rook Genius units teleported to vulnerable districts Magic barriers flickered into place but each dissolved upon contact with golden strikes Citizens fled church bells tolling in grim warning.
Hinata planted her boot on a shattered stone, raising her blade high for command.
"Leonard! Fritz! Arnaud! Litus and Garde. Gather all available Crusader units and bring them here! We protect the capital by holding the remnants of the western perimeter!"
The Saints obeyed instantly, holy runes blazing on their armor.
They were trained for hellfire.
Not this.
Not the light itself turned into a weapon.
But not all watched from afar.
In the grand temples of the Seven Luminaries, ancient master clerics once revered above kings alarms blared.
They had trained the greatest generation of knights.
And now?
Their most sacred city was being torn apart by a force not seen since the Great Tenma War.
One Luminary, face grave, spoke into the astral mirror:
"Summon all Seven. The threat is not a demon lord. It is something beyond… beyond even the ancient texts."
There was a long pause.
Then every temple bell of their hidden sanctuaries tolled in unison.
Across seas. Across kingdoms.
A summons centuries overdue.
The world now knew the true threat.
And they were moving.
In the shattered streets of Lune, smoke curled beneath arching rays of golden light that cut the sky like impossibly perfect spears.
Hinata stood shoulder to shoulder with her elite knights.
Nikolaus at her flank.
Behind them, the city's last intact barriers flickered in desperate brilliance.
Hinata's voice was low.
"Enemy sighted. No negotiations."
Her eyes burned not with hope but certainty.
"We fight."
And above the empire at the very zenith of the sky itself, the angelic golden figure spread his radiant arms.
Not a threat.
Not a conqueror.
A judgment.
"Prepare."
The golden light listened to no command.
Only purpose.
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