The light inside the Oratory Chamber was no longer soothing. It was a searing radiance, a manifestation of the Celestia Church's absolute will to erase any stain beneath their feet.
Archbishop Benedict stood in the center of the glow, his white robes billowing despite the lack of wind, while his golden staff emitted pulses of energy that made the air around them tremble.
Elian stood five meters in front of the shattered doors. His small frame looked painfully fragile compared to the grandeur of the room. Yet, the aura he radiated was a stark contrast—dark, heavy, and oppressive.
"You look at me as if you have the right to judge me, Boy," Benedict said, his voice echoing off the domed ceiling. "I am the representative of the Light. What I do is for the salvation of humanity. The sacrifice of one life to awaken a holy guardian... is a cheap price to pay."
Elian didn't blink. His pitch-black eyes stared straight at Benedict, then shifted to the crystal sphere where Elara was trapped. He could see his sister twitching faintly every time The Heart of Marigold pulsed. Each throb siphoned Elara's life essence, turning the crystal's purple hue into a deadly pure white.
"Salvation?" Elian finally spoke. His voice was low, as if pulled from the depths of the earth. "You build heaven on a pile of children's corpses. If that is the light you speak of, then I choose to be the darkness that swallows it."
"Stubborn," Benedict sighed, as if dealing with a naughty student. "Then, accept your punishment. Sacred Ray!"
Benedict slammed his staff onto the marble floor. Instantly, ten beams of light as sharp as swords shot from the ground toward Elian. The speed far exceeded what any Tier 2 knight could dodge.
Elian didn't dodge by jumping sideways. He knew that with the Ring of Weight, rapid lateral movements would drain his stamina instantly.
Instead, he moved forward.
Elian threw his body forward, letting gravity pull him faster than he should naturally move. His first step crushed the marble five centimeters deep.
BOOM!
The beams of light shot over his head, reducing the golden doors behind him to dust. Elian slid across the slick floor, using his left hand—the hand wearing the ring—as a pivot to spin his body on the floor.
The ring's weight provided incredible inertia. As Elian spun, he was like an unstoppable iron top.
He closed the distance to Benedict in less than three seconds.
"What?!" Benedict was shocked by Elian's unconventional movement. He immediately raised his staff, creating a dome-shaped Light Barrier.
Elian rose from his slide, using the rotational momentum to launch his left fist straight into the Barrier wall.
CRACKAAA!
The impact created a shockwave that shook the entire convent tower. Elian's left hand, carrying double weight, slammed into the Barrier with the force of dozens of tons. Cracks began to appear on the wall of holy energy that should have been impenetrable to physical attacks.
Benedict was pushed back a step, his eyes wide. "What strength is this? You have no Mana!"
"I don't need Mana to break you," Elian hissed.
He attacked again. This time with the Karambit in his right hand. With terrifying precision, Elian aimed for the cracks in the Barrier. He stabbed, pried, and tore at the light energy as if it were physical flesh.
However, Benedict was a Peak Tier 4 Mage. His decades of experience were not to be underestimated. He released his Barrier intentionally, letting the energy explode outward to blow Elian away.
BOOM!
Elian was thrown backward. He rolled on the floor but immediately drove his Karambit into the marble to brake. The sound of metal screeching against stone created a piercing shriek.
Elian panted. Blood began to seep from his palms. The ring on his finger felt hotter, as if trying to fuse with his bone.
"You are strong for trash," Benedict admitted, his face now full of cold killing intent. "But Tier 4 is not just about physical strength. It is about authority over this world. Domain of Silence: Divine Pressure!"
Benedict raised his hand to the ceiling.
Suddenly, the pressure inside the room increased exponentially. To Elian, it felt as if the atmosphere around him turned into mercury. Every inch of his skin felt pressed by thousands of invisible hands. Combined with the burden of the Ring of Weight, Elian fell to his knees.
Crack... crack...
The bones in Elian's legs began to make sickening sounds. The total load he felt now might be four or five times his own body weight. The marble beneath his knees shattered, sinking Elian into the floor.
"Kneel before this glory," Benedict walked closer slowly. Every step radiated an aura of superiority. "You are merely dust trying to challenge the sun."
Elian bowed his head. His black hair covered his pained face. Blood dripped from his mouth, staining the crushed marble.
The pain was unbearable. It felt like every cell in his body was being squeezed.
However, amidst that crushing pressure, Elian felt something.
He felt the vibration of the earth beneath this convent. He felt the mountains surrounding the Silent Valley. Nature around him seemed to hold its breath, witnessing the suffering of its "Child."
Do not... give up...
The whisper returned. Not Lunaria's voice, but a voice far older.
Elian gritted his teeth until some of them cracked. He forced his left hand to move.
"You... don't understand..." Elian whispered through the blood clogging his throat.
"What?" Benedict stopped in front of Elian, raising his staff to deliver the final blow.
"This world... does not hate me..." Elian lifted his face. His eyes were now completely black, with no white at all. His pupils glowed with a very faint but pure golden aura. "This world... is angry at you."
Suddenly, the pressure in the room changed.
Not disappeared, but reversed.
The marble pillars around the room suddenly cracked. Not because of Elian's attack, but because the foundation of the convent itself shifted. A massive tremor traveled from the valley floor, creeping up the tower, and centering on Elian's body.
Elian stood up.
He stood under the deadly Tier 4 pressure as if the burden meant nothing. Instead, he seemed to absorb the pressure, making it part of his own body weight.
"How is this possible?!" Benedict screamed, his face pale. He tried to cast another spell, but his golden staff suddenly felt incredibly heavy.
Elian stepped forward. One step.
BOOM! The entire tower shook.
Second step.
BOOM! The Oratory ceiling began to collapse, stone debris falling but turning to dust before touching Elian.
Elian was right in front of Benedict. He didn't use his Karambit. He grabbed the Archbishop's neck with his left hand—the hand bearing the ring, the hand that was now the center of gravity for the entire room.
"This..." Elian squeezed Benedict's neck, lifting the old man into the air. "...is the weight of your sins."
Elian channeled the entire burden of the Ring of Weight and the Divine Pressure he absorbed directly into Benedict's body through his grip.
CRUNCH!
Every bone in Benedict's body shattered instantly. His internal organs ruptured under the immense gravitational pressure. The Archbishop didn't even have time to scream; his eyes burst and blood poured from every orifice in his face.
Elian released the corpse. Benedict fell like a pile of boneless meat to the floor.
The room instantly fell silent. The pressure vanished, replaced by drifting dust.
Elian swayed. His vision began to blur. Using nature resonance had drained all his remaining energy. But he couldn't fall now.
He turned toward the crystal sphere, The Heart of Marigold.
Without Benedict's control, the crystal began to vibrate unstably. The energy inside—Elara's energy—began to overflow uncontrollably.
"Elara..."
Elian crawled toward the crystal. His left hand wearing the ring was partially destroyed, the skin torn revealing white bone now tinged with gold.
He slammed his fist into the crystal sphere.
PING!
The sphere shattered.
Reddish-purple light exploded outward, sweeping the entire room. Elian caught the small figure falling from within the crystal. A figure with limp silver hair and skin as cold as ice.
Elara.
Elian hugged his sister tightly, indifferent to the blood soaking them both. He buried his face in Elara's neck, searching for that very faint heartbeat.
Thump... thump...
Still there. His sister was still alive.
"We're... going home..." Elian whispered before darkness completely swallowed his consciousness.
Outside the convent, Lunaria stood atop a crumbled tower, staring toward the now-destroyed Oratory Chamber. She saw the golden aura that had exploded and was now fading.
"That kid really did it," Lunaria murmured, her face a mix of pride and horror. "He just tore the laws of the world to save one person."
Lunaria saw the Templar army beginning to arrive from the main gate. She sighed, drawing her silver-glowing short sword.
"Rest, Elian. Let your teacher handle the rest of this trash."
That night, the holy Convent of Saint Marigold burned in the fires of wrath. And amidst its ruins, two siblings separated by fate were finally reunited, albeit unconscious atop a pool of their enemies' blood.