"You… don't come any closer!" Josiah's chubby face twisted with raw terror. He'd managed to keep a cool front when facing EeDechi and her two companions, but the moment the girl appeared under the dome, his face drained of color, his body trembling like a leaf.
No question about it—his fear of this girl far outstripped any dread he felt toward EeDechi's crew crashing the temple.
Josiah ducked behind a pile of obsidian rubble, yanking up a tightly bound figure to use as a shield. The tied-up man let out muffled "mmphs," thrashing wildly. Judging by his clothes, he was the real guardian of this altar.
Josiah whipped out a dagger, pressing it to the guard's throat, and bellowed at the girl hovering atop a floating candelabra. "Antilene, you take one step closer, and I'll slit his throat!"
EeDechi's eyes lit up. So this was the girl with the half-black, half-white hair—Antilene, the Slane Theocracy's hidden ace, their ultimate weapon.
"What a bunch of losers," Antilene said, her voice dripping with disdain. Was she mocking the guard or Josiah? Her face gave nothing away—no trace of emotion.
Or rather, from the moment Antilene appeared, her expression hadn't shifted an inch. Her icy gaze was suffocating, like she didn't give a damn about anything around her. She stood there like a cold statue, radiating an aura of utter indifference.
And that could only mean one thing: she was so damn sure of herself, so certain she could handle anything, that she'd never once failed.
Antilene floated in midair, looking down at the four below her. Her simple black-and-white dress matched her hair perfectly, stark and striking.
"Compared to Josiah, that pathetic worm, you three might actually be worth my time."
Antilene's gaze shifted to the three masked figures in black. With a casual flick of her hand, she unleashed a glowing orb. It streaked toward Josiah Carey, swelling into a spherical mass of magical gel that encased both Josiah and the guard he held hostage in a frozen prison.
With Josiah dealt with, she pointed the sharp edge of her scythe at EeDechi and her companions.
"Who's first?" Antilene raised her massive scythe, her eyes—one black, one white—gleaming with an eerie, unsettling light.
"Help! Protect me, mage!" Franco shrieked, sensing the danger and diving behind Barrett.
"Hey! Don't lose it. Get your hands off my shoulders—you're messing me up!" Barrett grumbled, shrugging Franco's grip away.
"Might as well start with you. Doesn't matter either way." Antilene lifted her giant scythe with both hands, her figure blurring as she vanished, a frigid gleam slicing straight toward EeDechi.
"Kid, you're way too cocky!" EeDechi whipped out her long-neglected giant sword, meeting the oncoming scythe head-on. Sparks of brilliant blue exploded on impact.
The blow blocked, Antilene's face remained a blank mask. She yanked her blade back, spinning without hesitation to strike again.
Her black-and-white hair whipped in the wind, her attacks fierce and unrelenting, flowing like a deadly river. Wielding her massive cross-shaped scythe, she moved like the Reaper dancing a cold, merciless waltz.
EeDechi's giant sword met the scythe, parrying and disengaging in a flash. After a brutal clash, the two broke apart, falling back into a tense standoff.
"You're tough," Antilene said with a slight shake of her head. "But that just means you'll die a little later."
"Little girl." EeDechi raised her middle finger and shook it, "Don't get too cocky. Let me tell you, there's always someone stronger than you."
Even as she said it, EeDechi was secretly stunned. From their brief clash, she could tell Antilene was at least level 80—no wonder she was the Slane Theocracy's top dog.
But Antilene, at best, was level 90. To actually threaten EeDechi? She was nowhere close.
That thought brought a pang of gloom. According to Alphonse, the Slane Theocracy was currently under the Sorcerer Kingdom's shadow. If Antilene was their best shot, the Theocracy wouldn't stand a chance against the Sorcerer Kingdom—they'd be pig to the slaughter.
Antilene raised her right hand, muttering an incantation. Around her palm, intricate magical rings flared to life, spinning rapidly. The air rippled, and searing energy swirled, coalescing into a massive crimson orb.
Boom!
The blazing scarlet sphere slammed into EeDechi. She raised her giant sword, bracing herself and taking the hit head-on. The walls around her cratered from the blast.
Through the haze of smoke, EeDechi stood unscathed. Antilene's cold brow twitched faintly—like a pebble dropped into a stagnant pond. For the first time, her expression shifted, just a hair.
Antilene spread her arms wide, head tilted back, and growled, "Blood Requiem!"
A wild gust erupted from beneath Antilene's feet, swirling around her in a frenzy. Sand, pebbles, and abandoned gemstone heaps from the temple were swept up as a tidal wave of power surged. In the heart of the raging tornado, she hovered, her black-and-white hair billowing like seaweed in a storm.
In an instant, the scythe in Antilene's hands grew half again as large, its blade now longer, sharper, and pulsing with a deadly blood-red glow. Countless streams of crimson energy, like splattered blood, whipped around her simple black-and-white robes in a furious dance.
"What the hell is this ability?" EeDechi shouted, glancing at Barrett.
"Looks like some kind of Innate Talent!" Barrett yelled back, straining over the deafening roar of Antilene's storm.
"This Innate Talent is way too strong! Why doesn't she just use it all the time?"
"From what I've seen, it's probably dangerous. She's likely burning through her life force for a quick power boost."
Barrett bellowed over his shoulder, "Franco, stop hiding behind me! You're our only mage—hit her with something while she's powered up!"
"I'd rather hit her with something in bed," Franco muttered, peeking out. He cautiously raised his wand, aiming at Antilene midair, and unleashed a blazing spell that rocketed toward her chest.
Antilene swung her scythe, deflecting the spell in a burst of fire. She dove through the air toward Barrett, only to crash head-on into EeDechi, who was swinging her giant sword with ferocious precision.
"What, you think you're some magical girl with that transformation?" EeDechi roared, overpowering Antilene and forcing them back into a furious blade-clashing frenzy.
Half a minute later, Antilene realized she was no match for EeDechi. A subtle flicker of something—defeat, maybe—crossed her face. She broke off, dragging her scythe as she fled. EeDechi tore after her, relentless.
Antilene smashed through a stone door in the temple, bolting into a narrow corridor. EeDechi, Barrett, and Franco chased her like cats after a scurrying rat, hot on her heels.