The battlefield fell unnaturally silent for a single heartbeat.
Dust lingered in the air, suspended in time, glimmering faintly under the waning glow of the massive crystals hanging above the 18th floor.
Their light gradually deepened, bleeding into a dark, tranquil blue... an omen that night had finally descended upon the surface.
Second by second, the floor grew darker.
Shadows stretched and deepened, swallowing the scars left behind by battle, as the dungeon quietly reclaimed the field beneath its artificial twilight.
The head at Revis' feet slowly stopped rolling, its lifeless eyes staring up at the crystal sky as it slowly into ash.
Revis looked down at it, then lifted her gaze again to meet Judas'.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
"Is the mage going to be the knight in shining armor to save the princess?"
Revis' voice carried a faint note of amusement as her fingers tightened around Ais' collar.
It wasn't enough to hurt her... just enough to make a point.
The Sword Princess remained limp in her grasp, golden hair hanging loosely, her chest rising and falling in shallow, steady breaths.
Judas' eyes narrowed.
A quick glance was all it took to confirm it.
Ais was still alive.
She had simply been struck down and rendered unconscious.
Judas exhaled slowly, steadying his thoughts.
"Let her go."
The words left his mouth quietly, without force or anger behind them.
They didn't need either.
Magic power stirred around him in response, subtle yet heavy, pressing against the air as if the space itself had begun to tense.
It didn't matter how dangerous Revis was, or how much stronger she had become.
If defeating her was the price to save Ais...
Then so be it.
"And what if I don't?"
Revis met his gaze without flinching, her cold green eyes sharp with defiance.
Then Judas stopped speaking.
At this point, words were meaningless.
He lifted his leg.
Took a single step forward...
And vanished.
『Accelerate』
The ground where he had stood collapsed inward with a sharp crack as his figure disappeared, the sudden burst of speed ripping through the air.
Revis' eyes widened.
Her instincts screamed in warning.
She reacted instantly and hurled Ais' unconscious body aside.
Barely an instant later...
『Wrath of the Celestial Titan』
Thunder roared.
A fist engulfed in crackling lightning tore through the air, space distorting around it as raw power surged forward.
The blow came straight for her face, carrying overwhelming force that felt less like a punch... and more like a collapsing mountain.
Revis raised her sword on instinct.
A thunderous collision rang out.
Lightning and steel screamed against one another as the force of the impact tore through the area.
Despite managing to block in time, Revis' body was violently launched backward, her boots tearing furrows through the ground.
"Shit!"
The curse was ripped from her throat as she flew, the wind tearing past her ears while pain rattled through her bones.
She twisted midair at the last moment, barely managing to angle her body before slamming into the ground hard enough to leave a crater in her wake.
The impact sent debris erupting skyward, a violent plume of dust and shattered earth rising where she vanished from sight.
『Telekinesis』
Judas stretched out his arm toward the unconscious form of Ais and lifted her into the air.
With a few precise hand gestures, he guided her body toward the spot where Lulune was hiding, never once turning his head.
"Keep her safe."
The command was firm and concise.
As he snapped his fingers, several additional barriers materialized over them, layering over one another for extra precaution.
Lulune merely nodded, unable to say a word... far too stunned to speak.
It wasn't every day that she witnessed battles between first-class adventurers, much less several in succession.
'Everyone here is a monster... first-class adventurers are terrifying.'
That was her honest assessment.
'But... Judas Spade... you're telling me he's only a level two? A full level below me? Really?'
The battle between Ais and Revis had been shocking, but it paled in comparison to the feeling she felt watching Judas in action.
'This is unbelievable.'
A level two... someone who should have been nothing more than cannon fodder on a battlefield of this scale... yet here he was, sending the enemy flying with a single attack.
'I need to report this to Lord Hermes...'
Lulune thought, her eyes never leaving Judas' figure.
'As I thought... [Penitent Executioner] activated.'
The sudden surge of strength hadn't come out of nowhere... it was the result of that skill.
The moment he realized that Revis wasn't human, Judas had suspected it might activate.
If it had activated against the Violas, then it would surely activate against the one who controlled them.
'For some reason, the increase in strength is far greater when I fight Revis compared to those when I fought those plant monsters... or Violas, or whatever she called them.'
'It seems the skill's amplification increases depending on how irregular the being I'm fighting is... or something along those lines.'
Judas thought as he slowly acclimated to this newfound power.
'I don't know what she is...'
'But at this point, I don't care.'
From start to finish, his gaze never left his opponent... the figure that had been sent flying nearly a hundred meters away.
"Aargh!"
With a furious roar, Revis tore herself free from the rubble, stone slabs and twisted roots exploding outward as she rose.
Anger burned in her eyes as she steadied herself, boots grinding against fractured ground.
"He's... even stronger than Aria?"
Her gaze dropped to her sword.
The blade was cracked nearly in half, jagged fractures crawling along its length.
Residual lightning still clung to the metal, snapping and hissing faintly... Judas' magic refusing to dissipate even seconds after the blow.
"Tch... damn it."
She clenched her jaw, a sharp throb forming behind her eyes.
"One troublesome thing after another."
Before she could fully regain her stance...
『Infernal Barrage』
The air screamed.
A massive wave of fire surged toward her, rolling across the battlefield like a living tide.
Heat slammed into her skin as the ground beneath it liquefied and cracked.
Revis bolted sideways, narrowly escaping from getting hit by the spell.
When she turned around, her pupils shrank a little.
The forest that had stood there moments ago was gone.
In its place was a roaring inferno... trees reduced to blackened silhouettes as flames climbed skyward, the earth glowing red beneath the heat.
The air warped violently, turning the area into a blazing pit of hell.
'This little freak...'
Her glare snapped back toward the source.
Judas stood in the distance, calm and unhurried.
Another magic circle formed at his side.
Her eyes widened.
He didn't pause.
He didn't hesitate.
He simply raised his hand and pointed.
『Blizzard』
The temperature dropped in an instant, a bone-deep chill crashing over the battlefield.
The flames in the area sputtered and shrieked before being smothered, replaced by a violent storm of ice and snow.
Frost raced across the scorched ground, steam erupting as fire and cold clashed violently.
Razor-sharp shards of ice howled through the air, engulfing the ruined forest in a frozen tempest.
In the span of seconds, hellfire was buried beneath winter.
Revis watched all of this unfold, teeth clenched, realizing she was no longer facing a mere mage.
She was facing a walking calamity.
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