A flash of white light swallowed everything.
Halls shrank into the corner, eyes squeezed shut, screaming like a banshee.
He knew exactly how strong he was—and how fragile his life was. The moment he realized he was inside the attack range, he immediately tried to minimize his hitbox.
But the explosion he expected never came.
There was only a dull thud, and then—silence. The light vanished almost instantly.
He cracked one eye open, confused.
The inside of the cabin looked exactly the same. Not a single thing was out of place. The walls stood firm; not even a speck of dust had fallen.
Steve was still standing in the doorway. His left arm, shield-equipped, hung loosely at his side; his right hand now held an iron sword.
He was just standing there—yet somehow, his back looked impossibly tall.
Halls crept closer, peering past him. "So you're that strong, huh? Even that kind of attack couldn't touch you?"
The scene outside was completely different from the undisturbed room. The ground had been carved open by a massive gash that started right where Anrika's sword had touched down.
But the mark stopped abruptly at Steve's feet—as if the rest had just vanished into thin air.
Halls clicked his tongue in amazement.
Steve glanced down at his shield, still on cooldown, and waved his hand to close the door.
He hadn't expected the attack to actually break the shield—but the surprise only lasted a moment. He'd seen this kind of thing too many times before.
Besides, the damage had been completely blocked. The shield's durability had barely gone down. All he had to do was wait a few seconds before he could raise it again.
No loss whatsoever.
In no time, he raised the shield once more, opened the door, and waddled out, butt sticking out slightly as he moved at a slow, deliberate pace.
Flanda puffed up, pointing a finger at Anrika. "Did you even try? How come he's totally fine?"
Anrika blinked, momentarily dazed, unable to respond right away.
He was honestly surprised.
He'd intentionally pumped up the flash and toned down the power of his attack. But even so, if Bardos had blocked that strike, he might not have been injured—but he'd definitely have been knocked back in a sorry state.
Yet this puppet hadn't even flinched. Not a scratch on that shield, either.
Who the hell built this thing? Did the kingdom really have a magician that powerful?
Frowning, Anrika stomped down hard. Battle energy surged into the earth as he lunged forward—attacking from below this time.
But even that didn't work.
Steve only staggered half a step, completely unscathed.
Anrika saw it clearly—his battle aura had been stopped cold by that shield.
A full hundred-eighty-degree defense range, and even Sacred Slash couldn't leave a mark.
A shield like that was rare, maybe even unique.
If it had any special properties on top of that, the Church would probably rate it as a bona fide holy relic.
And yet it was just… equipped on some random puppet. Whoever the mage behind this was—they had serious resources. Maybe even from one of the Four Great Houses.
As he spiraled deeper into thought, Elina came running up, throwing herself between Steve and the others.
Her face was slick with sweat—fear, pain—but her eyes stayed locked on Flanda. "What do you think you're doing?!"
Steve froze, tilting his head slightly.
Now this was rare. A Villager stepping up to protect him?
Most Villagers in his memory just ran away. Dead weight that slowed the Player down.
Even the ones who fought back in certain mods had weapons, armor—explicit combat designations.
But Elina? She was just a normal Villager. And yet she was standing there, shielding him.
Actually, come to think of it, the first time he'd met her, she'd been facing off against Wind Wolves, too.
Wait—was she some kind of special NPC? Maybe a hidden questline? Trigger the right conditions and she turns into an elite mob—or even a boss?
The thought piqued his curiosity… but then he remembered what came with puzzles and storylines. His expression soured.
He missed the Player.
Or Alex. Either worked. He wasn't picky.
Flanda let out a sharp, high-pitched "Ha↑!"
"That thing's annoying as hell! Of course I wanna tear it apart!"
Elina bit her lip and snapped back, "And that's what you call a Saintess?!"
"What did you just say?" Flanda's eyes widened, her face flushing red with rage as she started to raise her hands—
—but the moment she caught sight of Steve, she chickened out instantly.
Instead, she just jabbed a trembling finger in his direction and yelled, "Whatever! Anrika, take it apart already!"
Anrika glanced at Elina. Seeing the quiet fear in her eyes, he slowly lowered his sword.
"What are you doing?" Flanda demanded.
"I don't harm innocent civilians," he said quietly. "That's one of my Oaths, Saintess."
Flanda froze, then turned to Bardos.
Bardos blinked, realizing what she was thinking, and nodded. "Same here."
"You two—!" Flanda's face turned an even deeper shade of red, her tiny fists shaking with fury.
Seeing that neither Oathsworn Knight intended to fight, Halls's eyes lit up. He rushed forward, waving his hands to placate her.
"Come now, Saintess, come now! He didn't actually hurt you, right?
"The Holy Light loves all beings. You're part of that Light, too! How could you let a little accident make you this mad?"
Flanda kept glaring at Steve, puffing her cheeks in frustration.
Halls coughed. "That guy clearly has a powerful mage backing him. If you're still mad, how about letting him fix your little… thing? Wouldn't that solve everything?"
Flanda blinked. "Oh—right!"
She'd completely forgotten about the connection between a puppet and its master. That meant she wouldn't even need to find a mage now!
She could get the key repaired right away!
Her eyes sparkled with excitement, and Halls let out a long, shaky breath of relief.
Thank the gods this kid's an easy mark.
If she'd been one of those tough, no-nonsense types, there'd be no avoiding a fight.
He patted Elina's leg reassuringly. "It's fine now. Go rest."
Then he motioned for Steve to crouch down so he could whisper to him—but after a few awkward tries, he gave up and just lowered his voice.
"Listen, kid, this whole mess's on her. But she's still the Saintess, so just… let it slide, alright?"
After a pause, he added, "You don't need to fix anything either. I'll take care of the mess I made."
Noticing Anrika approaching, Halls hesitated, then stepped forward to ask, "I don't know much about the Holy Cross Church, but… the Saintess isn't supposed to be like that, right?"
"She is the Saintess," Anrika replied evenly.
"…She acts like a spoiled brat! Letting her run around like this is gonna ruin your Church's reputation!"
Anrika blinked once, but said nothing. "If you notice any irregularities," he replied calmly, "please report them to the Church. The Holy Light will watch over you."
"Irregularities? The only irregular things I've seen lately are you guys!"
Halls's temper was starting to flare.
"I'm seriously starting to think this Saintess never even finished her studies—just ran off to play! You oughta drag her back where she belongs!"
"That's classified."
"Classified my a—" Halls froze mid-word.
Something about Anrika's behavior didn't add up. That polite, almost encouraging look on his face…
Halls frowned deeply. "Wait. She did sneak out, didn't she?"
"Classified."
"You're protecting her on purpose?"
"…"
"She's blackmailing you, isn't she?"
"Classified."
Halls saw red. "You've gotta be kidding me—!"
Anrika gave a satisfied nod. "I am Oathsworn Knight Anrika. If you notice anything unusual, please report it to the Church.
"The Holy Light will protect you."