"Ahhh—!"
A scream, so shrill it seemed to twist the air, erupted from Gyrus's mouth, which was emblazoned with a shield-like pattern.
He thrashed like a live fish pinned to a cutting board, his body convulsing wildly.
But Xia Lian's four arrows, fired from cunning angles, had pierced his swallowtail coat and nailed him firmly to the ice. All his struggles were reduced to a pathetic, futile display.
The excruciating pain in his rear, the burning humiliation on his face, and his current helpless position—all combined to utterly shatter his self-proclaimed "elegance."
"You... you damned barbarians! You lowly vermin! Do you even know what art is?!"
For the first time, Gyrus's roars were laced with undisguised terror.
He racked his green-skinned brain but couldn't fathom how the battle had collapsed so completely.
The grand welcoming ceremony he had prepared for the future Queen Consort had devolved into a complete farce!
First, his prized Mental Domination had crumbled before the inexplicable "Hair Dyeing Technique" of some pink-haired priest.
Then, that same absurd pink-haired priest had single-handedly suppressed his strongest Undead Legion Commander, beating Noth so relentlessly that the Plaguebringer couldn't even lift his head.
And he himself, a great "artist" on the verge of conquering the world, was being pinned down and humiliated by three girls he saw as mere "handmaidens"!
His prized Mental Domination was useless!
The attack magic he'd hastily learned was easily neutralized!
His undead minions were as fragile as paper before that female knight!
This battle was utterly infuriating!
"Xiyue, stop wasting time with him! Strike while he's down and finish him off!" Su Wan's calm voice cut through the air as frost once again gathered at her fingertips.
"Roger!"
Lin Xiyue let out a savage grin and raised her massive shield, Immovable Mountain, once more.
"Taste this! Shield Combo! Let's redecorate your face!"
"Stop! You crude—"
Gyrus's shriek was cut short.
Just as Lin Xiyue's shield was about to kiss his stamped face again, an invisible psychic storm erupted from Gyrus's body, detonating silently!
This wasn't the precise art of control; it was pure, brute force—the kind that flips the entire chessboard.
Bzzzz—!
Lin Xiyue felt as if all sound had been sucked from the world. The next instant, an invisible spike pierced her consciousness, and her vision was instantly swallowed by ink-black darkness.
Her mind was churned into a boiling cauldron of sludge.
The shield she had raised high froze in mid-air.
"Ugh!"
Lin Xiyue let out a muffled groan as a warm trickle of liquid flowed from her nose. She instinctively wiped it away, her hand coming back stained bright red.
Su Wan's spell preparation instantly collapsed. She clutched her forehead in agony, feeling as if invisible files were grinding relentlessly against her temples, every chain of thought being scraped down until sparks flew.
Xia Lian was in the worst shape. Never known for her willpower, she was overwhelmed by intense dizziness and nausea that surged up her throat. The world twisted, spun, and tilted in her vision, leaving her unable to even stand steady.
"Haha... HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Lying on the ice, Gyrus erupted in demented, morbid laughter. The psychic shockwave had also shattered the arrows pinning his limbs.
He scrambled to his feet, his beady green eyes reigniting with the madness of absolute control as he watched the three girls suffer.
"So that's it! That's it! Your souls can resist my 'Mental Domination,' but your mental fortitude itself is pathetically weak!"
"You couldn't comprehend my art, but surely you can understand pure violence!"
He threw his arms wide, and his rampaging psychic energy gathered once more, crashing against the girls' mental defenses in relentless, invisible waves.
"So this is the 'bridal gauntlet' the future Queen and her handmaidens have set for me? How amusing! Watch me dismantle them one by one!"
His gaze swept past the three girls, landing on the distant Elf Army clashing with his minions.
"Since you can resist, let those fragile elves bear my wrath in your place!"
He sneered, about to redirect his mental assault toward the Elf Army.
Just then, a voice—cold, majestic, yet steeped in exhaustion—rang through the entire cavern.
"Your opponent is me."
Ilanier had, at some point, moved to a position not far from the "throne."
The pure silver domain surrounding her had dimmed considerably. It was clear that maintaining the domain, the purification field, and protecting the entire army had pushed her to her absolute limit.
But now, her domain suddenly contracted with unprecedented intensity, solidifying into a dense silver barrier that enveloped Lin Xiyue, Su Wan, Xia Lian, and herself.
Gyrus's rampaging psychic assault crashed into the barrier and vanished without a trace, like a clay ox sinking into the sea.
"Your Majesty!"
Lin Xiyue and the others felt the pressure lift and quickly turned to the Queen.
Ilanier's skin had lost its vital luster, taking on a marble-like pallor. At the corner of her lips, a jarring streak of blood stood out like the sole crack on a flawless sculpture.
She had single-handedly engaged Gyrus in several psychic clashes from a distance, forcibly absorbing the full aftershock of his latest outburst into her domain!
"Oh? My future Queen, you've finally decided to enter the fray yourself?"
Gyrus stared at Ilanier, his eyes burning with a greed and possessiveness so intense it seemed almost tangible.
"Excellent! This is what I truly wanted! To clash with you on the spiritual plane, to feel every struggle of your will, and finally, to utterly conquer you! This is the highest form of art!"
He licked his lips and channeled his psychic power once more, forging it into an invisible spear that stabbed viciously at Ilanier's domain.
The silver barrier trembled violently, and Ilanier's figure swayed slightly.
Fine beads of cold sweat broke out on her forehead.
This was a pure contest of wills.
Gyrus's psychic power was a vast, corrupt, and chaotic ink, seeking to defile everything it touched.
Ilanier's willpower was a pure, noble, and orderly canvas, vowing to preserve its pristine white.
In the void, these two diametrically opposed forces engaged in a primal struggle of devouring and purification.
Lin Xiyue watched the Queen's pale face, her eyes turning red with anxiety.
"Sis! Come help! Her Majesty can't hold on much longer!" she cried out to the figure in the distance, still swaying to the music while firing her weapon.
Trapped within the Queen's Domain, they were powerless to intervene, forced to watch as the Queen bore the full brunt of the assault alone.
Lin Qingyue, however, was having the time of her life.
Her Sky AK47 was as steady as a turret, its golden barrage pinning Plaguebringer Noth down. He could only defend passively, unable to mount any effective counterattack.
She even had the leisure to hum along with the BGM.
"Little Barbara, praying in the church~♪"
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
"Always loves to charge right in, ya~♪"
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
The roar of the gun, the thrill of unleashing Holy Light—this was the true joy of being a Priest
She watched Noth's shield—a construct of bone and ice crystals—repeatedly shatter, reform, and shatter again under her relentless firepower. A deep sense of satisfaction washed over her.
Trying to fight a war of attrition with me? You clearly don't know what this gun is called! Sky AK47! Holy Light Conversion Armory! As long as I have the stamina, I'll purify you so thoroughly your ancestors' graves will start smoking!
Just then, her sister's desperate cry pierced through the battlefield.
A quick glance from the corner of her eye was all it took to grasp the situation.
Damn, that green-skinned goblin is playing dirty, using a psychic AoE? Her Majesty is tanking it all? And she's coughing up blood?
If Ilanier falls, some of that censored, R-rated plot I'd rather not see is going to happen!
No way. I have to end this quickly, deal with this undead, and go back them up!
Lin Qingyue's gaze sharpened, no longer content with mere suppressive fire.
She stopped her hypnotic swaying, planted her feet firmly apart, and stood steady.
"The concert warm-up is now over!" she announced, her voice a chilling declaration delivered in Barbara's sweet tone.
"Next up, the chorus! Are you ready to receive Sis's blessing?!"
She raised the muzzle slightly, aiming it at Noth's pale, handsome face.
The Power of Holy Light surging within her was poured with full force into the magazine!
"Lord Barbatos will surely forgive you!"
"So, let Sis send you to meet Him!"
"Ultimate Art: Shining Miracle ♪ · Sky AK47 Conversion!"
The trigger was pulled.
This time, the sound wasn't the frantic rat-a-tat-tat of before.
All sound and light in the cavern were devoured by the single point of ultimate gold at the muzzle.
It was a roar so deep it made one's very soul tremble!
A beam of pure, condensed golden light—mixed with visible Holy Light particles and ripples of Hydro energy—transformed into a law of annihilation that erased all in its path.
It didn't tear through the air; it vaporized everything along its trajectory, wiping out all filth and leaving a trail of absolute vacuum across the battlefield.
Instantaneous arrival!