Volume 1, Chapter 56 – The End

—It’s like an iron fortress.

Calista’s hands trembled as she gripped her scythe, her knees slightly bent as she struggled to catch her breath.

The brawl between them had lasted at least five minutes. Though Calista had maintained the upper hand throughout, she found it nearly impossible to deal any significant damage to the seasoned knight. The knight simply shielded his head and joints—critical areas—rendering most of her attacks ineffective. Occasionally, he even seized openings when Calista faltered to counterattack, causing her no small amount of trouble.

The reason for this was simple.

First, the paladin’s armor was absurdly tough. Second, the regenerative abilities granted by faith magic were overwhelming.

Magic on the World Tree Continent was broadly divided into two schools. The first was fundamentalist magic, also known as the pure magic faction, which used one’s own mana to alter the environment—exemplified by the Eternal Daylight magic faction. The second was the faith magic faction, where practitioners devoted their piety to deities in exchange for power, as seen with the Church’s knights.

Each had its strengths and weaknesses. Within the faith faction, the nature of the magic varied depending on the deity worshipped.

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Take the Holy Kingdom of Milcandis, which revered the Goddess of Life. Their magic specialized in extraordinary regeneration and resilience. As long as their faith remained unbroken, they could sustain near-endless healing effects at minimal mana cost. The trade-off was their inability to wield other types of magic effectively or the effects of other magic are extremely weak.

Watching the knight rise to his feet yet again, Calista clicked her tongue in frustration.

She couldn’t afford to drag this out. If she did, more paladins would arrive, and her group risked annihilation.

Though they hadn’t managed to take down even one or two knights, at least they had halted the persecution of the Darkborn patients. That mission has been accomplished, time to leave.

Calista glanced at her comrades scattered around the square, and then, she couldn’t help but marvel.

Not at her allies’ combat prowess, but at the spellcasters hidden in the shadows.

Despite having no prior coordination, these mages always unleashed their spells at the perfect moment, ensuring the Aurora Magic fighters only ever faced one-on-one engagements.

As a practitioner of pure magic herself, Calista knew full well that these spellcasters had to be at least third or fourth-tier. Their precision and control far surpassed that of ordinary mages.

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Moreover, the fact that they had sustained this barrage of spells for five straight minutes spoke to a terrifyingly vast mana reserve. Though the spells were no longer as dazzling as the initial flurry, the sporadic magical assaults kept the paladins on edge, forcing them to split their attention. Already, half the knights had been incapacitated by the bombardment.

The only thing that puzzled Calista was why these clearly powerful mages insisted on using only first-tier spells. With their mana reserves and impeccable control, they could have wiped out the paladins with third-tier magic.

Maybe they were worried about friendly fire.

The thought made Calista flush with shame.

She was holding them back.

“Is this all the Eternal Daylight mages are capable of?” The battered knight wiped blood from his lips and sneered. “Once the Inquisitor arrives, you’re dead!”

The Inquisitor?

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Calista’s heart lurched.

In the Holy Kingdom of Milcandis, the title of Inquisitor represented absolute power. Every Inquisitor was at least fifth-tier. If there was one in Aurora City—even the weakest, lowest-ranked among them—Calista’s group stood no chance.

No wonder the Holy Kingdom had the audacity to seal the city with the Unsinkable Moon. There was an Inquisitor of the Yuna Cult here.

They were like rats in a trap.

Bad.

Very bad.

No longer interested in prolonging the fight, Calista immediately blew the whistle hanging around her neck—a magical tool only audible to Eternal Daylight mages members. The signal she gave now was clear: retreat at once.

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But the moment the whistle sounded, an overwhelming sense of danger erupted above her. The crushing wind pressure stole her breath. She didn’t even have time to look up before instinct screamed at her to flee—yet her legs refused to move, as if weighed down by lead.

A slowly rotating violet magic circle glowed beneath her feet.

A sealing spell of the Holy Kingdom of Milcandis.

This was the end.

The thought had barely formed when, suddenly, the pressure on her shoulders vanished. Then, an even fiercer gale erupted overhead. Like thunder from a clear sky, the explosion birthed a storm of flames, dyeing most of the square in blazing orange. The violent shockwave hurled Calista clean off the platform.

She had no idea what had just happened—but this was her chance.

Without hesitation, Calista blew the whistle again, using the cover of smoke and debris to abandon the fight. Along with her three comrades, she fled in different directions.