"Forbidden Fire!"
"Forbidden Fire again!"
"Is that Forbidden Fire?"
"So that's what Forbidden Fire is!"
The fire, flowing like an oil painting, flickered and dispelled the darkness, rekindling atop the Candelabra.
The frenzied light was like a slimy tongue, licking the hearts of everyone present.
That lingering, phlegm-like madness clung to their souls.
Discomfort, extreme discomfort.
Souls seemed to stir because of it, and frenzied emotions burned uncontrollably in their hearts like sparks.
Manfred held the candle, coating his longsword with the burning Forbidden Fire.
"Manfred, you'd better know what you're doing!"
"How much further will you betray the Grey family, you despicable scoundrel!"
Feeling that frenzied flame, Claude roared in anger.
"It was you all who betrayed and failed me. My soul has never betrayed its true home."
Manfred charged at Claude, slashing with Sword Qi entwined with Forbidden Fire.
"Bastard!"
"Then I'll just purge you along with the rest, you despicable traitor!"
The rekindling of the frenzied Forbidden Fire had exceeded Claude's expectations.
Back in the desert, he hadn't made a move precisely because of the Forbidden Fire.
He had thought the strongest knight order at the time had things under control, only for the good stuff to be snatched away.
He summoned holy light to meet the incoming Forbidden Fire.
At the same time, he retreated, not daring to let even a spark of Forbidden Fire touch him.
Now that the prayer shortening of Pious Whisper was used up, he only had one chance left for an instant holy art.
He couldn't afford any carelessness.
The Wings of the Light Angel flapped, and a hurricane accompanied by illusory wings shot toward Manfred.
Nephalian, however, flashed from the other side, rushing at Claude.
A pincer attack.
"Get lost!"
Claude cursed, his Wings of the Light Angel swatting backward, their powerful force tearing through the air.
Nephalian's afterimage was instantly sliced apart, but a sharp blade light pierced out from the side.
It was a sharp Sword Qi honed to perfection, precisely piercing the expanded Wings of the Light Angel.
However, the drawback of a sharp rapier was fully exposed at this moment.
A sharp rapier could easily pierce through defenses, but its cutting ability was extremely weak, far inferior to a wide and sharp broadsword.
The rapier stuck in the Wings of the Light Angel was held fast, with no way to cut through.
Claude quickly condensed holy light and blasted it directly at Nephalian.
Eomer quickly expanded the spatial stagnation of the Air Iron Tail, enveloping Claude, Nephalian, and Manfred within it.
The movements of the three slowed down rapidly.
Vines growing at extreme speeds coiled toward Claude, attempting to restrain his movements.
Claude did not hesitate to activate the final special ability of Elemental Decomposition.
The iron staff glowed, and the surrounding vines were quickly decomposed into pure elements.
Nephalian dodged with all her might.
Boom!
The holy light instantly slammed into Nephalian's defensive Sword Qi.
The Sword Qi of a rapier was sharp and fast, but its defensive power was far inferior to that of a broadsword.
The holy light was briefly hindered for a moment before shattering Nephalian's defensive Sword Qi and piercing straight through her side.
Gah!
Nephalian spat out a mouthful of blood, and her strength quickly drained away along with the blood from the wound.
"Die!!"
Claude roared in fury, a beam of holy light blasting toward Nephalian's head.
"The one dying is you!"
Manfred swung his sword down, the blade entwined with Forbidden Fire that looked like an oil painting.
Claude quickly activated the Inverse Compass.
Manfred's blade was instantly reversed, slashing in the opposite direction.
The frenzied Forbidden Fire also slashed toward the ceiling, tearing apart the rock wall.
The rock wall on the ceiling instantly contorted, desperately trying to shake off the Forbidden Fire.
It was actually a wall monster.
In the split second of combat, a thought flashed through everyone's minds.
This gutter of a dungeon had actually grown a wall monster on the vaulted ceiling.
Manfred grit his teeth and unexpectedly discarded the longsword in his hand.
He plucked a clump of Forbidden Fire from the Candelabra, using the Forbidden Fire Blessing to manipulate it into a Forbidden Fire sphere. He condensed it in his palm and roared as he slammed it directly toward Claude's head.
Claude's eyes were bloodshot as he was forced to divert his attention, manipulating the Wings of the Light Angel to block Manfred. Nephalian seized the opportunity and tilted her head with effort.
The holy light grazed her head, instantly vaporizing one of her long ears.
The intense pain made Nephalian grit her teeth. Instead of retreating, she thrust her rapier even deeper.
Boom!
The Forbidden Fire slammed into the expanded Wings of the Light Angel and exploded!
The splashing Forbidden Fire seemed to possess a life of its own, rapidly growing and burning upon the wings.
Even though it was just a pair of wings he had condensed with magic.
At this moment, the madness burning along with the Forbidden Fire accumulated in Claude's heart quite unreasonably.
"Bastard!"
He cursed, forced to deactivate the final flap of his Wings of the Light Angel to throw off Manfred and Nephalian simultaneously. He then dispelled the wings and used the recoil to retreat.
"Claude!"
Eomer shouted, and Claude's attention was immediately drawn to him.
"Third-rank holy art, Giant Emerald Tree!"
An emerald-textured tree erupted from beneath Claude, growing wildly toward him.
At the same time, taking advantage of Claude's diverted attention, the two mages cast their magic again.
"Second-rank magic, Fire River! Wind River!"
The two aerial rivers entwined and roared toward Claude.
By now, the uses for Elemental Decomposition were exhausted.
Facing the surging river of fire, Claude raised the Inverse Compass and activated its final charge.
The surging river of fire immediately reversed direction, roaring back toward the two mages.
Facing the Giant Emerald Tree that was about to envelop him from below, Claude could only activate Pious Whisper for an instant fourth-rank holy art.
"Fourth-rank holy art, Wings of the Light Angel."
The dispelled wings reappeared behind him. While protecting his body, they flapped violently.
The sudden burst of speed allowed him to dodge the Giant Emerald Tree.
The Giant Emerald Tree missed, but Eomer showed no regret. He seized the chance to quickly manipulate the vines into two separate streams.
One coiled around the heavily injured Nephalian to begin healing her.
Other shot toward Claude at extreme speed.
Claude had now irreversibly fallen into a disadvantage. He flapped his Wings of the Light Angel, the turbulent winds shredding the incoming vines into pieces.
Manfred, however, had already turned into an afterimage, lunging from the side.
"He's lost his sword!"
The heavily injured Nephalian shouted, ignoring her own state.
A section of vine reacted instantly, coiling around Nephalian's rapier and hurling it toward Manfred.
Manfred caught the rapier mid-air. Forbidden Fire once again entwined the silver, slender blade as he leaped from the ground, thrusting toward Claude in the air.
Sword Qi entwined with Forbidden Fire sealed off Claude's movement paths from all directions.
Claude raised his hand, and holy light condensed and expanded before him.
"Second-rank holy art, Wall of Holiness!"
"Eomer!"
Nephalian shouted, enduring the pain of her wound.
Eomer hesitated for only an instant, but trust in his companion outweighed his doubt. He immediately opened the Mist Forest Box and activated its final special effect.
Dense Fog, Stealth!
Mist flashed, and Manfred's figure vanished instantly!
Claude's pupils constricted, and his Wings of the Light Angel snapped shut!
Rate on N.U.
