"This man's aura is terrifying!"
Though Sage Mimoza's face remained calm, waves of shock surged in her heart.
At that moment, an intense sense of crisis welled up inside her. She also noticed Amatori Biba's figure beginning to blur and scatter with the wind.
The next instant, her vision swayed—and Amatori Biba was already before her.
In his hand, the blade glimmered with a sinister red light, slashing down upon her in a fierce arc.
"So fast!!"
Sage Mimoza's heart trembled, but she had been prepared. About 4 to 5 meters in front of her, a golden magic circle automatically manifested in the air, directly intercepting the blade light that had transformed into a "White Serpent."
[Clang————]
A deafening crash exploded, stabbing painfully into the ears.
In an instant, surging shockwaves burst forth, rolling into gales that swept across the field.
Sage Mimoza was a magus most skilled in holy magic, her mastery in defensive magic having reached the pinnacle.
But Amatori Biba, as captain of CP8, was no longer the man he once was.
Looking at the magic circle that had blocked him—
The smile in his eyes suddenly ignited into murderous intent, and the force behind his blade surged sharply.
[Crack… crackle… crack]
Fractures began spreading across the magic circle, the sound ringing endlessly in her ears.
All of this made Sage Mimoza's expression change drastically—her eyes even widened in shock.
Behind her, Louise, Duke de La Vallière, her second sister Cattleya, as well as Hodolew, Tiffania, and Tuka, all revealed looks of panic in their eyes.
"Retreat, now!"
Sage Mimoza reacted in time. At the very instant before the magic circle shattered—
She wrapped everyone in golden mana, and in a burst of flashes, transported them a hundred meters away.
Amatori Biba did not pursue. Instead, his gaze swept across the battlefield at large.
"I already gave you fifteen minutes. Since you failed to seize the chance, don't blame me. This mission… cannot be allowed to fail."
His tone was calm, almost indifferent, yet upon hearing this, Levi, Lubbock, Kurusu, Sheele, and the other CP8 members all stiffened inwardly.
The captain was taking over the battle!
At that moment—
Amatori Biba began to emit rolling clouds of violet-white gas.
The gas grew thicker and thicker, rising upward and spreading out to either side.
When it reached the edge of the manor, it began surging forward in a sweeping wave, pressing down toward Louise's group.
"My god… wh-what is that?"
"Is it poison gas?"
Lady Karin tried to whip up a gale with her wand to blow the vapors away.
But while her efforts weren't completely useless, they had little real effect.
The whirling tornadoes, the moment they surged into the gas, were shredded apart by countless "serpents" born from within.
The magical barriers conjured by Safary and Molmon could not withstand the frenzied impacts of the countless "serpents" bursting from the gas.
In the blink of an eye, they shattered into glittering fragments, dispersing through the air like broken glass.
This forced the two of them to retreat rapidly.
Louise's group found their space being compressed by the violet-white vapors with each passing moment.
No matter what magic they cast, it had no effect at all.
Even attacks aimed directly at Amatori Biba were intercepted by countless serpents along the way.
A creeping sense of despair and fear began to take hold.
Fortunately, Sage Mimoza truly lived up to her reputation as one of Rondel's strongest magi.
With a triple-layered golden magic circle, she constructed a dome-shaped barrier that finally brought the advancing gas to a halt.
At the moment of contact—
Hissing noises crackled forth, accompanied by blazing flames.
Yet this did not ease her heart. Instead, she turned urgently to Louise behind her.
"Can you still not open the World Gate? I'm ashamed to admit it, but I don't think I can defeat him!"
At those words, everyone—including Saito—looked toward the flustered Louise.
That only made her more nervous, utterly at a loss.
Suddenly, Saito leaned close to her ear, whispering: "Louise, try praying. Pray to Brimir!"
The two of them had already confirmed that the dreams they shared before were the same.
Along with all the earlier signs, it seemed that the "Founder of Magic" was still influencing them in some way.
Louise froze, then immediately dropped to her knees, shutting her eyes tight.
Her hands crossed together over her chest.
With boundless devotion in her heart, she began to whisper the prayers.
"Our noble Founder Brimir, please protect the peace of Halkeginia. Please keep this land forever pure. Please… save us!"
[Use Void Magic.]
At that instant, Louise clearly heard a voice in her mind—strange, yet somehow familiar.
Meanwhile, outside, Saito, Sage Mimoza, and the others saw the "Founder's Prayer Book" hanging from Louise suddenly burst into radiant white light!
[Bang!!!]
A massive crash erupted behind them, like glass shattering to pieces.
Kirche and the others instinctively turned their heads.
The outermost golden magic circle had already been breached—pierced through by the purple-white poisonous gas filled with countless "serpents."
The tension in their hearts grew heavier still.
The next second—
Louise suddenly opened her eyes. She rose to her feet, lifted the short staff in her hand, and aimed its tip directly at the place where Amatori Biba stood.
She ignored the worried looks cast at her by the others.
Her lips began to murmur an incantation of Void magic—words that only Tiffania could faintly comprehend.
Saito, who knew Louise best, immediately noticed: her eyes were empty, her face devoid of expression. She looked like a stranger.
[Bang!!!]
The second golden magic circle, arranged by Sage Mimoza, was shattered by the all-engulfing gas. It burst into countless crystalline fragments that scattered into the air.
"Ah!"
The timid Tiffania let out a scream on the spot.
Tuka hurriedly wrapped an arm around Tiffania's shoulders.
At this moment, the pressure brought by Amatori Biba rose sharply in everyone's hearts.
"Hurry up, Louise! We're going to die here!"
The hot-tempered Kirche, staring at the endless poisonous serpents hurling themselves against the barrier outside—ignoring the flames and purification effects, ramming forward one after another—completely panicked.
Sage Mimoza's face had already turned visibly pale. Her aged body looked unbearably frail, trembling faintly.
[Bang!!!]
It was over.
Sage Mimoza shut her eyes in anguish.
Yes—the final golden magic circle before them had been broken through.
The rolling purple-white gas began pouring in.
[Ding——]
All of a sudden, everyone heard a crisp sound ring out across the entire Vallière estate.
Just as the purple-white gas surged forward, within 5 meters of Safary, Molmon, and Sage Mimoza—
The incantation on Louise's lips finally came to an end.
From the tip of her wand burst an incomparably dazzling white light, which instantly spread outward in all directions.
Before anyone could react, that overwhelming white radiance devoured all the gas before them.
In the blink of an eye, it had filled every corner of the estate.
Amid this silence, time seemed to stretch and flow slowly.
When both sides opened their eyes again—
They immediately discovered that the purple-white gas, which had blanketed half the estate, had vanished without a trace, the air restored to its original clarity.
"Everyone, please make use of this time to leave. I will hold them off here."
Louise spoke then, her tone solemn as she addressed her friends and loved ones.
"Louise, you…"
Saito and the others suddenly felt that Louise before them was utterly unfamiliar.
Not only was her expression unnaturally serious—her shoulder-length pink hair and her cloak and short skirt stirred and fluttered though no wind blew.
Even her eyes glimmered faintly with white light, resonating with the glow of the wand in her hand and the prayer book at her waist.
"Hiraga Saito, you are Louise's familiar. Stay here. I believe Louise herself would want you always at her side."
"You… you're really Brimir!" Saito blurted out in shock, revealing her identity.
"What!!!"
Lady Karin, Duke de La Vallière, Kirche, Tiffania—cried out in unison.
Even Tabitha, who was always calm and composed, wore a face of utter astonishment.
"Hurry and go. There may be others of them stationed outside, so be careful. But there shouldn't be anyone as strong as Amatori Biba."
Before "Louise" could even finish speaking, her entire figure surged with magic and shot forward as a streak of white light, intercepting Amatori Biba head-on in midair.
"Louise" raised the short staff in her hand and unleashed a bolt of white lightning, striking directly at the "White Serpent" before Amatori Biba.
In an instant, the serpent phantom shattered.
The pitch-black sword, its surface etched with glowing red patterns, clashed against the blinding white lightning.
[Zzzzzzz—]
Armament Haki and Void power ground fiercely against each other, devouring one another at an unimaginable speed!
Below, Lady Karin, Tabitha, and the others began stepping one after another into the Gate of Light opened by "Louise."
On the other side of that gate lay the grounds outside the Vallière estate.
It was clear—this Brimir, who had possessed Louise—
Though able to ignore the interference of the Teigu Shambhala, could not open a direct passage to another world through two layers of space.
Meanwhile, high in the sky—
The first clash between "Louise" and Amatori Biba had reached its conclusion.
The white lightning of Void magic had succeeded in breaking through Armament Haki—
Completely destroying the Tennō Sword in Amatori Biba's hand!
That Tennō Sword had been given to him by his father when he was twelve, before leading 400,000 troops to wipe out the Kabane of Kyushu.
Later, he had reinforced it with a membrane from the heart of a Kabane to increase its toughness.
And he had carried it with him through every battle across countless worlds.
Yet now, before his very eyes, the Tennō Sword had been destroyed.
For Amatori Biba—who had always considered himself cold and unfeeling—his pupils involuntarily shrank to pinpoints.
Memories flooded his mind: the sword itself, and the fleeting moments of happiness with his father when he was young.
If before his gaze had been indifferent—
Now his eyes brimmed with ferocity and killing intent.
[Boom—]
"Louise" was stunned to see Amatori Biba, hurled back dozens of meters, suddenly erupt with a pink aura visible to the naked eye.
Within that aura crackled black-red lightning, surging toward her like a tidal wave.
Such a massive shockwave was like a storm sweeping through—utterly unavoidable.
Brimir, within "Louise's" body, immediately felt the crushing impact of a tsunami-like spiritual assault.
It nearly severed his link with Louise's body.
And if that connection were broken, to possess her again would require her to chant the entire incantation of Void Magic.
For in truth, he was already dead.
His soul lingered only within the items he had most often used in life—
The prayer book, the censer, the round mirror, the music box—
The four treasures known as the "Founder's Sacred Relics."
Among the relics, the prayer book recorded the most Void magic and sealed within it the largest fragment of his soul and his primary consciousness.
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