Catherine didn't notice the faint ripple in the shadows behind her.
Her attention remained on Yuno's limp, unconscious body, sprawled across the shattered street stones like a discarded puppet.
She smirked, brushing a strand of pink hair behind her ear.
"Pretty boys always crumble the fastest…"
Her voice dripped with smug satisfaction.
She raised her staff again, ash gathering at the tip like a hungry, swirling mist.
"Now then—why don't I drain the rest of his mana? He should still have something left, even if unconscious…"
She never finished that thought.
Because she finally sensed it.
A presence.
A pressure—not loud, not flashy, but heavy, like an unseen blade resting against her throat.
Her eyes snapped toward the shadows to her left.
A figure stepped out.
Calm. Silent. Hood pulled low.
Lencar.
Catherine blinked in confusion. "You… who—"
"You took your time beating him unconscious," Lencar said, tone flat. "Gave me plenty of time to observe."
She stiffened. "Tch—another pest?"
Her ash swirled aggressively, reacting to her irritation.
Lencar didn't move. "I'm giving you one chance to step back."
Catherine laughed.
Actually laughed.
"You must be delusional. Do you have any idea who you're talking to? I am Catherine, loyal servant of our god! And unlike that boy, I don't waste my spells."
Ash thickened around her like a suffocating cloud.
Lencar inhaled slowly.
Then exhaled.
"Very well," he said quietly. "Then let's begin."
Catherine extended her hand.
"Ash Binding Coffin!"
The ash surged outward, forming black chains that shot forward like serpents.
Lencar reached behind him and grasped the hilt of his Demon Dweller Sword.
The moment he unsheathed it—
The air shivered.
Catherine didn't understand the danger until it was too late.
Lencar stepped forward.
One swing.
A clean horizontal arc.
The chains of ash—
Collapsed into harmless dust.
"What—?!" Catherine's eyes widened. "My magic—!"
The sword hummed faintly.
A faint, ghostly residue of ash magic swirled around the blade's edge, absorbed into it.
Lencar glanced at the sword, feeling the magic entering it.
Yes.
As expected.
The Demon Dweller Sword stored the properties of the magic it cut—
And his Absolute Replication instantly recognized, recorded, and extracted those properties.
He didn't even need his grimoire to overlap anyone else's.
He didn't need devouring.
The sword fed his magic.
Catherine didn't notice that; she only felt threatened.
"Y-You think cutting my spells means anything?!" she snapped. "Then take this—"
She raised her staff high.
"Ash Magic: Absorbing Formation!"
A large circular array formed beneath Lencar's feet, glowing with cursed runes.
Its purpose was simple—drain mana until the victim collapsed.
Lencar didn't move.
Catherine smirked. "Got you—"
Lencar swung the sword downward.
A crescent of mana burst outward, slicing straight through the formation.
The entire spell dispersed like sand.
Catherine's jaw slackened. "Impossible…! That array drains mana from even skilled mages—how did you—"
"Your magic is… inefficient," Lencar said plainly. "Overdependent on rituals. And your control is sloppy."
"Shut up!!"
She threw both hands forward.
"Ash Devouring Storm!"
A tornado of cursed ash rose violently, screaming toward him.
Lencar stepped inside it.
One movement.
One strike.
Silence.
The storm collapsed instantly, fading like smoke in sunlight.
Catherine stumbled back in terror. "That sword… what IS that thing?!"
Lencar didn't answer.
He simply walked toward her.
Slowly.
Steadily.
"You monster…!" she shrieked. "Fine! If spells won't work—then I'll just drain Yuno again and run!"
She spun toward Yuno's unconscious body.
She never reached him.
A gust of wind brushed past her cheek—a warning.
No…
Not wind.
A blade.
Lencar was behind her, sword resting lightly against her shoulder.
"When did—?!" she cried out.
"Your eyes are too slow."
He wasn't mocking.
Just stating a fact.
Catherine trembled.
"W-Wait, wait, wait—there's no need to kill me! I can give you mana, youth, anything—just spare—"
"It's already over."
He tapped the back of her neck with the blunt side of the sword.
She collapsed instantly, crumpling to the ground unconscious.
The ash surrounding her dissolved.
For a moment, the street finally fell silent.
The air cleared.
The stench of cursed mana faded.
Lencar exhaled quietly.
"Pathetic."
He turned toward Yuno first.
Still breathing.
Still stable.
Just unconscious and mana-drained.
Lencar knew Yuno would wake up soon—it wasn't the first time he'd suffered from mana exhaustion.
"Good," he murmured. "You lasted longer than the anime version."
He sheathed his sword—
And paused.
His grimoire began glowing faintly beside him.
"…Hm?"
It flipped open on its own, pages fluttering until they settled.
On one page—
Ash-like script appeared.
Three new spells.
Ash Binding Coffin (Replica)
Ash Devouring Storm (Replica)
Ash Absorbing Formation (Replica)
Lencar stared for several seconds.
Then a slow smile formed on his face.
"So… it worked."
His fingers slid along the new ink, tracing the runic patterns.
The exact properties of Catherine's ash magic had been transferred into his grimoire—
Not through devouring a grimoire.
Not through direct replication.
Not through touching Catherine's magic manually.
But through—
The Demon Dweller Sword.
The sword absorbed magical structures.
His Absolute Replication interpreted and reconstructed those structures.
His grimoire imprinted the reconstructed versions automatically.
A multi-step process.
Simple.
Efficient.
Elegant.
His smile widened slightly.
"This makes things easier."
He closed the grimoire.
With the Demon Dweller Sword, every enemy he defeated…
Every spell he cut through…
Every mage who attacked him…
They were all potential sources of magic.
He didn't need to reveal his grimoire devouring secret to anyone.
He didn't need to take risks with rare grimoires.
He didn't need to expose his heretic mode unnecessarily.
He needed only one thing—
A sword swing.