Ryn walked toward the Cathedral door, neither too fast nor too slow, trying to pretend like nothing happened.
His footsteps clicked softly against polished marble, echoing in the empty corridor. Light from stained-glass windows painted drifts of blue and gold across the floor.
I can't believe I got away with that. It was that simple?
Ryn exhaled. Then, when he was certain he was alone, he opened his status window again.
A faint shimmer rippled over his vision.
Now it's time to check his Blessings.
[Blessings: Aquila – S-Rank, Enhanced Senses – B-Rank]
He thought about Aquila immediately. Back during his first life, people who owned S-Rank skills were always central leading figures of the continent…not like he'd want that.
Aquila: The Sky Piercer
(Passive) – Increases perception acceleration.
(Active) – Increases the user's physical attributes by 100% for 5 minutes. Allows the user to dash in any direction for a short distance, consuming 20 MP.
Ryn swallowed.
So that's how it works…
They say no two Blessings were ever the same, but he'd seen high-ranked swordsmen fight with similar blessings—monsters in human skin who cut through creatures like they were made of paper.
He didn't know whether to laugh or scream. The power that he'd been denied in the first life now belonged to him.
Shaking his head, he kept his composure.
Calm down Ryn, you're not safe just yet.
When he was young, his mother often called him a prophet. Everything he said happened eventually…and this was another case of that nickname proving true.
The doors slammed shut with a thunderous BOOM.
Ryn froze.
Every lantern along the hall flickered violently at once. A deep metallic groaning echoed through the cathedral walls, like massive gears turning behind the stone.
Then—
SLAM. SLAM. SLAM.
Iron shutters dropped over every window.
The light was swallowed instantly, leaving only the trembling glow of enchanted lamps.
He knew what this was…a cathedral-wide lockdown.
What happened next, could only be described as a fever dream. His body had twisted instinctively, boosted by [Enhanced Senses], flinging itself sideways before his thoughts caught up.
Wood splintered, marble cracked, and a massive shape slammed through the wall, landing where he just stood five seconds ago.
Ryn hit the ground, rolled, gasped—
A grotesque monster, made of combined limbs roared. Its face, a lion, but growing out of its back, the twisted head of a goat. With the tail of a snake, just as the cherry on top.
He knew what this was—he'd fought it time and time again. A monster that never existed in nature, a byproduct of his worst enemy. A chimera.
How…how's that possible? Why is a Cult Monster here?
He didn't have time to think as the monster lunged, not at him but at the nearby clergymen, ripping him to shreds.
Ryn's breath froze.
The chimera roared, the sound scraping the walls like metal tearing metal.
From deeper in the cathedral, priests screamed.
Armored attendants shouted over each other:
"WHAT IS THAT ABOMINATION?!"
The chimera snapped its head toward the sound, charging at the large group of devouts.
Shields locked together—holy engravings gleaming—and then shattered apart like brittle glass.
"Hold! HOLD—!"
The captain's command died in a scream as the chimera's goat-head clamped down on his shoulder and tore him sideways.
Blood sprayed across the marble.
Two more paladins rushed in, blades drawn.
"[Smite]!"
"[Piercing Lunge]!"
Their skills struck true—one bright slash across its flank, one stab into its thigh—but the chimera barely staggered.
It roared, lashing out.
The serpent tail swept violently, snapping a paladin's neck with a sickening crack. Another was crushed against a pillar, armor folding like tin.
The formation collapsed.
"Fall back! FALL—!"
The cry was cut short as the chimera leapt into the scattering survivors.
It twisted, searching for easier prey—and found one.
A young paladin, barely older than Ryn, stumbled backward over a broken censer. His shield slipped from numb fingers, sword also dropped, clattering on the ground.
The chimera's tail curled up like a striking spear.
Ryn sighed. He was going to try and slip away unnoticed, but it seems his inner humanity said otherwise.
He whispered, barely audible, "Light the way… Aquila."
Energy filled his body like nothing he'd ever experienced before. Ryn felt as if he could run around his estate in ten seconds.
His eyesight sharpened, a small path of light formed in the space, leading to the young paladin. However, it was translucent, as if existing in another world altogether.
A burst of pressure exploded under his feet. Ryn followed the path that he'd saw. In a blink, he had closed the distance.
Arriving right before the lion's maw, he delivered a punch to its skull. It didn't do much damage, but it was enough to stagger the monster, buying a split second for the young paladin to stand up.
[MP: 90/110]
The young paladin stared up at him, breath shaking.
"Y-You… saved me…"
The chimera roared above them, frustrated at losing its prey.
"Not for long if you stay there," he muttered. "Move."
The paladin scrambled back behind a fallen statue, clutching his shield.
Ryn rose fully, breath steadying as the path of light flickered again in his vision — new lines forming, mapping out the chimera's next movements, showing the rhythm of the battle before it happened.
The chimera lowered its stance, muscles coiling for the next charge.
Ryn exhaled.
Alright. Round two.
Just as the light predicted, the monster charged towards him. Ryn slipped aside, barely keeping ahead of its claws. The chimera's paw tore a crater where he had been standing, stone chunks bouncing across the floor.
He grimaced.
That's… faster than I remember.
He checked his stats one more time, hoping they had magically gone up in the last three seconds:
[STR: 7 (+7)]
[DEX: 8 (+8)]
Yeah, no way.
Even if he had the Swordmaster's legendary blade in hand, it would take two or three clean strikes to bring a chimera down.
With his bare fists, not a chance?
The chimera's goat-head screeched at him, saliva flinging across the marble.
Ryn backpedaled, feet sliding on blood-smeared tile — and then the path of light twisted sharply to the left, pulling his gaze toward it.
He didn't question it, diving in the exact opposite direction.
Two paladins had regrouped and stood shakily between him and the monster, shields raised.
"Boy!" one shouted. "Stay behind us!"
"Don't draw its attention!"
Ryn exhaled through his nose.
Yeah, because that's working so well for you.
But he didn't complain, immediately drawing back. The lack of weapons is really starting to annoy him, maybe the next objective is to look for one.
He scanned the hall, looking for any alternate options that he could use without blowing his cover.
His gaze lifted instinctively.
A chandelier hung above the center of the hall, suspended by a chain already stressed from the chimera's earlier thrashing. The ceiling beam above it was cracked.
Ryn inhaled.
Okay. That could work.
He stepped over to a fallen paladin, picking up his sword.
Hmm, usable I guess.
With the next step, Ryn sprinted past the paladin line, straight at the chimera.
The monster snarled, confused for a moment by the sudden shift in formation.
Then, the chimera noticed him and lowered its stance to pounce—
Exactly what he needed.
"Kid, what are you—?!" a paladin shouted.
Ryn ignored him.
He closed the distance in a heartbeat, the floor blurring under his feet.
The chimera lunged—
Ryn leapt up, planting one foot on its foreleg—
The beast reared in confusion, allowing Ryn to step on its back, using its rising momentum like a springboard.
For one impossible moment, he was standing on the chimera's spine, weightless, balanced on instinct alone. The monster bucked beneath him, its goat-head snapping upward in shock.
Gasps echoed across the hall.
"He's—he's ON it?!"
"Is he insane?!"
Ryn didn't hear them.
All he saw was Aquila's glowing trajectory — a thread of perfect light leading straight to the chandelier's chain.
He kicked off the chimera's back.
Wind tore past him as he shot upward, rising several meters into the air. The entire cathedral seemed to freeze in place — paladins staring wide-eyed, clerics praying under their breath, the chimera twisting below him in rage.
[MP: 60/110]
Ryn raised the borrowed blade.
"Come on…" he muttered under his breath.
The path aligned.
He swung downward with everything he had.
CRAAAAACK—!!
The metal sword sliced into the chain's weakening link, snapping it immediately. The whole chandelier accelerated downward, slamming into the chimera with enough force to crack the marble beneath them. Dust exploded upward in a choking cloud, drowning the hall in gray.
For a heartbeat, the cathedral fell silent.
Then—
RRRRAAAAAHHH—!!
The chimera wasn't dead.
The crushed chandelier dug into its spine and shoulders, bending metal skewers into its flesh. The lion-head thrashed wildly, pinned but not broken. The goat-head screeched, eyes bloodshot with rage. The serpent-tail whipped blindly, carving deep gashes into the stone floor.
Ryn didn't have time to celebrate or think.
Aquila's light-path shifted again — downward.
Straight toward the monster's exposed skull.
Ryn understood instantly.
While it's trapped. While it can't move.
He didn't hesitate.
Mid-air, he twisted his body downward, tightening his grip on the sword hilt
Below him, the chimera looked up, blood dripping from its mangled mane.
Ryn whispered to himself.
"Don't miss."
He aligned his path with the trajectory, a narrow point between the chimera's fractured eye ridge and the base of its skull.
The perfect seam.
He plummeted.
SHUNK—!!!
The sword drove straight through the chimera's skull, burying itself to the hilt.
[MP: 40/110]
The chimera convulsed once—
Then collapsed with a final shudder, pinned beneath iron and stone.
He wiped the blood off his cheek with the back of his sleeve.
Too close.
Ryn exhaled slowly, forcing the tremor out of his hands.
A faint notification blinked at the edge of his vision.
[STR: 7 (+7) → 8 (+8)]
[DEX: 8 (+8) → 9 (+9)]
[Aquila Mastery: 0.4% → 1.0%]
He blinked once.
"…Nice."