Chapter 84
Silence.
Not peace.
Not victory.
Just absence.
The battlefield had stopped breathing.
Dust drifted where Monessa once stood.
Commander Toya's body lay still in the center of shattered stone.
The Holy Counter had already faded from his grasp.
And the Lord—stood motionless.
His hand remained extended.
Still reaching.
Still late.
---He stepped forward.Once.
Then again.
Each step echoed too clearly in the broken sanctuary.
No one moved to stop him.
Not Princess.
Not Chris.
Not Guinevere.
Not even Vendetta's scattered forces.
---The Lord reached the dust.
Slowly
—he lowered himself.
Kneeling.
His hand touched the remains of Monessa's stone form.
Careful.
Like it still mattered.
Like she was still there.
He gathered the dust into his palm.
Held it.
Did not speak.-
--Chris broke the silence first.
Chris: "…What is he doing?"
His voice was hoarse.
Chris: "…Did he just kill that stone goddess?"
---Princess didn't look away from the Lord.
Her expression steady.
Focused.Princess: "No."
princess took a step forward
Calm.
Certain.
princess : "He forced the ritual to fail."
Chris frowned.
Guinevere answered this time, voice calm but firm.
Guinevere: "Gods are immortal. They can't be killed like that."
She glanced toward the drifting dust.
Guinevere: "Destroying their stone body doesn't end them. It only triggers relocation."
Princess shook her head
Princess :and without all goddess stone body lord ritual wont complete i guess..
guinevere : "He ended the ritual for now ."
Silence.
That realization settled slowly.
---The Lord's fingers tightened around the dust.
Very slowly.
His shoulders shifted.
Something changed in the air.
Not sudden.
Not loud.
Just… wrong.
---Lord: "…How…"
Quiet.
Barely audible.
Lord: "…How dare you."
---The temperature of the battlefield dropped.
Princess stepped forward slightly.
Chris raised his weapon instinctively.
Guinevere's eyes sharpened.
---The Lord stood.
Dust slipped through his fingers.
Purple aura began leaking from beneath his cloak.
Thin at first.
Then heavier.
Thicker.--
-Lord: "HOW DARE YOU."
BOOM—The sanctuary trembled.
Stone cracked under invisible pressure.
The hooded followers behind him staggered.
One stepped back.
Then another.
Fear spread without instruction.
---Chris took a half step back.
Chris: "…Okay… that's not normal."
---Princess didn't move.
Her gaze stayed locked on the Lord.
The Lord lifted his head.
The aura behind him deepened into a violent purple storm.
The ground cracked outward from his feet.
Stone split.
Air distorted.
---Vendetta stepped forward abruptly.
Her golden shields flared across the battlefield in overlapping layers.
Vendetta: "Everyone—move!"
Her voice broke slightly..
Vendetta: "NOW!"
---Hooded followers began retreating instantly.
Not ordered.
Not coordinated.
Just instinct.-
--Chris glanced around.Chris: "Hey—this is bad, right?"
guinevere :-tch- we have to move as well
The Lord clenched his fist.
The dust vanished between his fingers.
And something inside him broke.
---BOOOOOOM—
The purple aura erupted outward.
As a wave.
As a collapse.
The sanctuary's structure tore apart instantly.
Stone disintegrated.
The air itself screamed under pressure.-
--Princess moved immediately.
Princess: "Down!"
Guinevere followed the motion instantly,
pulling them both behind broken stone.
---Vendetta's golden shields expanded rapidly.
raising her hand
Vendetta: holy shield!!
Layer after layer.
Trembling.
Straining.
Her hands shook violently.
Smoke filled the ruined space.
Dust hung in the air like frozen time.-
--Princess slowly pushed herself up from rubble.
A cut ran across her cheek.
...CHAPTER 84ENDS...