Despite having an Ancestor of the Dead Apostles right beside her, Rin, perhaps because Black Princess was in a state of depleted power, was incredibly bold and started bickering with her.
"Where are your guards?"
"Of course, they're being held up by the enemies outside."
"So what are you going to do now?"
"You broke the lock on the Boundary Gate and drew them here, so you're responsible."
"Ah?..."
Rin chatted back-to-back with the Black Princess, who had transformed into a harmless blonde loli. The Agent of the Church didn't dare to make a move, as Rin's unexpected appearance had thrown them into disarray. After all, the Black Princess's guards were Ancestors of the Dead Apostles! And Rin, who appeared here, was also categorized by them into that group.
"A thousand years ago, I suffered a severe hidden injury during a battle with my foolish sister. Every ten years, it acts up on a night of a lunar eclipse. At these times, I have to self-seal to get through the period when the injury flares up. This time, for some reason, the Church managed to track my whereabouts."
"My guards are holding back powerful enemies outside. This shared domain is a stronghold that old man Jewel gave me. I'm here waiting for the period of my injury to pass. The concealed door, even an Ancestor of the Dead Apostles might not have noticed, but you broke the lock, and that drew them here."
Rin, with a black line on her face, turned her back to Altrouge. This blame she was taking... I was trapped in the forest by your shared domain and couldn't get out. If I hadn't seen that door, I would have set a fire for three hundred miles. Then, when the shared domain collapsed, you would have been the one dumbfounded.
Rin vigilantly watched the Church Agent around them, who were on full alert but hesitant to act, and frowned, saying, "They seem to be waiting for someone to arrive."
Altrouge, however, was exceptionally calm, stating serenely, "There should be powerful reinforcements coming. They've mistaken you for one of my guards, so they don't dare to act rashly."
"..."
I never thought I'd be mistaken for an Ancestor of the Dead Apostles-level expert one day... Clearly, Altrouge also knew that dragging this out would only be disadvantageous to her, so she said, "Dragon-blooded girl, how about you help me this one time? As compensation, I can help you activate the dragon's blood within you."
"Just call me Rin, Princess. To be honest, as a Magus, I don't have much affection for the Church. It seems that by standing with you, they don't intend to listen to my explanations either." Rin clasped her hands together, stretching her limbs, and said.
For any Nasuverse fan who loves its works, it's hard to feel good about the Church. What Rin found most unacceptable was the Church's code of conduct:
In the name of God, all actions are good.
As long as it's in the name of God, killing is good, torture is good, forcing good people into prostitution is also good! This kind of so-called good, without any stance or bottom line, made Rin utterly nauseous. Even if their extermination of Dead Apostles benefited humanity, that wasn't their starting point. They merely sought to implement their doctrine, to eliminate all non-human heretics, and heretics are not divided into good or evil.
In this isolated, closed space, even if Rin proved she was human and not a Dead Apostle, these Agent would never let her go, because Maguss are also heretics!
However, these elite Agent of the Church were not comparable to the Maguss she had killed in Misaki last time. These Agent were a seasoned force, tempered in countless life-and-death battles against Dead Apostles, possessing rich practical combat experience and unwavering steel-like faith. Moreover, due to their shared belief, their cooperation was incredibly unified; they would not fight individually.
Furthermore, the anti-magic Black Keys, which disrupt the flow of magical energy, were extremely troublesome and disgusting anti-magic armaments for Maguss. Although their physical destructive power wasn't great, they could interfere with the operation of magic to a certain extent. Coupled with the Church's unique Baptism Chant, Rin wasn't afraid to fight these dozen or so Agent, but killing them would be difficult, especially since their posture indicated strong reinforcements were coming. To avoid being caught in a pincer attack, she needed to finish the fight quickly.
After all, it was a colossal entity that had contended with the Dead Apostle 27 Ancestors for thousands of years, and most of the earliest Ancestors of the Dead Apostles had fallen at the hands of the Church. Such an organization could not possibly be weak.
Rin vigilantly looked left and right at the Agent, saying, "Princess, do you have any abilities that can assist me? It's impossible for me to eliminate them in a short time with my current strength."
"So you agree?" Altrouge turned to look at Rin.
"Of course, it is a great honor to fight for Princess." Rin replied with a smile, turning her head. After all, she had deeply loved the beautiful and noble Black Princess for two lifetimes.
This despair-inducing world that judges by looks... Altrouge climbed onto Rin's back from behind, wrapping her arms tightly around Rin's shoulders, biting Rin's tender little ear, and softly said, "Well, a human Magus fighting for a Dead Apostle Princess. Listen carefully, as a hybrid of True Ancestor and Dead Apostle, my strongest state should be at the full moon, but because I actually possess another unique constitution, my true strongest state is not the full moon, but when my feet are on 'gaia'."
"Because I am connected to gaia, and due to this ability, even without being connected to 'gaia', I constantly receive energy from the earth, giving me unparalleled explosive power and inexhaustible strength. However, I am currently in a state of self-sealing and cannot use my power. But I can now rely on close physical contact to make you a conductor connecting me to the earth, allowing you to use this power as it flows through your body. This is my biggest secret. If you leak it to the people of the Church opposite, you can definitely defect to their side."
Stepping on the earth, one could gain infinite magical power and strength, endless explosive power. This was like Rin being in the dragon source hall, but Altrouge had amplified this range to the entire world! As long as her feet were on the earth, she would inherently stand in an invincible position!
When Altrouge climbed onto Rin's back, Rin felt it. She felt herself transform into a plant rooted in the earth, continuously drawing everything she needed from the earth! Magical energy, physical strength, mental energy—as long as she was rooted in the earth, she could fight tirelessly. Although this power ultimately flowed to Altrouge on Rin's back, it was under Rin's control as it passed through her body.
This feeling was even better than being in Alice's Moon Oil world. Not just endless magical power, but the power of the earth, the vitality of the earth, the life of the earth, all flowed within me!
Boom!!!
Like a sudden clap of thunder, Rin moved, carrying Altrouge! To prevent the Black Keys from affecting the flow of magical energy, Rin directly condensed the overflowing magical energy into a full-body battle armor and manifested several chains to fix Altrouge to her back. And accompanying the completion of all this was Rin's punch aimed at the leader of the Agent!
"Bang!"
"Crack!"
Rin's fist smashed into the Agent's blocking arms. The arms, enveloped in the holy light of the Baptism Chant, were broken by Rin's single punch. The heavy blow, breaking through the defense, finally landed on the Agent's heart.
In one encounter, the leader of the Agent fell under Rin's iron fist. However, Rin also had to admire his quick reaction and judgment in response. This punch only incapacitated him, but the obstructed fist did not burst his heart.
But it didn't matter anymore!
As she defeated the Agent leader, Black Keys, like a torrential storm, shot towards Rin, sealing off all her escape routes. But with Rin's already knife-sharp eyesight enhanced by magic nearly a hundredfold, the countless Black Keys seemed to freeze in mid-air.
Rin's hands moved like lightning. With a swing in the air, hundreds of Black Keys instantly reversed their blades! In an instant, their power, amplified by Rin, increased by more than ten times. Like a volley of arrows released from a thousand-pound bow, they shot towards all the Agent.
The Black Keys that shot out from Tohsaka Rin's hand were more than ten times stronger in terms of force, speed, sharpness, and even anti-magic effect. The Agent had to scramble to defend themselves. In that instant, a sword light, like a bolt of lightning, flashed across the necks of all the Agent.
The next second, over a dozen astonished heads flew up and fell to the ground.
"Poof!"
Tohsaka Rin, gripping a Knight's Greatsword formed from condensed magical energy, pierced the heart of the still-breathing Agent leader. With Mana Burst burning at dozens of times its usual rate, combined with extreme reinforcement magic, she no longer needed to Project Tsubame Gaeshi to have enough speed and power to sever over a dozen heads in an instant.
Tohsaka Rin deactivated Mana Burst and reinforcement magic. Free from the chains, Altrouge jumped off Tohsaka Rin's back, scanned her surroundings, and with a satisfied smile on her cute face, nodded and said, "Not bad, truly not bad. Clean and decisive... Your magical energy attribute is very special, and its rank is very high. Your physical attributes are so strong that they almost rival a fully grown pure dragon. Among the Ancestors of the Dead Apostles, few can surpass you in physical attributes. Do you have..."
At this moment, the mirror that Altrouge had been using to monitor the entrance suddenly reacted again. This time, the mirror's reaction was exceptionally strong, and a dazzling white light shot up from it!
"Oh no, a big one has arrived..."
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