[Author’s Note: I’m back! Sorry for not uploading yesterday, but with just one day of rest, I feel recharged and ready to give it my all again! I’ll continue doing my best. Now, let’s dive into the story!]
BOOOMMM!!!
The Archpriestess’s holy flames erupted with a fierce intensity, surging forward as if trying to consume the Master’s own holy flames. Even though they were technically the same kind of sacred fire, there was an undeniable difference.
The Master’s flames burned with a purity and power so overwhelming that it was as if he were a being beyond any comprehension.
The sheer quality and quantity of his flames far surpassed hers!
The Archpriestess narrowed her eyes, a deep frown forming on her face. She knew—without a doubt—that he was supposed to be dead.
There was simply no way a necromancer, someone steeped in the art of death, could wield holy flames.
It was unthinkable… And yet, not only was he using them, but his flames were stronger than hers.
That could only mean one thing…
The Master was alive!
It wasn’t that she refused to believe what she was seeing. It was just that… she had witnessed this man’s death with her own eyes.
And the dead—no matter how powerful—could not wield holy power.
It went against the very nature of existence.
None of this made sense.
“Just what the hell did you do to gain this kind of power?!” the Archpriestess snarled, gritting her teeth as sweat dripped down her forehead. She poured all her strength into resisting him, but the force pressing against her was suffocating.
Suddenly, a sharp presence flared beside them.
Aether appeared at the Master’s side, an ice sword glistening in his hand as he aimed directly for the Master’s neck. His movements were fast, precise—deadly. But just as the blade was about to pierce its mark—
“I knew you’d do that, cowards!” the Master’s voice rang out, his lips twisting into a smirk.
Before Aether’s strike could land, the Master moved his other hand—the one gripping the dull sword. His reaction was unnervingly smooth, almost as if he had predicted this exact scenario. His blade shot toward Aether’s neck in a perfect counter. The edge of the dull sword was mere inches from slicing through when—
“I’m not falling for the same trick twice,” Aether muttered, his voice laced with amusement.
In a fluid motion, he adjusted his grip, not blocking but guiding the Master’s sword. Instead of clashing against it, Aether redirected its path downward toward the ground. And then—
Thuckkk!
A sharp pain shot through the Master’s foot as his own sword impaled it. His smirk vanished in an instant, his expression twisting into pure fury.
“Fucker!!” he bellowed as white flames erupted even more violently, surging toward the Archpriestess like a raging storm.
She gritted her teeth and pushed back with everything she had. She was barely an inch away from being swallowed whole by his fire, but she refused to back down.
‘Damn it…’ If it weren’t for the Archpriestess, the Master would have already crushed them.
The only ones who could contain his flames—even partially—were the Archpriestess, the Saintess, and the Apostle. That was the reason he had always avoided directly confronting them before. He knew that despite his overwhelming power, they were capable of holding him at bay—if only barely.
In the span of mere seconds—
SSSSSSHHH!!
The Master’s flames flared even higher before he abruptly pulled back his sword. In the very same instant, he released his other hand, ceasing the outpour of flames. His body twisted with fast agility, narrowly avoiding the Archpriestess’s fire as it surged back at him the moment he let go.
But that wasn’t his objective.
His movement carried momentum, and as he spun, his sword came slashing down—
Aether barely had time to react. The blade was already at his neck, and it had happened so fast—
Just as the dull sword was about to make contact—
Thucckk!
“Arghh!” The Master let out a pained groan as his body jerked to a halt.
The sword in his grip trembled, stopping just centimetres from Aether’s throat. Something was restricting him—something tight and unrelenting.
The Master’s breathing hitched as he looked down, his gaze locking onto a thin line of blood dripping from his neck. A sensation of something invisible—something coiling like a noose—was wrapping around his neck.
“You really shouldn’t let your guard down, Snape,” Dora’s voice rang out, smooth and almost mocking.
Her fingers danced in the air as if pulling unseen strings, and the invisible force constricted further, tightening around the Master’s throat.
The Master let out another strained groan, his teeth clenched in frustration before he managed to hiss, “Disgusting… You’re all ganging up on a single man?” His furious eyes swept over them, filled with seething hatred.
“You—” he spat, locking his glare onto the Archpriestess. “You dare call yourself an Archpriestess while teaming up like this? And you—Sovereign—you disgust me even more. Siding with some child just to kill me? How low you’ve all fa—archh!!”
His words were cut off as Dora tightened her grip, the unseen force crushing his throat with even more force.
“Look who’s talking,” Dora muttered, her expression twisting into one of annoyance. He had the nerve to call them low? For ganging up on him? What a joke.
Wasn’t he the same bastard who had tried to destroy her academy from the shadows?
“Please,” Dora scoffed, shaking her head with amusement. “Bitch.” Her voice was laced with pure mockery.
She glanced at Aether, who gave a small nod. Dora inhaled deeply before turning her attention back to the Master.
“Goodbye, Snape… Master,” she said, her tone laced with finality.
Her fingers curled, and—
“Arrrhhh!!”
The Master howled in agony as the invisible noose around his throat tightened further. His body jerked violently, and the sword in his grasp slipped from his fingers, clattering to the ground. His hands shot up, clawing desperately at the unseen force strangling him, but there was nothing to grasp—nothing to fight against.
The Archpriestess averted her eyes, unable to watch the gruesome sight before her. Aether, on the other hand, stared blankly, his gaze fixed on the Master as blood trickled down from the deepening cut on his neck, the crimson liquid staining his clothes.
Dora groaned, her fingers trembling from the strain of holding the invisible noose wrapped around his throat. Her hands ached as she tried to force it tighter, but something resisted, something far stronger than she had anticipated.
“It’s… stronger,” she muttered under her breath, her brows furrowing in frustration as she pulled even harder, using every ounce of strength she could muster.
The Master groaned in return, his own hands clawing at the unseen force constricting his neck. He yanked at it desperately, his body trembling as he struggled to pry it away, his instincts screaming at him to fight back.
Both of them were pulling—one fighting desperately to survive, the other determined to end him once and for all.
The Master’s eyes grew misty, his vision blurring as a terrifying realization settled in.
This was it.
The end!
But…
No…
He couldn’t let it end like this. Not yet.
He didn’t want to die.
Not now. Not when he still had unfinished business. Not when there was someone he needed to see—one last time.
‘P-Please…’ he inwardly pleaded, his chest rising and falling in ragged, shallow breaths. His golden eyes, once radiant with life, slowly dulled as if the very essence of his being was slipping away.
Until—
‘M-Mother… Give me one more chance…’
Suddenly, everything fell silent.
The entire battlefield froze as if time itself had momentarily halted.
Aether’s eyes narrowed, sensing something was terribly wrong. An eerie, suffocating pressure filled the air, crackling with an unseen force, and then—
The Master’s dulled eyes flashed violently back to life!
Without warning, white flames erupted from his hands, burning brighter than ever. His fingers, now trembling with raw power, seized the invisible threads strangling him, and in an instant—
The flames ignited them.
Like a fuse catching fire, the unseen bindings flickered and burned, the white-hot fire surging along the thread with impossible speed, racing toward its source.
It all happened in the blink of an eye—
“ARRRHHH!!”
Dora screamed, her voice shrill and filled with agony as her hands were suddenly consumed by the very flames she had used to strangle him.
She yanked her arms back, thrashing wildly, but it was useless. The fire clung to her fingers like a living entity, crawling up her wrists and forearms as if something unseen was devouring her flesh inch by inch.
Her skin blistered instantly. Her nails blackened and cracked before peeling away. The pain was beyond anything she had ever felt before as if her very soul was being scorched.
The Archpriestess’s eyes widened in pure horror, her breath catching in her throat.
‘This… this is… M-Mother’s energy…!’
Her stomach twisted with dread. She had only ever heard of this kind of flame—sacred, divine, and absolute.
To wield it here, in a place ruled by Arcane, was nothing short of a suicidal act. No one should be capable of doing this.
Except for her and Helena! Who had been granted a miraculous blessing from Arcane itself though using it would still cause backlash except for Helena who seemed to be able to use it using that tattoo!
But the flames currently devouring Dora’s hands… these weren’t ordinary holy flames.
They burned with something far worse.
Mother’s energy made them a hundred times more lethal than anything they had encountered before, amplifying the pain beyond reason.
The Archpriestess moved instinctively, ready to heal Dora’s injuries before they became irreversible. But then—
The Master raised his hand toward her.
She stiffened, her muscles tensing as her eyes narrowed. She could handle it. She knew she could. But…
If those flames touched her, even she wouldn’t escape unscathed. The purity of the Master’s flames, now mixed with Mother’s energy, made them far too dangerous.
The Master smirked, his gaze flickering with something dark, something utterly wicked.
Then—
His hand suddenly veered toward Aether instead, catching him off guard.
“You Joker…” the Master sneered before hurling a mass of white flames directly at him.
Aether’s eyes widened in alarm, his instincts kicking in at the last second.
“Hell no!” he shouted, activating his skill without hesitation.
Step!
In an instant, he moved, shifting his position in a blink. He was sure he had dodged it. He was fast enough—he had to be.
But—
“Not bad,” the Master murmured, his voice unnervingly close.
Aether barely had time to react before he saw him standing right in front of him, grinning like a predator toying with its prey.
“But not enough.”
The Master snapped his fingers.
BOOOUFFFFFFFF!!!
White flames exploded, engulfing Aether’s entire body before he even had a chance to defend himself.
“NNNOOOO!!”
The Archpriestess screamed, her voice laced with panic as she rushed forward to intervene, but—
The Master was already in front of her.
Before she could react—
He drove his foot into her stomach with full force.
BOOMM!!!
The impact sent her flying, her body crashing violently against the ground, the force of the hit strong enough to send shockwaves rippling through the battlefield.
At that exact moment—
Mary and Sandra appeared, having just finished dealing with the tiny hooded figure.
But the moment their eyes landed on the scene before them, their blood ran cold.
Aether—burning alive!
Dora—her hands reduced to nothing but charred, blackened bones, trembling as she convulsed in unbearable pain.
And then—
BOOOUFFFFFFFF!!!
BOOOUFFFFFFFF!!!
Before they could even react, the flames surged toward them as well, swallowing them whole in an unstoppable inferno of pure destruction.
