"Warriors, I bestow upon you the last glory of Fedou!"

"In the name of the twilight of Koamod, I trade my echoes for your hope!"

"Gift to you the gentle breeze of Beaulieu Meditation, fight for the future."

Shattered forces of kings descended like a shower of blossoming stars upon the Defenders and Specter Hunters.

The lingering power of human kings of yore, the remnants of their royal authority, augmented the army of the twofold kings, a formidable royal legion.

Blood churned, and battle fervor soared. Defender Knights roared in fury as they faced the apocalypse before them.

Flames, as if plummeting from heaven, brought an annihilating heat that heralded meteorites, delivering an unmatched impact that sealed their path ahead.

Though their faces were already veiled behind layers of stony skin, they could still feel the heat as the air ignited and blurred, forming an inescapable deathtrap, a veritable hell, before the Defender Knights.

In the face of such a scene, the front line Knight Commander, Benjamin, let out a roar.

"Purgatory lies ahead! Defenders! Charge!"

Like moths to a flame, Benjamin’s form was swallowed by the fire, but the Defender Knights burst forth with their unyielding spirits.

"For Dreya! For our homeland!"

"Charge!"

Perhaps, in this world, miracles truly do exist. The Defenders shattered through the flames and charged at the Inquisitor Legion, whose faces were beginning to show surprise.

This was a novel experience for the Inquisitor Legion. As an army of the Holy Light, they were used to carrying out slaughter beneath the blessing of the Holy Light’s layers, under the surprised gaze of the enemy forces.

Who would have imagined the tables could turn.

Watching blessings that rivaled their own cascade over the Guardians, blessings that were not only equal but even more potent. The Dreya knights, who traditionally could take on ten by themselves, were now capable of contending with warriors of the Holy Light.

Algernon retracted his smile; the situation no longer afforded them any complacency.

"Slayer of Darkness, give it your all."

In the midst of the Inquisitor Legion, a dozen beams of Holy Light connected in the sky to form a net, the light inverted, creating a weeping dark angel that wailed mournfully.

"Slayer of Darkness, Sixth Tier, Black Prison."

Darkness enveloped the entire legion, as twisted shadowy spectres emerged from the ground, roaring as they lunged at the royal army.

Just as Fire Bath is to Guardian, Slayer of Darkness is the high-ranking Paladin form for the Inquisitor. The Inquisitor Legion does not pray or accept the blessings of the Holy Light’s children. They roam the fringes of the Holy Light, with all their time spent annihilating the enemies of the Holy Light. They’ve touched the deepest darkness, and their once-pure power has been corrupted.

They embraced the corruption of power, for the sake of upholding their own justice.

The Slayer of Darkness would devour the remnants of past foes, mastering their abilities, and meting out retribution with the enemy’s own tactics. Drawing upon the strength of their leader, the angel of fire, the Slayer of Darkness crafted a prison within their shadow, Black Prison.

Evil shall become our strength, and the vanquished remnants shall serve their destroyers.

The magical beasts previously vanquished by Inquisitor Knights now stood as new enemies for both nation’s armies. Furthermore, by releasing these creatures, the Slayer of Darkness liberated themselves.

"Their power requires skill to assist, do not attempt to replicate!"

The front-line Inquisitor Knights twisted their bodies, growing fur, scales, and toughened skin similar to magical beasts, augmenting their forms with Holy Light Shields and various elemental enchantments. The rear ranks of the Inquisitors had transformed into Artillery Mages, showering an array of elemental spells like a magical downpour.

If the Guardian’s Knight Commander’s ability, Fire Bath’s purification of the land, was to seal the enemy’s power, forcing them into direct confrontation with the group-minded Guardian legion.

The Slayer of Darkness, the Legion Commander of the Inquisitor, and the ability of Black Prison did not seal the enemy’s power. Instead, they pilfered it, mimicking enemy abilities and reflecting them with even more terrifying force. The level of this copied power depends on the innate strength of the Inquisitor. For instance, under the augmentation of Black Prison, each Inquisitor became a Fifth Tier. To oppose the Inquisitors means to battle against all of their enemies. They would have dozens, hundreds of ways to annihilate their adversaries.

However, they too had their weaknesses, imperfections that could not be optimized.

Against beings stronger than themselves, they would be very weak. (What am I thinking? Isn’t this obvious?)

Lyle stood on the hillside, watching the Defender Knights cross the Purgatory Land.

"It’s astonishing, the knights charged over, they... they look unscathed! So strong, the power of kings!"

Mr. Irene remained calm.

"It’s not that they are strong, but the meteor shower of fire was an illusion, the Paladins do not yet have the ability to unleash a calamity, at least not currently. They do not possess such a level of Magic Power, nor are they Rule Breakers who can break free from the rules..."

Irene did not continue explaining but smiled, "Those Paladins created an illusion of an invincible enemy, trying to make the Defender Knights retreat, and yet..."

"And yet, the Dreya people are as stubborn as our Mr. Reed."

"That is to say, the Inquisitors are worried about their attack; they’ve already attained power rivaling the Holy Light."

"No, not yet, the Inquisitors haven’t made their serious move..."

No sooner had he spoken, the weeping angels of the Black Prison appeared in Lyle’s field of vision, followed by the fully manifest Slayer of Darkness Knights and the fully strong Holy Light Legion.

With the help of Nia’s keen perception of magic, Lyle could easily feel that the Inquisitor Legion had a clear advantage in strength, even though the Defenders had received blessings from various kings and become a royal army.

"Don’t worry, we still have a contingency."

Mr. Irene’s gentle voice carried a calming magic.

Lyle remembered. Mr. Irene had not yet imparted the king’s blessing. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"I do not possess the power of a king."

"But I do have magic."

A small sense of loss arose in Lyle’s heart, Mr. Irene’s magic would probably help. But what could a single mage accomplish in a war between nations?

"High-Tier Magic Guidance, Group Magic Armor."

"High-Tier Magic Guidance, Group Mana Thorns."

Magic Power burst forth below Lyle’s eyelids, forming a dazzling wave of magic.

So powerful!

Why, even though Mr. Reed’s and Mr. Echel’s combat skills were still within the realm that humans could handle.

How could Mr. Irene be so strong!!!

This oppressive feeling weighed on everyone; a battlefield boss had appeared, on our side.

This Mana Quantity seemed to be only slightly less than the Scholar Teacher’s. No, that’s not right, the Scholar Teacher had never fought seriously; his Magic Power surely exceeded this much.

However, this sickeningly dense Mana Quantity seemed to have tipped the scales once again.

Faster than the Tower Shield that the Defenders forcefully advanced with was the preemptive, varied Magic Power attacks from the Inquisitor Knights.

Thunder, flame, ice spikes, stones...

The blue mana shell around the Defender Knights rippled, and then some Inquisitors started to clutch their heads in agony.

"Mana Thorns, an advanced spell for spell counteraction, trigger style, which reflects intense mental shocks back to the spell caster."

"A troublesome spell, headache-inducing in more ways than one."

Amidst Mr. Irene’s composed explanation, the Defender Knights’ charging wall collided with the headache-stricken Inquisitor Knights.