How did he end up here?

Not only did a similar question flash through Charlotte’s mind, even Kales, the red-haired knight-captain currently forming a holy light barrier barely withstanding the pressure from two newly arrived Arcanist mages, wore a slightly stunned expression.

The news of the Pope’s personal campaign had not been disclosed to them, knight-captains like him. Even the intelligence about his departure from the Holy City hadn’t reached Kales.

Could it be that the Holy Father feared the specifics might leak, so he only informed a few trusted confidants?

At this thought, Kales shifted his gaze and noticed the Bishop’s face showed not the slightest surprise. He remained focused on casting, attempting to restrain the Imperial Duke before them.

Then... was the Pope’s personal arrival truly just to conquer White Maple Town?

Or did he harbor other intentions?

In midair, the elderly man dressed in a pure white robe, holding an ancient scripture, stepped to the end of the luminous path paved with light bricks. He raised his hand, lifting both the scriptures and a brilliant ray of light rivaling the sun high above his head.

In an instant, boundless radiation enveloped the entire battlefield. The nearly ruined White Maple Town dissolved into a hazy expanse, and even Lyra, whose light resistance was extremely high, instinctively narrowed her eyes, using her fine, soft lashes to shield herself from the blinding brilliance.

Undoubtedly, the radiant object held by the man in priestly robes was the Holy Relic they had previously used to communicate with Monica, the so-called Holy Light Artifact.

The Sword of Light trembled ceaselessly, as if sensing a resonance with the Holy Light Artifact. Lyra gripped the hilt tightly, her legs sheathed in smooth white stockings, slightly apart, her boots braced against the rubble-strewn ground, resisting the surging tide of light crashing toward her.

In that very instant, heaven and earth shifted. Ripple-like waves radiated from Hebrew’s palm, scattering the layered clouds and allowing the sun’s rays to shine directly upon the land.

"The fervent devotion you all have shown in service to the Lord, I have testified."

The deep, resonant male voice echoed across the heavens, overpowering even the metallic clang of clashing blades.

"Those without faith remain deluded, showing no reverence for the Lord’s great works, receiving His blessings yet offering no gratitude, repeatedly committing acts of desecration."

"Now, the heretics shall be judged by me personally."

The rippling waves of light spread across the entire White Maple Town. The once freely flowing wind was instantly severed by the luminous barrier. Charlotte, most sensitive to such shifts, furrowed her delicate brows as a foreboding sensation welled up within her.

The last time she met the Holy Pope, he had already stood at the peak of Arcanist mages. Just how powerful he had become now, she could not fathom.

If Hebrew dared to enter the battlefield personally, he must have an exceptionally thorough battle plan behind him.

Charlotte again summoned a strong gust, attempting to break through the shimmering ripples created by the opponent. Her mental energy rapidly depleted. The moment she breached the light waves, the frigid wind struck an invisible barrier and immediately rebounded, dissipating.

This feeling... Could it possibly be...

A memory from that day in the capital’s suburbs suddenly resurfaced. Charlotte exchanged a glance with the Arcanist mage arriving from afar. The other mage, also observing the light waves Hebrew had created, sensed something missed and immediately launched a lightning-element spell.

The cluster of light-element particles shattered under the onslaught, but the spatial restriction remained unbroken. The lightning, like the earlier gale, failed to penetrate.

It was as if, in that moment, White Maple Town had been severed from the rest of the world, only the blazing sun hanging above them could influence the interior.

Was this some sort of barrier magic?

From the feedback of her mental energy, this blockade targeted not only elemental forces but also prevented magical energy from escaping. Hebrew had completely sealed off this space, allowing no one to leave, not even the Arcanist mages within the barrier.

Such an overwhelming spatial seal was not typical of an Arcanist mage’s capabilities. Yet, to claim the Holy Pope had transcended the Arcanist into the next rank was absolutely impossible.

If he truly possessed such power, he wouldn’t need to go to such lengths to manipulate a barrier. An early tier Arcanist mage could kill a peak tier Magnus with a mere flick of his finger. If he surpasses even that, a being above the Arcanist versus an ordinary Arcanist mage would be a complete and utter annihilation.

Having analyzed the situation, Charlotte remained on high alert, her thoughts still deep.

Even without breaking through, the Holy Pope’s strength had reached the peak of Arcanist mages, the kind of existence everyone present had to look up to. His deliberate deployment of a barrier to seal off White Maple Town could only mean one thing.

Hebrew intended to wipe out every Arcanist mage present, especially Charles.

The fall of a noble duke will deliver a devastating blow to the Empire’s military strength. Not to mention Charles himself was the supreme military commander of the Northern Region and a loyalist to the crown. Once he died, the Valeria Empire would inevitably fall into short-term chaos. At that moment, the Holy Light Church could regroup its forces and advance triumphantly.

And then, it might be her, the nominal leader of the magical machinery reform faction.

Understanding the danger of this battle, Charlotte touched the ring on her finger, her mind again conjuring the presence of two other equally dangerous auras, on the battlefield’s front, at the village where the Church’s knight corps was stationed.

Two more Arcanist mages clad in silver-white armor. Strategic-level forces, now nine Arcanist mages, had appeared within and around this tiny town. In terms of both quality and quantity, the forces of the Valeria Kingdom cannot compare to the Church’s knight corps. The balance of victory was gradually tilting toward the Church.

The only good news might be that Astrid’s long-standing worries could finally cease. With the Church deploying so many Arcanist mages at once, they likely had no remaining strength to launch attacks elsewhere.

Meanwhile, the Arcanist mage stationed and guarding Losterling City noticed the anomaly at White Maple Town and immediately sent word to Regent Astrid.

"A peculiar magic similar to a barrier?"

"Yes, Your Highness. The elemental particle activity within and around White Maple Town has been artificially enhanced. Only area magic can achieve this."

Arcanist mages could indeed cast specific area spells, true, but typically, such magic, requiring immense mental energy, would lack stability and durability. For instance, the [Holy Radiant City] relied on group energy input, with individuals forming parts of a ritual formation, barely maintaining the stability of the illusory light city.

The Church’s current area magic not only blocked elemental particle movement but also remained unbroken for an extended duration. This abnormality caused Astrid to unconsciously tap her fingers on the table.

"And... there’s another strange thing..."

"Your Highness, earlier, White Maple Town emitted intense elemental reflections. Since then, neither I nor Mr. Kays have been able to extend our mental energy any further."

It was as if the space there had already transcended the mundane, becoming a solitary island adrift upon the sea.

Astrid’s crimson eyes darkened further, a faint suspicion forming in her mind.

Could it be Brennild’s doing again?

Elsewhere, shattered light grazed Lyra’s strands of hair, striking the protruding stone pillar behind her. The pink-haired girl, who had battled several Church Knights for a long time, took a light breath, her fingers tightening once more on the hilt as she rapidly advanced toward the previous caster.

Blood bloomed like flowers in the dust and rubble. The silver-white Church Knight swung his longsword, searing and dense sword qi crisscrossing the air, iron boots painting with blood.

Flashes flickered across her blue eyes, sparks from clashing blades, traces of light magic activity. The sound of blades cleaving steel echoed in Lyra’s ears, followed by flesh. A diagonal slash of the holy sword sent a ripple of crimson skyward, most of it evaporating before hitting the ground.

This should be enough to hold them off.

A fierce sword aura swirled around Lyra. The pink-haired girl lifted back, seeing the city wall defenders nearly finished retreating, and her heart quietly eased.

Two minutes remained until the fifteen-minute deadline. These people should survive.

Her gaze shifted, passing over the fallen corpses in the street, both Church Knights clad in holy armor and city soldiers in military uniforms.

Beneath the surging holy light, death ran deep and brown.

Facing everyone, she raised the Sword of Light once more, her eyes calmly sweeping over the knights present, her voice low.

"Retreat behind the wall, and no one else will die."

She didn’t want to stay nearby and continue entangling with these Church Knights. Others were still rushing into the shelter. The sooner she went to assist, the fewer allies would die.

Rather than maximizing enemy casualties, Lyra wanted to minimize the loss of her own side’s lives.

Hearing Lyra’s words, the Church Knights, having witnessed her abilities, did not retreat. Instead, supporting each other, they assumed the same offensive stance as before.

It seemed they were determined to fight to the death here.

Seeing they refused to let her go, the longsword in Lyra’s hand ignited with holy flames once more. Her entire demo grew razor-sharp, like a blade drawn from its sheath.

This time, however, the Arcanist mages’ battle was no longer confined to the skies.

The solemn-faced Holy Pope stood high where the sun resided. From his fingertips shot beams of judgmental light hot enough to melt all matter, like soul-severing chains, aimed at Charles in the distance.

Accompanying it came the relentless rain of guilt-burning light, pouring down without mercy upon the land.

Feeling a few drops of light rain land on her shoulders, bringing a faint warmth, Lyra felt no relief, only a chilling dread in her heart.

The light-element absorption of her Holy Light Armor, combined with her own broken-rank affinity for light elements, granted Lyra exceptional resistance to light. But that didn’t mean others could neutralize this force.

Where the light rain fell, boulders melted, steel turned to liquid. Even the slightest touch with limbs would engulf a person in holy flames, quickly reducing them to ashes.

A chorus of agonized screams rose, short, sharp, and urgent. Since Hebrew’s target was Charles, these spell remnants didn’t require direct control and automatically struck the Valeria Imperial army, the rear of White Maple Town.

All the defenders were now exposed within the Arcanist mages’ magical assault range.

As for the dome defense, such dense light-element impacts would shatter it in a second, causing magical backlash that would injure or kill the Magnus constructing the ritual circle.

Her hand clenched tightly. Gazing at the Church Knights still forced to retreat, Lyra moved at maximum speed, her afterimage leaving only a fleeting point of light on the retina.

Above the battlefield, Charles, targeted directly by the Holy Pope, faced the combined assault of two peak-tier Arcanist mages, one of whom had surpassed him, reaching the pinnacle of this tier. A single strike left the man struggling to defend, his mental energy fully enveloping his body, his black sword slashing rapidly in a deadly whirl, narrowly avoiding being engulfed in holy flames.

Charlotte and the other two Arcanist mages from the Empire faced equally dire straits. After Hebrew appeared on the battlefield bearing the sacred relic and erected the spatial barrier, the Church Knights seemed to receive a special boost, both the range and intensity of their light-element release surging to a new peak.

If they couldn’t break the barrier, they might indeed be wiped out in this surprise attack, exactly as Hebrew had planned.

Staring at the spatial ring in her hand, Charlotte seriously considered whether the spatial turbulence from an explosion could help them break the barrier. But after rigorous calculation, she concluded such force was far from sufficient, perhaps creating a gap lasting mere seconds.

In other words, she could escape at any time, but the others definitely couldn’t.

Thus, it could only serve as a last resort.

On the other side, Hebrew didn’t fully focus on Duke Charles. In his view, the barrier magic the Lord had imparted in his dreams could not be easily broken, especially now, with the sacred relic enhancing it, making it even more impregnable.

As long as he maintained pressure, all enemies in White Maple Town will be exterminated.

His true focus lay on the other half of the sacred relic Monica had mentioned long ago, and the traitor who had stolen it, deceiving Him.

The one the Lord called the faithless usurper of glory, Lyra Beckett.

This eastern campaign’s covert objective for the Holy Light Church also includes eliminating the faithless one and reclaiming the [Sword of Light].

Sensing the holy aura emanating from Lyra, a flicker of contemplation passed through Hebrew’s eyes, soon replaced by cold indifference. Watching the pink-haired knight approaching the shelter, he began a rapid internal chant.

Blazing sun, as if descending from the heavens, divine judgment resounds across all directions.

Peak tier Arcanist mage dual-element light and fire magic, [Heaven’s Tremor, Solar Judgment].

From the sacred relic, a tiny point of light shimmered beneath the sun, like the first glimmer of creation, then rapidly expanded in the sky, becoming a second sun.

Seeing this, Charles immediately crossed his sword before him. Black energy currents swirled, capturing vast quantities of light-element particles, but still couldn’t match the spell’s gathering speed.

Gales laced with lightning struck the sun, yet failed to interrupt its rebirth. Just as everyone believed this attack would target Charles, the Empire’s top combatant, Hebrew completed his final chant.

A sun, half the size of White Maple Town, plummeted from the sky, its precise center aimed directly at the pink-haired girl holding the holy sword, standing before the shelter.

This blow, channeling the full power of an Arcanist mage, was one Lyra could not evade.