Carine Forest — Forward Battlements
A group of razor-sharp spines erupted from the colossal abomination.
They did not resemble branches.
Nor roots.
They looked like enormous black lances, each one longer than a siege tower and lined with jagged barbs of bone.
They screamed through the air.
Straight toward the battlements.
Straight toward Logos.
Several officers froze.
Too fast.
Far too fast.
Then—
A streak of dark purple intercepted them.
Furcas.
Kleber's customized Exo-harness flashed across the wall, its knightly silhouette gleaming beneath smoke and fire.
His greatsword swept outward in one smooth motion.
Steel met bone.
The first spine shattered.
The second split in half.
The third glanced aside, embedding itself deep into the battlements behind him with an explosion of stone.
The remaining projectiles came from different angles.
Without hesitation—
Kleber stepped forward again.
His sword became little more than flashes of silver.
One.
Three.
Seven.
Twelve.
Each strike perfectly placed.
Each spine broken before reaching the wall.
Fragments of black bone rained across the battlements.
Kleber planted his sword into the stone.
"...My lord."
"Yes?"
"If you would kindly stop making ancient horrors hate you personally..."
"...that would simplify my workload."
Logos blinked.
"It appears unwilling."
Kleber sighed.
"Somehow I knew that would be your answer."
The creature screamed again.
Thousands of mouths opened simultaneously.
Its hatred had become singular.
Every eye remained fixed upon Logos.
It no longer cared about Adrean.
Nor the artillery.
Nor the armies surrounding it.
Only the black-clad scholar upon the battlements.
"Interesting."
Logos watched without flinching.
"It has narrowed its priorities."
Bal looked over.
"...That sounds dangerous."
"It is."
Another volley erupted.
This time—
Not spines.
Entire forests of roots burst from the earth, racing toward the walls like living rivers.
"Quake batteries!"
Logos ordered.
"Fire three salvos."
The guns answered immediately.
The earth exploded.
Shockwaves tore through the advancing roots, throwing them high into the air before they could reach the fortifications.
Behind them—
Arson shells followed.
White fire cascaded downward.
The roots writhed.
Burned.
Split apart.
Yet still they advanced.
Relentless.
Mindless.
Desperate.
On the battlefield below—
Adrean refused to yield them a single step.
Regulus crashed into the tide like a falling mountain.
Each swing of his greatsword carved enormous wounds through the gigantic intelligence.
Entire sections of bark and flesh collapsed away.
Still—
It regenerated.
Slower now.
The acid had done its work.
The artillery had done its work.
Its recovery had become uneven.
Painful.
Incomplete.
Adrean laughed.
"There!"
"You finally slowed!"
He launched himself upward once more.
Golden mana erupted around the greatsword.
The descending strike split another limb completely from the body.
The gigantic hand crashed into the burning forest.
The intelligence screamed.
This time—
Not in rage.
In pain.
Real pain.
High above the battlefield—
Sous stood motionless.
Penelope no longer moved.
Every rune across the crimson harness blazed brighter than the sun itself.
Lightning arced constantly around the armor.
Fire spiraled upward into the sky.
The air trembled around him.
No one dared approach.
Not even Cardinals.
Not even Church knights.
The mana gathering around Penelope had become visible.
Clouds spiraled overhead.
The heavens themselves seemed to answer.
The Arch-Prelate looked up.
"...Almost."
The gigantic intelligence noticed.
For the first time—
Fear entered its countless faces.
It abandoned the battlements.
Abandoned Logos.
Its enormous body twisted violently.
It began dragging itself back toward the depths of Carine Forest.
Toward the underground tunnels.
Toward escape.
Logos watched calmly.
"There."
"It understands."
The Arch-Prelate raised his standard.
Thirty thousand Auroras immediately halted.
White banners lowered.
Every knight planted their weapons into the earth.
Golden scripture spread across the battlefield.
The old priest closed his eyes.
"Children of the Light."
His voice carried effortlessly across the plain.
"Stand together."
Thirty thousand voices answered.
"We stand."
Mana flooded through the battlefield.
Every Aurora became another point within an enormous formation.
The scripture beneath their feet connected.
One.
A hundred.
A thousand.
Thirty thousand.
The entire battlefield became a single radiant array.
The Arch-Prelate raised the eight-pointed standard toward heaven.
"Let the earth reject corruption."
Golden pillars erupted skyward.
They formed a colossal dome around the intelligence.
The gigantic creature slammed against the barrier.
The entire battlefield shook.
It struck again.
Again.
Again.
The barrier trembled.
But it did not break.
Every Aurora gritted their teeth.
Golden light poured from their armor into the formation.
Sweat ran beneath their helmets.
Some fell to one knee.
None withdrew.
The Arch-Prelate smiled.
"...You wished to flee."
He planted the standard deeper.
"I refuse."
Inside the prison of light—
The intelligence became frantic.
Thousands of roots lashed wildly.
Entire forests were uprooted.
Mountains of earth flew into the barrier.
Nothing escaped.
It screamed.
Not in hatred.
Not in rage.
In terror.
Logos looked upward.
"Sous."
The crimson knight slowly opened his eyes.
The mana surrounding Penelope reached its peak.
The clouds overhead split apart.
Sunlight poured through the opening.
White Tiger rose.
Every flame vanished.
Every lightning bolt disappeared.
All of it—
Compressed into the blade.
The battlefield became silent.
Even the gigantic intelligence stopped struggling.
Instinct.
Pure instinct.
It knew.
Death.
Sous pointed the sword downward.
His voice echoed across the entire battlefield.
"I am Sous Angelus."
Knight of Gab.
Guardian of its people.
He lowered the blade.
"And I sentence you..."
"...to extinction."
White Tiger descended.
No explosion came.
No roar.
Only light.
Pure white light.
A single line stretched from heaven to earth.
It passed through the gigantic intelligence effortlessly.
Continued through the forest.
Continued beyond the mountains.
For one heartbeat—
Nothing happened.
Then the creature stopped moving.
Every mouth fell silent.
Every root froze.
Every eye stared upward.
A thin glowing line appeared across the center of its enormous body.
The line widened.
The gigantic intelligence separated cleanly into two halves.
The barrier of light held them upright for a moment.
Then both halves collapsed.
The impact echoed across Carine Forest.
The ground trembled.
The burning forest became still.
The roots ceased moving.
The malformed creatures collapsed lifelessly where they stood.
The battlefield remained silent.
No one cheered.
Not immediately.
Because no one was certain it was over.
Then—
The black roots began turning to ash.
One after another.
The corruption dissolved beneath the morning light.
A breeze passed over the battlefield.
For the first time in weeks—
Birdsong returned to Carine Forest.
The silence finally broke.
Cheers erupted from every army.
Cardinals raised their swords.
Prateras beat their shields.
Auroras bowed their heads in prayer.
Even exhausted engineers embraced one another.
High upon the battlements—
Logos simply adjusted his glasses.
"...Interesting."
Kleber stared.
"My lord."
"Yes?"
"...Could you please celebrate like a normal person?"
Logos looked over the ruined battlefield.
The countless samples.
The destroyed corruption.
The shattered forest.
Then he gave the smallest smile.
"...This was an acceptable experiment."
Kleber buried his face in one hand.
"...Lucy is going to kill us both."