There was no dazzling arc of a scythe—only a single horizontal slash, packed with all of Anna's spiritual power, swift as lightning and vicious beyond compare. It tore through the air with a shrill screech, aimed straight at the back of Voss's neck!
At the same time, her right thumb—primed and waiting—slammed down toward the ground.
The ritual lines buried beneath her feet, formed from powdered spirit stones, flared to life with a dim, eerie glow.
"What?! Five Ghosts Moving the Mountain?!"Voss felt his spiritual power seize up instantly, as though crushed beneath an invisible mountain. Its flow turned sluggish and resistant. His expression changed drastically—he tried to mobilize his power to defend or evade, but he was already half a beat too late.
Behind him, the scythe—carrying all of Anna's resolve and killing intent—had already kissed the skin of his neck.
At the very brink of death—
"Ornamental Metal Fate!"
Voss roared, eyes splitting with fury.
Buzz—!
No barrier. No shield.
Instead, beneath his skin, countless dark-gold veins erupted—fine as capillaries, yet intricate like ornamental jewelry patterns. The glow wasn't blinding, but it radiated an unyielding, inviolable solidity, coursing through his entire body and turning him into something like forged gold and iron.
"—Shhk!"
Anna's scythe passed cleanly across his neck. She felt the unmistakable resistance of cutting flesh—the solid feedback of a confirmed hit.
And yet—
No mark remained.
His neck was completely intact. Not even the faintest red line appeared.
Only those dark-gold veins flickered briefly beneath the skin before dimming and vanishing.
"Th-that's impossible!"Anna froze mid-swing, pupils contracting, her face filled with disbelief. She was certain she had struck true—the sensation had been real. So how… not even a scratch?!
"HAHAHAHAHA!!"
Voss slowly turned around, the shock on his face already replaced by a savage grin—half lingering fear, half absolute contempt.
He rolled his neck with a faint crack, as if confirming it was unharmed.
"Trash! Insect! With tricks like yours, you think you can harm a body blessed by Ornamental Metal Fate?!" He looked down at her as one would at a mosquito trying to bite a statue of gold.
And yet—
Crack… snap!
The finely crafted, spiritually radiant blade at his waist suddenly shattered on its own!
The blade split inch by inch, collapsing into dull fragments of ordinary metal that clattered to the ground, utterly devoid of spirit—like something that had lost its life the moment its "neck" was cut.
"See that?!"Voss casually drew another blade from his storage ring. It still gleamed coldly, but its spiritual pressure was clearly inferior to the one before. Pointing it at Anna, his voice rose with agitation and arrogance:
"You don't understand what real family backing is! What it means to be a true inner disciple! What kind of survival capital someone like you—a mud-born nobody—will never possess!!!"
Before his words even settled, he charged forward. Relying on his Baron-level physique and remaining power, he forced his way through the suppression of the Five Ghosts array and slashed down with brute force—no finesse, just overwhelming speed and weight!
Anna raised her scythe to block.
CLANG—!!!
A deafening clash rang out. An unstoppable force surged through her arms—her grip split open, the scythe nearly flying free. She was sent hurtling backward like a struck stone, crashing into the courtyard wall. Blood welled in her throat, spilling from the corner of her lips.
The gap… was this wide?!
Even suppressed by the ritual array, his raw physical strength and residual power were still this terrifying?
And that strange Ornamental Metal Fate… what was it? She had clearly landed the hit, yet it did nothing. If she didn't understand it, the next all-out strike might end with her own death.
"Don't panic. He can only use that once."
Van Helsing's calm voice cut in, cold and analytical.
"'Ornamental Metal Fate' is a Fate-Tier Talisman. Not his own cultivation. Only inner disciples with strong backing—favored by elders—can obtain one. He likely got it from Viscount Duobao."
"At the Viscount level, power itself becomes a form of Fate Authority. Across traditions, these 'Fates' take many names—Arhats in Buddhism, angels in Heaven, Realized Ones in Daoism… such positions inherently carry fragments of universal law. They can be condensed into single-use talismans."
"By sacrificing a treasured item bound to one's essence, fatal damage can be instantly transferred and replaced. He's already used it—that blade was the price."
Anna's eyes lit up.
Damage transfer. A one-time substitute death.
Hope reignited.
She wiped the blood from her lips, suppressing the tremor in her organs, and shouted toward the shadows of the courtyard:
"Elena!"
"Understood!"
Elena, who had been holding her breath at the array's core, responded instantly. Her hands formed rapid seals as she called out:
"Dragon Lock Gate—rise!"
Rumble—!
The ground trembled.
Brighter, more intricate patterns flared to life across the courtyard—far denser than the Five Ghosts array.
Chains of condensed earth-element spiritual power burst from the ground—dark yellow, tangible, alive like earthen dragons. In an instant, they coiled around Voss's limbs and torso.
Runes pulsed along their length, further suppressing his power while exerting crushing restraint, locking him in place.
Now!
Anna moved.
Her body flickered like a phantom, slipping past Voss's now sluggish swings. Her scythe became streaks of cold lightning, targeting joints, flanks—even his face!
Shhk! Shhk! Shhk!
The blade tore through his robes, drawing sprays of blood. Though Voss struggled to block and evade, under the double suppression of arrays and chains, his movements were slowed drastically. In moments, multiple wounds marked his body—none fatal, but humiliatingly messy, staining his robes crimson.
"Dragon Lock Gate?! Lin Zhen! Are you blind?!"Voss roared in fury, pain and humiliation twisting his voice. "Your specialty is ritual arrays, and you couldn't even see one laid right under your nose?!"
The disciple named Lin Zhen turned pale, both ashamed and panicked.
Utter humiliation.
The very array they hadn't needed against the black-market dealer Vile… was now being used against them—with devastating effect.
New and old grudges collided in Voss's chest, driving him to the brink of madness.
"Break the core first! Take down that bitch!" he bellowed, his gaze snapping toward Elena—the one sustaining the array.
Lin Zhen jolted to action. He led four other enforcement disciples—those not fully suppressed—drawing their weapons as they charged toward Elena from multiple angles.
At once, the array's power split, diverting pressure toward the five attackers.
And in that instant—
Voss felt the weight on his body lighten.