Chapter 16: The Great Battle (Part 3)

Talice waved her hand awkwardly, trying to explain, "It's not like that! It's because there's an important mission that requires following this…"

"I don't care," Knight Tamik interrupted indifferently, his voice dry and stiff like wood. "And I don't want to know what you're doing here. Just get out of the way and don't interfere."

"Does His Holiness have a task for you?" Talice was startled. She knew that Knight Tamik and his Temple Knights only acted under direct orders from the Pope.

"You don't need to know. Fuck off." Tamik directed this command at Asa.

"Fuck off? I've never learned how. Why don't you show me first?" Asa sneered coldly as he looked at him. He understood that this was someone who preferred to kill with a blade rather than threaten with words. For Tamik to speak this way now, demanding he step aside, revealed a certain hesitation—a sign that the knight wasn't entirely confident about succeeding in his mission if Asa intervened.

Overhead, the enormous green mantis, now riddled with injuries, wavered mid-flight. The flashes and thunder of magical bombardment erupted constantly on its massive frame, scattering shards of its green carapace and splatters of its fluid in all directions. Its anguished screeches echoed without pause.

On the mantis's back, Ruya frantically channeled restorative nature magic from the World Tree's Leaf into its body. But the mantis life force continued to drain amidst the relentless onslaught. The combined force of dozens of mages casting elemental magic was enough to flatten a mountain. Were it not for Master Aiden's warnings to be cautious of harming the elf and the World Tree Leaf on the mantis, it would have already been obliterated—even if made of steel.

If the nature magic had included a spell for dispelling or purifying, the situation wouldn't be so dire; the mages would likely have been the ones at a disadvantage. The massive war mantis was being slowed and weakened by countless curses, turning it into a helpless target.

"Hmm? Is that a Pegasus Rider?" A mage suddenly noticed a winged pegasus in the distance approaching rapidly.

The pegasus showed no fear of the flying spells and flew straight into the fray. Its rider waved their arms and shouted, "Everyone, stop!"

A lightning bolt from a mage struck the pegasus squarely, causing it to scream in pain before plummeting into the forest. The shouting rider flailed as they fell alongside it.

"What was that elf screaming about?" The old mage who had cast the lightning blinked his cloudy eyes and frowned at the fallen rider and pegasus.

"Doesn't seem like an elf. Looks more like a human. Wait—there's another one," said a sharper-eyed mage, pointing to a second winged pegasus closing in. Squinting, he added, "Hmm, the one on that pegasus looks like…"

A deafening screech cut through the chaos as the war mantis made a final, desperate charge. Its massive scythe-like forelimbs struck down a mage who failed to evade in time, reducing him to a pulp. At the same moment, Master Aiden's two Thunderclap Bomb and a water mage's Ice Blade struck its already battered abdomen. Amidst flying shards and green fluid, the war mantis was severed in two, its enormous body plummeting to the ground.

"You're no match for me," Knight Tamik said to Asa. His face remained wooden and emotionless, like a statue devoid of joy, sorrow, vitality, or desire. In contrast, the black blade in his hand seemed alive, writhing and groaning with a ghostly, bloodthirsty wail.

"Right, I'm not," Asa admitted. He understood this, but he also knew the gap between them wasn't insurmountable. Tamik was aware of this too, which was why he resorted to words rather than simply cutting Asa down.

Two Holy Warriors moved in from behind, flanking Asa. Though not top-tier warriors, they were more than enough to assist Tamik in subduing him. Talice, on the other hand, seemed unsure of what to do as she watched from the side.

"I'll say it one more time: leave. Otherwise, I'll kill you. His Holiness only instructed Lancelote to bring you in alive—he said nothing to me. Anyone who gets in my way dies."

"What? His Holiness said to…" Asa feigned surprise. In that brief moment of feigned shock, his aura faltered, his focus wavered—just for an instant.

Tamik seized the opportunity.

His hesitation earlier wasn't out of reluctance to fight but because he recognized Asa wouldn't be easy to deal with. The successful assassination of Bishop Aescher alone was proof enough of Asa's capabilities. Tamik prioritized completing the Pope's task, so he had hoped to resolve matters without conflict. But now, with a perfect opening, he wouldn't let it slip.

The only ones who never interfere are the dead. This principle had long been etched into Tamik's mind. When Asa's guard dropped, Tamik's attack was almost instinctive.

Tamik's slash carried no grand, awe-inspiring force. Yet the air instantly filled with a faint, pervasive scent of death. Even the rancid stench of Asa's necromantic fire couldn't compare. This scent wasn't sharp or nauseating—it seeped into the bones, an intrinsic essence of mortality itself.

With a faint whoosh, a large tree disintegrated—not shattered, not snapped, but decayed. Like incense burned to ash, it crumbled silently, unable to hold its shape, collapsing into a pile of dust.

The same fate nearly befell Asa. The strike had shredded his clothing from chest to abdomen, and he could feel every detail of the blade's force—a profound and controlled energy fused seamlessly with killing intent. The soft armor he had taken from the Holy Knights was utterly useless, reduced to fluttering scraps in the air like torn paper.

But it was only a graze. Twisting his body mid-turn, Asa narrowly dodged Knight Tamik's blade. The strike missed him by a hair's breadth and obliterated the tree behind him instead.

"Hmm?" For the first time, Knight Tamik's perpetually wooden expression gave way to one of utter astonishment.

Had his blow been parried, he wouldn't have been surprised. While it was a nearly perfect opportunity, he understood that his opponent's strength wasn't so inferior as to be instantly killed. He had counted on Asa hurriedly blocking the strike, which would give him an overwhelming advantage, allowing him to pressure Asa continuously and deny him any opportunity to use necromantic magic.

But Asa had evaded it completely. For fighters of their caliber, once a target was locked in, a clean miss like this was almost inconceivable. A miss like this wasn't just about the blade—it meant a failure of momentum, technique, judgment, intent, and focus. Such a complete dodge was only possible if there was a gap in skill—or, more likely, if the supposed opportunity had actually been a trap laid by Asa.

Evading Tamik's strike placed Asa in a position of advantage, his momentum firmly in hand. But instead of counterattacking, he turned and ran.

Fighting was out of the question. There was no way he could win against Tamik, not to mention the two accompanying Holy Warriors. Talice, clearly, wouldn't step in to help him either. Asa hadn't intended to fight from the start; his goal was to escape—not to defeat or drive them away, but to reach the elves, whether to assist them or otherwise.

However, fleeing directly in front of someone like Tamik, who was on full alert, was tantamount to offering one's neck on a silver platter. Asa had pretended to falter, baiting Tamik into attacking and using the prepared evasion as his best chance to escape. While Tamik's strike had just finished, Asa, already prepared, leaped twice and vanished into the forest.

As if mere escape wasn't enough, Asa shouted over his shoulder, "Talice, my dear wife, hold them off for me!"

The statement stunned Tamik and the two Holy Warriors momentarily, prompting a wary glance at the female knight. As for Talice herself, she nearly exploded.

"You two, keep her contained!" Tamik barked after a brief pause before dashing off in pursuit of Asa.

Without hesitation, the two Holy Warriors drew their swords with a simultaneous clang, stepping to block Talice. While the accusation seemed absurd, the fact that Talice and Asa had been traveling together—and even assisting each other earlier—couldn't be ignored.

"That scoundrel's spouting nonsense! Don't believe him!" Talice's face turned beet-red as she raged and stomped furiously. She desperately wanted to give chase but dared not charge straight into the Holy Warriors' blades.

Overhead, a pegasus shrieked in pain. Asa, sprinting toward the ancient war tree, glanced up to see a figure flailing wildly as they fell from the pegasus, landing just ahead of him.