Why are all your skill bars full of weird moves?

Karl dragged his cross-shaped greatsword, crushing the bluestone slabs beneath his feet as he approached step by step.

Gauss knew that if the warrior got close, he would die.

So he slid to the side, creating a safe distance, his fingers gripping the bowstring, ready to launch a counterattack at any moment.

Balk gripped the broken sword with both hands, supporting his heavily wounded body.

He then coughed up black blood violently, and a beast-like growl rolled from his throat.

Ignoring the excruciating pain from his broken ribs, he kicked his legs and lunged forward, determined to block the enemy and protect Gauss's damage output.

The confrontation ended in an instant.

"Fa——"

Karl swung his greatsword and smashed it hard into Balk's chest.

Balk's body flew backward, crashing into a stone pillar and kicking up small pieces of stone. His body then bounced back and slammed heavily onto the ground.

Without any pity for the enemy, Karl walked up to Balk, picked up his head with one hand, and suddenly tightened his grip.

"The weak will only be slaughtered by others."

Balk let out a scream of agony, his body convulsing violently. The next instant, his entire whites of his eyes were filled with a blue halo, and the green band of light representing his soul was forcibly peeled from his eye sockets, materializing and drilling into Karl's palm.

“Your companion’s life is slipping away,” Karl turned to stare at Gauss, “and you, my friend, can only stand by and watch. How intoxicating is this feeling of powerlessness in the face of despair. How insignificant and ridiculous your desperate struggles are in the face of power.”

Gauss ignored Carl's psychological tactics and calmly considered how to break the deadlock.

Ula is currently trying to wake Mia up; only when she comes to her senses can they cooperate in killing Karl.

We can only trade time for space.

The arrow absorbed the light source and did not cause any magical damage when it was released.

What would happen if we changed the medium and applied it to the earth element?

Gauss drew an armor-piercing arrow from his quiver and held the arrowhead close to the bluestone pillar beside him.

He uttered a short incantation.

The arrow remained unchanged; it may need to be released to have any effect.

So Gauss nocked an arrow and drew the bowstring taut.

"call out!"

A sharp whistling sound suddenly pierced the air, accurately striking Karl's right knee joint, which was covered by plate armor.

"Useless..."

Before he could finish speaking, a sudden change occurred.

Karl lost his balance instantly, his right knee slamming into the floor tiles, creating a spiderweb-like crack.

His face was full of astonishment. He tossed Balk aside and tried to stand up by pushing himself up with his hands, but found that his right leg was incredibly heavy.

"What...what's going on?!"

Gauss quickly retreated behind the stone pillar.

The calculations were correct; the earth element did not inflict direct spell damage on Karl, but it was attached to the arrow and could forcibly change its weight.

Magic immunity blocked the elemental erosion, but it could not counteract this pure physical suppression.

Gauss's fingers flew as he tried to draw the Armor-Piercing Arrow and apply elemental effects.

However, these specially made arrows were too expensive, so not many were prepared.

Gauss quickly stepped forward and decided to pull Balk back to a safe area first.

Balk kept vomiting black blood, his voice barely audible.

"Thanks, bro..."

"Shut up, save your energy."

At this moment, Karl mustered all his strength to stand up, raised his cross sword, and pointed it at Gauss.

"You despicable human, do you think this will stop me from killing you!"

Although the armor-piercing arrows are gone, regular arrows imbued with earth element will still have an effect.

For now, the only option is to use their mobility to kite Karl and find an opening.

Having figured this out, Gauss looked at Balk.

"Bro, can't we still fight?"

"Don't look down on the dog-man warriors," Balkok said, using his broken sword to prop himself up. "Our race is no weaker than humans."

The battle resumed, but unlike before, Gauss and Balk miraculously suppressed the elite-level monster through their coordinated efforts.

Gauss was responsible for shooting the stone arrow. Although it failed to penetrate, the kinetic energy released by gravity the moment the arrow arrived caused Karl's body to sink slightly, and his resistance was instantly disrupted.

Balk, taking advantage of Karl's power nodes, constantly shifted and maneuvered, repeatedly stabbing with his broken sword, trying to find a point of paralysis.

Meanwhile, Ula's voice was hoarse from shouting, but Mia still held her head in her hands, curled up in a ball, completely immersed in despair.

There's nothing else I can do.

But Ula knew that he couldn't help at all in this battle; only by awakening the variables could he demonstrate his value.

"Open your eyes and see clearly!" Ula's tone was devoid of any pity. "Does your faith only teach you to weep before the devil?"

Seeing that Mia had no reaction, Ula continued her relentless attacks.

"If God can only bestow mercy in a greenhouse and chooses to hide when faced with true evil, then you might as well die here obediently."

"I didn't... I'm not..."

Mia shuddered violently, her hands gripping the floor tiles, bright red blood flowing from the cracks in the stones.

"You've studied those divine arts day and night, yet you don't even have the courage to use them in this life-or-death situation? Are you prepared to close your eyes and wait to die?"

Ula's soul-searching questions were cruel and insightful, completely shattering the last layer of defense Mia had left to escape.

Her eyes widened, her mind filled with images of the children hanging from the dome, the scene of Balk and Karl fighting, and that sentence...

"To close one's eyes and run away is the act of a coward. If one has faith, one should face all consequences." — Gauss

……

……

After a long while, Mia's lips trembled as she touched the silver pendant that belonged to Serene.

"Hurrah..." Mia supported herself with her hands and slowly straightened up. "You're right, what demons like most is to see their followers collapse."

"ah--!"

The restricted arrows lost their effect, and Karl flew into a rage, gripping his greatsword tightly with both hands and smashing the floor tiles in front of him to pieces, sending shards of stone flying everywhere.

"I'm going to kill you all!"

With a roar, a thick, dense black mist erupted from his body, his killing intent almost solidifying into a tangible form.

Mia did not back down.

His gaze was more resolute than ever before, his hands held the pendant high, and he uttered ancient and solemn divine prayers.

"Silver moon, tearing through the endless night, please listen to the prayers of the lost."

"In the name of Serenne, strip away calamity and end falsehood."

"Drive away evil!"

A beam of pure white moonlight pierced through the dome, precisely locking onto and completely enveloping Karl's entire body.

The black mist inside the hall was dispersed by pure energy, and the air was filled with the fresh scent of rain.

Black mist rose from Karl's body, and his original black blood vessels were severed one by one.

"ah--!"

Karl roared in agony, his face contorted in extreme pain, wildly swinging his greatsword, trying to cleave the deadly pillar of light in two.

"I am blessed by Lord Erisnu!"

"You think you can kill me?!"

Gauss gripped the bow firmly with his left hand, while the last arrow in his right hand was nocked tightly on the bowstring. His arm muscles bulged high, all his strength concentrated in his arms.

The bowstring dug into his flesh, drawing blood that dripped down his knuckles.

Three months...

Practice hitting targets and honing your skills in the sweltering heat to increase your damage output...

The first trial is now just around the corner.

……

call out--!

The arrow whipped up a strong wind and pierced Karl's body with overwhelming force!

With a "crack" as the armor shattered, the arrowhead was driven deep into the stone wall behind the hall, its tail feathers trembling wildly.

Karl's laughter stopped abruptly as the greatsword slipped from his hand and clattered to the ground.

He lowered his head, staring blankly at the black hole in his chest.

The wound shows no signs of healing.

Karl collapsed to his knees, frantically clutching his chest, trying to fill the dark void.

"No... I can't possibly die!"

"Lord Erisnu promised... that as long as one surrenders their soul, they will not... die..."

With his final murmur, Karl's silver plate armor turned to ashes and scattered in the wind.

The grayish-white skin quickly faded, returning to the rosy complexion of a normal human.

Without the support of his evil power, Karl's body suddenly lurched forward and fell heavily to the ground.

The battle came to an end, and the hall fell into a deathly silence, with only the crackling of the burning torches remaining.

All four were exhausted, breathing heavily, trying to calm the surging blood in their bodies.

Just then, a childlike and ethereal voice drifted through the empty hall.

"Dad, what are you doing here?"