Chapter 696: Oath

Paaaaaa…!

A blinding light illuminated the night sky.

The light expanded infinitely before contracting and enveloping Kevin’s body.

The space around Kevin rippled like waves, with fragments of light dispersing in all directions, softly lighting the surroundings.

Kevin had successfully inherited the position in the Archive.

Joanna instinctively knew.

[An opening.]

It was at that moment.

As Joanna lost focus for a split second, a stinging pain was felt between her shoulder and neck.

Like the prick of a needle.

The Woman on the Camel had lightly stabbed her with a staff made from a nun’s spine, resembling the medical staff used by plague doctors in the past.

Unlike those staffs that allowed one to examine patients without direct contact, this one had an entirely opposite function.

“Guh…!”

Joanna couldn’t help but let out a groan from the strange sensation between her shoulder and neck.

It was a hot, tickling, unsettling feeling as if something was crawling under her skin.

It didn’t feel painful, but rather dangerous, and that sensation was not wrong.

The spot where she was pricked was precisely where blood vessels passed, and various diseases began to spread through them.

Horrible diseases from hell that even Holy Power couldn’t cure.

[Flamma.]

Joanna chanted, absorbing the Holy Blood.

Then, white flames ignited from her wings, and soon her entire body burned like a torch.

Holy flames that burned away all unholy energy.

Joanna used the fire’s power to burn away the diseases that were spreading throughout her body.

She narrowly escaped a deadly crisis.

The Woman on the Camel conveyed this fact through Sister Delra’s face.

[I’m giving you special attention, but if you get distracted, I feel hurt.]

The Woman on the Camel, dressed in an ice coffin with a gold-threaded dress, gestured sadly to provoke her.

However, her words weren’t entirely wrong.

The Woman on the Camel was indeed giving Joanna special attention, or rather, showing consideration in their battle.

The fact that she waited until Joanna burned away the disease was proof of that.

Even if it was a momentary lapse, the fact that the Woman on the Camel didn’t launch a follow-up attack after pricking Joanna’s blood vessel was because she was holding back.

Joanna was well aware of this.

“I won’t get distracted anymore!”

[Excellent.]

The Woman on the Camel clasped her hands together in response, and Joanna, wanting to live up to her expectations, moved at the speed of wind using her burning wings.

Her figure blurred with that speed, leaving only a lingering trace of white flames in the air as she closed in on the Woman on the Camel.

Invisible speed and intense heat.

The Woman on the Camel casually tapped her palm with the medical staff made of spine and then swung it with a seemingly ordinary gesture.

Fwoooosh!

At the end of the staff, Joanna raised a shield forged from Holy Power, and as the staff struck the shield, flames roared and sparks scattered in all directions.

Even with her lifetime of battle experience as a Holy Knight and absorbing Holy Blood far surpassing normal Holy Power, Joanna found it astonishing how easily the Devil countered her moves.

A gap so vast it can’t even be described as ‘unjust.’

[Adolesco.]

Instead of despairing, Joanna focused even more on the current moment.

With her chant, the shield that had blocked the Woman on the Camel’s staff flared up even more intensely, expanding into a massive wall.

It moved with a momentum to crush the Woman on the Camel.

[Shatter.]

The Woman on the Camel twisted her staff slightly and lightly thrust it forward. The shield cracked as easily as it appeared, shattering into pieces.

Not only that, but the staff also sought to shatter Joanna herself beyond the shield.

Whoosh!

It sliced through air, futilely.

The reason was simple. Joanna wasn’t there.

Increasing the power and size of the shield wasn’t to crush the Woman on the Camel but to hide her own movements.

Just as intended, the Woman on the Camel’s focus was on the shield, and Joanna used that brief moment to move away.

She then flew low, circling the Woman on the Camel in a wide arc along the ground.

Accelerating to supersonic speed.

Whoooosh…!

At near sonic speed, a sharp, cutting sound echoed as air tore, and a giant ring of flames formed with Joanna’s afterimage.

The ring of flames grew larger, about to swallow the Woman on the Camel whole.

The praying Nuns beside the Camel reacted to this.

Rrrrrumble…

The Nuns, who had remained like statues with only their upper bodies intact, suddenly twitched unpleasantly like clams, then reached out their hands all at once.

To grab and halt Joanna as she circled the Woman on the Camel.

Bang!

At that moment, the Nuns’ arms simultaneously exploded.

Joanna had pulled out a submachine gun from her robe and fired Holy Power-infused bullets that struck the Nuns’ arms, courtesy of Armand’s gifted personal weapon.

Not a single bullet missed, and they accurately hit the Nuns’ arms, causing them to blow apart.

Given she was flying at near sonic speed, such accuracy was unbelievable.

This was the result of her body vision and physical abilities enhanced by Holy Blood. Joanna immediately redirected the gun’s muzzle to fire at the Woman on the Camel and simultaneously struck the Camel with her mace.

Dudududududududududu!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

With each gunshot and blow, various wounds appeared on the Woman on the Camel. Bullet holes, broken, and ruptured injuries. But it wasn’t enough.

Joanna increased her flight speed, surpassing sonic speed and causing a sonic boom to explode, turning the ring of flames into a fiery whirlwind that engulfed the Woman on the Camel.

As the explosion occurred, the ring of flames evolved into a swirling inferno, swallowing the Woman on the Camel.

[This is quite…]

The burning Woman on the Camel expressed a mixed tone of admiration.

Judging by her previous attitude, it seemed sincere. But just the fact she could say such a thing indicated she still had composure.

It still wasn’t enough.

Joanna, already having accelerated twice, added another boost.

Phooosh!

The already explosive air shattered once again due to the increased speed, and the inferno following Joanna soared high into the sky.

Naturally, the expanding flames also shot up, majestically piercing through the night sky.

Visible to all in the Holy Capital.

Amid this, Joanna condensed the flames around her and then dove vertically downward, crashing toward the Woman on the Camel.

The flames that pierced the sky imploded, and the heat magnified exponentially as they collapsed onto themselves.

The surrounding ground melted like lava, and the light from the flames was so intense that everyone had to cover their eyes.

As the flames condensed to the extreme, about to consume the Woman on the Camel…

Beeeeeeep!

A sharp camel cry, made from the Nuns’ vocal cords, resounded, extinguishing Joanna’s flames like a candle.

The only fire that remained was the one Joanna encased around her body.

With her attack failed, Joanna instinctively widened the distance.

“Damn it…”

A blasphemous prayer echoed.

The Nuns forming the Camel’s sides began chanting prayers.

The prayers spoken by the Nuns didn’t spread outward but instead condensed within the Camel’s body.

Weeeee…

The camel’s cry followed its throat and then came out, striking Joanna directly.

The sound wave distorted the air as it hit Joanna, not only extinguishing her flames but also delivering a direct blow to her brain.

Her vision blurred red, and blood dripped from her ears, nose, and mouth.

Losing her sense of balance, Joanna’s body plummeted toward the ground.

‘I need to heal…’

Despite the direct hit to her brain, Joanna immediately brought to mind what she had to do.

A result of her steadfast will and lifetime of training.

Though she was paralyzed and couldn’t move immediately, some sensation began to return to her body once she made the decision.

Thud!

A sharp, searing pain.

The broken shards of stained glass embedded themselves mercilessly in Joanna’s limbs, glowing with multiple colors.

“…!”

Thrown by the Woman on the Camel, who had restored her own body as if healing or regenerating from being burned and struck by mace.

[Despite appearances, I’m quite skilled in medicine.]

The Woman on the Camel caught Joanna’s curiosity before she could ask, answering her question.

[Thanks to that, I can do things like this.]

As soon as the Woman on the Camel finished speaking, Joanna lost control of her body.

Her whole body convulsed as if experiencing severe cramps, with intense pain radiating from her head to her toes.

The horrific pain striking her without filter made her brain feel like it might burst, while fever and chills wracked her body simultaneously.

The combination of broken stained glass and the Woman on the Camel’s powers triggered tetanus.

“Guh… gah…”

A pained groan escaped Joanna’s lips as her body curved like a bow.

Though she could cure herself using Holy Power, with her body paralyzed and her brain assaulted by such intense pain, it was no easy task.

Adding to it, the Woman on the Camel, now fully restored, approached.

[What can I say…? You’re impressive yet still lacking. It’s amazing that you’ve absorbed that divine blood, but it seems like you’re missing something crucial. I wonder why?]

The Woman on the Camel voiced her curiosity as she approached Joanna.

The Camel, now glaring directly at Joanna, examined her thoroughly.

[If that divine blood indeed carries His will, then there must be a reason you were chosen, but I cannot figure out why. It’s disappointing. Perhaps, if we continue further, we might find the answer?]

The Camel, whose face was now very close to Joanna, stretched its neck and head forward.

Thanks to this, Joanna could see every single detail of the Nun’s faces that made up the Camel.

The Camel opened its mouth, revealing countless tongues belonging to the Nuns, protruding like tiny appendages, with yet another face of Sister Delra in the center, greeting Joanna.

It was identical to the face of Sister Delra that the Woman on the Camel used.

Except, while the Woman’s face had a warm, beautiful feel, the face inside the Camel’s mouth was hideous and vicious.

Feelings of jealousy, greed, and hunger—every negative emotion was present.

As if to embody these emotions, the face of Sister Delra inside the Camel’s mouth opened its eyes wide and extended its gaping mouth toward Joanna.

As if it intended to devour her completely.

Drip. Drip.

It was so close that saliva dripped onto Joanna’s face, but with tetanus, she couldn’t resist.

Just as she was about to be overpowered, a bright flash filled the air as Kevin appeared and smacked the Camel’s head with a book.

━━━━━━━━━!!!!

As the book struck the Camel’s head, the space around it distorted, causing its head to snap and bend until it nearly broke, sending the Camel staggering back a few steps.

However, with a light tap of the medical staff, the Woman on the Camel snapped the camel’s broken neck back into place, then turned to face Kevin and attempted to let out another cry.

Bee…!

“Shut up.”

Kevin moved a half-beat quicker.

He tore the book he used to strike the camel’s head into hundreds of sheets of paper, which he then hurled. The papers embedded themselves not only into the Camel’s face and neck but also into its legs, body, and even the Woman on the Camel.

Each one was embedded tightly, leaving no space.

As a result, the Camel couldn’t cry out. The Woman wasn’t someone who relied on words.

[So you’ve become the Archive, which is every magician’s dream, as a Red One. Congratulations.]

The Woman on the Camel pulled each embedded piece of paper from her body one by one, seemingly unfazed by the pain.

[But whether this is good for humanity or not, I’m not sure. You’ve gone from being the strongest Archive in history to potentially the weakest. Oh, it seems the cracks have worsened.]

The Woman on the Camel noticed the slightly larger crack on Kevin’s face.

The vessel, barely holding its contents, was beginning to strain as Kevin responded politely.

[Raijū Hyakuro](Thunderbird’s Hundred Strikes)

FLASH!

With his answer, a lightning flash brightened the Holy Capital’s entire night sky, followed by one hundred strokes of lightning laced with spirits, all converging on a single point and erasing every sound and color from the world in an instant.