Chapter 672: Fight for the Sacred Forest [2]

The ritualist's pupils contracted when he realized Gabriel was already standing in front of him.

"Who told you that you could touch my stuff?"

"Your stuff?"

The ritualist froze for half a heartbeat. The Church's contamination mediums lay beneath his hand, and Gabriel spoke as though he had come to reclaim them.

The red-haired youth had no intention of explaining.

Crimson Judgement swept upward and knocked the longsword out of the man's hand. Gabriel immediately reversed his grip and smashed the greatsword's hilt into the ritualist's jaw.

The man's feet left the ground. Before he could fall, Gabriel turned with the motion and drove Crimson Judgement across his body.

The ritualist smashed through a broken stone pillar and struck the ground beyond it, dead among the rubble.

Gabriel seized the third nail. Gray-black energy crawled higher along his forearm while the withered root held fast. He set his feet against the stone, tightened his grip, and forced it loose.

The root shook as the nail came free. Without hesitation, Gabriel placed it inside his System inventory beside the second.

The captain's expression darkened completely.

With three of the original seven nails gone, the ritual pattern carved into the altar had collapsed beyond recovery. The Church could no longer complete its claim over the withered root. Four active nails remained around it, but the captain had already seen what Gabriel would do if he reached them. Preserving those nails and preventing what had been exposed here from spreading now mattered more than the failed ritual.

"Retreat," the captain ordered.

The four ritualists still capable of fighting looked toward him.

"But the root—"

"The claim has failed. Take whichever mediums you can reach, but retreat takes priority."

Gabriel raised his eyes.

"You think you're leaving?"

The captain met his gaze.

"You can't stop everyone."

The four active ritualists scattered at once. Two rushed toward the remaining nails, while the other two charged Edgar in an attempt to break through him and open an escape route toward the western forest.

Edgar stepped away from Matthew's moving root platform without touching it.

"Stay behind me."

Matthew stared at him in disbelief.

Reaching Edgar, the first ritualist slashed toward his neck.

Edgar changed his breathing, taking one short breath as he shifted diagonally across the broken stone. His shoulders turned in the opposite direction from his hips, and the sudden change in rhythm left several overlapping afterimages in the ritualist's vision.

Devil Mirage used footwork, breathing, and feints to make an opponent misjudge the user's position. It created no magical clones.

The ritualist's sword cut through empty air because Edgar had already moved half a step to the right.

Silver-green threads wrapped around the man's wrist.

Edgar pulled him off balance, kicked the side of his knee, and forced him to the ground. The impact cracked through the noise of the fight.

Before the ritualist could recover, Edgar pressed one hand against the back of his head and drove his face into the base of an ancient tree.

The man went limp, unable to continue fighting.

Halfway through his attack, the second ritualist broke off and sprinted toward the edge of the corrupted zone.

Edgar didn't pursue him because another ritualist had already reached the remaining nails.

That man wrapped both hands around the fourth nail and tore it halfway out of the withered root.

Sophie's eyes narrowed.

The roots reacted before she could speak. Thin vines coiled around the ritualist's wrist and jerked his arm backward. The fourth nail came loose and struck the stone with a sharp clang.

Before the ritualist could reach for it again, a thicker root wrapped around his waist and pinned both arms against his body. He struggled once, but the root tightened until the air was forced from his lungs.

The fourth nail remained on the altar beside him, still active and unclaimed.

The last free ritualist reached the fifth nail. His hands had barely closed around it when roots rose from the stone and bound both wrists, fastening him to the altar before he could pull.

The fifth, sixth, and seventh nails remained embedded in the withered root.

Sophie looked toward the ritualist fleeing through the trees, then at the others searching for any path the forest had left open.

"Don't let them leave."

Countless leaves and branches swayed simultaneously as the forest answered.

Trees shifted closer together, roots rose across the ground, and every open path within several hundred meters began to close.

The fleeing ritualist barely crossed the boundary of the corrupted zone before two of the six elven guards intercepted him.

He attempted to change direction, but the remaining four warriors closed the gap behind him. A spear haft struck his injured arm, another warrior swept his legs out from under him, and the others pinned him to the ground before he could recover.

Within seconds, the retreat had collapsed. Only the silver-masked captain remained free.

Sophie stared at the forest surrounding them. There was no anger on her face, but the branches had closed around the altar with enough force to seal every route. The forest was angrier than she was.

The captain abruptly turned toward her. Capturing Sophie was still his original mission, and his orders required her alive. But as long as she controlled the forest, his people had no route out, and the remaining nails would end up in Gabriel's hands. He had to interrupt that control, even if he injured her badly enough to break her concentration. His stance lowered as he fixed his gaze on her.

Gabriel saw where he was looking.

"You'd better not do that."

The captain didn't answer. The ground exploded beneath his feet as he shot toward Sophie.

Gabriel moved at the same instant. His breathing changed, and his leading foot slid across the broken stone while his shoulders turned in the opposite direction from his hips.

Devil Mirage.

A red afterimage lingered to the captain's left.

He ignored it.

Gabriel shifted his rhythm again, creating another misleading movement directly ahead. The captain recognized the feint and continued toward Sophie.

The distance between them rapidly shrank from ten meters to eight, then to five, yet Gabriel still hadn't appeared between them.

The captain's gaze shifted as he realized Gabriel had never intended to block his view. The afterimages had concealed the moment Gabriel stepped onto one of the raised roots and launched himself into the air.

Abruptly, the captain stopped, but it was already too late.

Gabriel was above him.

Crimson Judgement descended.

The captain raised his black longsword with both hands and blocked. The collision drove him down into the stone, shattering the ground beneath his feet as Gabriel pressed from above, blue eyes fixed on the silver mask.

"I warned you."

The captain's arms trembled violently.

"Get off me!"

Mana erupted from his body. The blast forced Gabriel backward for the first time in a direct confrontation, his boots scraping over broken stone.

The silver mask fractured under the impact of their collision. Half of it fell to the ground, while the remaining pieces broke apart and revealed a face that looked younger than thirty.

Blood ran from the captain's forehead, but Edgar's attention was drawn to the faint white mark beside the man's left temple.

Matthew saw it as well, and his body jerked against the roots securing him to the moving platform.

"No..." Even his voice changed. "How could it be you people...?"