Chapter 111: The Scuffle Part 2

The air inside the cathedral turned violently hot.

High above the altar, Goddess Viona hovered three feet off the marble floor, her silk robes whipping in a furious vortex of golden light.

Behind her back, three concentric spell rings spun with dizzying speed, each inscribed with ancient celestial runes.

Ayanokoji held his black abyssal spear in a two-handed low guard, his brown eyes tracking the rotation of her spell rings. He possessed the S-rank designation, with physical and magical parameters that placed him leagues above ordinary knights. Yet, the brutal reality of their status remained: the summoned heroes had only trained for seven months. They were currently sitting around Level 50, far below the Level 90-plus threshold required to challenge the Demon Lord in the northern wastes. Their potential was immense, but potential meant nothing against centuries of accumulated raw mana.

"Die in holy repentance, mortal," Viona spat.

She flicked both hands forward.

Instantly, dozens of golden light lances materialized in the air around her, each crackling with high-density piercing mana.

Fwip! Fwip! Fwip!

The barrage descended with terrifying velocity. Ayanokoji moved his body into high gear, the S-rank spear whistling through the air as he deflected the leading projectiles.

Clang! Clang! Boom!

Each deflected lance detonated upon touching the floor, blowing massive craters into the polished marble. Ayanokoji spun, parried, and sidestepped, his movements fluid and precise, but the sheer volume of incoming firepower left zero room for counterattack.

From behind the broken communion rail, Miyuki raised her staff. "Holy Barrier—Aegis Ward!"

A shimmering green-and-gold translucent barrier formed over Ayanokoji’s flank, absorbing three direct lance strikes before shattering with a brittle chime.

"Don’t interfere, nuisance!" Viona snarled.

With a careless gesture of her left hand, a condensed shockwave of gravity magic slammed directly into Miyuki’s position.

"Miyuki!" Ayanokoji called out, his voice sharp for the first time.

Miyuki was blown backward across the carpet, tumbling against the stone wall. Her staff clattered across the flags, and she gasped for air, temporarily winded by the blunt force.

Taking advantage of the split-second distraction, Kenji lunged from the smoke.

Driven by the parasite band grinding into his arm, the controlled sword master felt no fatigue and no hesitation. His radiant blade came down in a high-speed overhead cleave aimed squarely at Ayanokoji’s neck.

Ayanokoji reacted on instinct. He raised the black spear horizontally, catching the holy blade against the reinforced center of the shaft.

SKRRRR!

Sparks sprayed across Ayanokoji’s face as Kenji pressed down with all his S-rank brute strength. The impact forced Ayanokoji’s boots to skid back two inches, cracking the tiles beneath his soles.

"Target confirmed," Kenji droned, blood dripping from his punctured forearm onto the blade. "Eliminate."

Ayanokoji twisted the spear shaft, slipping the blade off-center, and drove a vicious front kick into Kenji’s chest, sending the boy tumbling backward into a row of wooden pews.

Before Ayanokoji could reset his stance, a blinding radiance consumed his vision.

Viona was already directly in front of him.

Her golden eyes burned with cruel delight. She hadn’t even needed to chant. The third concentric spell ring expanded instantly into a massive, multi-layered crushing array beneath Ayanokoji’s feet.

"Gravity Bind: Tenfold," Viona whispered.

The air pressure multiplied ten times in an instant.

A crushing weight slammed down onto Ayanokoji’s shoulders like a falling mountain. His knees buckled, his boots sinking into the collapsing marble. Every muscle in his arms screamed under the sudden gravitational strain. His S-rank stats fought frantically against the magical load, but his current level simply lacked the raw mana output to break free from an ancient ninth-tier suppression spell.

"You speak of modern weapons and battlefield doctrine," Viona mocked, floating down until her face was inches from his. "You talk down to me as if your little high-school mind can fathom true power."

She raised her right hand, her fingertips glowing with crackling golden electricity.

Ayanokoji gritted his teeth, channeling every drop of his internal mana into the black spear, attempting to thrust upward through the gravity field.

Viona didn’t even bother to dodge.

A simple flick of her golden mana struck the side of the spearhead, slapping the heavy weapon completely out of Ayanokoji’s grip. The black spear spun through the air, embedding itself deep into the stone wall ten yards away.

In the next instant, Viona’s palm slammed against Ayanokoji’s sternum.

BOOM!

A concentrated blast of kinetic divine mana exploded against his chest. Ayanokoji was hurled backward like a ragdoll, smashing through three rows of heavy oak pews before crashing violently against the grand entrance doors. He hit the stone floor hard, coughing up a streak of crimson blood that splattered across the white marble.

"Ayanokoji-kun!" Miyuki cried out, struggling to her feet as tears streamed down her face.

Across the hall, the remaining eighteen students stood paralyzed in sheer terror. They saw their top two vanguards—one turned into a mindless puppet, the other broken and bleeding on the floor—overpowered in less than two minutes.

Viona slowly descended, her boots touching the stone floor with a light click. Her golden hair settled around her shoulders, and a cold, victorious smirk spread across her lips.

"Pick up the bands," Viona commanded her paladins, pointing to the dark metal armbands scattered under the pews. "Chain the spearman first. Let him watch his own free will burn away."

Four silver-armored paladins rushed forward, their heavy boots pinning Ayanokoji against the cracked stone. His ribs were fractured, breath rattling in his chest, yet his brown eyes remained locked on the approaching shadow.

A high inquisitor retrieved a fallen Torment Band from beneath a splintered pew and thrust it violently up Ayanokoji’s left arm.

SHCK!

The curved thorns snapped shut with mechanical cruelty, tearing through fabric and muscle to bite deep into bone. Ayanokoji’s jaw clamped tight as dark crimson veins surged across his neck, the parasite band hungrily latching onto his nervous system. Burning agony invaded his skull, violently severing the pathways of conscious thought. He fought the foreign mana, but the ninth-tier curse rapidly drowned out his resistance.

Across the nave, three paladins pinned Miyuki to the wall, ignoring her frantic sobs as another band bit into her wrist with a sickening crunch.

"No... please..." she wept, before her voice dissolved into an empty gasp.

The red gemstones flared together. Ayanokoji’s pupils dilated, shrinking into glassy, lifeless crimson dots. Every shred of autonomy, memory, and personal intent was erased beneath a tide of absolute obedience.

The two S-rank champions stood up in eerie unison, their posture rigid, eyes dull, entirely surrendered to the goddess’s will.

"Now then, you’ll fight for me faithfully now."