A tense, crackling atmosphere hung over the venue.
The strange magic circle laid out on the ground, surrounded at its center by Hunters, knights, and priests. Despite mustering far more firepower than anticipated, not a single face among them showed a hint of complacency.
Even Cluse, who had been squawking away down below moments ago, was now facing the magic circle alongside Lapis and the others.
I had no idea what they were guarding against, but the seriousness on every face spoke volumes about the danger inherent in this purification plan. I watched the whole scene while dangling my legs from the top of an ornate gate decoration, a hard-boiled grin plastered on my face.
I'd asked Lucia to hoist me up onto the gate ornament partly because I genuinely wanted a bird's-eye view, but mostly because this was the spot least likely to draw attention. Stray attacks could come from anywhere on the ground, and standing near Lucia and the others to interfere with the purification felt… tactless.
The layered barrier magic circle consisted of a flat two-dimensional circle inscribed on the ground, ringed by thirteen pillars.
Apparently, by carving formulas into the pillars, they'd created a three-dimensional structure. Each pillar was thick enough to require both arms to wrap around — not something that would topple easily. The gaps between them were wide enough for Anthem to pass through, but looking down from above, the whole formation resembled a cage.
"Now that's quite the ceremony…"
Splendid, splendid. Come to think of it, it had been a while since I'd watched Anthem and Ark in action.
Under the priest's direction, a hefty box wound tight with chains was placed at the very center of the magic circle.
I pulled out my phone, snapped a photo of the scene, and sent it to Sister Fox.
Cursed artifact, by the way.
"Very well — we shall now begin the purification of 'Marine's Lament.' Everyone, please take your positions as planned."
The priest standing before the magic circle suddenly turned to face me, and our eyes met. I gave him a meaningful yet meaningless smile, then nodded once, channeling all the warmth of "Anthem, thanks as always" into the gesture.
The priest's eyes went wide. The ring of Luminous Spirit priests surrounding the pillars raised their arms in perfect unison.
At that moment, I clearly felt a pulse of power erupt from the center of the magic circle.
The pillars forming the circle became connected by cords of lightning, and a strange pattern floated into the air. A magic circle was, in a sense, magic wrought from characters — and in any other circumstance, the sight would have been mesmerizingly mystical.
Outside the circle, Anthem stood perfectly still, not so much as twitching. Like a boulder.
His helm was raised. His gaze was fixed on the box at the center of the circle, rattling violently.
As though writhing in agony, the chains wound around the box clanked and rattled. The seal should not have been broken yet — and yet, at that eerie sight, Franz called out to the knights.
"All units, ready!"
The knights raised their firearms. The surrounding priests began chanting in unison as though performing a choir, while the Hunter squad shifted into combat-ready formation.
The air was already on a hair trigger. I was the only one who hadn't bothered getting into position.
And then, with my hard-boiled grin firmly in place, the priest raised his rod and bellowed in a voice that carried far: "Seal release!"
As if that had been the signal, the chains binding the box exploded outward all at once.
The pure, clean atmosphere that had filled the venue was devoured in an instant. The lid flew open with a scream like the death cry of a woman, so chilling it could freeze one's heart.
From my vantage point above, I caught a glimpse of something blood-soaked emerging from the box — or rather, I almost caught a glimpse, because at that moment the surrounding priests all cried out in prayer as one.
The box was engulfed in golden flames that roared high into the sky. A shriek beyond comparison to before — a soundless, voiceless scream — shook the venue.
In the face of those holy flames and their sheer force, the knights and the Hunters recoiled.
The plan, as I'd heard it, was to first bind and weaken the target with the magic circle, then proceed to the full purification… Bind??
The curse did indeed resemble a woman, as I'd been told beforehand. "Resembled" was the right word, since every last feature — eyes, nose, face, hair, body — was blackened and crumbling. It was the very image of a specter. Whether this was its original form or the result of those flames, I had no idea.
Even as it burned, the manifested curse thrust its head beyond the flames. Right on cue, Ark leveled his sword.
The world truly stopped for a single heartbeat. Sound, vibration — all of it vanished.
Even the chanting of spells went unheard. A bolt of pale blue lightning shot from the tip of Ark's sword and pierced straight through Marine's Lament. Its palate split wide, and its long arms thrashed in agony, bouncing off the cords strung between the pillars.
The effect was too strong. It looked like it might be purified before Anthem even had to step in. The meticulously prepared barriers showed no sign of breaking either.
It seemed we'd overpowered them. Cluse was grimacing and covering his ears.
But then Franz let out a roar that drowned out even the crack of thunder.
"Don't let your guard down! Fire, fire, fire!"
"Someone's really bloodthirsty…"
At Franz's command, the knights opened fire in unison. A violent cacophony entirely different from Ark's lightning strike shook the air.
Gunfire was something you rarely heard even as a Hunter. The silver bullets sprayed from the firearms apparently developed by the Primus Magical Science Academy came like a storm.
The weapons spat fifty rounds per second, and the recoil was proportionally fierce — the muzzles wavered slightly — but when you were putting this many rounds into a target, precision was beside the point.
I shielded my eyes from the muzzle flash and the thoroughly un-knightly display, and Franz, for some reason, was shouting with absolute glee.
"Ahahahahaha! How about that, Thousand Transformations! This is the power of Zebuldia's knights!"
Well, I don't think you can really call this "the power of knights"…
To their credit, they seemed to be steering around the pillars. The storm of bullets riddled Marine's Lament along with its burning box.
The semi-transparent body, wreathed in flames, took the bullets and bounced wildly. Since it had no physical substance, the rounds passed clean through — but it was clearly taking damage.
Its blackened features twisted in pain, and its entire body was laid bare.
Contrary to what I'd imagined, the form was unmistakably that of a human girl. I'd heard that the source of Marine's Lament was a girl named Marine — and sure enough, it seemed curses took the shape of their origin.
For something so delicate-looking to have devoured tens of thousands of lives and razed countless cities — what a terrifying tale.
Still, wasn't this just overkill?
"This feels like bullying the weak. Kinda gives me the creeps."
"……Leader, that thing is a curse!?"
My younger sister, who hadn't yet entered the fray, caught my muttering and shot me a sharp glare. As expected of the high-level Hunter who could silence even crying children.
Lapis and the others nearby had also seen Marine's Lament and were frowning their elegant brows.
"I see… For something born of human hands, the intensity is remarkable. They must have done something truly abominable."
"…That would explain why the Church prepared this much."
Lapis was one thing, but even the sweet-and-innocent Cluse arriving at that same judgment — didn't I look like the idiot here, yammering about bullying the weak?
Come to think of it, among Phantoms, there were some who mimicked the weak to catch you off guard. Maybe you couldn't be a Hunter if you let appearances fool you.
"Wow… that thing is really that powerful?"
"……Don't push it. Not as much as you, though."
Lapis said it with a gaze so cold it sent a shiver down my spine.
…Wait, did she just compliment me?
While I was busy running my mouth, the purification was progressing smoothly — almost cruelly so.
Marine's Lament, bombarded from every angle, bounced around inside the magic circle like a rubber ball, rebounding off the barriers.
They'd gone to the trouble of transporting the pillars here and carving the formulas over an extended period, and the effects clearly showed. With this, those chains they'd prepared might not even be necessary.
"It's weakening! It's working — just a little more!"
Gaark shouted from near the Hunter squad. The knights and priests were radiating so much killing intent that the Hunter squad had only Ark still operational.
They all seemed pretty relaxed over there. Oh, right — if I threw out a contrary take here, wouldn't that tarnish Thousand Transformations' reputation as a master strategist?
Today I'm on fire.
"Hmm… are you sure about that?"
"?! Weakling, cut it out, will you!?"
"No, no — you might actually get to see something interesting…?"
"You!! Hopeless wretch!"
Come to think of it, back when I was still trying to play the part of leader of the Mourning Specter, I used to act cool like this all the time. Of course, I was only acting cool — back then I was completely useless at everything, that goes without saying — but…
Marine's Lament clawed at its own head and let out a wail worthy of its name.
"——!! ————!!"
The condensed essence of every negative emotion. The scream had no sound, no meaning — and yet the feelings, the killing intent, came through with perfect clarity.
Even through the barrier, its intensity was enough to chill one to the bone. Without the barrier, that glare alone might have stopped your heart.
From its slender frame, jet-black flames erupted. The black fire devoured the golden flames, deflected the lightning, and incinerated the bullets.
—And yet, even a curse weapon that had consumed tens of thousands of lives could not overcome the crystallization of the Church's technology.
Marine's Lament, still wreathed in flames, slammed against the boundary of the barrier like someone pounding on a wall. The pillars shivered and buzzed, their bases slowly blackening. But not a single wisp of the black flames leaked beyond the layered barrier magic circle.
They'd said they estimated the cursed artifact's power based on prior records — and the calculation had been flawless.
The momentum of the black flames was gradually waning. Just as the Church had calculated, the long centuries of封印 had already weakened it, and the additional attacks were wearing it down further.
Whether it was the barrier, the lightning, or the bullets — hard to say which dealt the most damage, but enough punishment like this could kill even a dragon.
Judging that the target had weakened sufficiently, the priest who had been observing the battle from Anthem's side spoke to him. It must be time for the purification.
Weakening it was one thing, but completely erasing a cursed artifact was reportedly quite difficult. At the level of Marine's Lament, the technique required was said to rank among the most powerful miracles available to the Luminous Spirit Church's members.
As the caster chosen for the grand role of purifying Marine's Lament, I felt I should take pride in Anthem — as his childhood friend.
Anthem gave the priest a firm nod and, for the first time since the seal had been released, stepped into the interior of the barrier.
Anthem Smart — the "Immovable, Unchanging" — was considered the strongest Holy Knight in the Imperial Capital. Each member of the Mourning Specter possessed strengths that surpassed all others, but Anthem's strength lay in his overwhelming durability.
Born from the monstrous strength of his massive frame combined with toughness, and further honed by borrowing the power of the Luminous Spirits to master healing and defensive arts while absorbing Mana Material, he had become the "Immovable, Unchanging" — an entity that defied all attacks.
That durability applied not only to pure physical assault, but to magic, environmental shifts, poisons and paralysis-inducing drugs, diseases, and even curses — every conceivable threat.
Trained by Citry's poisons, Lucia's magic, Luke's swordplay, Riz's whims, Elisa's carefree manner, and my lightning — he had no blind spots.
Even before the most fearsome of curses, there was not a trace of hesitation or fear in Anthem's stride. As he advanced with measured steps, Marine's Lament — which had been in a frenzy — turned to face him.
Its jet-black flames, hot enough to scorch the soul, spread outward and engulfed Anthem. But even under that killing intent made manifest, he did not waver by a hair's breadth.
Facing the curse that beat down upon him, Anthem took another step forward — and for the first time, Marine's Lament retreated.
Perhaps it had sensed the colossal power dwelling within him. Perhaps even this curse weapon, which did nothing but spread resentment, still retained some semblance of will?
But it was over. The interior of the layered barrier was not spacious enough to allow escape.
In moments, Marine's Lament's back was blocked by the barrier wall. With its retreat cut off, it let out its loudest shriek yet — and Anthem extended his great arm.
The cursed artifact had been sufficiently depleted. All that remained was for the Church's miracle to purify this pitiful curse weapon, born of this wretched thing's grotesque nature.
—That was how it was supposed to go.
Anthem's shoulders trembled. His outstretched arm froze mid-reach. The Luminous Spirit priests encircling the area widened their eyes and gasped.
Franz, who had been standing with arms crossed and directing proceedings with great relish, noticed the shift in the situation and stared as wide-eyed as he could manage.
"Im-impossible… that is — what in the—. No… since when!?"
"……"
At some point, a bizarre object had crouched itself between Anthem and Marine's Lament.
Its color was black. At first glance nothing more than a lump of material, it slowly unfurled and rose to its feet, and only then could one recognize that it had a human shape.
It was — a knight. A silhouette of a knight, every part — hands, feet, body, head — crafted from shadow-like blackness.
The pitch-dark surface that absorbed light was as uncanny as a hole torn into the world itself, and even within the still brightly illuminated magic circle, it stood out with jarring severity.
The most bewildered of all was likely the target — Marine's Lament itself.
What had been nothing more than a silhouette rapidly gained texture, gained contour. In the span of a single blink, what had been a mere shadow had transformed into an ominous Black Knight.
The knight stepped forward as though shielding Marine's Lament and drew the sword at its hip.
The pillars that composed the layered barrier magic circle were rapidly being overtaken by the spreading blackness. At that, the priest cried out in alarm: "An unknown power?! Attack it!"
"Fire! Kill it, kill it, kill it!"
The offensive — halted for the purification — resumed, and silver-white bullets swept through the interior of the magic circle.
The Church had accounted for various irregularities when formulating their plan. Scenarios where Marine's Lament's power exceeded expectations. Scenarios where Anthem was incapacitated. But the sudden appearance of reinforcements was something they clearly had not anticipated.
Cursed artifacts sealed away for so long couldn't possibly have allies, and as for intruders from the outside, Franz had requested that the knights' order take precautions.
Anthem's massive frame was like a wall. From ground level, it would have been hard to tell what was happening.
But, as it happened, from the top of the main gate's ornament, I had a clear view of Anthem's situation.
The priest was calling it an unknown power, but that wasn't it. I had clearly seen it. I rubbed my eyes in disbelief.
That knight… it came out of the pendant Citry brought back? …Was I having a nightmare?
The knight plunged its sword into the ground. From the point of impact, a jet-black liquid — like blood — erupted violently upward, forming a curtain.
As though governed by some absolute law, the silver bullets fired from both sides were deflected by the spraying liquid.
Franz wore a slack-jawed, dumbfounded expression. Then, with a thunderous roar, Anthem stepped forward and swung his massive fist.