Chapter 347

Chapter 347
## Chapter 347

Scribe (2)

A recognizable human shape stood before him, bathed in a radiance resembling the setting sun.

This was his great adversary, an opponent he had battled on multiple occasions.

‘The leader of the Heaven’s Turn Society.’

An intense sensation of peril flooded Harris, every instinct in his mind blaring a frantic warning.

He had not anticipated this person making such an abrupt appearance.

Furthermore, the figure had arrived with complete ease, bypassing every single defensive boundary Harris had established.

“Tsk.”

Fwiw—

Leaping backward to create an initial buffer, Harris tightened his grip on his bow, raising his alertness to its absolute peak.

The ethereal entities he had called forth converged around his position, establishing a protective ring.

Operating as a spirit archer, Harris excelled at executing long-distance strikes by relying on his agility and concealment.

Engaging such a formidable foe at point-blank range was highly disadvantageous.

‘Hold on, what exactly is that…?’

While his thoughts whirled,

He wavered between pulling back entirely or summoning aid… when his gaze suddenly sharpened.

Concealed beneath his visor, his star-patterned pupils shifted as he evaluated the scene, hunting for any details he might have overlooked during his initial panic.

“Ah.”

Merely a few heartbeats had passed since his strike had been deflected.

Spotting the true nature of his discomfort, he let out a low murmur.

“…That gave me quite a scare.”

The silhouette ahead, wrapped in brilliant light, still carried the physical likeness of the leader.

Yet, looking closer, the truth became entirely transparent.

This was not the actual leader standing there, but rather a manifestation—a minor sliver of his consciousness.

‘A false alarm. It is a type of sacred art utilizing divine energy.’

He had grown excessively rigid, dreading the actual arrival of the leader.

Even so, the current predicament remained incredibly hazardous.

That projection, after all, had neutralized his assault without breaking a sweat.

[“Adeline.”]

“Oh, my Sovereign! Your faithful follower offers her respect!”

[“It appears you have run into an annoyance.”]

“I—I deeply apologize! The fault lies entirely with me…!”

A profound, echoing tone reverberated, casting an immense weight over the immediate vicinity.

Scribe completely disregarded Harris, dropping to her knees before the manifestation with her head pressed low in profound respect.

It was merely a passing echo of the leader’s awareness, nothing more than a projection…

[“Regrettably, this moment is far from ideal. My sacred energy is depleted, and the friction from Earth is proving more disruptive than usual.”]

“Forgive me, my Sovereign. Consider this a test of my faith. I will triumph over this hurdle and validate my position!”

[“Hmm…”]

The leader’s manifestation, a glowing humanoid entity composed of sacred energy, shifted its gaze toward Harris.

He saw an enigmatic opponent clad in unusual gear, ringed by numerous ethereal entities, radiating pure animosity.

‘…Has he figured out who I am?’

Harris swallowed hard, keeping a vigilant eye on the unfolding event.

It would be entirely logical for the leader to recognize him, given the part he played during their prior conflict in Auterica.

Though he had strictly launched attacks from afar and never engaged in a direct face-to-face meeting, an individual of the leader’s caliber could likely pinpoint his identity solely from his energy signature.

[“Sustaining this manifestation is pushing against its boundaries. My remaining time is short.”]

Yet, deviating from Harris’s assumptions, the leader offered no sign of recognition.

It was possible he was intentionally masking his awareness, or perhaps this spiritual projection lacked full sensory capabilities…

Turning his attention back to Scribe, who remained bowed low before him, the leader delivered a solemn command.

[“Adeline, my chosen follower. I shall endow you with a portion of my vital essence. Annihilate the obstacle in my path, and render his physical form and spirit as an offering.”]

“Oh, my gratitude is absolute, my Sovereign!”

Then, in the same abrupt manner it had manifested, the phantom dissolved into particles of brilliance, pouring directly into Scribe’s physical form.

Possessing a deep understanding of sacred arts thanks to Heinrich, Harris recognized the phenomenon immediately.

‘Divine Possession?’

Scribe served as the leader’s chosen follower, a spiritual medium capable of directing his sacred energy.

This particular invocation was restricted to an elite group of high-ranking practitioners, and her sacred energy immediately multiplied, expanding exponentially.

“Oh! The presence of my Sovereign fills me! Such magnificence! Such purity!”

A violent ripple of force surged outward, causing the sacred relics she wore—forged directly from divine energy—to radiate a blistering heat, mimicking molten rock.

The pressure she emitted was entirely transformed from before, causing Harris to scowl.

‘I expected a difficult fight. Moving on to the next phase, I see.’

Her sacred energy, in both volume and refinement, had escalated tremendously as a consequence of the invocation.

Furthermore, that only accounted for her sacred attributes. Her general combat efficiency, alongside her supplementary talents and traits, would be vastly superior.

Scribe, now elevated by divine possession, represented a terrifying threat, even to someone of Harris’s caliber.

However—there existed a fundamental divergence between a game and a genuine battle…

‘Right now!’

…He was never the sort of fighter to stand idly by while his foe completed a transformation sequence.

Wooong—

Harris’s star-patterned pupils flashed as 「Watcher of the Milky Way」 identified an instability within the ongoing Divine Possession invocation.

Granted, it was a top-tier ritual shielded by intense sacred power… yet it could not completely blind Harris, who held his own deep insights into sacred arts.

Goooo—

「World Tree’s Champion」, 「Assimilation with Nature」, 「Call of Nature」, 「Natural Body」, 「Fairy Magic」, 「Melody of Harmony」, and even the 「Gentle Eight Trigrams Secret Art (Modified)」…

Every single one of his attributes, alongside the energy he had been quietly gathering since the leader first materialized, was unleashed at once.

———!

…Directly toward Scribe, who was still locked in the middle of her transition.

—

“Hectare!”

Rumble!

Following Harris’s command, a colossal barrier of stone burst forth from the earth.

This was no ordinary rock, but a dense, impenetrable monolith reinforced by the raw power of the wild, brought forth by Hectare, the Earth Spirit.

It surged upward at a rapid pace, obstructing Scribe’s advance…

Kaboom!

…Yet it shattered into fragments the very instant a colossal mallet crashed against it.

The obstacle had provided nothing more than a split-second delay.

‘Her durability is incredible. Furthermore, this boundary is impeding my own quick movements.’

Harris clicked his tongue, his brow furrowing.

He maintained his backward retreat, his fingers moving in a blur as he set arrows against his string and launched them at Scribe, who was barreling toward him like an armored juggernaut, her form cloaked in a fiery golden light.

Swish—! Whoosh!

Kaboom! Crash!

A bolt of raw lightning descending from above was turned aside by her bulwark, and the scorching flames enveloping her were blown away by the sheer wind pressure of her swinging mallet.

The razor-sharp gusts of wind did nothing more than scratch the exterior of her sacred mail.

She moved like an unstoppable holy champion, her body beaming with blinding light as she pressed forward, shattering every impediment.

‘Tsk, this remains within my ability to handle… relative to my worst-case scenarios.’

This advantage was entirely due to the preemptive strike he had delivered right in the middle of her Divine Possession invocation.

As predicted, the invocation enjoyed the protection of sacred forces… but it could not fully nullify the impact of his maximum-output assault.

It would have been ideal to settle the matter right then, but expecting such a clean resolution was wishful thinking.

“Insolent wretch! Insolent wretch! I will end your existence, you pagan!”

Scribe, her expression crimson with fury and her tone dripping with unbridled rage, bellowed at him, discarding every shred of her former elegance.

Harris merely shook his head at her frantic shouting.

“Why don’t you lower your temper a bit? Such anger isn’t beneficial for your well-being…”

“You dared to disrupt my holy invocation! I shall reduce you to ashes and present your remains to my Sovereign!”

“Well, I assumed you possessed enough arrogance to ignore my presence and perform your ritual out in the open. That strikes me as a bit… foolish, wouldn’t you agree? If the ritual was so critical, a fortified hideout would have been a wiser choice…”

“Silence! Silence! I will tear that tongue from your mouth!”

He collectedly pointed out the gaps in her judgment, taking issue with her explosive reaction… but she was entirely beyond listening.

Her gaze was completely bloodshot, her features twisted into a grotesque snarl of pure hatred.

In truth, his words were primarily intended to throw her off balance anyway.

‘This is problematic. The engagement is dragging on too long. Even Divine Possession operates under a strict duration… ’

The primary issue was that his time might run out before her transformation naturally expired.

Viewed neutrally, he was acting as a rogue combatant who had ambushed an elite figure within Pantheon.

Remaining in this location for this duration was already pushing his luck to the limit.

‘I have masked our signatures using wilderness-based boundaries, but… ’

Such measures were temporary.

The boundaries would eventually tear apart under the mounting kinetic force, or they would be pinpointed by patrolling security forces.

The arrival of the US Guardians was strictly a matter of time.

‘…I cannot allow an interruption. I cannot afford to waste this precise moment.’

This scenario differed greatly from his dealings with Yulryeongja, who operated strictly from the darkness, or the Duke and Doctor, both of whom he had successfully guided into pre-arranged traps.

Scribe was a highly visible leader, an elite representative of Pantheon.

If she survived to paint herself as the injured party, he would find it impossible to strike at her without triggering a massive public backlash, which could shatter the fragile coalition he was attempting to form.

“Oh, my Sovereign! Bestow upon me the might to bring retribution to this pagan who defies your sacred path!”

With those words, Scribe, having finally smashed through his outermost lines of defense, brought her massive mallet down toward him.

The suppression affecting the spirits had diminished due to the 『Dimensional Barrier Weakening』, yet it remained insufficient to completely overpower her enhanced sacred force.

Sacred energy naturally held a fundamental advantage over basic elemental traits.

Swish!

“Haa!”

“Ugh? What…!”

Yet the massive warhammer, slicing violently through the atmosphere, failed to connect with its objective.

Its path, originally a massive sweeping strike, was subtly re-routed by Harris’s extended palm, its momentum shifting in a fluid, unnatural curve as though guided by an invisible current.

Thump!

The weapon struck the bare earth, gouging out a massive indentation.

Harris, slipping clear of the explosive shockwave of sacred energy that burst from the point of impact, grimaced slightly and pulled back, rubbing his wrist.

‘…That carried immense weight. Even after redirecting the force using soft, yielding principles… ’

He had primarily been utilizing the 「Gentle Eight Trigrams Secret Art (Modified)」 to coordinate his spiritual allies and guide the natural energy of the environment… but it remained a martial discipline at its core.

Furthermore, it was an exceptionally advanced one—an S-rank art widely praised as one of the peak techniques in Auterica.

Applying its core fundamentals was a manageable task for him, given that he had grasped the ultimate truth of combat through Hugo’s 「Convergence of Ten Thousand Techniques」.

‘It drains quite a bit of stamina, though.’

Nonetheless, the exchange only cemented his determination.

She displayed this degree of martial power even while her core traits were suppressed.

Should he permit her to escape today, she would undoubtedly return to seek absolute retribution.

“You possess exceptional swiftness. Yet how much longer can you continue to evade me?”

Scribe, seemingly mastering her frantic rage, spoke as her voice regained its measured rhythm.

Her delivery was civil and controlled, but her underlying message carried an icy promise of violence.

“This boundary… it functions through array formations, does it not? I recognize its origins in Murim martial concepts, yet observing a spiritualist employing such arts is highly unusual. Merging two entirely separate magical doctrines is a rare sight…”

She paused briefly with a furrowed brow, as if analyzing the anomaly, before tossing her head back with a soft laugh.

As if the answer no longer held any weight.

“Regardless, the end is here. Even the most sophisticated array formations possess a breaking point. Your barrier was remarkably durable, but its collapse is imminent.”

Harris’s features turned stone-cold at her self-assured declaration.

Her assessment was accurate. The array formation was losing its stability, with fractures manifesting across its surface due to the unrelenting pressure.

He had immediately set to work reinforcing the structure, but a compromised barrier was still compromised.

“Ten minutes, at the absolute maximum. Pantheon alongside the Guardians will have completely locked down this perimeter by then. It is a pity I won’t be the one to pulverize you with my bare hands… but the final outcome is guaranteed.”

She smiled warmly, her countenance illuminated by sacred brilliance, her threats delivered with casual ease.

She bore a closer resemblance to a dark fiend’s servant than a chosen champion of a deity.

“Ten minutes…?”

Yet Harris, entirely unmoved by her declarations, merely offered a slow nod while scanning their surroundings.

“The window is somewhat narrow, but… Hmm, that ought to suffice.”

“…What?”

Scribe’s expression crumpled into a harsh scowl, her hard-won composure evaporating instantly.

However, she quickly mastered her features once more, a mocking sneer forming on her mouth.

Her gaze burned with a freezing, condescending light, as though she viewed his response as a laughable joke.

Regrettably for her, however,

He was not engaging in empty bravado.

He was not acting on unearned arrogance.

He possessed…

「Avatar Assembly」

“Khahaha! It has been quite some time! I would prefer to delight in this reunion, but it seems our schedule is incredibly tight!”

“…Let us skip the idle chatter. Five minutes.”

…an asset in which he placed absolute certainty.

A time-tested custom, inherited across generations of champions.