---

Whoa… the heavy pressure pressing down. Beyond that, there was a slow, approaching presence.

“Well, well, I thought I wouldn’t have to step in, but this is unexpected. Moreover…”

What revealed itself was a towering, muscular swordsman. In his hand was a massive, pitch-black greatsword that resembled a hunk of flesh. At a glance, his perfected physique was accompanied by an unusual aura, with a hazy spirit entity condensed above him.

“Moreover, the opponent is such a small and delicate girl.”

With a laugh that seemed to say “this is ridiculous,” the man twitched his eyebrows. In that moment, his gaze turned sinister, scanning Maria’s body intently.

Regardless, Maria showed no particular reaction, focusing instead on observing the man.

From his dark skin, tightly curled hair, and somewhat unfamiliar facial features, it seemed he wasn’t a traditional “European.” Instead, he seemed closer to a Nubian or Aksumite from south of the Mediterranean Sea of Tethys.

Maria’s mind flashed with knowledge she had learned from Sophia.

‘If that’s the case, I might need to consider things like Impi Vision or Ngai sacrificial sorcery.’

Judging by the state of the spirit entity visible to her spiritual sight, the man’s level was clearly far superior to Maria’s. Of course, compared to Maria, who had been just an ordinary girl until she met Sophia and Conra in Valencia, this was only natural.

The performance Maria could muster at this moment was ultimately due to her innate talent and Sophia’s masterful guidance. In other words, it was the result of squeezing out the maximum potential in a short time with a delicate balance.

So, it was inevitable that the man’s spirit entity appeared blurry to her at this moment. Rather, it was more accurate to say that her spiritual sight being open already revealed her innate talent and the subtlety of the Sphere Exercises.

‘More than that, what is that?’

Maria’s gaze pierced through the blurry spirit entity of the man. Her “sight” talent was innate. From a distance, she could scan every corner of an alley and distinguish suspicious individuals among the crowd—an innate visual ability that even Sophia and Conra didn’t possess.

With her Qi Sense fully mobilized, Maria’s eyes caught a glimpse of something beyond the difference in their levels.

However, she soon gave up on further observation. There was a limit to what she could discern just by looking…

“Now then, shall we quickly clear away the obstacle?”

As if the earlier lecherous gaze had been a lie, a surge of killing intent swelled up in an instant. The curtain of killing intent, threatening to swallow Maria’s entire sphere of influence, forced her to reflexively twist her upper body, following the subtlety of the Sphere Exercises. She swallowed a scream as an absurd sword force flowed through her arm.

‘It’s heavy…!’

The overwhelming sword pressure, unimaginable from a human swordsman, was barely deflected by the Sphere Exercises’ subtlety, specialized in twisting force vectors. Maria broke out in a cold sweat without realizing it.

In the next moment, a possibility flashed through Maria’s mind.

‘Could this be…?’

Following the intuition that came with the idea, Maria’s movements flowed like water. From the stance where she had barely deflected the sword pressure, her form changed, and she abandoned the deflection. Of course, she wasn’t planning to be swept away and die. Instead, she chose to ride the flow.

In a moment of acrobatic movement, Maria’s form rode the trajectory of the slash, and in the next moment, she was floating upside down behind the giant who had swung the greatsword. Her slender fingers lightly touched the giant’s nape. She intended to strike his cervical spine.

‘I’ll make you a paraplegic!’

But in the next moment, she twisted her spine like a spinning top, flipping through the air to evade. The heavy trajectory swept through the space she had just occupied. Maria, barely dodging, quickly stepped back, sweating coldly.

‘What absurd flexibility.’

Fortunately, there was no follow-up attack. It seemed even the giant found such movements too taxing. As Maria calmed her racing heart and adjusted her stance, the giant also corrected his momentarily disrupted posture, wearing a sour expression.

“Hah, not only did you see through my Impi Vision sneak attack in that moment, but you even countered so sharply. You’re no ordinary little girl, are you?”

As he spoke, he glanced at his elbow. There was a small but distinct palm print. The reddish palm print quickly turned into a bruise, staining his skin a deep blue. Around it, white contusions stood out. Thanks to the man’s dark skin, the color changes were even more pronounced.

It was Maria’s handiwork from the earlier exchange. She had abandoned her initial plan to strike his cervical spine and instead landed a counter blow on his elbow as she withdrew.

Although it wasn’t an overwhelmingly powerful strike, the tingling pain rising from his elbow was slightly annoying. As he gauged how this might affect his combat strength, the giant clicked his tongue.

But Maria had more to say. The attack she had just unleashed, though in a desperate moment, was a fairly precise strike. While not her full potential, it was certainly not a light blow, yet the result was merely a small bruise and some contusions.

Watching the bruise and contusion slowly fade, Maria swallowed a groan.

‘What a monster…’

To Maria, the giant’s body was truly monstrous. Elastic, flexible, tough, and overflowing with strength. No matter how good a strike she landed, the damage absorbed by his uniquely tough and elastic body wasn’t as significant as she had hoped, and it healed in real-time, making it hard to accumulate damage.

And it wasn’t as if she had a clear technical advantage either. The earlier exchange was only possible because she had been wary of his “sneak attack.” From now on, it would be difficult to get the same opportunity.

‘Since he realized his Impi Vision didn’t work, it’ll be a thorough battle of wits from here on out.’

Still, Maria had been genuinely shocked when she first experienced the Impi Vision.

According to her mentor Sophia, the Impi Vision of the southern continent was a technique that fully unleashed a mental explosion called “soul” and the unique physical elasticity of southerners, aiming for a surprise one-hit kill.

If Maria hadn’t had prior knowledge of the Impi Vision and hadn’t been thoroughly observing and guarding against her opponent… she would have had no choice but to be taken down. If she had taken such a heavy attack unprepared, her not-so-sturdy body would have undoubtedly met instant death.

‘Even so, I can’t recklessly use the same trick from now on.’

Techniques like the Impi Vision, which aim for a one-hit kill, inevitably leave gaps in their follow-up. This time, Maria had moved to exploit that gap for a small advantage. He would likely be wary of that and not recklessly use his secret techniques. If he did, it would probably be at a decisive moment.

Of course, Maria had no intention of facing the giant until such a situation arose. There were more urgent matters.

Maria’s pupils briefly scanned left and right, too quickly for others to notice. Perhaps due to her innate wide field of vision, she could grasp the surrounding situation in an instant.

‘Holding the second floor is no longer feasible.’

The church’s defense was being held by the priests, nuns, and spellcasters gathered in the hall. Though non-combatants, they were still members of the Church Order, trained and devoted. Naturally, they had at least the minimum combat skills to protect themselves, whether through spells or martial arts, making their mobilization possible.

However, even so, the numerical disadvantage was too severe to hold the second floor. Despite the Strabenher Church and other lowland church buildings utilizing a much smaller area compared to other parishes.

Fortunately, the Strabenher Church already had a contingency plan for such situations.

‘Somehow, tie up the attackers and retreat to the third floor.’

Once they successfully retreated to the third floor, the rest would be straightforward. Gradually delay the enemy while retreating to the fourth floor. Once all the church members had successfully evacuated to the central tower via the fourth floor, they could cut the bridge to prevent the enemy from following.

‘The key is to buy time for everyone to escape.’

Maria realized that this was precisely what she needed to do at this moment. Once the thought struck, action had to be swift. As she lowered her stance, the giant opposite her also tilted his pitch-black greatsword diagonally, adopting a defensive posture.

In an instant, with a sound that tore through the air, Maria’s form shot toward the giant. Naturally, the giant, crouching like a spring, swung his greatsword with ferocious momentum.

The trajectory of the greatsword was truly exquisite. Neither overly forceful nor lacking in strength, it was a perfectly balanced strike. Yet, it thoroughly restricted the opponent’s movement, forcing Maria into a situation where any reckless charge would result in a fatal injury.

Fortunately for Maria, and unfortunately for the giant, her goal wasn’t a one-on-one assault.

“What!?”

The subtlety of the Sphere Exercises, specialized in redirecting the vectors of force, was fully utilized at this moment in Maria’s fingertips and toes. The giant, who had swung his greatsword with a firm and orthodox response, was left dumbfounded as Maria’s form, which had been charging toward him, now sped away even faster.

“Hey, where are you going in the middle of a fight!”

The giant, with a dazed expression, quickly regained his composure and shouted with a mix of absurdity and irritation. But Maria didn’t bother to respond. She needed to save her breath. She had much to do.

Propelled by her own strength and the force of the giant’s greatsword, Maria, using a variant of the Divine Arrow technique, shot toward the attackers who had begun climbing the walls to the second-floor corridor.

The attackers, busy pushing back the resisting clergy, couldn’t counter Maria’s sudden assault from behind. By the time they realized the situation, the girl’s form had already penetrated deep into their midst.

For Maria, who had mastered the profound art of redirecting force vectors, a group of clustered enemies was the perfect target to manipulate at will.

“This is…! Die!”

“Wait, Matthias! Who are you stabbing? Don’t mess around!”

“Rutert’s group!”

With her wide field of vision and lightning-fast reflexes, Maria’s movements were seamless. The violent killing intent and sharp blades coming from all directions were useless against her mastery of the Sphere Exercises.

Her steps, constantly shifting left and right, never faltered or hesitated. Her footwork, drawing large and small circles and semicircles, naturally deflected threats and manipulated nearby enemies to control those further away.

In this way, Maria successfully controlled the movements of one group of enemies, gradually directing them toward other clustered attackers. Her plan was to use one group to strike another, creating a chain reaction.

Of course, this alone wouldn’t defeat all the enemies. No matter how skilled Maria was at controlling groups of enemies, it wasn’t to such an absurd level. However, if she could at least buy time for the resisting forces to regroup and retreat to the third-floor stairs, that would be enough.

The problem was that the giant she had just shaken off quickly regained his senses and began to follow.

“Don’t run away cowardly, fight fair and square!”

“…!”

Suppressing the urge to scream, “Eek!? No, I don’t want to!”, Maria quickened her pace. Whether the giant chased her or not didn’t matter to her plan. In fact, it was better. If he followed her, at least her allies outside her path wouldn’t have to face him.

It didn’t take long for Maria, the group of attackers she was manipulating, and the pursuing giant to circle the second floor. She ignored smaller groups, focusing only on the densely packed larger ones.

Fortunately, the Strabenher Church’s clergy didn’t waste the brief respite. In that short time, they defeated the few enemies who had escaped Maria’s control and quickly retreated, gathering at the third-floor stair entrance to await the enemy’s advance.

By this point, Maria also began to change her movements. With the priests, nuns, and spellcasters now in a good position, she no longer needed to drag around so many attackers. As her footwork changed, the movements of the attackers she was leading became more frantic.

“Ugh, ugh!”

“Bil, eat, ugh—!”

Maria’s control over the group had reached a cruel level. Just by turning her body slightly, those on the outer edge had to run even faster to avoid being skewered by their comrades’ blades.

Naturally, the attackers, now half-dead, were forced into a deadly dilemma: either offer their blood and flesh to their comrades’ blades or struggle to break free from the group to avoid the same fate.

The attackers faced another calamity.

“Damn it, stop there!”

The giant, who should have been their reliable ally, now completely enraged by Maria’s swift escape, charged forward like a tank.

The attackers, entangled in Maria’s vast sphere of influence and the precise vector redirection of the Sphere Exercises, found themselves forced to aim their weapons at the giant against their will.

But the giant, now completely enraged, had no consideration for his “comrades.” He was fully prepared to clear any “obstacles” in his way to chase Maria.

“Out of the way, you brats!”

With a horizontal slash, the greatsword’s trajectory bisected the bodies of the attackers who had been forced to throw themselves in its path.

The lower halves of their bodies convulsed on the ground, while the upper halves soared into the air, spilling blood and entrails before collapsing. The grotesque scene was ignored by both Maria and the giant.

Only the other attackers, caught between the two, trembled in fear and horror as they watched.

Those who managed to escape like scattered crumbs fled without looking back. Some chose to escape the church, while others joined other scattered groups to break through to the third-floor stairs. Maria paid them no mind.

“Light!”

“You shall not pass!”

The intense flashes of light and the constant vibrations of spiritual power from the third-floor stairs tickled Maria’s Qi Sense and spirit entity. The attackers who charged toward it were soon blocked by the clergy’s defensive formation at the stairs.

From formal priests to nuns and spellcasters, all had undergone the Church Order’s training. Though their combat skills were only at a cultural level, each individual’s strength far surpassed that of ordinary civilians.

Being non-combatants only meant they weren’t frontline fighters, and the lack of defensive strength was only relative to the siege situation on the second floor. Defending the narrow third-floor stairs was more than sufficient.

There was another reason Maria didn’t divert her attention elsewhere: the giant.

At this moment, Maria was avoiding direct confrontation with the giant, using the attackers caught in her sphere of influence as weapons against him.

With subtle shifts of her shoulders and changes in her footwork, the dozen or so attackers she controlled screamed as they were flung outward. Their fates were mostly sealed.

Following the ominous black trajectory, blood sprayed in all directions. In real-time, unspeakable horrors were being created.

The giant mercilessly stabbed his greatsword into friend and foe alike, leaving bodies sprawled on the ground. Some clutched their split stomachs, trying to gather their spilled entrails, while others screamed in disbelief as their limbs were scattered. Those who died instantly were the lucky ones. Despite the gruesome scene, Maria didn’t look away.

‘If I look away now, that scene will become me and the church members! And more importantly…’

Thinking of Conra, still in seclusion in the central tower on the fourth floor, Maria steeled her resolve.

Maria continued her standoff with the giant for a while longer, but it didn’t take long for her to realize that holding out like this wasn’t a good option.

After all, it was an undeniable reality that Maria was far inferior to the giant in terms of physical strength and combat experience. Thus, she avoided direct engagement, using her sphere of influence and the Butterfly Effect to exploit external forces, gradually wearing down the giant’s stamina.

However, this tactic was ultimately just a way to pile up corpses when facing a one-man army. Knowing this, Maria manipulated her puppets more skillfully, coordinating the shifts between offense and defense. But in the end, it was still relying on external forces. She couldn’t surpass the limits of the puppets she had forcibly gathered.

It was good that the attackers were killing each other, but the reduction in usable puppets was bad news. If Maria failed to keep the giant tied down, the outcome was all too clear.

 

---