The Water Magician

In the first layer's atrium, while Amon was battling the 'spirit smoke' and Graham was slashing at it with the Holy Sword in part of the assembly arena... in another part of the assembly hall, a far more gruesome battle was taking place.

It was in the eastern spectator seats.

The guests from the eastern nations of the dark continent, who had started to retreat outside the assembly hall, were there.

The guests, including the 'chief', had already left their seats, but still, three-quarters of them remained.

"Hey, the abominable spider has arrived!"

A shout rose from the spectator seats.

A grotesque creature, unmistakably featuring the face of Cardinal Sakarias on its head, the Pope's face on its abdomen, and the faces of the four bishops on its four leg joints, was rapidly approaching the eastern spectator seats from the arena.

And it chanted. The knees did.

"[Fire Cannon]"

"[Fire Cannon]"

"[Fire Cannon]"

"[Fire Cannon]"

Four voices echoed from the abominable spider.

It was a quadruple volley of '[Fire Cannon]'.

The magic known as '[Fire Cannon]' already unleashed ten fiery projectiles at once.

And this was four times that.

In just one quadruple volley, one-tenth of the spectator seats turned to rubble.

Those who managed to defend themselves were not unharmed.

The rapid-fire fiery projectiles were troublesome, but each projectile's destructive power was also extremely high...

"What is this magic...?"

"I can't deflect it with my gauntlet..."

"If only I had an enchant..."

"Hey, where's Lord Kinme?"

"Lord Kinme is safeguarding the 'chief' and has already gone outside..."

The guests were forced into a challenging retreat...

The massacre of the eastern nations' guests by the abominable spider was undeniably visible even from where the cardinals and archbishops were located.

However, no one had the leeway to suggest going to help.

Graham, who was becoming increasingly fed up with the seemingly endless appearance of 'spirit smoke' no matter how much he slashed at them, felt the same way.

"That abominable spider can't be something created by human power... If that’s the case, will the power of the Holy Sword be of some help?"

No one answered Graham's muttering.

The only one capable of launching effective attacks against the 'spirit smoke' was Graham, wielding the Holy Sword.

In that situation, Stefania, who had been praying silently from behind, seemed to have made a decision and moved.

She took one of the three Holy Swords that were placed on the ground out of the sheath and grasped it.

"Director Stefania!"

The inquisitors, her subordinates, gasped in surprise.

It was said that if someone recognized as a master did not grasp the Holy Sword, it would absorb their magical power or life force itself.

Now, the three Holy Swords lying on the ground had been without a master for a long time.

Stefania took one of them and even drew the sword from its sheath.

However, nothing happened.

That was a good thing.

The Holy Sword, fundamentally, does not shine like a magic sword.

The fact that Stefania was not drained of strength and collapsed...

"At least it acknowledged me as a temporary master."

Stefania's muttering could be heard by the inquisitors around her.

Then she ran towards Graham.

"Stefania?"

"Lord Graham, I will assist you!"

Thus began the collaboration of swords between Graham and Stefania.

Stefania was the Director of the Inquisition Bureau.

In certain circumstances, there may be situations where she needed to use force to put misguided clergy to the inquisition.

In such cases, it would be unacceptable for the director leading the inquisitors to be weak in close combat.

Especially since the former director was known as a vampire hunter, someone who had faced vampires that overwhelmingly surpassed humans.

It would be unthinkable for Stefania, the successor, to be weak.

In fact, the sword wielded by former Graham, right in front of Stefania, was sharp and precise.

Though he wasn't using all his strength, it seemed he was swinging with considerable ease, fighting without peril.

While it couldn’t be said that Stefania surpassed him, the sword she wielded was very nearly on par.