Chapter 200: The Saint Finally Stopped Holding Back

The first trap worked exactly as Raven expected.

That worried him. Things never kept going that well for long. From the upper gallery, Roland struck the stone twice in quick succession. Two groups. Splitting up. Raven remained behind a broken column with the Mk.I braced against his shoulder. He waited.

Voices came from the western corridor.

"Maintain formation!"

"Don’t cross the doorway!"

An inquisitor. Raven recognized the tone.

Then came another sound. Wood breaking.

CRASH.

The old stone door dropped between two sections of the Church group. Not on anyone. Exactly as planned. But it was enough to block the corridor.

Raven heard someone curse.

Roland appeared briefly along the gallery.

"Three left behind."

Raven raised two fingers. Second position.

Roland disappeared.

Valeria spoke from somewhere to the south.

"I have five with me."

"Don’t seal them in yet."

"I know."

"Just checking."

"Raven."

"What?"

"If you explain my part to me again during the fight, I’m going to kill you myself."

Raven almost smiled.

"Understood."

A flash of white illuminated the corridor.

Valeria cursed.

The blood barrier she had raised between two arches began evaporating along the edges.

"That wasn’t Elise," she said.

"Support priest."

"I noticed."

Raven moved. He didn’t need to kill the man. Only remove him from the equation. He crossed the opening. The priest saw the rifle. His eyes widened. Raven didn’t aim at his chest. He fired at the stone beside his feet.

BOOM.

The impact shattered the floor. Fragments. Dust.

The priest fell backward and lost concentration. The light vanished. Valeria reacted immediately. Blood Threads shot across the corridor. One wrapped around a knight’s wrist. Another around an inquisitor’s ankle.

They didn’t pierce flesh. They pulled.

Two bodies slammed into the wall.

"That was elegant," Raven said.

"Thank you."

"That wasn’t sarcasm."

"I know. That’s why I’m surprised."

Raven opened the breech. Empty.

He didn’t reload. Not yet.

He changed positions.

Elise entered through the main entrance.

That had also been anticipated. Not because she was predictable. Because it was the option least likely to endanger the people following her.

Raven watched from the second level.

Platinum hair. White and gold. Mercy drawn. Halo still inactive.

Brother Halven followed behind her, with two knights covering either side.

Elise stopped.

She studied the complex. Not Raven. The terrain.

Good. She had already understood that something was wrong.

"Raven."

Her voice carried through the ruins.

"Yes."

"Don’t do this."

Raven shifted behind cover.

"I already am."

Elise closed her eyes for a moment.

"We can talk."

Valeria answered from somewhere in the corridors.

"You tried to immobilize him the last time you talked."

"That was different."

"Of course."

Elise raised her voice.

"Lady Valeria, I don’t want to fight you either."

"That’s good. I don’t want to fight you."

Raven waited.

Valeria added, "But here we are."

Roland laughed somewhere above them.

Elise looked up.

Mistake.

An arrow struck the small medallion hanging from the neck of one of the priests behind her. Not the man. The object.

CRACK.

The sacred crystal shattered. The light connecting the group flickered.

The priest turned sharply.

"Focus lost!"

Another flash. A second arrow. Another crystal.

Raven heard Roland.

"Two."

Elise understood.

"You’re cutting communications."

Raven answered, "Yes."

Her gaze moved toward the gallery.

"And separating the teams."

"Also yes."

"Why?"

Raven stepped out just far enough for her to see him.

"Because I don’t want to fight all of you."

Elise went still.

Then she looked toward the blocked corridor, the blood barrier to the south, the elevated positions, and the exits.

Raven saw the exact moment everything connected.

"You brought me here."

Raven raised the Mk.I.

"Yes."

Elise’s expression changed. Not fear. Something closer to disappointment.

"You planned this before we even arrived."

"Yes."

"You deliberately let us find your trail."

"Yes."

Brother Halven stepped forward.

"Saint, we should withdraw and regroup."

Elise didn’t answer.

Raven agreed with Halven. It was the correct decision.

Which was exactly why he needed to prevent it.

"Valeria."

"Already moving."

Blood Magic erupted from the side corridor. Not at Elise. At the ceiling.

Three hardened pillars of blood struck a weakened section. Stone fell.

Brother Halven and the two knights retreated.

Elise stepped forward.

Separation. Only a few meters. Enough.

Raven fired another standard round. Not at Elise. At the arch behind her.

BOOM.

More stone collapsed.

Elise turned.

Now a wall of rubble stood between her and part of her support. Not complete. It wouldn’t last.

But for a few minutes...

Raven had what he wanted.

Elise looked at him.

"You’re not trying to escape."

"No."

"You want to fight me."

"I want to see what happens when you don’t have an open road, six people covering you, and the freedom to choose the distance."

Elise slowly lowered Mercy.

"That is a terrible idea."

"Probably."

"I’m glad you at least know that."

Raven loaded another round.

"I didn’t come for your approval."

Elise attacked first.

Not quickly. That would have been easier to understand.

She walked.

Raven fired.

BOOM.

The barrier appeared before the projectile reached her.

Three layers. Just as she had promised.

The first impact opened a fracture. The second absorbed the rest. The third never even needed to react.

Raven opened the breech.

Elise kept walking.

"I learned."

"So did I."

Valeria attacked from the left. Five blood lances.

Elise turned one hand. The barrier redistributed.

Raven fired again from a different angle. A higher-mass round.

The first layer deformed.

Elise didn’t stop.

Raven retreated.

"Roland."

An arrow dropped from above. Not at Elise. At the floor in front of her.

A nearly invisible thread was tied to the shaft.

Elise saw it. Too late.

The cord pulled a support loose.

CRACK.

Part of the corridor gave way.

Elise jumped.

Raven was already aiming at where she would land.

BOOM.

The barrier appeared. But an instant later than before.

The round penetrated part of the first layer before being deflected.

Elise landed and looked at the fracture.

Raven changed position.

She raised Mercy.

"Raven."

"What?"

"Stop trying to make it harder for me not to hurt you."

"That isn’t up to me."

"Of course it is."

"Then stop pursuing me."

"We already know I can’t do that."

"Then we continue."

Elise clenched her jaw.

Raven saw frustration.

Good. Frustration created decisions. Decisions created patterns.

The problem was that Elise learned quickly too. Too quickly.

The next time Valeria attacked from the side, Elise didn’t reinforce the barrier.

She let the attack pass. Not through her. A meter beside her.

Valeria had been trying to force her to turn.

Elise simply refused.

Raven didn’t fire.

"She’s stopped reacting to you," he said.

Valeria ducked behind a column.

"I noticed."

"We need to change."

"Any brilliant ideas?"

Raven watched Elise.

"Yes."

"That never reassures me."

Raven stepped out. Deliberately. Into full view.

Elise found him immediately.

"Raven."

He raised the rifle.

Elise raised one hand.

Raven didn’t fire.

Instead—

Burst Step.

Sideways.

Elise turned with him.

Valeria attacked. Not the barrier. The ground.

Hardened blood erupted in five spikes in front of Elise’s feet.

She had to retreat.

Raven fired into one of the lateral layers.

BOOM.

CRACK.

It didn’t penetrate.

But the Halo moved.

Valeria smiled.

"There."

"Again."

Elise raised Mercy.

The blade lit.

Raven felt something before he saw it.

Pressure.

Predator’s Instinct screamed.

"Down!"

Raven threw himself aside. A line of white light passed through the space where he had been. The wall behind him simply ceased to exist. It didn’t explode. It didn’t break. Nearly three meters of stone disappeared into light.

Roland shouted from above.

"That was new!"

"Yes."

Elise lowered the sword.

Her expression had changed.

"Enough."

Raven rose slowly.

"What?"

"I understand what you’re trying to do now."

"Good."

"No. It isn’t."

Halo appeared. Fully.

Until then, Raven had only seen fragments. Layers. Edges.

Now he saw the whole thing.

A circle of light opened behind Elise. Then another.

Symbols rotated slowly around her.

Pressure flooded the complex.

Valeria stopped moving. Roland stopped talking.

FORGE reacted.

[Extreme Mana Concentration Detected.]

[Threat Assessment Escalating.]

Raven held the rifle steady.

Elise looked at him.

"I’ve been treating you like someone I could still stop without seriously hurting."

Raven waited.

"That was a mistake."

There it was. Not a threat. A conclusion.

Predator’s Instinct tightened.

"Are you going to kill me?"

"No."

Elise raised Mercy.

"But I’m done assuming you’re fragile."

Raven almost laughed.

"That sounds worse."

"It is."

The first Sacred Edict had no shape. Only an effect.

Elise spoke.

"Kneel."

The word struck the space around them.

Something fell over Raven’s body. Not weight. Authority.

His knees buckled.

Stonehide spread across both legs.

It didn’t matter.

The pressure wasn’t coming from outside. It entered through his mana.

Radiant Metabolism reacted.

[Foreign Sacred Mana Detected.]

[Processing.]

[Processing Insufficient.]

Raven drove one hand into the floor.

Valeria shouted something.

Elise turned toward her.

"Stay."

Valeria froze. Only for an instant.

But an instant was enough.

Elise advanced.

Raven forced one leg to move. Then the other.

Burst Step.

The movement came out crooked.

He fell behind a column.

The pressure partially vanished.

"That’s cheating," Roland said from somewhere above.

Elise looked up.

"Surrender."

Roland answered, "That was an observation, not a negotiation."

An arrow fell.

Elise didn’t even raise a barrier.

Halo deflected it.

Roland went silent.

Then Raven heard him mutter, "I hate this."

Valeria regained movement.

"Welcome to the experience."

Raven pushed himself upright.

Sacred Edict.

That was new.

Not completely. Halt had probably been a lesser version.

This was something else. Broader. Deeper.

And Elise was still not trying to kill them.

That was the worrying part.

Raven changed position.

Elise followed.

Valeria emerged from another corridor.

Blood Threads. Dozens.

Elise raised her hand.

"Purge."

White light erupted.

Not outward like fire. Through everything.

Valeria’s threads vanished.

They weren’t cut.

The mana inside them was destroyed.

Valeria retreated.

"That felt personal."

Elise looked at her.

"I don’t want to hurt you."

"You’re starting to repeat that too much."

"Because none of you listen."

Raven fired.

Elise blocked.

Another layer.

The standard round ricocheted away.

Raven opened the breech.

Empty.

Bad.

There wasn’t another ammunition box at this position. The next one was twenty meters away.

Elise saw it.

And understood.

"Manual reload."

Raven didn’t answer.

"That’s what you were hiding."

"I never hid it."

"You never gave me enough time to notice."

"That was intentional."

Elise advanced.

Without a loaded rifle, distance became a problem.

Raven drew his sword.

Elise saw the movement.

"No."

Raven used Burst Step.

Closed the distance. Stonehide over one forearm. Kinetic Acceleration.

Elise moved Mercy.

She didn’t strike. Only redirected.

The impact numbed Raven’s arm.

A sacred kick slammed into his side.

Stonehide absorbed part of it.

The rest went through.

Raven was thrown backward and struck a wall.

CRACK.

Something in his ribs protested.

Predatory Regeneration reacted.

[Musculoskeletal Damage Detected.]

Raven stood.

Elise stared at him.

"Do you see?"

"Yes."

"Then stop."

"No."

Elise closed her eyes.

"You’re exhausting."

"I’ve been told."

Valeria attacked from behind.

Elise turned.

Raven ran for the ammunition box.

One round. Two. He took penetration.

Loaded.

Elise saw the movement.

Halo.

Raven aimed.

Valeria raised blood from both sides.

Elise blocked.

Raven fired.

BOOM.

The first layer shattered.

The second held.

It didn’t matter.

Raven was already moving.

Elise wasn’t.

And that was exactly what he wanted.

Roland released an arrow.

Not at her.

At another support.

CRACK.

The central corridor began to collapse.

Elise looked up.

"Not again."

She jumped.

Raven smiled slightly.

She had learned.

But she had jumped exactly where Raven wanted.

Valeria sealed a wall of blood behind her.

Elise landed in the lower chamber.

Raven dropped through another entrance.

Roland sealed the upper access.

For the first time, Elise was completely isolated.

Not only from her support.

From everyone.

Except Raven.

Valeria appeared in a side opening.

Roland above.

Three angles.

Elise looked around, then at Raven.

"You really planned all of this."

"Yes."

"Since when?"

"Before you knew I was waiting for you."

She exhaled through her nose. Not quite a laugh. Almost.

"Good."

Raven frowned slightly.

"Good?"

Elise lowered Mercy.

The Halo behind her began rotating faster.

"Then I’ll stop insulting you."

The pressure doubled.

Every Trait in Raven’s body reacted.

Predator’s Instinct.

Stonehide.

Radiant Metabolism.

Everything.

Elise raised her sword.

"Until now, I was still fighting as though you were an Awakened I could bring back intact."

Raven aimed.

"I noticed."

"I won’t make that mistake again."

Valeria murmured, "Raven."

"I know."

Elise extended one hand.

The world turned white.

"DIVINE JUDGMENT."

Raven saw the light descend.

Not from Elise. From above.

The ceiling. The stone.

Everything disappeared inside a pillar of white.

Predator’s Instinct didn’t tell him to dodge.

There was no safe direction.

Raven ran for the only cover he had prepared specifically for something like this.

An old interior wall reinforced by two layers of stone and a cavity behind it.

"Now!"

Valeria raised a blood barrier.

Not to stop the attack. Only to redirect debris.

Raven jumped behind the wall.

Stonehide covered his back, arms, and neck.

The light struck.

The world exploded.

At first, there was no sound. Only white.

Then everything arrived at once.

BOOOOOOM.

Stone tore through Valeria’s blood barrier.

The wall in front of Raven fractured.

A fragment struck his shoulder. Another hit his leg.

Sacred energy passed through Stonehide.

Not like a projectile.

Like heat forcing its way inside his flesh.

Radiant Metabolism reacted.

[Sacred Mana Exposure Detected.]

[Concentration: EXTREME.]

[Metabolic Processing Initiated.]

[WARNING.]

[Sacred Mana Exposure Exceeding Adaptive Tolerance.]

Raven clenched his teeth.

Mana entered through burns, lungs, blood, tissue.

[Radiant Metabolism Insufficient.]

[Severe Tissue Damage Detected.]

Predatory Regeneration activated.

Too slowly.

Raven felt skin burning beneath his clothes.

Stonehide cracked across his back.

Part of the wall vanished.

Then the light ended.

The silence lasted less than a second.

The entire western section of the complex began collapsing.

Raven came out from cover.

Limping.

Blood ran down his arm.

His right sleeve was burned away in places, along with some of the skin beneath it.

Valeria appeared through the dust.

"Raven!"

"I’m alive."

"I can see that."

Blood streaked her forehead.

Probably not hers. Maybe.

Roland shouted from above.

"The western gallery is gone!"

Raven looked.

Gone was accurate.

An entire section of the complex no longer existed.

Not collapsed. Not damaged.

Absent.

The outside world was visible through a cut of partially melted stone.

Raven breathed.

Pain.

One broken rib. Maybe two.

Predatory Regeneration began closing some of the burns.

Radiant Metabolism continued processing residue.

[Trace Sacred Mana Converted.]

[Internal Damage Stabilization: PARTIAL.]

Elise emerged through the remaining light.

Halo complete.

Mercy glowing.

Her breathing was heavier.

Good.

That attack cost her something.

Not enough.

But something.

Raven raised the Mk.I.

His arm trembled.

Elise noticed.

"This is what I was trying to avoid."

Raven spat blood to the side.

"You could have avoided it."

"You built a battlefield specifically to trap me."

"And you erased half a church."

Elise looked around.

"It was abandoned."

Raven paused.

"That was surprisingly practical."

"I’m learning from you."

Valeria let out a laugh that turned into a cough.

Even Raven almost smiled.

Elise didn’t.

"It’s over."

Raven checked the rifle.

One round.

Not specialized. Standard.

The next ammunition box was on the other side of a corridor that no longer existed.

Plan changed.

Good.

Plans did that.

"No," Raven said.

Elise frowned.

"Raven, look around."

"I am."

"You can’t continue."

Raven moved his shoulder.

Pain.

It still worked.

"I can."

"That doesn’t mean you should."

"I never said it did."

Elise studied him.

For the first time since she had arrived, there was something different in her eyes.

Not concern for a contaminated man. Not patience.

Respect.

Very little.

But it was there.

And beneath it—

Caution.

Raven had gotten exactly what he wanted.

She no longer treated him like an Awakened who needed to be protected from himself.

She treated him like something capable of being dangerous.

That had come at a cost.

Half the complex. Multiple injuries. A broken rib. Internal burns. Radiant Metabolism at its limit. Valeria injured. Roland displaced.

And Elise was still standing.

Champion still meant Champion.

Raven raised the rifle again.

Elise raised Mercy.

"Last chance."

Raven watched Halo.

Rotating. Rebuilding.

But not the same.

There was a tiny pause after Divine Judgment.

An oscillation. A delay.

Less than a second.

Raven saw it.

Predator’s Instinct did too.

There.

The first real crack.

Not in the barrier.

In the rhythm.

Raven smiled faintly.

Elise noticed.

"What?"

Raven braced the Mk.I against his burned shoulder.

It hurt.

It didn’t matter.

"Nothing."

Valeria looked at him from across the ruined battlefield.

She knew that expression too.

"Raven."

He never looked away from Elise.

"I found something."

Elise adjusted her stance.

Raven watched Halo begin rotating again.

Slower for a fraction of a second.

Then stable.

That was it.

Radiant Metabolism couldn’t protect him. Stonehide couldn’t stop her. The rifle couldn’t overpower every layer of her defense. And Raven still wasn’t strong enough to fight her directly.

Perfect.

He had never needed any of those things to work alone.

He only needed a window.

And for the first time since Elise had stopped holding back...

he had just seen one.