Chapter 222: Brace yourself

The wind howling through the mountain pass was bitter, thick with the metallic taste of heavy law-runes.

At the base of the jagged gorge, dozens of local provincial merchants and travelling creatures were forced onto their knees on the frozen stone. Standing over them were a squad of twelve Iron Inquisitors—towering figures encased in seamless, polished silver armor that lacked any eye slits or joints. Each held a heavy, ten-foot halberd planted firmly into the dirt, radiating a golden, oppressive pressure that flattened the surrounding air.

"All lower-realm entities will present their mana cores for inspection," the Inquisitor Captain’s voice reverberated, flat and devoid of emotion, sounding like grinding stone. "Any deviation from the Six Sovereigns’ decree will be met with immediate execution."

Vince, Vetra, and Elena walked down the narrow gravel trail toward the rear of the crowded checkpoint. Their Sylph disguises held perfectly, their elongated ears and silver-veined skin blending naturally with the regional refugees.

As they reached the edge of the line, the Inquisitor Captain raised his left hand. The massive golden ring hovering behind his back flared with a harsh, radiant glare, driving a fresh wave of suppressive law into the ground.

"Kneel and submit to the scan," the Captain commanded, sweeping his halberd toward the trio.

Vetra instinctively tensed her shoulders, her teeth gritting in anticipation. Beside her, Elena closed her eyes, bracing herself for the soul-crushing, suffocating weight that had previously pinned them to the dirt back when the Executioner had descended.

The golden wave rolled over them.

...And nothing happened.

Vetra blinked, looking down at her boots. There was no crushing weight. No agonizing friction scraping against her core. The absolute law that made the surrounding merchants gasp for air felt like nothing more than a faint, harmless mountain breeze brushing past her cheek.

Elena opened her eyes in complete, stunned silence. The suppressive aura touched her chest, but the moment it made contact with her skin, the thread of golden authority woven deep inside her mana circuit effortlessly neutralized the force, absorbing the pressure without a single flicker of strain.

"What..." Elena whispered, her hands trembling as she looked at her palms. "It’s... gone. The pressure isn’t touching us."

The Inquisitor Captain’s head snapped toward them, his featureless silver visor glowing with a sudden, harsh red light. "Anomaly detected. Subject cores resisting celestial decree. Exterminate."

Four Inquisitors immediately stepped forward, raising their golden halberds as spatial law-arrays bloomed beneath their feet.

Vince began to take a casual step forward, reaching toward his coat, but a warm, firm hand caught his forearm.

Vetra stepped in front of him, turning her head slightly to give him a fierce, predatory smirk. Her amber eyes flashed with an unyielding, breathless heat. "Don’t bother, Vince. Let us clear the path for you."

Elena stepped up to Vetra’s side, her spectacles reflecting the golden arrays as her crystal slate hovered smoothly into the air above her open palm. "Consider it our warm-up."

Vetra didn’t pull her daggers. She took a single, explosive step forward.

BOOM!

The stone beneath her boots shattered into a fine powder as she broke the sound barrier. She closed the twenty-yard gap in a fraction of a heartbeat, appearing directly in front of the leading Inquisitor.

The knight raised his "indestructible" law-shield to block, but Vetra simply coiled her right fist back and struck. The thread of divine authority in her core flared, igniting her dragon-kin heat into a blinding, silver-veined shockwave.

CRACK-THUNDER!

Vetra’s fist punched straight through the celestial shield as if it were brittle parchment, impacting the Inquisitor’s silver breastplate. The massive armored knight was launched backward like a cannonball, blasting through three stone pillars before embedding forty feet deep into the solid cliff face, his law-array instantly shattering into dust.

Vetra stopped, staring at her glowing fist in utter, wide-eyed astonishment. "My... my power output... it doubled?"

"It didn’t just double, Vetra!" Elena called out, her voice rising with an unprecedented edge of absolute thrill.

The Inquisitor Captain surged forward, swinging his massive halberd down toward Elena in a descending arc of compressed golden light. Elena didn’t dodge. She simply extended two slender fingers and snapped them.

FROOSH!

A column of pure, golden divine flame erupted from the stone floor. It wasn’t ordinary academic magic—fortified by the lattice of Vince’s authority, the golden fire instantly consumed the Captain’s halberd, melting the celestial iron in a split second before engulfing the law-arrays and sending the Captain flying backward in a cloud of scorched ozone.

"Incredible..." Elena breathed, her heart hammering against her ribs as she watched the remaining Inquisitors scatter in blind panic. "The channel resistance is zero... the mana flows like pure liquid light!"

Within less than thirty seconds, the entire iron blockade was reduced to smoking rubble and shattered silver armor. The freed merchants stared at the two women in utter, speech-bound awe before scattering up the mountain trail.

Vetra and Elena stood amidst the clearing, breathing heavily—not from exhaustion, but from the sheer, staggering shock of realizing what had happened to their bodies during the night. They turned around simultaneously, staring at Vince with glossy, deeply overwhelmed eyes.

Told you they’d like their morning gift, Barnaby giggled into Vince’s ear, floating upside down above his head as she twirled her translucent silk drapes. You’ve turned your little mortal companions into absolute monsters, Vince.

Vince let out a low chuckle, stepping over a scorched halberd as he walked up to the two women. "Looks like that feeling of difference means you guys are just fine"

Before Vetra or Elena could answer, the ambient noise of the pass completely died.

The howling mountain wind froze in mid-air. The crackling embers of Elena’s fire stopped popping. Even the distant chatter of fleeing refugees was abruptly cut short, as if the entire valley had been plunged into a silent, vacuum-sealed void.

Vince’s smirk vanished. His eyes narrowed as he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

Barnaby’s playful aura vanished instantly. She dropped her upside-down pose, floating upright beside Vince’s ear, her golden eyes turning deadly cold as she stared toward the overcast sky.

Vince, Barnaby whispered, her voice stripped of all teasing, sharp as broken ice. Brace yourself.