Gill’s look didn’t change, but a weapon bloomed in his hand—a blade like Kenir’s flame longsword, except his fire burned violet.

He let out a low, rough chuckle. The violet-flame greatsword ran eighty centimeters long, wider than a palm, its whole body wreathed in purple fire. Drops slid off the blade like molten dew, hissing straight through the stone.

He swung once, then drove the sword down. Hiss— The blade slipped clean into the earth, as smooth as a candle pushed into cake.

“Hm?” Gill blinked, astonished. Medith had her greatsword cross-set before her, half-squatting, unmoving, her body untouched by harm.

She lifted her head, stiff as a doll. Her neck rolled a circle; joints crackled like twigs. Then she stood, fluid again.

“How’s that possible?” Gill’s certainty wavered. Magic Breaker was supposed to be absolute. No one had ever lived inside the full radius of his all-out Magic Breaker.

“Is it because she’s a Sprite? No way… If the Elf Clan could ignore Regido’s ability, why did they suffer so badly in Sia City?” His mind snagged on her anomaly. Confusion bred an animal fear. He felt an unknown chill and began to dread Medith.

This was where Medith’s terror showed. She never wasted time on “Why is this happening?” She jumped straight to, “So what if you’re strong? You have a weak point. Don’t let me find it.”

It was the thinking of a killing tool, war’s simplest way of silencing humanity—becoming pure, calculating steel, ready for the possible and the impossible alike.

“You Magic Breakers really come in all shapes and shades. I thought you only had brute-force Magic Breaker.

Didn’t expect mutated Magic Breaker and elemental Magic Breaker too. Quite a sight.

Your power is frightening. That first compressed Magic Breaker ate most of your strength, didn’t it?

If it were anyone else, even Erig, they’d burn out just resisting your Magic Breaker.

A pity.

You ran into me. You say you wield divine power?

You’re wrong.

The divine’s been at my side, never once leaving.

Because…”

Medith spun, sprang to a rooftop, then streaked away like a hawk. Gill thought she was trying to flee. Her aura frayed, her breathing ragged—she’d spent a lot of strength, and the long haul had drained the rest.

She was fast. Two hundred meters vanished in a heartbeat. Gill gave chase. A dead-end loomed, hemmed by towered buildings. Medith chose her stage, stopped, and started scaling the wall toward the top.

A park opened there—flowers in full flood, green thick as ink, wide and beautiful. A pool sat at the center, a fountain misting sweet spray, laying a silver ribbon across the scene.

Kilometers away, Cecilia and the others could see Medith’s figure, small against the dawn.

From below, Gill watched Medith climb, fury twisting his face. “Medith! You coward?! I misjudged you! Get down here! End this—end it for you, for me—our debt needs settling!”

The fountain answered him with its constant rush. Gill’s teeth ground like gravel; his grip on the flame-sword popped and creaked.

He made up his mind—to melt the building through and leave her nowhere to hide.

But before he moved, Medith stood on the ten-meter roof, cold eyes on him.

All around, forces stirred. Countless Kuso Guild members and other guilds swelled into a coalition of tens of thousands, ready to launch their joint hunt.

Medith treated the world like mist. Her eyes held only Gill.

“Gill, I won’t run. I’ll never be a deserter.

When I first saw Melia’s body, I was angry, grieving. The sky itself proves it.

But facing you, I understood—we’re both just the pitiable, toys of a cruel fate.

One last thing: I didn’t kill your brother. Someone else did. I’m close to the truth, but…

You won’t give me the chance.” Medith slid her greatsword into its scabbard and looked at Gill like a god judging a mortal.

Gill laughed, scorn thick as smoke. “Even now, you still deny it? We’re despicable beasts. Only family ties us to being human.

Family dies, and we lose any reason to stay human.

You’re right—we’re pitiful. So, die quietly.

You know it: whether I die or not, you won’t escape. Even at the world’s end, our guild will hunt you to the edge of heaven and earth.”

Medith shook her head and gave a bitter smile. Words were ash.

She opened her arms and breathed the cool air. The blood moon started to sink; clouds churned fast. In moments, a newborn sun rose and washed the land with gold.

Gill showed a flicker of surprise. As confusion bit, Medith leapt high.

She kicked in midair—like stepping on air—and rose another few meters.

“Gill, if there’s another life, you and I might be the best of friends. But…

This world is cruel.” Her phoenix eyes closed. Arms spread, she let herself fall from the high sky. Her body flickered and burst into a blinding white light.

A bad feeling punched Gill’s gut. He hauled the violet-flame greatsword and ran back hard.

Hundreds of meters away, the Lina Sisters skid to a stop, yanking Cecilia and Nameless into a narrow alley.

“What are you—” Cecilia didn’t finish. The world boomed.

K-THOOM—THOOM-THOOM— A pure, flawless white pillar speared the clouds, pinning Medith in the air ten meters above the ground.

Above it, the black sun sigil of her Crimson Sunset Legion unfurled.

Three seconds later, the pillar shattered. A sun-bright white sphere bloomed and dropped at deadly speed, flinging benches and trees like toys.

Gill’s eyes blew wide. He drove all his Lawbreaking Energy into a guard.

And then—