The illusionary beasts born in the Void Space all shared a distinct characteristic: their bodies were not composed purely of flesh and blood, but resembled a kind of "gel."
The fire salamander clung to Zogai, and the white smoke rising from its burning flames looked like plastic melting over a low flame.
Of course, the comparison was not entirely fitting, yet it was the most vivid.
Small puffs of white smoke rose continuously. What Karen saw was Zogai growing steadily weaker. It might take some time, but as long as this persisted, Zogai was certain to die.
If a grown adult was unable to move or dodge, even the flame of a single match would be enough to roast them to death.
Karen chose to deal with Zogai this way not because he wanted to show off as captain, but because he considered that if he could not freely use the Dark Moon Blade and the Eye of the Sea God for the time being, his massive store of spiritual power had nowhere else to go. Leaving it sitting there was pointless, so he might as well burn some off like this.
Moreover, this gave his squad members ample time to rest.
Ventura and the others were exceptional, but endurance was their weakness. That, however, happened to be Karen's strong suit. When your reserves were terrifyingly deep, what seemed like waste actually became extraordinarily cost-effective.
Karen hovered in place without shifting position, and Zogai was pinned firmly, unable to move an inch.
Suddenly,
Zogai opened its mouth and spat out a mouthful of sparkling black liquid.
Anticipating that Karen would intercept it, the liquid detonated halfway through the air, scattering into a sparkling black mist that showered toward Karen.
Karen had to either retreat, granting it freedom, or be enveloped by the contamination.
A halo of purification appeared around Karen—the lowest-tier Order Purification spell.
When the sparkling black mist washed over him, the Order Purification shattered in an instant. Yet Karen cast another upon himself, and when that broke, he applied yet another.
The lowest-tier spell consumed very little, and Karen was not truly relying on it to purify the contamination; it was more like putting on a show.
In any case, he had no fear whatsoever of contamination at this level.
Instead, Zogai paused in surprise. Seeing that Karen neither dodged nor retreated, it began spitting repeatedly at him.
Karen ignored it completely.
Blanche said, "To be able to withstand contamination using low-tier spells proves the captain's level of comprehension regarding priest spells far exceeds mine. So when he said earlier that he only knew low-tier blessing spells for now, it was because that was already more than enough for him."
Ventura, as a "veteran member," took it as completely natural: "Of course!"
Bart marveled, "The captain is handling the work of all three of us single-handedly."
All three subconsciously ignored the fire salamander. Though it was the one dealing the damage, in their eyes it seemed more like the captain had assigned it just to keep Aisli from getting bored and to give her a sense of purpose.
Mars was still arranging his arrays. Pausing to catch his breath and deliberate on the next step, he could not resist glancing at the barriers of the other squads around them. Most were playing out scenes of squad members battling octopuses in heated melees.
His own squad's side, on the other hand, was almost too quiet.
Yet Mars did not feel bored at all; on the contrary, he relished this feeling of deliberate, unhurried preparation.
Mr. Hoffen's notes to Karen had mentioned that "unhurried preparation" was practically an obsessive compulsion of every array master. Most array masters considered hastily laying down practical arrays to be a commercial compromise and a desecration of the art of arrays.
What array masters enjoyed most, and the pinnacle of aesthetics they pursued, was spotting a mosquito in a room and having sufficient time and conditions to set up a Forbidden-level array just to... drive that mosquito out.
Bart asked, "Are there two more illusionary beasts coming?"
Ventura said, "Each one should be stronger than the last."
Blanche countered, "More like each one is more expensive than the last."
Augurev Fortress was suspended in the Void Space. Being stationed here was exile among exiles, far more despairing than guarding a snowy wilderness.
Because of this, the compensation at Augurev Fortress was substantially better. Beyond daily patrol and monitoring duties, hunting illusionary beasts in the Void Space was a long-term task for the garrison.
After periodically handing over a sufficient quantity and variety of illusionary beasts to the Church of Order, the fortress was permitted to sell the remainder on its own. The church's upper echelons turned a blind eye, treating it as a gray-market perk for the garrison.
The more powerful an illusionary beast was, the harder it was to capture and the higher its price. Arranging them by strength was done partly to weed out squads gradually, and partly because deploying expensive illusionary beasts in the very first round would be far too costly.
In the later stages, once the number of squads dwindled, releasing the pricey ones kept overall costs down.
"Squad 1 is done," Bart said.
Squad 1 had once again been the first to eliminate their target.
Blanche said, "They're from the Dinge Region. When we first came in, I saw them together."
Bart smiled. "Did you want to join their squad earlier?"
"Yes, I did." Blanche did not hide it at all. "But they seemed to have had their roster decided well in advance. They have a priest with a knight order background too. I know her."
"Looks like they anticipated the exam questions early on, too," Bart noted.
That was hardly surprising, since both Bart's parents and Aisli's parents had guessed correctly as well.
The population of the Dinge Region was not particularly dense, cobbled together from several countries, but... the Holy See was situated right inside it.
"Do you regret it now?" Bart asked.
"Asking that now is pointless." Blanche shrugged. "While we envy how fast they take down their targets, they might very well envy how peaceful it is over here."
"True." Bart rolled his wrists. "Actually, our pacing is much better."
"Yes, the captain is clearly managing our resource consumption so we can preserve our condition for the targets ahead. I even suspect he's already preparing for whatever divine artifact is kept in the sealed space at the end."
Inside Squad 1's barrier, the members resting and recuperating kept their gazes fixed intently on Squad 3.
"Tch, I'm kind of relieved there are two squad slots in the end, so we won't be in direct competition with Squad 3."
"Yeah. We're fast, but they're playing for tempo. Is that their captain?"
"Yes."
"Suppressing Zogai alone—could you do that, Muri?"
"I could manage it, but I couldn't make it look that effortless."
"His spiritual power reserves are immense."
"Heh, 'immense' doesn't even cut it. Paxio, feel free to use the word 'terrifying' for another squad's captain, because he deserves the title.
"Anyone daring to pin Zogai down with chains of Order like that is either an idiot or considers that drain virtually negligible.
"I wouldn't want to fight an opponent like that. You know? Unless I could land a decisive sneak attack in an instant or overwhelm him right away with the power of a sacred relic or external tool, once dragged into a war of attrition, I'd definitely be the one who loses.
"By the way, Digat, your grandfather went on a business trip, didn't he?"
"Yes, Captain, just yesterday."
"Mm. Your grandfather is the deputy director of the Sealed Space System's Grade A Department. Siiigh, I suspect if they run short of illusionary beasts by the end and more than two squads remain, the higher-ups will bring out the power of a soul-type divine artifact against us."
"Will it really come to that?"
"Hard to say. It depends on whether a third squad proves as exceptional as ours and Squad 3. If things truly stall out at the end, nothing is off the table... Wait, Squad 3 is still laying down arrays. Paxio, can you tell what second array their array master is setting up?"
"The first array was the Kendos Threefold Defensive Array. The one being set up now is... the Mental Bridge Array."
"The Mental Bridge Array?" Muri's expression grew solemn. "He's preparing for the trial against the divine artifact! The power of a divine artifact can affect everyone present in an instant, so they need a mental bridge to link everyone together for defense. That bird they sent out earlier stole the exam questions!"
"Understood. I'll start setting one up right away."
"Mm. Sit out the next round and focus on getting it deployed as quickly as possible."
"Understood, Captain."
...
"This Karen is rather interesting," Moswatt said, looking at the projection on the mirror before him.
Gleriven nodded as well. "A very sharp mind. Though he belongs to the Whip of Order, he's merely an external squad member. Moswatt, you have a chance."
Moswatt said with exaggerated drama, "Foden would murder me."
Gleriven said, "If he can't recognize talent himself, that's on him. Otherwise, Karen wouldn't still be off the official payroll by now."
Moswatt corrected her, "You should know full well that if he hasn't even bothered to exchange his God's Servant credential, it means he has no obsession with an official post and doesn't care for it. After all, even for an Inquisitor, the monthly stipend is only a little over a thousand Order coupons."
"True. The stipends and benefits for grassroots priests are still rather low, which isn't conducive to grassroots operations."
At that point, the two fell silent.
Curiously, Cardinal Kred, who usually offered a concluding remark after they spoke, uncharacteristically said nothing this time. Instead, he had his eyes closed and was lightly snoring.
...
As it turned out, if a squad failed to suppress Zogai immediately, its abilities caused immense trouble.
Squad after squad was eliminated by Zogai, and serious injuries occurred among them—injuries that might leave lasting aftereffects even after treatment.
This was unavoidable. After all, this was not a selection held within a conscious space; once physical bodies were actually involved, the risks could no longer be fully controlled.
Commander Punk's expression darkened by the moment.
He already foresaw the tremendous pressure that would fall upon him once the selection concluded. These youths either had influential parents or were regarded by regional leaders as rising stars. If they were turned into nervous wrecks because of a selection he organized, he wouldn't accept it either if he were in their shoes.
*Siiigh...*
*Maybe...*
*I shouldn't apply for a transfer back?*
Commander Punk looked up at the grotesque sky that looked like splashed paint. Continuing to garrison Augurev Fortress suddenly felt like quite a happy prospect.
...
Philomena's final punch punched clean through Zogai's body. Zogai began to dissolve, rapidly evaporating away.
She cast a cold glance at her teammates, and their gazes back at her were equally frosty.
Philomena took a deep breath, swallowing the word "useless" before it left her lips, because she still wanted to fight for that qualifying slot.
Yet now, the odds of success seemed exceedingly slim. This squad was a patchwork assembled from the last remnants. Leaving individual strength aside, not a single one among them had a gentle temper.
Those willing to lower their heads and speak pleasantries could always find a welcoming squad beforehand. No one turned down a humble addition, since they were easy to direct and understood the bigger picture.
Meanwhile, those unwilling to bow their heads to seek a team, unwilling to flatter or lower their posture, who simply stood there with cold faces—had all ended up lumped together.
If someone were to ask Philomena whether she regretted it now, her answer would be an unequivocal "Yes."
She regretted it. She knew Karen's squad held a greater advantage. In that squad, she could have stood aside and slept the whole time; when Karen needed her, he would call, she would step in to resolve the problem, and then she could go right back to sleeping and recuperating.
She never concealed her true feelings, accustomed as she was to facing her own heart. If given another chance, she would accept that pastry, even if she didn't eat it.
...
Over on Karen's side, Zogai had fallen into despair.
It had originally intended to turn this into a battle of attrition, only to realize that as long as this young human stood before it, it could never move an inch. And the mouthfuls of contamination it spat at him seemed completely beneath his notice.
What outsiders could not see was that it had never ceased its mental assaults on Karen for even a second, yet they produced no effect whatsoever.
This young human anchored it down as steadily as a mountain.
Relying on its body's flames, the fire salamander had already melted away most of Zogai's mass. This was the result of slow, grinding wear, and it drove Zogai into ever deeper despair.
At that moment, Karen noticed that the other squads had all finished.
They had either dispatched their respective Zogai or had been eliminated.
Karen had initially planned to control the tempo to allow his squad more time to rest. Now it seemed there was no need, as two of the squads had dragged out their battles far longer than anticipated.
However, there was no way to know that in advance, so keeping the initiative in his own hands had been the right choice.
Now, it was time to end it.
Karen released all the chains. The moment it regained its freedom, Zogai lunged frantically toward him. For an illusionary beast to resort to a direct physical charge meant it had been tormented to near madness, almost seeking a swift release.
"Order—Spear of Punishment!"
Twelve Spears of Punishment erupted from the ground before Karen. Zogai saw them, but neither dodged nor detoured, charging straight across them.
Karen raised his hand, and the twelve Spears of Punishment thrust upward from below, piercing straight into Zogai's body.
"Roaaar!"
Zogai let out a roar that mingled agony with sweet release.
*Boom!*
Then,
it shattered completely.
Karen rubbed his wrists. His head felt slightly dizzy, his eyes dry and strained, and his chest somewhat tight—the normal reactions to expending spiritual power at high intensity over a prolonged period.
Even so, his remaining power was still ample. No, more than ample.
He was nowhere near the point of collapsing into unconsciousness as he used to. Still, he needed a moment to rest. He had plenty of ammunition, but the gun barrel had turned red-hot and needed to cool.
Karen turned around and gave the command:
"Prepare for the next round."
"Yes, Captain!"
Only ten squads now remained on the field.
Karen felt no sense of relief. Squads 1 and 7 continued to exert pressure on him, and tough nuts might still emerge from the rest.
If the battle truly dragged on to the very end, until the divine artifact appeared...
When a divine artifact representing absolute power was brought out, luck would play a massive role.
"*Sigh*, I really hate relying on luck."
...
"La-la-la... la-la-la... la-la-la..."
A little girl sat on a glass display case with her legs crossed, humming a tune.
Inside the glass case beneath her lay two copper coins.
In a distant corner, a group of item spirits—men, women, young, and old—gathered together, discussing today's escape plan.
This was practically their daily ritual, endlessly deliberating how to mobilize everyone for a breakout. Yet some of these item spirits had been holding these discussions since the previous era all the way into the current one.
The little girl was sorely tempted to remind them:
"Hey, look, that silver gate is already open! Right now is the best chance to run."
Yet little Luoya was kind at heart, knowing it would be too cruel to say so.
They didn't dare flee. The price of a failed escape was being cast into an even deeper layer of sealed space. Here, they could at least chat and have company; in the deeper sealed spaces, what awaited was an eternity of solitude.
They treated plotting an escape as a game, while escaping itself had long since lost its actual meaning.
Just then, a gentle woman appeared beside Luoya. She was the item spirit of a harp—a harp given by the Sea God as a gift to his lover, Mills.
"Sister Luonidaier."
"Little Luoya, I'll let you in on a secret."
"Huh?"
"Do you know why that gate opened today?"
"Huh? Isn't someone coming to redeem and claim a divine artifact? I sure hope nobody picks me. Hmph, if anyone redeems me, I'll find a chance to get them killed, and then I'll go find my Big Brother Karen."
"No, it seems they're planning to select a divine artifact to serve as an examiner in a selection trial."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes. They originally chose me to go, but I declined."
"Ah, why did you decline, Sister? It's rare to get a chance to go outside!"
"Because I don't care to play my music for just anyone."
"I see."
"However, I recommended you to them. They'll be coming to ask you shortly.
"Remember, make sure you show the right attitude. The candidates in this selection are all young people from the Church of Order. What the organizers worry about most is that we might inflict massive, irreversible harm on them—after all, they're the finest young talents of their generation.
"That's why they're being so cautious in selecting an artifact. As long as you act well-behaved and obedient, you'll get the chance to go out and get some fresh air."
"Alright, thank you, Sister! Hehe."
Luoya excitedly swung her legs, continuing to hum her song. Then, as if something suddenly crossed her mind,
she murmured:
"Hmm, the finest young people of the Church of Order... Could my Big Brother Karen be among them?"
Chapter 319