"Hah! Hah!" Kamibarez gasped, frantically pulling Sasha by the hand. Above them, a female Efnel student leaped from tree to tree, closing the distance with terrifying speed.
"Hand over the child while I’m asking nicely!"
The night sky flashed, and a pillar of pure white light descended—the infamous white magic, ’Exorcism’.
Kamibarez threw herself over Sasha, shielding her as they tumbled into the grass. The light slammed into the earth, sending a shower of dirt and gravel into the air. ’Ngh!’
She scrambled back to her feet, ready to run, but a transparent wall materialized before her.
"No matter how far you run, you’re still in the palm of my hand," the Priest declared, landing gracefully on the ground.
Kamibarez pushed Sasha behind her, her own Jet-Black energy beginning to roil. ’I have to fight. I have to protect Sasha!’
Only one Priest remained. Simon had peeled off first, then Meirin had broken away to intercept another pursuer. Kamibarez and Sasha had managed to escape, but this one had caught up.
She had to defeat her. ’I’m worried about Simon and Meirin, but I’m sure they’ll be fine.’
Steeling her resolve, Kamibarez glanced back. "Sasha, stay back, okay?"
"Okay," Sasha whispered, nodding as she retreated. The Priests wanted the Saintess candidate; they wouldn’t harm her.
"You look surprisingly normal for a necromancer," the Priest remarked with a shrug. "Just like that boy who faced us alone."
Kamibarez’s eyes widened. She was undoubtedly talking about Simon. "W-what did you do to him?"
"He’s probably been torn to shreds by our sisters by now," the Priest said, a smirk playing on her lips. "Sister Lirinet is quite strong. I imagine his core has been shattered."
"That’s impossible!" Kamibarez snapped. She placed a palm on her abdomen and twisted it. "It’s not!"
The blood seal of the Ursula family was partially released. Her pupils blazed crimson, the wings on her back grew slightly larger, and her pointed fangs gleamed with a sharp light.
"Now you’re starting to look more like a monster," the Priest sneered, crossing her arms. Transparent walls materialized on either side of Kamibarez and began to close in. She leaped upward to escape, and the walls slammed together below her with a deafening ’clang!’
She was looking down with a sigh of relief when—’thud!’
"Ah?" A sharp pain lanced through her head. The Priest had already placed an invisible wall in the sky.
"Gotcha!" the Priest shouted, swinging her arm down. The wall descended with Kamibarez, pinning her to the ground. "Caught you, monster!"
The Priest’s voice was cold as she raised her arms. Above them, the magic circle for ’Exorcism’ began to form. ’I can’t get out!’ The pressure was immense, forcing Kamibarez’s body deeper into the earth. She heard Sasha’s desperate cry of "Siiis!"
’Hah!’ Snapping to her senses, Kamibarez slapped her palms against the invisible barrier, threw her head back, and sank her fangs into it. The combination of her fangs’ strength and the wall’s downward force sent fractures spreading out from the point of impact. With a final shatter, the wall broke. Kamibarez rolled away just as the pillar of holy light from the Exorcism spell slammed down.
"I thought vampires were just fairy tales," the Priest said, her expression one of genuine interest as she conjured several divine arrows. "Now, would you mind disappearing back into yours?"
Kamibarez panted, dodging the volley of arrows as she shaped her hand like a gun and aimed it at the Priest. A Blood Flow Bullet shot out with an explosive recoil, but the Priest simply conjured another transparent wall, blocking it effortlessly.
’A Guardian Arts specialist,’ Kamibarez realized, her mind racing through what she’d learned in Defense Against Divinity. ’They specialize in defense, immobilizing opponents with barriers and shields before finishing them off.’
Just as she predicted, the Priest sent a series of transparent walls flying toward her. Kamibarez leaped and dodged, her movements frantic.
While she was focused on the walls in front, another one dropped from the sky. She scrambled back just in time. The wall slammed down, leaving a deep square imprint where she had been standing. ’I-I can’t dodge them all!’
As she lost her balance, she finally collided with one of the walls. It slammed into her, pushing her backward toward a line of thick trees. ’If I get pinned, it’s over!’
Kamibarez quickly slapped her palm against the wall’s surface, drawing a magic circle. She then punched it with all her might.
<’Blood Strike’>
’Craaaack!’ The wall shattered, and Kamibarez dropped to the ground. But it was too late.
"Per-fect."
A wide, semi-circular barrier had already formed around her. The Priest hummed a little tune and clenched her fist. The barrier began to shrink.
Kamibarez fired a barrage of Blood Flow Bullets, but they didn’t even leave a scratch. In an instant, the barrier contracted to the size of her body, immobilizing her and squeezing with crushing force.
"Aghhh!"
"Serves you right, vampire," the Priest laughed. She raised her hand, and Kamibarez’s trapped body floated into the air. To prevent her from using her fangs again, the barrier left a bubble of space around her head but compressed the rest of her body from the neck down. Kamibarez couldn’t move a finger. "Not only can I squeeze your whole body, but I can also concentrate the force on a specific area."
As if to demonstrate, the pressure around Kamibarez’s neck intensified. She began to choke.
"Let my sis Kami go!" Sasha screamed.
The Priest just smiled sweetly and beckoned. "If that’s what you want, come over here, little Saintess candidate."
"N-never... Aghhh!" Kamibarez gasped.
"Whether she suffocates or her neck breaks, if you leave her like this, that cute little vampire will definitely die. You know?"
Finally, with tears streaming from her bloodshot eyes, Sasha started walking toward the Priest.
"That’s right," the Priest cooed.
’Pat.’ Kamibarez fought against the suffocating pressure and raised her palm. ’Pat. Pat. Pat.’
Realizing she was up to something, the Priest looked up. "No matter how much you struggle, it’s usele—"
"Sasha!" Kamibarez’s mouth formed the word. "Run!"
’WHOOOOOOOOSH!’
The Priest spun around in shock. A tornado of blood had appeared out of nowhere, tearing through the forest and swallowing everything in its path. Her face went pale. ’While fighting me, she was preparing a large-scale black magic spell like that?’
If she moved, the barrier holding Kamibarez would dissipate. The Priest hastily threw up a wall behind her, but the blood tornado consumed both the wall and the Priest, continuing its destructive advance.
<’Ursula Bloodline Exclusive – Call Tempest’>
It was the most powerful spell Kamibarez could cast. With the caster incapacitated, the barrier squeezing her vanished.
She landed on the ground coughing, clutching her throat. Then, her eyes hardened, and she slapped her palms together. ’Smack!’
The tornado dissipated. In its center, the Priest lay in a heap, her sacred Efnel uniform torn to shreds and soaked in blood.
"Hah. Hah." She had won.
Sasha smiled brightly and started to run toward her, but stopped. Something was wrong. Kamibarez’s pupils were now a deeper, more feral red. She stalked toward the blood-soaked Priest with murderous eyes.
Her expression was one of intense thirst. She reached the unconscious Priest, exposed her neck, and was about to sink her fangs in when—
Sasha threw her arms around Kamibarez, hugging her tightly, just as Kamibarez had always done for her.
"...Sis. Are you okay?"
Kamibarez’s body trembled and then went still. A few ragged breaths escaped her lips before her breathing slowly returned to normal.
"...I’m okay," came the weary reply. When Sasha looked up, Kamibarez’s eyes were violet once more. The two hugged each other tightly, a silent confirmation that they were safe.
<’Pierce of Blizzard’>
’Whoooooooosh!’ As Meirin swung her arms like a windmill, a storm of ice awls poured from the magic circle in the sky.
"Block it, Jackie," the Priest commanded. A divine beast resembling a boulder rolled forward and curled into a ball. Its body hardened with divinity, easily deflecting the blizzard.
Meirin grunted and clicked her tongue. ’This is surprisingly tricky.’ Her opponent was a Divine Beast Studies major, fighting with five divine beasts at her command. Meirin had already taken down three, which the Priest had recalled to her sacred Subspace, but two still remained.
"Now! Jino!" At the Priest’s shout, Meirin ducked. A hawk-shaped divine beast tore through the air where her head had just been, shearing off a few strands of her sky-blue hair. ’How many of these things does she have? This doesn’t feel like a one-on-one fight at all!’
The two were almost evenly matched. Meirin once again conjured Dark Flares in both hands as the Priest prepared to summon yet another beast from her Subspace. Just then—
"Meirin!"
Simon burst through the bushes.
"Ah, Simon!" Meirin exclaimed, her voice filled with relief.
"...Huh? What?" The Priest, however, looked bewildered. ’What about Sister Lirinet and Sister Istar?’
Simon stepped in front of Meirin. "If she’s a Divine Beast Studies major, I have the type advantage. You should get to Kami."
"Type advantage? What are you talking about?"
Instead of explaining, Simon just looked at her with serious eyes. "Please. I’ll finish this quickly and catch up."
Meirin was disappointed she couldn’t finish her fight, but she figured Simon must have a reason for saying that. Besides, their top priority was protecting Sasha. She couldn’t lose sight of the mission’s importance.
"Alright! Don’t push yourself too much." Meirin turned and ran back into the dark forest. She glanced back once and shrieked, "If you get hurt, I swear I won’t let you off the hook!"
"...Haha."
With Meirin gone, the two faced each other. The Priest let out a heavy sigh. "Did you defeat Lirinet and Istar on your way here?"
"Yeah, I did."
"...They’re useless. Are they dead?"
"I don’t know," Simon replied casually. "I didn’t hold back, but if they’re lucky, they might still be alive."
"You must be strong, then." She detached the badge from her chest and held it up. "In that case..." A sacred Subspace opened in the badge, and a bouncing, teddy bear-like divine beast popped out. "I’ll go all out, too."
A triumphant smile spread across her face as she placed her palm on the creature. The moment her divinity flowed into it, the teddy bear’s size exploded. It transformed into a giant, four-legged bear monster with a massive, muscular build, a white, shimmering energy rising from its body.
"Consider it an honor. I’ll face you with my strongest divine beast, Akalion." As she shouted "Go!" and extended her arm, Akalion charged at Simon like a bison.
In response, Simon lowered his stance and prepared a curse.
But then...
’Thump.’ Akalion, which had been charging with enough force to pulverize anything in its path, gradually slowed down before coming to a dead stop right in front of Simon.
Both Simon and the Priest stared in bewilderment.
"A-Akalion? What are you doing! Ram him!"
But Akalion ignored her command. It tilted its head, observing Simon with curious eyes, then stretched out its neck. And then... ’slurp’. It began licking Simon’s face, showing clear affection.
"Wh-wh-what are you doing?! Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?!" the Priest shrieked, jumping up and down, but Akalion showed no intention of attacking Simon.
After a moment of awkward silence, Simon reached out and stroked its head. Akalion snorted, clearly enjoying the attention. ’How did I do that before?’ Still stroking the beast, Simon tried to infuse his own divinity into it, just as the Priest had done.
’Whoooooosh!’
A flame of divinity, far larger than before, erupted from Akalion’s body. The beast turned, circled Simon once, and then stood beside him. It snorted again, glaring at the Priest as if on guard.
"Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!" The panicked Priest tore at her hair. "DOES THIS MAKE ANY SENSE?!"

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