Geneva sped toward the distressed Apolline.

She flew over the wrecked tents, ruined by the showdown between Apolline and Betty. Behind her, Xia soared in pursuit.

The furious chase set across the sky with a hundred different curses passing through Geneva’s brain. Things went completely south. Bruno was dead. Apolline was stuck in a trap. Now, the winning probability for Montgomery was down to the lone Geneva. It was do-or-die time. The Green Archangel could either snatch the MVP award or sink with the ship. Knowing this, she rocketed forward without any hesitation, aiming directly at the dome trapping her colleague.

Geneva enhanced eyesight spots the Unity Lord hanging by the corner. Her fist clenched. Taking the Unity Lord out was the golden opportunity. She could use him as a hostage and bargain her way to survival.

It was sad that Geneva’s image of Ciel had been colored by Maximus’ opinion. The Lord of worship preferred to paint his hated enemy as a perverted idiot, operating on luck and arrogance. Had he told Geneva about Ciel’s impressive record at out-smarting other Lords, things would be different.

Then again, this implied Maximus would commit the personal taboo and confessed that he and the almighty Yume often got bamboozled by the Harem guy.

The Green Archangel went in with zero hesitation and the trap was sprung.

Like shadow, a sharply dressed oriental beauty with long, black hair appeared in the air, disengaging from her stealth artifact. The Reaper positioned herself behind Geneva, a knife in hand. Her amethyst eyes glowed in the dark, displaying the might of the Magic Eyes.

…

Before the raid began, Ciel made Hikari’s role perfectly clear.

“Your goal is to find the coffin and assassinate the strongest piece on the board,” Ciel said. “I believe I can take out Bruno, and we might be able to keep Apolline occupied. In that scenario, Geneva will be gunning for me as an easy target, assuming Xia can’t bring her down. That is why I will be standing in the open for her to take a bite.”

Amy was worried, “You are using yourself as bait.”

“Yes,” Ciel said. “It is the best way to guarantee success.”

“You will be keeping me out of the fight to use as a secret weapon?” Hikari nodded. “I think I can work with that.”

“Don’t be too confident,” Ciel warned. “Geneva might be distracted by taking me down, but we don’t have an accurate measure of her power. If Xia can’t beat her, it means you will be facing someone as strong, if not stronger, than Xia.”

The Princess of White wasn’t concerned.

“It will never come to that,” said Xia while calibrating her artifacts. “I got this.”

…

It was obviously clear Xia didn’t get this. Geneva was stronger than they had anticipated. 

That meant Hikari was up to finish the job.

Geneva spotted the threat coming too close for comfort. Her Time Cycle activated, eroding Hikari artifacts and clothing. Normally, having her battle-suit eroded into nothingness would be concerning, but Hikari’s equipment already fulfilled her purpose in getting her safely into the striking range. The knives in her hand would hold for long enough to impale Geneva. Minor erosion in the blade wouldn’t stop the killing blow. The sharpness could be completely gone, but the knives would still impale.

That was what her skill meant — the [Magic Eyes of Phase].

…

Hikari

LV: 34

Potential: **** (SR)

Ability: Reaper

Skill [Radar Sense], [Multi-wielding], [Magic Eyes of Phase], LOCK

…

As if answering to how she lost her original eyes, Hikari’s new eyes granted her extra kinetic vision and special abilities regarding the subject of phase.

The law regarding the ‘solidness’ of substance was the subject mostly tied to repulsion of subatomic particles, quantum potential well, and probability-related math. To sum all the interesting physics short, the charge difference of sub-atomic particles formed the wall of potential preventing particles from appearing within or behind said barrier.

The [Magic Eyes of Phase] bribed that rule into turning a blind-eye. The user of these Eyes could cause the object they observed to drop out of phase with reality and by-pass the contact force, allowing them to travel through solid, liquid or plasma. It was an ability that rendered even the most powerful attack harmless by simply looking at it. Overpower as it was, Hikari’s eyes weren't invincible. It only worked on her field of view, so getting a good old shovel at the back of her head would have done her in. The stamina used to turn the target intangible is also related to the target’s size, density, and time. Turning a building or a massive explosion intangible would knock Hikari out. Turning anything intangible for more than a minute would beat the wind out of her.

But in the right situation, this ability could make or break the game. Situations such as a short exchange of blows could be easily tipped in Hikari’s favor when she could ignore her opponent's strike.

Geneva sensed Hikari coming from behind her and unleashed a green bio-energy bomb packed with enough power to disintegrate the assailant.

The amethyst eyes glowed, altering the fabric of physical law. The green bio-bomb sank through Hikari’s torso and emerged from her back, delivering exactly zero damage to its intended target. Barely slowed by Geneva, Hikari dropped toward her with a knife held high. Her clothes rapidly degraded to black pieces of dust from Geneva’s Time Cycle and its artifact destruction magic, but the most important weapon still held firm.

Hikari plunged the blade into Geneva. The Green Archangel released another blast of bio-energy that phased right through Hikari. Failing to stop the coming attack and too close to evade, Geneva dropped her counter-attack to block the coming knife, but it was useless. The Green Archangel was within Hikari’s field of view.

The arm raised to stop Hikari turned intangible and so did that Divine skin. The knife — eroded by Time Cycle — passed every barrier and sank into Geneva’s chest. The Green Archangel didn’t feel a thing until Hikari switched off the intangibility effect.

The pain erupted like a volcano. The knife’s innate poison seeped into Geneva, and its specification ensured she was dead meat.

…

Venom 2A

Rank: ****

Option [1]: Biochemistry Poisoning

Option [2]: Mana Devouring

Option [3]: Paralytic

Awakening: Cellular Scattering

…

Constructed out of crystallized toxins, the Venom 2A possessed no physical modifying ability that enhanced the user in any way. Instead, it traded away all of those for maximum toxicity. The knife's awakening allowed it to dissolve in contact with a target, maximizing the toxin dispersion as its particles invaded the victim’s body. First, the Paralytic function would shut the opponent down. The Mana Devouring would consume any Magic used on the victim, rendering mystical first-aid impossible. Finally, Biochemistry Poisoning would shut down the organ and immune system. The Venom 2A impaled between Geneva’s breasts was a one-hit kill weapon meant to kill Etaceh and Maximus.

Ciel originally deemed the weapon a failure because its hyper-specialization would handicap his already mediocre fighting ability even further. The fact the crystallized toxin blade was brittle also failed to lift his optimism. The knife would fail to parry against anything or penetrate armor.

But in the hand of Hikari and her Magic Eyes, the weapon lived up to its original potential as a god-killer.

…

Geneva crashed a few meters away from Apolline. Her body was as still as a log, betraying the furious, but futile, battle her metabolism fought to keep itself alive.

Apolline was too stunned to see Hikari.

“Hikari? How? I thought you were dead.”

Hikari shrugged, “I nearly died to be honest.” She looked at her tattered clothes. “Ciel, I think it is time for you to complete my new battle-suit.”

Apolline’s heart sank, “Not you too.”

Hikari felt the need to declare her stance, “I am grateful you think of me as a friend, but seriously, stop saying something that made me feel like I just joined an assassination cult to stab you in the back.”

Apolline wasn’t having it, “You are stabbing me in the back!”

“Wouldn’t that be Maximus?” Ciel pointed at the paladins. “He is the one who created the zombie knight without you knowing.”

“Apolline,” Hikari was stern. “You aren’t in your right mind. Surely, you already suspect Maximus had done something to you by now.”

Xia landed on the field, observing the result of the carnage.

“Impressive,” She admired the result — the beaten Apolline, the dead Bruno, and the critically injured Geneva. “Honestly, I didn’t think we would win this much. What’s next? Do we capture Apolline?”

Apolline tensed.

Ciel had another idea, “No, we are only here to widen the crack. It—”

Before the Unity Lord could continue, a voice rang from the connection to the Residence of Lord.

Caislean: We have a problem! I just finished investigating the coffin Hikari stole. Ciel, you must see this at once.

“And that is the cue,” Ciel said, opening the crack in the space. “Apolline, tell Maximus not to go too far. The cage imprisoning you will disable itself and self-destruct in another five minutes. Think about what I say about how much you should trust that guy.”

The four vanished into the crack, leaving Apolline with only more questions.

…

Inside the Residence, next to the shards of shattered glass coffin, was Caislean watching over a naked woman lying prone on the floor.

Somehow or some way, taking the coffin inside the Residence of Lord caused it to explode. The black liquid caused the mess in the workshop, but that was a minor concern. The woman who came with the artifact raised a much alarming emergency.

The fact they got their hand on Carolina-the-walking-calamity wasn’t something they could relax. She might be unconscious and missing her usual scheming attitude and that Beret hat, but this one woman was akin to a living jinx who had everything she did blow-up in her face.

Caislean knew that Xia was an adept White Mage, but she doubted exorcism was a part of her repertoire.