Under the night sky.
"Why are you dragging people out for missions in the middle of the night?"
"Triple overtime pay. Do your job properly, or I'll tear down the coffee shop!"
"Takina, you're so heartless!"
Takina expressionlessly ignored her companion's indignant protests, loaded the special bullets, then waved to the security team members behind her.
Takina led one security team while Chisato commanded another, spreading out from the east and west respectively to encircle the church in a circular formation.
Upon reaching their designated positions, the security team members donned specially crafted glasses and aimed guns loaded with bullets capable of harming cursed spirits at the church.
Simultaneously, some team members silently dispersed, affixing distributed talisman papers to nearby walls or ground as instructed.
Sensing the talismans were in place, Roy snapped his fingers.
With a resonant hum, the scattered talisman papers around the church emitted flashes as magical energy rippled outward. A barrier over a hundred meters wide, shaped like an inverted bowl, enveloped the church's surroundings.
This way, that thing wouldn't escape easily.
"Still, who would've thought that boss cursed spirit was hiding inside a church."
Roy stood atop the nearest building to the church, looking down at the barrier below. The church within appeared completely peaceful, showing no signs of abnormality.
Yet everyone present knew this was merely the calm before the storm.
"That Oumaru was the boss cursed spirit's underling. Once we deduced that, everything else became simple."
Waver lit a cigar, muttering to himself.
"But setting up their base in a church? That's truly unexpected. If I recall correctly, this place suffered a cursed spirit incident just three days ago?"
"Correct."
Tohno Shiki nodded grimly.
It was during that incident that he'd personally killed Instructor Varien, with many others becoming victims of the modified human attacks.
"Bold indeed. That thing attacked the church itself, yet dared hide beneath it. Hiding in plain sight, as they say!"
Iskandar stroked his lion-like beard, clicking his tongue in amazement.
These past days, cursed spirits and modified humans had attacked numerous locations beyond just the church, so magi investigators hadn't paid it special attention.
The lingering cursed energy here had simply been attributed to the mass modified human attack three days prior.
Yet it had been hiding here all along—in the very place it had assaulted. One had to admire its audacity.
What ordinary person would be bold enough to remain at their crime scene?
Moreover, cursed spirits were mindless monsters like magical beasts. Who'd expect this boss cursed spirit to possess intelligence?
At least Waver hadn't anticipated it.
Though Roy knew high-level cursed spirits could be intelligent, he'd left all investigative thinking to Waver, showing no interest in the matter himself.
Looking back now, the attack three days ago was probably just a smokescreen created by this boss-level cursed spirit to make people think it wasn't here anymore. In reality, it was hiding deep within this church, concealed in the blind spot of people's awareness.
"Someone's coming!"
Shiki suddenly noticed a figure emerging from the shadows below. Upon closer inspection, he saw it was a security team member wearing their uniform, waving up at them from the rooftop.
"Did they find something?"
"Let's go down and see!"
Iskandar placed a hand on Waver's shoulder, his face breaking into a bright smile.
"Wait, you're not planning to— Eek!"
Waver's expression changed as he hurriedly tried to refuse.
But Iskandar had already grabbed his shoulder and leaped off the building's rooftop with a single, effortless jump.
Amid Waver's undignified screams, Iskandar's massive frame landed like a colossal cauldron, crushing several red bricks beneath them.
"Enough already! Can't you just take the stairs like a normal person?!"
"Isn't this faster? As a magus, you shouldn't fuss over such trivial things!"
"I'm the 'Worthless Magus'! Even jumping off a rooftop is beyond me—I have every right to fuss!"
"The Worthless Magus."
Roy looked on speechlessly.
If a "worthless" magus could free Iskandar from his corruption, wouldn't a truly skilled magus be able to summon the entire Throne of Heroes for their own use?
Roy glanced at Shiki beside him, giving him a suggestive look.
"Want to give it a try?"
"I'll take the stairs!"
Understanding his meaning instantly, Shiki's face paled as he quickly headed for the staircase.
The building wasn't that tall—only seven or eight stories—but there was no need to test fate.
Roy shrugged, then walked to the edge of the rooftop. With a light leap, his figure drifted down like a swan, landing gracefully on the ground.
"The scent of curses is wafting out… Has that cursed spirit revealed itself?"
A faint trace of cursed energy entered his sensitive nostrils, and Roy silently noted it.
But as he landed—
An unexpected scene unfolded before his eyes.
On the ground below, Waver, who had descended first, was speaking with the security team member.
"Hello, Magus-sama! We've found something suspicious over there!"
The guard pointed toward the church's backyard, his voice tense.
"It looks like modified humans—we're not sure how many there are!"
Waver listened carefully. Sure enough, strange noises were coming from the backyard—monstrous growls, interspersed with the muffled sounds of gunfire from suppressors.
The security team must have engaged the modified humans.
"Let's go—"
Waver immediately started toward the backyard.
But at that moment, Iskandar suddenly grabbed his arm, his expression cold.
"Hold on. Even I only just heard the sounds from the backyard. How did you detect them first and come here to report?"
Waver froze.
Then his chest tightened violently.
He quickly retreated several steps, his face full of wariness as he stared at the guard.
"Heh."
The guard suddenly let out an eerie laugh.
In that instant, the guard stomped his foot, a peculiar force enveloping his legs as he charged toward Iskandar at a speed far surpassing human limits, his left hand desperately reaching for the latter's chest.
Iskandar's expression turned icy, an overwhelming, indomitable aura erupting from his body as blue sparks of electricity crackled around him.
Simultaneously, a short sword materialized in his hand, sweeping horizontally toward the outstretched left arm!
In the blink of an eye, that left hand swelled to the size of a palm-leaf fan before colliding head-on with Iskandar's blade.
The razor-sharp edge tore through flesh, splitting the massive palm along its creases—severed hand and fingers sent flying as blood sprayed outward.
"Hahaha!"
As if stimulated by the pain, the guard's features twisted grotesquely in an instant.
With a sinister laugh, his previously motionless right arm suddenly stretched like rubber, bypassing Iskandar to land a palm strike squarely on Waver's body.