After the dust settled, Judas stepped out of the crater, nonchalantly stretching his neck with a low crack.
Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
The slow, rhythmic sound of applause echoed through the ruined hall. Judas turned his head to find Ishtar looking at him with a confident smile.
"Impressive..."
She said, taking a step forward while carefully keeping her distance.
"I have to admit, I heard the rumors, but I didn't expect you to be this strong... Veneratus Est. No... Judas Spade. You've certainly earned your reputation as a hero candidate."
"You might very well be the most formidable mage the Lower World has ever produced... you remind me of the heroes from the ancient era, before we deities descended and granted our blessings."
Judas merely stared back at her, completely unimpressed by the praise.
Out of the corner of her eye, Ishtar subtly shifted her gaze, spotting one of her mages discreetly chanting a spell in the back rows.
She fought back the urge to let a sinister smirk break across her face, letting out a small cough to maintain her composed facade before staring straight into Judas' eyes.
"However, just like all heroes, they eventually fall. Whether by old age, from a life-threatening injury, disease… or maybe…"
She paused, seeing him remain relaxed, the corner of her lips curling up.
"From sheer arrogance because they let their guard down."
It was then that Ishtar's head snapped to the side and she shouted.
"Sharay! Do it!"
The moment those words rang out, Judas turned his head to see the Amazon mage point her staff towards him.
In the next second, Judas felt a dull static sensation spread all over his body before disappearing just as quickly.
'This feeling...'
Judas thought as he lifted his hand, looked at his palm, and closed it.
He felt a little bit sluggish.
'Is this a curse?'
It wasn't just that.
For some reason, he could no longer sense his Mind pool.
It was as if his access to magic power had been completely cut off.
'Let me try.'
He held out his hand and tried to cast a magic spell.
『Curse Removal』
Complete silence.
The expected magic circle failed to manifest.
Not even a trace of magic could be felt.
'So this is what Ais was talking about.'
Judas thought with narrowed eyes.
Back during the conflict in Melen, Ais had told everyone about a curse that prevented her from using her magic when she fought against Phryne.
Which was why she was unable to take her down in time and a beastified Bete had to step in.
'Too bad Estelon's pride as the Spirit King made him despise curse-type spells. He refused to ever learn them.'
Although Judas and Estelon came from the same source, they were two completely different people with their own unique thoughts and ideologies.
'Good... with a little practice, I can replicate this. It was worth letting them place this curse on me.'
Judas silently deconstructed the spell's structure, analyzing the curse's mechanics in real time.
He had deliberately allowed Sharay to cast it on him just to learn how it worked.
Ever since he heard about it from Ais, he had wanted to acquire this curse magic for some time now.
But Ishtar didn't know this, and when she saw that he failed to cast his spell and went silent, she thought that he was shocked out of his mind and must be panicking right now.
Perhaps, for the first time since their confrontation had begun, the goddess believed she had finally found something that could bring this arrogant adventurer down.
Thinking of this, Ishtar's grin widened as she let out a mocking laugh.
"Hahahahaha!"
Ishtar threw her head back.
"It actually worked!"
She pointed towards Judas, her eyes gleaming with triumph.
"So even someone like you has a weakness!"
Her laughter echoed throughout the grand hall.
"That's what you get for being so cocky, Veneratus Est!"
Just moments ago, it looked like they were backed into a corner.
But now that the tables had been turned, the tension she had felt was replaced by exhilaration.
Phryne immediately joined in her laughter.
"Gyehehehehe... so the curse was successful in sealing his magic away?"
She licked her lips as she stared at Judas.
The wariness she had shown earlier was gone.
In its place was the twisted excitement of a predator that had just seen its prey become helpless.
"So what are you going to do now, brat?"
"Where did all that confidence go?"
She laughed as she spread her arms.
"Just a moment ago, you were acting like you owned this entire place! You were beating people around, showing off, and threatening everyone like some kind of invincible freak!"
She pointed her finger at Judas.
"But now look at you!"
Her grin became even wider.
"You can't even use your magic anymore!"
The surrounding members of the Ishtar Familia began to laugh as well.
Phryne's voice grew louder as she continued to taunt him.
"What happened to all those spells, huh? No more fancy light shows? No more barriers to hide behind?"
"Without your magic... you are nothing more than a weakling who I can break anytime!"
She leaned forward, pointing at her cheeks as if goading him.
"Come on! Cast that wind magic that you used earlier. I am standing right here."
Her voice dripped with contempt as she raised her axe and rested it on her shoulder with a relaxed posture.
"You should've thought twice before coming into our home and picking a fight with the Ishtar Familia."
Her grin twisted into something much uglier, gradually becoming more perverted.
Now that she got a proper look at him, she would be lying if she didn't find him very attractive.
'He may be a hateful bastard, but he is quite the looker…'
She licked her lips, her mouth starting to drip with saliva.
Her thoughts were already filled with forcefully overdosing him with aphrodisiacs and dragging him into her bed.
'But first, I'll break his limbs to make him pay for what he did to my face...'
Just as she thought of this…
"Pfft."
Judas raised a hand over his mouth, failing to hold in his laugh.
Seeing this, Ishtar and the others frowned.
"What are you laughing at?"
Ishtar demanded, raising an eyebrow.
"I just find it hilarious."
Judas said, wiping a tear from his eye.
"You land one trick and act like you've already won. If this were me from a few weeks ago, I might actually be in trouble. But unfortunately... the outcome isn't going to change."
Phryne felt one of her eyes twitch in irritation, but she just let out a 'heh' as if calling his bluff.
"Pretending at this point? How pathetic."
She said as she pointed her axe at him.
Ishtar, however, remained quiet.
As a goddess, she possessed the divine ability to discern lies from truth.
'He must be deluding himself! That has to be it!'
One of the loopholes in a deity's ability to tell lies was that if someone actually believed that what they were saying was the truth despite it being false, their lie-detecting ability would not pick it up.
'There is no way right?'
She tried to convince herself as she bit the nail on her thumb, trying to convince herself he was just coping, but a creeping sense of foreboding tightened in her chest.
She wouldn't feel safe until she saw him beaten bloody on the floor.
"All of you! Don't let this opportunity slip! Get him right now!"
She commanded, sweat glistening on her forehead.
With Phryne leading the charge, the rest of the Ishtar Familia charged forward once more.
"You are dead meat!"
Phryne shouted, raising her axe above her head with a crazed grin, radiating an intense amount of killing intent.
But Judas calmly closed his eyes.
The noise around him suddenly disappeared.
The shouting.
The footsteps.
The killing intent.
Everything faded into the background.
Then...
The mana core in his chest lit up.
Mana core repair progress… 100%.
The fractured core that had once been barely holding itself together began to shine with an intensity he hadn't felt in a long time.
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