"So you neutralized the spell with electricity?" Oriana Thomson scoffed. "In that case, take this."
She lunged forward without hesitation and wrapped her arms around Rowan Mercer in a sudden, forceful grapple.
Oriana wasn't just a magician. She was a close-combat specialist, skilled enough that even trained knights struggled to match her at short range. The distance she'd closed earlier for spellcasting had been deliberate. Now she was exploiting it.
Rowan didn't dodge.
Instead, he blinked and smiled. "That was fast. Is this a hug?"
From her speed and movement, he'd already judged her physical limits. Skilled, yes, but still human. Technique alone wouldn't bridge that gap.
Oriana slammed him down in a textbook German suplex.
His head and neck struck the ground hard enough to crack the concrete.
"Got you," she said, releasing him and stepping back.
Rowan lay there, eyes wide open, staring up at her.
"Did you enjoy that?"
Oriana froze.
The ground beside his head was fractured. He was uninjured.
"That's impossible."
Before she could react, lightning flashed. Rowan vanished and reappeared directly in front of her, releasing a surge of high-voltage electricity.
Oriana screamed as her body convulsed, muscles locking, vision whitening. She teetered on the edge of unconsciousness.
But even then, she forced herself to act.
"Elemental Convergence!"
Every card she carried shattered at once. The released forces collapsed inward, forming a brilliant white sphere that devoured matter and energy alike, dragging Rowan and his lightning toward its center.
Oriana didn't wait to see the outcome. She turned and ran.
The spell wouldn't hold him for long. She only needed time. The real plan was still hours from completion.
"Impressive magic," Rowan said calmly. "Wrong opponent."
He spread his hands. A concentrated plasma discharge tore forward, ripping the sphere apart in a single strike. The construct collapsed instantly.
Had the gap between them been smaller, it might have been troublesome.
It wasn't.
Behind him, Oriana staggered toward the stairwell exit, her body still numb.
"Damn it… Are all Level Fives like this?" she muttered. "At this rate, I can't even stall until the stars align."
She burst out of the stairwell.
The metal streetlight beside her twisted violently, coiling around her like a steel serpent. Electricity surged again.
This time, she didn't scream.
In less than a second, Oriana Thomson lost consciousness.
Rowan stepped forward and placed two fingers against her forehead.
"If you won't tell me," he said quietly, "I'll just look."
Five minutes later, he opened his eyes.
"So that's the real plan."
He contacted Edward Alexander and relayed everything he had seen.
Oriana and Lidovia Lorenzetti had never intended to insert the Apostle's Cross into Academy City directly. Oriana's role had been pure misdirection, drawing the attention of both the city and the Anglican Church.
The true Apostle's Cross had been with Lidovia all along.
She was waiting in a hotel outside the city.
The relic's effective range was enormous. Nearly fifty thousand square kilometers. If activated from outside the city, it could still engulf all of Academy City at once.
But the Apostle's Cross had strict activation conditions.
It drew on astral forces tied to specific constellations. The correct alignment had to be calculated in advance, and the ritual could only be performed on the night that constellation dominated the sky. Once started, it couldn't be interrupted. The phenomenon was massive, unmistakable, and could only be used once per location each year.
If Lidovia activated it too close, she'd be stopped.
So Oriana became bait.
While everyone chased her, Lidovia would wait for nightfall. By the time the activation was detected, it would be too late to intervene.
"Good thing you caught it early," Edward said after a long pause.
Suspended within his life-support system, his eyes narrowed.
If Lidovia succeeded, Edward would have been forced to act personally, exposing himself in the process. Even he wasn't immune to the Apostle's Cross.
Only now did he fully grasp Rowan Mercer's value.
Most incidents could be handled through intermediaries. But situations like this required someone powerful, flexible, and deniable.
The city's top ability users were strong, but unpredictable. Most followed their own instincts, not orders. Mobilizing them always required layers of manipulation.
Rowan was different.
He had power, discretion, and a willingness to act, as long as the exchange remained fair. Edward didn't need to move. He didn't need to risk exposure.
Three hours remained until nightfall.
"Do you want me to retrieve Lidovia?" Rowan asked. "I can."
Her exact location was unknown, but her name was enough. With the right tracking spell, finding her would be trivial. And according to available intelligence, Lidovia was no frontline combatant.
Compared to Oriana, she would be far easier to handle.