The forest fell into a tense silence.
Dust drifted slowly through the clearing, still unsettled from Jin's violent descent. At the center of the crater, the hooded figure stood motionless, his dark mantle swaying faintly in the lingering turbulence. Opposite him, the Priest's Darkness churned in unstable waves, its agitation mirroring the storm of emotions she could no longer suppress.
Her gaze locked onto him.
"…Jin."
The name slipped from her lips, trembling with barely restrained fury.
Then her voice rose sharply, cracking through the stillness.
"Why are you here?!"
Jet-Black constructs flickered violently around her.
"Eighth Legion Commander…!"
"Shadow Monarch…!"
"Jin!"
The surrounding Darkness flared in response to her outburst, crosses forming erratically in the air before dissolving again.
Jin did not react.
His presence remained calm, suffocatingly composed, as though her rage meant nothing.
The Priest's teeth clenched. "Now, to think you would show up like this…"
Her voice lowered, thick with hostility. "…Right in front of me."
A tremor rippled through the Jet-Black aura surrounding her.
"…Necromancer."
The word dripped with contempt. "I will purify you!"
For the first time since his arrival—
Jin moved.
From behind his back, a single scythe unfolded into existence, its obsidian blade curving outward like a crescent forged from living shadow.
The Priest's eyes widened.
Jin's gaze shifted away from the Priest.
Slowly, he turned toward the towering Ancient Undead.
"Greetings, Seventh Legion Administrator, Pier."
His voice was calm, steady, carrying across the clearing without strain.
"My name is Jin."
A brief pause followed, heavy with quiet authority. "Eighth Legion Commander."
Pier's blue flames flickered violently.
For a moment, the massive undead stood frozen, as though the words had failed to register.
"…Eighth Legion Commander?"
Disbelief rippled through his hollow voice. "There was no such Legion before my sealing."
His grip tightened around the hilt of his greatsword, the metal creaking faintly under the pressure.
Pier's burning gaze bore into Jin. "…Explain yourself."
Jin remained perfectly composed. "There is now."
The Priest's Darkness trembled again, agitation rising at the exchange.
Pier fell silent.
Though confusion lingered within the flickering flames of his eyes, instinct warred against doubt. The presence standing before him — unfamiliar yet commanding — felt undeniably real.
Jin's gaze drifted briefly toward the distant chaos of the battlefield.
"Putting that aside…"
His tone did not change. "…Don't you have something more pressing to attend to?"
At those words, the once-steady flames surrounding Pier flickered.
"…Ah."
He remembered Simon and Cami.
After a brief silence, Pier spoke again. "...I owe you one, Eighth Commander."
Then Pier disappeared into the darkness, likely rushing off toward Simon and Cami.
After confirming that Pier had already left, Jin stepped forward.
The motion was neither hurried nor hesitant, yet the pressure accompanying it felt suffocating. The darkness around the Priest reacted instinctively, rippling outward as though resisting an unseen force.
Her eyes narrowed. "You dare to ignore me?! Don't underestimate me!"
Jet-Black surged violently from beneath her robe. In an instant, multiple crosses materialized in the air, their sharp edges humming with condensed Darkness before launching toward Jin like black meteors.
Whummm!
The forest trembled under the barrage.
Then, Jin's scythe moved. A single, fluid swing.
Shiiing!
A violet arc tore through the air, slicing cleanly across the incoming crosses. The constructs shattered mid-flight, fragments dissolving into ashen particles before they could reach him.
The Priest clicked her tongue. "…Tch!"
Without pause, she closed the distance.
Her robe fluttered as her body lunged forward, movements sharp and disciplined. Darkness condensed around her forearm, forming a dagger-like blade that flashed toward Jin's neck.
Clang!
The scythe intercepted effortlessly.
Metal and Darkness collided, sending a violent shockwave through the clearing. The Priest twisted immediately, redirecting the momentum into a sweeping kick aimed at Jin's flank.
Jin shifted half a step to the side.
The Priest's attack sliced through nothing but empty air.
Before she could even pull her arms back to recover—
Shiiiiing!
Jin's scythe moved.
From the curved blade, a crescent of pale light erupted at point-blank range, tearing through the air with a sharp metallic cry.
The Priest's instincts screamed in warning.
Jet-black energy surged around her as she threw her arms up in a desperate cross, darkness flaring like a shield.
BOOM!
The impact hurled her backward, boots carving deep furrows into the ground before she regained balance.
Her breathing grew heavier.
"…So this is the Shadow Monarch."
Across from her, Jin lowered his scythe slightly, posture unchanged.
The ground had barely settled from the previous impact when the Priest lunged forward once again.
Jet-Black energy exploded beneath her feet, propelling her body forward with violent acceleration. The air itself shrieked under the sudden burst of speed as Darkness condensed tightly around her limbs, shaping itself into overlapping blades that flashed toward Jin from multiple angles.
Shick! Shiiick!
A relentless flurry of strikes descended upon him, each one aimed with lethal precision.
Jin's scythe blurred as it moved.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Each impact rang sharply through the forest, the metallic echoes bouncing between the trees as the obsidian blade intercepted every incoming attack with almost impossible efficiency. Jin did not merely block; he deflected, redirected, and dismantled the Priest's constructs piece by piece, dissolving her carefully formed blades as though her entire offense were being taken apart in front of her eyes.
"…Tch!"
Irritation slipped through her voice.
Twisting her body mid-motion, she gathered Darkness around her leg, the black energy coiling tightly before snapping outward like a whip.
Whumm!
Jin lowered his body smoothly, ducking beneath the attack with effortless precision.
The chain-like lash tore through the air above him, its momentum continuing forward until it struck the trunk of a massive tree behind.
The blade-like darkness sliced through the wood as if it were paper.
CRAAASH!
The enormous trunk split apart and collapsed violently, fragments of bark and splintered wood scattering across the clearing.
But before the debris had even finished falling—
Jin countered.
Shiiiiing!
His scythe carved through the air, releasing a violet crescent slash that erupted forward and tore across the battlefield with terrifying force. The Priest reacted instantly, crossing her arms in front of her body.
BOOM!
Jet-Black energy surged outward, forming a defensive barrier just in time for the attack to collide with it. The violet slash shattered against the shield, splintering into violent waves of energy that ripped through the surrounding grass and bark, sending debris spiraling across the clearing.
Yet Jin was already moving. He closed the distance in a single step.
Clang!
The scythe crashed downward with crushing force. The Priest braced herself instinctively as Darkness reinforced her guard, violet sparks scattering violently between them as their powers collided.
Her teeth clenched. "You—!"
But Jin's second strike had already come from the side.
Clang!
Then the third.
Clang!
Then the fourth.
A relentless cascade of blows forced the Priest backward step by step. Each collision sent tremors rippling through her arms, the sheer weight behind Jin's attacks steadily crushing the rhythm of her defense.
Darkness suddenly burst outward around her.
With a sharp pivot, she redirected the pressure, spinning low before thrusting a Jet-Black dagger straight toward Jin's chest.
Shiiing!
Jin's scythe twisted in response. The dagger was deflected instantly.
And in the very same breath—
A violet slash carved across the Priest's guard, the force of the strike sending her skidding violently across the forest floor once more.
Dust spiraled upward as her boots tore through the soil.
Both combatants steadied themselves again.
Darkness howled. Violet energy pulsed.
Neither yielded. Neither retreated.
Across the clearing, the two opposing forces clashed violently, the air trembling under the collision of shadow and violet light.
Without warning, Jin lifted his free hand.
A magic circle bloomed beneath his palm, intricate patterns forming and rotating slowly as a faint violet glow spread through the symbols.
The Priest's eyes sharpened immediately.
"…Elemental magic?"
Before she could react—
Whummm!
A spiral of violet wind erupted outward.
The compressed gale tore across the battlefield like invisible blades, shredding through trees, grass, and loose debris alike. The Priest leapt backward at once, Jet-Black energy bursting beneath her feet as the wind carved deep gouges into the earth where she had stood a moment earlier.
"Tch!"
She crossed her arms as Darkness condensed tightly around her body.
A barrier formed—
CRAAASH!
The violet wind slammed into it with overwhelming force, the violent pressure forcing her boots to slide across the ground as the barrier trembled under the assault.
But the attack did not end there. Frost began to spread through the gale.
Crack… crack…!
A wave of violet-tinted ice followed in the wind's wake, freezing everything in its path. The Priest's barrier crystallized instantly as layers of ice crawled rapidly across its surface, sealing it within a cage of frost.
"…!"
With a sharp motion, she shattered the frozen shield, fragments exploding outward like shattered glass.
But Jin was already upon her.
Shiiing!
His scythe descended in a swift diagonal arc.
Clang!
The Priest intercepted the strike with a Jet-Black blade, yet the freezing wind still clung stubbornly to her movements, slowing her reactions by the slightest fraction.
More than enough.
Shiiiiing!
A crescent slash burst from Jin's scythe at point-blank range.
She twisted desperately. The violet arc grazed her shoulder.
BOOM!
The impact hurled her sideways, her body crashing violently through layers of frozen undergrowth before she rolled across the ground and forced herself back to her feet.
Her breathing had grown visibly heavier now.
"…Wind and ice…"
Darkness flared violently around her once more.
"…And tinted with that cursed violet."
Jet-Black crosses materialized in rapid succession around her.
This time, however—
They did not fire.
Instead, they rotated.
Shifted.
Multiplied across the sky.
"You're not the only one who can control the battlefield!"
Her voice trembled with fury.
Then the storm descended.