Knox remained silent after the colossal sword finished its descent. He made no attempt to follow up this time, simply standing with his tachi in hand as the thick cloud of dust gradually cleared from the ruined area.
When Leight finally came into view again, calling what remained there "Leight" felt rather generous. His body had already been torn apart by the rain of swords before the colossal blade came crashing down, and his regeneration hadn't even properly started when the second attack hit him.
What remained was a badly mangled body buried among shattered stones, with faint white light struggling to gather around it.
Knox stared at him for a moment before deciding to stop.
After all, if he kept attacking at this rate, Leight might never get the chance to stand up again. Even an infinite sandbag needed a little time to inflate.
So Knox waited.
The white light surrounding Leight slowly grew stronger, rebuilding his body piece by piece. However, compared to the first time, the process was noticeably slower. What had previously taken only a few seconds now dragged on for much longer, with his Divine Power repeatedly surging before weakening again.
Eventually, Leight's body was restored.
His fingers trembled against the ground as he slowly pushed himself up. His entire body shook, and the expression on his scarred face had completely changed from the crazed confidence he had shown earlier.
"How... How could this happen?!" Leight roared as he staggered back to his feet. "What have you done to me?! Why has my regeneration slowed?! My faith is still absolute! It hasn't wavered! Then why?! Why is this happening?! There is no way a necromancer could do this!!"
Knox stared at him before letting out a long sigh.
"Sigh... Can you just ask one question at a time?" he asked, sounding genuinely tired of listening to him. "Besides, this whole time, you've been shouting necromancer this, necromancer that. Do I really look like a necromancer to you? Is that eye of yours just an accessory?"
"Huh?"
Lethe's expression immediately turned serious.
"What bullshit are you talking about?!" Leight shouted back, his remaining eye twitching violently.
Knox shook his head.
"There is a limit to stupidity. Let me ask you a question." He paused for a moment before calmly asking, "Why do birds fly?"
"Huh?" Lethe, Moses, and Leight all reacted at the same time.
Knox cleared his throat. "...Ahem. Sorry, wrong server. I mean, wrong question."
The three continued staring at him.
"What I meant was, what is the fundamental core of a necromancer?"
Lethe frowned as she thought about it. "Hmm, core..." Her golden eyes suddenly widened. "Ah! The jet-black core!"
"Smart." Knox nodded approvingly. "Looks like there's still someone teachable here. One hundred points for you, but no reward."
"So what?!" Leight snapped impatiently.
"Sigh... So blind, so stupid."
Lethe's brows furrowed even deeper. She looked at Knox, then recalled everything she had seen since their first encounter. The mana surrounding him, the strange abilities he had used, and even the overwhelming energy that had just destroyed Leight's regeneration again and again.
Her eyes widened.
"This...?!"
She abruptly stood up.
"Impossible! You don't have a jet-black core?!"
"What?!"
This time, Leight and Moses shouted together.
"Bingo." Knox pointed at Lethe with a playful grin. "Now I'd feel bad if I didn't give you a little gift. Here you go~."
Before anyone could understand what he meant, Knox reached somewhere behind his cloth and began pulling out several neatly packaged bags. Bread, cookies, small cakes, and various desserts quickly piled up in his arms before he casually held all of them toward Lethe.
"Put them inside your subspace, okay?"
Lethe stared at the mountain of snacks in silence.
Her first instinct was to refuse. She was currently in the middle of a confrontation between the Holy Federation and one of the most dangerous (?) people from Dark Alliance. Accepting food from him in this situation was ridiculous!
Then the aroma of freshly baked bread and sweet cookies reached her nose.
"..."
Suddenly, her hands moved.
By the time Lethe realized what had happened, every package had already disappeared into her subspace.
She froze for a moment before clearing her throat and calmly looking away.
"...Ahem. Wasting food is wrong."
Moses gave her a long, deadpan stare.
"Putting that aside, how could you..." Lethe paused, her eyes narrowing slightly as she studied Knox again. "I see. It's more like you're using pure mana, right? I've heard that the people from the Ivory Tower in the Dark Alliance are also doing something similar."
"Correction." Knox casually raised one finger. "They want to do something similar to me, but they haven't been able to achieve it yet."
Lethe stared at him for a moment before the corner of her eye twitched.
...Does he really have to correct that part?
"Anyway, my question is simple." Knox lowered his hand and looked directly at her. "Without a jet-black core, can I still be called a necromancer?"
Lethe fell silent. For some reason, she couldn't answer him immediately.
A distant memory suddenly surfaced in her mind. A small village filled with familiar faces, the place where she had spent the first years of her life without knowing anything about the war between the Holy Federation and the Dark Alliance.
Then the necromancers came.
By the time they left, everyone was dead.
Lethe had only survived because she hid inside a wardrobe, pressing both hands over her mouth and refusing to make a sound. She remained there long after the village had gone silent, too terrified to move until hunger finally forced her to crawl out.
That was the day she learned what a necromancer was.
That was also the day her hatred began.
But now, as she looked at the young man standing before her, a question she had never once considered appeared in her mind.
Is he... still a necromancer?
"Heh... Hehehe..."
Leight's laughter suddenly broke the silence.
"Hahahahahaha!!"
Lethe's gaze immediately shifted toward him.
"So what?!" Leight shouted, his scarred face twisting into a furious grin. "Whether you're a necromancer or not doesn't matter! You still work for the Dark Alliance!"
Lethe went silent again. Her lips parted slightly, but no words came out.
He was right.
At least, according to everything she had been taught, he was right.
The Dark Alliance was their enemy, and Knox Aznable stood on their side. Whether he possessed a jet-black core or not shouldn't change anything.
And yet...
For some reason, the answer no longer felt as simple as it should have.
"Besides!" Leight roared, pointing at Knox with a newly regenerated arm. "You still haven't answered my damn question, you heretic! Why is my Divinity getting weaker?!"
"Guess~."
"...What?!"
A playful smile appeared on Knox's face as his luminous violet eyes narrowed slightly.
Praise the Honkai, Honkai is omnipotent~
"You fucker!!"
Leight's roar exploded across the area as a tremendous amount of Divinity burst from his body. White light surged wildly around him, growing stronger with every passing second until even his newly regenerated body began trembling under the pressure.
His lone eye was bloodshot, and whatever reason he still had left seemed to disappear completely.
BOOM!!
Leight kicked off the ground and rushed straight toward Knox. The massive cross swept sideways with enough force to tear through the air, but Knox simply leaned back and let the weapon pass inches from his face.
"Sigh..." Knox watched Leight immediately reverse the swing and bring the cross down from above.
"Alright. You want to play?"
His right hand tightened around the tachi.
"I'll play with you."
CLANG!!
The tachi met the massive cross head-on.
Violet mana burst between the two weapons as Knox slid several steps backward, the ground beneath his feet cracking from the sheer force behind Leight's attack. Before Leight could press forward, Knox twisted his wrist and guided the cross away from him, then stepped into the opening and slashed across Leight's chest.
Blood sprayed into the air.
"GUH!"
Leight ignored the wound and swung again.
Knox blocked it.
CLANG!!
Another swing came from the side, followed by a brutal upward strike aimed directly at his torso. Knox moved with each attack, turning his body just enough to avoid the edge of the cross before knocking its shaft aside with the back of his tachi.
Leight roared and continued attacking.
The massive cross came from above, below, and both sides as he swung it without giving Knox even a second to breathe. Every collision sent white and violet mana bursting across the ruined ground, and for the first time since Leight had arrived, the sound of weapons clashing continued without pause.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!!
Yet Leight never landed a single hit.
Knox stepped around another downward swing and cut across Leight's arm. As the wound opened, he turned with the movement of his blade and delivered another slash across the man's back before smoothly slipping away from the cross that came sweeping toward his head.
Leight's wounds slowly closed, much slower than his normal regeneration speed.
Before they could fully heal, Knox was already attacking again.
A violet sword suddenly formed beside Leight and shot toward his shoulder. Leight smashed it apart with his cross, but three more appeared behind him, forcing him to turn and destroy them one after another.
That was all Knox needed.
Shiiing!
A violet arc flashed across Leight's waist.
"GAH!"
Knox passed beside him, turned smoothly on one foot, and brought his tachi back around. Leight barely raised his cross in time.
CLANG!!
Their weapons collided again.
Leight pushed forward with a furious roar, Divine Power pouring endlessly from his body as he tried to overpower Knox through sheer force. Knox gave ground for several steps before suddenly lowering his tachi and allowing the cross to slide past his shoulder.
"...!"
Then, his knee slammed into Leight's stomach.
The Chief Inquisitor's body folded forward, and Knox immediately struck the bottom of his chin with the hilt of his tachi.
BAM!!
Leight was thrown into the air.
Before he could fall, violet swords appeared around him.
One.
Five.
Ten.
Dozens.
They attacked from every direction.
Leight roared as he swung his cross wildly in midair, smashing several swords apart while the others pierced his shoulders, thighs, and torso. Every time he destroyed one, another immediately appeared somewhere outside his vision and rushed toward him.
"STOP RUNNING, YOU DAMN DEVIL!!"
"I'm right here."
"...?!"
Knox appeared directly beneath him.
His tachi flashed upward.
A long violet arc tore across Leight's chest and sent him even higher into the air.
Knox landed lightly on the ground and looked up. Leight was still suspended high above the battlefield, his body covered in wounds while several violet swords continued circling around him.
Knox calmly turned his back on Leight and lowered his tachi to his side.
With a single swing, the blade flashed through the air before he came to a stop, his back already facing the Chief Inquisitor as though the attack had ended.
A heartbeat later, the space around Leight suddenly distorted.
SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING!
Violet slashes erupted all around him at terrifying speed, filling a wide spherical area with countless flashes of light. They came from every direction without pause, one slash appearing before the previous one had even faded as Leight's body was repeatedly cut and thrown around inside the storm.
"GUAAAAARGH!!"
More violet flashes appeared.
Above him.
Below him.
Behind him.
Everywhere.
The entire sphere became a violent storm of violet slashes, and Leight couldn't even begin to regenerate before another cut tore through the newly restored flesh.
Meanwhile, Knox remained standing with his back toward him, his tachi still held calmly at his side.
The storm of violet slashes finally came to an end, and the distorted space around Leight slowly returned to normal. For a brief moment, what remained of the Chief Inquisitor hung motionless in the air before the pieces of his body began falling one after another.
They crashed onto the ruined ground with several dull thuds, leaving Leight scattered across the battlefield once again.
Lethe and Moses could only stare.
Neither of them seemed to know what to say anymore. Their eyes remained fixed on Knox, who was still standing with his back toward Leight, his tachi resting calmly in his hand as if the violent exchange moments ago had been nothing unusual.
Strong...
Lethe's golden eyes trembled slightly.
So strong...!
She had fought Knox herself before. She had seen his swordsmanship and experienced his strength firsthand, yet the person standing in front of her now felt completely different from the opponent she remembered.
Beside her, Moses was having a similar thought.
So he really was holding back when he fought us before...?
His expression stiffened. The answer was already right in front of him.
Knox watched the scattered pieces of Leight's body for a few moments before calmly returning his tachi to its sheath.
Click.
"...?"
Lethe and Moses both looked at him in confusion. Judging from everything Knox had done so far, neither of them expected him to suddenly stop while Leight was still slowly regenerating on the ground.
"Although I want to play a little more, it looks like time's up~"
Knox turned his head and looked toward the distance.
Lethe and Moses followed his gaze. At first, there was nothing unusual, but a large cloud of dust soon appeared far beyond the ruined area. Several dark figures could be seen through it, growing clearer as the sound of galloping horses gradually reached them.
"Huh? Some people are coming here!" Lethe said, narrowing her eyes.
"Hmm... Based on the timing, they should be Leight's subordinates. Or at the very least, people from the Holy Federation," Moses replied.
He was right.
It didn't take long before a large group of knights and priests arrived on horseback. The moment they reached the area, the leading knight pulled hard on the reins and stared at the destruction before him in disbelief.
Then his eyes landed on the scattered remains lying among the broken ground.
"Sir Leight?!"
Several people immediately jumped down from their horses and rushed toward the Chief Inquisitor. Their expressions grew even worse when they realized that Leight's body had been cut into several pieces and was still struggling to regenerate.
At the same time, several priests noticed another group lying farther away. They hurried over and quickly began checking their conditions, only to let out relieved breaths after confirming their injuries.
"Phew... Thank God. At least no one died."
"Aren't they the team that was supposed to retrieve and secure Gideon's twin?" another priest asked, staring at the heavily wounded knights around him. "Why are they like this...?"
"FOOLS!!"
Leight's furious roar immediately drew everyone's attention. His body was far from fully restored, but apparently having a mouth again was already enough for him.
"What are you doing?! Attack him! Are you blind?!"
The newly arrived knights and priests turned in the direction Leight was glaring.
There, they saw a young man standing calmly among the ruins. He had black hair and luminous violet eyes, and unlike everyone else around him, there was no trace of tension on his face.
Then his appearance changed.
His black hair gradually lost its color until it became pure white, while the violet glow in his eyes shifted into a deep crimson. The aura surrounding him changed with it, and one of the knights immediately widened his eyes before pulling out his mace.
"You...?! Aren't you the White Devil?!" he shouted. "So you're the one who did this to Sir Leight and the others!"
The rest reacted immediately. Swords left their sheaths, shields were raised, and priests tightened their grips on their staffs as the entire group prepared to fight.
Knox remained calm. With one hand resting behind his back, he looked at the weapons pointed toward him and spoke without the slightest concern.
"It is I who did this." His aura resembled that of a retired Archon whose current hobby was slacking around without a single Mora.
"How dare you, you abominable bastard!" one of the knights roared. "Prepare to be crucified!"
"Hehe, that sounds scary." Knox chuckled before slowly raising his gaze toward the sky. "Rather than talking about scary things like that, how about... we enjoy this beautiful starry night sky?"
"Stop talking nonsense! Prepare to die!"
"H-Hey! Stop talking! Look at the sky!"
A priest suddenly interrupted him, his trembling finger pointing upward.
The knight immediately glared at him. "Hah?! Why are you saying that?! Are you siding with him?!"
"You stop talking! Just look!" the priest shouted back, his face rapidly losing color. "The stars... The stars are moving! No, they're falling toward us!"
"Huh?"
Everyone looked up.
High above them, countless pink lights had appeared across the dark sky.
At first glance, they truly looked like stars. Tiny points of soft pink light filled the heavens, twinkling beautifully as more and more appeared between the clouds. For a brief moment, the sight was strangely peaceful.
Then the lights began to move.
One after another, the pink stars swept across the sky, leaving long glowing trails behind them. Their paths curved gracefully through the darkness, crossing and circling one another until the entire sky seemed to be filled with a vast stream of falling stars.
The knights stared upward.
The priests stared upward.
Even Lethe and Moses remained silent.
Because those beautiful lights were getting closer.
And closer...
The soft pink glow rapidly grew brighter as countless streaks of light curved downward at the same time, filling the night sky with a beautiful rain of falling stars.
Lethe's eyes suddenly widened.
"This...!"
Her expression changed instantly as she shot to her feet.
"RAISE YOUR SHIELDS AND BARRIERS!! TAKE COVER!"
"...?!"
The knights and priests barely had time to process her warning.
Then the first pink light reached the ground.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The falling lights struck one after another, and each impact was immediately followed by another explosion. The ground shook without pause as pink light flashed through the battlefield, throwing knights and priests from their feet while dust and shattered stone quickly swallowed the entire area.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
By the time the barrage finally stopped, no one was standing.
A thick cloud of dust hung over the battlefield for several moments before slowly beginning to fade. Through the haze, a faint golden light could still be seen flickering weakly in several places.
As the view became clearer, Lethe and Moses were revealed behind heavily damaged barriers, along with a few knights who had managed to react to Lethe's warning in time. Cracks covered the golden barriers from top to bottom, and some had already lost entire sections.
The people behind them weren't much better, with blood running from fresh wounds and their clothes and armor torn from the explosions.
Those who had failed to raise a shield or barrier in time were in far worse condition. Several knights and priests lay scattered across the ruined ground, badly wounded and barely conscious, while those fortunate enough to have taken cover behind someone else's barrier struggled to move.
"..."
Then, amid the silence that followed the barrage, the sound of footsteps suddenly echoed through the dust.
Click. Click. Click.
The clear sound of heels slowly drew closer.
"Hii ♪~ What a beautiful night, isn't it?"
"...?"
The unexpected greeting made Lethe pause before she slowly raised her head.
Moses and the surviving knights followed her gaze, only for their expressions to freeze.
Standing beside Knox was a woman who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.
Long pink hair flowed gently behind her, framing a face so beautiful that, for a moment, the ruined battlefield around her seemed strangely out of place. There was something ethereal about her appearance, from her graceful smile to the way the remaining pink lights softly drifted around her.
It was as though a fairy had suddenly descended into the mortal world.
Or, perhaps...
A pink fairy.