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Life-or-death battles always come down to a single moment.
As the deafening crash echoed through the lowest chamber of Keystone Gate, the dust slowly cleared—revealing Bokue Keikain standing precisely where he'd been, completely untouched.
The Apostle's massive battle axe had slammed into the boy's shoulder with full force… and yet it had about as much effect as a prairie wolf trying to bite Superman.
The axe had only grazed the fabric of his clothes—any deeper movement was utterly impossible...
Meanwhile, Yukina Himeragi, who had been holding off the white familiar's attack with her silver spear, was visibly at her limit. Her arms trembled from the strain, and she was only staying upright by leaning against the boy behind her.
"No power behind that swing at all."
Bokue glanced sideways at the axe still resting on his shoulder and clicked his tongue.
"What's wrong? Don't tell me the Church of Lotharingia can't even feed its Apostles these days?"
"You…"
Rudolf's eye twitched.
Half from shock.
And half from… more shock.
He hadn't even seen how the boy had arrived—just remembered swinging the axe and, in the blink of an eye, someone was standing in front of the Sword Shaman. There'd been a flicker of hesitation in his mind, sure, but it had been too late to stop.
And now? What he'd expected to be a fatal, soul-purging blow hadn't even scratched the surface. The kid hadn't even bothered trying to block it.
"…Who are you?"
"Current acting head of the Kyoto Onmyōji family—Bokue Keikain."
Then he sighed.
"Well, maybe not perfect timing. I'd actually been listening for a while now. So I more or less know why you're here, what you're doing. I get it. That Saint's relic of yours—yeah, I understand. But I'm still gonna suggest you turn around and leave."
"You've clearly got the strength to fight your way out of here. So how about trying something a little more 'legal' next time, hmm? Violence doesn't really work long-term, you know~"
"Absolutely not."
Rudolf's jaw clenched, his voice like steel.
He might've been rattled by the boy's imperviousness to his full-strength strike—but his conviction didn't waver in the slightest.
"Tell me honestly. If it were YOUR loved one who was defiled and trampled like this, would you really just sit back and do nothing?"
"That… depends on what kind of loved one we're talking about."
Bokue scratched his cheek.
Honestly, the Keikain Clan was massive. Everyone shared the same last name, and technically, there was blood connecting them all.
Someone like Yura? He'd never let anyone harm her.
But as for those money-grubbing old-timers from the other branches? Hell, he'd be more than happy to roll a steamroller over them himself. Flatten the whole lot just to make sure they stayed buried.
"But to me, the Saint is like family!" Rudolf shouted.
Seeing Bokue's attitude shift from seriousness to mild negotiation made the Apostle lose his composure. His voice thundered through the chamber.
God—these zealots were all the same.
Bokue barely resisted the urge to facepalm.
All these crazy religious types always said the same thing: "The Saint is like a parent to me!" or "I treat them as my own kin!" But the truth? The so-called "Saint" didn't even know their name. Why the hell were they trying to claim distant ancestor status?
Stop cosplaying as family members of people who never met you. Damn.
"Bokue… senpai…"
A strained voice came from behind him—Yukina, struggling to hold off the pressure of the familiar, barely able to speak.
"Can we… maybe hold off on the small talk? I'm about… one second from collapsing over here…"
"Hm?"
Bokue turned slightly, shifting his body to glance past the axe still resting on his left shoulder.
There, still struggling to block the white familiar's assault, was Yukina. Her grip on Schneewalzer was trembling, arms shaking visibly. She was clearly at her limit.
Not surprising, really.
The Lion King Organization recruited its shrine maidens—like Yukina and even Sayaka—from abandoned or orphaned children. None of them were noble-born or blessed with special bloodlines. They were, quite literally, normal human girls.
They had no business fighting something like a high-grade familiar head-on.
Honestly? The fact that Yukina had held her ground this long was already impressive beyond belief.
"It's fine. You can back off now. I'll handle it from here. Go take a breather."
"…Understood."
Yukina took a deep breath, thought back to the boy's ridiculous feats just moments earlier, and concluded that—yeah, he wasn't joking.
With that, she twisted her body, forcefully pushing away the white familiar's arm that had been steadily pressing her back, and leapt out of the way.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.
The familiar's arm—no longer resisted—came crashing down on Bokue's back like a piledriver.
But the result?
Exactly the same as earlier.
Not a scratch.
Rudolf gritted his teeth and barked another command.
"Astarte—drain his defensive magic. Strip him of all protections!"
"[Command accepted.]"
The blue-haired girl responded instantly.
The familiar's arms began to swell, transforming into a soft, gelatinous sludge—like a swamp beast. It expanded rapidly, encasing Bokue's entire body in the blink of an eye.
And just then—
Two voices echoed down from the chamber's entrance above.
"Big bro! Are you okay?!"
"Bokue—what the hell's going on down there?!"
No surprise—it was Nagisa and Asagi. They couldn't teleport, so they'd run the whole way.
They'd finally caught up… only to see Bokue trapped in a glowing blob between two enemies. Naturally, they panicked.
But to their shock, Bokue—currently being "crushed"—actually turned his head with a smile and waved at them like he was chilling at a spa.
"Heeey~ Took you long enough! I'm fine, I'm fine—this'll all be over in just a sec."
Then he turned back to the confused blue-haired girl still encased in the familiar.
"What's wrong? Can't drain anything, huh?"
"You definitely hit me, but it's just not working. Strange, right?"
He chuckled softly, then tilted his head.
"By the way—here's a question. You don't seem like a vampire. So how're you controlling a familiar?"
"..."
No answer.
Didn't matter.
"Ohhh… I get it now. You're one of those 'life-pay-to-play' types. An artificial being, right? Created specifically to be used up and thrown away."
Bokue let out a long sigh.
"Damn. That church of yours really loves its forbidden magic, huh?"
His gaze slid over toward the Apostle again, his expression gradually darkening.
"Shame. I thought maybe we could talk this out. Find common ground. But I guess not."
"In your eyes, this island is a den of demons that desecrated your holy relic."
"But to me? This place is where my friends live. My family. Hell—even my client."
"And I'm not letting you hurt any of them."
"So if we can't talk it out…"
He shrugged slightly.
"Let's settle this with fists."
The moment he moved his shoulders, the "unbreakable" axe—still resting against him—shattered into pieces like glass. Shards scattered across the ground.
One blow.
That was all it took...
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