Catherine’s appearance drew everyone’s attention from the very beginning.
Even the ship she arrived on was enough to cause a stir.
While others came aboard dull, gray warships, Catherine’s vessel was a spotless, pure-white ship.
It was not an ordinary warship, but one belonging to the Holy Theocracy of Bretus—used only when someone of at least a cardinal’s rank traveled abroad.
Thus, even before she docked at the coastline, Catherine had already drawn the soldiers’ gazes.
And when she stepped forward together with her procession of white-clad sisters, all remaining attention naturally centered upon her.
At that very moment—when curiosity and expectation had reached their peak—
Catherine invoked holy law.
A small golden flame, no larger than a candlelight.
Compared to the massive wall of thorny vines blocking the view ahead, it was no more than a firefly before a tidal wave.
Yet the moment that flame touched the wall of vines—
Fwoosh!
It spread with astounding speed, instantly engulfing the entire wall in golden fire.
The soldiers, who had been disappointed by the flame’s size, opened their eyes wide in shock.
“W–What is this?”
“Am I seeing things right now?”
The thorny vines—
The same vines that could not be destroyed even with gunpowder, bombs, steam golems, magic, or aura—
Were turning to ash within seconds.
Some parts of the vines thrashed violently, trying to shake off the flames, while others burrowed into the ground to smother the fire with soil.
But Catherine’s flame was not the sort that could be resisted by such desperate flailing.
Even as the vines dug underground, the fire did not extinguish. It spread through the entire mass of vines, burning every root deep below the earth.
The modified variant, which had gained resistance to fire and magic through the World Tree’s power, could not endure even ten seconds before turning to dust.
The sight of those writhing vines disintegrating into ash was like watching demons from hell being consumed by divine flame.
The wall of thorns that had filled their vision and stretched endlessly outward disappeared in an instant.
Now, a vast, unobstructed view lay before them—
And at its center stood the saintess, her body enveloped in holy radiance.
“Oohhh, my God!”
“The Saintess is with us!”
Shouts of exultation burst forth from the camps along the coastline.
Even soldiers who normally lacked piety reacted with fervent awe—the spectacle was that overwhelming.
But Catherine paid them no mind as she advanced through the now-cleared path.
Following behind her were the white-robed sisters wearing tiaras, and behind them came the soldiers.
In that heated, fervent atmosphere—
No one noticed.
Among the sisters following Catherine, their number was one more than it should have been.
‘They really haven’t noticed.’
Rine quietly marveled at the fact that no one had detected her.
It was natural, in a way.
All the priestess sisters surrounding her wore identical white garments.
They moved close together, maintaining their formation so tightly that, from a distance, they appeared to be a single white mass.
The gentle glow they emitted further blurred their outlines, making it even harder to distinguish individuals.
So no one realized that one extra figure had slipped into their ranks.
‘Ugh, this is suffocating.’
Rine groaned inwardly at the feel of the unfamiliar garments and the tiara that veiled her eyes.
She too had changed into the same attire as the priestesses.
For someone accustomed to wearing the Seorn Academy uniform, it felt extremely awkward.
But she could not afford to voice her discomfort.
After all, without this disguise, she would never have been able to set foot on this battlefield.
Rine wanted to confirm it for herself—
Whether the landscape she had seen in her dream was real.
And where this power within her truly came from.
But above all else—
‘Heathcliff oppa.’
She wanted to know what Ludger was trying to do beyond that battlefield.
That, more than anything, was what drove her to come here despite the danger.
And now that she had arrived, the battlefield felt—how should she describe it?
‘So strange.’
She had seen war scenes through the media before—horrific places overflowing with blood and death.
The larger the war, the thicker the aura of death that lingered, they said.
Yet she could not feel that here.
There were wounded and dead, but for a holy war that had drawn the continent’s armies, the devastation was surprisingly limited.
Even though the sky was overcast with dark clouds and the air was ominously still, it didn’t feel dreadful.
If anything, Rine felt a strange sense of familiarity with this gloomy weather.
She didn’t know why. Perhaps it, too, was connected to her dreams.
Her gaze turned toward the back of Catherine’s head.
Though the tiara partially obscured her sight, it was not enough to hinder her.
Perhaps it was because of her awakened clairvoyance.
Before the power to see the future, no mere tiara could block her vision.
‘Catherine unnie... what is it that you want?’
Rine wanted to ask her but restrained herself under the watching eyes around them.
Meanwhile, golden flames once again flared before Catherine.
Having burned away the thorns, she now extended her sacred fire toward the flower field that lay beyond.
* * *
“Am I really seeing this correctly?”
At Violetta’s question, Vierno nodded.
“Yes. It seems so. The thorn wall strengthened by the World Tree’s power has completely turned to ash.”
At his words, Violetta touched her eyelid, realizing that what she was witnessing was indeed real.
“I can hardly believe such a thing is possible.”
“It’s only natural. One of the Church’s most exalted figures has stepped forward.”
Vierno’s expression grew grim as he listened to the report carried by the wind spirit.
“The Saintess has appeared.”
“...The Saintess, you say.”
“And the priestess sisters are with her.”
“I always thought it was just an empty title since she never showed herself before—but after seeing this, I see I was mistaken.”
The flower field was now burning.
Though slower than the vines, its destruction meant the loss of the soporific pollen barrier that protected their front line—the collapse of their most important defense.
Violetta had no intention of letting that happen unchecked.
Fwoooosh—
Her will manifested.
The surrounding air trembled as it resonated with the wavelength bursting from Violetta’s mind.
At first it stirred lightly—then grew stronger, forming a single great current.
A fast, powerful wind.
It surged forward, swallowing the sacred flames that burned the flower field and pushing them outward.
Fwaaaah!
The golden blaze, which moments ago seemed capable of consuming everything, wavered violently as it was driven back.
Considering that the same fire had instantly incinerated the thorn barrier, Violetta’s wind was astonishingly strong—beyond what should have been possible.
And just as the outward-sweeping golden flames threatened to reach Catherine—
A single motion of her hand snuffed them out effortlessly.
As if she had simply blown out a candle.
The sacred fire that seemed capable of dyeing the whole world gold vanished in an instant, leaving behind an eerie calm.
For a moment, it felt unreal, as if everything they had seen had been an illusion.
But the charred, empty ground where the flower field once bloomed proved otherwise.
“Hm. It seems someone troublesome has appeared.”
Sensing the countering wind that had dispersed her flames, Catherine realized that her opponent was no ordinary mage.
Even if it looked simple, that was divine flame—holy law itself—used by a Saintess.
For someone to drive it back with mere wind magic...
Even if it was wind created through magic, controlling it with such precision should have been nearly impossible—
which meant that this wind was fundamentally different from ordinary magic.
“The will dwelling within the wind... In other words, she’s a Color Mage.”
No sooner had Catherine spoken than countless slashes came flying from afar.
They were blades forged from compressed and honed wind, each one sharp enough to slice through steel as if it were paper.
Of course, such attacks were meaningless before Catherine.
Shhhhhh—!
Behind her, wings of pure light unfolded.
They resembled the wings of an ordinary bird, but every feather gleamed with dazzling gold. With one mighty flap—
Thudududududu!
The golden feathers shot forth, colliding with the air blades and neutralizing them midair.
No, rather—it was the golden feathers that proved stronger.
Some shattered the air blades outright and continued their flight far beyond the visible range.
And naturally, beyond that range were Violetta and Vierno, hidden among the plants.
‘She pinpointed our location exactly?’
Violetta’s eyes widened in disbelief.
No crusader who had passed through this flower field before had ever detected her wind.
They might have sensed that someone was stirring the air, but not once had they been able to discern from where it blew.
The wind was, by nature, free and directionless—
shifting its flow a few times mid-way was enough to conceal its source completely.
But Catherine was different.
Despite the great distance, she had perfectly located them and sent her feathers straight toward that spot.
Caught off guard, Violetta couldn’t react in time—but Vierno Dentis stepped forward in her place.
His fists wrapped in white energy infused with the power of wind spirits, Vierno drove his punches toward the incoming feathers.
Thudududududududu!
His fists moved like a machine gun, leaving behind afterimages.
Each time a punch connected, a golden feather exploded in a burst of radiant light, scattering brilliance across the sky.
After knocking away the final feather, Vierno staggered back several steps.
“Urgh!”
“Mr. Vierno!”
“Do not worry. It’s only a scratch.”
His fists were covered in small cuts.
For hands so well-trained to suffer damage like that meant the feathers’ power far exceeded expectations.
“This won’t be an easy fight. Shouldn’t we fall back for now?”
“If we retreat, who will defend the flower field?”
“There are times when one must withdraw rather than defend.”
“Perhaps so. But I don’t want to.”
Hearing the fierce resolve in Violetta’s voice, Vierno exhaled a long sigh.
He knew well that if this position fell, the soldiers waiting beyond would surge forward in full force.
It was, in essence, a critical point that had to be held at all costs.
“...Do you have a plan?”
He doubted she would back down and sensed a strange certainty in her tone—
a conviction that she could somehow stop the Saintess.
“Of course I do. I’ll simply become a proper mage instead of an incomplete imitation.”
A mere mimic of a Pale Mage—
Violetta believed she had to transcend that imitation and become the real thing.
“You realize it could end in disaster? You might die.”
“I know. So what of it?”
At her question, Vierno found himself at a loss for words.
It wasn’t bravado—he could tell, from long experience, that she meant every word.
“...I see. You’re serious.”
“I always am.”
“...Understood. In that case, I’ll help you.”
“You could just fall back, you know.”
“If a comrade I’ve fought beside refuses to give up, how could I turn away? I may look it, but I am still an adult.”
Vierno smiled, the expression soft and gentle like a grandfather looking upon his granddaughter.
Violetta let out a small laugh and nodded.
“All right. Let’s do this.”
A gust of wind rose, lifting Violetta’s body into the air.
Vierno, cloaked in the aura of wind spirits, followed after her.
The time for hiding and playing tricks with the breeze was over.
Their opponent was no ordinary foe—
they would have to fight with everything they had.
Watching the two figures soar out from behind the dark clouds, Catherine spoke.
“Remria.”
“Yes, sister.”
“You can handle things here, can’t you?”
“Of course.”
“But since there are two of them, it’s only proper that two of ours step forward as well. Anisha.”
“Yes, sister.”
The priestess called Anisha stepped forward.
“Face those two together with Remria.”
“Understood, sister.”
“The rest will continue advancing. Understood?”
The reply came not in words, but in the gust of wind blowing fiercely from afar.
“You think I’ll just let you pass?!”
Violetta’s wind, now brimming with conviction, spiraled toward Catherine like a living serpent.
In that instant, Priestess Anisha stepped forward, clasping her hands in prayer.
Paaaat—!
A blinding light erupted, and behind her appeared a massive golden knight over thirty meters tall.
The golden knight held a spear of light in one hand and a shining shield in the other.
Raising its shield, it blocked the whirling storm Violetta had unleashed.
During that moment, Catherine led the other priestesses—and Rine—forward.
Violetta tried to intercept them, but Anisha would not allow it.
The giant golden spear thrust forward; Violetta barely evaded the strike and glared at her opponent.
The battle formed naturally, without need for words.
Seeing this, Vierno—his face hidden behind a wooden mask—fixed his eyes on the other priestess.
Remria, the same one who had once come to Rederbelk.
“Heh. You’ll go easy on me, won’t you?”
Vierno raised his fists silently in answer, taking his stance.
Remria smiled softly, as if resigned, and cloaked herself in {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} divine power.
Golden energy gathered around her fists, forming into gauntlets.
Then she, too, assumed her stance—
like a boxer preparing for the bell.