“Quick… Destroy every statue you can see above! Destroy them before that guy absorbs their spirituality!”
In the central open ground of St. Amanda School, a bald spirit emerging from the earth shouted these words in the voice of Deer Skull before vanishing, leaving Goffrey and Oswan staring at each other in shock.
“Mr. Deer Skull’s formidable enemy is using the Spiritual Sculpture technique to accumulate spirituality. He can carve spiritual statues and store them without absorbing them immediately, saving the final absorption step for when he needs it.”
“We must destroy those statues right away; otherwise, that guy’s spirituality will be endless! We must go up and assist Mr. Deer Skull!”
Understanding the situation instantly, Oswan and Goffrey knew they had to support Deer Skull and Aldrich by cutting off the source of Aldrich’s spirituality—by destroying every statue in the school.
Without hesitation, they opened their briefcases. As Bonesmiths, they prepared to summon their bone tools to begin their task. However, at that very moment, an unexpected change occurred around them.
Suddenly, five men dressed in different attires emerged from various hiding spots—behind the corridor pillars, near the upstairs windows, within the grassy flowerbeds. Their expressions were cold and emotionless, and each held a pistol aimed directly at the two men standing in the open space.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Without warning, the five gunmen opened fire in unison, bullets raining down from multiple angles toward Goffrey and Oswan. Caught off guard, each of them was struck by a bullet and immediately knocked to the ground.
For an ordinary person, even a single shot would render them incapacitated if not outright dead. But they were not ordinary—they were Beyonders of the Stone pathway.“Ugh… An ambush!”
Oswan, shot in the left shoulder and writhing in pain, let out a cry. Swinging the empty bone in his hand, he summoned his spirit, which dived into his briefcase. Instantly, four bone shields flew out of the case.
These shields, constructed from countless human bones interwoven together, were each over a meter in length and width. Though irregularly shaped, they bore engraved incantations. The moment they emerged from the case, they began orbiting around the two fallen men, intercepting all incoming bullets with loud clanging sounds.
While ordinary human bones couldn’t withstand bullets, the Bonesmith’s craft had reinforced them to a degree that made them durable enough to serve as weapons.
Protected by the bone shields, Oswan and Goffrey rose to their feet again. Oswan gritted his teeth and clawed at his wounded shoulder, revealing skin that cracked open like stone. Embedded at the center of the fracture was the deformed bullet, crushed upon impact.
Beyonders of the Stone pathway possessed the ability to harden their skin even at the Apprentice Rank. Apprentices could withstand ordinary blades once their skin was hardened. Upon advancing to the Black-rank, regardless of their specific progression path, their hardening ability would further strengthen. A Black-rank Stone could barely withstand gunfire.
However, "barely" was the key word. They couldn’t ignore bullets entirely—continuous hits in the same spot could still break through their hardened defenses. Moreover, being struck by a bullet would still cause them to lose balance and fall. Unlike the Chalice pathway, which granted extraordinary physical resilience, they couldn’t take bullets head-on without being knocked down.
Clenching his teeth, Oswan pulled the bullet out of his body and turned to Goffrey, who was also struggling to his feet while extracting his own bullet.
“That old bastard brought reinforcements. I’ll handle defense—you take them out!”
Oswan shouted to Goffrey, who nodded with a resolute expression. He commanded his spirit to dive into his briefcase, and from within, five bone blades shot into the air, swiftly flying toward the attackers beyond the shields.
Seeing the incoming blades, the five gunmen immediately ceased fire and ducked behind cover. Only one, who had been hiding in the flowerbed, was decapitated by a bone blade. The rest of the blades lost their targets and had to hover in midair.
The remaining four gunmen crouched low and moved rapidly behind cover, using obstacles to their advantage. They slipped from one pillar to another, from one window to another, occasionally peeking out to fire at the two men in the clearing.
Each time a bone blade was sent after them, they retreated behind cover, only to reappear in a different position moments later to fire again. Whenever Goffrey adjusted his attacks, they had already relocated, making it nearly impossible for him to land a decisive hit.
Using their knowledge of the terrain, the gunmen engaged in a hit-and-run strategy. They would pop out unexpectedly, fire a shot, and vanish before the bone blades could reach them. The four shields, each about a meter wide, were far from enough to provide complete 360-degree protection. As a result, Goffrey and Oswan frequently got hit from unpredictable angles, tumbling to the ground with new fractures spreading across their stone-like skin.
Both Goffrey and Oswan were frustrated. Their attackers always seemed to know exactly where their blind spots were. Little did they realize that high above them, a raven was circling in the sky, watching their every move.
Goffrey was growing increasingly annoyed. He felt like he was playing a high-speed game of whack-a-mole—except these moles not only dodged quickly but also punched back whenever they emerged. Ignoring them wasn’t an option, as they would all attack together if left unchecked.
“Damn it… These guys are too slippery! I can’t catch them!” Goffrey gritted his teeth in frustration as he dodged another incoming shot. This was precisely why he hated enemies hiding inside buildings—it made them incredibly difficult to track.
“If we keep getting delayed like this, we won’t be able to complete Mr. Deer Skull’s mission. Here, take this! Finish them all at once—we need to focus on the task!”
Oswan, still controlling the shields to block incoming fire, shoved a piece of parchment into Goffrey’s hands. Goffrey looked down and immediately recognized it as a sigil. His expression sharpened upon seeing it.
“Alright, give me a second.”
He pressed one talisman onto his right palm. As it burned away, it left behind a glowing Stone symbol in his hand. Then, he pressed his palm firmly onto the ground.
“Earth Listener Sigil.”
In the brief tremor that followed, Goffrey activated the sigil. Closing his eyes, he focused intently, sensing the vibrations in the stone and earth beneath him.
In an instant, his perception expanded exponentially, extending beyond all obstacles, covering half the school grounds. Every movement and tremor became clear to him—including the hidden gunmen shifting behind cover.
The sensory ability of the Stone pathway was rooted in touch. By sensing vibrations, Beyonders of Stone could "see" through touch, perceiving the world through an alternative form of vision—one that was unaffected by physical obstructions.
“Hmph… Now I see you.”
A cold smirk crossed Goffrey’s lips as he closed his eyes and sent his bone blades flying into the school’s buildings. No longer hindered by blind spots, he began slaughtering the hidden attackers one by one.
Dorothy’s corpse marionettes, caught completely off guard, were swiftly decapitated by the bone blades.