The mysterious city of Enir-Ilim bore a striking resemblance to the legendary Ancient Dragon sky city, Farum Azula.
Both existed within the cracks of time and space, as though hidden in a void beyond the mortal world, wrapped in a strange and wondrous law.
From within, one could gaze outward and see an astonishingly vast view, with everything spread clearly before the eye. Yet from the outside looking in, there was only empty nothingness, as though an invisible veil had hidden it away.
It was precisely because of this unique state of existence that Enir-Ilim was so difficult to find. Only determined seekers like Miquella and Trina, who had searched tirelessly and with purpose, had the fortune to discover this place of divine summoning.
With a thunderous crash, Nolan descended from the sky. Everywhere he passed, the once-soaring tower was left broken and ruined, as if it had just endured a terrifying catastrophe.
Huge stone pillars floated in the air all around, and shattered buildings hovered precariously overhead, looking as though they might fall at any moment.
The Hornsent were neither blind nor deaf. They quickly closed in from the scattered piles of rubble. Their humanoid bodies were tall and imposing, with long, twisted horns growing from their heads.
In this strange society where horns were revered above all, magnificent and powerful horns were undoubtedly a symbol of exalted status and supreme authority.
Perhaps if Morgott and Mohg had come here, their strange inborn appearances might very well have made the Hornsent worship them as gods from birth.
But toward Nolan, the "ugly" intruder with no horns upon his head, the Hornsent clearly showed not the slightest trace of goodwill. Every face was filled with hostility, and none of them intended to treat him kindly.
The main gate of the Sacred Tower lay to the south. The city's layout was similar to Raya Lucaria Academy, with a city and a town joined together. Belurat, the tower settlement where countless pilgrims gathered, stood on the other side of the gate.
Yet Nolan stood firmly where he was, with no intention of taking even a single step toward that massive gate.
He simply stood there in silence, like a tranquil statue, his gaze fixed ahead as though waiting for certain people to arrive.
Seeing this, Trina was first slightly startled. Then a conflicted look appeared on her face, and she said softly, "I can put them to sleep."
"I know what you're thinking, but honestly, even if we killed them all, there'd be no need to feel guilty. We should save our gentleness for those who deserve it, shouldn't we?"
Nolan calmly observed the crowd gathering unnaturally around them and listened to the wind-like shrieks of the Hornsent moving swiftly through broken pillars and shattered stone. "Don't you want to ask me why?"
"Ask you why? But you're Nolan."
As she watched the figures drawing closer, a natural touch of "fear" suddenly appeared on Trina's face, and the arms she had wrapped around Nolan tightened even more.
With a deafening boom, a sound like thunder bursting from flat ground exploded through the vast, empty tower.
The snow-white stone floor trembled violently, followed by the heavy, muffled sound of a hammer strike echoing through the entire space.
In an instant, all the noise that had filled the tower came to an abrupt halt, as if someone had pressed mute.
Almost every Hornsent stopped in their tracks at the same time, frowning in confusion as they looked toward the source of the sound.
Beside the huge crater, Nolan stood quietly, his calm gaze resting on the giant iron hammer that had smashed down nearby.
No one had seen how he avoided that blow. Every Hornsent's mind froze for several seconds.
"Vile hornless wretch! Shameful blasphemer!"
Amid the rolling dust, an exceptionally tall Hornsent roared in fury.
Nolan slowly turned his head and gave that rage-twisted face only a faint glance.
Then he turned back in an instant and reached out one hand. The Hornsent lifted the heavy great hammer in his hands, ready to smash this hornless man's head to pieces with a single full-force strike.
But the moment he drew close to Nolan, an even greater force surged out from beyond the dust without warning. Like a meteor falling from beyond the heavens, it slammed both the hammer and the Hornsent himself away.
The instant that force struck him head-on, the Hornsent's mind went blank. He felt as if he had been rammed by a divine beast from the sky, and violent pain erupted through his entire body.
That power, unlike anything he had ever felt, was terrifying. It sent him and the enormous warhammer flying together. His body completely lost control in midair, tumbling upward.
As he rose higher, his body began to come apart, chunks of flesh and blood scattering in every direction.
The shattered pieces of meat and spraying blood drifted through the air for a long while before finally raining down, splattering over a few unlucky figures in the crowd below.
The sound of the hammer falling and the body bursting became the spark.
The Hornsent, who had already been watching hungrily, went mad. Their eyes turned bloodshot, and furious roars burst from their mouths. Like a pack of enraged beasts, they charged desperately toward the center of the encirclement.
That surging tide of bodies swept toward the silver-white figure like floodwater bursting through a dam.
The clashing and grinding of weapons rang endlessly beside Nolan's ears. The footsteps and curses of the crowd on the rubble grew closer and closer. His consciousness seemed about to drift with those sounds into the untouchable wind...
Smack!
Nolan slapped one approaching Hornsent hard across the face. The cold sensation instantly pulled his mind back to reality. The angry shouts vanished, and the sight of a body bursting apart once again filled his vision.
He looked around. Countless Hornsent were running wildly through the rubble, their overlapping figures like stretched black shadows beneath the dusk, unstoppable as they closed in.
Nolan let out a heavy breath, flicked his hand, and drew a line of blood across the ground. From the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught sight of Trina beside him.
Her face carried a look of compassion for all living things, but her eyes held only the unrepentant resolve to walk this path to the very end.
Nolan swept his gaze around and found no creatures imprisoned in jars. Clearly, "sinners" covered in filth were not allowed to exist in this sacred religious site.
Looking at those faces covered in twisted horns, an indescribable anger rose in Nolan's heart. Evil without realizing it. That was exactly what these creatures were.
The Hornsent warriors pressed forward without fear of death. Their fanatical Faith seemed to have stripped away any possibility of communication. They had become fearless defenders of the path, concerned only with punishing the sinner who had blasphemed against the Crucible of Life.
Nolan lightly waved his arm, and the sound of light tearing through all things shook everyone's eardrums until they rang.