"Light Bending"
Tris cast a spell to enter invisibility, then skillfully used spiritual energy to conceal every trace of his presence—his breath, heartbeat, and body heat.
With "Sky Walk", he moved like a phantom, slipping past the guards and secretly entering the cavern.
Once deep inside and out of sight, Tris dispelled his invisibility and summoned a second "Feathers" to scout ahead, while the first continued transmitting information about the battle.
Using "Feathers" as a pathfinder, he advanced safely without stumbling into danger.
Near the battlefield, the scouting "Feathers" suddenly lost control and fell.
Tris instantly realized this marked the boundary of the statue's influence. He switched from remote control to direct manipulation with magical threads. The puppet reconnected and rose again.
'Remote control is heavily disrupted. Direct control suffers less interference—still within an acceptable range. But if I can avoid stepping in, I should.'
After confirming what he needed, Tris recalled the scout and drew Berserker and Sniper from his spatial ring.
He hid himself inside Berserker while commanding Sniper to attack from outside the danger zone.
'Take this gift in return.'
After a brief charge, a violet glow burst from "Sniper". A special "Magic Bullet", layered with multiple enhancements and infused with Space magic, shot forth. Its speed was so great that it seemed to strike the target the instant it was fired.
With devastating force and piercing power, the bullet shattered the enemy's half‑broken barrier and surged onward to obliterate the head of the priest behind it.
Unfortunately, the priest's transformed body granted him extraordinary agility. He dodged, losing only his right ear.
'Perhaps I should aim for the body—it's harder to evade.'
At first, Tris had debated whether to target the heart or the head. Seeing the priest's regenerative arm, he chose the head to prevent a similar recovery. Though the shot fell short, it was still a brutal blow.
'The wind of battle has shifted —you see it, don't you? Keep laughing for me.'
Tris raised his middle finger in silent reply to the priest's distant glare.
* * * * * * * * * *
As the barrier collapsed, everyone launched a frenzied assault on the statue and the cultists beneath it.
Arrows rained down, wide‑area spells crashed in waves.
The three cultists who had hidden behind the barrier now struggled to conjure defenses against the relentless counterattack.
Most of all, they suffered under Erik's razor‑sharp paper arrows.
"O Lord, your servant begs for aid!" the Dark Priest prayed desperately to the towering statue.
But the first response came not from his god, but from the grotesque saboteur in the distance. Another bullet fired—this time aimed directly at the statue's face.
"Boom!" The impact resounded like thunder.
* * * * * * * * * *
'The bullet was blocked? No damage at all?' From afar, Tris stared in shock.
A powerful defensive spell had manifested before the statue's face, intercepting the shot perfectly and nullifying all harm.
'No one cast it for the statue. That defense came from the statue itself.'
As he realized this, the statue's gaze locked onto him. Instantly, Tris felt his bones crushed under invisible weight, forcing him to kneel.
'It can extend its influence?'
Testing his puppets nearby, Tris confirmed they were unaffected. The statue was targeting him alone.
'Haha… enraged by my insult, heretical god? Or simply shielding yourself from any truly dangerous strike?'
He flooded his body with spiritual energy, dispelling the crushing force at great cost.
Inside "Berserker", he quickly uncorked a recovery potion, drank, and fired a third bullet. Again, the statue blocked it.
'Its defenses are far stronger than the cultists' barrier. Should I try another approach?'
Surveying the battlefield, Tris smiled and kept firing, uncaring whether damage was dealt.
Suddenly, the statue's eye flared with deadly light.
A chill of danger jolted Tris. He reacted instantly:
"Spatial Shield! Iron Wall!"
A laser beam shot from the statue's eye, piercing through the layered "Spatial Shield" and striking "Berserker" directly.
The puppet's massive fist, raised as a shield, absorbed the blow, skidding back and gouging deep trenches in the cavern floor.
The stone below shattered under the transferred force. The fist itself was destroyed.
Yet Tris had survived the lethal strike.
'Just a glance unleashes such power… how terrifying must its true form be?'
At that moment, Tris felt the overwhelming might of what could only be called divine power.
* * * * * * * * * *
The statue's pressure weakened as it turned toward the grotesque newcomer.
Though it did not lessen further, the reprieve was enough for the adventurers to press harder.
The statues of half‑human, half‑insect creatures were quickly dealt with. Even the cultists hiding among the statues could not escape the same fate and were slain one after another.
At the altar, the three cultist Mages endured even fiercer attacks, their plight worsening.
"Priest, do something quickly!" The necromancer controlling the Undead urged frantically.
With a twisted face full of rage, and even hiding a trace of fear, the Dark Priest replied:
"You two need to protect me for a while."
"Hurry, we can't endure much longer," the water‑Mage added.
Nodding, the Dark Priest quickly retreated, leaving the other two to bear the full brunt of the relentless assault.