Five minutes before the arrival of Lady Godspell and Miss Irene at the rooftop—
The orphanage had already descended into chaos.
Screams echoed endlessly through the burning halls while smoke and blood stained the once peaceful home of the children.
“Did you hear that?” Anika asked nervously as she tightened her grip around the bloodstained kitchen knife.
“Yeah,” Kane replied while clutching the wound on his side.
“It came from the veranda.”
Mathew moved ahead of them with hurried steps, his expression darker than ever before.
“Then let’s go,” he said immediately.
“There might still be survivors.”
The trio rushed through the half-destroyed corridors as fast as they could.
The deeper they moved into the orphanage, the more horrifying the sight became.
Bodies.
Collapsed walls.
Pools of blood.
Some of the children they had spoken to only hours ago now lay motionless on the ground.
Anika bit her lower lip hard, trying not to break down.
Eventually—
They reached the veranda.
And the moment they arrived, their eyes widened.
“Mathew… look over there…”
Mathew immediately followed Anika’s trembling gaze.
A bloodied silhouette lay collapsed on the ground.
Miss Irene.
His breathing stopped for a moment.
Then his eyes shifted again—
And landed on Lady Godspell.
The old woman was on her knees.
Both of her arms had already been severed.
Standing before her was a gray-haired man holding a long sword.
Arwen.
The blade descended toward her neck.
And in that instant—
Mathew’s body moved on instinct.
Soul essence burst violently from his Light Core as space around the veranda distorted unnaturally.
The sword that should have sliced Lady Godspell in half suddenly cut through empty air instead.
At the same moment—
The space around Lady Godspell folded inward and instantly brought her directly beside Mathew and the others.
⸻
CURRENT TIME
“Now then…”
Arwen slowly turned toward them with narrowed eyes.
“Which one of you performed that little trick just now?”
Mathew remained silent.
But internally, panic surged through him.
I used too much essence.
Shifting an entire section of space that large had nearly drained him dry.
If he tried transporting everyone away now, backlash would destroy his core completely.
Arwen waited briefly before sighing.
“Not talking?”
His smile darkened.
“Well, it doesn’t matter.”
A terrifying amount of soul essence exploded outward from his body.
“I was planning to kill you and capture the others anyway.”
BOOM!
Arwen rushed forward instantly, his sword aimed directly toward Mathew’s neck.
Mathew reacted immediately.
Golden light erupted around his body as he bent the surrounding space just enough to alter the sword’s trajectory slightly.
The blade barely missed.
At the same time, Mathew stepped forward and threw a punch toward Arwen’s face.
Arwen smirked.
“Not bad, kid.”
He caught Mathew’s fist effortlessly.
“But you’ll need more than that.”
Before Mathew could react—
BAM!
Arwen’s fist slammed into his stomach with monstrous force.
Mathew coughed blood violently before being launched across the veranda, crashing into a broken pillar.
Arwen calmly walked past him afterward.
Straight toward Anika.
“Well, little miss…”
He grabbed her wrist tightly.
“You’re lucky.
My employers want you alive.”
He pulled out a strange circular artifact with a glass orb embedded at its center.
The moment he activated it and pressed it against Anika—
Her eyes rolled backward.
She instantly lost consciousness.
Kane’s expression twisted in rage.
“You bastard!”
Soul essence exploded around his body as crimson flames wrapped around his arm.
A blazing arrow formed instantly.
“DIE!”
Kane released the flaming projectile directly toward Arwen.
But Arwen simply created a clone in front of himself.
The clone took the full impact and exploded apart in flames.
At the same time—
Arwen moved.
Fast.
Too fast.
Before Kane realized it, Arwen had already closed the distance.
But suddenly—
SHING!
An arrow of ice shot toward Arwen from behind.
Arwen twisted his body fluidly, slicing the ice arrow apart midair.
The moment he regained balance—
Kane was already above him.
A spatial distortion had suddenly repositioned Kane into the air directly over Arwen’s head.
Kane immediately realized what happened.
Mathew moved me!
Without hesitation, Kane wrapped his fist in frost flames and dived downward with a punch powerful enough to crush bone.
At the same moment—
Mathew appeared behind Arwen and locked both arms around his waist, restraining him.
Kane’s punch landed directly across Arwen’s face.
BOOM!
But despite the hit—
Arwen reacted instantly.
He grabbed Kane’s arm mid-impact and slammed him violently into the ground before spinning sharply to throw Mathew off balance.
Then—
SHING!
His sword flashed toward Mathew’s neck.
But a massive wall of darkness suddenly rose from the ground and blocked the attack.
Miss Irene.
Despite her injuries, she had forced herself to fight again.
Kane quickly got back up and formed an ice sword in his hand while countless floating ice shards appeared around him.
At the same time, Miss Irene created dozens of black swords made from living darkness.
One more sword formed beside Mathew.
“Catch!” she shouted weakly.
Mathew grabbed the dark blade immediately.
Without even speaking—
Kane and Mathew attacked simultaneously as if they had coordinated beforehand.
Kane attacked from the right.
Mathew from the left.
Arwen chuckled.
He deflected Mathew’s strike while summoning another clone to intercept Kane.
Then suddenly—
Dark chains erupted from the shadows and wrapped tightly around Arwen’s body.
Miss Irene’s ability.
Seeing the opening, Mathew instantly bent space again and teleported directly in front of Arwen.
His sword swung toward Arwen’s torso—
But at the last second—
BAM!
A hidden clone struck Mathew violently across the ribs, knocking him away and ruining the attack.
Kane immediately pressed the advantage.
He rushed forward, wrapped frost flames around his fist, and used a nearby iron pole as leverage to propel himself high into the air.
Spinning midair, he aimed both his blade and punch toward Arwen simultaneously.
But another clone appeared above him.
Using one of Miss Irene’s dark chains, the clone wrapped it around Kane’s sword and violently yanked him downward.
CRACK!
The clone’s punch smashed directly into Kane’s jaw.
Kane collapsed unconscious instantly.
Arwen then shattered the remaining chains using pure soul essence alone.
After freeing himself, he completely ignored Mathew.
Instead—
He walked toward Miss Irene.
“You’re becoming really annoying.”
Miss Irene immediately created dark armor around her chest just as Arwen thrust his sword forward.
But she had already exhausted too much essence.
The armor shattered instantly.
SHING.
The blade pierced through her chest.
Miss Irene screamed in pain.
Blood poured from her mouth as she desperately tried pulling the sword free.
But she lacked the strength.
Arwen eventually ripped the blade out himself before kicking her violently across the veranda.
Then he approached the unconscious Kane and the collapsed Anika.
Three clones emerged behind him.
“Take them to the Pope.”
The clones immediately lifted both children and began leaving the battlefield.
Now—
Only Mathew remained.
Mathew forced himself back onto his feet and saw the clones carrying Kane and Anika away.
He immediately tried chasing after them—
But Arwen blocked his path.
“Well, kid…”
He slowly raised his sword.
“I guess this is where your story ends.”
Mathew desperately looked around for a way to fight without using spatial bending again.
Then he noticed the dark sword Miss Irene created earlier lying nearby.
He grabbed it immediately.
Arwen charged forward.
CLANG!
The first strike knocked the sword from Mathew’s hand.
The second slammed directly into his face and launched him backward once again.
Arwen calmly walked toward him for the finishing blow.
But suddenly—
A sharp pain pierced through his leg.
Arwen looked down.
A spear had stabbed directly through his thigh.
And holding that spear—
Was Lady Godspell.
Even after losing both arms, she had still managed to attack him using only her legs.
Arwen’s face twisted in irritation.
Without hesitation—
SHING!
He cut off both of her remaining legs.
Then drove his sword directly through her chest.
Piercing her heart.
Lady Godspell trembled violently from the pain.
Yet despite that—
She smiled gently while looking at Mathew.
“Run…”
Those were her final words.
The light slowly faded from her eyes.
And Lady Godspell died.
Silence.
Mathew stared at her corpse motionlessly.
Then—
Something inside him shattered.
BOOOOOOOM!!!
Golden and purple radiance exploded from his body violently.
His core cracked apart internally.
Not from damage—
But from evolution.
All this time, the core he formed at the cathedral had been incomplete.
An unfinished Divine Core.
Now—
Driven by overwhelming emotion—
It finally completed itself.
Natural soul essence flooded toward him from every direction as the shattered core reconstructed itself into something far more refined.
Far more terrifying.
A true Divine Core.
Yet even then—
Mathew himself still wasn’t fully complete.
Arwen sensed danger immediately.
His expression darkened as he rushed forward to kill Mathew before the transformation finished.
But just before reaching him—
Two arms suddenly wrapped around his body from behind.
Arwen’s eyes widened.
He turned around—
And saw Mathew restraining him.
But—
The real Mathew was still standing ahead.
“What the hell?!”
Arwen struggled violently.
Clone ability?!
“No… impossible!”
He tried tearing the arms away using brute force but couldn’t move at all.
Why is he this strong?!
At that exact moment—
The real Mathew bent space.
He instantly appeared before Arwen and punched him directly in the stomach.
BOOOOOOM!!!
Arwen was sent flying violently across the battlefield.
But before he could even regain control—
Mathew bent space again.
Appearing directly in the direction Arwen was flying toward.
Another punch slammed into him and drove him into the ground hard enough to crater the earth.
Blood spilled from Arwen’s mouth.
For the first time—
Fear appeared in his eyes.
He slowly looked upward.
Mathew stood above him emotionlessly.
Blue eyes glowing faintly with traces of gold and purple.
Arwen coughed blood and spoke shakily.
“What… exactly did you do?”
Mathew stared at him indifferently.
Then finally answered—
“At the cathedral…”
He paused briefly.
“I never formed a normal soul core.”
Golden radiance flickered around his body.
“What I formed…”
His gaze sharpened coldly.
“…was something called a Light Core.”