[ Chapter 37 ]


    Sin had cast a divine spell known as the ‘Intersection of Fate.’


    Love turns chance into destiny.


    A chance encounter bes a destined one through love. A man meets a woman and says that among the countless men and women on the continent, their meeting is like a miraculous coincidence, a destiny in itself. Though it may seem like a mere coincidence, when blessed by Phnence, it bes destiny.


    Sin murmured with his eyes closed, “Yes, I think I know which way to go.”


    The ‘Intersection of Fate’ was a spell with the power to guide one through coincidence to a destined encounter they must meet.


    Originally used to matchpatible couples, the spell could also reunite separatedrades when interpreted more broadly.


    The issue was that both Repenhardt and Sin were men, which made them feel quite ufortable about it.


    “Ah, I didn’t want to use it in this way…”


    Sin scratched his head. Phnence’s love was indeed broad, not discriminating against age, gender, or any other factor. Her divine generosity even epted gay and lesbian couples. Of course, being a goddess of beauty, the spell wouldn’t activate for a couple that looked odd to her, but this time, it seemed she was satisfied and let it pass.


    In a way, it was like cheating the goddess, so Sin did not want to use this spell unless absolutely necessary.


    “Let’s go, Siris.”


    Sin started walking with a drained expression. Once the spell was activated, they just needed to walk as they pleased, and chance would help them encounter Repenhardt fatefully.


    Still, knowing their destination made them feel better. The two rxed and started talking softly.


    “But Siris, you’re incredibly strong, aren’t you?”


    “Because I’m a yer.”


    “No, it’s not just that. I’ve seen another yer named Relsia, but Siris seems beyond that.”


    “I just worked a bit harder than others. But you, Sin, are an exceptionally high-ranking priest for your age, aren’t you?”


    “Ah, that’s a bit funny………….”


    As they conversed, Sin felt a strange sentiment. She expressed his thoughts clearly, listened seriously to the other’s opinions, and sometimes harbored doubts. Despite being an elf, a ve race, it was as if he was talking to a human.


    ‘Is Siris an exception?’


    However, Sin had never had such a serious conversation with other elves before. While elf ves were considered valuable, he did have a few encounters with them. But each time, it was merely to issuemands and listen to their responses. Without a point ofparison, he couldn’t tell if this was unusual or not.


    Suddenly, Sin felt an absence of desire to proceed further. As he stopped walking, Siris looked around and asked,


    “Is this the ce?”


    It was a small square with amunal well, enclosed on all sides by the rear walls of buildings and only a few small back doors in sight – a dimly lit ce.


    “Yes. This is where we were pointed to.”


    Sin confidently replied. Blessed with the love of the goddess and possessing a strong faith in her, Sin could summon divine spells with even the strangest of prayers. As such, he was certain this ce was ‘the point where fate intersects.’


    Indeed, it wasn’t long before they sensed someone approaching from across the square. Sin smiled broadly at the sound of footsteps.


    “Ah? Is that Repenhardt?”


    However, Siris did not return the smile. Instead, she drew her scimitar. Sin turned around in surprise.


    “Siris?”


    “It’s not Repenhardt.”


    Taking a stance, Siris hardened her expression. She already remembered the sound of Repenhardt’s footsteps. It wasn’t because he was her master; elf hearing was so acute that they couldn’t help but memorize the distinct sounds of people’s steps, even if they didn’t want to.


    A momentter, a man emerged from the dim darkness. Sin’s expression also hardened. The man who appeared was a middle-aged man in his fifties with a sword at his waist.


    The middle-aged man, Lantas, coldly smiled as he red at Siris and Sin.


    “Found you, you kids.”


    “You’ve been running around quite a bit. Made me run for the first time in a while.”


    Lantas taunted them as he looked from one to the other. Then, he took out a small pouch from his waist.


    “Ah, I should call the others too.”


    With a flick of his thumb, the pouchunched into the air as if shot from a sling. A sinister spark of fire burst in the sky before dying down – it contained an alchemical firework concoction.


    “Damn…”


    Siris grimaced as she red at Lantas. Their location had been revealed by the spark. They needed to leave this ce immediately.


    ncing around at the alleyway connected to the square, Siris’s action made Lantas smirk.


    “Thinking of running away? I’d advise against it.”


    Indeed, turning one’s back on an enemy was not rmended. With your back turned, you couldn’t see what might being at you. Escape was only a viable option after having disrupted the enemy.


    Siris drew her scimitar.


    There was no time to waste. She had to cut down the enemy before her and escape from this ce immediately!


    “Haah!”


    She sprinted, repeatedly kicking off the ground with her scimitar trailing behind her. In a blink, Siris closed a distance of over ten meters and raised her sword to strike. The sudden ambush caught her opponent off guard, leaving them staring nkly at the iing de.


    A silver sh marked a long cut from Lantas’s side to his shoulder. At that moment, Siris was certain.


    ‘I cut him!’


    But then, just when she thought she had seeded, the enemy vanished before her eyes. What she had struck was merely an afterimage. A voice tinged with amusement came from behind her.


    “You’re faster than I thought.”


    ‘What?!’


    Startled, Siris spun around, swinging her scimitar back. But Lantas was already gone. As she widened her eyes in shock, checking the empty space behind her, the voice reached her ears again.


    “Not bad for a new yer, huh?”


    “Yikes!”


    Suddenly, Lantas was behind her, resting his chin on her shoulder and murmuring smugly. Goosebumps rose on her skin as Siris tried to stab him with the de under her arm, but it was futile. The moment sheshed out with her sword, Lantas had already moved out of her sight to somewhere else entirely.


    “Seems like you’ve got some talent.”


    “Haah!”


    With a shout, she attempted a moreplex swordy, stabbing and then immediately turning to unleash a series of rapid strikes. She aimed where she predicted her opponent would dodge, but still couldn’t so much as graze Lantas’s clothes.


    “You seem to have put in a lot of effort. Quite unusual for a ve.”


    Lantas was like a mirage, circling around Siris with an utterly rxed expression,pletely devoid of any tension.


    “Grrr!”


    Siris clenched her teeth in humiliation.


    She was a yer of a different caliber from the others in Elvenheim. Why else would Elvenheim persistently try to train Siris, who notoriously never listened? Even when faced with absurdly disadvantageous situations, fighting off a dozen yer candidates with nothing but a stick, she never backed down. If only she had been morepliant, she might have be the strongest yer in history, which is why Elvenheim couldn’t give up on her. Though, in the end, they failed.


    Siris was confident she could defeat not only the other yers, but also the sword instructors and the orc diator guards as soon as she wielded a sword. Her only setback against Talkata was due to being unustomed to wielding just a dagger.


    Even though she was now fully armed and wielding a familiar weapon, she found herself being toyed with by her opponent.


    Even more astonishing was that her opponent had not even drawn his sword yet!


    ‘Who on Earth is this man!?’


    Meanwhile, Sin watched the duel with a surprised expression.


    ‘Good heavens! How could such a skilled person be involved in this?’


    Siris’s rapid attacks were being effortlessly dodged by the middle-aged man. It was not just simple evasion; he was skillfully avoiding the de’s edge while maintaining distance. Such a feat could not be possible without a significant difference in skill.


    ‘If he’s reached such a level, he must certainly be a well-known knight or swordsman, yet he’s involved in this sordid affair?’


    Sin could not just stand by and watch. He began to recite a prayer, drawing upon his divine power.


    “O Phnence…”


    As he quietly recited the prayer, Sin kept an eye on Lantas, ready to abandon the prayer and hide behind the well if any daggers were thrown his way. Surprisingly, there was no need. Reassured, Sin continued his prayer.


    “Grant your servant the courage of a lion. Let her arms, wielding the sword, be endowed with the strength of giants, let her eyes be fierce like an eagle’s, and her legs as sturdy as a bull’s, to strike down her enemies!”


    Divine power surged into Siris, enveloping her entire body. Her scimitar glowed with a pink light. It was the Holy Strike, blessed by Phnence.


    “What is this?”


    Siris trembled in awe at the incredible power and authority wrapping around her. Sin had boosted her strength, defense, speed, agility, and even her reflexes to overflowing levels. Even Lantas appeared genuinely surprised this time.


    “How? Casting so many holy spells at once? Was he a bishop-level cleric at his age?”


    Sin eximed proudly.


    “I was quite renowned in the southern parts of Vasily! Siris! Finish him off!”


    “Yes, Sin!”


    Siris lunged forward,unching a shing attack. With a speed unlike before, Lantas quickly retreated. The situation was no longer one where he could afford to casually circle around.


    “Ha!”


    The scimitar, imbued with Phnence’s sacred light, left a sparkling pink trail in the air. While Repenhardt had been a sorry sight, the situation seemed quite fitting for a beautiful elf like Siris. Of course, Siris paid it no mind.


    “Ha!”


    Siris continued to press Lantas. The movements of her once-illusory opponent were now clearly visible. The fatigue from moments ago vanished as if it were a lie, with her limbs moving freely in an unbelievable manner.


    ‘Ugh!’


    Lantas was taken aback. Pink des relentlessly targeted his vital spots, flying towards him with such precision that there was no time to evade. Eventually, he too drew his sword. The sh of des rang out, a loud metallic noise echoing as they exchanged blows without pause. The color of steel was oveid with a hue of pink, as the fierce light of the swords mercilessly ravaged the clearing.


    ‘This is ridiculous…’


    Lantas clicked his tongue at Siris’s movements, which seemed possessed. The opponent who he had been merely toying with until a moment ago had transformed so drastically, likely due to receiving a divine spell. It proved how significant the protection of a powerful cleric could be in battle. It left a bitter taste in his mouth.


    Sin was ted.


    “Well done, Siris!”


    Suddenly, Lantas scowled.


    “Ah, getting all lively just from ying around a bit!”


    Irritably, he lowered his sword. As Siris was about to continue her attack, her pupils filled with a red sh. Her mithril scimitar broke in two, and she was sent flying backward as if hit by a carriage.


    “Aargh!”


    Sin froze in his tracks.


    “What…?”


    It had been a single strike. Though he thought they were evenly matched, the duel had been decided by that one blow. Sin looked at Lantas with a shocked expression.


    Lantas’s sword was shining with a crimson glow.


    “An Aura user?”


    “Tch, to use Aura against mere yers…”


    Lantas twisted his lips, ring at them with displeasure. Sin hurriedly rushed to Siris, who had fallen.


    “Are you okay, Siris?”


    “Ugh…”


    Siris groaned as she got up. Though she staggered, it seemed she was not seriously hurt. Thanks to Sin’s divine protection, most of the impact was absorbed, but as a consequence, all the powerful protections he had painstakingly umted were now gone.


    “Why would an Aura user be in such a ce…”


    Sin murmured in disbelief while supporting Siris. An awakened Aura user could live a respected life anywhere in the world. It was absurd for someone of such power to be deployed on a mere mission to capture elf ves. It was like using a dragon’s breath to boil soup.


    Then, one after another, figures began to emerge through the alleys around the clearing. Romad and his party had arrivedte to the location upon receiving a signal. After Romad had instructed Talkata to take the fallenrades back home, he had continued to search the streets with the remaining members. Since Lantas had intervened, there was no longer a need for the power of an orc diator.


    Seeing Sin and Siris, Romad shouted joyfully.


    “You’ve caught them, Sir Lantas!”


    Hearing that name, Sin realized the identity of the middle-aged man.


    ‘That’s Lantas? The filthy perverted knight?’