Was it an easy challenge? It depended on the definition of "easy." Unlike the Ravagers, at least the gremlin and the nun were capable of flight, so I couldn''t immobilize them with my Gravity Mana. Plus, I had to check how well it interacted with the barrier. Would my attempts to influence them with gravity be invalidated?
You see, I also had to be cost-efficient. When I displayed my strength before the Pope, it took 10% of my entire Mana just to make Mille kneel. That energy had been spent in mere seconds to demonstrate my power and swiftly neutralize one of the main threats.
Now, though, I was working with only half my Mana. So, I focused my Gravity on the weakest link—the human male participant who hadn''t even reached level 20. A thousand pounds of force weighed down on him, yet he didn’t so much as flinch. That could only mean one thing: the System''s barrier completely countered my abilities when used directly.
Great. That meant no pinning them down, no yanking them mid-air, and no crushing force to make things easier. I’d have to rely on something else.
"Guys, believe in the System. He can''t hurt you. But if he kills me, then it''s over," the gremlin said as his green aura spread through the room. "And don''t worry about my own powers, either—with the barrier, you should have nothing to fear."
"So we''re invincible, huh?" Arabella tilted her head. "Hmm, in this case, wouldn''t we win easily if we just protect you? If we serve as a living shield... then even he won''t be able to push through. As long as you''re right about the barrier..."
"This is... this could just work!" Constantin nodded. "And we could still attack from the distance while the Death Dancer, makes Clinton busy..."
Inspired by the idea, the four "weaklings" surrounded the gremlin from all sides—the two vampires as well as two normal humans. As for the second-greatest threat, Mille charged at me, her Virtues flaring. Her Chastity flowed into the cross-shaped knives, creating blades of white power that reinforced their cutting capabilities, while her Charity increased her agility to a frightful degree.
Considering the barrier surrounding her, Mille was actually the biggest threat at the moment. After all, I couldn''t easily hurt her as things were. I created an antigravity barrier that pushed away the green aura of the gremlin as I blocked the nun''s strike with Antipucker.
"Damn, are you kidding me?" the sword shouted as his pink blade broke.
"Of course, a blade created from such weak Mana would break," I shrugged.
"You knew that would happen, right? You just wanted me to feel pain. When was the last time someone broke my blade? I will remember this!"
"Sorry, pal. I didn''t think about it. I just thought that your form was too cute to change." We continued our conversation even as the Cardinal of the Church of Humanity pressed her fierce attacks.
The gremlin didn''t just stand idle. His poisonous aura tried to break through my own barrier, eating away at it. As I sent Air Mana into my sword, an invisible blade extended. When I pushed Mille away with a kick—which still managed to send her flying despite the barrier, the laws of physics still worked—I swung at the gremlin, trying to behead him from an angle that would leave him unprotected by the four people surrounding him.
Unfortunately, my attack was blocked by the caped vampire, Eleanor. She floated in the air for a brief moment, facing the attack herself. This challenge really was not as easy as it sounded at first. I would have to get a bit more creative if I wanted to accomplish my goal.
I activated Virtual Interface, and it became easier to follow the multitude of attacks Mille was sending at me. It came just in time because, in the poisonous fog formed from the gremlin''s aura, a new presence appeared. A humanoid creature made of slime materialized out of nowhere and tried to strike me from a blind spot. Of course, there was no such thing as a blind spot for someone with Mana Sense.
Without even glancing at it, I slashed my sword, splitting the creature in two. Or so I thought.
"We have a few tricks up our sleeves as well," the gremlin proudly declared. "I know that perhaps all our efforts will be futile, and you will kill us without a problem. But I will at least try to make you sweat a little."
The green slime humanoid didn''t even flinch. The cut not only healed; it didn''t seem to be meaningful at all, it was no different than trying to cut water. It seemed that this creature was completely invulnerable to cutting or piercing attacks. Trying blunt force? Why bother? I created a ray of lightning and roasted it in one go, just like I had Sugar.
The summoned creature exploded. It seemed that only part of the explosion was caused by my attack, while the other half was some kind of ability that tried to deal damage to whoever destroyed the summoned monster—but my Gravity easily blocked the impact even as I dodged yet another of Mille''s attacks. But the gremlin didn''t stop his offense, nor did he gave up. While I was dealing with the creature, he filled the fog with tentacles made of the same mucous substance. It seemed the gremlin had multiple abilities and Skills that synergized into what could only be called a skill set for creating a poisonous domain around him, where most opponents at his level would be quite helpless.
It was quite contrasting with Mille''s more direct approach—she was a close combat fighter without many surprises... or maybe not. As her Charity flared, she split into multiple afterimages. With my Mana Sense, I could tell these weren''t copies or illusions. While she exhausted her Mana at a tremendous pace, she truly moved at incredible speed between three different spots.
As if this wasn''t enough, I felt a surge of mental energy hitting my mind as Constantin''s crimson-red eyes stared at me. And the large bat wings of his vampire companion entirely covered the gremlin from all sides.
As for the actress, all this time she had been holding a cutesy wand in her hands, which she reinforced with her Mana, putting half of it into the weapon, which now gathered a fairly powerful charge. If it hit a vulnerable point on my body, there was a real chance it would be enough for the System to count it as me having lost 10% of my health, even though I couldn''t be too sure as there was no "health" in the HUD.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The Virtual Interface was rather helpful at this moment as I could feel my mental thinking accelerate. The bonus points in the Mind attribute also didn''t hurt. Along with my experience from Luminosa, I already had a wide variety of plans and counter-plans to deal with this group. But in the end, I chose a more direct approach—one that would take more of my Mana than intended but would also minimize the risks.
I activated Primal Lightning Surge. As the familiar sensation filled my body with energy that accelerated me to a degree that put even the flash-like Cardinal to shame, I managed to catch her between her instant movements and avoid every one of her attacks by moving my body at unexpected angles. In the end, there was still a large gap between our attributes and abilities.
As I passed by Mille, I channeled Lightning Mana into the sword, triggering its second form. Unlike before—when I had recklessly poured raw Lightning Mana into it to overpower Sugar—this time, my control was precise, refined.
Antipucker shimmered, crackling with energy, and then transformed. Arcs of electricity coiled and twisted, shaping themselves into a whip of pure lightning. Sparks danced along its length as I willed it forward, the weapon extending like a living serpent, ready to strike at my command.
Before anyone could truly understand what was happening, the tip of the lightning whip avoided all obstacles and the currently barrier-protected users, reaching the unsuspecting gremlin through a tiny gap between Eleanor''s wings. Of course, he wasn''t completely unprepared—a barrier of pure Mana appeared before him, but my electricity whip effortlessly broke through it and struck him right in the heart.
If even a powerful monster like Sugar couldn''t withstand my full-power attack—granted, now my lighting sword was magnitudes weaker in pure energy output—it was still enough to take the life of Mr. Father of the Year. For better or worse, the gremlin didn''t struggle much. Apparently, his Tenacity was rather low, so he died in a heartbeat.
At that exact moment, Arabella shot her magical projectile from the wand. It flared like a blue laser shooting toward me. Because I was focused on killing the gremlin and avoiding another offensive from Mille, I didn''t have room to dodge, so I had to block the attack. Pretty impressive firepower from someone who hadn''t even reached Tier 2 by Luminosa''s standards. That was kind of like a spell, but better.
I gathered Gravity Mana into my palm, reinforcing it before raising my hand to meet the incoming magic beam head-on. For an instant, there was nothing—just empty resistance. Then, a faint sting bloomed at the center of my palm as the attack''s energy finally burned out.
Barely a scratch. Nowhere near enough to count as 10% of my health. Obviously. But receiving a scratch from a Tier 1 being? Call me impressed.
"One down, four more to go." I smiled. Now the lovely Cardinal had no barrier protecting her, as she was now the strongest of their group, by far.
What was worse was the fact that the poisonous fog didn''t immediately disappear with the death of the gremlin. Now Mille would have to use her own energy to counteract it. My condition wasn''t perfect, either. The battle so far had taken a significant amount of Mana, bringing my current total to only 75%. By rough calculations, it implied that to deal with the rest of them, I would need more Mana than I could afford. But of course, that wasn''t the case. Mille was the only one who could show me some resistance. As for the rest, I wouldn''t even need to use any magic to deal with them.
As the tide of battle shifted, my opponents reacted instantly. Constantin and Eleanor sprang into action—he fired bullets of blood, each one infused with kinetic energy, while she soared to the ceiling, bat-like wings spread wide, her hands twisting into razor-sharp claws as she dove toward me.
They knew they had to be aggressive while the System''s protection still held. What they didn’t realize, however, was that the barrier only prevented direct damage—it didn’t exempt them from the laws of physics. And in close combat, that was more than enough for me—a few well calculated kicks created some distance between us so they won''t get in the way as I dealt with the Cardinal.
"You''re really going to kill us, huh?" Mille said bitterly as her own Mana went dangerously low. It was at one-third at most. Now that Antipucker had become a lightning whip, she didn''t have as much ability to move freely and was more limited in her actions.
"It''s not my fault; the System started it," I shrugged as I kicked the vampire woman away from me and sent her toward the fireplace. Meanwhile, Constantin focused more of his blood bullets — of which I easily changed the trajectory of with the smallest amount of Air Mana — transforming them into cannonballs instead. Not like it would help him. As for the remaining two low-level humans, there wasn''t much they could try.
"Show me all you''ve got, Cardinal!"
"Heavenly Father above, give me power. I am yours to command. I am your true blade," Mille chanted, her eyes filled with determination as she cut her palm with one of her blades.
"Ah, taking a note from the vampires," I remarked, watching as Mille coated the cross-shaped knife in her own blood. A surge of unease crawled down my spine—an instinctual warning flaring at the sight of the runes glowing on her weapon. Even without knowing the full extent of the technique, I could tell—it was dangerous. Worse, it reeked of something out of this world, somehow similar to the presence of Mr. Chuckles.
The air grew heavy with power, crackling with an ominous energy that sent every nerve in my body on high alert. The moment she uttered the incantation, I felt it—a shift, as if reality itself recoiled from what she was about to do.
The lightning snake of Antipucker coiled around her in an instant, striking out to ensnare her within its electric prison. But she was already gone, a burst of unnatural speed propelling her forward, leaving nothing but a flickering afterimage in its wake.
"Sinners must be punished," Mille intoned, her voice carrying a chilling finality. "Even if it kills me."
She raised her second knife, aiming straight for her heart.
A sharp jolt of adrenaline shot through me. No.
Primal Lightning Surge roared to life within me, electricity flooding my limbs. I moved. One moment I stood still, the next I was in front of her, seizing her wrist before the blade could bite into flesh.
"That''s not good." I tightened my grip, feeling the charged energy of her technique pulse beneath her skin. "Why so serious? I don’t like the runes on this thing. You realize it could kill you if you finish it, right?"
Her gaze met mine—determined, unwavering. But I wasn’t about to let her go through with it.
"If you''re going to kill me anyway, I''d rather fall with dignity." Mille''s voice was steady, but the power swirling around her only intensified, feeding into the deadly technique she was about to unleash.
I sighed. "And here I was, hoping to test the limits of you guys. Looks like I overdid it."
She hesitated, if only for a fraction of a second. That was all I needed. With a single pulse of intent, I unleashed a devastating wave of Gravity Mana. The air thickened instantly, pressing down with crushing force. The entire cabin trembled under the weight of my power, but it wasn''t directed at the people here, definitely not at vulnerable Mille.
And yet, this outburst achieved my purpose. Now, I had less than half of my Mana as the System notified me of my failure.
[Challenge Failed: One Against All and All Against One]
[You have failed to eliminate all participants before losing half of your Mana. What a weakling!]
[Penalty: You must remain in the cabin until completing the next revolution challenge (well, you can leave, if you''re ready to start serving us, ha-ha!)]
[Mr. Chuckles finds your mercy... boring]
[The Ringleader approves of your kindness]
"Did you like my prank, guys?" I beamed at the survivors.