The moment arrived, and countless beams of light exploded, enveloping Shaya's figure in holy power. For an instant, the entire South District seemed to welcome the dawn.
Adam sprang from his bed and hastened to the window, yet the view outside remained tranquil. The fading remnants of the sunset dissolved into the horizon, and all seemed unchanged.
"Don't make any moves. Shaya's really serious now," came Jin's voice. Unlike before, he wasn't perched on a mound of earth but had solidified into a dark gem, gently vibrating near Adam's ear as he spoke.
"His senses now span nearly half of Roya City. If you dare transform, he'll immediately know something's off," Jin warned with gravity.
"That powerful? How have the non-humans managed to survive?" Adam muttered.
"First, Shaya's body can't sustain the use of his powers for long. Sending him out to search for non-humans in this state would be a short-sighted decision."
"Second, it's difficult for him to discern the vastness of the city. With so much information converging, if he tried to process it all, he'd likely burn out, meeting his end."
"Shaya's energy is limited. Don't be too harsh on the old man. As long as you don't transform or make yourself too obvious, you should be relatively safe."
"The church's faith grants them immense power, but it also restricts them. If Shaya were in his prime, he would have already wiped out all the non-humans in the city," Jin added.
"Is the battle happening over there?" Adam asked, glancing into the distance. The space appeared empty, yet he could vaguely sense a subtle force emanating from that direction.
"Shaya is far stronger than I thought," Jin affirmed.
"With such a burst of holy power, he forcibly created a sacred space in the fabric of time and space. That's why you can't perceive any anomalies there."
"However, to those who can perceive space, the cracks in that area have already turned into a battlefield."
After hearing Jin's words, Adam tilted his head, adjusting his soul's weight. The world around him began to distort, like a watercolor painting drained of color and dropped into water, where the ink mingled and a new world emerged before his eyes.
When Adam fully expanded his soul's weight, he could see through worlds and perceive other realms. For now, such an ability wasn't necessary, but the once unified world cracked open before him, revealing countless rifts. But there was one particular rift that stood out—like a white flower struggling to bloom through the gap, unfurling fully in this world.
Jin, a little surprised, looked at Adam. He could sense the shift in Adam's power and realized he had underestimated Adam's bloodline.
"Ah, this is really your style, Shaya," Poldo said, standing in the sacred space created by the Grand Monk Shaya.
Shaya had always been decisive in his actions. Once he made up his mind, there was no hesitation, and he would act swiftly, without wasting time in conversation. When you met him, it meant you would face swift death.
If one were to tally the number of lives Poldo, Alva, and even Anthony had claimed, it would pale in comparison to Shaya's.
Of the Sacred Three of the Holy Sound, Anthony was known for his charm, Alva for his talents, but Shaya was feared for his ruthless methods.
Shaya had always been the strongest of their generation. When Alva had fallen, stripped of his holy power by the church, the reaction had been one of shock, with some wondering if they had gotten the name wrong.
At the time, many feared that Shaya might have killed most of the church's spies watching him, triggering a mass defection from the church.
Indeed, Shaya had been considered dangerous, watched closely by church officials.
Ironically, Shaya later became the benevolent Grand Monk of Roya, revered by countless monks, while the other two, once considered the brightest stars, had fallen.
Poldo watched Shaya, a cold sweat forming on his brow. The immense holy power and the violent spatial forces it conjured were enough to tear everything apart.
He had almost been turned to dust in the eruption of that sacred space.
For all these years, Poldo had visited this old comrade, always portraying himself as someone who believed in redemption, extending a hand to those caught in misery.
Poldo had almost forgotten that Shaya's version of "redemption" was to obliterate the enemy before they even realized it.
Had Poldo not spent so many years in the Holy Sound, familiar with the deity's teachings, and had he not used his magic to shift his state, blending into the sacred space, he would have already been another casualty of Shaya's power.
With a gesture, Poldo's mental energy formed a three-dimensional array, from which light gathered. In the next moment, it vibrated and transformed into glowing butterflies, fluttering through the space.
Shaya still appeared as an old man with a cane, but his aura had drastically changed.
The Holy Sound Church revered the deity's voice, and their understanding of that divine sound was central to their faith. With each flap of the glowing butterflies' wings, they vibrated through the space, collecting its feedback.
Then, one butterfly suddenly exploded. The world seemed to crack, and a great fissure appeared where Shaya had been standing.
Shaya had created a sacred space in the cracks using holy power. Poldo, in turn, used vibrations to perceive the space and connected with it through holy power. The explosion followed, causing the space itself to shift.
"There's always this feeling that ordinary people and them aren't even in the same world," Adam remarked, pulling his gaze away. He felt the world around him become increasingly illusory.
Most people around him were preoccupied with mundane concerns, confined to their own lives. But beings like Shaya could open battlefields within the cracks of space itself.
Though they shared the same city, it felt as though they were worlds apart, like the difference between gods and humans.
"Don't be disheartened. The gap between you and them is not as wide as you think," Jin said, noticing Adam's subdued expression and offering some comfort.
Adam nodded but didn't voice the sense of disconnection he felt. This world was indeed one led by supernatural forces. Unlike his previous world, where wealth was power, here power was directly tied to the supernatural.
In that world, the manifestation of supernatural abilities wasn't as evident, but the disparities between people, driven by wealth, were just as insurmountable.
Shaking off these thoughts, Adam refrained from watching the ongoing battle.
Remaining in a state that favored the soul for too long would weaken his body and hinder his knightly training.
"Anyway, as long as Jin keeps me updated on the outcome, there's no need to waste energy spectating. That would be foolish," Adam concluded, lying back and beginning his meditation practice.
Jin glanced at Adam, impressed by how his disciple had refrained from watching the battle.
As he grew more appreciative of Adam, Jin didn't stop observing the ongoing conflict.
In the face of countless glowing butterflies attacking, Shaya's figure seemed to shift constantly. But within the sacred space, Shaya was adjusting his holy power, altering the structure of the space to facilitate his movement without ever physically moving.
"Can he dodge these attacks without entering the state of divine communion?" Jin pondered. "Does he not need to, or has he lost that ability?"
"Shaya, old friend, your body is far too frail now," Poldo revealed, his surroundings pulsing with ever-changing halos, blocking some of the attacks.
Had it been ten years earlier, even with a ritual, Poldo wouldn't have dared to fight Shaya for so long. He wouldn't have chosen to come to Roya at all.
"But now, let's bring this to an end," Poldo said slowly, pulling a massive spine from the rift in space. An overwhelming aura of resentment filled the sacred space.
"This will be the sword that points to the gods!"