It has been said that human beings stand between gods and beasts—sometimes leaning toward the divine, sometimes toward the savage.Some ascend closer to holiness, others descend into bestiality, while most remain balanced in between.
Though originally a saying about human nature, it now perfectly describes power and action.
How fitting are these words for the humans of a world invaded by dimensions?
In the eyes of ordinary people, the high council of the Human Alliance are gods incarnate, while the corrupted ones devoured by darkness are nothing more than beasts. Yet in the end, the true difference lies only between ordinary humans and evolutionaries.
But now, Shen Ji and the Commander were genuinely shaken.
Mammon's act of draining the life essence of the dying Sacred Griffin and Jerna was already cruel enough—squeezing out the last drop of value from those on the brink of death.
Yet what startled them was not the cruelty, but the result.
Both the griffin and Jerna, who should have been at death's door, had not only been resurrected… but returned stronger than before.
A godlike hand!
Jerna's wounds were fully healed. Her golden pupils, at first clouded with confusion, finally settled when they fell upon Mammon.
"My lord."
Jerna bent to one knee before him, offering a knight's salute.
Like Shanteville before her, Jerna's memories had been erased. These light creatures, ever chanting the name of their goddess, were safest dealt with by wiping their devotion from the root.
Shen Ji and the Commander exchanged glances, their eyes flickering.
Not only resurrection—Mammon could even control their will?
Both of them recalled a certain evolutionary path: the Necromancer. Such beings could raise skeletal warriors from corpses and command them as puppets.
"Pick up your weapon and fight."
Mammon's tone was flat, unconcerned with their doubts.
"As you command."
Jerna bowed again, retrieving her fallen knight's spear. In a single motion she vaulted onto the back of the Sacred Griffin.
Though her memory of the Light God Realm was gone, her combat skills and holy powers remained intact.
"Tweet—!"
The spectral griffin shrieked, wings beating furiously as it carried Jerna toward Ecbert.
Shen Ji's eyes followed them, then shifted back to Mammon.
Though she loathed to admit it, his ability left her shaken.
To absorb life essence for strength. To seize control over creatures, even Redeemers of Light, with some unknown force. If this power carried no limits, its potential was terrifying.
Perhaps Mammon's threat was no less than that of the Light God Realm itself. The only relief—for now—was that he was not their enemy.
After all, they were still allies against the dimensional invaders.
"Light—Saint's Salute!"
Ecbert raised his staff, releasing a radiant glow that spread outward like dawn. Golden motes drifted through the air, beautiful and serene, transforming the battlefield into a holy paradise.
A hymn followed, its melody enchanting, its waves of light majestic.
But to the Dead Scythe Demon and the Storm Worm, it was agony. Their grotesque faces twisted, bodies trembling as they howled under the sacred song.
"Foul demons and worms—receive the purification of light!"
Ecbert's expression remained solemn, though his eyes carried sorrow. He feared that Jerna and the griffin had already met their end.
"Light—Trial of Radiance…!"
His holy robe surged with power as he raised his staff higher. But before he could unleash his spell, Ecbert froze, his eyes widening as he looked skyward.
Something familiar… yet wrong.
A massive white shadow descended. The closer it came, the deeper Ecbert's frown grew.
"The griffin? Jerna?"
No. It wasn't right.
The aura—ferocious, violent—was not the griffin he knew.
"Barrier of Light!"
He abandoned his spell and summoned the barrier instead. Immediately, the mutated griffin, cloaked in pale light, slammed against it.
From above, Jerna raised her spear. Holy radiance poured forth, gathering into a glowing orb.
Bright Arbitration!
The impact rattled the Light Barrier, ripples surging across its surface.
"Jerna? What has happened to you?"
Ecbert's aged face twisted with shock. Why would she attack him? And why had the griffin's form become so grotesque?
"The blood contract… it's gone!"
He tried calling the griffin by the sacred bond between them, only to find the link severed.
Impossible. The blood contract was the strongest of all bindings. How had it been broken?
"By my lord's will—destroy him."
Jerna's cold voice dismissed his plea. She thrust her spear forward, the holy light at its tip swelling with lethal power.
"Divine Sanction!"
"Jerna! Have you betrayed the Goddess?"
Ecbert's chest heaved, his voice breaking with grief and anger. What was this "lord" she spoke of? What foul sorcery had ensnared her?
"Control magic…?"
He realized it then—Jerna was being controlled.
His hands trembled on the staff as fury surged.
"Dark filth! To defile a Redeemer of Light—unforgivable!"
His power flared, pressure sweeping across the battlefield like a storm.
To enslave Jerna, to desecrate the faith she bore, to turn her spear against her own kin—Such vile blasphemy cannot be allowed to stand!