The four of them were now certain of one thing—they had fallen into a trap.
What they couldn't understand was why them.
If the goal had simply been to kill the four of them, Amon could have acted long ago. Why wait until now?
They began examining the barrier, but no matter how they looked at it, they couldn't make sense of it. The patterns and symbols etched into the barrier were not written in any known demonic language.
"Wong, open a portal," Lucas suddenly said. "Let's get out of here first and talk later."
Only then did Wong smack his forehead. He'd completely overlooked the simplest solution. With a Kamar-Taj sorcerer present, why bother studying the barrier at all? A portal would solve everything.
He casually reached for his waist—
And froze.
His expression changed instantly. Wong quickly searched his entire body.
"The sling ring is gone."
He let out a sigh. There was no need to guess—it had obviously been stolen by Sister Agatha. Whoever was behind this had come fully prepared; they even understood Wong's abilities inside and out.
The others sighed as well, but Lucas suddenly realized something.
I can teleport too.
The Phoenix abilities he possessed granted him short-range teleportation—how had he forgotten that?
Without hesitation, Lucas circulated his magic. Flames flared beneath his feet, and in the next instant, his figure vanished.
A split second later, flames flashed again—
Bang!
Lucas slammed directly into the tower door, his body practically embedded in it. After a moment, he slid down slowly.
Covering his reddened nose, Lucas stood up awkwardly.
"Damn it."
Even teleportation had failed.
He immediately cursed the damn system in his heart—what kind of garbage skill was this?
Now everyone was out of options. The only two people capable of spatial movement were both shut down.
Did that mean they really had to forcibly destroy the barrier?
…Wait.
Why couldn't they?
Almost as if sharing the same thought, the four of them realized they had all been overthinking it. Instead of finding clever solutions, they'd completely ignored the simplest one.
As long as they used overwhelming force to disrupt the balance of the barrier, it would collapse on its own.
By now, night was slowly falling.
The group discussed their options carefully. If they destroyed the barrier recklessly, the tower itself might collapse, so ideally they needed to find the core of the formation.
They searched the entire tower, practically peeling the walls apart—but still found nothing resembling a formation core.
"In that case," Daimon said, spreading his hand, "let's just smash it."
A trident appeared in his grasp, glowing with an eerie crimson light that made it hard to look directly at.
"Agreed," Elsa said immediately.
Wong nodded as well.
"Alright," Lucas said. "Then I'm starting. Be ready."
As he spoke, wind, lightning, and fire magic gathered around his body. He planned to fuse all three and break the barrier with maximum destructive power.
Strictly speaking, Lucas's strongest attack was still the Zodiac Meteor—but that was out of the question. A meteor falling from the sky would wipe out all four of them along with the tower.
That would be a very stupid way to end things.
After glancing at the others, Lucas raised his hand sharply.
Wind blades wrapped around raging flames, instantly forming a violent firestorm.
Fire fed on the wind, and scorching heat flooded the tower. The inferno evaporated all moisture in the air, and the ancient books and documents burst into flames one after another.
Rumble—!
Brilliant flashes of light erupted as bolts of lightning joined the firestorm. In an instant, the storm transformed into something resembling a natural disaster—howling winds, raging flames, and lightning tearing through everything in their path.
The most primal forces were always the most violent.
Inside the narrow tower, the apocalyptic scene unfolded in full. The interior was reduced to chaos, stones crashing down as the barrier began flickering with unstable light.
"Now!"
Lucas roared, pointing toward the door.
The storm screamed as it slammed into the barrier.
The barrier flared bright red, resisting the assault—but the lightning within the storm struck relentlessly, tearing into it again and again.
The barrier held for only a few breaths before shattering completely.
Immediately, the entire tower began shaking violently. Countless chunks of stone rained down from above.
"Move—now!"
Lucas shouted.
The storm exploded outward, obliterating the front wall of the tower and creating a massive breach.
Wong grabbed Elsa and vanished in a flash. Daimon followed, hellfire engulfing his body as he disappeared, then reappeared beside them like a meteor crashing down.
Crash—!
At that moment, the top of the tower collapsed, smashing down toward the entrance.
Lucas glanced upward, flames flashing beneath his feet as he vanished from the tower.
Boom!
The tower fell.
The ancient structure—nearly a thousand years old—collapsed into ruins, officially erased from the face of the Earth.
Lucas reappeared beside the others.
The tower was now nothing but rubble.
"It's time we got some answers," Elsa said, scanning their surroundings.
Night had fully fallen, yet the monastery remained unnaturally silent. The collapse of the tower should have drawn everyone's attention—but not a single person came out to investigate.
"Looks like everyone in this monastery is involved," Wong said grimly.
Indeed, the monastery was pitch black—no lights, no movement—like a beast with its jaws wide open.
The group headed straight for the prayer hall, the monastery's main chamber and the only place where light remained.
Bang!
Daimon kicked the door open.
The hall was packed.
Every single person inside was a nun.
They all turned toward Lucas and the others in unison, their faces filled with twisted devotion and fanaticism.
"You're finally here," Sister Agatha said calmly. "The ritual is about to begin. You are all the protagonists this time."
She wore a pristine new nun's habit, a cross hanging from her neck—
Upside down.
The rest of the nuns, both full members and novices alike, were dressed in pure white robes, each wearing the same inverted cross.
An inverted cross—the symbol of demons, a declaration of defiance against God.
"They're all radiating demonic auras," Daimon whispered. "They've already been possessed."
"Your perception is very sharp, Daimon," Sister Agatha said with a smile. "All four of you are essential to this ritual. You are the key to Amon's descent into the human world."
She walked forward calmly, showing no fear of Daimon or the others.
Daimon was about to strike—
But Sister Agatha walked past him and stopped directly in front of Lucas.
"Come with me," she said softly, taking Lucas's hand.
"You are the core of this ritual."
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