Chapter 245: A Trap Within a Trap

FWOOSH—

They dropped together.

Six inquisitors leapt from the rooftop at once, falling in a tight ring around Kevin. Blades of light spun into existence midair, spears of condensed magic all angling toward him like he’d stepped into the middle of a firing squad.

Kevin blinked.

“…Huh?”

He only really processed what was happening when their boots slammed into the ground, circling him.

“…Oh.”

A beat.

“…Oh?”

Then his brain finally caught up.

“…WAIT—WHAT!?”

CLANG!

The first strike came without warning. A blade flashed toward his neck—

—and stopped dead.

HISS!

The [Penumbral Serpent] moved before he did, lunging on its own. Its fangs caught the blade mid-swing, the impact ringing out like steel on steel. Violet energy crackled where they met, snarling and spitting in the air.

“—!” The inquisitor’s eyes widened behind his mask. “It blocked—!?”

BOOM!

Kevin’s halo flared. A shockwave burst from his right, his half-formed wings snapping outward on instinct and hurling two more attackers back mid-strike.

“I—hey—wait—! Can we talk about this!?” Kevin yelped, stumbling over his own feet.

“Silence,” one of them snapped, already rushing in again.

Three more attacks came at once—clean, practised, meant to kill.

Too fast and too smooth.

Kevin’s gaze darted from blade to blade, panic spiking.

“I didn’t even do anything!?”

And yet his body moved.

Not because he decided to. Not with any real grace. But it moved.

HISS!

The serpent lashed forward again, catching a spear mid-thrust and crushing it between its jaws. The halo around Kevin pulsed out of rhythm, just barely knocking another strike off its lethal line.

A blade kissed his shoulder.

SLICK.

Heat, then wet.

Blood spilled, and he staggered with a hiss.

“Agh—!?”

“Restrain him. Don’t kill him,” one of them ordered flatly.

“Tch—we can’t seem to get past his defences,” another muttered.

“Then just overwhelm him.”

High above, the High Inquisitor stood at the edge of the rooftop, watching in silence. Not intervening. Just observing.

“…Interesting.”

The reports hadn’t captured this. This wasn’t just talent, and it wasn’t just raw power. It was something unstable, unrefined—dangerous in a way that didn’t fit neatly into a file.

If the inquisitors had to describe the person they were fighting, they would probably call him the very embodiment of magical darkness itself—at least, if the D’Arclight and Arden child didn’t exist.

“Freeze.”

His voice dropped, and for a heartbeat, the whole battlefield held its breath.

Then—

FWOOM—

Pressure slammed down.

Unlike the others, his magic didn’t blaze outward; it settled over them—heavy, absolute, like gravity had suddenly decided to take him seriously.

Kevin’s body locked up at once.

“…H-Huh?” His limbs refused to answer him. The serpent froze mid-lunge. The halo flickered like a dying light.

“W-Wait—what’s happening—!?”

The High Inquisitor stepped off the rooftop and drifted down, each slow step toward Kevin landing with a soft, final click.

“…You’re coming with us.”

Kevin tried to move. Tried to speak. His throat worked, but nothing came out.

“…W-what are you? Wait… i-inquisitors?” he finally stammered, his mind only now catching up to what was happening. His voice came out on a thin, shaky breath as real fear sank its claws into him.

Inquisitors. Mercenaries. Chosen of the God of Light. There was no way he could stand against them. In light magic, they utterly outclassed him, and even with his dark magic, he was badly outnumbered.

He couldn’t win. There was just no way.

The High Inquisitor raised his hand. Light gathered there, controlled, neat, the kind of sealing magic that didn’t waste effort.

With a snap of his fingers, the light burst outward in a tight sphere, wrapping around Kevin and locking him in place. The inquisitors kept their circle tight around them—this time with the High Inquisitor at the front.

“No wonder the Grand Priest wanted you so badly…”

The High Inquisitor tilted his head, studying Kevin like some rare beast.

“A man born to darkness, yet blessed with light as a second element. Impressive.”

“W-What do you want from me?!”

Kevin forced the words out, his throat dry, his mind racing.

’If I hadn’t been caught off guard… if I wasn’t this exhausted… I could’ve taken them all. Even that High Inquisitor. He’s nowhere near Master’s level… I can’t believe I was stupid enough to think a serpent and a guardian would be enough…’

“That’s not for you to know.”

But before the High Inquisitor could fully subdue Kevin…

CRACK.

A sound split the air. Sharp, and very wrong.

But it wasn’t from Kevin, it couldn’t be from him—but from somewhere behind them.

The High Inquisitor paused.

“…What was that?”

One of the inquisitors half-turned.

“…Sir…?”

Another crack.

Then—

SHATTER.

The space behind them broke.

It didn’t explode or twist. It just… broke, like glass under too much pressure. From the jagged gap, darkness began to leak through.

The sphere was still wrapped in radiant light, glowing like a small sun, but the darkness didn’t care. It kept creeping forward, slipping through the cracks, sinking deeper inside.

What made it worse was that they couldn’t see anything past the break. There was no academy, no walls, no sky—just an endless, suffocating black, as if the world outside had simply vanished.

“…Ah.”

A soft voice drifted out, familiar, amused, edged with danger.

“Well… this looks fun.”

A figure stepped through the broken space, brushing invisible dust from her sleeve like she’d just walked in from a stroll instead of a tear in reality. White hair. Crimson eyes. A faint, knowing smile.

“…Lady D’Arclight—!” one of the inquisitors blurted.

Evelina’s gaze swept the scene in an instant—Kevin pinned in place, the ring of inquisitors around him, the High Inquisitor at the centre of it all.

Her smile deepened by a fraction.

“You know,” she said lightly, tilting her head as if she were studying an unremarkable painting, “I was starting to wonder where the real ones went. Good thing you made it so easy to find you with that little light show of yours.”

Her eyes locked onto the High Inquisitor—and sharpened.

“Thanks for saving me the trouble of looking.”

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