Fitran then turned to look at Julie.
"When drunk, Julie forgets her fears and possesses strength equal to mine," the Pastor said, his voice echoing in the tense silence.
"Eh!"
"Quantum Phase Armor Spectrum, Aufkohlen," Julie declared confidently, her voice filled with assurance.
Moments later, her body transformed into a shimmering black. She absorbed all the carbon present around her, forming a terrifying and impressive layer of hardness.
"Quantum Phase Armor Spectrum, Nitrierung," the Pastor continued, his eyes shining with the same intensity.
As he recited the incantation, his body transformed into a glistening white, radiating light that made the surroundings almost glow.
"Lord Pastor, I'll go first, hehe," Julie said cheerfully, getting into position while shifting her left foot back. "Hiks!" a hiccup escaped her mouth, creating a humorous moment amidst the tension.
Wuosh!
"Holy Slash!" Fitran shouted, swinging Excalibur with a thundering force, aimed directly at Julie.
The attack seemed to have no effect on Julie, who was now unleashing a series of powerful punches that shook the air.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
"Her body is as hard as steel," Fitran exclaimed, struggling with all his might to withstand the relentless assaults thrown at him with remarkable resilience.
"Die! Die! Die!" Julie screamed, delivering rapid and forceful blows, each strike resonating like thunder in the air.
Her punches soared with incredible speed—each strike seemed to pierce the wind, creating a sharp whistling sound. However, when her formidable hands finally struck Fitran, she found… no target. In her confusion, time seemed to freeze: "Have I already attacked? Or was that just an intention to strike?" Julie said, snapping back to reality, bewilderment clouding her face like a dark shadow hovering above.
Pastor watched from a distance, astonished by the strange phenomenon unfolding before him. Dust particles in the air appeared to "avoid" the space around Fitran, forming bizarre patterns that danced like an illusion, as if guided by an unseen force.
"Danger!"the Pastor exclaimed, quickly moving to assist Julie, the tension between them starting to dissolve.
"Wind up," the Pastor continued, casting a spell with a commanding voice as if he were channeling the forces of nature to protect them from impending danger.
Suddenly, Julie's attack faltered. In an instant, Fitran seized the opportunity, swiftly thrusting his sword towards Julie's chest, his eyes gleaming with determination.
However, it wasn't long before a loud crash echoed: "Taaang!" as the Pastor kicked Fitran's sword with immense force, embedding it into the sturdy wall. In a rapid movement, his left arm shot towards Fitran's chin with clear intent.
"Hyper uppercut!" the Pastor shouted, his voice booming with enthusiasm and strength, as if filling the air around them with unparalleled energy.
Bruagh ...! Fitran was lifted high into the air, defying gravity as if time had momentarily frozen.
Booooing ...! The powerful impact resonated as Fitran's body soared through the air.
"Crasher punch!" Julie shouted enthusiastically, channeling all her strength into a powerful strike aimed at Fitran's cheek, as if she wanted to tear through the limits of power.
Crashed!! Duarr!! Fitran's body was violently hurled, slamming into the floor with a sound that resonated throughout the room. His head struck hard, and it seemed that Fitran was powerless, as if his life force had slipped away.
Tp ... tp ... tp
Julie and Pastor approached Fitran anxiously, their eyes filled with worry.
Then, suddenly, Fitran stood up again, seemingly disregarding everything that had just happened.
"Hehehehe," his laughter echoed in the tense air. The sound carried an eerie undertone, as if hiding something dark behind that laughter.
"Ultimate Skill Quantum Spectrum, Uncertainty Shell: Schrödinger's Dome," Fitran declared. "Activate," he added.
An invisible dome formed from reality, trapped in a state of superposition, radiating a mysterious aura. Schrödinger's Dome created a zone of absolute uncertainty, where every entity within it was shielded from certainty, only able to be revealed if Fitran observed or allowed it.
Every enemy, object, and even the laws of physics trapped within this dome fluctuate: they can vanish in an instant, split into two by fate, blur with faint nuances, or move in impossible directions that defy logic.
Any attack that might occur within this dome…
…cannot be guaranteed to materialize. Each action is merely a possibility, not a reality, until Fitran carefully observes and determines the outcome.
Pastor sees his body transform into Julie's form.
Julie's face turns into Fitran—then back to his own. Then it vanishes.
Julie and the pastor are suddenly shocked.
Fitran (the voice in their heads):
"Now you are in a world that has not yet been decided. Are you dead? Or still alive? One thing is certain: I am here."
"Magic circle! Dragon breath!" Fitran casts a magic spell.
A massive wave of fire scorches Julie and the pastor. It is evident that Julie's blackened skin begins to melt first, like candle wax burning away. With quick reflexes, the pastor shields Julie's body, deflecting the searing heat.
"Lord pastor," Julie murmurs, her voice nearly drowned out by the roar of the flames.
"Hehehehe," the pastor replied, his voice heavy as blood trickled from his lips. His back bore the marks of flames, as if he had been scorched by the greedy tongues of fire.
Before long, Fitran halted his assault. Both of them collapsed to the ground. In a powerless state, Julie crawled slowly, trying to reach the pastor's limp hand. She extended her own, as if hoping that one last touch would reconnect them.
Zebb!
Fitran plunged a sharp object into Julie's hand.
"Ugh!" Julie gasped, her voice choked with pain. However, the agony in her hand was nothing compared to the anguish in her heart. She felt severed from Fitran, unable to reach for the hand that always offered her safety and affection.
On the other hand, Fitran's face appeared to take on a golden hue, as if an unusual light was emanating from within him. Cracks were clearly visible on his cheeks and chin, bearing silent witness to the exhausting battle he had endured. Before receiving those two devastating blows, Fitran quickly activated the quantum spectrum of Chromatieren, utilizing shards of chromium from his broken sword. The power generated by Chromatieren far exceeded that of Nitrierung and Aufkohlen, adding remarkable effects—including the ability to create an oxide layer. The chromium particles seeping into Fitran's skin stimulated the surrounding oxygen to engage in scaling. The cracks on his face were merely the oxide layer that had yet to reach the core of his Chromatieren.
Nitrierung and Aufkohlen are not stable at certain temperatures, oriented towards a more terrifying limit. Fitran, with a burning determination, set his critical temperature between 500 °C – 650 °C. At this level, the carbon and nitrogen within Julie and the pastor begin to bathe in a molten state, like ice being scorched by sunlight. However, for Fitran, this temperature is merely half of the melting point of his Chromatierenn, as if there are two worlds separated by an invisible boundary.
"I've already told you," Fitran stared intensely at the pastor, his voice filled with pessimism and despair, "before the curse fades, the lonely and the sinner must not unite."
"In the end, I will have to kill you," he continued, his words flowing like a sharp sword slicing through the air.
Upon hearing this declaration, the pastor's body seemed to come alive again. He concentrated all his remaining strength just to sit, his body trembling as if resisting the gravity that bound him. Before him, Fitran was ready, magical energy gathering to form a shimmering magic circle, brilliant as if summoning power from another dimension.
"Fitran! I pity you," the pastor's voice broke the tense silence, radiating empathy amid the threatening confrontation.
Fitran was taken aback when he heard the Pastor call his name, as if breaking through the barrier of magical power surrounding him. The magical aura was supposed to envelop him, blocking his awareness from the outside world.
"How long can you hold it?" the Pastor continued, his tone questioning, challenging, yet filled with compassion.
"I don't understand what you mean," Fitran replied, his hands increasingly radiating a vibrating light, as if responding to emotions he could not comprehend.
"Rinoa," he uttered, a simple word that echoed like a bell between them.
Thud! Fitran abruptly halted his attack, his eyes blazing with anger as he stared at the Pastor, as if the energy coalescing in the sphere of light in his hand was ready to explode at any moment.
"You love her," the Pastor said, his tone emphasizing the statement.
"Then why are you hiding in the shadows?" he added, his gaze piercing as if trying to penetrate Fitran's soul.
"Are you sure she will accept you? Or even know you?" he continued, his voice now trembling with deep concern.
"Your assumptions are selfish," he remarked again, pouring out the boiling frustration in his tone.
Fitran fell silent for a moment, contemplating every word spoken to him before finally addressing the troubling questions swirling in his mind.
"I do love her. However, no matter how deep my feelings run, we cannot be together as long as this world remains cursed," Fitran said, his voice laden with profound longing.
He was taken aback by the words that emerged from his lips, as if an unseen force was animating his mouth. At that moment, Aura Beelzebub whispered into Fitran's ear, his voice soft yet filled with emphasis, "This is one of my sister's possessions, Mirror of Yearning." The enemies are compelled to reveal their deepest desires—not the desires they openly acknowledge, but the secrets they have long hidden, the pent-up anger, jealousy, and longing. Beelzebub also made it clear that the Pastor was not bound by contract to him; only his sister is secretly maneuvering behind the curtains of this battle.
"It's better for him to hate me now than for one of us to die. I will always be his shadow, even if he is unaware of my presence, even if he does not understand me, even if he does not recognize me, even if he marries someone else, even if we are never united. In this darkness, I will continue to stand by him," he continued, his gaze shining with hope despite a heart that feels shattered.
Fitran could not hold back his outpouring of emotions. Words from the depths of his heart flowed like an unending river. Even Beelzebub, with all his strength and magic, could not stop this heartfelt expression.
"Foolish man," the pastor remarked, his voice laced with a cynical tone as he stood tall, as if challenging the overwhelming despair that enveloped them.
"For some reason, I feel motivated by your words," the pastor continued, his expression changing suddenly, his gaze now filled with unexpected intensity.
"However, I have a different perspective, Fitran. Despite the obstacles in our way, we will stand together," he added with a look of conviction and bravery, his eyes glowing as he gazed at Julie, as if conveying hope amid the raging storm.
"Lord Pastor," Julie whispered, warm tears streaming down her slender cheeks. The feelings she had buried for so long finally surged to the surface, awakening her awareness of the deep love that had filled the recesses of her heart, bringing such meaning that it warmed her frozen soul.
"Now, tell me, how deep is your love for me at this moment?" the pastor demanded, his voice trembling with intense pressure, as if summoning power from another dimension. Behind him, a shimmering dimension erupted, bringing with it sharp, glimmering weapons that radiated a terrifying aura, heightening the tension that lingered in the air.
The pastor was also affected by the spell and began to express the contents of his heart.
"...."
Fitran felt as though the world around him was collapsing, fragments of reality shattering before him. In disbelief that this moment had come upon him, his bloodstained hands seemed destined to become meaningless if the curse manifested. He had to stop everything—if not, the couple he had killed would be forever trapped in bitter memories, eternally imprisoned in a neglected album of life.
"It seems my sister is interested in you because of your bravery in overcoming the Remindful One," Beelzebub whispered teasingly, his eyes sparkling with intrigue and secrets.
"My form is not what you desire," Asmodeous spoke in a deep, mysterious tone, "yet I will transform into everything you dream of… even when the depths of your heart detest it." His voice echoed in the room, filled with an irresistible charm, creating a tension that hung in the air between them. In the dim light, neither Fitran nor the Pastor could see Asmodeous' true figure; only a faint shadow and his magnetic aura held them entranced by his presence.