Dalia stood in shock as Sebastian was engulfed by the black sphere. The soldiers around her could hardly believe their eyes, and Carlos stood frozen, his expression stricken with disbelief. The battle had been tilting toward Sebastian’s victory—everyone had thought so—yet no one had foreseen how effortlessly his holy power could be contained and extinguished. The massive Revenant remained still, its many eyes fixated on the swirling darkness where Sebastian had stood. But the smaller revenants did not waver; they continued their relentless assault, storming the soldiers’ front lines in endless waves.

  Carlos considered sealing the area entirely, forming a protective dome around them all, but the thought was foolish and reckless. If the massive Revenant decided to attack, they would be trapped. Maintaining sight of the enemy was far more critical than huddling together and hoping for the best.

  “We need a plan! And fast!” Carlos barked, his focus unwavering as he commanded his earth golems to hold the front lines.

  Dalia scanned the battlefield. There was no path of escape, none that wouldn't demand sacrifice or risk severe casualties. And with Sebastian’s fate uncertain, fleeing was out of the question. If the worst had come to pass and Sebastian had fallen, they could not—would not—leave his body behind. The corpse of a saint was revered as a holy relic by the Church. Losing such a sacred artifact to a creature of the abyss would not be tolerated. The soldiers would pay dearly for such failure, and Dalia could not bear the weight of such consequences.

  No. She would not let it come to that.

  Summoning every ounce of holy power within her, Dalia knelt and pressed her hands together in prayer. Her stigmata burned brightly, divine energy raging like a storm within her. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and whispered the invocation.

  “I pray to You, Ruler of the Living and Guide of the Lost. Your humble servant calls upon Your aid in this time of trial. May my life be the price for the arrogance of invoking Your might in this tainted world.”

  Dalia opened her eyes. Holy power erupted from her in a radiant explosion.

  “Sanctuary.”

  The divine energy surged outward, bathing the battlefield in its brilliance. The soldiers felt their wounds heal and their strength return, the exhaustion washing away as though it had never been. The smaller revenants caught in the wave were instantly exorcised, and those beyond its reach recoiled in fear. Around Dalia, a dome of pure, radiant light formed, shielding those within. Any revenant that so much as brushed against it ignited in purging flames, their howls of agony vanishing into the ether.

  But the power came at a price.

  To sustain the Sanctuary, Dalia had to remain in prayer, her focus unbroken. Worse still, the spell demanded a toll—the very essence of her life force. This technique is usually performed as a last resort for the priest of the church. Most priests who invoked such a technique perished within the hour, their bodies left as withered husks, drained completely by the divine magic. Yet Dalia was no ordinary priest. Her miracle allowed her to endure longer—days, perhaps even weeks—but the price would still be exacted. She could already feel it, the creeping exhaustion settling into her bones.

  Carlos clenched his fists, his jaw tightening in fury.

  She had promised him.

  She had sworn she would never use this ability.

  He remembered the day she had spoken of it, the words of warning from the Cardinal of the Church still echoing in his mind. The very notion of her invoking such power had filled him with dread, and he had made her swear—swear—that she would never use it, no matter the cost. And yet here she was, draining her very life away before his eyes

  Carlos turned toward the black sphere, scowling.

  Or at least where Sebastian was standing before. All of this wont happen if that bastard actually does what he is supposed to do. Losing that easily after parading and showing off his power before really made Carlos mad. If Sebastian killed that massive Revenant quickly without playing around and showing off his power, then Dalia wouldn't resort to drastic measures like this. That new saint always has a way to make him mad. Carlos wonders if Sebastian was doing it on purpose just to mock and irritate him.

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  “I hope that bastard dies in the most painful way possible,” he muttered under his breath.

  Within the dome, the soldiers took a moment to catch their breath. The battle had thrown them into disarray, but they could not afford to falter any longer. However they just can’t laze around and wait for something to happen. The soldiers knows full well what’s at stake here. Dalia is using a very terrible spell to help them, Carlos is still maintaining his golem outside the dome trying to kill as many revenants as he could and Sebastian…. Well at least Sebastian is keeping the massive Revenant at bay and not attacking them right now. They were knights of the Church, sworn protectors of the Saints. Yet here they stood, watching as the Saints bore the brunt of the battle alone.

  “The signal flare!” The leader of the convoy turned sharply. “We must call for the Corsican Army’s aid!”

  All of the soldiers look at each other with the feeling of unease.

  Ask the Corsican Army for help? Did they truly believe that was a wise course of action?

  Some among them had already begun to suspect the truth. The Corsican Army had let them pass too easily. They had known what lay ahead—known about the Revenants—and had said nothing. Had they led them into this slaughter on purpose?

  Asking them for help was probably the last thing they wanted to do. There’s no guarantee what would happen if the Corsican Army showed up. Maybe they’ll help the Revenant and kill them all here, then they could easily blame all of that to these Revenants and no one would know. But what could they do know besides hunkering down and hoping for the best. Seeing the Saints do all of the work already made some of them angry at themselves, they couldn’t stand to lose their face any longer. Even with hesitation and bad feeling, they still went through with the plan on sending the help signal.

  Some of the soldiers began preparing the area to launch the help signal while others kept the defense up in case of a bad event on the frontline. They put the signal slingshot on the ground while the other soldier readied his aim towards the skies. Anxiety hangs in the air before they do this. They wonder if they’re actually dancing on the Corsican Army hands right now. However they swallowed that thought deeply inside their guts and launched the help signal flask far up in the air.

  A red streak forms as the help signal soars up to the skies. Then a soldier focused all of his aim and shot a flaming arrow up towards the flask. A vibrant red cloud exploded up above. It can be seen from all the surrounding area and even from the very far off town in the distance. Now the waiting game began. It’ll take time for help to arrive and deal with this situation. Moreover the soldier didn’t know if they would actually receive ‘help’ for the Corsican army and people.

  “Soldier, get ready! Grab your bow and shoot at all of these Revenants!”

  The Soldier began shooting every revenant that they could see. Hundreds of arrows rain down upon the horde. Some of the Revenant try to enter the holy dome, but their effort was futile as their body immolated and turned into dust in a second. Now with the tide of the battle beginning to shift towards the Soldier, they feel more energized and pumped. Countless Revenants are slain by their arrow, but their number shows no sign of thinning out. The soldier felt like every time they killed one, then another three popped up from behind the tree line. Their arrow stocks are limited, surely they just cant use this strategy forever. Sooner or later the soldier arrow would be spent and they also need to do something about Sebastian inside that black sphere.

  The Massive revenant briefly glanced at the soldier and other saint in the distance before they turned their attention back towards Sebastian. They hug the black sphere with all of its limbs and bury their face deeply inside. Now they look like a giant tree holding onto a black fruit. Inside they could see Sebastian lay unconscious with a lot of black tendril buried deep inside Sebastian vein. Sebastian's body emits this faint glow of holy energy, pulsing slightly trying to keep himself alive. Even in this state of unconsciousness his body react towards any outside stimuli that tries to touch him albeit weakly. The massive Revenant show his many face around Sebastian. Each of those face have different emotion showing their expression when they’re finally integrated towards its body. They watched as Sebastian body grew even weaker and weaker, they can’t wait to integrate Sebastian into their body and suffer with them eternally.

  As Sebastian's body began to weaken and his life began to face away, the Revenant Began to send all of its tendril towards Sebastian. However something unexpected happens. Sebastian's body begins to recover and rapidly his strength starts to come back at a terrifying speed. The holy power began to shine brightly as it started to burn the foul magic around. The Revenant couldn’t believe what he’s seeing. No one has ever done this before. It shows its victim the dream life and place that the victim wanted. What drives Sebastian to ditch those perfect lives to return back to the world of the living.

  “Why?” a thousand voices echoed at once. “Why reject our gift? Why reject your dream?”.

  Sebastian’s eyes snapped open as his consciousness returned. He grip his hammer and shield tightly before jerking his body up, ripping all the tendril that was buried inside his body and vein. Blood gushed out and now he was bathed in his own blood from head to toe. Sebastian opened his mouth and he started to scream. It’s not a scream of pain. It’s a scream of fury and anger.