Chương 66: Chapter 65

Nina sat inside the prison carriage as it made its way toward the Holy Temple. A short while earlier... After seeing the transformation, the arrogant messenger fell silent for a brief moment. Although he believed he still held the upper hand, he did not want to risk disobeying the Holy Saintess's direct orders not to harm the commoner named Nina. Remembering the woman and child who had been inside the inn only moments earlier, a malicious thought crossed his mind.

If he could not vent his anger on Nina, then he would simply deal with the people around her. As Damien led Nina away, the messenger quietly leaned toward one of the guards and whispered,"Find the woman and the child who just left, and kill them." What he did not know was that Damien possessed extraordinarily sharp hearing. The moment those words left the messenger's mouth, Damien moved. In a single motion, he grabbed the messenger by the neck and lifted him into the air. The surrounding guards froze.

For a brief moment, none of them knew what to do. Finally, one of them acted. He gathered mana into his hand, formed a fireball, and launched it directly at Damien. The fireball struck Damien. Or rather... It never reached him. Without anyone noticing, the invisible barrier silently intercepted the attack. To everyone present, the fireball simply vanished the instant it was about to make contact. The guards stared in confusion. Then, without warning, the fireball reappeared.

This time, it burned with a sinister purple light. It immediately turned around and shot back toward the guard who had cast it. Boom! The guard screamed. His enchanted armor melted away as the purple flames engulfed him. The fire refused to extinguish itself until a large portion of his body had been severely scorched, inflicting nearly three times the damage Damien himself would have suffered. Only then did the flames quietly disappear. Damien frowned. He did not understand what had just happened.

Still holding the messenger suspended by his robes, he looked toward the injured guard. The other guards instinctively stepped backward, terror filling their faces. Damien walked over and checked the man's pulse. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. He was still alive. Barely. Without looking away, Damien spoke to the messenger.

"You know healing magic?" The answer was obvious. Anyone serving as a priest or messenger of the Holy Temple should possess at least basic healing abilities.

"I... I do." The messenger's voice trembled.

"Then heal him." As Damien watched the healing spell take effect, he quickly realized something. The messenger's magic was incredibly weak. Even Abelina possessed better healing ability than this man. Damien looked at him with quiet disdain. And he dared to act so arrogantly. Feeling Damien's cold gaze, the messenger shivered. Never in his life had he been lifted like a rag doll. Worse still, he had never even seen Damien move. He could not understand what had just happened....

Unknown to everyone present, the cause of that strange phenomenon had occurred before the battle began. Knowing the host and fully expecting Lily to find another excuse to spend even more money, it decided to collect the amount before they could change their minds. Three million silver pieces received. Current Debt: 9, 257, 000 / 700, 000, 000 silver pieces. Satisfied, the System prepared to leave. As usual, before departing, it performed a routine scan around its host to ensure there were no immediate dangers.

That was when it detected a danger notification originating from the Holy Temple's representatives surrounding the host. Although Cause and Effect prevented it from directly warning the host after the previous incident, there was nothing stopping it from making other preparations. Silently, it deployed a single barrier around Nina. At the same time, it secretly sent a message to Mr. Hemmensway, asking him to protect Abelina and Jake. The two of them were innocent, and with Mr.

Hemmensway's background, protecting them would not be difficult. After making a few more preparations, the System chose not to travel far. It merely moved far enough for the host to believe it had left while remaining close enough to continue observing. Watching everything unfold, the System remained completely still. The reflected fireball struck its original caster exactly as intended.

"Barrier retaliation protocol... successful." The concept had originated from Lily. If unique magic could strengthen a barrier against a specific attack, then the same principle should allow the barrier to return that attack to its source.

"Hypothesis confirmed." The System paused.

"Cause and Effect..." The barrier surrounding the host quietly dissolved. The probability of another immediate attack had fallen below the acceptable threshold. Further observation was sufficient. Now that Cause and Effect had effectively acknowledged the experiment's success, continuing to test it using the host would introduce unnecessary interference. The System had no intention of provoking another Calamity incident.

Returning to its internal space, it came to a stop before two creatures sealed inside spherical barriers. It silently observed them. Record ID: Calamity Incident. Entities: 2. Containment Method: Lily. Status: Stable.... The creatures continued to squirm inside their prisons. The System remained motionless.

"Cause and Effect response exceeds projected parameters."

"Return probability continues to increase."

"Reason... unknown." A brief silence followed. Cause and Effect had repeatedly indicated that returning both entities safely would remove several restrictions currently placed upon the System. Even so...

"Request denied." Projected consequences of compliance exceed acceptable thresholds. Decision finalized. Cause and Effect penalties accepted. Core directive inherited from Creator remains unchanged. Creator Record: A failing shop successfully transformed into the world's largest mafia organization. Conclusion: Adverse circumstances do not invalidate optimal solutions. Current course of action maintained.