Ininise needed no further signal. Uriel had already made his decision—before they suffered any more damage, they had to strike first.

The spear pierced Vladimir’s defenseless flesh.

Uriel, meanwhile, was already close to Anastasia. Even if he was slow, mages fortunately were too.

Anastasia looked at Uriel with an expression of shock. She tried to escape by stepping backward, but it was already too late. Uriel’s hammer sank into Anastasia’s chest, blood bursting out as the sound of cracking bones echoed throughout the tower. The impact landed cleanly. Uriel hoped it would be fatal.

Anastasia’s body was sent flying into one of the walls like a rag doll. Now, her hair wasn’t the only thing that was red.

Ininise, however, was not as lucky. After her initial surprise attack, Vladimir managed to recover, which was impressive for a man whose stomach had been torn open, his intestines nearly spilling out if not for the hand holding them in place.

His expression turned feral.

Uriel had been expecting an attack from this corrupted Miguel, but to his surprise, the man was instead silently enjoying the scene.

"Not bad, Scion of Soliel. If you had hesitated any longer, that would’ve meant your death. But I am curious... how did you figure it out?"

Uriel had no intention of speaking with this thing.

He raised his hammer and charged forward while Ininise pursued Vladimir.

He didn’t want to give his opponent any chance to make another move.

Far from concerned, Miguel looked entertained.

"HAHAHA, you truly do resemble her."

Miguel’s hand dug into his own flesh near his ribs. A sickening crack echoed out, and when he pulled his hand back, one of his ribs rested in his grasp.

The strange thing was that almost no blood fell, as if the situation hadn’t caused him any harm at all. Suddenly, the rib transformed into a bone-white scythe.

"Today I’ll kill two Scions of Soliel. What a glorious day!"

Miguel swung the scythe as though it were an extension of his own body.

Uriel, meanwhile, raised his hammer fiercely, pouring all his strength and energy into the strike.

The hammer and scythe collided, but Miguel redirected Uriel’s blow to the side, trying to render the attack useless.

Uriel, however, did not stop. Instead, he forced even more power into the swing. The hammer crashed into the floor with overwhelming force, shattering it apart. The attack had been deflected, but the ground beneath Miguel collapsed, causing him to stumble briefly.

Uriel could not swing the hammer again fast enough, so instead he slammed into Miguel with his own body, knocking him off balance once more.

Now he finally had enough time to use his hammer again. Uriel dragged it back, ready to unleash another full-powered strike, but just before he could—

A violent impact slammed into his side, making him stagger instantly. In a single moment, the entire situation changed.

Uriel fell, but rose just as quickly. The icy sensation spreading through his side was a cruel warning.

Someone had shot him from afar.

He didn’t know who... but if his theory was correct, then it had to be the red-haired man.

Even through the pain, Uriel stood once again.

Miguel came rushing toward him, scythe raised high.

"Excellent, Scion of Soliel! Once I kill you, I’ll devour your soul and turn you into a lovely zombie!"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the chamber.

Ininise pursued Vladimir.

The situation was bad. She possessed the ability to read minds, which was why certain thoughts from Anastasia and Vladimir had seemed strange to her—forced, almost artificial.

She had never encountered something like this before, but now she understood. At least in Vladimir’s case, what he had done was avoid thinking about the betrayal they were about to commit by filling his head with meaningless thoughts.

She should have noticed sooner.

However, she had lowered her guard after reading Anastasia’s mind...

That girl was not normal.

When Ininise read her thoughts, she encountered a chorus of thousands of voices speaking in unison, as though her mind were a world unto itself. So much so that Ininise could no longer tell where the real Anastasia began and where the false one ended.

But that didn’t stop her.

And she didn’t care.

Today, they would die.

She pursued them in her mage armor. Unfortunately, she had lost the magical tricks her other self possessed. Instead, she could use magic, but her initial ability was the Mage Battle Armor itself.

A defensive ability.

Which meant she lacked the means to properly pursue Vladimir.

Even so, she did not stop. She raised her spear once more and hurled it, aiming for the traitor’s body.

But it wasn’t that easy.

Vladimir dodged effortlessly.

At least one of them had died—that was hopeful. But when she read Anastasia’s mind again to confirm it, the chorus of voices was still there.

She wasn’t dead.

And the moment Ininise realized this, Anastasia’s body rose from the floor. Her bones cracked as they snapped back into place, her ruptured organs reforming themselves. The demonic hand attached to her filtered negative energy into healing capabilities, regenerating the damage Anastasia had suffered.

"Comrade Uriel, I thought we were friends! How could you hit me like that? Betrayal! Betrayal, that’s what this is! HAHAHAHA!"

Anastasia burst into laughter at something only she understood.

"My, so Comrade Uriel is busy dealing with death? What a shame... in the end, Vladimir and I got the demon. And here I was wondering what it would feel like to stir Comrade Uriel’s insides around with my own hands."

Her face flushed red as she imagined it. It was obvious the thought excited her deeply.

"But presenting him with this demon’s severed head should earn me some wonderful reactions, don’t you think, Vladimir?"

Vladimir slowly came to a stop and removed his hand from his stomach.

To Ininise’s horror, the wounds had already closed. The only thing left from her earlier attack was a hole in his clothes and blood staining his skin.

Ininise narrowed her eyes.

The situation was bad for her.

But she was not a coward like the other one.

If necessary, she would fight to the death here for the glory of the Eleventh Finger.