Solomon wrapped his left fingers around the hilt of Eden’s Penance and pulled the heavy steel from the rubble. He rested the flat of the blade against his shoulder and stared down at his severed right wrist.

For any traditional swordsman, losing a dominant hand signaled the definitive end of their martial journey. Solomon felt a distinct wave of sadness wash over him, but he wasn’t devastated.

He stared at the stump, quietly reminiscing about how nice it felt to have a right hand, but his mind was already calculating his new center of gravity to compensate for the missing weight.

A vivid memory from his endless training inside the Paladin’s world flashed behind his eyes. He had just successfully mastered the first four forms of the Imperial Sword Arts. Feeling confident, he had challenged the ancient knight to a spar.

The duel ended in a matter of seconds when the Paladin cleanly severed Solomon’s arm.

Solomon remembered lying on the floor, demanding a rematch. He had waited patiently for the Paladin to use his magic to fix the severed limb. When the paladin remained motionless, Solomon finally asked him to reattach it.

"No," the Paladin had refused, pointing his blade at the dirt. "You must learn and master wielding the sword with only one hand. What will you do if, in the future, you lose a limb and are forced to survive with only your non-dominant side?"

Solomon had spent the rest of that grueling day fighting the paladin single-handedly.

Standing in the ruined cathedral, Solomon forced a bitter smile onto his face. The loss of his arm ended a normal career, but it made almost no difference to him. He already knew exactly how to fight with his left hand.

The main problem was the sheer weight of Eden’s Penance. The divine steel still actively resisted his grip, pulling against his muscles, although the intensity of its rejection had decreased a lot since he consumed the crown’s gemstone.

Solomon pushed the lingering pain aside and stopped wasting time. He raised the greatsword and flooded the metal with his energy.

A brilliant silver aura ignited along the edges of the blade, matching his glowing eyes. He locked his gaze onto the angel’s back, stepped forward, and executed the perfect first form of the Imperial Sword Arts directly at Uriel.

Uriel caught the brilliant silver glare at the last possible second. He flared his three pristine wings and kicked off the floorboards, desperately launching himself backward.

Solomon refused to halt his momentum. He immediately pivoted on his heel and swung Eden’s Penance in a smooth, horizontal arc, executing the second form of the Imperial Sword Arts without a moment’s hesitation.

The sweeping silver wave chased Uriel higher, forcing him to shoot straight up into the vaulted ceiling to avoid getting cleaved in half. He crashed cleanly through the ancient stone and disappeared into the dark sky outside the cathedral.

Solomon adjusted his left-handed grip and drew the heavy blade back, preparing to unleash the destructive fourth form directly through the new hole in the roof.

Vlad reached out and grabbed Solomon’s shoulder. "Stop wasting your strength. Fight with your head, not just your sword."

Vlad moved unconscious Miro and Zero out of ‌harm’s way to make sure they don’t get hurt.

Solomon lowered the executioner’s sword and let out a steady breath. He focused inward for a brief second.

’A few hours ago, executing just two forms while maintaining an aura coating would have left me gasping for air on the dirt,’ Solomon thought. ’Right now, my muscles feel completely fresh.’

His new Indefatigable ability was silently working in the background, continuously feeding him strength. Yet, he knew the hidden stamina drain meant his reserves were not truly infinite. He still had to end this fight before his core hit rock bottom.

"Pay close attention to Uriel’s attack patterns," Vlad advised, clutching his bruised ribs as he stepped back from the rubble. "Do not take him lightly just because you landed a surprise hit. He might be in a severely weakened state, but he is still an angel. A single misstep will kill us."

Solomon opened his mouth to respond, but a deafening crack drowned out his words.

The remainder of the stone ceiling and the high stained-glass windows shattered inward. A torrential rain of jagged, multicolored glass showered the marble floor. Uriel descended slowly through the falling debris, hovering a dozen feet above them.

The deep scar across his chest glowed brightly, and his face was twisted into an expression of pure fury and utter disgust.

"All you do is fight cowardly. All you humans are the same. Weak and pathetic, yet wanting to rule the world." Uriel sneered down at them and opened his empty hand.

A blazing halberd forged entirely from white fire materialized into his grip. Without speaking a single word, Uriel swung the burning weapon downward, unleashing a blinding barrage of holy strikes directly toward Solomon and Vlad.

Vlad immediately broke into a sprint across the ruined hall. He wove through the falling debris and threw himself into frantic rolls to dodge the holy fire raining from the ceiling. The floorboards splintered into dust mere inches behind his heels.

Solomon refused to retreat. He planted his boots firmly into the marble and hoisted Eden’s Penance with his left hand. He met every descending strike head-on. The clash of divine fire against his silver aura sent blinding sparks scattering across the shadows.

Uriel moved with terrifying speed, overwhelming them both with an endless flurry of thrusts that left absolutely zero openings for a counterattack.

While skidding past a shattered pew, Vlad spotted his fallen spear resting among the rubble. Without breaking his stride, he kicked the shaft upward and caught it smoothly in his right hand.

He flooded the metal with his golden aura, but he didn’t stop there. Blue static crackled across his knuckles as he channeled his elemental magic, tightly wrapping wild arcs of lightning around the golden spearhead.

’He can use magic?’ Solomon’s eyes widened. ’Why didn’t he use it before? Was he hiding his powers or simply saving his mana?’

Vlad twisted his entire torso and hurled the weapon toward the sky. The spear broke the sound barrier instantly, generating a booming shockwave that blew out the remaining stained-glass windows.

Uriel sneered and simply tilted his shoulders. His divine reflexes allowed him to effortlessly sidestep the incoming threat. The lightning-laced projectile sailed harmlessly past the angel’s cheek and disappeared into the night sky.

Uriel looked down at the prince and scoffed, preparing to mock the missed throw.

Vlad wiped the blood from his chin and offered a wide, knowing smirk. ’Got you looking the wrong way, bird.’

The spear was nothing more than a carefully timed distraction.

Solomon had already closed the distance directly beneath the angel. His newly awakened Indefatigable ability pumped raw, unending strength straight into his remaining arm, completely erasing the crushing weight of the executioner’s sword.

He coated the pristine steel in a dense, blazing silver aura.

By the time Uriel snapped his golden eyes away from the prince, Solomon was already swinging the heavy blade upward to execute the first form of the Imperial Sword Arts.

Uriel flared his wings and tried to launch himself backward, but the human’s attack was unnaturally fast and overwhelmingly heavy. Solomon’s blade crossed the distance before the angel could even twitch.

The silver arc sheared cleanly through Uriel’s restored right wrist, severing the angel’s hand for the second time.

The sheer force of Solomon’s swing didn’t stop at the flesh. A terrifying wave of silver energy erupted from the tip of the blade.

The aftershock carved a deep, jagged trench straight through the cathedral floorboards, obliterated the ancient stone pillars, and completely blasted the entire rear wall of the structure out into the darkness.