Clearly holy water hit the black magic circle.
However, there was no significant change. Only a few drops of holy water that had been flying in the air fell to the ground with a thud.
However, it was effective in making Gabriel remember Asha's existence and become angry.
"Countess Pervaz…! To the end…!"
He gritted his teeth and shot magic at Asha.
"Ugh!"
This time, she couldn't avoid it.
Asha flew through the air and rolled on the ground.
'Damn, is that level of holy water not enough?'
Holding her shoulder, which had hit the ground first, Asha thought that something must be seriously wrong with her body. The dark magic that Gabriel had unleashed while fighting Carlyle was enormous.
"Asha! Asha!"
She heard Carlyle's voice calling her.
'It really sucks to close my eyes leaving someone calling my name.'
It was the same when she fell down leaving Decker behind, but it was even more disappointing when that someone was Carlyle.
However, since she had been hit head-on with magic, she would probably fall into darkness again this time.
But something was strange.
'Huh?'
Even though the shock of being hit by magic and hitting the ground had subsided, her mind was clear.
Moreover, her shoulder, which had hit the ground, was only a little sore, and the pain in the place where she had been hit directly by the magic wasn't that great either.
As soon as Asha realized this fact, she unconsciously checked Gabriel first. He also had a bewildered expression on his face, as if he had realized that something was strange.
"Your Highness! The magic circle has weakened!"
That was Asha's instinctive realization, having grown up on the battlefield. That the enemy had weakened, that now was the opportunity.
As soon as Carlyle confirmed that Asha was safe, he began to rush towards Gabriel.
"This crazy bastard!"
Unprincely curses still erupted from his mouth. He felt like he had just been to the gates of hell and back, thinking that he had lost Asha.
Gabriel gathered his strength and defended himself, but he was only barely avoiding fatal injuries. The figure that had been overwhelming Carlyle until just now was nowhere to be seen.
"Ugh, gasp, Oh Libato of balance and harmony, give me the strength to defeat that arrogant demon!"
As Gabriel wiped the blood from his mouth and began to pray to God, Carlyle threw his sword to the ground and strode forward in front of him.
"I've always wondered why I was born with the blessing of Aguiles, why I, who only have a modicum of faith, have the power of the divine."
He clenched his fist.
"It seems that God has sent me to defeat you, the devil on earth."
Then he punched Gabriel in the face.
With a thud, Gabriel collapsed limply. It was a completely different outcome from before, when he was surrounded by strong black magic.
In the silent room of the black magic circle, only Carlyle's rough breathing echoed through the air.
"Is he… dead?"
When Asha asked cautiously, Carlyle seemed to come to his senses and rushed to Asha.
"Are you okay? You were hit by that bastard's magic earlier. Let me see."
"That's not important right now."
"It is important! How many times do I have to tell you to be careful with your life…!"
As Carlyle was about to let out a worried tirade, Asha raised her hand and pointed to the void.
"It's not… gone yet."
Where she pointed, the black magic circle, which had greatly diminished in its black aura, was slowly rotating.
"The elders of the territory said that a magician who draws a magic circle in the castle must have a place where he or she gets his or her magic power, whether it's a magic stone or something else."
"Indeed, even at first glance, it seems to be using that magic circle. But what did you do when you went up to the altar earlier?"
Carlyle asked, recalling that heart-stopping moment.
"I sprinkled holy water on the magic circle. The magic circle in the Pervaz Castle stopped when I sprinkled holy water on it, so I thought this one might be similar."
"Where did you get the holy water?"
"The priests carry holy water among their belongings. And our High Priest Gabriel had it neatly placed on his open coat."
At those words, Carlyle stared blankly at Asha with an incredulous expression, then burst out laughing.
"Hahaha! That human really has a strong faith. Judging by the fact that he always carried an object that is the opposite of his magic circle."
Anyway, the important thing now was to destroy the black magic circle before Gabriel came to his senses.
However, the holy water had already been used up, and the other priestly supplies had long since been turned to dust by Gabriel's magic.
"What do we do? Should we tie him up and take him away? If we drag him to a nearby temple and have the holy knights guard him…!"
"That human's most fearsome weapon is not black magic, but his angelic appearance and his silver tongue. He will surely escape from the temple or take control of it within a day."
Carlyle sighed and examined the magic circle closely.
Because he was born with divine power, he had learned many things in the temple when he was young, including ancient languages and magic circles.
It had been a long time ago, and he had not been a very exemplary student, so he did not remember everything he had learned then, but he could certainly tell that the magic circle was evil to the core.
"This is a magic circle that feeds on human life force. It's hard to imagine how many people he sacrificed to become this strong."
At those words, Asha recalled Gabriel's passing remark.
[...Kill as much as you like, regardless of ally or enemy. The more you kill, the stronger you will feel. The life force you take will be the source of your strength.]
If that meant she could fatten the magic circle with the lives she killed, then a part of her memory that had been a blank puzzle until now was filled in.
Asha's tightly clenched fist trembled.
"The battle with the Igram tribe... Do you remember?"
"Of course I remember. Which one?"
"When they were chanting something strange and charging at us."
Suddenly, Carlyle remembered that time as well.
The way the words they spoke reminded him of the ancient language.
"Could it be that... the lives of those they killed were used to feed that magic circle?"
"Well, I don't know for sure, but it's possible."
Asha gritted her teeth.
"I think I know what the war with the Igram tribe, supported by the Empress, was for."
She felt like her head was going to explode with anger at the thought that the lives of the living Pervaz warriors had been used as fuel to feed that evil magic circle.
She wanted to destroy that magic circle by any means necessary, but there was no way to do it right now.
Asha took a deep breath and tried to calm down.
"For now, let's capture the High Priest and go out and secure as much holy water as possible...."
While she was making her own plans, Carlyle, who had been staring at the magic circle in silence, walked up to the altar and stood there.
"Your Highness...?"
"I don't know if this will be of much help, but... I have to try it anyway."
"Yes? What are you going to do?"
"I'll control my strength, but if I collapse, kill Gabriel before he comes to his senses with my sword. There's no other way."
As Asha was confused by the repeated expressions "if I collapse" and "there's no other way," Carlyle put his hand on the altar, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes.
'Let me try to push in my divine power, just like I did when I removed the magic from Asha's body. The concept is the same for removing magic.'
He hoped that this method would weaken the magic circle even a little bit, and he pressed his palm against the altar and slowly pushed in his divine power.
It was easy to imbue his sword with divine power, but it was not easy to push in divine power against the resistance of the black magic.
'Still, it's a good thing I practiced removing magic from Asha's body. It's much easier than it was then.'
It was ironic.
At the time when he performed the 'removal of magic' on Asha, which he had never used in his life, it was only painful because of the fact that Asha was on the brink of death.
But now that things had come to this, he wondered if that was also a rehearsal that God had given him in advance. Of course, that was something to think about after he had at least partially destroyed this magic circle.
"Ashtaht Hatara, loombiona Sherba...."
He continuously recited the magic removal spell he had learned in the temple as a child.
Since he hated going to the temple, he couldn't have enjoyed the divine power classes he took there.
That's why he often skipped class or daydreamed during class. However, the reason he was reciting the magic removal spell was because of his maternal grandfather.
On the night he returned from visiting a sorcerer at a relative's house, his maternal grandfather called Carlyle.
[You saw the sorcerer who came to Count Lupus today, right?]
[Yes.]
[There are unidentified magics running rampant. The Emperor's enemies could use such magic to harm him.]
[Is that so?]
To his indifferent answer, his maternal grandfather sternly instructed him.
[I know you are negligent in your temple education. However, you must learn how to protect your body. Absolutely!]
That's why he started reciting the magic removal spell, which was one of the ways to protect his body. So much so that he could recite it flawlessly even after nearly 20 years.
'I thought he was just a nagging old man, but he might have been a man who saw the future.'
Carlyle continued to pour out his sacred power, feeling his insides become empty.
Just as his forehead started to sweat and he felt dizzy, Asha called him.
"Your Highness! The magic circle has disappeared! You can stop now!"
At that sound, Carlyle opened his eyes wide.
"Really?"
"Yes! Look up!"
It was true. Where the magic circle had been floating, there was nothing but a faint mist-like thing.
"How did you do it?"
Asha asked with a look of joy and confusion.