The two weapons collided, and with a brilliant flash, a thunderous explosion echoed throughout the underground temple as if a bomb had gone off.

    The subterranean environment amplified the sound into a reverberating echo, while the flash quickly dissipated.

    Despite the enormous forces at play, both individuals stood their ground confidently as if nothing had happened.

    “Ugh...”

    Correction: Clark, with his axe resting casually on his shoulder, appeared composed, while Kate’s expression betrayed her discomfort.

    Her beautiful face twisted in agony, as if struggling to endure the pain.

    Indeed, the crimson blood dripping steadily from her hands, which gripped the mace, painted a vivid picture of her suffering, staining the ground beneath.

    Although it was merely a clash of weapons, her palms had been completely torn.

    Throbbing pain shot through her hands, and even her wrists were in a poor state.

    Fortunately, thanks to her physical enhancements, the worst-case scenario—broken bones—was narrowly avoided.

    Still, the pain was excruciating, and if the impact had been slightly stronger, her bones might have fractured.

    As she hurriedly used divine power to heal her injuries, Kate kept her gaze fixed ahead.

    Clark remained still, showing no intention of attacking.

    ‘His strength...’

    Kate, who had fought countless battles during her tenure as a Grand Inquisitor, was no stranger to fierce combat.

    Before confronting demon worshipers, she had subdued heretics and honed her strength through those experiences.

    Yet, it was virtually the first time she felt utterly overpowered by sheer “strength.”

    In a straightforward clash, the skeleton emerged unscathed, while she bore the brunt of the damage.

    Divine power, like mana, could be used to enhance the body or imbue weapons.

    Thus, the amount of divine power directly influenced one’s strength.

    Moreover, as someone blessed by Luminous, Kate’s divine power was unparalleled in the present day.

    Her ability to defeat countless heretics and demon worshipers, as well as powerful adversaries, stemmed from her overwhelming divine power.

    [It’s not good to rely solely on your god, young one.]

    Clark, as if piercing through Kate’s confusion, offered a bitter piece of advice.

    Her power, namely her divine energy, was indeed exceptional to an unparalleled degree.

    Even someone like Clark, who had survived countless battles, acknowledged it.

    However, her dependence on power had left her sorely lacking in “technique.”

    It was a glaring vulnerability, particularly fitting for a fanatic—someone who, due to blind faith in their god, failed to reflect on themselves and instead drove themselves to ruin. R?a?No??B?S?

    “Silence!”

    Overcome with anger at Clark’s unsolicited advice, Kate shouted loudly.

    Though she had been overpowered in strength, she had not yet been defeated.

    Besides, as long as she had even a second to spare and her divine power remained, she could heal herself at any moment.

    As she moved her mace-wielding hand, Clark, seemingly expecting this, gripped his axe.

    Clang!

    Kate swung her mace, engulfed in golden flames, but Clark’s axe handle effortlessly blocked the attack.

    Using all his strength, Clark pushed the axe forward, forcing Kate to retreat, and quickly moved his legs.

    In an instant, Clark disappeared from Kate’s sight. Despite his large and heavy frame, his swift and nimble movements defied expectations.

    Even so, Kate remained unfazed by his sudden disappearance.

    Unless he teleported, any physical movement would naturally stir the air, making his location traceable.

    Boom!

    “Ugh!”

    Yet, it seemed even that realization came too late.

    By the time Kate turned her gaze, Clark had already acted.

    As he had done when subduing the initial investigation team, Clark stomped hard, creating a minor shockwave.

    Debris, including fragments of stone, flew toward Kate’s face, disrupting her vision, while the ground shook, throwing her off balance.

    While forming a protective barrier with divine power to shield her face, Kate noticed Clark retreating slightly, gripping his axe’s handle with one hand.

    Utilizing his strength and momentum, he swung the axe powerfully.

    “.....!”

    Kate quickly leaped backward to avoid the massive axe blade descending toward her.

    Even with a barrier, she knew it would not be enough.

    The earlier clash had already shown her that a contest of strength against Clark was futile.

    Crash!

    Clark’s axe struck the spot where Kate had just been, embedding more than half its blade into the ground.

    The impact sent debris flying in all directions, and the entire cavern trembled as if an earthquake had struck.

    The thought of taking such a blow head-on was horrifying.

    Catching her breath, Kate tried to devise a strategy to confront the skeleton before her.

    A direct battle of strength was out of the question, and her divine power seemed ineffective.

    She would have to rely solely on physical skill and brute force to take him down.

    [Hmm.]

    Meanwhile, Clark pulled his axe from the ground and fell into brief contemplation.

    As expected, his strength was far from what it used to be.

    Being resurrected as a skeleton, he could still feel sensations through his five senses and wield mana similar to what he had in life.

    However, lacking even a single muscle due to his skeletal form, he could not exert the same level of power he once had.

    Whether it was dodging, rolling on the ground, or swinging with momentum, nothing fully satisfied Clark in his current state.

    ‘This can’t be helped.’

    Even so, he had more than enough strength to subdue the naive fanatic before him.

    After recovering his axe, Clark turned his gaze back to Kate.

    Her beauty was undeniable, but what caught his attention more was how much she resembled someone else.

    [Hey, what’s your name?]

    “What?”

    [I asked for your name.]

    Kate, puzzled by the sudden question, quickly composed herself and replied coldly.

    “I have no name to offer a defiler of divine order.”

    [Ha.]

    Clark exhaled a hollow laugh at her fanatical response and shook his head.

    Fanatics like her were exhausting to deal with, but there was one surefire way to get through to them: overpower them completely.

    While killing them might be the simplest solution, it was far from ideal in this case.

    After all, even if they died, they would simply repent to their god, lamenting their inadequacies, leaving a bad aftertaste.

    [Ellie, at least, was reasonable... but I guess there’s no other way.]

    Absentmindedly stroking his skull—or rather, his head—Clark muttered as he fixed his gaze on Kate, who was still brimming with resolve.

    Earlier, she had said he must prove that he was not evil.

    For someone like Clark, who had lived a life of endless battles, the only way to prove anything was through combat.

    Persuasion and eloquent arguments were skills he sorely lacked.

    Taat!

    The moment that thought crossed his mind, Clark leaped high into the air.

    Whether it was due to his skeletal form or something inherent in his nature, his movements were unnervingly light.

    Kate quickly followed his ascent with her eyes.

    She could not afford to lose sight of him, even for a second, or she would risk missing his movements entirely.

    While airborne, Clark shifted his grip on the axe slightly, then hurled it like a boomerang.

    The sight of the massive axe spinning in an arc through the air might have seemed like a circus act to an observer.

    “Ugh...”

    As he waited, Kate furrowed her brows and let out a groan—a sign that she was regaining consciousness.

    Clark turned his gaze toward her.

    He watched as she grimaced a few more times before slowly opening her eyes, revealing irises that evoked the blue sky.

    After blinking a few times, her eyes fully opened.

    “...”

    Now awake, Kate silently stared at Clark, who was seated beside her.

    At first, she wondered who the skeleton was, but soon her memories returned with clarity—the rejection of her beliefs, and the sharp words that had stung her deeply.

    Strangely, she didn’t feel anger as before. Instead, her mind felt unusually clear.

    [Have you come to your senses?]

    Clark’s deep voice broke the silence.

    Kate attempted to rise but paused midway.

    The aftermath of the strike she unleashed before passing out left her entire body aching.

    Not only did her muscles throb with pain, but her palms were scraped again, and this time her wrist seemed broken.

    While she could heal herself with divine power, there was something she needed to confirm first.

    “Why...”

    [Why didn’t I kill you? Because, as you said, I’m not an evil being.]

    “...”

    Clark anticipated her question and answered before she could finish.

    Kate pressed her lips together, unsure how to respond.

    Clark was an enigma to her in many ways. It wasn’t just that divine power didn’t work on him—nothing about her seemed to affect him.

    There was no point in being stubborn anymore; the result would only be the same.

    After a moment’s thought, she remembered why she had come to this place in the first place.

    The oracle of Luminous—to bring back an important guest.

    Fighting Clark had been unnecessary.

    Still, there were unresolved questions, so she stood up.

    In the short time it took, her damaged hands and sore muscles were almost fully healed.

    “Haa...”

    [Do you have something to say?]

    “Yes.”

    Kate’s tone remained informal, her distrust evident even though Clark hadn’t killed her.

    She glared at him sharply as she asked her question, her voice filled with hostility.

    “The expedition told me your goal is to find Lord Isaac and Sir Hawk. Is that true?”

    [Yes.]

    “What’s your purpose? If you don’t answer truthfully, I’ll stop you even if it means my death.”

    She knew she couldn’t win against him, as the recent battle had shown. But there were things she had to do, regardless.

    Clark, unconcerned, shrugged and answered in his characteristic deep voice.

    [I’m going to meet my son and grandson. Do I need a reason for that?]

    “...What?”

    [I’m going to see my son and grandson. Normally, just my soul would suffice, but my son wanted to bury my body. This was the only way.]

    “...”

    Hearing his answer, Kate blinked in disbelief.

    If anyone else had heard, they would have dismissed it as nonsense.

    But she was here under a divine oracle to escort an important guest from the underground temple.

    That realization struck her like a hammer to the head.

    At the same time, she felt a chilling premonition that she had made a grave mistake.

    “W-wait. Hold on.”

    [Hmm?]

    “Excuse me, but your name... no, your full name, please...”

    Even as she asked, she prayed it wasn’t true. If it was, then she had committed an unforgivable sin.

    But mercilessly, Clark answered plainly.

    [Clark Michelle.]

    “Michelle...?”

    Hawk had a middle name, Duker, but Clark did not.

    That made sense since the middle name was granted to Hawk and Isaac later on.

    The absence of a middle name only lent more credibility to Clark’s identity.

    Kate felt dizzy, her mind spinning as her mouth opened and closed like a goldfish.

    Finally, she spoke softly.

    “Why...”

    [Hmm?]

    “Why... didn’t you tell me?”

    If he had told her, this situation could have been avoided. But she swallowed her words.

    Clark raised a bony brow as if to say, “What nonsense is this?”

    Though he was little more than a skeleton, the glowing light in his eye sockets conveyed his expression.

    [You never asked. You just barged in, claiming it was the will of the gods, and attacked.]

    “B-but the expedition...”

    [They didn’t believe it either. Honestly, I wouldn’t have believed it myself.

    A resurrected skeleton claiming to be the grandfather or father of a famous figure?

    Without an oracle, no one would believe that. So I stayed quiet.]

    “...”

    Though unintentional, Clark’s words felt like daggers stabbing Kate’s heart.

    The opportunity had been there. If she had gathered more information from the expedition, she might have learned Clark’s name.

    But she had ignored that chance, choosing instead to confront Clark directly—and even fought him.

    If she had taken a little more time to investigate, kept her faith in check, and stayed calm, this disaster could have been avoided.

    “...”

    It was a sin—a sin she could never forgive herself for.

    She had defied the oracle of Luminous and nearly harmed Isaac’s grandfather.

    Thankfully, Clark was far stronger than she was, or else...

    No, this was pure sin. She had wronged both Luminous and Isaac.

    “Ugh... ugh...”

    [Hmm? Uh...?]

    “Uwaaah...!”

    As the realization dawned on her, tears began streaming down Kate’s face. Clark, seeing her start crying, panicked.

    [Hey, hey. Why are you crying?]

    “I’m... sorry... so sorry...”

    [It’s fine, just don’t cry. Everyone makes mistakes.]

    Unfamiliar with the full context, Clark tried his best to console her.

    Though he had lived a rough life, he wasn’t indifferent to a woman’s tears and awkwardly patted her back.

    “Uwaaah!”

    It didn’t help much.