"I can move again...! The control is gone!!"
"It's Ryuga! Ryuga defeated Hypno!!"
At that very moment, the students fighting across the academy grounds raised shouts of joy as they realized their freedom of movement had been abruptly restored.
Since they had sensed Ryuga heading into the basement to track Hypno’s magic power, they immediately understood that the hypnosis had been broken by his victory. As the students celebrated, Yugo kept his eyes locked on Dogma.
"Dogma! Burn and Hypno are both finished! You’re all alone now!!"
"The students you were using as hostages and fodder have been liberated!" he continued. "You have no path to victory left!!"
The threat of their hypnotized comrades—an obstacle that had cost Yugo and his allies so much effort—was finally gone. Dogma’s situation had turned catastrophic. Not only had her military strength plummeted, but the students she had been manipulating had effectively switched sides. Her losses were, in every practical sense, doubled.
Surrounded and isolated following the defeat of her fellow conspirators, Dogma seemed cornered. But then, an even heavier pressure descended upon the area.
"Wh-What is this...? A massive number of presences are approaching...!"
Yugo and his friends remained vigilant, surrounding Dogma even as they glanced behind them toward the academy gates. They braced themselves, fearing reinforcements for Dogma’s side had arrived, but their expressions shifted to shock when they saw the figures leading the soldiers into the courtyard.
"You rebels who plot to subvert the state, your ambitions end here!"
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Yugo! I've brought reinforcements!"
"Captain Shepherd?! And... Dad!?"
Leading the battalion of elite, well-drilled troops were Shepherd, the Security Captain of Wind Island, and Eugene, the Head of the House of Clay. Before the stunned students, the officer in command of the unit raised his voice in a booming proclamation.
"Hear me! The woman claiming to be a member of the Central Church is an impostor with no ties to the faith! She used foul sorcery to bewilder the Church’s officials and fabricate her status! She has operated under these lies to strike at our nation from the shadows!!"
Reports of Dogma’s treachery had evidently reached the capital. The authorities had sensed an anomaly and had been investigating the Central Church. With Eugene moving the House of Clay into action and Shepherd providing precise intelligence, they had finally uncovered the truth. Dogma had been officially branded an enemy of the state, and the Regular Army had been dispatched to subjugate her.
"You are completely surrounded! Surrender at once and reveal your objectives and your accomplices!!"
For Dogma, who was already in a desperate position, this should have been the final blow. Facing the students, the Security Force, the local residents, and now a full battalion of the Regular Army, she was thoroughly checkmated.
However, Dogma showed no sign of panic.
She stood with her head bowed, her shoulders trembling in a low, eerie rhythm. Yugo felt a surge of dread at the sight and tightened his stance. Suddenly, her voice rang out.
"Heh... hehe... hahahaha...! To be pushed into such a corner... to find that my allies were such useless, incompetent fools... Oh, truly... poor, pitiable me...!!"
"What...? What is this magic power!?"
It wasn't just Yugo; everyone present felt a chill run down their spine. It wasn't the sheer quantity of the magic power that terrified them—it was the quality. It was indescribably, suffocatingly pitch-black. If one had to put a name to the foul atmosphere emanating from her body, only one word fit: evil.
As Yugo and the others watched in horror, Dogma slowly raised her face. Her expression was one of pure, ecstatic delirium.
"Poor, pathetic me," she whispered. "But God would never truly abandon me. After all... I am the Child of God!!"
"What—!?"
As the words left her lips, a black sludge began to seep from the ground beneath her feet. It was as if darkness itself had undergone liquefaction, spreading outward like a vile, undulating mire. From within that wicked mud, humanoid figures began to crawl out.
"What on earth are these things...? Is this Dogma's true ability!?"
They didn't stop at ten or twenty. From the expanding swamp, more than a hundred of the jet-black entities emerged. Having summoned these servants—a Shadow Army—Dogma wore a cruel, twisted smile. She slowly raised her hand and whispered in a voice that sounded almost like a song.
"Now, let us begin...! The Divine Purge of this world...!!"