"Guh... guuuu...!"
Dogma groaned, clutching her face as thick, crimson blood dripped steadily from her nose.
Marcos was initially startled by the sudden appearance of the trio, but as the situation dawned on him, a grin spread across his face and he shouted.
"Yugo... you did it! You rescued Fee and dragged Dogma out into the open!"
"We did it! She’s out of options now!"
"Tch...!"
Dogma clicked her tongue and tried to retreat into the black sludge once more, but her path was cut off by arrows fired by Setsuna.
As the wind arrows burst just inches away, Dogma looked up to find not only Setsuna but the entire group fixing her with glares filled with the unshakable resolve to never let her escape.
"Don't think you can run. Every one of us has a debt to settle with you."
Setsuna spoke quietly, her bow drawn and her sharp gaze locked on Dogma. The others followed suit, leveling their magic items and preparing to strike at a moment's notice.
"This is checkmate. Once you're defeated, your meddlesome Shadow Army will vanish with you. It ends now, Dogma!"
Marcos shouted, leveling the tip of his Grace Lance at her.
The hostages were gone, and her allies had all been neutralized. Everyone present believed she was truly out of moves... or so they thought.
"Hah... honestly, you people just refuse to play your parts to the very end. It’s truly infuriating... utterly loathsome!"
The group braced themselves as Dogma slowly picked herself up, her voice a low, venomous mutter.
As expected, there was no way she would surrender quietly. Yugo and the others glared at her, watching for the slightest shift in her posture, certain she was about to spring a final trap. Dogma looked up at them and spoke.
"Checkmate? What are you talking about? Did you really think I came to this place just to hide?"
"!"
Setsuna realized Dogma still had an ace up her sleeve. She immediately loosed a wind arrow, intending to finish her right then and there.
However, before the arrow could strike, a black silhouette materialized in front of Dogma, acting as a living shield to block the attack.
"She can still summon more soldiers?!"
"Everyone, fall back! I shall sweep them all away at once!"
Luring Yugo and the others into a confined space to overwhelm them with sheer numbers—everyone assumed that was Dogma’s plan.
Yugo and the others prepared to blow the gathered Shadow Army away before they could be swamped, but then something startling caught their eyes.
"Wh-what is this?! This light!"
"He... hehehe...! Ahahahaha!"
A reddish-black light began to pulse around Dogma. A moment later, a giant magic circle manifested on the floor of the Cathedral with her at its center.
Yugo realized the reddish-black radiance was emanating from the circle itself. When he turned his gaze toward her as she laughed madly once more, Dogma wiped the blood from her face and growled.
"I’m glad I took this skill just in case...! To think you’ve backed me into a corner where I’m actually forced to use it... it irritates me to my core. But fine, so be it."
"Hey, what’s happening?! How many more soldiers is she going to summon?!"
The sludge that produced the Shadow Soldiers merged with the glowing reddish-black magic circle.
Anhel was bewildered by Dogma’s actions as soldiers emerged one after another, but Yui and Raiha realized it was the exact opposite of a summoning.
"No, that’s not it!"
"She's offering them! She's sacrificing the souls of the Shadow Soldiers to that magic circle!"
"What?!"
Yugo and the others were struck with horror at the cries of Yui, who could see the color of souls, and Raiha, whose expertise with shikigami gave her deep insight into such rituals.
Indeed, while Dogma’s soldiers were appearing in rapid succession, not a single one stepped outside the bounds of the magic circle.
They seemed to sink back into the sludge before they could even move—only now did the group realize the soldiers were being absorbed directly into the circle as fuel.
Remembering that the Shadow Army was composed of the bound souls of people Dogma had murdered in the past, Yugo growled, gritting his teeth in fury.
"Sacrifices?! Just how many lives do you have to trample before you're satisfied?!"
"He... hehehe...! I actually intended to offer up your brother’s soul as well, you know? You should be grateful it didn't come to that."
"Dogma, you bitch!"
This magic circle had likely been intended as the ultimate tool to crush him from the start.
Yugo shouted at Dogma’s provocations and the sheer malice she showed in treating human souls like tattered rags, but her final trump card was only just beginning to reveal its true, terrifying power.