The walls crumbled and the formation collapsed.
Three paladins who were bravely trying to block the offensive in the front line instantly disappeared, turned to ash swept away by holy flames.
The ash dust, in stark contrast to the surrounding golden hue, looked even more desolate.
The scene made the paladins and priests feel a chill.
They had become stronger, now possessing a power that would make people look up to them wherever they went.
However, they could not accept the fact that they, in their current state, would die reduced to mere ash piles.
The disaster would not stop just because they could not accept it.
Martinez tried to swing his weapon imbued with holy flames once more. At that moment, Alpheos stepped forward.
-Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
He emptied all the shotgun shells, then pulled out another gun from his back.It was a white grenade launcher. With a thud, grenades were fired towards Martinez.
Ordinary explosives would not stop Martinez. He had survived being directly hit by a steam train.
However, what Alpheos used was not an ordinary grenade.
What was fired was a golden sphere, a capsule.
As the capsule burst open, condensed ether water appeared, and the inscribed magic was activated.
Explosive flames and cold, wind and rock fragments.
This alone was not enough to knock down Martinez, but it was sufficient to push him back a step.
"Everyone form ranks! Hold out as much as possible!"
Alpheos quickly distributed the personnel then he looked at the fastest paladin.
The paladin, understanding his role, nodded and disappeared beyond the opposite corridor.
He was going to call for reinforcements from the ground.
Martinez could only watch this scene.
"Is it okay to let them go like this?"
"Since we've come this far, we'll have to deal with everyone. It's just a bit expedited."
"That's true."
Osian and Martinez said nothing more.
Instead, without anyone going first, they simultaneously kicked off the ground and charged forward.
"They're coming! Priests, block them!"
"Give us your blessing!"
The priests activated the holy magic they had prepared in advance. And the paladins shot their guns beyond their shields.
With a flash of light, golden spears appeared in the air and fell.
A massive hammer of light dropped in the void, and bullets imbued with divine power covered the space.
However, this was not enough to stop Osian and Martinez.
It was the joint attack of the strongest knight and the paladin who could become the strongest.
"I'll block first."
"Yes."
Osian widely swung the nebula silk he had regenerated.
The snow-white cloak rippled like an aurora in the dawn sky and expanded.
No matter how much nebula silk it was, it could not block such an attack. However, if Martinez's support was added, the story would change.
Golden divine power settled on the snow-white nebula silk.
Just as when Osian had pierced through the paladins' attacks, the starlight mixed with gold was realized in an even stronger form.
Brilliant golden patterns etched on the snow-white cloak.
With just that, the external attacks disappeared as easily as if they had no strength at all.
The nebula silk and divine alchemy that Osian and Martinez collaborated on could not be pierced.
After blocking a wave of attacks, Osian was enveloped in a strange sensation.
'This is my first time.'
For Osian, the experience of fighting together by combining forces was entirely new.
Even when he had helped Balud and fought against the entire North Blinders, they had not handled each other's powers so closely.
It was the same when playing games.
The games he played were ultimately single-player open-world games.
While it was possible to invite other users to his world to defeat bosses together, Osian had never done that.
For him, fighting had always been a solo endeavor.
Therefore, fighting alongside Martinez now felt unfamiliar.
'The power of starlight and the power of divine alchemy. The two powers move in harmony as if becoming one.'
The two powers that would collide most violently when meeting as enemies now perfectly complemented each other's weaknesses when fighting together.
Power and power. A close, mutually complementary interaction of energies.
For Osian, this was providing a glimpse of a pathway to the next stage.
For a knight, the path was not limited to Starlight.
Of course, it was not limited to the Moonlight, nor would it be limited to the Sunlight he might use later.
Beyond that was another realm that did not exist in the game due to system limitations.
Just the thought that such a thing might exist made his heart swell with excitement.
"It's your turn."
Before the cloak could be withdrawn, Martinez, who had been waiting inside, burst out.
His small frame shot out like a bullet, crossing the golden field.
Unlike the armored Osian, Martinez was lightly dressed and small in stature, so just lowering his body and running through the golden field made him difficult to spot.
Therefore, the enemies momentarily lost sight of him, and by the time they discovered Martinez, he had already approached within arm's reach.
-Flash!
"This monster!"
The paladin pulled the shotgun's trigger.
Martinez naturally extended his left arm. The divine alchemy engraved on his left arm quickly formed a shield, but it was not enough to withstand the shotgun charged with holy magic.
The shield shattered, and beyond it, Martinez's arm was torn to shreds.
A look of triumph crossed the paladin's face before twisting into horror.
A golden thorn crown appeared above Martinez's head.
The torn arm of Martinez restored itself as if rewinding time.
The flawless, smooth arm grabbed the paladin's face.
Although the palm was less than half the face's size, that didn't matter.
The blazing holy flame immediately spread across the paladin's face and body, turning him to ash.
Behind Martinez, who had dealt with another paladin, a priest stealthily approached with a shotgun.
The target was a monster with incredible regenerative abilities. So, they needed to end it with one blow before he could heal his wounds.
To do that, the primary target had to be the head.
At the moment the priest's finger was about to pull the trigger, a white flash flickered before his eyes.
The paladin felt his field of vision shift up and down.
The reason was simple. Osian's sword had cleanly sliced him from crown to groin.
Osian said to Martinez, who saw the fallen paladin later:
"The rear was exposed."
At that moment, Martinez created a spear over 3m long in his right hand and threw it behind Osian.
-Whoosh!
The priest who was about to cast holy magic on Osian was impaled by the spear and hung far away on the wall.
"I'm repaying the debt."
Osian did not answer, but Martinez was certain he was smiling.
The two moved again, without anyone going first.
Once more, they took down each other's potential attackers.
Martinez burned the enemies before his eyes. Immediately after, light arrows poured from the side, but Osian appeared and blocked them with the storm shield.
When Osian's sword was about to split the opponent, bullets flew. Then Martinez would step forward, swinging the cross made of divine alchemy to deflect the bullets.
The two were like perfectly meshing gears, without a single error per minute and second.
They blocked each other's attacks, covered blind spots, and complemented each other's weaknesses.
Just as Osian had felt something different, Martinez felt a similar emotion.
'Is battle really this easy?'
Martinez had hunted numerous heretics.
Born with divine power and able to handle all three sacred rules, he could achieve victory against heretics even alone.
However, it was not always smooth.
Sometimes he fell into traps, and he suffered many wounds and pain from the powerful forces possessed by heretics.
He had only overcome such traps and crises and won because his divine power was strong and his regenerative abilities were excellent.
He did not wish for anyone's help. He thought every journey was a solitary path of asceticism and fought by enduring it himself.
Those who came from the headquarters only helped by identifying the heretics' location or providing minor, non-combat assistance.
That was all Martinez had wanted.
But everything changed when he came to Tirna.
To the boy who had been walking only the path of faith, a nun appeared who could advise him on his values and younger siblings he needed to protect.
And he met a knight who showed him his first defeat, yet also tried to solve his difficulties in his stead.
He learned what it meant to be alone and began to feel loneliness.
He came to know pain by witnessing truths he did not want to know.
Learning and knowing something was a painful experience.
If only he had not known.
If he had lived blindly like before, it would not have been this difficult.
Most people would probably think like Martinez and try to avoid the truth.
Because it's comfortable. Because it's less painful.
But Martinez realized:
'Now I understand why the Pope sent me to this city.'
He was not sent to the city of sinners to be punished.
At a young age, he was concerned that a child with outstanding talent was living too simply and blindly, so he was sent to see a broader world.
He was aware of the pain that would follow. Yet he had to send him, knowing this.
For a bird to fly in the sky, it must first break out of its own eggshell.
And when it finally faces a wider world.
It realizes that it's not just full of sin and pain.
Being with someone, playing around, laughing, eating delicious food, sometimes getting angry and frustrated, but ultimately rising, having a reliable colleague by one's side to fight together.
This world is certainly cold and painful─ but at the same time it was also very warm and beautiful.
Martinez did not express gratitude to Osian.
Instead, he showed it through actions. Using the holy power that had only burned people before, he warmly enveloped Osian's body and strengthened his cloak and armor.
Osian also blocked threatening attacks coming towards Martinez with his shield or cut down enemies targeting him with his sword.
A wandering knight and a paladin.
The two, who were like water and oil, blended together as if becoming one.
The paladins and priests crumbled helplessly against Martinez and Osian's joint attack, which was as natural as breathing.
Alpheos watched this, feeling his insides burning.
'What is this? It's just the two of them. So why aren't they falling!'
This side was exercising collective power. Moreover, with the support of the ['Holy Choir']', they even had more than twice the usual divine power.
Yet they were being pushed back. Not even at an equal level. They hadn't even managed to land a proper wound on the enemy.
Alpheos felt a chill down his spine.
'Are we losing? After coming this far, because of an unknown knight and one of the 13th Judges?'
Until now, he had never even considered defeat.
It had seemed too small, like a dot. So he had ignored it because he was going to win anyway.
But when he came to his senses, defeat had approached close by, baring its sharp teeth at him.
-It's time to accept the limits of your talent. You can only go this far.
Suddenly, a memory of a paladin's words from the past resurfaced.
He couldn't understand why forgotten memories would appear at such a moment.
Regardless, once etched, the memory reproduced the conversation without a single error:
-Your innate divine power is weak. For someone like you with weak faith, using this level of divine power is a miracle, but that's now over. Accept your limits and give up.
He still remembers the look in the eyes of the one who spoke, seemingly sympathetic yet with a hint of vindication.
-No matter how well you handle guns or use your brain, what of it? Nothing changes anyway.
Alpheos gritted his teeth.
Nothing changes? No. Everything changes. The divine power he now possesses proves that.
Don't make me laugh. How far have I come? I'm not someone who will fall here.
Alpheos pulled out a massive pistol from the holster on his back.
"Damn you bastaaaards!"
It was far too large to be called a pistol. It was closer to a small cannon.
The bullet caliber was grotesque. It used 50-caliber ammunition, far larger than typical pistols.
Essentially, it was more of an anti-material rifle named after a pistol.
The barrel was so large that an ordinary person would struggle to hold it with one hand.
Even Alpheos, who had enhanced his body with divine power, could hardly control its recoil after firing a single shot.
Therefore, each magazine contained only one bullet.
It was a last-resort weapon, designed to end the opponent with a single decisive blow.
Two specially modified pistols spewed fire.
-Bang!
Alpheos' hands were violently thrown back by the recoil as the ammunition was fired.
The timing was perfect. He fired precisely in the gap when Osian was about to swing his sword.
It was an attack that naturally forced the opponent to block with a shield.
That was exactly what Alpheos intended. No matter how strong the shield, this would punch through it.
Osian knew these bullets were dangerous.
["Bloodstain!"]
Just by calling his name, Martinez immediately responded.
The golden holy flame swirling around his body gathered around Osian like a whirlpool, concentrating on the storm shield.
Osian also wrapped the power of starlight as much as possible over the storm shield.
White and gold intertwined, brightly illuminating the underground where no light entered.
The ["Golden Star"] that Osian had used to break through the paladins' wall was spread out again.
The large-caliber ammunition imbued with holy magic turned to dust, blocked by the golden star.
Eventually, the blade made of starlight and divine alchemy cutting through the gaps of the golden star came into Alpheos' view.
"Damn it."
This was the last scene Alpheos saw.