Osian finally faced the creature's true form as the blazing flames of a fiery sun shimmered before his eyes.
The sun bestowed its blessing of light, illuminating everything around.
Then, from within the accumulated ashes, sprouts began to emerge.
"So-something's coming out!"
Alania cried out in surprise.
The sprouts that emerged while writhing quickly grew, and soon transformed into human-like figures with flowers on their heads.
These were seeds that had stubbornly survived even through the explosion of spirit magic and their numbers totaled only about ten.
Compared to the forces Eldin had fought, it was a very small number, but even that was enough to make them threatening.
'To make life sprout even in those flames, it must be thanks to the power of Sun Ring.'
Sun Ring is the power of the sun, a perfect circle where dazzling light forms a single ring.While Starlight specializes in one-on-one combat with perfect balance and powerful cutting power, Moonlight focuses on speed battles by reducing defense and utilizing speed and cold power.
‘Sun Ring symbol is [Protection].'
The power of the Sun Ring fundamentally aims to protect its user.
Protecting something. The sun's shield protects the user and extends beyond to protect what they wish to defend.
'It completely reduces and even abandons mobility and close-range cutting power. In exchange, it gains overwhelming defensive power that can protect against any external threat.'
It's just like these plants now.
Giving up on movement and deeply rooting themselves in the ground, their action of protecting themselves from Eldin's flames matched the power possessed by the Sun Ring.
'But that doesn't mean that the Sun Ring only blocks attacks. That would make it no different from a punching bag.'
The Sun Ring, with its ultimate defensive power, has another characteristic.
It was something that Lupona had shown earlier in the underground ruins.
'That would be powerful firepower.'
-Kiiing.
The Sun Ring flames blooming from the ethereal plant's bud grew stronger.
Looking closely, one could see that hot sun spinning at high speed.
'Here it comes.'
The moment Osian lowered his stance, a pillar of yellow sun flames shot out.
Osian quickly kicked off the ground and moved sideways. A yellow beam grazed past where he had just been standing.
Along the ground where the beam passed, yellow explosions occurred in succession, blooming in the shape of a cross.
"Waaaaaah!"
Alania screamed just from the aftershock.
If Mist hadn't protected her with fog from the side, she would have been swept up in the aftermath.
"You handle the small fry."
While telling this to Alania and Mist, Osian didn't slow his pace.
This was because of the pillar of light pursuing him with terrifying momentum.
'Golden Sun Ray.'
The Sun Ring, which limits mobility to the extreme, gains the ability to use ranged attacks to respond to external threats.
It's the manifestation of ability gained in exchange for giving up movement.
If Starlight power turns a knight into a tank, Sun Ring power turns a knight into a fixed cannon.
This was why Osian had mocked the plant human using the Sun Ring power.
It was ridiculous to engage in close combat against Starlight with Sun Ring power, which should protect and intercept enemies from a distance.
'But now it seems to have properly grasped how to use it.'
Seeing the yellow beam that grazed right in front of him sent chills down his spine but at the same time, his entire body heated up with a sensation like his brain was on fire.
It was the exhilaration of battle.
The one who had nearly died in Eldin's flames had realized how to use Sun Ring's power.
Having awakened to the protective power of the sun in the face of death's crisis, it was finally using that power completely.
'If I had arrived here even a little later, it could have become troublesome.'
If it had mastered Sun Ring's usage, it would have mercilessly bombarded from long range before we could approach.
The underground space was narrow with limited pathways to move through.
If we had been attacked, it would have been difficult to properly break through.
'Now that I've closed the distance, I'll finish it.'
Just as he was about to charge at it, a huge wall rose before his eyes.
Looking closely, it wasn't a wall, but roots buried in the ground that had risen like a wave.
The giant hand made of tightly intertwined roots targeted Osian.
Osian swung his Starlight sword widely. No matter how tightly bundled the roots were, they were less than straw before Starlight’s cutting power.
Plant fluid sprayed from the cross-section of the cut roots but the wounds regenerated instantly, once again taking the form of a hand.
The Sun Ring in the flower bud stared directly at Osian.
The regenerated palm spread wide open. From the five fingers split to imitate a human hand, sharp branches shot out.
It was an attack imitating Dagran's ballista, imbued with Sun Ring's power.
"Hmph."
Osian split his Starlight sword into two with a sneer.
It was Rommel's Twin Star Swords.
The two starlight swords danced brilliantly and the incoming wooden arrows were all cut down and rolled on the floor.
Osian spun once in place. Following that trajectory, white light drew a whirlpool.
The white light swallowed Osian's form. Then, as the light exploded, a starlight knight wearing Starlight armor and the Nebula Silk appeared from within.
"Wow."
Alania, who had been protecting Eldin from the plant humans, momentarily lost her focus at that sight.
In the midst of fierce battle, distraction immediately invites death, but Osian's appearance was so magnificent that she forgot this fact for a moment.
Just as a plant human secretly approaching from behind Alania was about to pounce on her, a huge fog grabbed the plant human and crushed it.
"Don't get distracted."
"Ah, yes! Thank you!"
Instead of responding to Alania's words, Mist scattered more fog and continued subduing the plant humans one by one.
Of course, his eyes were stealing glances at Osian during this.
'Transforming while spinning. That's so cool. I must definitely try that later.'
The fog flowing from Mist's body grew thicker.
Some of it flowed down from his shoulders like a cloak. It seemed to imitate Osian's cloak, but it was so subtle that it was just barely noticeable.
Meanwhile, the yellow beam crossed the air again.
Golden explosions occurred sequentially along where it grazed part of the cavern.
However, Osian quickly approached the plant, breaking through the explosion's smoke and debris.
Just as he was about to completely cut off its head, the flower bud that could be called the creature's core. Sun Ring's power burst out from the fully bloomed flower bud.
A wave of flames drew a sphere in the air and pushed back Osian's body.
Because of this, Osian's Twin Star Swords only managed to cut halfway through its stem.
'Even though it was an attack from a blind spot, in that split second it exploded the Sun Ring to deflect the attack.'
Was it done knowing it couldn't completely block it?
Or was it just an instinctive struggle?
Whatever it was, that action extended its lifespan.
Because he missed the attack timing, naturally the turn went to it.
Osian tried to deliver an additional strike immediately to not give up the initiative but the survival instinct of this being, which had made it this far on survival ability alone, exceeded what Osian had thought.
One of the giant arms hanging below the plant struck the ground as is.
With a surge, Sun Ring's power traveled through the arm and burrowed into the ground.
-Chwajajajak!
At that moment, Sun Ring's power shot up like thorns from underground around it, engulfing the surroundings.
For an instant, it created an illusion that the area was covered in golden thorny vines.
Osian raised the Storm Shield to protect himself. The high-temperature thorns containing Sun Ring's power pounded against the shield and armor.
There was no fatal damage, but Osian's offensive was stopped.
-Kiiiing.
As Osian stepped back, it pressed the attack, seeing its chance.
It raised its head and lifted Sun Ring high.
The surface of Sun Ring, almost touching the ceiling, began to ripple and surge like waves.
Osian had seen something similar to this before.
'Dark Tide Annihilation that Lupona used.'
Although Lupona's power contrasts with Sun Ring as Dark Wheel and has higher destructive power than the original.
That doesn't mean this one's destructive power is low.
-Jiiiing!
Like a solar flare exploding on the sun's surface, flames ejected from the Sun Ring stretched out like a laser.
Dazzling flashes blinked around, spreading light like a mirror ball centered on it.
Each of these light streams possessed enough intense heat to melt a person alive.
It was truly nothing short of a death ray.
"Fall back!"
"Uwaaaaah!"
Its attack did not discriminate between friend and foe.
The plant humans targeting Mist and Alania were caught in the attack and evaporated instantly.
Mist thickly wrapped fog around himself while protecting Alania and the unconscious Eldin as he moved back.
Seeing this, Osian felt relieved that those three would be safe.
The high-temperature flames grazing the surroundings transmitted heat through his armor to his skin but ignoring that burning pain, Osian rapidly closed the distance with it.
It recognized Osian's presence and concentrated the power that had been indiscriminately sweeping in all directions into a single point.
The countless light streams spurting from the sphere gathered into one point and transformed into a massive laser.
“...!”
A huge pillar that couldn't be avoided by simply moving swallowed Osian.
Even with Starlight power, he couldn't block that.
It was certain of its victory. With that just now, Osian would have disappeared without leaving a trace.
"You let your guard down."
If only that voice hadn't come from right beside it.
Because it had emotions, it was taken aback. So it couldn't react.
Even if it had known, it would have been difficult to react. The attack just now was launched with full power, with the plant prepared for its own exhaustion.
-Chwajajajak!
Countless slash wounds were carved into the plant's stem body.
The fluid flowing from those wounds instantly froze and the plant vessels that should supply nutrients to the body were blocked by ice.
Though it couldn't feel pain, it twisted its body so that it wouldn't move as intended.
Osian, now wearing the Full Moon Armor, had already stepped onto its stem and was jumping toward the flower bud.
Just as he was about to cut down that Sun Ring, it took its final measure.
-Chomp!
The flower petals that had always only kept Sun Ring floating in the air swallowed it whole.
-Kiiiiiik!
It glowed even more intensely as yellow flames flowed out through the gaps in the petals that had swallowed the Sun Ring.
Seeing this, Osian narrowed his eyes behind his helmet.
"Foolish act."
The Sun Ring is powerful. It could use the sun's power despite being a plant because it had become a vessel worthy of containing it.
But beyond containing Sun Ring's power, it tried to dominate it as its own.
That would be suicidal even in perfect condition, yet it attempted such a thing in its largely depleted state.
Could it be that the one who had come this far for survival had made a mistake now?
"So this is your way of survival, is it?"
It knew that fighting like this would surely lead to defeat by Osian, and it would become cold fragments under that blade, therefore, it made its choice as guided by its reason and instinct.
It was trying to use the final Sun Ring with a cracked vessel.
An act prepared for death in order to overcome death.
It was prepared to stake its own life.
Staking one's life to live, truly an ironic thing.
"Though you're just a plant, it's admirable."
Although it was just struggling to survive, Osian felt a certain nobility in it.
Its flower bud burned with yellow flames.
One petal from the bloomed flower bud fell off and turned to ash before reaching the ground.
Yes. It was now terminal. The moment all those petals fall, it would be over.
But if it could defeat Osian before that, and furthermore seize the power of Starlight and Moonlight...
It could not only survive but become stronger.
-Ppudeudeuk.
All the roots buried in the ground rose up and became two legs like a human's, supporting and raising its body.
Its stems gathered to form two arms and the scattered Sun Ring sparks clung to both arms, burning hot.
They were stems and arms, but also swords wielding Sun Ring's power.
Seeing this, Osian smiled wryly.
"What's the point of big guys picking up weapons too?"
However, monsters with huge bodies wielding weapons was also a long-standing tradition of this game.