"What are you, exactly?"
Diolan, who had transformed into a giant cat, spoke for the first time.
"What do you mean? If you've said this much, you should know who I am."
"That's not what I'm asking!"
The amphibian man chuckled at those words.
"Don't be so fussy. Meeting you here was purely coincidental."
"Where is she? Answer me."
Diolan asked urgently, almost demanding, causing the amphibian man to furrow his brows.
"How insolent for someone born from a mother."
"Insolent? Don't make me laugh. Who abandoned whom first!""Ah, yes. Abandoned. Because you were useless."
The amphibian human chuckled and licked around his mouth with his tongue.
Diolan's expression turned fierce. Black fur bristled, and his teeth and claws grew long. He wanted to tear him apart right away, but there was one reason he didn't.
The fact that this guy might know the whereabouts of the witch [Mother Goose].
"What kind of scheme are you up to this time?"
"This time? Oh, there seems to be a misunderstanding. Meeting you here was purely by chance. To begin with, you're just an interfering hindrance to our deal. Well, I don't suppose you'll believe that."
"I need to hear directly from your mouth where she is."
"How arrogant. Just because you were born before me, but were abandoned for being useless."
The amphibian human bent his body low.
Tud-duk. His thigh muscles swelled like balloons, and his clothes tore.
The moment he straightened his bent body, the amphibian human shot towards Diolan at a cannon-like speed.
"Anyway, what I have to do hasn't changed. You interfered with my work, and I will kill you. That's all."
In an instant, the amphibian human extended his leg as he approached Diolan.
Just as the frog-like long kick was about to target Diolan's body, Diolan disappeared into a point in the air, like being sucked into a whirlpool.
Transforming like darkness and disappearing, Diolan reappeared behind the amphibian human, trying to bite his neck again.
At that moment, the amphibian human chuckled.
-Chwaa-reureurok!
A long whip flying from somewhere wrapped around Diolan's neck.
Diolan tried to break free immediately, but his body size didn't shrink as easily as he wished.
"Wasn't it called 'putting a bell on a cat's neck'?"
What was wrapped around Diolan's neck was the amphibian human's long tongue.
He tightly squeezed Diolan's neck with his tongue and mocked him.
"Not that difficult."
Diolan frowned. There was some sort of magical power in this guy's tongue.
He was also a servant of [Mother Goose]. Naturally, he would have some ability.
'I was too hasty. This would have been a trick I wouldn't have fallen for originally.'
Diolan tried to escape from the tongue somehow, but it wasn't easy. The slimy liquid flowing from the tongue didn't tear even with his strong muscles.
The more he pulled, the more elastic it became.
The most frustrating thing was that his ability to freely change his body's size and shape wasn't working properly.
Interfering with the opponent's technique.
That seemed to be one of the guy's abilities.
"Why? Are you now realizing the seriousness of the situation?"
The amphibian human stuck out his tongue and chuckled.
*
-Kwaa-reurung!
A massive energy field flashed like lightning in the sky.
Hanging in the air, Calios looked down at Osian with a provocative tone.
"Your colleagues are probably all dead by now."
"What nonsense are you talking about, stopping mid-fight?"
"I'm telling you before you die. In case you might hope to get help from your colleagues, I'm telling you to discard that petty hope."
Osian narrowed his eyes inside his helmet.
This bastard's actions were beyond merely arrogant. He seemed completely confident that he would win this fight.
Calios, perhaps interpreting Osian's attitude differently, laughed out loud from inside the red energy field.
"Haha. Have you forgotten where you are and who you're facing? This is the Saint Tree headquarters. And it's where the skilled individuals they've hired are gathered. Not just me, but those who could be considered equal to me."
"I'm not particularly worried when you say you have equals."
"Ha. Do you think I'd fall for such a pointless provocation?"
It wasn't a provocation but a sincere statement.
Moreover, despite saying he wouldn't fall for the provocation, the energy field around him grew stronger.
It must mean he was very, very displeased.
"You can say that because you know nothing. You haven't forgotten that we're in the middle of enemy territory, have you? What you have to deal with isn't just us. The Saint Tree executives, I don't know who they're trying to deal with, but they've called in some formidable entities."
Osian didn't look at Calios for long. This was their first meeting, and they were already fighting.
However, from his words and actions, he could clearly see how arrogant Calios' personality was.
Calios said these weren't ordinary beings.
The fact that this self-important guy said such a thing meant that the Saint Tree executives had actually joined hands with some serious individuals.
'Is that why Diolan hasn't returned yet?'
It seemed something had happened on Diolan's side as well.
Considering Diolan's skills, he didn't think he would die, but who knows.
Nothing would be strange in this city.
"What's important now is that you'll die by my hand."
At Calios' gesture, red energy swords materialized in the air and fell towards Osian.
An energy sword that could easily penetrate even a tank's armor like butter.
Just as he was about to skewer Osian in midair, the Ring above Osian's head began to shine.
-Keeing!
Sharp thorns rose along the edge of the glowing Ring.
Twelve sharp blades were protruding in twelve directions.
Because of this, it now looked more like he was wearing a crown rather than a ring.
"Intercept."
-Keeeeing.
As Osian gave the command, the Ring began to rotate.
Yellow blades shot out like arrows from the Ring.
Blades carrying the sun's power collided with the falling red energy swords, exploding in midair.
It didn't even take a second for all of Calios' energy swords to be intercepted.
"What?"
Calios furrowed his brow. Osian's power was completely incomprehensible to him.
Armor that could withstand shockwaves, the light sword that blocked his energy swords, and the starlight cloak that moved freely.
That alone was strange, and now he was shooting blades from a distance.
'He's blocking my energy abilities so easily? Does that mean the power he wields is stronger than my abilities?'
Muscles tensed on Calios' forehead.
He couldn't accept it. A mere old-species human, how dare he be stronger?
"Fine. Then let's see how far you can go."
He had planned to go easy, but he changed his mind.
The air changed around Calios.
-Dud-dud-dud.
The ground beneath Calios shook, and then the earth rose, with countless debris beginning to surge.
-Kwaa-rung!
Energy fields flowed through the air, and dry lightning struck.
The atmosphere moved following the energy field's power, accompanied by a fierce wind.
It was a localized but artificially created lightning and storm.
It showed how powerful Calios' psychic ability was as a mutant.
For an ordinary human, he would be no different from a natural disaster.
But what was that?
Instead of being scared and retreating, Osian gripped his light sword and took his stance.
"This bastard..."
Calios didn't like that Osian wasn't scared and was facing him.
Why wasn't he scared? Why wasn't he kneeling before his power?
He didn't like it. From that stiff neck to that insolent tone.
Most irritating was the icy cold eyes looking at him.
No matter what power he showed, those eyes looked at him as if saying "go ahead and try", like watching a child's antics.
Every time he saw that gaze, it felt like Osian was a giant looking down on him.
Calios couldn't accept that fact.
"Die!"
At Calios' gesture, debris filled with energy fields began to fall towards Osian.
Seeing the countless debris falling from the sky, Osian put strength in his legs and jumped into the air.
One of the flying debris precisely split in half.
The hard rock pulled from the ground revealed a smooth crimson cross-section and split left and right.
Osian stepped on one of those surfaces and jumped even higher.
The starry cloth behind his back scattered brilliant stardust, accelerating his body.
"Die!"
At Calios' gesture, an energy field without even a proper shape fell towards Osian.
The energy, which even its user Calios couldn't control, fell like a primitive lightning without a clear form.
-Keeeeing.
The Ring activated again.
The 12 blades rising from the rim shot out at once, drawing a tail like a meteor.
-Chwaa-ja-ja-jak!
Complex and brilliant yellow lines were drawn in the air.
These were the trajectories of the Ring Swords seeking their prey. The Ring Swords shot for interception collided with the energy lightning, causing a spectacular explosion.
Exploding behind him, Osian gradually closed the distance towards Calios.
Calios felt a chill at that sight.
Though this battlefield was clearly under his control, an inexplicable anxiety stimulated his nerves.
Even as he told himself it couldn't be, he couldn't shake off the fear lurking in a corner of his mind.
'Fear? Me? Towards this lowly old-species human?'
Calios gritted his teeth.
Instead of spreading an energy field to push Osian away, he folded his hand and concentrated his power on a single point.
A massive energy sword formed in each of his hands.
"I'll crush you head-on!"
Osian watched Calios approaching him with a calm gaze.
Even in an environment where destruction's storm raged in all directions, he seemed to be in a quiet forest at dawn.
In an incredibly quiet mental state where he could even hear his own breathing, Osian methodically pointed out Calios' weaknesses.
'He has strong power, but doesn't know how to properly use it.'
Look at him creating an energy sword with massive power and charging at him.
Osian felt that Calios' actions were unnecessary.
Occupying an advantageous position and then engaging in close combat?
He didn't care. He had done similar things himself.
What irritated Osian was the energy dancing above the energy sword.
Though it took the form of a sword, it looked so precarious it might shatter at any moment.
Seeing how he didn't compress the power and use it efficiently, the saying "pearls on a pig's neck" fit perfectly.
-Kwang!
Their swords collided in midair.
Calios tried to crush Osian with the energy sword's power, but it wasn't easy.
Osian relaxed his body and retreated following the sword's energy.
Creating distance, Osian jumped up by stepping on the floating debris.
Stepping on one debris, then another, and another.
Calios couldn't come to his senses facing Osian's three-dimensional movement, stepping on debris scattered everywhere.
His dynamic vision couldn't properly capture Osian's figure.
Calios raised the output of his energy field and then a massive red explosion occurred.
A spectacular light reminiscent of a supernova burst spherically, sweeping the surrounding area.
The idea of destroying the entire space since he couldn't catch the target wasn't bad, but.
"You should do that while watching your opponent."
Osian's voice from behind made Calios urgently turn around.
And he saw it.
Osian, who had somehow approached right next to him, swinging his starlight sword.
"Kuk!"
He reflexively raised his energy sword to block, or he would have been slashed.
"When you use power so ruthlessly, to someone who breaks through with a single point, you're just showing tons of openings."
"You, what the hell are you!"
"One who challenges. And one who breaks through."
"What?"
"What people call a knight, isn't it?"
Calios wouldn't know. Born strong, always in a position to face enemies, he had probably never sincerely faced anyone.
Without properly managing his power, he had likely just crushed others like a child playing with toys.
But he won.
Believing the weak beneath him would never dare to challenge him.
He had lived like that so far, and would continue to do so.
So he loses.
Just like now.
"It was interesting, but let's end this. My colleagues are waiting."
"You...!"
The light sword's radiance exploded.
Its size grew to over 3 meters, transforming into a smooth blade.
Unlike Calios', it was a clean manifestation of power.
The clean, waste-free, elegant form momentarily captivated Calios.
In that moment of overwhelming realization, Calios belatedly and painfully understood how foolishly he had been fighting.
That moment of realization was his last.
Without even a cutting sound a pure white brilliance devoured the energy sword, energy field, and Calios within.