When Osian disappeared inside, the companions who had been watching the scene exchanged glances with each other. Having come this far, they couldn't just sit still and cheer from within.
However, as if anticipating their actions, the red angels that had been standing in formation moved to block the path. At their appearance, clearly showing they would not let anyone pass, Kudan clenched his fists.
"Sister. What should we do?"
"Stay still for now."
At Grace's words, the other siblings looked back at her. It was as if asking whether she really meant it.
"But sister. Going alone to fight that monster is suicide."
Malina spoke. Shouldn't they help Osian kill Zaxilos right now?
Grace shook her head.
"Don't you understand yet? Making judgments based on our unnecessary standards would rather be rude to that man."
"We'll watch. At least for now, it should be fine."
Osian, guided by the red angels, reached the place where Zaxilos was preparing the ritual.
It was a huge arena. The massive cavity reminiscent of a colosseum was flat as if well-polished.
Unlike other places made of writhing flesh, only this place seemed to be carved from hard marble. The only common feature was that everything was red.
On the outside, outer walls rose up in multiple layers. As if once you entered, escape would not be permitted.
Above all, what caught Osian's attention was the heart suspended from the ceiling of this massive altar.
Every time the huge heart beat with a pulsing rhythm, the air vibrated as if an earthquake had occurred. The heart appeared to be over 100 meters in size.
Osian realized that this was the core of Trinity Building and the heart of this eroded space.
'But something is empty.'
The heart that should have been pulsing with powerful force was maintaining only the minimum heartbeat, as if the massive life force it should originally possess had been drained by something.
There was only one reason for this. Osian's gaze turned to the front.
Cardinal Zaxilos was there.
"I didn't think you would really come."
"Wasn't that why you called me?"
Zaxilos wanted to take revenge for the past. Not simple revenge. He considered even the process important.
'Defeating me head-on.'
Zaxilos harbored a kind of inferiority complex. He seemed unaware of it until now, but in the rooftop battle, he recalled forgotten memories.
"You seem to have a lot of grudges against me."
Osian looked Zaxilos over. He was wearing red armor instead of the clerical robes he had worn when first seen. It was a sight that made one wonder if this cardinal was now trying to imitate a knight.
"At first, I wanted to kill you by any means necessary. You are a very dangerous person to our grand plan."
Zaxilos had tried to isolate Osian somehow using traps and kill him. But all those attempts failed.
Osian had instead jumped alone into the pit of Bishop Fedilac, who was well-versed in traps, beheaded him, and returned.
Archbishop Phyllis, who had been secretly hidden, also died, and more than half of their proud believers and bishops were eliminated.
He had to admit it. Trying to kill Osian by using subordinates was a poor strategy. It only served to diminish their forces even more.
"That thought hasn't changed even now. I will kill you. But the method needs to be a little different."
"Is this the result of that?"
Osian asked, looking around the arena. His words about having a fair fight with him seemed sincere.
"I thought it didn't matter how I killed you. But after absorbing the power you possessed, my thinking changed. The methods I've used so far aren't enough."
Zaxilos' eyes gleamed sharply.
"Just as you killed our believers, I too will kill you in the same manner. Only then will these old emotions be resolved."
Kill a knight with a sword. Zaxilos' declaration was both incredibly arrogant and a statement that considerably wounded a knight's pride.
Osian considered snapping back about how shameless he was with stolen power, but decided against it. He knew that a guy intoxicated with his own atmosphere wouldn't come to his senses with just a few words.
More than anything, Osian felt a competitive spirit stronger than anger. Defeat him in the same way? That could be seen as both a provocation and a challenge toward a knight.
And knights do not avoid challenges that come their way.
"Interesting. A guy who spent his whole life hiding in shadows and just ordering others around thinks he's something special after gaining the power of the sun ring?"
"At first, I thought so too. That I could handle this power in my own way. But this power strangely gave me knowledge and experience."
Osian looked at Zaxilos' armor and asked.
"Is that why you put on armor?"
"How is it? Doesn't it suit me better than expected?"
Zaxilos spread both arms as if showing off. It wasn't ordinary armor. Though it had a red tint, it looked closer to bio-armor if one had to classify it. There were no gaps between the joints and the movement felt elastic. The durability wouldn't be weak either.
"I'll use the power you use in your way. I'll defeat you with that. And I'll absorb all the remaining power to be born even stronger."
Zaxilos didn't try to hide his plan. Even without him saying it, Osian had vaguely guessed it.
At that mad declaration of defeating the original owner with stolen power, Osian didn't get angry or feel displeased.
Although he had made that choice under the influence of the sun ring, there was no lie in the choice itself.
Wearing armor and fighting with a sword. Reckless, but that recklessness was exactly the quality knights should possess.
Therefore, Osian rather liked this cardinal who had only been cowardly. He was somewhat manly now. Of course, acknowledging him as an opponent didn't mean he would go easy on him or spare his life. Rather, he would do his best.
Zaxilos flicked his finger. A red angel that had been waiting behind approached. The creature was respectfully holding a helmet in both hands.
At Zaxilos' gesture, the red angel carefully placed the helmet on his face. It was a helmet with sharp red horns growing like a crown on the head, and a face that boasted considerable intimidation like that of a skull.
The red angel that had put on the helmet retreated and left the arena. Finally, when Zaxilos, having completed all preparations, stretched one arm outward, thin tentacle masses began to grow smoothly from his shoulder blades.
The tentacles that rose like countless threads tangled and clumped together in one place, forming a cloak. And
-Whoosh!
The flames of the sun arose.
A golden ring was created above Zaxilos' head. It was a larger and clearer ring than those of the red angels.
At the same time, additional sun rings were created on each side of Zaxilos' shoulders. The sun rings with sharp thorns protruding were fixed at a slight distance from the shoulder blades. The red armor and bright yellow sun rings combined to create a creepy yet antique feeling.
Osian gave his honest impression.
"Interesting. Triple rings."
Zaxilos had absorbed the power of the sun ring, but didn't simply use it in the form of a single ring. He had applied his own variations to use the sun ring in his own way. This meant he had succeeded in subduing that ferocious power to some extent.
"I have to defeat my greatest nemesis, so how could I not go this far?"
The Cardinal of the Sun, Zaxilos, said so. It was something he could say because he saw Osian as the most dangerous being while also acknowledging his skills.
Osian nodded and gripped his sword. Pure white starlight flowed over like an overflow. Though no wind was blowing, the nebula silk fluttered greatly. The lining of the cloak that seemed to contain the night sky shone exceptionally beautifully.
Osian felt the muscles throughout his body heating up.
'Is it tension? Or am I happy about the appearance of a new opponent?'
Zaxilos was an opponent that couldn't be considered easy even as an empty compliment. He was a cardinal who had been granted the power of an outer god. That alone gave him tremendous authority and power.
And he had absorbed the power of the sun ring. Just looking at the rings he had raised on both shoulders and his head, one could tell he was controlling the sun ring quite well.
'Hmm. Looking at it this way, I feel a bit jealous.'
It was like seeing a dog that never listened to orders run away from home and then live obediently on a leash at another house.
Of course, given that bastard's damn personality, even if he pretended to like it on the surface, he would try to bite as soon as he saw an opening. But even knowing this, seeing him submit right now wasn't a very good feeling.
'I must not be in my right mind either. Having such idle thoughts about this kind of opponent.'
Maybe it was because he was that happy. In fact, he hadn't had a proper fight worthy of the name on the way here.
At best, Phillis, who had been melted by the sun ring, was somewhat threatening, but was quickly dealt with by his companions' combined attack. How long has it been since a one-on-one fight like this, especially with someone with such presence?
Was it when he fought the old knight at Zero Ground? Or when he fought the ethereal plant imbued with the power of the sun ring?
Whatever it was, he could tell that now was more dangerous and critical than then. But he didn't feel afraid. Rather, his anticipation only grew.
Osian checked his physical condition. His condition was good. His body moved precisely and reliably under the control of his consciousness without error. This would be more than enough.
Osian gripped his sword and took his stance. Then he opened his mouth.
"As a senior, I'll yield the first attack."
Crimson light flashed from inside Zaxilos' helmet.
-Zing.
When he raised his right hand, a sun ring sword was created. It was a straight sword that shone in brilliant golden color. But the heat emanating from it was not ordinary. The air heated up and mirages appeared. Residual heat remained, burning the atmosphere hotly.
Zaxilos didn't bother to refuse Osian's offer. After taking his stance, he kicked off from his position and moved.
He was fast as he moved with his red cloak fluttering. Whether it was the power of the armor or his originally superior physical abilities. Perhaps it could be both.
Osian's eyes rolled busily. Following Zaxilos' moving trajectory, the sun ring drew golden traces in the air.
He could see the end of the trajectory pointing toward him like an arrow. Osian swung his Starlight Sword at the right timing.
-Crash!
The sword of starlight and the sun sword collided with each other. Pure white light powder and bright yellow sparks flew in all directions.
-Sizzle!
Zaxilos, whose first attack had failed, retrieved his sword and swung it again. For someone holding a sword for the first time, his posture was neat and his way of swinging the sword was good. As he had said himself, he was receiving help from the sun ring.
The air burned along the trajectory of the sun ring sword. The arena floor turned black from carbonization and some parts melted and became mushy.
-Crackle crackle crack!
Gorgeous golden trajectories were drawn in the air one after another in an instant. Osian saw all of them with his transcendent dynamic vision and deflected them all.
Zaxilos didn't stop. He swung his sword as if throwing his body at Osian.
Zaxilos' body spun several times in the air. Each time, the sun rings attached to his body moved together, creating a scene like a fire play.
'Swift. There's virtually no movement restriction from the armor.'
What Zaxilos wore was armor, but considering its role, it was more convenient than a suit that stuck to one's skin. Naturally, no matter what strenuous movements he made, the armor showed elastic variability to match him.
Osian aimed for a gap in Zaxilos' complex and flashy movements and went in for a thrust.
The moment the Starlight Sword properly squeezed into the gap, Zaxilos stopped in mid-air and bounced back. It was a movement that ignored physical laws by using spatial erosion.
Zaxilos landed on the ground. His soles stuck to the floor and moved smoothly backward. Zaxilos moved without lifting his legs. It was movement as if there were wheels attached under his soles.
Osian moved similarly. The power of the moonlight spread on the ground and his body moved as if skating or gliding.
-Swoosh!
The two figures crossed and brushed past each other.
"Interesting."
Osian found that part of his left shoulder blade had been cleanly cut off. Zaxilos looked back at such an Osian and flicked his sun ring sword as if asking how it was.
Then he belatedly noticed something strange and lowered his head.
There was a cut on his thigh and one more on his side.
It was clearly a different result from merely cutting the edge of armor.