How much time had passed since Osian left? A strange feeling began to emanate from the red angels who had been quietly holding their positions.
It was so subtle that most wouldn't notice it, but those with keen senses were different.
Starting with Grace and Kudan, Krollakia reacted first. The quick-witted Basilio was the same.
"I knew this would happen."
The red angels began to move. It was clearly a movement to exclude this side. Since they wouldn't make judgments on their own, Zaxilos must have given the order.
Zaxilos had no intention of letting this side live.
"No one believed those words from the beginning anyway."
Martinez answered from beside him. He had already used divine alchemy to grasp massive weapons in both hands. Basilio wondered what this small boy ate to be able to easily lift such heavy weapons.
But that wasn't what was important right now.
Meanwhile, the red angels finished their formation and moved. The ones at the front gripped sun-ring swords, while the angels at the rear extended their hands and fired golden sun rays.
Zaxilos looked down at his wound. The wound wasn't deep. Only a scratch was carved on the armor. But he remained silent for a while like someone who had received a shock.
He thought he had been overwhelming Osian, but that wasn't the case. In pure close combat skill, Osian was several steps ahead of him. Even though Zaxilos received some assistance from experience and techniques while absorbing the sun-ring, it was the same.
Skills learned through external influences rather than self-mastery inevitably felt inferior in actual use. In contrast, Osian, who had built up all his techniques from the basics, was not like that.
"As expected, compared to the real thing, I'm bound to be pushed back."
"You're admitting it quite readily."
"I never thought I could win with pure close combat skill from the beginning. But fighting isn't simply about clashing swords alone. You know that too, right?"
-Creak.
New flesh was added to the scar carved on Zaxilos armor. As for Osian, he wanted to at least cut off the guy's leg, but even that was barely the result of targeting a gap.
"This time I'm going for real."
Zaxilos moved the same as before. He charged straight at Osian.
But if there was a difference this time, it was that the sun rings on both his shoulders glowed and projected beams.
-Swoosh!
The long-fired sun-ring beams each curved like boomerangs, pressuring Osian from both sides.
'Long-range firepower projection. Right, this is actually the real way to use the sun-ring.'
Moreover, the trajectory was strange. Instead of firing straight, it fired diagonally. And it was a route that blocked escape routes so this side couldn't dodge. It was truly like having two first-class snipers providing additional support.
'All movement routes are blocked.'
Osian boldly erased the option of evasion from his mind. Instead, he stepped forward and charged at Zaxilos.
...!
Zaxilos seemed momentarily surprised that he would close the distance. But he welcomed this too and swung his sun-ring sword.
Osian, who summoned a shield in his left hand, deflected the beam coming from the left as if flowing it away, and blocked the beam from the right using his nebula silk.
Unable to completely block it, part of the nebula silk caught fire and was damaged. In the meantime, Zaxilos, who had approached close range, brought his sword down heavily.
Osian looked at that sight and his form split left and right as if dividing. It was the power of Moon Scar.
Zaxilos eyes trembled. Suddenly Osian had doubled. Then he realized one of the two was fake.
The sword was already swinging. Then which of the two was real? He had to change the trajectory but Osian didn't miss that momentary gap.
'From the moment you hesitate, the sword wavers and the strength weakens.'
Osian, who had been about to split in two, merged back into one. The Starlight Sword suddenly pierced under the wavering sword's trajectory.
-Clang!
The sun-ring sword, which hadn't been properly powered, was knocked away. However, a large eyeball appeared from the armor on Zaxilos wide-open chest.
-Flash!
The moment the eyeball directly looked at Osian, a sun-ring beam shot out. It was a strike that delivered an unexpected counterattack to an enemy charging to exploit an opening.
Osian lowered his body and dodged the beam. He could feel the scorching heat brush past his back.
'Truly like a being twisted by receiving an outer god's power.'
An eyeball coming out of the chest to shoot lasers. But this was nothing compared to what the guy originally intended to do. What was truly dangerous was the sun-ring sword anyway.
Zaxilos, who had regained his stance, struck down with his sun-ring sword. Osian retreated, but Zaxilos persistently pursued. The sun-ring sword danced splendidly in the air. Every trajectory was aimed at this side's vital points. Even grazing a single one would be at least a fatal wound.
-Crack!
As if refusing to allow Osian to retreat, his tentacle cloak dug into the ground. The cloak that burst through the ground transformed like a palm and grabbed both of Osian's ankles.
After sealing his movement like that, he swung the sun-ring sword with powerful firepower.
'I can't dodge. I have to face it all head-on.'
Osian gripped his sword and shield and prepared for the approaching storm.
-Clang clang clang clang clang!
Every time he saw a golden trajectory, he either struck it down with the Starlight Sword or raised his shield to block it. The shield imbued with both Starlight and Moon Scar energy created white steam every time it collided with the sun-ring sword.
Cold and heat mixed together, spewing smoke around them, and that smoke was torn apart by the aftermath of sword clashing against sword.
'The attacks are fierce. Quite sharp.'
Zaxilos didn't rest his attacks. He moved ruthlessly as if trying to squeeze out all the energy in his body. It was a continuous attack that would tire even observers.
An ordinary person wouldn't be able to sustain such ruthless attacks for even 10 seconds before becoming exhausted from shortness of breath, but Zaxilos was different.
Swoosh! Whoo!
Oxygen was rapidly absorbed through the gaps in Zaxilos' armor, then expelled as steam filled with heat through his back. The guy was able to replenish vast amounts of oxygen even while moving violently. He was truly a living jet engine.
'To use his body in such a way. This is why outer god followers are...'
It was a technique possible because the armor was his body. Osian heightened his senses to the extreme. His sharp senses read where the approaching heat would arrive.
He felt heat on his shoulder. It wasn't that heat had actually approached. His extreme concentration predicted the opponent's attack and sent a signal through a kind of phantom pain. When he brought the Starlight Sword there, the sun-ring sword belatedly fell and collided with the Starlight Sword.
Osian's mind spun rapidly. He used every single brain cell solely for concentrating on Zaxilos.
All the surrounding scenery became faintly blurred. When he concentrated his consciousness on one point, the boundaries of the world collapsed, and only Zaxilos was visible.
He could predict all of Zaxilos movements - where and how he would swing his sword.
'Block and deflect everything.'
Clang clang clang clang clang clang clang!
Countless sword strikes were exchanged in less than a second.
'It's not breaking through?'
Zaxilos was quite flustered by the fact that all his decisive attacks were blocked. The pure output of the sun-ring sword was stronger than the Starlight Sword. Yet Osian took no damage whatsoever. He had blocked everything before the attacks could properly gather force. It felt like punching a massive iron fortress with his fist.
'This is a knight.'
The greatest trial and formidable enemy he must overcome.
-Grind!
Zaxilos burned his eyes even more fiercely.
-Swoosh!
His entire body greedily sucked in the surrounding oxygen.
-Whoosh!
The ring above his head emitted even hotter heat.
He tried to collapse the guy's balance with the two arms that had grabbed Osian's ankles. But Osian didn't budge at all. Rather, the tentacle cloak broke with a cracking sound.
A vivid cold energy was transmitted from the cloak. The area around Osian's soles was frozen pure white due to the cold.
Osian stepped forward. At that moment, his form left an afterimage as if sliding. Zaxilos held a sun-ring sword in his left hand too. Having seen Osian use twin swords, he was using the same.
Right. If we're going to do it like a knight, we should give it a name like this.
Two Suns Appearing Together (二日竝現).
Two sun-ring swords glowed on both sides and were swung toward Osian.
Osian's form lowered as if flattening against the ground. Before long, Osian, who had taken position behind Zaxilos, swung his sword toward his ankle.
Zaxilos kicked off the ground and leaped high. At the same time, he performed a back somersault and swung his twin sun-ring swords at Osian.
'One Starlight Sword can't handle it.'
Osian put away his shield and gripped the Moon Scar Blade in his left hand.
-Clang clang clang clang clang clang clang!
During the airtime from when Zaxilos performed his back somersault, leaping over Osian, until he landed on the ground. Three energies crossed each other in complex ways, beautifully decorating the air.
In the dance of star, moon, and sun, the arena floor couldn't withstand that power and cracked.
It melted from the sun-ring's power, froze and shattered from Moon Scar's power, and was sharply cut by Starlight's power.
Even in such an environment, the two beings didn't take their eyes off each other. Both were aware that the moment they looked away even slightly, they would be torn apart by the opponent's fangs.
The moment Zaxilos landed, Osian moved. His leg fiercely trampled the ground.
-Grind.
The floor cracked and sank deeply under tremendous leg strength.
Osian used the recoil from pushing off his body as propulsion. Like an arrow throwing his body, his form was shot forward.
Gathering all the propulsion into his sword, he gripped the Starlight Sword and Moon Scar Blade in a crossed manner and struck down with all his might. Zaxilos raised his twin sun-ring swords and took a defensive stance.
-Boom!
Zaxilos body swayed greatly. The ground where he stood sank together like a crater forming. Zaxilos' tentacle cloak became a solid support, holding up his body to prevent it from falling.
-Sizzle!
The waist armor cracked and two arms burst out. The two arms each gripped sun-ring swords that had protruded from both shoulders.
Unlike the twin sun-ring swords, these were sun-ring swords for one-time use. But because the sun-ring's power was too strong, even one-time use was threatening.
-Swoosh!
Osian turned his head to the side. The thrown sun-ring sword grazed past his cheek. His helmet heated up hotly and was wounded.
Another sun-ring sword was about to be fired. Crack! Osian kicked that wrist with his leg. The wrist broke and the sun-ring sword scattered. In the meantime, Zaxilos, who had regained his stance, strongly burned the sun-ring above his head.
-Whoosh!
A massive heat wave burst forth and pushed Osian's body away.
-Hiss!
The pure white frost covering Osian's armor met the heat and turned into white steam. That steam was pushed away and scattered by the second wave of heat.
'Quite thorough indeed.'
Zaxilos rose into the air. His cloak gathered at his shoulders to become two arms. Two arms extending below his armpits. Two arms extending above his shoulders. A total of six arms all gripped sun-ring swords and took different stances.
-Swish.
The sun-rings on both shoulders became one with the sun-ring burning behind his head. The sun-ring that had become three overlapping rings burned like a halo behind his back.
It was like looking at a transcendent being who had achieved nirvana.
But Osian knew. Beyond that overwhelmingly imposing appearance, the guy was suffering.Newest update provided by noᴠelfire.net
'The sun-ring's power is strong, but it's a wild beast that's difficult to handle. To use all six sun-ring swords, even Cardinal Zaxilos would inevitably feel pressure.'
Zaxilos wouldn't be unaware of this. Yet he was going this far because he too knew this fight couldn't be prolonged.
The guy intended to end the fight in the shortest time possible even if it would permanently strain his body.
'If I retreat and drag out time, I would be at an advantage, but...'
There was no space to retreat from the arena in the first place. And intentionally dragging out time by just running away wasn't his way.
If that side was going to ram into him like a truck with broken brakes.
'This side will ram right back.'
-Whoosh!
Osian's blue eyes changed to bright yellow. At the same time, the armor composing his body also changed.
When hot flames wrapped around his entire body, what took the place of the pure white armor was heavy-looking golden armor.
-Clank!
[Sun-ring shackles]
A ring also appeared behind Osian's back. The sun-ring ring looked at Zaxilos ring and emitted even more intense heat.
Seeing that sight, Zaxilos eyes lit up.
'It's finally here.'
Though it was power he had absorbed, he knew Osian could handle that same thing. He had felt firsthand how Osian had exploded the sun-ring's power and burned away 10% of the Trinity Building area.
Therefore, Zaxilos saw this as an opportunity. While using that, Osian's mobility would be reduced to the extreme. His defense against the outside would rise to the extreme, but...
'It's not enough to withstand the same sun's sword.'
Right. This head-on confrontation was clearly a fight advantageous to Zaxilos. Yet Osian had chosen this method.
It wasn't because he didn't know. It was because he couldn't retreat even knowing. As expected, you're thinking the same thing too. Zaxilos felt his chest growing hot.
Whether that was the sun's heat, or if he had become emotionally heated under the influence of the knight's power, he didn't know. Perhaps it was because of the competitive spirit of finally being able to defeat his archenemy.
Though he had become a monster who abandoned his humanity, who would have thought such an aspect remained in him. It felt like he had been inversely eroded by the existence called a knight.
But it wasn't an entirely bad feeling.
The opportunity of a lifetime. An emotion that could only be felt once. Zaxilos decided to enjoy this moment. When all this was over, he would return to being an emotionless monster anyway.
-Crack!
At that moment, a change occurred in Osian's armor.