Zaxilos' first discovery of the power of the Sun Ring was almost by chance.
The believers who joined the Eternal Church were basically composed of a high proportion of wealthy elderly people. Naturally, among such people were famous investors and businessmen, and one of those businessmen was the president of a construction company that was boring underground railways in Tirna.
While digging underground, he discovered a strange substance that emitted intense heat. It was a huge rock that shone with a bright yellow color, and it was no ordinary thing as it emitted tremendous heat along with light.
The believer sent that rock as a gift to the Eternal Church to make a good impression, and it caught Zaxilos' attention.
'That is no ordinary object. It contains tremendous power that even I find difficult to fathom.'
Zaxilos began researching the energy contained in the rock, and thus came to realize new facts.
This power was the power of the knight who had once driven the Eternal Church to near collapse in the past. Zaxilos felt some fear regarding this.
Why had the knight's power, which had weathered away and disappeared over the long years, appeared before him again? This might mean that their natural enemy, the knight, could appear in this world once more.
However, Zaxilos saw possibility in that situation. The fact that such a fearsome knight's power had come into his hands like this could also be seen as some kind of guidance of fate.
Though Zaxilos was cautious by nature, he could not hesitate before such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Thus he decided to grasp the sun. Even if his hands were to burn, he would never let go.
In the experiments that began this way, he created test subjects and began bestowing the power of the Sun Ring upon them.
The Sun Ring was a powerful force. It was equally difficult to handle. If you were not its true master, it would mercilessly burn you with scorching heat, leaving not even ash behind.
Even if you had been the original master, it probably wouldn't have obeyed properly - this was the only fact Zaxilos could learn through his experiments.
But Zaxilos was not to be underestimated in terms of persistence either. Moreover, he was a transcendent being who borrowed the power of an outer god.
Mobilizing bishops and archbishops, and all manner of scientists, he devoted his heart and soul to analyzing and adjusting the power of the Sun Ring, seeking to transform it into its optimal form.
The successful cases were precisely the Red Angels.
Though the power of the Sun Ring they could handle was temporary, a power that would disappear after a few uses, the fact that they could properly handle the ferociously rampaging beast opened up new horizons of possibility for him.
However, it wasn't all good news.
His life's greatest nemesis, the Sky Knight, had appeared.
'And moreover, the person himself who was thought to have disappeared long ago, in person.'
Had this world directly sent down a judge to punish him as he began expanding his influence? Zaxilos thought this was some kind of turning point.
Either fall to that fellow, or conversely, surpass him. Back then, he had no preparations and was mercilessly beaten, but now it was different. This time, I will surpass you. With this power that you once wielded.
Zaxilos finally stood before that crossroads. And he sought to raise the absorbed Sun Ring to its maximum and give his all against the enemy before his eyes.
'But then, what in the world is this?'
Even Osian using the same power of the Sun Ring as this side was within his calculations. However, the change that occurred immediately after was something Zaxilos had never anticipated.
-Clank! Clank!
Strange sounds came from Osian's armor, and the thick, massive golden armor began falling to the ground piece by piece.
The sight of that thing, which was closer to a prison than armor for confining a person, being dismantled from the outside one by one was a scene difficult to understand conventionally.
The massive shoulder armor disappeared, the thick leg armor fell with a thud. The breastplate split in half and fell, and another layer of breastplate nested within also fell in turn.
This armor, wrapped in double and triple layers, was not simply made sturdy to prepare for external impacts.
'The power of the Sun Ring is strong. That's why even the Sky Knight wears thick, sturdy armor to handle this power.'
The Sun Ring armor was not for protecting the body from enemies, but rather a form of self-defense to protect one's own body from the intense power of the sun.
Zaxilos could understand this because he had absorbed the Sun Ring. This power transmitted to him not only the methods of using the power, but also the experience and knowledge of how the users of this power had handled it.
'But now, that fellow has abandoned that optimal form.'
Why does an eagle have sharp beaks and large wings? Can a horse running on the earth do without sturdy hooves and tough muscles?
All things have their inherent forms. Even if they weren't that way at first, they are the optimal conclusions reached to suit themselves over time.
The Sun Ring armor was the same. It was the optimal form for handling the dangerous and ferocious power called the Sun Ring but Osian had cast that aside with his own hands.
He was now wearing only a very thin single layer of armor.
-Clank.
The dismantled armor pieces floated in the air and melted into golden color, becoming one with Osian's Sun Ring.
-Whirrr!
The Sun Ring rotated. It was to contain the tremendous power it held inside.
-Whoooosh!
Power that the Sun Ring could not contain escaped from the rotational flow and burst outward. Like a solar flare erupting, when the surging torrent of the sun, rippling like a heat haze, grazed one side of the arena, that place was hollowed out and evaporated.
It was a situation where even the user himself could be swept away if things went wrong but Osian paid no heed to this and simply watched Zaxilos quietly.
[Liberation Day]
The eyes within the somewhat thinner golden helmet remained as calm as ever.
What was that arrogant look? You are now walking a tightrope over a furnace. Yet you don't feel even a trace of fear?
Though Zaxilos asked with such a gaze, Osian did not answer. He simply gripped the Sun Ring sword in his right hand and took his stance.
It was a basic swordsmanship stance that would have been difficult to take when in Sun Ring armor form due to the clumsiness of the armor. Having completely cast off the armor, he wore golden armor that thinly covered his body.
Compared to the thick Sun Ring armor from before, it looked so much weaker that it appeared even weaker than the Moon Scar Battle Garb.
However, Zaxilos was not careless.
Osian had intentionally collapsed the optimal form for handling the power of the Sun Ring. That wasn't weakening. He had abandoned defense and stability in exchange for pushing mobility to its limits.
He wouldn't be unaware that removing the limiter himself could put him in danger too. Yet his attitude was utterly natural, as if he had to do it.
'That fellow threw himself into this dangerous gamble to defeat me.'
His chest was hot. It felt like fire was being kindled in his heart.
This wasn't the heat of the Sun Ring. Yes, what was burning in his heart was the intense competitive spirit to defeat the enemy before his eyes. It was the glorious emotion given only to warriors.
'Did I have such emotions?'
Perhaps absorbing the power of the Sun Ring and having their fighting methods and techniques injected into him had given him such a complacent mindset too.
During his cardinal days, he would have mocked such foolish behavior and thought it stupid. But to think he himself would harbor such emotions - it was quite a thing to live long enough to see.
However, it wasn't such a bad feeling.
If he could release this heat and burn himself with it, that would be enough. If he could grasp the victory beyond that, it would be sweeter than any fruit in the world. Then let's fight. Let's strive and seize victory.
This was not simply a fight for survival. It was the burning competitive spirit that only warriors possessed, impossible to express in words. Even if only ash remained of him at the end, the brilliance of this burning moment was never false.
Others probably wouldn't understand. That would be natural. He himself hadn't understood either. But that was fine. The fellow was before his eyes. What could be more important than that?
"My nemesis. I'm coming."
Zaxilos took his stance. There was no carelessness. With all his strength, he would defeat that fellow.
'Is he coming?'
From Zaxilos eyes, Osian could feel that he was serious. It would be appreciated if he were careless, but unfortunately, he was not. But it wasn't a bad feeling. Breaking a serious enemy head-on also had its own value.
'I can't last long.'
He had committed the extreme act of casting off the Sun Ring armor. Even when receiving the protection of the armor, it was difficult to endure the heat of the Sun Ring, but now it felt like his entire body was burning up. Even the heat resistance of the protective coat imbued with the Sun Ring's power could barely endure the heat.
'I must finish this as quickly as possible. This is truly a form for lightning warfare. And that applies to the opponent as well.'
Zaxilos also wore three layers of Sun Ring and wielded six Sun Ring swords. He too had contained power beyond his proper measure.
There cannot be two suns under the sky. Here, one of the two must surely die.
'I must awaken my senses to the maximum.'
From now on, even a moment's lapse of 0.1 seconds would directly lead to death. Having converted even the armor to Sun Ring output, even the Sun Ring's ring could not withstand the power and was spewing energy outward.
He was trying to control it somehow to prevent it from reaching this side as much as possible, but no one knew what would happen in the midst of battle.
At this crisis of death he hadn't felt in a long time, Osian felt the blood in his entire body surge with excitement.
Perhaps due to his extremely heightened concentration, everything in the world seemed to flow slowly. Within that, as if defying the flow of time, Zaxilos took his stance at normal speed. It was proof that he too had entered the same realm.
Osian, gripping his Sun Ring sword, kicked off the ground. Crack. The moment his leg stepped on the arena floor, the ground rippled greatly like a water surface.
That extreme energy condensed into a single point and propelled Osian's body forward. Osian advanced like a ray of light itself. So fast that it looked like a single golden beam of light was being shot forth.
Zaxilos swung his six swords in different directions. The trajectory of each sword blocked the opponent's attack routes, cut off retreat paths, and aimed for vital points. The injected techniques were complemented by the irregular vessel that was the Cardinal of the Eternal Church.
'The swords come flying in bizarre trajectories difficult for a human body to execute. I can't think of him as an ordinary knight.'
Having no limits on his physical body while using knight techniques and swordsmanship. He was a new type of enemy never fought before.
'The fighting techniques learned so far are useless.'
Abandon memory and experience. Fill all those empty spaces with sharp senses. Fighting by the book will guarantee defeat. At every moment, he had to respond with flashing intuition.
To do that, he had to entrust his body to this flow.
A life-or-death battle is a chaotic whirlpool where countless factors interlock. The only way to survive in that fair torrent of power is to entrust your body to the flow.
Golden lines clashed countless times in the air.
-Clang clang clang!
The arena floor couldn't withstand the two sword strikes and cracked into various fragments. The two leaped up stepping on those fragments, crossing their bodies countless times in the air.
-Clang clang clang clang clang!
The sounds were dense and the sword lines had high density. In the feast of light difficult to look away from, the two beings pushed their concentration to the limit while calculating all manner of moves.
-Whoosh!
A sword grazed overhead. He could feel the heat intensely heating one side of his helmet. The sword aiming for a vital point was blocked by thrusting out the Sun Ring sword. When Sun Ring and Sun Ring collided with each other, heat spread and tremendous energy scattered in all directions.
When the countless flying sparks touched the armor, the armor wore down at rapid speed. The collision of Sun Rings harbored tremendous danger. It was literally like wielding explosive devices that would detonate upon contact. A slight mistake would mean death by one's own weapon.
'But that applies to the opponent as well.'
Another sword flew in. It was a sword aiming for the thigh to block this side's mobility.
Osian deliberately brought his Sun Ring sword to meet it. He could feel Zaxilos flinch. It meant the collision of Sun Rings dealt him great damage too. But Osian boldly committed such an act nonchalantly. It was a gamble that Zaxilos would react.
He heightened his concentration. The boundaries of the surrounding world collapsed. As everything turned colorless and became pure white, only Zaxilos was visible.
Now, forgetting everything else, he concentrated solely on the enemy before his eyes.
-Creak.
When he took a step, the sound of thigh muscles twisting could be heard. It was the result of squeezing power from his entire body to a degree that would burden even a knight's body.
The retreating figure of Zaxilos drew close again. Osian swung his sword. It was swordsmanship that was incredibly fast and dazzling.
Zaxilos also countered by swinging his six swords without backing down. The moment Sun Ring and Sun Ring were about to collide, both slightly twisted their sword blades to direct the collision of forces outward.
However, the perfection of Zaxilos' swordsmanship was lacking compared to Osian's. The sparks created by sword clashing with sword burned away Zaxilos' armor.
Osian was superior in technique but Zaxilos responded to his lacking technique with a body that transcended limits. Six arms. Six Sun Ring swords. One could not block all six swords.
Osian reached his hand toward the torrent overflowing from behind his back.
-Sizzle!
The power of the Sun Ring bursting forth like a geyser burned his hand. His hand was instantly burned and blistered. Tremendous pain naturally followed.
Zaxilos couldn't understand Osian's action. Then belatedly, he discovered that he had grasped and pulled out something from within the solar torrent.
It was another Sun Ring sword. Just as this side had wielded multiple swords simultaneously, Osian had done the same.
Originally, twin Sun Ring Swords did not exist among knight techniques. There was only one reason Osian could deploy this: he had watched what Zaxilos used and imitated it on the spot.
Though the basic framework was the same as twin star swords, it was not something that could be done in the middle of battle.
-Boom boom boom boom boom!
The sound of bombs exploding rang out repeatedly as sword clashed with sword. The arena floor, unable to withstand the battle between the two, collapsed.
Both fell simultaneously. The gazes of the two falling crossed in the air. Immediately after, one of the falling debris interposed itself between them, blocking their view.
-Bang!
A hole was punched through the center of the debris as Zaxilos charged forward. The trajectory he moved through in the air lingered like a firefly's movement.
Solar slashes scattered simultaneously from six directions. Osian burst forth a massive flare behind him and charged forward in reverse. He used the power of the Sun Ring pushing his body from behind as propulsion.
-Flash!
A single light flashed once, and countless thin lines crossed behind, cutting through space. In the shock beyond limits, no sound existed. Even sound was completely burned away before the sun.