The avatar of Red Eternity that had taken over the Red Angel's body staggered and rose from its position. The eyeball embedded in its chest was trembling like an aspen tree facing the wind.
The main body of Red Eternity was currently confronting Osian. It was trying to cross over, but Osian was using all his strength to block that entrance.
Still, he thought that time would work in his favor if things continued like this. That was, until Osian brought out that power.
Urgency appeared in Red Eternity's eyes. The contracted yellow pupils turned toward Basilio.
There wasn't much time left now. Somehow, he had to use Basilio over there as a vessel. If he didn't, the passage that Cardinal Zaxilos had barely opened through the ritual would close.
If he missed this opportunity, who knew when the next chance would come, so his movements became urgent. He had to somehow squeeze out his remaining strength to devour Basilio.
However, even in this time where every second counted, Red Eternity couldn't move rashly. It was because of Basilio's condition.
Whoosh!
Pure white flames flickering above Basilio's mask. The opposing power contained in that heat made it difficult to approach carelessly.
"This is..."
Basilio, who had emerged from the mental world, looked down at his two hands. Starlight was burning above his black uniform. That wasn't all. Right now, his entire body was consumed by starlight.
'The same appearance as Phillis.'
Phillis had been devoured by the power of the sun ring, becoming a lich burning with golden flames. Looking at external factors alone, Basilio was not much different from the form Phillis had taken at the end.
But this was fundamentally different. Basilio could be certain of that.
'I'm perfectly fine. I haven't been devoured by the power, and I haven't lost my reason.'
Rather, his mind was incomparably clearer than before. His spirit, which had always burned itself with revenge and hatred, felt like it was forgetting all negative emotions for this moment and moving in a better direction.
Basilio clenched his fist tightly. He could see the starlight flames flickering on his palm scatter like heat haze, then gather again.
In this moment, he realized what he had to do.
"Y-you..."
Basilio approached Martinez, who was tending to his wounds. Martinez looked at Basilio burning with starlight flames and muttered as if he couldn't believe it.
"How on earth..."
"I know. Pretty confusing, right? Actually, I don't understand what's happening right now either."
Basilio readily agreed. He knew that the knight's power that Osian wielded was antagonistic to outside beings.
Basilio was an outer lich reconstructed by Red Eternity. He was in a position where he had no choice but to be greatly affected by Osian's power more than anyone else.
But right now, he was harmoniously melding with the starlight flames. The flames that should have burned beyond his flesh to his very soul were instead embracing and protecting him.
No matter how much he used his excellent mind as a mage, no answer came. In the end, Basilio gave up trying to find reasons or causes.
"Well, is that really so important? There's no need to think about it with your head. Just feel it."
Right. This was truly a miracle. Osian had left this power to protect him, and that power was protecting him from Red Eternity. Where could there be a fact more simple and clear than this?
In the end, to Osian, Basilio wasn't some lich reborn by Red Eternity, but a senior fixer belonging to the same office as him.
"Get up, boy."
Basilio extended his hand. Martinez looked at the hand burning with pure white flames, then grasped it with all his strength.
Whoosh!
Pure white sparks flew. Martinez had braced for burns, but was surprised again that his hand was perfectly fine. But this time he didn't express doubt. As Basilio had said, he decided not to think and just feel.
'It's warm.'
Rather, the starlight flames gave warmth to his body. This must be what it would feel like to be embraced in the arms of the Father in heaven.
The divine power existing within his body responded as if in resonance, fluctuating more strongly than before. It seemed to be jealous, telling him not to look elsewhere. With the warmth of the starlight as the driving force, divine power burned strongly.
Martinez felt like he wouldn't lose to anyone.
"Can you stand up too, miss?"
Basilio approached Malina. Malina grasped Basilio's hand and raised her body.
Meanwhile, Red Eternity erased his hesitation and revealed killing intent. The situation that had been full of leisure until then became the complete opposite. Red Eternity approached Basilio, unable to hide his impatience.
"I wanted to help support the others too, but it looks difficult."
"Leave that to me."
The voice heard from behind was Atilla's. Cephalopod legs brought the fallen people one by one and laid them down in one place.
Atilla was tending to the wounded. When deep-sea blue energy from her hands settled into their bodies, wounds could be seen healing.
"I-I may look like this, but I'm that one's saint."
Atilla had been chosen by Cthulatlap because of her outstanding sensitivity. Just as Zaxilos was Red Eternity's cardinal, Atilla was Cthulatlap's saint. And naturally, she possessed the ability to heal the wounded in this way.
Though her method was a bit grotesque and disgusting unlike ordinary divine power, the effect wasn't negligible.
"Good. I'll leave that side to you. We'll finish dealing with that disgusting bastard."
Basilio, Martinez, and Malina stood at the front. Red Eternity's eyes contorted with rage. The thorn wings that had burst through his back fluttered and shook.
-Don't expect any more mercy from me.
"Mercy my ass."
Basilio flicked his finger toward Red Eternity.
"If you're upset, don't just flap your mouth and come at me."
It was truly vulgar language, but the effect was certain. Who in the world could dare speak such words to an outer god?
"Sh-shouldn't we stop him?"
Atilla asked Cthulatlap, who had approached beside her at some point.
[Never mind. We just need to keep watching.]
"I-I've finished healing everyone, but their exhausted stamina hasn't returned yet. Those with severe wounds will take more time to recover. Still, at least I should help..."
[Stop it. Right now, if you interfere, you'll only get in the way.]
Cthulatlap's eyes watching the three people were serious.
[Those three now are sufficient.]
"But..."
[And isn't it enjoyable too? How long has it been since that arrogant red bastard has been so openly cursed at? Basilio, was it? Even I feel refreshed.]
Seeing her god purely rejoicing, Atilla made a subtle expression.
Martinez created a weapon with sacred alchemy. If it were the usual him, he would have made a vicious blunt weapon 10 times larger than his own body.
But Martinez knew it would be useless against Red Eternity.
'It's not something you can win just by being big and strong.'
He had experienced that in his fight with Osian too. At that time, Martinez had definitely been ahead of Osian in pure power output. But it was Martinez who was defeated. He knew the reason.
Power wasn't unconditionally good just because it was big. The delicate tuning of how freely and precisely you could handle it. That was exactly what was important.
'Reduce the size. Sharp, not blunt.'
The size of the mace made with sacred alchemy decreased at a noticeable speed. What had been over 7 meters long became the size of an ordinary mace.
But that didn't mean it had become weaker. He had compressed greater power than he had used before into a smaller form. Considering the density of power, it was safe to say it had become much stronger.
'And creating shields with sacred alchemy at crucial moments is too inefficient.'
It had been a habit due to his innate amount of divine power. Until now, he had been able to gain the upper hand in fights with enemies even doing that. But facing Red Eternity, he could feel keenly how foolish that action was. No matter how quickly he made them, there would inevitably be empty time. What he had thought was safe was actually full of openings to the enemy.
'There's still much to learn. So this time, I'll make it in advance.'
Clank. Martinez encased his body in armor made with sacred alchemy. It was different from when he had used weapons or sacred fire until now.
Golden armor covered from Martinez's both forearms to his chest. It was sacred armor made by compressing divine power to the extreme.
He wanted to wear full-body armor if possible, but it wasn't easy. Making armor required a different method than weapons. It wasn't something he could make right away.
After much effort, wearing armor that covered his upper body was all he could do. But that was enough.
'It's okay to be inexperienced now. I just need to improve from here on.'
If he knew there was a path to advance on, he just had to keep moving forward without stopping. No matter how long it took, if he didn't stop, he knew he would surely reach it someday.
Because that man was there, walking ahead and lighting the way, he could keep going without stopping.
Whoosh!
A halo blazed behind Martinez's back. Martinez, carrying a halo made of sacred flames on his back, gripped his mace while emitting golden light from his eyes.
-You changed in that brief moment?
Red Eternity frowned at Martinez's completely different momentum. The guy who had been pushing forward with brute force until then was starting to properly control it.
Those eyes turned toward Malina.
Martinez wasn't the only one who had changed.
"Whew. Now I'm starting to get the hang of it."
Malina exhaled and relaxed her entire body. Her body, which had been stiff with tension and fighting spirit, relaxed softly. She relaxed so much that even her presence seemed to disappear like a deflated balloon.
'I don't have power strong enough to crush enemies head-on. What I've always used to decide battles is speed.'
Malina, who had gained enlightenment through her battle with Sabrina, clearly realized how she should proceed.
'I just need to attack faster than the enemy attacks. When the enemy attacks once, I need to attack twice or three times. And that's only possible if your body is light.'
So rather, let's throw it all away. The sense of responsibility that she must defeat the enemy before her, the pressure that she must protect her family, the fighting spirit that she must not lose.
Throw it all away and lighten her body by emptying it. Emptying didn't mean becoming nothing.
Sometimes, to fill something, you had to empty everything first.
So empty all the things that weighed down the body and mind. What filled that space was pure killing intent to kill the enemy before her.
Shadows climbed up Malina's entire body and wrapped around her. The shadows were like flames, like heat haze, like mist.
The flickering shadows surrounded Malina's body and concealed her form.
"Everyone seems ready. Waiting for juniors is also the duty of someone who's a senior in life."
Basilio looked at the two with satisfaction and spoke.
"Well then, let's begin."
Red Eternity kicked off the ground and charged to reclaim the final vessel.
Behind Osian's back, stars, moon, and sun rose. The three emblems kept their positions without invading each other, making their respective powers resonate even more strongly.
When those waves burst forth, the corrupted beings that had been creeping closer around Osian turned to powder and disappeared.
Even the powerful sun ring had only managed to turn them to ash, but the sun-moon-star-god disintegrated existence itself to the atomic level.
The heart connecting Red Eternity pulsed violently. The waves created by the heart's beating sounds gave tremendous pressure toward Osian.
If it had been before, he would have stepped back several paces, but Osian was merely calm.
No, rather, it would be more accurate to say he had no leisure to pay attention to that heart's sound.
'Even the slightest deviation won't do.'
Osian had to pour most of his concentration into delicately tuning the powers of Starlight, Moon Scar, and Sun Ring. Originally, even mixing Starlight and Moon Scar was quite difficult. Even though the two powers had no rough edges, mixing them was a separate matter.
It wasn't for nothing that in games, the moment you invested in one trait, you couldn't go to the other. The three powers that knights handled could never be established together.
But now, Osian was using all three powers simultaneously, beyond just using two together.
From combining Starlight and Moon Scar, he had added the most violent Sun Ring. That was far more difficult than deriving optimal combination formulas based on countless mathematical equations.
It was something that had to be done with pure intuition, instinct, and flashing senses alone. And he was using it directly in actual combat without any practice whatsoever.
Just attempting it was nothing short of insane but Osian had accomplished that insane feat.
Powers that seemed like they would repel each other moved according to his will. It was fine now, but cracks would appear the moment his concentration slipped. So he wouldn't let his guard down.
But at least for this moment, let him purely enjoy this achievement he had accomplished.
This was a new path that wasn't even shown in games, that he himself had pioneered.
"The upper side seems to have made its resolve too. Then I can't just stand still either."
Osian spoke while looking at Red Eternity's eye that had appeared in the center of the heart.
Osian raised his left hand. Above his palm, the energy of sun-moon-star-god gathered to form a sphere. A beautiful sphere where three colors mixed in swirling patterns scattered light around it.
Crack crack crack!
Red Eternity, sensing crisis, scattered blood-red tentacles like tree roots toward Osian. A terrifying tsunami reminiscent of optic nerve bundles, numbering in the tens of thousands, came rushing in.
Osian looked at it and pointed the celestial sphere in his hand straight ahead.
Starlight-Moon Scar-Sun Ring Triple combination technique
[Bright Light That Illuminates the World]
Light that made it hard to distinguish heaven and earth exploded.