Light burst forth. It was a clear light mixed with white, yellow, and blue colors. There was no sound. The light erased everything around it. The corrupted beings were naturally included, and so were the bright red roots that Red Eternity had extended.
The roots touched by the light had their surfaces crack like drought-stricken earth. Following those cracks, the roots shattered like glass and then decomposed into countless more fragments.
Breaking and breaking repeatedly, they became much smaller than grains of sand, and those tiny particles were swept away by the light and disappeared.
Paaaat!
The world that looked as if it were stained with blood was colored like a pure white canvas. The red stone statues that had been offering prayers crumbled to dust and disappeared as if they had faced the winds of time.
After the light disappeared, a huge crater remained in the gray-white world.
A scene unfolded as if a meteorite had fallen with Osian at the center. The light from heaven had purified the very space that had been devoured by Red Eternity.
The writhing flesh walls hardened like solid gray-white plaster. No life force could be felt. It was the same for other locations.
The only thing maintaining its original color in this place was the giant heart connected to Red Eternity's main body.
The heart was still pulsating, but its intensity was not what it used to be. More than half of the red vines that had extended from the heart in countless numbers, devouring the surroundings, had disappeared.
It had suffered tremendous damage from a single technique Osian had used.
-How dare you!
Red Eternity expressed its emotions without reserve. Its furious gaze turned toward Osian. That alone struck Osian's body with tremendous physical force.
It was an unavoidable attack, but Osian was not frightened. This was because of the energy of the sun, moon, and stars that had risen behind him.
-Paaaat!
The energies of the sun, moon, and stars interlocked in a triangular formation and rotated. That power formed a protective barrier around Osian's body.
-Kwang!
Red Eternity's attack struck the barrier. A massive shockwave erupted, and the surrounding hardened earth flipped over like waves but even in the midst of that destructive act, Osian maintained his position without any trouble.
-Crack!
Red Eternity's anger reached its peak as it poured its power through the hole. It was to kill the knight before its eyes.
-Crack! Crackle!
The heart pulsated earnestly. It struggled desperately to vomit Red Eternity's power outward.
'It's determined to kill me. But by pouring too much power, the passage is about to collapse instead.'
Cracks began to form around the hole carved in the center of the heart.
This place was an otherworld altered by Cardinal Zaxilos. It was a permitted space where outer beings could exert their influence with relatively fewer restrictions. But that didn't mean there were no restrictions at all.
Red Eternity knew this too, so it had arranged its vessels here. Probably the first target was Phillis, and the next would have been Zaxilos.
'But those two died by my hand. For Red Eternity, it's as if two vessels flew away.'
That was why Red Eternity chose Basilio. It didn't care that Basilio harbored hatred beyond mere antipathy toward it. It could just erase the ego. All it needed was for him to faithfully serve as a vessel.
But even that attempt failed because of the power of starlight that Osian had left in Basilio's mask.
'Of course, the power of starlight is not complete. No matter how much Basilio receives help from that power, if Red Eternity is determined to devour him, he will be overcome.'
The moment Basilio is overcome by Red Eternity, all the suffering here would become meaningless. But Osian didn't worry about what was happening behind him.
'I believe.'
Osian believed in the people left behind. The Blood Brotherhood, the Slithering Sisters, and the witch Maia too.
Among them, what Osian believed in most were Martinez and Malina. Both were heroes arranged by the world to fight against external enemies, just like himself.
Though they might still be immature, their talents were not something that could be ignored. And Basilio himself would also resist desperately.
'I leave the rear to you.'
Now focus on the monster before your eyes. Watch how its anger will proceed and react accordingly.
-Crack! Crackle!
Ominous sounds echoed from the heart imbued with Red Eternity's power. Along with sounds of something tearing and splitting, cracks appeared in the heart.
'If there's any consolation, it's that the creature is considerably angered by this situation.'
Red Eternity would have naturally expected to push him out from here. It was a natural judgment. Even if Osian possessed transcendent power, he was human, and Red Eternity was an outer god.
What it overlooked was that Osian was not the same person it had known before. He was using not just one characteristic, but three simultaneously. Beyond celestial power, the power of heaven itself was imbued.
The dense energy of Red Eternity that had been devouring this entire space had diminished to the point where it could now only be faintly felt. For Red Eternity, it was maddening.
'A precious opportunity to descend into this world that it had finally obtained. If it missed this moment, it might not know when the next chance would come. No matter how transcendent an outer god might be, wouldn't it be angry and frustrated?'
Red Eternity couldn't control its emotions and tried to use even more power to somehow kill Osian.
-Crrrack!
A stem much larger than before protruded from inside the hole. The hole looked precariously close to tearing and the branch-like thing that emerged split into two.
The split branches divided again, and the divided branches continued to split repeatedly.
The branches multiplying at tremendous speed were not just ordinary branches.
-Crack! Crackle!
Countless eyes appeared on the surface of the branches, and teeth grew. They repeatedly opened and closed their mouths as if hungry.
-Hiss. Whoosh!
Billions of breathing holes carved on the surface absorbed air while simultaneously emitting red mist around them. The dimmed surrounding space began to fill with a dense blood scent once again.
The eyes sprouting from the branches all glared at Osian in unison. How many were there? Fewer than the breathing holes, but certainly not a small number. At least tens of thousands. And they were increasing in real-time.
Being the center of attention from countless spectators would be suffocating, but what if they all contained the will of an outer god filled with murderous intent?
Ordinary people would not be able to endure it and their minds would collapse. But Osian did not.
-Crack! Crackle!
The branches clacking their teeth approached Osian. Their speed didn't seem fast, yet they appeared difficult to avoid.
Should I say they excluded the very option of the opponent fleeing? It was unnecessary for Osian, who had no intention of retreating anyway, but it gave him a renewed sense of an outer god's greatness.
"But even so, there are limits to what can be done with restricted power."
Osian raised the sword in his right hand.
"Starlight."
Among the three energies floating behind Osian, the pure white starlight settled into his sword.
Osian pointed the sword in his left hand downward.
"Sun Ring."
This time, the energy of the Sun Ring settled into the sword in his left hand. Starlight for the sky and Sun Ring for the earth. Osian, who had raised the two swords up and down, rotated as if performing a sword dance while holding them.
Kiiiiiiing!
Pure white flames and bright yellow flames rose simultaneously, rotating like interlocking gears.
It was the first demonstration of the combined technique of Starlight and Sun Ring.
"Star-Sun Heavenly Rotation.”
The two gears rotated as if overlapping, transforming into a shape reminiscent of infinity. It emitted intense light and caused a massive explosion.
-Puhwaaak!
Branches numbering in the millions were swept up in the explosion and disappeared without leaving even black ash and Red Eternity also spewed blood mist and entered resistance. In terms of pure power scale, Red Eternity was stronger. But it had numerous restrictions hanging on it. If Osian had used only a single energy, it might have been different, but from the moment he utilized multiple energies simultaneously, this compatibility could not be overturned.
-Groooooo!
The mouths sprouting from some branches all vomited anger in unison. Resonating with the emotions of Red Eternity, their main body, they spewed blood sprays from their mouths like mad.
Red blood was splattered over the gray world, causing erosion. When blood was splattered on the withered and twisted earth, the earth became moistly colored and began to writhe again.
-Bubble. Bubble.
Bubbles formed in the earth and burst with popping sounds. From within, worms made of all kinds of flesh emerged. Monsters that made one's skin crawl just by looking at them gushed out like fountains.
It was an unbelievable quantity to have been born from bubbles of that size. It was truly a scene that transcended physical laws by far.
But Osian was not afraid even after seeing this. He then changed the Starlight in his right hand to Moon Scar.
The energy dwelling in the sword turned blue, and the sword changed to a single-edged blade.
Moon Scar and Sun Ring. Yin and yang. Cold and heat. The two opposing energies did not collide but harmoniously interlocked following Osian's guidance.
If Starlight and Sun Ring were gears that fit together perfectly, Moon Scar and Sun Ring were like seeing a taiji endlessly rotating, each biting the other's tail.
That taiji spewed forth vast torrents and surged toward the corrupted beings like a tsunami.
"Moon-Sun White Clear Wave.”
Beautiful blue-white swept over the red earth. It was like a great wave crashing over a red sandy beach. The corrupted beings swept up in it disappeared without a trace.
The same was true for the branches extended by Red Eternity. Those swept up by the waves melted away fluidly like salt pillars soaked in water.
Red Eternity spat blood in response and raised red clouds. Each time, the heart pulsated violently. Rather, it beat so intensely that it looked dangerous.
-Crack!
A chilling sound came from the heart imbued with Red Eternity's power. Red Eternity's offensive, which had seemed endless, faltered after that sound.
'The passage has finally reached its limit.'
That heart was a kind of passage for summoning Red Eternity to this boundary world. Judging by the tremendous energy the heart itself possessed, Zaxilos had definitely created it by condensing life force and blood over a long period of time.
Even what the cardinal of the Eternal Church had created with all his passion and effort, weaving through countless ages, could only contain an extremely small part of Red Eternity.
Red Eternity was that powerful. But it had been swept away by its own emotions and poured out even more power.
For Red Eternity, this was not a particularly serious matter.
'But that heart won't be the same. It's a door for completely transmitting the outer god's power to this world. When trying to force something larger than such a door through it, problems are bound to arise.'
Red Eternity didn't stop there and forcibly poured out more power. The result was exactly what was happening now.
The heartbeat that had been pounding madly slowed down. At the same time, Red Eternity's power that had been devouring the space weakened noticeably.
'The passage is broken. It can't withstand its power and is about to collapse.'
Red Eternity also realized what it had done and belatedly tried to reinforce the passage by infusing power into the heart. But the heart had already exceeded the critical point of power it could contain. Even if Red Eternity tried to remedy the situation, it was irreversible.
A giant pupil filled with bewilderment turned toward Osian but Osian mocked Red Eternity.
"Well. Isn't this something you brought upon yourself?"
Red Eternity sent its will filled with angry emotions toward Osian. It was an emotion containing such an amount of information that just hearing it would melt one's brain and make one's head explode. It was truly a curse worse than any curse.
But Osian let such words go in one ear and out the other. There was no need to pay attention to such a creature's whispers in the first place.
"Now I shall end this."
Osian raised his sword. The two swords merged into one. With a flash of light, the three energies simultaneously settled over the sword that had changed into a great sword.
The three energies intertwined with each other without colliding, drawing their own flows and lines to create beautiful harmony.
This was a kind of milestone that a Knight of Heaven could reach.
Though it was a realm achieved through hasty improvisation, Osian could finally realize where he needed to go.
Knight of Heaven, a symbol of freedom that contains the power of celestial bodies and wanders the world.
We walked looking at the stars, moved with the sun as our companion, and sought sleep with the moon.
Heaven itself is the source of power.
-Flash!
The sword mixed with three energies blazed brilliantly. The length of the blade kept extending, growing endlessly.
This is the light we pursue.
"Heavenly Light Sword."
Osian swung his sword and from top to bottom, pure white light fell majestically.
-Slice!
The world was cut along the sword's trajectory. Beyond countless thorns and tentacles, to the heart beyond them, and even to Red Eternity's eye further beyond.
The world split vertically shifted up and down like geological strata.
Osian looked at that scene and smiled with satisfaction.