Martinez raised his hand. In his hand blazed a brilliantly burning quarterstaff.
"I won't introduce myself. And I won't ask for your name either."
-Whirring.
The quarterstaff spun, scattering sacred flames around. The brilliantly dancing sparks pushed back the darkness. The clown frowned as he glared at Martinez. Martinez quietly pronounced his judgment toward the clown.
"You will die here, by my hand."
At those words, the clown grinned hideously. With his torn mouth smiling, it was nothing short of horrifying.
Martinez disappeared from his position. Sacred flame sparks rippled where he had vanished as if suddenly extinguished.
The clown bounced up from his position like a spring. Martinez's quarterstaff fell where he had been just moments before.
-CRASH!
-Creak. Creeeeak.
The clown's head swayed greatly from side to side. The clown's rattling head fixed on Amelia. The grinning clown crouched down and then shot toward Amelia.
"Kyaaah!"
Amelia screamed and crouched down.
-THUD!
Martinez stood in front of Amelia and created a golden shield. The clown's giant two arms grabbed onto the shield made of sacred alchemy.
The clown, who had been trying to push through with force, eventually changed his expression and retreated. Martinez clicked his tongue inwardly at that sight.
"His instincts are sharp."
He had planned to pretend to be pushed back like this and aim for the gap when the creature came closer. But somehow the clown knew and retreated before this side could even attack.
He had failed in trying to induce the enemy's carelessness by taking advantage of his small stature.
'Just as Brother Osian said. That creature is dangerous.'
Martinez hadn't taken Osian's warning lightly. From the moment he came and told him about it, Martinez had used sacred alchemy to create a subtle barrier around the orphanage. It was thanks to this that he was able to confirm when Amelia had secretly snuck out.
'It seems to be lightly mocking us while also clearly showing wariness. It absolutely won't let its guard down. At this rate, it'll be hard to end this with a quick decisive battle.'
Martinez was strong, but compared to Osian, he lacked the decisive power to finish an enemy with a single blow. Especially against a creature that slipped away like a mudfish as it was doing now, he wouldn't lose but it would also be difficult to grasp victory.
'It's different from Red Eternity.'
Red Eternity had charged forward with massive power like a tank, straightforwardly. It was possible because it had the confidence to trample anyone, no matter who the opponent was. Actually, Cthulatlap had said something like that too. That's how the outer gods fight.
-Whooooo.
The clown pursed his lips and whistled. An ominous wind blew and Martinez frowned.
Flickering shadows appeared from the darkness. As they came closer, their forms were revealed by the sacred flames.
They were children's corpses. The corpses seemed quite damaged, with parts of skin falling off or bodies severely mutilated.
Zombies were the result of necromancy used by black magicians but what the outer god was using was distinctly different.
"Huhihihihihi."
Looking closely, strings were hanging above the children's corpses. They were so thin and transparent that they would be hard to find without careful observation.
The clown was controlling the children's corpses with strings like marionette puppets.
"Save me."
"I don't want to suffer anymore."
"Please, save me."
Martinez's expression hardened coldly. He felt Amelia tightly gripping the hem of his clothes beside him. Martinez closed his eyes tightly, then lightly pushed Amelia's forehead with his finger.
Amelia's eyes slowly closed. After laying Amelia's body down, Martinez created a golden protective barrier around her.
Meanwhile, the approaching children knocked on the barrier with their hands.
Save me. Save me please. I want to see my mom. Martinez gritted his teeth.
"You."
His gaze, full of anger, turned toward the clown. Martinez realized what the clown had done. That creature had captured and devoured weak children, then used them as his minions.
The state of those children was no different from zombies. They had no choice but to move as the clown gestured. Yet those children were still alive. Yes. The children's souls were being held captive by the clown.
The fact that he had turned children who had so much life ahead of them into this state poured oil on Martinez's anger.
"I'm sorry."
Martinez honestly apologized to the children in their wretched state.
"For not being able to help you. For not being able to save you."
Actually, Martinez didn't need to apologize. The children becoming like this wasn't his fault. It was entirely the fault of that clown laughing over there.
But if he couldn't even give a warm word to the suffering lambs he witnessed, how could he call himself a paladin?
Martinez apologized with sincerity.
-Whoosh.
Sacred flames rose from his body. The sacred flames passed through the barrier and spread outward. The sacred flames transferred to the bodies of the children who had been knocking on the barrier.
The children's bodies instantly turned to ash and crumbled. There were no screams. He knew this wasn't complete salvation. Unless the clown was killed, the children's souls would still suffer. But at least, he could prevent them from being used like this.
-SWOOSH!
Martinez's right hand created a spear. Before the clown could say anything, a golden spear shot like a ray of light pierced through its mouth.
The clown's body lost strength and fell. Martinez rushed in to finish it off. Then the clown's body swelled up and burst like a balloon with a pop sound.
Colorful balloons popped out from inside, blocking Martinez's view. Martinez tried to burn all the balloons with sacred flames, but there were too many.
"Huhihihihi."
In the meantime, he could see the clown flying through the sky holding a bunch of balloons. Martinez quietly watched the clown's figure disappearing into the darkness of the night sky.
Osian, who had flatly refused Eva's proposal, came out of the waiting room to stand guard. He needed to prevent any suspicious people from approaching.
'Well, it seems like there are excellent bodyguards even without me.'
At the entrance, there were three other bodyguards besides Osian. They all wore black suits and had sunglasses on their faces. Were they trying to unify their atmosphere or something?
But despite their comical-looking attire, they were the real deal. They were none other than the people protecting the greatest diva at the closest distance.
'One is a mutant, the other looks like a well-trained soldier. And that woman over there...is she a mage? This is unexpected.'
The three direct bodyguards were two men and one woman. The female bodyguard with navy blue hair cut in a bob was a mage. And quite skilled at that.
He wondered why a mage of that level would do bodyguard work, but it made sense considering the person they were protecting was Rose.
'Still, I thought as a senior, she might give some advice or something.'
The three bodyguards showed no reaction even when they saw Osian. They just stood quietly as if their only duty was to guard their position.
I guess this is what being a professional means. Since Osian also wanted to avoid unnecessary conflicts, he kept his position.
Even if they didn't speak, he could feel their gazes watching him from behind their sunglasses. Even professionals must be somewhat curious after all.
Osian leaned his back against one wall and crossed his arms.
'I accepted Rose's request because it's an important opportunity to get close to her.'
Rose was one of the remaining pieces, a hero of the [Priest] class. Unlike other classes, she had changed quite a lot, but Osian could recognize her.
'To prepare for the dangers that lie ahead, Rose's help is essential.'
The problem was that she was a singer who had never experienced combat. The enemies they would have to fight in the future weren't liberation armies or foreign militaries but outer gods, incomprehensible beings trying to invade this world from outside.
Transcendent powerhouses that ordinary people weren't even allowed to look at, let alone oppose. Could Rose, who had only sung songs, really fight properly against them? That was Osian's worry.
But he couldn't just leave Rose alone. Her abilities were too valuable to let rot like this. The priest class could have a huge impact on combat just by providing buffs.
'First, I need to become close to her. If I suddenly bring up such topics, she won't believe me anyway.'
To instill trust, he needed to successfully complete this bodyguard request. Osian was just reaching that conclusion.
His head turned to stare down the corridor. A bit later, the other three bodyguards also stared down the corridor.
From beyond there, a man was approaching along with a bodyguard in a black suit. He had a small build, wore a hat pulled down low, and carried a large box in his hands.
The bodyguard was half-dragging the man as if escorting him.
"Stop. Who is that person?"
"He's a delivery man. It seems a package came for Lady Rose and he came to deliver it."
"He could just hand it over to us and leave."
"He insists it must be delivered directly."
The other bodyguards' gazes sharpened at this suspiciousness. It was already a tense time with the concert being held, so they couldn't carelessly let in even someone claiming to be a delivery man.
"I also found it suspicious and checked, and it was confirmed that he's actually affiliated with the delivery union. When I looked up the registration number for the mail, it matched. It's special mail. Still, just in case, I'm accompanying him."
"Hmm."
The delivery union had a system called special delivery where they would definitely deliver packages for expensive fees. It was used when delivering important items that shouldn't fall into others' hands, and because security was important, they absolutely wouldn't let others open the box first. Since his identity had been verified, they couldn't just tell him to go back.
"Is it something Rose ordered?"
"It might be."
"Then what should we do?"
The three bodyguards discussed among themselves. Naturally, Osian was excluded. Since this was Osian's first time with this work anyway, he was in a position where he had to listen and learn from the sidelines. So he had no particular complaints.
"I'll keep watching from the side to make sure he doesn't do anything suspicious."
The bodyguard who had brought the delivery man said. That must be why he had brought him this far. The direct bodyguards seemed to think about it for a moment at his words, then nodded.
"Fine. But I'll accompany you as well."
It was the female bodyguard, the mage, who spoke. She led the way, followed at a distance by the delivery man and one bodyguard.
It was the moment they passed by Osian, who was leaning against the wall.
Osian opened his mouth.
"Interesting little trick you're pulling."
The bodyguard who didn't understand Osian's words turned to look at him. The delivery man was still keeping his head down with his hat pulled low.
"What are you talking about right now?"
"I don't know exactly how you did it, but using a puppet to sneak in... well, I'll praise you for exploiting the loophole well. But the moment you were caught by me, it was already over."
"What the hell is this bastard talking about!"
The bodyguard who had brought the delivery man twisted his face and got angry. Regardless, Osian looked at the delivery man who was keeping his head down and said.
"Let's stop the pathetic acting. Or are we going to see the end here?"
When Osian spoke with conviction, the mage bodyguard also seemed to sense something and turned around while raising her mana.
"You there. What's your affiliation?"
"What do you mean? Are you suspecting me right now? Don't you all know that I've been working with you?"
The bodyguard protested as if wronged. Regardless, the female bodyguard coldly demanded his affiliation again.
"Answer properly. What's your affiliation?"
"I'm telling you... Hah. Damn it. I thought it would all work out."
With the bodyguard's sigh, the box the delivery man was carrying opened with a pop sound. From inside, a monster mixed with all sorts of bizarre-shaped insects popped out.
-Screeeeech.
The creature with a horrifying appearance like countless insects combined stared at the mage while dripping bodily fluids. The moment it caught its target, the insect moved. The creature, which overall resembled a centipede, quickly crawled across the ceiling aiming for the mage.
Despite being prepared in advance, her reaction was slow. That's how fast that insect monster was.
-SLASH!
Pure white flames rose and cut the insect into dozens of pieces. When the surprise attack failed, the bodyguard loosened his tie and charged at Osian. The delivery man was startled and fell on his bottom.
"Die!"
The mana in his fists struck the air and exploded. His two fists left countless afterimages as they mercilessly pummeled at Osian's body but Osian dodged the barrage of punches.
Osian's sword moved toward the flustered traitor.
-Slash.
The Starlight Sword smoothly cut through both wrists. The bodyguard who lost his fists collapsed on the spot. Osian kicked that creature's solar plexus with all his might.
"Kuhuk!"
The kicked body flew far away like a soccer ball. Having subdued his opponent in an instant, Osian looked at the delivery man who had fallen to the floor.
"Th-thank you."
The moment the delivery man tried to thank Osian but Osian's Starlight Sword aimed at the delivery man.
"I told you. From the moment you were caught, it was over."
The delivery man looked up at Osian with a dumbfounded face. Beyond the mask covering his entire mouth area, Osian's cold gaze pierced through his pupils.
The delivery man's expression hardened coldly. He opened his mouth to recite a spell he had prepared in advance.
-Stab!
But Osian's sword was faster. The blazing Starlight pierced through the creature's tongue and lower jaw.
-Crack!
At the same time, Osian kicked his arm, completely breaking the creature's right arm. As the arm broke, a capsule that had been prepared rolled across the floor.
While the other bodyguards were panicking, Osian pointed at the subdued delivery man and said.
"This guy is the real attacker."