Osian kicked off the ground. His body rose smoothly and glided through the air. The military uniform shimmering with cold air minimized friction with the air. While running to his destination at maximum speed and via the shortest route, Osian activated his communicator.
"It's me."
[What's going on?]
Lukai answered Osian's call promptly despite being busy. He knew that Osian didn't make contact carelessly.
Osian immediately conveyed the conversation he had with Gaien in brief. Along with it, he told him that there would be external support, so don't be surprised or flustered and faithfully follow their instructions.
[Zero Ground. I've heard vaguely that such people exist. To think we'd receive their help.]
He seemed surprised but accepted it nonetheless. The evidence was that his somewhat stiff voice became much more relaxed. In a situation like this, even the smallest help was desperately needed.
[I'll tell my comrades not to be surprised and to follow their will well. Thanks for letting me know.]
"Yeah. That's enough."
"Same to you. And I'm looking for one little rat right now."
[I understand.]
Lukai immediately cut the communication so as not to interfere with Osian. It was the right choice since he also had many things to do.
Osian stared straight ahead. Beyond the scenery of District 44 visible from high altitude, the sun was setting. Orange and red, and gradually mixed light pastel tones of blue. It was a sky that could only be seen on rare clear days in Tirna.
Due to pollution, it was a sky color that was hard to see even a few times a year. People who saw it often said that they'd have good luck that day.
Good luck on a day when an enormous number of people might die like today.
'What a truly ironic situation.'
Osian created an ice sheet in the air and glided over it. There was no sound and no resistance. Reaching his target point at such high speed, what he saw was a group standing blankly like puppets.
"It seems you've increased your minions in the meantime."
The minions left by the construction company stood like tombstones. Their appearance in black clothing was like looking at a gloomy military band. Around them, the corpses of citizens who couldn't evacuate in time were scattered.
All the corpses had smiling faces. They even had makeup on their faces and their mouths were torn long down to below their ears, bleeding.
The culprit who created this horrific scene was naturally the clown. The creature maintained exactly the ridiculous appearance commonly seen at amusement parks. Whether it hadn't fully recovered from the aftermath last time, its characteristic eerie atmosphere was quite diminished.
Osian opened his mouth toward the creature.
"I thought you'd lost everything after being completely beaten, but you managed to keep this much seed."
Crack. The clown's expression twisted. The creature wasn't stupid. It was just deliberately appearing that way, but it was quite intelligent.
This meant it understood everything Osian was saying. But the clown deliberately didn't say anything.
'It has no intention of conversing with this side.'
It knew that doing so would only be disadvantageous to itself. That was part of it, but the creature fed on negative emotions. Fear especially provided it with delicacies. Monsters that could speak human language reduced that fear. This was also why the creature rarely spoke.
"There's nothing to say to each other anyway."
Osian drew his Moonlight Blade and took a stance. Feet light, gaze cold, yet heart hot.
When he prepared for battle, the clown retreated backward. The creature knew too. That it could never be a match for Osian in a frontal confrontation.
What the creature chose was flight. And naturally, it didn't just run away.
-Swish.
The corporate minions that had been standing tall like black tombstones around it rushed toward Osian. There was no regularity in their movements. It was like watching wooden puppets hanging on strings.
-Clang!
One cyborg rushed from the front. With a creaking sound, sparks flew from the creature's forearm. It was clearly a strike that exceeded the output limits of the prosthetic body. The release of the output limit was naturally the work of that clown.
Osian tried to apply force to cut the creature down. Anyway, these were creatures that had no choice but to carry out orders until death. Rather, killing them would be showing them mercy.
But as expected, the cyborg was not the same as before. The creature had already been 'eroded' by the clown. With a clicking sound, the mask worn on its face fell off.
And what was revealed inside was the face of a wooden puppet used in ventriloquism. The original cyborg's face had changed due to erosion.
With a clicking sound, the creature's jaw gaped wide open. Something wriggling could be seen moving in the pitch-black mouth.
Boom!
Colorful fireworks burst like fanfare, instantly swallowed Osian's body and then constricted his body like a cocoon.
A drum barrel fell with a thud over the multicolored cocoon and surrounded his body. Pook pook pook pook! The cyborgs had somehow taken out toy knives and stabbed them into various parts of the drum barrel.
"Oohohohohohoh!"
The clown clapped as if this scene was endlessly enjoyable. But it didn't take long for that face to contort.
Because the cocoon that had been stabbed with knives shriveled up like a balloon empty of contents. The cyborgs, belatedly realizing they had stabbed nothing but empty air, tried to move.
Crack crack crack. At that moment, one cyborg's body was covered with frost and froze. Behind the cyborg that had become a pure white statue, Osian, who had appeared at some point, was retrieving his Moonlight Blade.
One of the cyborgs gaped its jaw wide.
Whoooosh!
High-temperature flames spewed from its mouth. This wasn't a function the cyborg possessed, but naturally an ability created by erosion. The surrounding buildings melted and sagged from the heat alone.
The flames surged like a wave and swallowed Osian. The clown glared at this scene and immediately took out a balloon and floated up.
That judgment was correct. A blue flash flickered from the center of the flame wave. A blue trajectory like a shark's fin cut through the wave and split the cyborg like firewood.
That wasn't all. Crossing the split flame wave, Osian sliced through another cyborg as well. The fallen cyborg's entire body froze and scattered into countless ice fragments.
In that scattering powder of cold air, Osian's piercing blue gaze aimed at the clown. The clown felt chills run down its spine the moment it saw that appearance.
Although it was an avatar, the clown was still an outer god. The moment the clown saw Osian's appearance, it suddenly overlapped with a similar scene.
It was a being that wandered the universe and devoured all the light in the world. The true Outer God that its main body, Burum Rohal Ga the Devourer of Negativity, served.
The Star Devourer.
The one who commanded the planet-destroying army that shattered galaxies and used outer gods stronger than itself as minions under the Planet-Crushing General and his subordinates. Why did that target, before whom the clown had first bowed its head without even thinking of opposing, overlap with Osian?
Kee kee kee kee kee!
The corpses with torn mouths laughed like the sound of scraping metal plates and then sprang up from their spots. The corpses rushed madly toward Osian. Running on all fours was normal, and there was even one doing a handstand with its neck turned 180 degrees. Osian gripped his Moonlight Blade and cut down such corpses.
And from a distant place, there was someone watching that scene.
"Bizarre power-using outer entity confirmed."
An agent dispatched by the city government said while observing the eroded cyborgs and corpses using an artifact enhanced by magic. The scene he was observing was being reported to his superiors in real time through the artifact.
"However, there is a [Knight] on site. Should we continue watching?"
The answer to that question came immediately.
[Withdraw. The operation proceeds as planned.]
"...Yes. I understand."
The agent didn't object. He immediately rose from his spot as if flying. He was an agent and also a magic user of considerable skill. Lifting his body with wind magic, he quickly left the scene.
The secret agent flying through the sky looked down at the crowds spread below with an indifferent gaze. Their struggling to survive somehow looked like ants.
'It's none of my business.'
The higher-ups had confirmed the presence of an outer god in District 44. That was the end of it. Who was there and who was fighting to stop it didn't matter.
He had reported to his superiors, and if they made a decision there, he would simply follow.
Soon the sun set and night fell. And beyond that night sky, massive shadows could be seen approaching District 44.
It was a huge airship that boasted tremendous intimidation just from its appearance. The agent passing by the airship unconsciously frowned.
Because the smell of gunpowder was so thick it made his nose dizzy and wafted distinctly despite the distance.
"Yes. Yes, I understand."
Simultaneously, one instruction fell to the soldiers who were blockading District 44.
"Let us out!"
"We, we just stopped by this place briefly!"
People who still couldn't let go of their attachment were gathered in front of the barricade, making appeals. The soldiers wearing gas masks gazed at them quietly. The citizens' outcries grew a bit louder. When the military blockaded the entrance, they wondered what would happen, but since they were just quietly watching, they calculated that they wouldn't harm them.
"We can't go on like this! Everyone, let's go out!"
When someone rose up, the people who had been watching for cues agreed, saying "That's right!" The Liberation Army had told them to stay away from the blockade zone, but these were people who didn't trust the Liberation Army either.
In the end, the world was every man for himself. They even harbored ill feelings toward the Liberation Army, thinking the current situation was because of them.
It was the moment when everyone stood up and approached the barricade.
"Warning. Do not approach."
One soldier aimed his gun. The citizens flinched at this sight, but someone snorted.
"What are you all doing? Are you idiots? That's just trying to scare us! They're putting on a show because of the current situation!"
He stepped forward boldly. Having brazenly reached the front of the barricade, he turned around and spread his arms.
"See? They can absolutely never shoot us..."
Bang!
A hole was drilled in the forehead of the man who was speaking with a smile. With a thud, red blood and brain matter flowed from the fallen corpse.
"Uh, uhh?"
"Wh, what is this."
The citizens at the scene couldn't accept reality at this sight. What came down on such people was the merciless barrage from armed soldiers.
Ratatatatatatata!
"Aaaahhh!"
"R, run!"
The people who had flocked to the blockade order fled all at once. Some fell, and some were trampled to death by other people.
In the scene instantly covered in chaos, the soldiers glared at District 44 with piercing blue gazes. One woman shot in the leg was visible. She was holding a baby in her arms, and the child was crying noisily.
"Huk! P, please save me!"
The soldiers exchanged glances with each other, then one stepped forward. The heavily armed soldier made ominous clanking sounds with each movement.
Having approached in front of the woman, he aimed his gun.
"At, at least the child. Please..."
"District 44 has been contaminated by heretics. The order from above is to clean up everyone on site."
The soldier pulled the trigger with indifferent words. At that moment, a pillar of light fell from the sky and blocked between the woman and soldier.
Ting ting ting ting ting!
A golden cross deflected all the bullets. The soldier hesitated and retreated at the sight of the suddenly appeared cross.
What appeared along with planting the cross in the ground was a boy wearing a gray hood.
"What, what are you doing right now?"
"Wh, who are you!"
"Aiming a gun at innocent citizens, and even at a helpless newborn baby."
Martinez's eyes blazed golden inside the hood. Behind his back, purifying flames rippled and spread widely left and right, forming a wall.
"Can you truly call yourself a soldier who protects citizens?"
It was such a high-density divine power that just looking at it was suffocating. This was a miracle that only those counted among the best in the Petra Church could show.
"Ch, why is the Church here?"
"Wait! If you're from the Church, you shouldn't protect them instead! They're contaminated by heretics!"
The soldiers urgently shouted toward Martinez. If he was from the Petra Church, he should rather take their side. That was the soldiers' claim.
"Shut up!"
Martinez silenced the soldiers with that one word.
"Who are you calling heretics! Is a mother who came to this dangerous place to get food for her child because she has no money a heretic! Or are you who mercilessly shot innocent people justice!"
Martinez threw off the hood he was wearing. Simultaneously, a halo rose behind his head and shone brilliantly, pushing away the darkness of night.
"I, Martinez the 13th Judge of the Petra Church, warn you. From this moment on, no one will dare covet this place."