Osian moved. It was an instinctive movement.
He couldn't give Taiheo time. If that thing started scheming again, there was no telling how many people would die.
'I have to stop it. Somehow.'
Still, perhaps because this side's intentions worked, Taiheo didn't do anything foolish. Its attention turned this way.
Taiheo created a sword and swung it.
The sword imbued with the power of the sun, moon, and stars collided with Taiheo's sword. He felt an enormous pressure. Just by gripping the sword, the surrounding space was distorted to that degree.
Kigigigigik!
It was because of the tremendous gravity.
The gravity sword Taiheo wielded warped the surrounding space itself. The mass of that sword was tremendous to that extent.
It truly felt like compressing and swinging a star. The load transmitted through his wrist seemed to cry out that way.
'Even Glamhator's attacks weren't like this.'
Glamhator was strong. Mountain peaks along the trajectory of that thing's scythe were sliced off but Osian had deflected that thing's scythe with his sword.
There was a bit of burden, but it wasn't to the extent he couldn't block it but Taiheo was different.
The moment he clashed with that sword, Osian felt overwhelmed by strength for the first time.
If this were a game, just parrying the opponent's attack would have chunked away his health considerably.
It was the same now.
Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!
Sword and sword clashed. Each time the sun-moon-stars and gravity swords collided, enormous waves spread out and those waves swallowed the entire plaza.
The ground shook greatly as if an earthquake had occurred. Indeed, the ground split between Osian and Taiheo, creating a massive cliff.
"Everyone fall back!"
Basilio, who had the quickest perception, shouted.
He made the red patterns as large and wide as possible. Those patterns became shields, protecting the surrounding people from the collisions.
"This isn't a fight for us to join!"
Kwang!
The wave spread again. Just receiving it caused cracks to spread throughout the red shield Basilio created. It was just once, yet Basilio let out a groan inwardly.
'What power!'
At this rate, he couldn't hold out. The moment he thought that, thick, sticky fog was generated above his shield.
That wasn't all. Shields made of pure mana appeared in succession, supporting Basilio.
"We'll help too."
"Uncle, don't push yourself alone."
It was Mist and Edgar.
Thanks to their help, Basilio could catch his breath. However, that didn't mean the situation improved.
Mist and Edgar's expressions hardened.
"What the hell is this!"
Normally, Mist would have acted cool, but she couldn't now. Even the concept she cherished like her life was broken, because the power Taiheo emanated was too strong.
"Fall back!"
Everyone nodded at Basilio's command.
Loraine flared up and shouted.
"What about Osian!"
They couldn't leave him here. However, Basilio actually got angry instead.
"You idiot! If we're here, we'll only be a hindrance! Don't you get it yet!"
Loraine bit her lip. She was especially sensitive about leaving comrades behind because of memories from her days as a soldier.
But then and now were different.
Loraine couldn't help. The bullets she fired would never reach Taiheo.
The bullets would be crushed and slammed into the ground by the gravity that increased sharply the closer one got to Taiheo. Loraine knew that being here would only be a hindrance.
"Damn it! Osian! I'll call for reinforcements, so just hold on a bit! If you lose, I won't let you off easy!"
Loraine somehow shouted that to Osian. She didn't know if that voice reached him.
Watching the people fall back like that, Osian felt relieved inside.
'I've been shown consideration.'
Basilio must have felt it. The moment he saw Osian exchanging blows with Taiheo, he must have known that he was the key to this fight.
And he must have known that they couldn't do anything.
Because they were struggling just to defend against the shocks generated from exchanging blows.
That's why they fell back. Osian didn't regret it. Rather, he even felt gratitude because it conveyed keenly how much they believed in him.
Then he had no choice but to live up to that trust.
"Let's have a proper sword dance, just the two of us."
Taiheo gazed at him wordlessly. He couldn't tell what emotion was contained in those eyes.
Was it anger toward the one interfering with it, or was it feeling boredom as always, as if this were just a process of swallowing stars?
But one thing was certain.
'This thing is conscious of me.'
Otherwise, there would be no reason to draw its sword. It was thinking that if it didn't draw it, it too might be struck down.
'From now on, I must sharpen my senses even more.'
Osian intuited it. He just had to defeat this guy here.
Solenon, who had been conducting the ritual, was dead. Taiheo had descended, but not completely. Sending an avatar body was proof of that.
The moment he defeated this avatar body, it would fail.
Had it read that intention? The avatar body's eye light blazed strongly.
Its momentum changed and so did its stance.
'More earnest now. I'd be grateful if it showed even a bit of carelessness, but I guess that can't be helped.'
He gripped the sword with both hands and took his stance. And what was swung was unmistakably swordsmanship.
Osian gritted his teeth and faced its sword. When the two swords collided, the world screamed.
'What is this?'
The impression he felt while watching Taiheo was absurdity.
It used swordsmanship. The level of swordsmanship was even high. Even though it clearly didn't swing fast, it was hard to dodge. The path the sword traced contained the profound mysteries of swordsmanship deeply.
Osian recognized the value of that swordsmanship.
An outer god was deploying swordsmanship perfected through accumulation over long battles.
Kwagwagwagwagwa!
The two's hands gradually became busier. The sword's form wasn't visible; they could only see purple and white light flashing.
Countless flashes collided and overlapped repeatedly. It was truly a collision of massive energy.
Osian pressed harder, faster and stronger.
'This thing's swordsmanship is also top-level. It didn't simply hold a weapon and wear armor out of style.'
This familiarity reminded him of when he first faced Lupona, when he was inexperienced because he hadn't fully regained his strength.
However, it didn't compare to Lupona. It was far more skillful and experienced.
Yes.
It was like facing a knight who had been around far longer than himself.
Realizing that, his entire body heated up. He was already that way, but this time the feeling was different.
This was competitive spirit. When he thought it was like a knight, the flames blazed strongly.
The power of the sun, moon, and stars pouring from Osian's body intensified. It pressed on Taiheo from all directions as if surrounding it.
Countless blades aimed at Taiheo.
Taiheo swung the gravity sword to shake Osian off momentarily, then raised the hand not gripping the sword.
-Kiiiiing.
A black sphere was generated above its palm. The sphere generated tremendous gravitational pull.
Kwadeudeudeuk! The ground was torn up and countless debris gathered to the sphere. When it transformed into a massive lump, Taiheo clenched its fist.
-Pyeong!
The debris that had been bundled and compressed scattered in all directions at once. The all-directional pressure Osian was applying was torn to shreds by that alone.
'Don't stop.'
Osian thought while cutting through the flying fragments. This guy was stronger than any enemy he had faced.
A corrupted sky dragon? A primordial giant? The god of law who had dominated the world from long ago?
'This thing is stronger than any monster I've met so far. It's a true monster. I'm not confident I can win even if I pour out everything I have.'
So pour out everything.
Burn it all.
Past achievements, present strength, and even future possibilities.
Hwareuk!
The pattern floating behind his back blazed intensely. That heat spread throughout his entire body.
The power of stars dwelled in every single blood vessel, every single muscle fiber.
All that explosive power vigorously poured out through the sword gripped in his hand.
Kwang!
Taiheo's body was pushed back greatly. The ground was gouged like a furrow along the trajectory it passed. It wasn't just gouged; the cross-section was melting and flowing. It was because the speed was too fast.
Osian didn't stop even seeing that. He pursued it rapidly.
Kwang! Kwang!
Swords crossed. The two's forms were now hard to follow with the eyes. Light crossed countless times in the air, creating collisions.
Osian gazed at Taiheo within those spectacular explosions.
At this moment, he drew on everything to the present.
He pulled up all past experiences and brought even future possibilities.
In this moment the past and future converged on the present and only Osian remained in the present.
The sounds of the world were erased. The eroded scenery disappeared too. The only things that existed were himself and Taiheo.
He saw it extend its sword. A trajectory hard to analyze. Its swordsmanship was excellent to that degree.
If the opponent had been anyone but this thing, he would have wanted to face it while purely enjoying the sword.
'With my senses elevated to the extreme now, I can see it.'
When he first clashed swords, he couldn't see it, but now it was different.
He felt like every cell was waking up one by one to watch it. He saw Taiheo's movements. He felt where it was aiming, that trajectory.
Perceived time flowed endlessly slowly. It was like dividing time very finely, then forcibly stretching those divided times long.
He lived in this instant.
And Taiheo was also living in the instant. That meant it was fast to that extent too.
Finally, they reached equal eye level.
He brought his blade to its trajectory.
With a slight "tick" noise, the sword was deflected at an angle.
It was the first time he deflected Taiheo's sword.
It seemed quite flustered too and emotion showed from it for the first time.
It was an opportunity. He couldn't let go of the winning chance he'd finally grasped.
Osian swung his sword again. Taiheo immediately tried to defend against the attack. Before even seeing and judging it with his eyes, Osian's arm moved.
Seeing and reacting would be too late. He had to move simultaneously with seeing, as if predicting the future.
The future movement drawn in his head matched the present movement.
It was proof that all concentration and energy were poured into the present and burned.
Now that concentration had risen to the extreme, it felt like his brain would burn up. Even the knight's robust body was being overworked and screaming.
However, he felt neither thought nor pain. It was the stage of mushin, as people in the world called it.
TLN: Mushin is a Japanese Zen Buddhist concept meaning "no mind," a state of effortless action and clear awareness free from thought, fear, or ego.
Kakak!
Osian's sword broke through Taiheo's defense. Osian's sword was half a step faster than its sword and the blade grazed its armor.
It was an effective hit but this wasn't enough. Faster, more accurately. More.
Giiiiing.
The sun-moon-stars pattern blazing behind his back vibrated finely. Like an engine with the gear raised to maximum, intense power overflowed.
In this world, each other's speed was equal. Precisely, it had been equal.
Finally, Osian came to move one step faster than Taiheo.
The tip of the sun-moon-stars blade fell upon Taiheo's armor. Pure white scratches were carved onto the purple armor.
Osian didn't lower the raised gear.
The scratches increased in number, and each time, their size and depth also increased together.
Finally, Osian's mechanical pupils gazed at Taiheo's neck.
Simultaneously with gazing, no, the sword was already aiming there ahead of that. It was lightning-fast speed.
The moment the sun-moon-stars reached its neck in the slowly flowing time.
[Excellent.]
Taiheo opened its mouth for the first time.
Osian's spirit, which had been in mushin, returned for the first time.
It could speak.
The reason it hadn't until now was because there was no need to but now Taiheo made a sound, as if the opponent before its eyes had the qualification.
He was quite surprised that Taiheo spoke, but that wasn't important.
The sword was already being swung and Taiheo couldn't block it.
The moment he thought that spacetime was distorted.
'What—'
Before Osian could even feel something strange, a tremendous shock struck his entire body.
Taiheo's body grew distant. It wasn't retreating. He was flying away at high speed.
'I was hit? By what exactly?'
Osian flew very far away at tremendous speed, to the extent that Taiheo's form looked like a dot.
Something was strange. Even though he had flown far enough to go way beyond the plaza, he couldn't see anything around him.
'The sense of distance is distorted.'
No.
Space itself was distorted.
It was the result of the existence of the black hole Taiheo possessed, eroding and simultaneously distorting the surrounding space with Taiheo's appearance.
Osian, who had flown nearly several kilometers, crashed into the ground.
He tried to somehow take a breakfall and stand up, but for a moment, his legs lost strength.
"Keuheok!"
His body was wrecked from just one shock. It felt like every strand of his internal organs was severed and every bone joint was disassembled.
It was the first time in his life that the knight's body cried out in such fierce pain.
More flustering than that was that he had missed its movement.
Hadn't we been in the same instant?
-Cheok.
Taiheo had arrived right before his nose.
He had flown at tremendous speed, yet it had caught up indifferently and lightly, as if floating through the air.
-Huung!
The gravity sword was swung. Osian immediately raised the sun-moon-stars and took a defensive stance.
The moment sword and sword were about to touch, spacetime was distorted again.
-Segeok!
His chest was split open. The pure white armor split diagonally, and red blood spurted out through the gap.
The helmet forming his head shattered into pieces.
-Keulheok.
Osian vomited blood from his mouth as he glared at Taiheo with wide-open eyes.
'This thing's sword transcends spacetime.'
He could accept simply transcending space, but time was different.
It had clearly been about to be cut. Osian had thought he could properly cut its neck but the tremendous gravity distorted not only space but also time.