Emerging from the dense foliage of trees and beanstalks that enveloped Oliver’s entire form, a mouth materialized and emitted an indescribable, piercing scream.
Screeeeeeeech━!!
This was not the scream of a human or any known creature; it transcended the boundaries of conventional sound.
Adding to the unsettling spectacle, bulges began to protrude from the beanstalks and trees, gradually splitting open to reveal grotesque eyes.
These newly formed eyes darted about, invoking a primal repulsion in the servants and paladins who bore witness to this uncanny phenomenon.
It was an eerie disquiet, akin to beholding something that possessed an eerie semblance of life, yet was devoid of it.
Even Galahad, a seasoned paladin who had spent his entire life in service, found himself confronted with a phenomenon entirely foreign to him.
“Where did this trick come from…!” exclaimed a paladin brandishing a mace, his emotions oscillating between disgust and a palpable sense of imminent danger, prompting him to swing his weapon.
Galahad, the commander overseeing this operation, attempted to intervene, fearing dire consequences. However, providentially, the outcome he dreaded did not come to pass.
With remarkable agility and reflexes, Oliver effortlessly evaded the paladin’s assault, making his escape to the rooftop of a nearby building.
Compared to his previous state, Oliver now exhibited reflexes and physical prowess that far surpassed the ordinary, likely attributable to the botanical armor enshrouding him.
“Hmph!”
Another paladin, armed with a spear, disdainfully snorted and scaled the building’s vertical surface, directing his spear towards one of Oliver’s legs.
He too was cognizant of the primary mission objective: to immobilize Oliver. However, an unforeseen twist of events disrupted their plans.
Mouths suddenly manifested on Oliver’s plant-based armor, snapping shut on the attacking spear in a bid to shield him. Despite the paladin’s lightning-fast assault designed to preclude any reaction, he soon discovered the astonishing answer.
He was met with the gaze of eyes embedded within the armor. These were not mere embellishments but bona fide, sentient eyes, actively surveying the surroundings and reacting of their own volition, akin to a living entity.
‘A spell I’ve never seen before…! How did it block my spear imbued with holy magic?’ pondered the paladin, his pride contending with bewilderment.
As the paladin wrestled with the puzzle, the beanstalks enshrouding Oliver’s form took initiative, launching a counterattack.
Caught off guard by the unexpected retaliation, the paladin reacted a fraction too late. However, just in the nick of time, Galahad descended from below the building, coming to the aid of his comrade.
The severed beanstalks emitted eerie cries, prompting Galahad to issue a stern warning to his fellow paladin. “Don’t let your guard down! It’s a mix of nature’s power and black magic. Its strength is unpredictable, be careful!”
Swiftly discerning the nature of Oliver’s enchantment, Galahad invoked holy magic.
[Holy Light]
As the spell took effect, a gentle radiance bathed Oliver, and to the astonishment of all present, the plant armor, complete with its animate mouths and eyes, responded with agonized screams.
However, they did not disintegrate but rather resisted the holy magic’s influence.
“…!” Galahad had anticipated this development to some extent, yet it remained a startling sight. A warlock with the resilience to defy holy magic – an occurrence likely attributable to the blend of natural forces.
Uncertain about the specifics but resolute in his resolve, Galahad swiftly transitioned to the next strategy.
On his signal, a paladin named Mason, stationed beneath the building, hoisted his mace infused with holy magic and struck the structure.
A resounding thud echoed through the surroundings as the ground quaked, and the building teetered before ultimately collapsing.
In his attempt to elude Galahad, Oliver lost his footing and missed his opportunity for escape.
Conversely, Galahad seized this opening, gathering a gentle radiance upon his blade and directing it towards Oliver’s head.
[Blade of Mercy]
[Rapid Growth]
As the building crumbled and the radiant blade descended like a celestial projectile, Oliver harnessed the inherent power of the plants, resulting in a colossal surge of trees and beanstalks, resembling a verdant tidal wave.
Beanstalks as thick as a man’s arm and rugged trees forcibly pushed aside all in their path. Nevertheless, Galahad cleaved through the verdant onslaught with his holy-imbued blade, drawing ever closer to Oliver.
Just as the radiant blade was poised to strike its mark, both Oliver and Galahad plummeted onto the heap of debris from the fallen building, vanishing into a cloud of dust.
An onlooker among the servants muttered, “Did they finish him off?”
“Hey.”
“Damn it…”
His colleagues reproached the incautious remark, leading him to offer a begrudging defense. “Well, considering what happened, it’s only natural to think he was done for, right?”
From a perspective grounded in common sense, the unfolding events were not entirely devoid of logic.
The precipitous crumble of the foothold left him with no recourse, ultimately leading to Galahad’s retaliatory strike. In such a situation, the odds of a successful defense were meager at best.
This should have marked the conclusion—an outcome considered ordinary by all means.
However, the crux of the issue lay in the reality that not everything adheres to our expectations.
“What is that…”
As the dust settled and visibility gradually returned, a voice intoned this question.
An immense beanstalk and tree trunk, intricately intertwined around the quarterstaff, had conjoined to thwart Galahad’s assault.
Undoubtedly, it was a perilously close call, but blocking was still blocking, an accomplishment not to be underestimated.
“That’s impressive. For a fake God.”
“I am not a god. Anyway, thank you for the compliment.” Oliver responded to Galahad’s remark, manipulating the severed beanstalk and tree trunk to encircle him.
Infused with emotion, Life-force, and the essence of nature, the tree trunks and beanstalks acquiesced to Oliver’s intent, writhing akin to serpents before launching themselves from all angles at Galahad, mouths agape.
Shahyahahahahat!!
Though the movement, momentum, and sound mirrored those of serpentine entities, Galahad effectively repelled Oliver, his sword swinging with such rapidity that it resembled a multitude of strikes, felling the attacking plant matter in a single sweep.
Much akin to a woodchipper.
Oliver harnessed the life force and essence of nature to regenerate the severed beanstalks and tree roots, applying relentless pressure on Galahad. Yet, the paladin continued cutting without displaying any signs of fatigue.
It was difficult to believe that he was a mere mortal.
However, there exists an inevitable constraint.
As the beanstalks and tree roots proliferated incessantly, forming an encroaching swarm that grew as dense as mud, they impeded the speed of Galahad’s blade.
Seemingly aware of this potential predicament, Galahad executed a wide swing of his sword to momentarily reprieve himself, holding it in a cross formation to focus his power, initiating a divine technique.
[Purify]
With a resounding shout, the power imbued within the blade erupted in all directions. The ostensibly exquisite yellow flames, in spite of their appearance, mercilessly consumed everything in their vicinity, surging relentlessly toward Oliver following the trajectory of Galahad’s sword.
Oliver hastily expanded and fortified his armor for protection, but the sacred yellow flames wielded such ferocity that they reduced nearly half of his armor to charred remains.
Feeling disoriented from the indirect heat and the fiery assault, it was then that the paladin, Mason, advanced with a hammer, delivering a resounding blow to Oliver.
Kwang━!
Fortunately, the vigilant armor had foreseen this, mitigating the impact. Nonetheless, weakened by the effects of the divine technique, the armor shattered, sending Oliver tumbling across the ground.
“It’s over.”
The paladin, armed with a spear, seized this opportune moment, springing towards Oliver and homing in on his vulnerability.
Just as anticipated.
[Greed Fire]
Rather than opting for a defensive stance, Oliver channeled his emotions and mana into his hand, conjuring a black flame.
Kwahahahang━━!!
“Kruk!”
Startled by the sudden counterattack and the intense heat, the paladin recoiled, swiftly activating a divine technique.
[Holy Light]
A radiant, sanctified glow designed to neutralize black magic.
The Greed Fire, diminished in size due to the scarcity of materials compared to its typical form, appeared to wane, emitting anguished shrieks and dwindling steadily in magnitude.
Even though its potency had been amplified through the fusion of mana and emotion, it remained susceptible to the effects of the divine technique. Nonetheless, this proved adequate for Oliver.
For there was an abundance of potential prey surrounding him, exemplified by the beanstalks and wood fragments still imbued with emotion, Life-force, and the very essence of nature.
Oliver deftly manipulated the Greed Fire to engulf the nearby severed beanstalks and trees that had been serving as a defensive barrier against Galahad’s assault. The Greed Fire voraciously devoured the emotions, life force, and natural power contained within these botanical entities, causing it to swell exponentially in size.
Defying the oppressive force of the divine technique was a daring endeavor, but it seemed to be yielding results.
“It’s impossible…”
The spear-wielding paladin stood awestruck before the now-massive Greed Fire, which had eclipsed the divine technique through its sheer growth.
It was as though the security he had once relied upon had been reduced to mere tatters.
Unlike the perplexed paladin, the Greed Fire, as if recalling the source of its earlier suffering, squinted its numerous misshapen eyes and lunged towards the paladin, its enormous maw gaping wide.
While the paladin did manage to inflict substantial damage on the black flames with his divine-imbued spear tip, the Greed Fire, having feasted and expanded, disregarded the attack, swallowing the paladin whole, akin to a creature from myths and legends.
Its teeth, seemingly numbering in the dozens, shattered the iron armor the paladin wore, setting him ablaze. The paladin screamed in a frenzy of shock, confusion, and terror.
Evidently, he hadn’t encountered such excruciating pain before.
“It’s hot!! So hot…”
With this surging momentum, it appeared plausible to incinerate him entirely, leaving no trace behind.
And the Greed Fire desired just that.
“Damn you!”
Mason forcefully swung his mace, tearing apart the Greed Fire and rescuing his beleaguered comrade.
His anger was palpable, even to Oliver, who wasn’t particularly skilled at deciphering emotions.
Nonetheless, the enlarged Greed Fire swiftly regenerated and launched a fresh attack, while Mason resolutely continued wielding his mace, now empowered by a divine technique.
The colossal iron weapon generated a formidable gust of wind with each swing, building up into a tempestuous whirlwind, gradually disintegrating the Greed Fire.
Startled, the Greed Fire lunged with its colossal mouth agape, yet Mason triggered the divine technique within his weapon, initiating a counteroffensive.
This maneuver proved successful.
The Greed Fire emitted an indescribable scream as its momentum markedly waned.
In that crucial moment, Mason spotted Oliver charging through the enfeebled Greed Fire, seizing the opportunity that followed a significant attack.
“You fool!”
Mason taunted Oliver for underestimating him, executing a fluid swing of his mace with no wasted motion, striking Oliver squarely.
Whack━!
This time, it was a solid hit. Oliver couldn’t narrowly evade the blow, as he had done in the past.
Although he couldn’t enact a grand entrance as the story’s true protagonist, Mason derived profound satisfaction from personally avenging his fallen comrade.
‘But it feels strange…’
Mason pondered. After smashing countless heretics, warlocks, and villains with his mace, he had grown accustomed to the sensation of flesh yielding, bones fracturing, and organs rupturing. But this felt different.
It was more akin to shattering wood or a similar material.
“Fortunately, it seems a paladin’s eyes can be deceived after all.”
Just a few steps away from Mason, Oliver emerged from the shadows.
He had concealed himself employing the black magic technique known as Shade Cloak, and what Mason had struck was not Oliver but a decoy crafted from interwoven beanstalks, cleverly disguised with illusion magic.
As proof, the illusionary facade concealing the exterior was stripped away by Mason’s attack, revealing its true nature as an interwoven beanstalk.
[Parasite]
Oliver deftly manipulated the humanoid beanstalks, ensnaring the bewildered Mason within their verdant grasp.
With calculated precision, he activated the black magic known as Parasite, utilizing the beanstalks as conduits to siphon the life force from the paladin.
Life force overflowed from Mason, the paladin.
Desperate to counteract this malevolent drain, Mason endeavored to invoke a divine technique. However, as the insidious tendrils of the beanstalks anchored themselves into his limbs and sealed his mouth, he found himself physically incapacitated and too weakened to muster any effective resistance.
Just as he teetered on the brink of powerlessness, Galahad, coming to his fellow paladin’s aid, swung a longsword imbued with golden flames.
Kahahaahahahak!!
The beanstalks emitted agonized screams as they were forcibly torn away from Mason’s form, their torment intensified by the fiery aura of the golden flames.
While Oliver could have continued extracting life force, he harbored no particular remorse. Having absorbed a substantial amount of the necessary life force, he effortlessly redirected all the energy assimilated by the beanstalks to feed the Greed Fire.
Following its consumption of the surplus life force from the paladin, the Greed Fire expanded even further, its size increasing several-fold compared to its previous state.
The paladin had unwittingly become a valuable resource.
“Let’s support the paladins!”
Observing the battle while maintaining a safe distance, the servants recognized the increasingly dire predicament faced by the two paladins and decided to intervene.
Oliver manipulated the enlarged Greed Fire, which, in a sweeping motion, engulfed not only the servants but also the paladins.
Kwahahahahahahahahahahahah━━━━!!!!
A ferocious tempest of black flames raged unabated.
Both the paladins and the servants deployed their respective divine techniques and protective items to construct barriers. However, the Greed Fire, fortified by emotions, the power of nature, and the life force of the paladin, simply overwhelmed their defenses.
The servants’ protective items had long since shattered and been devoured by the insatiable flames, while Galahad could do nothing more than shield his fellow paladin from the onslaught, unable to mount a counterattack.
Having sufficiently demonstrated the stark disparity in their power, Oliver eventually reigned in the rampaging Greed Fire, which reluctantly obeyed his command, returning to its original position with a disgruntled roar.
The tide of the battle had shifted dramatically.
Both the servants and Galahad were left dumbfounded.
Facing three paladins simultaneously was already a daunting prospect, let alone pressing them to such an extent.
Such a display of black magic prowess was rumored to be within the purview of the Black Hand, specifically the four fingers symbolizing the enigmatic organization.
Entities deemed enemies of humanity, disrupting the natural order.
“What really are you?” queried the lone-standing Galahad.
Despite the dire circumstances, he remained surprisingly composed, even exhibiting a hint of curiosity and intrigue.
“It’s Oliver, Sir paladin… As I’ve mentioned several times before.”
“It seems you’re sincere.”
“Because it’s the truth.”
Galahad gazed at Oliver as if beholding something perplexing and out of the ordinary. Interestingly, his animosity seemed to have waned.
“Not going to finish us off?”
Galahad inquired, eliciting a menacing glare from the Greed Fire, which bristled with countless misshapen eyes and rumbled, heating the surrounding air.
It appeared poised to unleash its fury.
Yet Oliver held it in check.
“It seems there’s a misunderstanding, Sir paladin. I didn’t come here to harm you, but rather to lend a bit of assistance to Marie.”
“You don’t intend to harm us?”
Oliver surveyed the fallen servants and the two paladins around him.
“…You tried to kill me as well. I thought you’d understand that much. If you’re upset, I apologize.”
“…Sincere, yet insane.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes… Regardless, I want to express my gratitude.”
Oliver tilted his head at the unexpected comment.
“What do you mean?”
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“Thanks to you, a perfect painting has been completed. The first step in humanity’s salvation will be realized through your sacrifice.”
Just as Oliver was about to inquire further, a sense of unusual energy emanated from the distant sky.
The night sky blazed with an intensity reminiscent of the sun’s radiance, and within that luminous display, a figure came into view.
It was a winged human.
