The Throne Room was the hardest-to-reach area of the Grand Sanctuary. It was huge. Chandeliers made of gold were hanging from the ceiling. A picture of Chronus, the God of Time, was drawn on it as if to signify something "unbelievable."
A red carpet stretched from the entrance to a staircase that led to a throne.
It was made of some kind of dark metal and was the only decoration in this place not made of gold.
Around it stood two Gargoyles.
And… on it sat a knight dressed grandly whose face was covered by a helm, a red feather sticking out of it; his sword was seen stabbed into a certain spot on the ground that was only three steps away from him.
Three youngsters appeared in this throne room, and the man instantly snapped open his eyes, staring at them.
Roy also scrutinized him.
『Ding! You failed to inspect him. Information gauging skills can't be used on him as he is protected by a runic item that negates such effects.』
Their weapons were drawn, and that boiled the blood of the Red-Feathered knight in excitement.
"They want to challenge us! Don't keep them waiting!" The knight didn't give them the chance to explain why they were there and immediately commanded his servants to attack them.
Although made of stone they were, they had a soul and a consciousness and were loyal to their master to a fault.
"Whoosh!"
The Gargoyle on the left flew out towards Delilah at the speed of an arrow.
"Bam"
She jumped back as his fists smashed the spot she had just left. The impact caused a depression to form beneath his fist, and from there, cobwebs-like cracks spread out, reaching up to Delilah's feet.
Seeing that, she swallowed nervously. "If that had hit me, I would've shattered like glass. I definitely can't let it land a punch on me; my bones would break for sure if it did. And… healing broken bones cost 100 times more than skin."
The other Gargoyle jumped down the raised platform in order to land on the ground and then traumatically walked towards Julian, who looked like a 14-year-old.
Julian took out his bundles of magic scrolls and pointed them at the monster. "Don't come close to me!"
His warning fell on deaf ears.
Or… did they?
"Gah!" They actually worked to anger the Gargoyle into charging towards him. However, just as he was bridging the gap between them, Julian activated his magic scrolls, causing dozens of arrows to manifest in the air and strike the monster, which thought itself too strong but was so weak that it got blasted dozens of meters away by the poison arrows.
It crashed into the wall on the opposite end.
Julian snickered, "I warned you!"
But his laughter seemed to have angered it.
It stood back up and spread out its wing, and flew over to Julian once again at an incredible speed, only to get blasted away again.
Meanwhile, Roy was petrified by the Red-Feathered knight's gaze.
『Ding! You're under a debuff that immobilizes you. It will end in five seconds.』
Because he was rooted to his spot, he couldn't be seen helping his comrades fight the Gargoyles.
Reflected in his widened eyes was the scene of the Red-Feathered Knight pulling out the sword from the ground like Arthur obtaining Excalibur for the first time.
And then he descended the stairs, reaching the same level of surface as Roy.
He stooped low and dashed towards Roy like a sprinter.
『You're no longer under a Debuff.』
The moment the Red-Feathered Knight reached him was also the moment he was able to move.
After regaining control over his body, the first thing he did was swing his sword to block the incoming strike.
"Clang!"
The Red-Feathered Knight's attack was parried, but it also forced Roy to stumble back by seven steps.
'He's stronger than me.' Feeling his shaking hands, whose skin had cracked, Roy could only think that this man wasn't someone he could beat at his level.
"Holding back among me is the worst possible choice. I advise you to go all out. Or else… your head will touch the ground before you know it."
An instant after these threatening words left the Red-Feathered Knight's mouth, the third song of Ninam echoed throughout the Throne Room.
The knight's eyes thinned to the size of needles as he came to a sudden realization - Roy was the person he had been looking for!
"Whoosh!"
An all-swallowing black arc whipped out of Roy's sword and whistled through the air to crash down on him.
[Absolute Guard!]
The sword of the Red-Feathered Knight released a few blinding rays that slashed the physical manifestation of the roar into three.
Instantly, the song stopped playing.
It was muffled in the worst manner.
Roy's hope was crushed as even his signature move was casually crushed by the armored knight.
'I still have one last trump card left.'
But… he could still put up a fight.
"If that's all you amount to, I will be disappointed."
The knight looked down at Roy with scornful eyes.
The shadow of his helm was cast on them, making them ever darker and crueler.
It seems as if… he would really do what he said!
"Brace yourself." After speaking, Roy activated the second function of the Devil's hand. Waves of mana came out of it, twirling and swirling above Roy's right palm, slowly condensing into the shape of a blue ball the size of a melon. At the same time, the same thing took place above his left hand. "This is my strongest move yet!"
He shot them at the knight.
Roy had seen multiple times how the Devil's hands create the Mana Blast, and since he had the ability to control mana like it was a part of his flesh, he was able to mimic it like a monkey and create a mana blast himself.
"Swoosh!" The two blue balls blasted through the air while swirling around. And the knight could be seen standing still on his spot as if planning to take them head-on!
