< 72 : The White Knight (6) >
Below the cliff where a fierce battle was taking place.
Lian sighed and tightened his grip on the holy sword.
He had thought that in the worst case scenario, the evil god might be watching over this place personally.
And unfortunately, the evil god had indeed exercised his power over the battlefield.
It was the worst situation that Lian had feared.
The presence of the evil god that he faced was much more immense than he had expected.
He felt his whole body tense up just by meeting his gaze.
If he hadn’t asked Serena to use the holy proclamation in advance, he would have been fighting under the interference of the evil god by now.
“…”
After Serena used the holy proclamation, the gaze that Lian had felt disappeared completely.
The effect of the holy area, which temporarily blocked the ‘eye of the observer’, was working normally.
But the holy maiden’s holy proclamation was not an omnipotent miracle that lasted forever.
It was something that should have been used by mobilizing dozens of priests, but she was maintaining it alone.
She could only keep the holy area for a few minutes at most.
If the holy area disappeared, there was a high chance that the evil god would intervene in the battle again.
Lian calmly looked around with his holy sword in hand.
“Haah, ha…!”
Gilford, who had awakened the power of Ascalon, was breathing heavily and continuing to fight.
Gilford had not fully awakened the power of Ascalon yet.
The aura surrounding Ascalon was also much fainter than before.
The prolonged battle was starting to take its toll on Gilford as well.
He wouldn’t last long at this rate.
Lian’s gaze turned from Gilford to Serena, the holy maiden.
“…Lian. I can’t keep it up for much longer.”
“I know.”
Serena looked exhausted from supporting the battle.
She also seemed to be reaching her limit soon if the battle continued.
On the other hand, Eutenea, who was facing Lian, still looked like she had some leeway.
Did she have a near-infinite amount of magic?
She didn’t even show signs of magic depletion that usually occurred in long battles for mages.
Lian, who alternated between looking at his allies and enemies, realized that it was time for him to make a decision.
“Mercenary. Are you listening to me?”
Lian spoke to Gilford while keeping an eye on Eutenea’s movements.
Gilford glanced at Lian briefly and then coughed and caught his breath.
His voice didn’t come out properly because of the continuous battle.
He cleared his throat roughly and shouted at Lian with a weakened voice.
“…What is it?”
“Gilford Proud. I want to make a contract with you as a mercenary.”
“What… did you say?”
Lian smiled bitterly and lifted his holy sword as he saw Gilford’s eyes narrow.
He told him about the contract he had in mind.
“I’ll hire your entire mercenary corps.”
“You can’t be serious…”
“Take Serena and return to the holy land. The cost will be paid by the Temple of Abundance.”
The white holy sword and the holy proclamation were undoubtedly powerful forces.
But there was a huge gap between them and an endless miracle of nothingness.
A powerful miracle required a corresponding price.
The price for maintaining the white area that suppressed the mage was also not small.
Lian’s divine power had already diminished considerably, and Serena was overwhelmed by just keeping up the holy area.
In this situation, if the holy area was broken, Lian’s party would surely be annihilated by the evil god.
The plan to stop the apostle had failed as soon as the evil god joined the battle personally.
That’s why Lian chose to retreat.
He decided to preserve both the hero and the holy maiden for the next moment.
“Didn’t you say that the evil god is watching?”
“The evil god’s eyes can’t reach the holy area. We can escape completely if we use a holy relic now.”
“Holy relic…?”
“A holy relic, Heliya’s amulet.”
Its effect was to teleport the user and nearby people to a predetermined coordinate.
The current amulet had its coordinates fixed to a distant street corner from here.
There was a waiting time to use the amulet, but Lian was confident that he could earn enough time for it.
However, the problem was Gilford’s attitude.
Gilford shook his head and refused Lian’s words even though his aura was fading away.
“I can’t accept that… I’m staying here too. I have to avenge my dead comrades.”
“I’ll take care of your revenge for you, so go ahead.”
“What did you say…?”
“I’ll knock her down and follow you.”
Lian declared that he would take Gilford’s revenge for him, raising his holy sword.
Someone had to stay behind and protect them until the transfer was complete, if he was going to use the holy relic anyway.
Both the hero and the holy maiden were necessary for the future.
Naturally, it was Lian’s duty to stay behind.
That was why he volunteered to be Serena’s escort knight.
He had anticipated that this moment would come someday.
“Lian! What are you talking about!”
Serena, who had been listening to their conversation, shouted at Lian.
She looked worried about Lian, who said he would stay behind.
Lian thought that she would naturally try to stop him, knowing Serena.
Lian pointed at Gilford with his chin and answered Serena.
“You have the hero by your side.”
“That’s not the problem. You just said that you’re going to stay here!”
“I don’t think I’m going to die. Just go back to the holy land and wait for me.”
“Lian! The evil god is watching over this place! We need more power…!”
Tsk.
Lian clicked his tongue and cut off Serena’s words.
It was a sharp look that he didn’t usually show to her.
Lian looked at Serena with an annoyed expression and said.
“Or do you not trust the vice-captain of the holy knights that much?”
“…Lian?”
“And Gilford! Don’t refuse my contract if you’re a real mercenary!”
I heard Lian’s scream as Gilford opened his mouth with a weary expression.
“This is the last time I’ll listen to you…”
“Is that so? Please take care of the saintess…”
“I can’t stand watching this any longer.”
The one who interrupted Lian’s words was Eutenia, who had been looking at him from behind a thick barrier.
Eutenia, who had been keeping a distance, stretched out her hand and complained.
Flames of magic formed in masses and flew towards them.
I infused my holy sword with power and weakened Eutenia’s magical attack.
Paah!
As the light flashed from my holy sword, the flames of magic quickly faded away.
The barriers that surrounded Eutenia also burst one by one.
In the midst of the sound of magic exploding in my ears, I gave my last farewell to Serena.
“I hope you understood what I said.”
“Lian…”
“Activate the relic. I’ll follow you soon.”
I stepped forward and raised my holy sword.
My cold eyes met Eutenia’s on the other side.
The reason I stayed here was not only because of the amulet’s malfunction, but also because of the mage in front of me.
It was always the duty of those who wielded the white holy swords to capture the black mages of the Order.
Now it was my turn to fulfill my role.
“I kept you waiting.”
“Do you think I’ll let you go?”
“Then I’ll have to make you let me go.”
The Apostle, Eutenia Highrost.
She had to be defeated at all costs.
Her mastery of magic was already on par with the great mages of the continent.
On top of that, she had an absurd amount of magic power.
If she wasn’t dealt with here, she might become a being that would threaten the holy land.
My sword shone with light again.
“Come on! Apostle of the evil god!”
***
Eutenia looked at Lian’s back with a blank face.
As he said, the heretics behind him had succeeded in escaping from here.
It must have been because they were afraid of the great one who was watching over her.
But the paladin in front of her remained in his place.
Eutenia raised her hand and spoke as she looked at Lian’s back with a disappointed expression.
“…Are you confident?”
“I’m enough to handle a mage by myself.”
“Is that so?”
Eutenia knew that Lian’s words were not from vain confidence.
His holy sword was constantly weakening her magic.
Her weakened magic was not difficult to fend off physically.
It was natural for him to be confident against Eutenia, who was a mage.
But that didn’t mean Eutenia would let him do as he pleased.
She held up her grimoire with the shadow’s touch and declared to Lian.
“You will pay for your arrogance today.”
“Do you trust this thing?”
As soon as Lian finished his words,
Alpha sprang up from the shadows and aimed at Lian.
But Lian saw Alpha’s movement and dodged him.
He then covered his sword with aura and struck Alpha hard.
He wouldn’t fall for the same trick twice.
“I have many excellent means besides magic.”
“Whether it’s the shadow’s touch or that monster over there, it won’t do any good.”
“My means are very different from yours. Faith is my greatest weapon.”
“You believe in an evil god. I’ll make you a promise here. I’ll kill you before the effect of the sanctuary ends.”
Lian raised his sword and ran straight towards Eutenia.
His sword seemed to affect Alpha’s shadow as well, as the shadow’s area had shrunk considerably.
Eutenia looked around and prepared a magic to use against Lian.
It was hard to maintain a stalemate when there were many people, but now she could pour all her power into one person.
She started preparing magic with both hands and released it sequentially towards him.
“Barrier.”
“A futile attempt! White one–!”
A barrier made of enormous magic power blocked Lian’s charge.
Instead of attacking Lian, she chose to use the barrier to hold him down.
Lian quickly raised his holy sword’s power to face Eutenia’s magic.
As his sword flashed with light, cracks appeared on the barrier.
Kwang!
The barrier weakened by his sword was completely shattered by Lian.
Right after he broke the barrier, another barrier unfolded towards Lian.
“Barrier.”
“Double magic! White one!”
He continued to raise his sword’s power.
Lian Crost’s holy sword had the effect of weakening magic.
She knew she couldn’t hold him down with her barrier for long.
It was also difficult to inflict effective damage on Lian with magic.
That’s why Eutenia chose one way.
She used the barrier magic consecutively to bind Lian as much as she needed.
“—-Life. Build the stairs.”
“What are you trying to do now!”
Eutenia used magic and started praying as she prepared another barrier.
Lian felt a bad sign and kept breaking the barriers and approaching, but there was still enough distance between them.
Eutenia used the barriers alternately with both hands to restrain Lian’s movement.
At the same time, she recited a prayer with her mouth.
The shadow’s hand on the floor was drawing a pedestal around Lian.
It was a feat that no one in the Order could do except Eutenia.
“—-One path leads to glory.”
“—-One path leads to death.”
Kwang! Kung! Kwang!
Lian’s sword swung fast and smashed Eutenia’s barrier.
Every time his sword strike attacked to break the barrier, light flashed from his sword.
As Eutenia’s barrier usage cycle shortened, Lian’s sword swinging speed also increased.
Maybe he felt more impatient than before in this unfavorable situation.
He swung his sword with a tense face.
Eutenia, who saw the pedestal starting to form, continued to speed up her prayer.
“—-Revere. Adore. Sacrifice.”
“Stop! You better stop this nonsense!”
Before long, Eutenia’s prayer reached its end.
Kung! Kung! Kung! Kwang!
His sword strike, which had become faster than before, destroyed Eutenia’s barrier at a fast speed.
It was a speed that was impossible to handle if she didn’t use all her magic for defense.
Even the shadow’s touch that occasionally approached him was repelled by the aura wrapped around his sword.
Kung! Kung! Kung! Kung! Kung!
His swordsmanship, which had reached its peak, cut the barrier smoothly.
Lian, who had sped up, soon reached Eutenia’s vicinity.
As he swung his sword, he tried to cross the boundary line of the pedestal made by the shadow.
Eutenia recited the last prayer.
“—-Sing the hymn of life.”
Right after Eutenia’s clear voice finished the prayer,
Lian’s body was wrapped in a bright light cluster.
He looked at his holy sword in shock as he was trapped in the pedestal.
The light that flowed from his holy sword had completely faded away.
Thud.
He dropped his holy sword on the ground and asked Eutenia with trembling eyes.
“What, what… what did you do?”
“I’m just sending all life back to where it belongs.”
“What… did you say…”
Lian’s limbs wrapped in light turned into light and scattered.
The light that enveloped Lian gradually grew in size and began to cover the entire pedestal with light.
As the light spread more and more, it reached its limit at one point.
The dazzling light faded away in an instant.
There was no longer any sign of Lian where the light disappeared.
“That was a bit of a tough opponent.”
Eutenia muttered as she looked at where Lian had disappeared.
The only thing left in his place were the pedestal with strange patterns and the holy sword.
