A pure white flash fills the entire field of vision. The starlight that was swung while tearing through space not only severed the giant hand but completely pulverized it. The hand, torn apart at the cellular level by transcendent energy, could not even regenerate with the vitality it had so proudly boasted.
────!!!
The entire building shook as if struck by an earthquake, and an indescribable scream echoed throughout.
It had received considerable shock as the strike that had drawn substantial flesh mass was instead destroyed.
Naturally, Cardinal Zaxilos' right arm, which had unleashed this attack, had also turned pitch black and burned beyond recognition.
However, Zaxilos did not scream this time. He was already accustomed to it, and the moment he saw that sword, he had been preparing for the pain that would soon come.
That didn't mean he hadn't received a mental shock as well.
The strike he had used by gathering flesh mass being so easily disintegrated was beyond his expectations. It meant that Osian's power was far stronger than he had thought.
Zaxilos stared intently at Osian. The arrogance characteristic of one who holds the advantageous high ground, which he had shown just moments before, was nowhere to be seen.
Rather, that quietly observing appearance felt more eerie than screaming while displaying emotions.Zaxilos looked down at his right arm, which no longer retained even its shape. Even when he tried to regenerate it, he felt no sensation whatsoever.
The authority and blessing bestowed by Red Eternity would allow him to regenerate even if he were chopped into finger joint-sized pieces. However, his body struck by Osian's attack was refusing regeneration.
It was an unpleasant power that rejected the authority granted by God.
"I acknowledge it. I cannot defeat you in a fair fight."
He calmly uttered words that would make the archbishops of the Eternal Church widen their eyes in disbelief if they heard them but he had no choice.
Zaxilos was the only one who had survived to the very end even in the era when ancient beings had disappeared.
He was a living witness who had thoroughly hidden himself throughout long history and nurtured the cult over countless ages. He was truly an immortal being, and it wouldn't be strange to say he had practically reached the realm of a demigod.
Such a being had honestly acknowledged that he was weaker.
"However, victory and defeat are not simply determined by who is strong and who is weak."
Zaxilos, having lived long, had his own firm beliefs. It's not that the strong survive, but that those who survive are strong. This was a belief he had consistently held from the beginning, now that he was looking beyond even the realm of divinity, having surpassed being superhuman.
"By whatever means necessary, I will kill you here."
"I don't know what nonsense you're spouting again. But I don't particularly want to listen."
Osian gripped his sword once more. The surrounding flesh walls writhed and tried to crush Osian, but as soon as they touched the flames of starlight, they contracted and retreated from Osian.
They had instinctively cowered and become frightened by the power of starlight.
"What kind of madness is this?"
Krollakia stuck out her snake-like tongue at the sight.
A guy who wouldn't die even if killed dozens of times couldn't even regenerate properly when hit by Osian's attacks alone. To see that monster-like cardinal struggling so much. She now seemed to understand why Grace Seeker had insisted on bringing Osian at all costs.
But she couldn't let her guard down. The battle wasn't over yet. Rather, Zaxilos seemed to be taking a much more serious stance than before, perhaps because he was wary of Osian's power.
There's nothing more troublesome than a strong enemy who doesn't let their guard down. So now, at the moment when Osian had created an opening, they had to kill him.
Kudan was the first to sense this. As he threw his fist toward Zaxilos, an invisible, intangible energy blasted a cannon-like hole through Zaxilos' body in mid-air.
However, Kudan's attack couldn't deal proper damage to Zaxilos. Such physical attacks only slightly changed his 'form.'
It didn't reach the fundamental source of his existence.
But the collapse of such form was like momentarily shaking the opponent unstably. Seizing that gap, Basilio's sharp thorns dug into Zaxilos' wounds, tearing them open.
"I told you it wouldn't work."
"Let's see if this doesn't work either."
The moment Basilio said that, Zaxilos' eyes widened as he glared at Basilio.
"You!"
Wrinkles formed on Zaxilos' skin as his body, which had been full of vitality, rapidly aged. Basilio's thorns that had pierced his body were wriggling and sucking something from Zaxilos' body.
"How dare you try to usurp authority from me, a cardinal?"
Zaxilos had suffered two major wounds to his pride today. The first was being struck by Osian's starlight, and the second was what Basilio had just done to him.
Zaxilos grabbed the thorns attached to his body with his intact left arm and tried to forcibly tear them out, but Senaka interfered by freezing that hand.
The flesh wall stretched toward Senaka, transforming into tentacles and shooting out.
The werewolf Delford, his suit fluttering, chopped those tentacles into small pieces while protecting Senaka.
At the same time, just as Osian was about to swing his sword again, aiming for Zaxilos' neck.
"Be careful!"
Along with Malina's shout, black shadows began to emerge from various parts of the flesh walls.
Pitch-black dolls burst out from within them and rushed toward the party members. They were Dead Dagger assassins dressed in black clothing that looked as if it had been made by melting darkness.
They wielded all kinds of weapons - sharp daggers, short swords, hooks, and other concealed weapons - aiming for vital points. The sight of them rushing forward wrapped in shadows looked like a flock of crows charging toward corpses.
Osian was forced to change the direction of his sword to cut down the assassins. Meanwhile, a new presence revealed itself in mid-air.
"Whew. What the hell is this mess? Unlike your confident attitude, you seem to be in quite a pitiful state."
With dark bronze skin, white hair, and an eyepatch on one side, Sabrina, the leader of Dead Dagger, spoke to Zaxilos in a half-mocking tone.
"Sabrina!"
Malina, recognizing her, called out that name with a voice full of hatred.
"Hey there, Malina. Long time no see. You haven't changed at all from before. Is it because you're a half-elf? I'm envious of that youth. I've gotten this old."
Malina rushed toward Sabrina with an expressionless face. But the Dead Dagger assassins wouldn't just let that happen.
Three assassins blocked Malina's path. Malina tried to quickly eliminate them, but it wasn't easy. Each one had extraordinary skill in manipulating shadows.
What was most troublesome was that the three moved with organic perfection, as if facing a single person. Their coordination was so excellent that one might mistake them for sharing thoughts.
Malina wasn't pushed back by their combined attack, but she couldn't easily break through it either.
"You can play with those guys. I put effort into raising them. Now then, Cardinal. What will you do now?"
"Nothing changes."
Zaxilos said that while briefly glaring at Osian.
"Hmm. You want to kill that white knight? How about it? I can help you."
"He's not your opponent. That one is prey that I must kill."
"Well, seeing how he made you look like this, he seems to be quite capable. Fine. Since you insist, I won't interfere."
"Instead, you can deal with the others separately."
"Of course. That's what I came here for."
As Sabrina stretched out her hand, shadows swirled and gathered in mid-air. Soon, black weapons poured down like rain from within.
The flesh walls writhed and then split open to the left and right with a crack. And from inside, they began to vomit out grotesque beings made of bright red muscle.
-Kwaaaaak!
They were corrupted beings directly created by the cardinal. These creatures, whose entire bodies seemed to be made of muscle fibers dripping with blood, had no particular given form. With tentacles growing from their bodies and shapes wavering like heat haze, they displayed indescribably bizarre movements as they charged forward.
"Cardinal!"
And immediately, bishops of the Eternal Church arrived at the scene as well. Dead Dagger assassins, bishops, and even corrupted beings. Unlike when they had cornered Zaxilos with numerical superiority, the completely opposite situation unfolded.
This time they were surrounded, making the situation dangerous in reverse. At that moment, the Blood Brotherhood and Basilio, without anyone taking the lead, immediately huddled together on one side and formed a defensive formation. Leaving Osian alone.
A bishop questioned this sight.
"What? Are they planning to abandon their comrade as a sacrifice?"
It was a movement that could only be interpreted that way, as they were blatantly avoiding Osian. However, the truth was the opposite. They had separated because they didn't want to get caught up in Osian's attacks.
The starlight sword blazed high once again. The white giant star unfolded again, attempting to sweep the surroundings like a storm.
"Where do you think you're going!"
One bishop bravely stepped forward and charged toward the swinging starlight sword. It was Barok, one of the bishops of the Eternal Divine Cult.
Barok's body swelled greatly like that of a corrupted being, and sharp teeth sprouted densely all over his body, interlocking and layering to form armor.
Bishop Barok was renowned among all bishops for having the strongest defensive power with this hard tooth armor.
Therefore, he believed without doubt that if he threw his body to block Osian's attack, the other bishops would seize that opening and kill Osian.
-Slash!
"Huh?"
Bishop Barok wondered why Osian's sword didn't stop. And belatedly, along with the burning pain cutting through his body, he realized that his body had been cut far too easily.
"Kuaaaaaaak!"
With a soul-wrenching death cry, the power of pure white starlight penetrated through the severed section of Bishop Barok. Like a disinfectant that erases germs themselves, the power of starlight penetrated through Bishop Barok's wound and completely destroyed every cell in his body.
Bishop Barok, while screaming, had his entire body crack in an instant before being consumed by white fire, leaving only ash before disappearing.
A bishop-level member of the Eternal Church had died with a single strike. Moreover, this wasn't simple physical death, but annihilation close to the complete disappearance of existence.
The other bishops felt their spines grow cold as a result of this phenomenon that transcended death.
"Cardinal!"
Archbishop Mirak called out to Zaxilos.
"Please leave this place to us and prepare the ritual, Cardinal!"
Zaxilos nodded and then disappeared as if melting into the flesh wall.
'Is he running away?'
Osian realized that Zaxilos was plotting something, and that he was going to execute it now. Naturally, he had to stop Zaxilos, but Archbishop Mirak wouldn't just watch that happen.
"You cannot pass through here!"
"What a troublesome thing to do."
To charge forward even after seeing a bishop die so futilely just moments ago. The moment Osian gripped his sword with such thoughts, Archbishop Mirak wore a bloody smile.
He clapped his hands together with a clap, and before anyone could stop him, he pressed those palms against the flesh mass ground.
-Kuooooooo!!!!
The entire flesh wall shook greatly with intense vibrations. It was an even more violent reaction than when Osian had torn up the interior with his white giant star.
At the same time, the entire flesh mass began to undulate at tremendous speed. Writhing and heaving, bubbles bursting and disgusting pus spurting out while new flesh mass regenerated from there.
Holes appeared where there were none, or flesh walls formed where they previously existed, creating visually horrific phenomena that were difficult to distinguish with the eyes.
Basilio and the Blood Brotherhood, who had been clustered together, were also swept up in the aftermath and had no choice but to scatter in all directions.
A giant hole was also created beneath Osian's feet. Unable to step on the ground, Osian fell downward with a floating sensation. Belatedly, Osian realized what Archbishop Mirak was trying to do.
"I'll scatter you all separately and hunt you down."
Right now, he was planning to scatter the party members and then deal with them.
"Says who."
Osian stuck his starlight sword into the falling wall to reduce his speed, then kicked off the flesh wall and leaped up like a spring.
But Archbishop Mirak had expected this and quickly filled in the hole he had already created. Osian cut through the ceiling that appeared before his eyes with his sword, but what was visible beyond was just countless more flesh masses.
'The space itself has been twisted.'
He must have changed positions in that split second. It had to be so. This place was already a space eroded and contaminated by an outer god. Naturally, it couldn't be measured by common sense and physical laws.
In the end, Osian had no choice but to fall down below, into the endlessly extending black pit.