Chapter "364"

Osian fell down into what seemed like an endless pit. While feeling that floating sensation, Osian mulled over the fight from just before.

'So it ends up like this after all. Was it too much to expect to completely kill that bastard who had assimilated with this entire building from the start?'

He hadn't expected that bastard to have eroded the surroundings to this extent. It must have been such a secretive and lengthy process that no one noticed it in the middle of the city.

He hadn't managed to kill Zaxilos, but he didn't think of it as regrettable. Rather, he had vaguely anticipated that it would turn out this way.

Zaxilos had lived for countless ages. He was a cunning bastard who had received the power of an outer god yet never revealed himself to the outside world, living in hiding.

He hadn't held any optimistic expectations of killing such a cautious snake in one blow. This was merely the opening battle of a long fight to come.

'In the end, it'll flow into a prolonged battle. Moreover, all my companions have been scattered. These are perfect conditions for them to hunt.'

Naturally. Osian had factored all of this situation into his calculations. The same went for Basilio and the Blood Brotherhood.

'Of course, this doesn't make the disadvantageous situation advantageous. Rather, it's about not being greatly flustered by unexpected situations and calmly establishing the next objective.'

The one he was somewhat concerned about was Basilio. He who wielded power related to the Red Eternity was a variable who could decide this fight for both Zaxilos and Osian.

'More than that, is this fall finally coming to an end?'

Osian looked down below. Beyond the pit that had been nothing but black, a faint green light was rippling.

The moment it entered his vision, a sour and musty stench stimulated his nose. At the same time, the surface of the starlight armor he wore sparked with small crackling sounds.

"They're giving me quite a grand welcome from the start."

What awaited Osian down below was digestive fluid that could well be called a massive green lake. A highly acidic digestive fluid pond that would instantly corrode and melt anything. That bastard called Archbishop Mirak seemed determined to kill Osian no matter what.

If he fell like this without doing anything, even Osian wearing starlight armor would be in danger. He considered using Moon Scar to create a path of frost in the air and escape, but Osian decided to change his mind.

Even if he escaped from that, those bastards would have set up double and triple traps. Those who had received the power of outer gods always added extraordinary deeds beyond common sense. This had been well implemented even when playing the game. Setting traps in layers, suddenly having additional patterns come out off-beat, or going somewhere because there was only one mob, only to have camouflaged ones swarm out.

At the time, he had said he could feel the endless malice of the developers, but facing these terrible monsters in reality, he realized they had no choice but to be that way.

So he would match that and go with a frontal breakthrough.

Osian split his starlight sword into two.

Holding a shining sword in each hand, Osian recalled the technique that the knight who had shown him twin starlight swords had used at the end.

He would implement that here.

The starlight sword gripped in his right hand fell straight down, followed by the sword in his left hand chasing after it like an arrow.

Two streams of pure white lightning struck the acidic lake that was bubbling and emitting foam in sequence.

-Pwhooosh!

The center of the green lake swelled up like a large bubble rising, then a pure white explosion occurred.

Pure white flames drew concentric circles. The scattering acidic liquid was pushed outward greatly, then rushed back toward the center like a tsunami.

Finally, Osian, wrapped in starlight all over his body, fell like a meteorite.

With a muffled explosion sound that human ears couldn't hear, the green liquid that had been rushing in like a tsunami was torn apart. The acidic liquid that touched the rapidly spreading flames of starlight couldn't withstand that power, evaporating and disappearing.

Thus, in the center of the pit that had once been a massive acidic lake, Osian slowly got up.

Around him, the remaining flames of holy light were still crackling and burning the surrounding flesh.

"Hmm. I tried copying it once, but the aftereffects are no joke."

This wasn't a technique suitable for general use. It was about becoming a meteor with overwhelming starlight and scorching the earth's surface, but the reaction from that collision returned to the user as well.

Even with the sturdy body of a knight, the starlight armor wrapping that body, and the triple protection of amplified starlight, his bones ached with a tingling sensation.

Of course, having only some strain was quite impressive in itself. In the past, he wouldn't have even attempted to try something like this.

The same went for White Giant Star. Having grasped it through manifesting it via Neo instead, it put considerable strain on a human body to deploy.

The stamina consumption for operating that massive starlight was no small matter, but most importantly, it dulled the weapon's edge.

'I'm going to get an earful from Eldin.'

None other than the longsword that Eldin had put his heart into making had its edge chipped. Even after reinforcement, no less.

Considering it had been fine when cutting down giants, deploying White Giant Star put no ordinary load on the sword.

'I should have gotten it repaired and additionally reinforced, but I was too busy time-wise to do so.'

After loosening his slightly stiff body, Osian rotated his body and slashed at the air.

-Swish!

A red line appeared in the air, then a headless corpse appeared like a mirage and collapsed. It was an assassin from Dead Dagger.

'A sudden ambush in this situation. They're certainly formidable.'

He had just broken through the acidic lake. It was perfect timing to be careless, with the burden of using a big technique and the assumption that there would be no enemies nearby since there had been an acidic lake until just before.

And maliciously, those bastards had squeezed in at that moment when their opponent would be most off-guard.

Of course, since Osian already knew about its movements, he could respond without much difficulty. With stealth inferior to Malina's from the start, it couldn't avoid the senses of a knight whose perception had become even sharper.

'Even so, it's certainly tight.'

He was currently isolated in the heart of enemy territory. This place had the worst environment of any battle he had experienced so far.

It was a situation where he didn't know when, where, or how the enemies would attack. And there were even machine-like assassins who would rush for vital points the moment he let his guard down and became careless.

But if he didn't relax his tension, that itself would accumulate tremendous stress and mental fatigue.

'It might be different if I moved stealthily but in my case, that's practically impossible.'

There was a knight holding brilliantly shining armor, cloak, and sword alone in this red flesh world. Unless the opponent was blind, they had no choice but to notice his presence.

Moon Scar was somewhat more suitable for stealthy movement, but it wasn't without limits.

It killed presence and distorted light to hide appearance, but unlike rogues, it couldn't hide in the two-dimensional space of shadows.

So even if he hid his appearance, as long as he existed, his location would be discovered by these flesh masses wherever he went.

And since he was emanating cold energy from the start, it wouldn't be difficult to track the frost that formed along the paths he passed.

In that case, it was better to maintain sturdy starlight and push forward steadfastly.

-Gurrrrrrr!

One wall shook greatly, then split left and right with a tearing sound. Along with the sight of a beast's maw opening with sharp, irregular teeth, crimson beasts could be seen swarming out from within.

Fallen ones whose bodies had been twisted by Red Eternity rushed toward Osian like a pack of dogs. No ordinary believers were visible, and each one was at least priest-level.

Senior priests were mixed in here and there, and most importantly, the one who seemed to be giving orders from the rear was estimated to be a bishop.

While the other bastards had massive flesh bodies, this one had the appearance of a lean and withered sea anemone.

And red mist spewing from the tip of each of its tentacles was further strengthening the priests. A rear support type.

"Thanks for saving me the trouble of going to find you directly."

Osian charged toward the fallen ones while emitting intense sword light.

That sight was like a lone shining star in a crimson universe.

Plimene frowned the moment she saw the Trinity Building lobby. The lobby that should have been full of people was deserted beyond belief.

And that wasn't all. There was an eerily inhuman absence of presence that would make even strangers feel chills.

Such a bombing had fallen on the top of the building, yet it was this quiet. Whether people had evacuated after knowing in advance or there were remaining personnel, both were problems.

"This seems to be the right place. Everyone, prepare."

Tirna's elite special forces had been deployed to resolve this situation. Guards had been mobilized as well, and district defense forces had joined too.

Even though they had selected only the most outstanding skilled individuals, there were so many that control wasn't easy. But those gathered here had outstanding experience, so they would each achieve their best results even without orders.

Of course, Plimene had a personality that was certain about everything, so she didn't particularly grant autonomy in this area.

"Team 1, search the lobby. Upon discovering suspicious individuals, kill and eliminate them immediately."

No one wavered or anything at the words that there would be no capturing alive. This was a nest of heretics. Crazy bastards who kidnapped people and ground them up alive to hold blood festivals.

They say the old vampire noble clans used to capture people and extract their blood to drink, right? Even so, they didn't take lives for fresh blood, but these bastards were worse, torturing people to death.

"Team 2, calmly go upstairs. Pay attention to coordination with the mages. Team 3 supports Team 2. Team 4 handles the rear."

The suppression force moved in perfect order. Watching this, Plimene suddenly recalled Basilio, whom she had encountered during the day.

A skilled freelancer representing freedom called a fixer, but a frivolous man who didn't know his own principles. A man who covered his face with a mask, never revealing his identity, and didn't know how to properly take responsibility.

He stood at the exact opposite extreme from Plimene, so she had more than enough reasons to dislike him. But her dislike of Basilio wasn't based solely on such reasons.

This was a somewhat more personal matter from the past. Plimene slowly closed her eyes and opened them.

She didn't know why memories of the past suddenly came to mind, but right now it was during an important operation to eliminate heretics. Being distracted while in a position to command was unacceptable.

Just as she was giving orders, a report came in to Plimene.

[This is the external team. The black bird that was outside has fled far away. Should we pursue?]

"No. Give up the pursuit. Even if we tried to catch it, it would be useless in the middle of the night. Ignore it and focus on eliminating the heretics."

[Yes, understood...]

The communication cut off mid-sentence. Plimene frowned and looked back the way they had come.

The main entrance that should have connected to the lobby had disappeared. And what had taken its place was a red flesh wall that writhed disgustingly.

"Annihilation squad."

With Plimene's order, soldiers in reinforced suits unleashed the flamethrowers they had prepared.

The hot flames burned and melted the flesh wall, soon boring a large hole. But what was visible beyond was not the outside scenery, but another large cavity.

[What the hell is this?]

[What's going on? That should definitely be the outside.]

Toward those confused by this situation beyond common sense, Plimene shouted.

"Everyone, calm down. This is sorcery affecting space used by the heretics. Mage unit. Can you contact the outside?"

Since mechanical signals weren't working, it was the mages' turn next.

"Connection is not possible."

The mages had connected themselves with threads of mana so they could quickly exchange situations with each other in emergencies. If even such mages found it difficult to know each other's situations, they could be considered effectively isolated.

"What we need to do doesn't change anyway."

From various parts of the lobby that had somehow become like the middle of a hellscape, red monsters began appearing with growling beast sounds.

"Sweep them all away. Everything that harms this city."

They were professionals. This situation certainly went beyond common sense, but they moved swiftly. Soldiers in reinforced suits stood at the front and fired bullets at the monsters.

Having successfully scattered all of Osian's party and isolated even the city government people who had entered through the main gate, Archbishop Mirak quickly grasped the overall situation.

"City government bastards. They sure came in disgusting numbers."

He was attacking using corrupted beings, but their firepower was transcendentally overwhelming, making it impossible to even approach as they were immediately cut down.

For such a large force to move without any friction or noise was possible because there was an excellent commander.

But it didn't matter. Once they entered this place, those bastards had no choice but to become offerings to Red Eternity.

That knight bastard who had wounded His Eminence the Cardinal was the most troublesome, but since His Eminence had gone to prepare the ritual along with recovery, it probably wouldn't be much of a problem.

"Finally. This land will be offered to the Great One."

Archbishop Mirak's voice as he muttered was full of longing for the future he envisioned.

That's why he failed to notice that in their Trinity Building which had become a separate world with perfectly isolated space, something heterogeneous, something else entirely, had secretly infiltrated somewhere.