Sharaad engulfed his entire body in flames and punched with his three right arms toward the assassin, who dodged the upper hand and blocked the other two with her wind-enhanced steel sword.
The king's blow was heavy, as if a mountain were trying to crush her, and Shiina could feel the muscles and bones in her arms creaking and almost giving way to such force.
However, despite blocking the blow, the fire covering Sharaad's body burned her, causing terrible pain she had never felt before, as if her own consciousness was being burned, even though the flames had only superficially touched her skin.
The assassin tried to retreat, but the king prepared another blow with his other arms and attacked her before she could escape.
She was completely defenseless at that moment, as she had to use all her strength to hold his right arms, so she just prepared herself to receive the next blows.
However, Sariel and Aegreon acted quickly, with the Pillar blocking the king's second blow and the traveler kicking him away.
A loud thud could be heard even amid the sound of the snowstorm when Sharaad slammed his back against one of the walls.
However, just one blow like that would not stop him.
Several sharp, pointed ice stalagmites grew from the ground and advanced toward him, accompanied by dozens of blue spheres.
The stalagmites were the first to hit him, and he blocked their piercing tips with his own arms. They only partially pierced his flesh, but it was enough to keep him pinned against the wall until he was hit by the spheres, which caused numerous explosions.
Holding on so as not to be pushed by the wind, everyone looked closely at the site of the explosion, seeing only a crater with no sign of the king.
"Raymond, behind you!" shouted Shiina.
Turning around, the bodyguard noticed Sharaad stepping on the wall a few meters above him. His wide, crazed eyes stared at him in a predatory manner, and his six legs bent at the same time, propelling him toward him.
The king's body was so powerful that just 'jumping' caused part of the wall to collapse.
Raymond tried to create a golden shield, but Sharaad's speed was comparable to that of a Pillar, so he would be hit before he could do anything.
Then Aegreon appeared in front of him and struck with his scythe, causing an explosion of dark flames in the process.
The bodyguard would not have time to dodge those flames, which he knew were dangerous to him, but Sariel acted quickly and pushed him away with his own body, taking the fire that would have hit him.
The traveler's skin began to burn, but instead of moving away, he simply threw himself into the fire at the same time that the tip of his glaive's blade intensely absorbed the snow around, making it completely hidden in an extremely bright light blue energy.
Aiming at the left side of the king's chest, he struck the second heart squarely, and the flames were extinguished by an explosion of ice.
Aegreon ended up caught in the crossfire, but he endured the damage with relative ease, as most of the power was directed at Sharaad.
The king of Krimisha was thrown dozens of meters away again and was about to hit a wall again when he recovered in midair and 'landed' on the wall with all his limbs, assuming a position similar to that of a spider.
Aegreon and Sariel did not wait for him to recover and launched magic spheres at him, which he evaded using both his arms and legs to move and jump.
Raymond, Shiina, and Luna also tried to help, with the assassin shooting wind arrows, the bodyguard shooting lightning bolts, and Luna shooting ice stakes at the king.
"He can't use Alteration anymore! Keep pressing him!"
Everyone tried to predict his movements, but Sharaad had become even faster now that he was using his twelve limbs to move.
Everyone was focused on trying to hit the king when a pulse of water — capable of cutting through even metal — hit Raymond in the back, causing a deep cut.
Turning around in surprise, not only he but everyone in the group was bombarded with countless different spells, forcing them to abandon their offensive against Sharaad and protect themselves from the surprise attack.
Looking at what remained of the walls, they saw hundreds of devotees of the Sect wearing dark robes in the destroyed corridors, trying to defend their king.
There were also several civilians who had been drawn by curiosity to find out what the hell was going on in the Svarga temple.
"KILL THEM!" the civilians and priests shouted. "THEY ARE TRYING TO KILL OUR KING!"
"Get away!" Raymond shouted. "It's dangerous here!"
However, the people of Krimisha continued to shout insults and cheer for their deaths. This was only because they could not see Sharaad's demonic appearance due to the heavy snowfall and could only see his silhouette.
The king approached the bodyguard with his entire body engulfed in flames, while Raymond was the target of countless spells from the priests.
Having to choose which of the two to defend, Raymond decided to focus on Sharaad, who was a much greater threat.
But to his surprise, instead of attacking him, the king took a powerful leap — creating a crater in the ground as he jumped — and crushed some of the devotees who were trying to help him, killing some innocent civilians in the process.
If Sharaad were still sane, he would never have done such a thing, but any remnants of sanity disappeared when he received more power from Shiva.
Only then were the people able to see their king up close, and they were all shocked by what they saw. They had always been told stories that angels were demonic and terrible beings, but nothing seemed to compare to what they saw before them.
The king turned his face to the nearest person — a mother holding hands with a five-year-old girl — with his eyes wide and his mouth so open that he looked capable of swallowing that child whole in one gulp, and then he lunged toward to kill them.
However, Sariel acted quickly and caused several stalagmites to pierce Sharaad and stop him for a while, then jumped to where he was.
With his glaive covered in a layer of blue light, he placed himself between the people and the king and struck him in the stomach, but he dodged and avoided having his last heart pierced, being hit in the chest instead.
The traveler tried to pull out his glaive, but the king grabbed his weapon tightly, preventing him from moving away, and covered his entire body in purple flames in an attempt to burn him.
In response, Sariel created a golden shield, protecting the people from being burned.
"Get out of here!" he shouted. "This thing is no longer your king!"
"W-WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO OUR KING?" the people despaired.
"This was done by those 'sages'! This is what happens to those who convert to Shiva. They are not to be trusted."
Sharaad was still trying to break the shield with his fire attacks, having some success in cracking it.
"Run away if you value your lives!" Using his strength, Sariel grabbed him and threw himself back into the hole with him before his shield broke and put people at risk.
After hearing the traveler's words, the people tried to flee, but the Sect stopped them and prevented them from leaving.
"You can't leave now!"
"But we're in danger!"
"It doesn't matter! You must stay here whether you like it or not!"
The devotees obviously didn't want the people to flee back to Krimisha and end up telling what they had seen, so their only choice was to keep them there by force.
And the people realized the devotees' intentions, which served to confirm what Sariel had said.
Meanwhile, the battle continued, and Sharaad constantly tried to kill his own Sect and his people, further convincing the civilians to trust the traveler and believe his words.
"Raymond and Shiina, kill all these devotees and get the civilians out of here! We'll take care of the rest," said Sariel. "You too, Luna, but come back here."
"What about Ashoka?" asked the assassin.
"Take him too."
Without wasting any time, the assassin went after Ashoka, who was cowering in a corner, trembling — perhaps from fear or cold, or even a combination of both.
"Let's get out of here," she said.
"What are you going to do with my son?" He refused to leave the golden shield that protected him.
"Look at him!" She pointed at Sharaad. "That thing is not your son!"
Looking at Sharaad's face, Ashoka could find nothing human in him. Reluctantly, but already in a state of acceptance, he threw the stone away and stepped out of the shield.
Shiina immediately lifted him up in her arms and leaped high toward the corridors.
Meanwhile, Raymond annihilated any member of the Shiva Sect he encountered, helping the people escape from the chaos. He was like a huge, furious lion, protecting the weak behind him and tearing apart anyone who dared to harm them.
Luna ran toward the nearest wall and looked up, where there was a corridor with a few people.
Remembering Sariel and Raymond's training, she recalled when they both taught her how to use her strength well.
Since the seal on her had been broken, her physical strength had increased more and more, far surpassing that of an ordinary human. The traveler explained that this was because physical strength increased in proportion to magic, so it would only be a matter of time before her magic stabilized, and she became as physically and magically strong as a Pillar.
Bending her knees and concentrating strength in her legs, the princess took the best jump she could, narrowly reaching the corridor above.
Her jump was enough for her to stretch out her arms and hang onto the corridor, getting up with some difficulty and encountering several devotees blocking the civilians' path.
As soon as the devotees saw Luna, they launched their spells at her.
Taken by surprise by her enemy's lack of hesitation, the princess dodged at the last moment, receiving deep cuts on her arm from Water magic.
The Sect didn't even bother to avoid hitting the people, who were seriously injured by some of the attacks.
This made Luna feel urgent and advance like lightning against her opponents, throwing ice stakes that pierced the skulls of some and cutting the rest with a magical ice sword.
She was still a beginner when it came to battles, so she ended up being wounded by the devotees a few times.
As soon as she killed them all, the civilians immediately thanked her.
"Thank you very much, miss!"
"You saved us!"
"We're sorry for hurting you..."
The princess turned to look at the people, when they all fell silent and stared at her in amazement.
"A-An angel?!"
"Le-Leave us alone!"
People began to move away from her, dangerously approaching the edge.
"Get out of here quickly!" Luna tried to convince them. "It's still dangerous!"
"Freak!"
"Murderer."
But it was useless.
The princess stood still, not knowing what to do, when she noticed Sharaad jumping toward the people near her and aiming at an elderly man who barely had the strength to stand.
Without much time to act, Luna ran toward the man and threw herself at him, pushing him away and taking the blow in his place.
Receiving all six of the king's flaming fists at once, the princess was thrown against the walls of the corridor, hitting them hard and falling on her knees on the floor.
An intense pain arose in her chest and breathing became terribly difficult; she had most likely broken some ribs, and her face had acquired a terrible burn mark on the left side.
Sharaad didn't waste any time and tried to attack the people closest to him, but the traveler quickly appeared, kicked him back into the hole and followed him, leaving Luna with the people she had saved.
When they realized what she had done, everyone looked at the princess with pain in their hearts. That person had almost killed himself to protect someone who had just offended her.
"We're sorry! Are you okay?" they asked as they approached.
"I know first aid! Let me take a look at you!"
"No!" Luna shouted. "Get out of here before it happens again!"
"You can't stay like this! If you don't let me do anything, I'll feel guilty for what I said to you!"
"I don't feel hurt or resentful about it, so go away now!"
Reluctantly, the people turned their backs and returned down the corridor they had come from, casting several concerned glances back at her.
Sariel and Aegreon were still doing their best to hold Sharaad inside the arena, as the priority now was to save the innocent, so they had to wait before trying to finish him off. It was not an easy task, but both were powerful and managed to contain him until Shiina, Raymond, and Luna killed everyone in the cult and evacuated the people.
The princess walked toward the edge and jumped into the arena, her body still aching terribly, so much so that she was unable to land softly and ended up falling hard.
Getting down on her knees, she tried to get up when she saw a golden light running through her body and touching her. The burning sensation on her face subsided instantly, and she could feel her burned skin rebuilding itself, as well as her ribs magically returning to their place and restructuring themselves perfectly.
Looking up, she saw the traveler healing her.
"Didn't I tell you not to do anything heroic?" He had a gentle smile on his face.
"I'm sorry..." The princess lowered her face, feeling bad for disobeying Sariel's instructions.
"I'll let it slide this time since your action saved people." He offered her his hand. "But be more careful next time, understand?"
"Yes." With a smile on her face, the princess grabbed the traveler's hand and stood up, and they quickly ran to help Aegreon.