Fire still burned the remains of Guildfort. The smell of burning flesh mingled with the night wind, and the last human screams had long since died out.
I stood in the ruins, my red mask glowing faintly in the reflection of the flames. Zereth and Rena were behind me, their swords still dripping with blood.
Suddenly, a loud voice echoed through the sky.
"O holy light, descend your justice!"
From the sky, a white light pierced the darkness of the night. Five figures appeared, clad in silver armor bearing the emblem of a golden cross. Their swords and shields radiated a piercing holy light.
Paladins.
Rena immediately stood at attention, her sword of darkness trembling against the holy aura that enveloped them. "Paladins of the church," she hissed hatefully.
Zereth drew his sword, a dark aura emanating from his body. "My Lord, let me strike them down."
I raised my hand, restraining Zereth. "Wait a moment."
One of the Paladins stepped forward, tall, imposing, and commanding. His eyes blazed with golden light. "Masked Demon! In the name of the Great Light, I, Paladin Gregory, will cut off your head right here and now!"
The other four raised their swords, holy auras resonating, creating halos in the air.
[HOLY DOMAIN]
White light enveloped the battle area, suppressing the darkness aura of me and my troops. Rena was pushed back, her body trembling violently, and even Zereth was forced to stab her sword into the ground to keep from falling.
I felt like my body was being pierced by needles of light. "So this is the holy domain, how weak!"
I raised my hand. Dark red runes appeared on the ground, spreading rapidly within the Holy Domain.
[GRAVITY FIELD]
BOOOOM!!!
The ground trembled. The pressure of gravity slammed into the Paladins, but their holy light resisted, their bodies remaining upright.
Paladin Gregorius smiled sarcastically. "A cheap trick. Holy light cannot be suppressed by a lowly darkness like you!"
I snapped my fingers and a bone chair appeared, and I sat down slowly.
"I'm disappointed that only trash comes here," I said.
"Zereth, Rena, Nana, Selena, Malrik, Clarissa."
They stepped forward.
"Yes, my lord," the six of them said.
"Entertain them for me."
The six of them immediately attacked the five paladins.
Zereth attacked Paladin Gregorius, Rena attacked the one with long white hair, Nana and Clarissa attacked the red-haired paladin, Selena attacked the lone female paladin, Malrik attacked the green-haired paladin.
They immediately separated. I looked at Nana and Clarissa—they were the weakest.
Nana wielded a sword and shield imbued with darkness and holy magic, Clarissa wielded dual daggers.
"I, Paladin Less, will kill you!" the red-haired paladin said in a booming voice.
"You talk too much," Nana said coldly.
Nana attacked with Cheondan.
[SWORD SLASH]
Her sword strike was swift and powerful, but Paladin Less blocked it with a shield shimmering with holy light.
[ROAN ART: One Million Slash]
Clarissa disappeared in a burst of speed. Thousands of red streaks flashed through the air—each slash seeking a gap in Less's defense. The paladin spun, his holy sword reflecting pure white light to parry.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Three slashes pierced through—neck, shoulder, and thigh. Blood gushed from the deep wounds.
"Tch!" Less took a step back, a thin trickle of blood dripping from the corner of his lips. "What a darn fast speed!"
Nana didn't waste the opportunity. She leaped high, her sword enveloped in a conflicting aura of darkness and holy light.
[HOLY DARKNESS CLEAVE]
WOOOOOOOO!
The air split. Less raised his sword to block, but the combined force of the two opposing elements created a powerful explosion.
BOOM!
Less was sent flying backward, his armor cracking at the chest. Fresh blood spurted from his mouth, soaking the ground already drenched in the blood of his previous victims.
"Impossible! A demon using holy light?!" Less gasped, his eyes wide with confusion and anger.
I sat on the bone chair, observing carefully. This paladin is different from the previous heroes, I thought. Less has sharp defensive instincts, but he relies too much on pure holy power. Nana and Clarissa... they're learning to coordinate quickly.
My eyes watched every movement. Clarissa was too aggressive; she would be seriously injured if she wasn't careful. But Nana... she was waiting for the right moment.
Clarissa appeared beside her like a shadow, her two daggers flashing towards Less's neck. But Less wasn't a Paladin for nothing—his reflexes saved him. he tilted his body, the daggers only slicing through the skin of his neck.
Thick red blood gushed out, but Less countered with a brutal elbow to Clarissa's stomach.
CRACK!
Clarissa's ribs broke. She stumbled backward, vomiting blood mixed with green bile.
"CLARISSA!" Nana screamed in rage. The dark aura around her raged like a storm.
[SHADOW BIND]
Nana's shadow crept quickly toward Less, trying to bind her legs. But Less stuck his sword into the ground.
[HOLY SANCTUARY]
A circle of pure white light exploded from his sword, incinerating the shadows into oblivion. Less rose to his feet, his eyes blazing with holy fury.
"Your power is indeed filthy and sinister," Less said in a trembling voice, blood still dripping from the corner of his lips. "But my fortitude and purity of heart have been tempered by decades of eternal light. And that... you can never steal or corrupt!"
[DIVINE JUDGEMENT]
Less leaped high into the sky, his sword transforming into a dazzling little sun. The pure white light seared his retinas, contrasting sharply with the green, poisonous mist that still surrounded the battlefield. When he dove down, it was as if a holy comet had struck the already darkness-tainted earth.
Nana and Clarissa rolled to the side. The ground where they stood exploded, creating a gaping crater with still-smoldering edges.
Clarissa, despite her broken ribs, rose to her feet with a savage smile. Blood dripped from the corner of her lips, but her eyes glinted dangerously.
"Do you like to play hardball?" Clarissa pulled a third dagger from beneath her robes—a special dagger coated in deadly poison. "Let's play harder."
[POISON MIST]
He threw the dagger into the air and stabbed it with the other two. Green poison spread in a thick, pulsating mist like a living organism, surrounding Less from all directions. The mist moved in the opposite direction to Less's holy light—green against white, corruption against purity.
Less held his breath, but the poison seeped through the pores of his skin. His face began to pale, the veins around his eyes bulging black.
"Poison... demon!" Less staggered, but he pressed an acupuncture point on his chest.
[DIVINE PURIFICATION]
Holy light flowed through his body, neutralizing the poison, but the process was painful. Less screamed in agony as the poison and holy light battled in his blood.
Nana didn't waste the moment. She threw her shield like a spinning disc, enveloped in a dark aura that corroded the air.
Less parried it with his sword, but the impact sent him flying backward. Nana was waiting—she appeared behind Less with her sword raised high.
[EXECUTION STRIKE]
The sword descended brutally, aiming to cleave Less from shoulder to waist.
Less spun around at the last second, Nana's sword only ripping through the armor and flesh of his back. Blood gushed like a fountain, but Less remained standing.
In a desperate move, Less elbowed back, catching Nana in the nose.
CRACK!
Nana's nasal bone broke, blood gushing out of her mask.
Both of them retreated, gasping for breath, their bodies covered in wounds.
Clarissa, with broken ribs, rose again. Her face was pale, but her gaze was even more ferocious.
"Less... I will slowly rip your throat out."
Less spat blood, his eyes still burning with unwavering fanaticism. "Even if my body is destroyed... even if you succeed in killing me here, a thousand other Paladins will come. They will hunt you to the ends of the earth."
Typical fanatic, I thought as I watched. But he wasn't lying. The Church wouldn't be quiet after this.
"Then we will kill those thousand Paladins," Nana said hoarsely, her own blood soaking the ground.
"One by one."