"You might end up dying in the end."
Audin spoke, lifting only his head while kneeling on one knee. A moment later, Encrid responded.
Clang!
The sound of sword and iron rod clashing erupted.
"Who?"
He hadn’t actually spoken, but that’s what Encrid, as Audin knew him, would have said.
"A Knight is not an immortal being."
Audin kept talking.
Just because he was a Knight didn’t mean he could withstand the Order’s power.
"I don’t expect to."
A disinterested reply came back.
"In the end, you won’t be able to achieve what you desire."
Pursuing a dream while being hunted by the Order was too difficult. There was no reason to choose that path.
All he had to do was abandon himself.
He only had to give up on himself.
But Encrid wouldn’t do that, even knowing it.
His resolve had come too late. Beyond confronting his past, his mistakes, and everything within, he needed to cast off the guilt he had acknowledged.
Still, Audin spoke, asking endlessly. This was his final question.
"So you still choose to stand here?"
It was a hard and painful path.
Audin couldn’t call it a dream, but he had something he considered his duty and responsibility.
He’d only turned away from it because he believed it couldn’t be achieved. Encrid had rebuked him for that.
"Is there anything that truly cannot be done in this world?"
There wasn’t. Someone who proved himself said so.
Boom!
A loud explosion sounded.
The Valyrian steel sword finally broke, and Encrid’s arm twisted at an impossible angle as his body flew through the air.
Audin reflexively caught him.
With a thud, Encrid’s body was caught. Audin didn’t waver. His hands didn’t tremble, his back was straight, and his gaze was crystal clear.
Even while kneeling, he appeared larger than anyone else.
"You’ll have to abandon your dream."
Holding Encrid, he spoke.
"Why would I?"
The response came, and it wasn’t an illusion. It was Encrid’s actual voice.
He’d been listening to Audin’s muttering all this time.
Audin smiled.
Of course, his Captain would say that.
Audin’s resolve shifted.
It was difficult not to respect a will that shone so brightly.
Especially when that path aligned with his own hopes and beliefs.
"Walk the path of hardship. Pass through the narrow gate. Tread the narrow path, for that is where your purpose lies."
Quoting his Father’s words, Audin rose to his feet.
Behind him was his Captain, whose arm was broken—a man who had once made him see the world anew when he had given up on everything, including his own life. And beyond him stood a child destined to share Phildin’s fate.
Audin resolved to protect them both.
Even if it meant his end here.
Even if he couldn’t escape all his sins.
Even if this wasn’t what his Father desired.
"Still, it is what I desire now, Father."
A restriction wasn’t something to be hastily removed. Releasing it at once would cause a backlash.
That backlash could very well drive him to death.
So what?
He repeated his Captain’s words to himself.
The chains within his mind shattered and loosened.
The restriction he bore had been one he placed upon himself, so he didn’t need anyone’s permission to release it.
Audin lifted his head from where he’d been praying. His eyes now gleamed with a bright white light.
It was a radiance beyond comparison to Overdeer’s silver gaze, starting from his eyes and spreading through his entire body.
A divine light.
And he demonstrated the miracle the Saint Child Seiki had shown before.
Whoosh!
The divine light surged like a pillar around Audin.
The pillar pierced the sky, twice as thick as the one Seiki had manifested.
Light shone in all directions. The War God declared, "With my light, I support your will."
Those were the words of the War God, who was also Audin’s Father.
Even if that wasn’t what was actually said, he decided to believe it.
That is what faith and belief were.
The light enveloped Audin, and he embraced it in turn.
A man born and raised in the Holy Land, possessing unparalleled talent, unleashed all the divinity he’d accumulated.
Blood mixed with the light and trickled down from his eyes.
The backlash from abruptly releasing the restriction was inconsequential.
"So what."
He was willing to stake his life for what he desired now.
It wasn’t a matter of saving the continent.
Merely saving the girl known as the Saint Child and upholding his Captain’s will.
But that was Audin’s wish in this moment.
It didn’t matter if others thought it insignificant.
[If you have something you believe in, why do you listen to others and succumb to the whispers of demons? If you prove your faith and proceed upon it, those demonic whispers will be nothing but noise.]
As the restriction loosened, the words of the Sacred Text echoed within him.
Audin, surrounded by light, opened his mouth.
This time, he spoke not from the Sacred Text, but from something he learned under his Captain’s command.
"If I ever return to the Order, Brother Rem’s life is as good as gone."
Audin smiled as he spoke, clenching his fists. The raging divine light lingered over Encrid’s arm and chest.
Though it couldn’t instantly heal his wounds, it would help to some extent.
The divine light he had held back for years surged like an explosion.
The light that formed a pillar descended and encased Audin.
Rather than scattering, it wrapped his body in a thick, solid form.
"Divine Armor?"
Overdeer’s mouth opened upon seeing it.
He was correct.
The art of shrouding one’s body in invisible armor using divine energy was known as Iron Armor.
Coating oneself with divine light created the holy armor.
And there was an ultimate art of amplifying this light into a full-body armor.
This was known as Divine Armor.
To achieve it, one had to train to an absurd degree, which was why so few had mastered it.
It required dense muscle structure and a skin toughened to the point of resembling true steel before one could even begin to hone the skill.
Only by making divine energy as much a part of the body as muscle and skin could one perform this technique.
The divine energy exploded and was then absorbed back into his body.
The balance between muscle and skin created a soft white glow that covered his entire body.
That large figure stood, covered entirely in light armor.
"Even with my century of training, I couldn’t accomplish this?"
Overdeer remarked.
"Perhaps it’s a matter of talent. How about you take a hit and find out?"
Audin said without hesitation, dismissing the Prophet’s talent with a smirk as he moved.
Though he usually kept calm, watching Encrid take repeated blows had stirred something within him, and he intended to vent that.
And in reality, Audin wasn’t someone who lived a simple, carefree life.
If he was struck on the left cheek, he wouldn’t turn the right, he’d strike his opponent’s cheek and ask if it hurt.
Swish.
The movement of the divine light left a glowing trace behind.
A massive frame, known to some as the ‘bear beastman’, moved as it thrust a punch forward. Overdeer swung his iron rod in response.
Bang!
Fist met iron rod, divinity collided with divinity, and light exploded, scattering in all directions.
So blinding that the fallen Encrid could barely open his eyes.
Naturally, Shilma and the others clenched their eyes shut.
The impact sent light soaring upward before dispersing, illuminating the surroundings like midday.
The purple twilight vanished without a trace.
It was nothing short of a divine miracle.
The light poured down like rain, resembling the tears of a sorrowful sky.
Audin had poured out everything he had, like a candle burning down to its last stub.
He had overwhelmed Overdeer.
He exhibited a miraculous feat by striking down the Prophet’s engraved mental iron rod with his bare hands.
"For the first blow."
Audin swung his fist, repelling the invading divine energy with his own divine strength.
The solid punch struck Overdeer’s shoulder.
Bang!
The Divine Armor shattered, resounding with a heavy crash. The light surrounding Overdeer’s entire body wavered.
"If something doesn’t break, then it’s simply because my strength was lacking. Penetration is a mere trick if I can break through it directly!"
Audin’s shout.
By now, Encrid would understand the nature of his opponent’s technique.
Audin wanted to convey that there was no need to learn such a technique.
Instead, properly focusing one’s Will and breaking through would suffice.
That was the correct approach.
Penetration was an excellent technique, but it wasn’t essential. This would be his final teaching.
With overflowing Will, he could fight appropriately.
They clashed again.
"Impressive!"
Overdeer exclaimed in the middle. His resilience so far had been aided by his superior weaponry.
The dual iron rods filled with his Divine Power didn’t easily give way, even to Audin’s punches.
Light exploded like a supernova, pouring down like rain.
It was a spectacle. Watching it alone would instill piety in some. That rare divine light scattered everywhere.
Of course, it wasn’t a benevolent light but one filled with the will to harm his opponent.
"Father, your child is coming to you."
Audin sang, murmuring like a hymn.
The chant caused the divine light in his body to flare up further.
Overdeer, standing before him, also tried to summon all his strength.
Audin condensed his divine energy. Blood poured down his eyes, nose, and ears.
He had reached his limit. The timing was perfect.
Then, something unexpected happened.
From the back, Shilma began chanting a divine spell through prayer.
Whoooosh!
A sound echoed first.
Ahead of Shilma’s outstretched hand, a ball of light coalesced, launching forward like a projectile.
Its dim hue contrasted with the light shown by the two Knights. It was a hazy, murky ball of light.
The light orb, surprisingly, wasn’t aimed at Encrid or Audin but at the Saint Child.
No one had anticipated this.
The orb, packed with divine energy, held the power of a boulder. If it struck the girl, it would shatter her body to pieces.
Eight spheres of light flew toward her. Sinar reacted first.
Her blade split, releasing a surge of energy that intercepted five of the light balls.
Encrid, still lying down, threw a spark and a shortsword.
The two thrown blades shattered two more light balls.
Smash!
The murky, gray light balls shattered mid-air.
Encrid sensed a mistake.
He had aimed the shortsword to pierce through the remaining orb, but it had failed.
One light ball remained, and someone blocked it with their back.
Boom!
It wasn’t Audin. He was in the middle of focusing the divine energy through his chant.
Though brief, he couldn’t move in his current state.
Audin directed the gathered divine light not forward but upward.
It shot up from below like a meteor.
A chunk of light ascended, piercing the heavens like a new star, sprinkling light.
The one who blocked the final light orb turned his head.
Though the impact didn’t bother him, blood trickled from his lips due to internal injuries from Audin’s earlier blows. It wasn’t life-threatening, though.
"Priest Shilma, what is the meaning of this?"
Overdeer asked, looking at Shilma. White smoke rose from his back where the divine light had struck, just as the rain of light ceased.
"Why did you do that?"
Shilma stammered in shock.
She had seen the situation and sensed the danger.
If things continued this way, they would take the Saint Child and escape, and she would not survive.
‘The divine message has spoken.’
The child should be in the Temple of Abundance.
What if that wasn’t possible?
‘Hurt her just enough before she dies.’
To save her, she’d need a priest’s healing.
In other words, her own touch.
Just enough to keep her from dying. Shilma’s eyes scanned Sinar and Encrid. There were several who could intercept.
If she could only land a single shot…
But what if she died? That wouldn’t happen. The divine would assist. And if she did die, that too would be the divine’s will.
Shilma had succumbed to the demon’s whispers.
And so, she fired the divine orb.
"Why did you stop it?"
She raged at Overdeer’s intervention.
This situation was akin to a thief accusing a saint of wrongdoing.
The guilty chastised the innocent.
Her eyes darkened, tainted by a cursed path.
"Priest Shilma?"
Alma called her name.
"Crusader Alma, they are exhausted. This is our chance."
Her eyes were veiled with darkness. She was oblivious to the situation.
No one here would retreat simply because of fatigue, especially not Overdeer.
"What a mess."
Overdeer realized he needed to regain control of the situation. His gaze swept over everyone.
No one could muster a word.
Audin knelt, his divine light fading. Something was clearly wrong.
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