There was a way.
There was a way to ensure that neither the Holy Maiden, the High Priests, the knights, nor anyone else would die.
To do that, he had to hold out as long as possible.
Kwoooooom—!
However, it was no easy task.
The destructive power of the Strange Entities surrounding the Celestial was beyond imagination, and their numbers were steadily increasing.
Every time they swung their arms and legs, they collided with the Celestial, delivering a massive impact.
Consequently, the shock transferred to the caster, Hio, was equally immense.
It was just like that time.
Back when he was recklessly carving circles into his heart.
If the sensation back then felt as though his heart was being slowly gouged out by something sharp, now it felt as though small explosions were repeating dozens, hundreds of times inside his heart.
— Just deactivate the skill!
His head felt like it was going to burst.
Perhaps he had grown accustomed to the fishy taste of blood, or perhaps his tongue had simply gone numb, but he could no longer taste anything in the blood that surged up.
Boom!
With every collision, his magic power drained away, and the impact battered his body.
Despite that, Hio’s outward appearance showed not even the slightest hint of wavering.
“The Guardian Knight is with us!”
“Lipuae protects us!”
“We have the barrier, so move faster!”
The Expeditionary Force found the strength to move even more vigorously.
— You fools!
‘Do you plan on dying just to save people like them?’
Cancel the skill this instant!
His head was already dizzy, and it felt like cannonballs were exploding inside his body, but Furnel’s shouting made his mind ring even louder.
‘… Shut up.’
— I am being serious.
You won’t be able to last until the exit like this.
Cancel the Celestial now and take care of your body.
He hadn’t realized that shocks powerful enough to shake the Celestial would be transmitted directly to the caster.
While the power of the Strange Entities was indeed immense, this was also the first time he had used the Celestial to block physical attacks.
In short, it was a penalty that came with such a broken skill.
— They were already prepared to die, so they won’t feel that wronged!
You just need to leave the Holy Maiden to the Sword Saint and get out of here!
Kwaaaaang—!
— Of course, it’s a waste.
It is a shame to lose this much military strength in an instant, but honestly, don’t you know that knights of this caliber can be recruited from across the Empire at any time?
Boom!
— If their minds are corrupted because they can’t even withstand the aura of the Abyssal Depths, they won’t be of any help in the future anyway!
They’ll just be a burden on our path!
Kwaaaaang—!
— If you can’t maintain the Celestial until the exit, they will die in the end regardless.
“So cancel it, now!”
Hmm?
You might not realize it, but if you push yourself any further, you’ll be permanently broken from the inside!
Kwaaaaaang—!
Massive force poured in from all directions to shatter the Celestial.
They were giants covered in black, except for their eyes and mouths.
The Strange Entities grinned with their glowing red eyes and mouths as they swung their limbs.
Kwaaaaang—!
Yet, none of the impact reached the interior.
Holy Power handled the thick Abyssal Depths, while magic power dealt with the physical shocks.
Even so, any residual shock that couldn’t be dissipated was transmitted directly into the body of Hio Pavlenko.
— Be rational!
He knew.
Every single thing Furnel said was right.
Aside from the knights at the Commander or Vice-Commander level, the rest would not only lose their minds to the Abyssal Depths but would be wiped out by a single gesture from those Strange Entities.
Personnel of that level were useless in this current situation.
It was natural that they would become a burden.
The surest way to survive and the best scenario for the future was to abandon them and escape with only the key figures.
— If you understand, then cancel the Celestial!
If some part of you breaks like this…
But he didn’t want to.
— … What?
They were human.
The cry of an old magician, wailing about how one human could ignore the suffering of another, was still vivid in his ears.
The tears of a pathetic king, kneeling and begging to save at least the people of the kingdom he loved, were still clear before his eyes.
‘How could he do such a thing?’
— … You really are…
And so, he continued to squeeze out his magic power.
Even though it felt like his insides and his head were exploding repeatedly, his legs did not stop.
Though blood he couldn’t swallow trailed down the corners of his mouth, he didn’t even think to wipe it away.
Even if his entire body trembled, the Celestial shining down remained firm, flowing like sunlight.
That was hope.
It was the path he chose to walk.
He was barely holding onto his fading consciousness when—
“Stop.”
Suddenly, a hand grabbed his shoulder, and Hio’s body was forced to a halt without any resistance.
There was only one person who could be the owner of that hand.
The Sword Saint, Vitalianus Mahel, who had been running right beside Hio the whole time.
“Everyone, stop.”
At Vitalianus’s calm voice, every knight stopped without a moment’s hesitation.
Hio opened his mouth to say something to Vitalianus, but—
“Stay still.”
Vitalianus raised a hand and covered Hio’s mouth.
The blood that was about to gush out instead of words was hidden by that large hand.
“Magician, how long do you intend to steal the glory from our knights?
Rest now.”
It was nonsense.
‘What was he saying in a situation like this?’
They needed to move as quickly as possible toward the exit.
“It’s enough. You’ve done enough.”
No.
He could do more.
They still had to move further to reach the exit.
“A knight is one who protects. You don’t seem to realize the shame of those who continue to be protected instead of doing the protecting themselves.”
Even so, he couldn’t just die here.
‘What would be the point if he died?’
Hio looked at Vitalianus with eyes full of that sentiment, but the man only gave a faint smile.
“We’ve grown too lazy thanks to you. Instead of risking our lives, we’ve just been sucking our thumbs in the back.”
This wasn’t the time.
While the Celestial was still active, they should have taken even one more step toward the exit.
Boom!
He could no longer handle each individual impact.
He tried to raise his hand to brush away Vitalianus’s hand, but his arm only trembled slightly and wouldn’t move.
The internal injuries he had sustained were that severe.
“So, no one will blame you.”
Kwaaaaang—!
His body finally lurched from another massive impact.
The shock was enough to turn his vision dark.
That was the final blow.
The blood vessels in his eyes, which had endured until their limit, burst, and crimson blood flowed down like tears.
His consciousness, which he had fought to hold onto, drifted far away.
“All expedition members.”
A brilliant aura erupted from Vitalianus’s sword, roaring toward the Strange Entities.
At the same time—
[Skill: Celestial has been canceled.]
The Celestial crumbled.
[Authority: ??? is growing.]
The Celestial collapsed.
The image of the goddess in the sky blurred, and the connecting touch was abruptly severed.
Nonetheless, the Divine Protection being maintained by Irina and the High Priests remained.
It was the crystallization of divine arts composed purely of Holy Power.
It provided healing and recovery for allies while becoming a lethal force against cursed beings.
Even though the Celestial had fallen, the aura of the Abyssal Depths could not penetrate the Divine Protection.
However, the Strange Entities surrounding them charged in the moment the Celestial crumbled.
Whether they were unaffected by Holy Power or simply strong enough to ignore it, they tore through the Divine Protection with ease and lunged at the Expeditionary Force.
Despite their massive size, they possessed unbelievable speed and fluid movements.
Considering the power they had exerted against the barrier, even a glancing blow would be fatal to a human body.
Of course, the Expeditionary Force wasn’t just standing there watching.
“Hinder their movement!”
At Daphne’s shout, which she had prepared in advance, the Bingija unleashed various skills in all directions.
Daphne fired her Laflicia, and Sirbert exerted his Telekinesis to its limit to bind the legs of the Strange Entities.
Naturally, the effect wasn’t very significant.
The Laflicia couldn’t pierce the bodies of the entities, the ice walls were instantly shattered by their movements, and the grip of Telekinesis was shaken off in a heartbeat.
These creatures had no special skills, but their physical abilities were near the limit.
They broke through the high-tier skills poured out by the Bingija using sheer physical strength alone.
“Block them!”
The Bingija’s first line of defense was breached in the blink of an eye.
Now, it was the knights’ turn to step forward.
What led the way was a golden aura in the shape of a lion.
As always, the brilliant aura flew out first like a projectile, swinging ruthlessly.
Like a wolf diving into a flock of sheep, he waded into the midst of the giants and began to slaughter them.
Every time his Imperial Golden Lion swung, a black entity was inevitably cut in half.
No blood was spilled, but their red-grinning faces remained the same even as their bodies were severed.
Looking only at Vitalianus, the monsters seemed infinitely weak.
However, that was only a small part of the truth.
There was only one Sword Saint, and the area he had to protect was vast.
While Vitalianus slaughtered the entities easily, it was only possible because it was him.
To everyone else, the Strange Entities were a catastrophe.
Their speed rivaled that of top-tier knights, and their size was several times larger.
Not only was their strength overwhelming, but they didn’t even flinch when wounded.
Furthermore, they seemed to emerge endlessly from the deep darkness.
“M-Must block… Gwaaargh!”
The formation collapsed rapidly.
It wasn’t because the Expeditionary Force was cowardly and retreated.
It was simply that they couldn’t stop the breakthrough of the Strange Entities and were swept away by pure force.
All of this happened within seconds of the Celestial collapsing.
“Hio!”
Hio Pavlenko’s body fell helplessly.
His staff tumbled from his hand and rolled across the ground.
The collapsing Celestial.
The severed golden radiance.
The form of the Golden Lion exploding in his place.
Claire didn’t care about any of that.
Her body reacted before her mind, and she ran toward the falling Hio.
Perhaps she had subconsciously noticed something was wrong.
While everyone else was distracted by other things, Claire had never taken her eyes off Hio.
His smile had been somewhat awkward, and there had been small flinches between his movements.
Because of that, she noticed before anyone else and managed to catch him as he collapsed.
“H-Hio!”
His eyes were closed as if he were dead.
Blood trailed from his eyes.
Crimson blood dripped from his chin.
‘Had he not given even a single sign until it reached this point?’
No.
‘Had she really failed to properly notice until he was like this?’
This was a version of Hio she had never seen before.
“W-What should I do…?”
As she muttered that and looked up, she saw a pitch-black fist.
A massive fist filled her vision.
Before she knew it, a Strange Entity had closed the distance and was swinging its fist.
It was intended to crush Claire.
To kill Hio Pavlenko, who was cradled in her arms, along with her.
Of course.
“Ah…”
Vitalianus wasn’t about to let that happen.
The giant was split apart, along with the fist it was swinging, by the golden aura that arrived even faster.
“Claire, protect the magician properly.”
“… Yes!”
Vitalianus disappeared immediately after leaving that short command.
At those words, Claire snapped back to her senses, carefully set Hio down, and stood in front of him.
She pulled out her daggers and held them with both hands, her will burning.
She wouldn’t let anything dare come near this spot.
Even if she died, she would protect Hio.
As she looked forward with that resolve, she was once again met with a despairing sight.
Knights were being swept away by fists swinging at incredible speeds.
They coated their bodies and swords in aura and swung, but they couldn’t cut through those fast, massive bodies in a single stroke.
Moreover, the entities didn’t care even if a sword was lodged in their bodies.
Thus, the line was wiped out in an instant.
This was what those monsters were like.
Hio had been holding back monsters like these all by himself.
He had been doing it alone because he foresaw that if he didn’t, the expedition would be decimated.
He had been holding back dozens of them—perhaps more—entirely on his own.
A Strange Entity slammed its massive fist down.
The two knights who tried to block it threw themselves to either side, barely avoiding it.
Kwaaaaang—!
The ground where the entity’s fist struck exploded from the impact.
The ones who lost their balance from the explosion weren’t just the nearby knights.
A High Priest was included among them.
Originally, Divine Protection was the most delicate of divine arts, performed with massive amounts of Holy Power, the High Priests, and the Divine Tree of the Sanctuary.
That divine art began to waver.
The shaken divinity became a massive surge that swept over all the priests.
Irina gritted her teeth and tried to control it, but it was a futile struggle against the now-enormous current.
“E-Everyone…!”
Finally, even the Divine Protection shattered.
“W-Watch out!”
What rushed in through the crumbling protection was pitch black.
The light was extinguished, and darkness greedily pushed its way in.
It was a vile energy that blinded the expedition, robbed them of their senses, and laid siege to their minds.
A horrific darkness that swallowed even a single ray of light.
To describe it in one word: the Abyss.
It covered everyone in the Expeditionary Force.
Now, there wouldn’t be many who could hold out.