Aberration – 3

A pillar of light directly struck the foe. Crushed by the pillar, the golden armor was driven straight into the corridor floor. KWAANG! The entire floor shook with a crash.

I cautiously examined the ceiling. It was fine. There was no large hole like last time, nor was sunlight streaming through it. It seemed to have originated from the sword, not the sky.

‘……Was it a one-time thing after all?’

The fact that it didn’t happen like when I faced Behemoth meant that the power lent by the sun or moon was likely a one-time use. At this rate, I wouldn’t be able to use it at the desired timing.

“Utterly weak.”

The golden armor, which had been embedded in the corridor floor, slowly rose. However, it seemed the impact wasn’t entirely negligible, as a CRACK! sound came from its helmet the moment its knees supported its body.

A hand clad in a golden gauntlet threw off the helmet. The foe’s bare face was revealed. It was expressionless. Its gaze was fixed on me, but there wasn’t the slightest change in its expression. It was like a corpse.

“A wretch like you should not be by Emperor 폐하’s side. You only tarnish their honor.”

A sentence with absolutely no intonation flowed from its mouth.

“Yeah, you would say that.”

I let it go in one ear and out the other. He was a guy possessed by a demon, not in his right mind anyway. Paying attention to every word would only be my loss.

‘Confirmed that it has no effect.’

It seemed I would have to stick to enduring. The deadline was until Minerva brought support from the Holy Nation.

I reviewed the foe’s patterns. If I was careful with a few AoE attacks, I could manage to buy time here. So, I just needed to be careful not to get cornered against a wall.

“The strongest person must be by 폐하’s side.”

The foe kept spouting its lines and drew its weapon.

As expected of the Knight Commander of the Golden Twilight Knights, it was a golden sword, decorated entirely in gold from the hilt to the crossguard.

Its overall appearance was similar to Iris’s longsword, but unlike Iris’s sword, which had a rough appearance with no special decorations, this one was much more ornate overall. Moreover, its size was much larger.

It felt like it was somewhere between Iris’s longsword and Claudia’s greatsword. If I defeated him, the player could even use it themselves.

‘Though its performance isn’t great.’

Despite being classified as a greatsword, its reach was shorter than the one-handed sword, Wingless Nightmare.

The golden armor slightly bent its knees. It pulled back the shoulder holding the sword, bent its elbow, and brought its other arm horizontally across its chest, gripping the shoulder holding the sword.

It was the charge pattern that signaled the start of Phase 1.

KWAANG! A sound was heard, and the foe pushed off the floor, charging at me. How I reacted here would change the subsequent pattern. This was a feature added in Dark-like mode.

After thinking about the consequences for a moment, I rolled out to the center of the corridor. This was to the foe’s left.

As soon as I rolled to the left, the foe canceled the attack it was about to bring down from overhead, immediately looked in this direction, and twisted its sword horizontally along the floor.

If I clumsily rolled again here, I would get roll-caught. That’s because it didn’t swing immediately, but paused for a beat before swinging.

After a brief pause, I swung my sword at the same time the foe swung its. The golden greatsword and Wingless Nightmare clashed in the air, creating a sharp metallic clang.

The next attack followed immediately. It struck diagonally, opposite to the direction I first parried, followed by a light thrust, and then a two-hit combo forming an X-shape finished it off.

I parried the final two-hit combo. My body was pushed back, and my heels touched the corridor wall. I moved to the center of the corridor while looking at the golden armor.

‘It’s so much more comfortable with the rune. Should I have gotten it earlier?’

I lightly stretched my shoulders. My combat fatigue should have been maxed out from the recent combo, but I felt no heaviness in my body at all. It was definitely more comfortable with the rune.

“You cannot protect 폐하.”

The golden armor said that and charged again. It was one of the random lines that appeared in Phase 1.

Even after being possessed by a demon, all he could think about was Kaikilia’s aide. If only his personality and character had been a bit more proper, he wouldn’t have ended up like this.

The irony was that Kaikilia herself didn’t care much about what happened to her subordinates. That’s why the Silver Dawn Knights were torn apart by a mere collateral relative.

The distance closed in an instant. Its right arm was pulled back, and the greatsword in its hand began to scrape the floor with its tip, preparing to swing.

As always with combo patterns, you just had to count the rhythm in your head like a rhythm game and parry.

The foe rotated its arm halfway, raising the greatsword above its head, then brought it straight down. Sword met sword. My shoulder lurched, and a tingling shock surged through my arm.

The downward strikes continued exactly three more times. The Knight Commander of the Golden Twilight was swinging the greatsword effortlessly with one hand, as if it were a mere switch.

This time, the foe’s right arm moved horizontally. When I blocked it, a much greater impact than before surged through my arm. I plunged my sword into the corridor floor. Even then, I was pushed back a considerable distance before finally stopping.

I pulled out Wingless Nightmare. A long scar was etched into the floor. The red carpet that had covered the corridor floor was messily overturned. The stone fragments and all sorts of debris covering it were a bonus.

“…….”

The golden armor, which had been staring at me expressionlessly, lowered its head to look at its sword. Then, it carelessly tossed the sword aside and knelt down on one knee, slumping.

‘……Already entering Phase 2?’

It hadn’t even been 5 minutes yet. Surely, his health hadn’t dropped below 75% just from a few attacks. If that were the case, the pillar of light should have been much larger to begin with.

“Kuaaaaaaak!”

A hideous scream, completely unlike anything before, burst forth. It sounded as if it were coming from vocal cords forged by grinding metal.

This was the signal for the opening of Phase 2. Whatever it was, it was clear that the phase had changed.

“Kueeeeee…….”

The foe clutched its right shoulder, bowed its head deeply, then slowly raised it.

Its right eye was completely dyed black. The aberration had begun to progress further. This was Phase 2 of the Golden Twilight Knight Commander boss fight.

“Kueee…… Ugh…… Kuaaaaaaak!”

The golden armor writhed. A tearing shriek echoed, and at the same time, its right arm burst from within, and a grotesque arm protruded.

The protruding arm was almost as thick as a human torso. Its skin was dark red, muscles bulged grotesquely, and sharp claws were attached to its fingertips.

The pain must have been considerable, as its breathing was quite ragged despite its expression remaining unchanged. Well, from the demon’s perspective, it wasn’t its own body anyway, so it probably just used it recklessly.

The foe stood up. The greatsword it had carelessly tossed aside was now gripped again in its demonically transformed hand.

The arm’s size had become absurdly massive, creating the illusion that the greatsword, though clearly much larger than an ordinary sword, had shrunk to the level of a common one-handed sword.

‘It’s annoying if Phase 2 starts too early.’

I grumbled inwardly.

In Phase 1, he fought only with swordsmanship like an ordinary knight, but in Phase 2, as the aberration was halfway complete, he began to mix in demonic power, and in Phase 3, demonic power became dominant.

Naturally, the more demonic power was mixed in, the more troublesome it became. That couldn’t be countered by parrying. That’s why I had intended to just endure as much as possible.

‘Surely it won’t just skip straight to Phase 3, right?’

Due to its enlarged arm, its center of gravity seemed awkward, and the foe charged with a distinctly waddling gait.

The fact that it mixed in demonic power also meant that its main attack was still the greatsword. As long as parrying worked, what I needed to do was the same.

The speed at which it swung the greatsword was much faster than before. When I brought Wingless Nightmare to its trajectory, CLANG! My center of gravity sharply shifted in the direction of the parry.

I dodged the next attack with a roll and moved away from the wall. In games, characters move well on their own even when pushed against a wall, but not now.

-CRACK!

The golden armor’s waist twisted sharply 180 degrees towards me. This was a pattern that appeared quite often if the player was behind it. I parried the greatsword that thrust in as its waist twisted backward.

My body automatically pushed back, creating distance. As a slight distance opened, the foe pushed off the ground with its grotesquely twisted right arm, floated into the air, and brought its arm down.

I parried it. The greatsword’s trajectory was sharply twisted. With a sound incomparably louder than before, the foe’s greatsword plunged into the corridor floor.

Even though its trajectory had twisted in the middle and its speed had slightly decreased, the floor shattered, and a large hole appeared. Fragments rained down to the floor below.

The golden armor, which had pulled out its greatsword as if nothing had happened, pointed the tip of its blade at me again.

“Is the Pope here?”

Minerva, who had teleported to the Holy Nation in the blink of an eye, immediately entered the Grand Cathedral of the Sun and sought out the Pope. The tip of her staff and her high heels trampled the red carpet, making a muffled sound.

The Pope of the Sun was lowering her posture, gazing at the sky, with her long, wavy golden hair flowing down directly beneath a sun-drenched stained-glass window.

Although it was hard to see due to her hair, I presumed she was kneeling and offering a prayer.

“O Eternal Mage. For what reason have you journeyed to this distant place?”

Floretta opened her mouth in her usual gentle voice. Even for Minerva, barging into the Grand Cathedral of the Sun was clearly a breach of etiquette, so she replied in the softest possible tone.

“I apologize for intruding so abruptly. But something important has happened, so I had no choice.”

“Something important, you say…… What is it?”

“Would it be sufficient reason if I told you a demon appeared in the Imperial Palace?”

“……A demon, you say?”

Her voice changed, becoming slightly colder.

Floretta slowly rose from her spot. Her long, wavy golden hair swayed with her movement. Her clear green eyes turned towards Minerva.

“Then of course we must help. It is our duty to eradicate evil. Inquisitor?”

“Did you call?”

As the whisper echoed into the air, Stella, as if she had been waiting, opened the inner door of the Grand Cathedral and entered.

“A demon has appeared in the Imperial Palace. I will instruct the Pope of the Moon to send Inquisitors and Battle Nuns immediately, but would you go ahead and stop it?”

“Yes, Your Holiness.”

Stella bowed her head and exited the Grand Cathedral. After their brief conversation, Floretta smiled brightly at Minerva.

“It is done, O Eternal Mage. The Inquisitor and the Inquisitors will surely be able to eradicate the demon.”

“Yes. I hope you can help as quickly as possible. If the Inquisitor joins, the child will be able to breathe a sigh of relief.”

Suddenly, Floretta’s gaze shifted slightly.

“Is someone already confronting the demon that appeared in the Imperial Palace?”

“That’s right. The Popes would know their identity, so I can omit the explanation, right? You even gave that child a brooch.”

As soon as she heard the word “brooch,” Floretta’s expression changed. The corners of her lips slowly curled up, and intelligence shone in her eyes.

“So that was it.”

In contrast to Floretta, Minerva’s expression became slightly subtle. But ignoring that reaction, Floretta opened her mouth with a voice that even seemed a little excited.

“Honored Guest-nim was confronting the demon.”

A bright smile once again appeared on her face.

“The plan has changed.”

“The plan has changed, what does that mean?”

“I shall go myself.”