Five hundred to one.
Even though the numbers alone were more than double the combat power of the Grimnir Church Order, there wasn’t the same sense of crisis as back then.
Unlike the relentless barrage of all kinds of magic from the Grimnir bastards, this time the enemies were mostly paladins who came at me in an honest, straightforward manner.
As long as I was careful of the Light of Judgment raining from the sky and the Weight of Sin trying to bind me if I let my guard down even a little, the rest was no different from fighting five hundred knights.
It wasn’t a simple task, but it wasn’t life-threateningly difficult either.
All I had to do was run around until I was drenched in sweat.
“13th squad annihilated!”
“He’s heading towards the 5th squad! Shoot him down!”
I hopped from rooftop to rooftop like stepping stones, systematically slaughtering the paladins who were foolishly spread out.
Every time I charged, they swung their golden glowing swords to counter, but their slashes were so slow I could yawn, and I wasn’t about to let them hit me.
– Crash!
The azure blade of Durandal shattered the Blade of Order.
Shards of metal scattered. The remnants of divine light flickered in the air before fading away.
Durandal’s abilities weren’t particularly helpful against paladins, but Jin’s inherent toughness and sharpness, combined with the Power of Feats, were more than enough to overwhelm them.
Even if their swords were enhanced by divine light, it was still just a miracle of a single paladin.
All I had to do was crush them with unstoppable force.
“Kuh…!”
I closed in on the paladin holding the shattered sword and grabbed his right arm with an ice blade.
Then, with my right hand on his shoulder and my left hand pulling, the sound of tearing flesh accompanied the separation of the paladin’s upper arm from his shoulder.
“Kyaaaaah!”
The golden divine light emanating from his armor turned a more luxurious shade of red as fresh blood gushed out.
I gifted the now-detached arm to another knight, then picked up the screaming paladin and threw him towards the incoming Light of Judgment.
Countless beams of light pierced his back. It was their own miracle, so it probably wasn’t fatal.
I erased the falling paladin from my mind and dashed towards the next target.
– Swoosh!
A spear of light flew towards me in mid-air. They must have imbued it with the Blade of Order before throwing it. What a foolish move.
Using the elasticity of my waist, I twisted my body and kicked the spear away as if it were a stray arrow.
A technique I learned from watching Nigel.
The spear, now twice as fast as when it was thrown at me, embedded itself in the stomach of an unlucky priest.
“Kuhak!”
The priest screamed and flew back, slamming into a wall like a taxidermied butterfly pinned in place.
Seeing him struggle to move his hand and cast a Healing Miracle, it seemed he didn’t need to worry about his life.
The fact that they could heal themselves was a welcome relief for me.
Even if I inflicted serious injuries, they could recover on their own, so as long as I avoided fatal spots, it was fine.
By this point, about this much time had passed since the battle began.
All the daggers in my pouch were used up, and I had cut down about thirty enemies.
It was thanks to making good use of the narrow space of the rooftops.
Unlike a cathedral, only about 5 to 10 people could fit on the roof of a regular building, so cutting down those who climbed up wasn’t too difficult.
They paid a heavy price for spreading their forces thin in front of me.
“This is insane, he’s way too fast… Kuhak!”
“Kyaah! My arm! My arm!”
They tried to counterattack or chase and surround me, but with their speed, it was impossible.
If they wanted to catch up to me, they’d need at least a master-level fighter.
Arrows and spears flew at me every time I jumped, but they couldn’t even pierce my armor, let alone my skin.
Even if they did, they wouldn’t reach my flesh.
The Astraea Church Order’s divine light might not work well against beastmen hides, but it was no match for my defenses.
I owe Asha a hundred thanks for this.
Better defensive gear than this would probably only be dragon-scale armor or the holy armor of a hero.
—
“…Inducing exhaustion through attrition is out of the question.”
By the time the number of seriously injured surpassed fifty, Wilhelm, who had been watching the battle, finally issued a new command.
“Assemble! Deploy the Purification Formation of Spirit Slaughter!”
Purification Formation of Spirit Slaughter, huh? I don’t know what it is, but it sounds pretty grand.
As Wilhelm’s command rang out, the enemy’s formation quickly changed.
The streams of divine light that had been pouring down on me faded, and the scattered paladins and priests retreated in unison to regroup at their base.
Were they planning to form a dense formation for a frontal assault?
No, given the name “Purification Formation,” it might be some kind of trap.
Maybe they placed catalysts for a large-scale miracle all over the place to unleash a wide-area spell… or something like that.
I hadn’t seen the Astraea Church Order fight like that before, but that was just in the game.
This was reality, so it wouldn’t be strange if they had tactics I didn’t know about.
I took a moment to catch my breath and looked around.
The scene was utterly devastating.
The snowy streets that had been full of winter atmosphere were now like a bombed-out wasteland, turned into a chaotic mess.
Most of the buildings had collapsed under the repeated Light of Judgment, and severed limbs sprouted from the rubble like grotesque plants.
The paladins would be fine, but the priests buried under there were probably dead… Honestly, that’s their fault, so let’s move on.
I was the one who subdued them and pinned them inside the buildings, but the divine light raining from the sky was the real culprit that buried them alive.
After doing that a couple of times, they must have realized it was pointless, so they stopped attacking their own allies like that.
Anyway, looking around, I couldn’t find any traces of a trap.
I didn’t feel any signs of a large-scale spell being activated either.
…Maybe I was overthinking it.
It seemed their strategy was just to gather their forces and launch a concentrated attack without the risk of being picked off one by one.
Well, it would be a bit more troublesome than now, but that alone wouldn’t be enough.
Wilhelm’s expression in the distance was much stiffer than before.
Of course, it was only natural. They had lost fifty troops without inflicting any damage on me.
I was a bit out of breath from running around non-stop to avoid the Light of Judgment, but my body and armor were unscathed, and the Power of Feats was replenishing faster than it was being consumed.
Well, it would be embarrassing if I got tired or injured fighting these small fries.
The high-ranking miracles flying around were threatening, but the average paladins were just knights with tough lifespans.
In fact, in terms of close combat skills, some of them were barely at the level of squires.
Though that’s typical for paladins.
Their lifespans and defense might be better than knights, but most would lose if pitted against a knight of the same level.
Unlike knights who focus solely on swordsmanship, paladins have to train in miracles as well, so their swordsmanship, the most crucial aspect of close combat, is relatively lacking.
The miracles that enhance their weapons are also more effective against monsters and other races, but against humans, it just makes their swords a bit better.
Of course, high-ranking paladins are a different story.
At that level, they’ve trained enough in swordsmanship, and the power of their miracles is significant, so they can sometimes defeat master-level knights.
Though it’s not common.
—
“Do you think anything will change just by gathering in a crowd?”
I looked around but couldn’t sense any immediate threat, so I dropped my guard and charged straight towards the dense formation ahead.
“He’s coming! Prepare for impact defense!”
With urgent shouts, the paladins in the front line raised their shields and emitted divine light.
The golden radiance on their shields merged to form a massive barrier.
A golden wall spread across the ground. It felt sturdy enough to easily block the charge of a large monster.
I’d need to put some effort into breaking it.
“Kyaaaah!”
I put more strength into my steps, shattering the ground and launching myself like a cannonball.
The divine barrier approached in an instant. My left arm, filled with the Power of Feats, collided with their shields.
– Kwaaaaah!
A deafening roar. It was like firing a howitzer at a fortress wall.
The golden barrier screamed as it shattered under the ice blade. Shards of light glittered brilliantly, and the broken shields flew through the air with their owners.
“Ahhh!”
“Astraea, save us!”
The paladins soared into the sky, flailing their limbs in parabolic arcs.
With a single punch, I crushed their front line and charged relentlessly into the heart of their dense formation.
