Immediately, the six Holy Paladins closed in on Finn and Iris, weapons drawn. They were clad in righteous white armor lined with yellow decorations and wore casques that covered their entire heads for maximum protection.

In their hands were all the same weapon—a specially enchanted long sword, blessed by the Holy Light they worshipped and made of pure silver. It is said that these weapons were made to be replicas of Excalibur, the legendary greatsword.

Undoubtedly, these paladins had to go through tons and tons of training to be able to wield one, and were thus extremely skilled. Finn wasn’t sure to feel flattered or annoyed that the guilds were deeming him a target strong and important enough to send only the best of the best after him, but there was no time to worry about that now as the battle began with a shot from Iris’s revolver.

BING!

The high-impact bullet bounced straight off the helmet of the paladin it had struck, causing the guard to gloat in arrogance. “Hmph! Do you really believe a normal bullet will be able to pierce this armor? Cease and desist! You are not a monster like he is—we were ordered to capture you alive!”

“I’d rather die!” Iris yelled, then fired off another few volleys of bullets—this time, aiming for the wings. The paladin was unable to dodge out of the way in time, and his left wing got a hole torn in it.

“Tch! Those bullets are enchanted to hit anything paracausal! Be careful!”

The paladin was forced to back away, losing control of his aerial movements, giving time for Iris to pull out her sniper and lock onto his head. She did not hesitate to pull the trigger.

This bullet did penetrate.

“GRAGH!” The paladin screamed as the bullet pierced through the inside of his mouth. Not fatal just yet, but when he fell into the water down below, he would be as good as dead.

“Rook!” Another Paladin dove down in an attempt to save his comrade, but was intercepted by a swift kick to the face from Finn.

“… Hmph.”

“Ugh…” The paladin stumbled back a bit, but was otherwise unharmed. Drawing his weapon, he immediately charged towards Finn. “Meet your fate, SINNER!”

“Together!” Another yelled, diving towards Finn from behind. In an instant, he was surrounded by four enemies. They roared like warriors and charged all at once, aiming to drive their swords into Finn’s body. They had been ordered to kill on sight, not bothering with capturing first.

But if they wanted to kill someone… they had to be ready to be killed first.

“… Futile.”

Suddenly, four tentacles shot out of Finn’s back, each penetrating a paladin. Their silver armor stood no chance.

“G-Gragh…”

“Agh… imposs… ible…”

“M-Mon… monster…”

“G-Guh….”

“… Weak,” Finn whispered, then retracted his tentacles and let the four paladins fall into the water below. Their chests all had a gaping hole in them, staining the ocean water red with blood.

“Don’t move!” A voice suddenly called out from behind him, and he stopped. “If you move… I’ll kill her, right here, right now. Slowly put your hands up into the air, and turn around.”

“F-Finn! Don’t listen to him- just kil-“

“3!” The voice shouted, beginning a countdown. “2!”

Slowly, Finn put his hands up into the air and turned around to face the owner of the voice. Although he couldn’t see, he knew this was the same paladin who had spoken first—the leader of the bunch.

“… What do you want?”

“Kill yourself. Right now. If you do, I’ll let this girl live.”

Finn, after a moment of silence, laughed.

“… Are you listening to yourself right now? How ridiculous this sounds?”

“I am. And if you don’t do it… I’ll really kill her.”

“Hmph. Aren’t you supposed to be a ‘holy paladin’, protecting the people? Here you are, threatening me with a girl.”

“… Such words will not sway me, fiend. I will do whatever it takes to fulfill my duty and kill you. Now, I will count to three. If you don’t slay yourself by then, this girl dies.”

“…”

“3…”

“…”

“2…”

“…”

“1…!”

“Do it. I don’t care.”

At this, the paladin stopped. “… What? Is this girl not your friend?”

“Friend?” Finn scoffed. “No. ‘Tool’ is a more adequate term. As you can see, I am blind. I am using her as my eyes, that is all. Even if you kill her, I’ll just find another one. So, go ahead. See if I care.”

“How cruel… though I would expect nothing less from a demon like you.” The paladin gritted his teeth, then let Iris go and hovered in front of her. “Stay behind me, girl. I will slay this wretched demon!”

“… Hmph.”

“RAGH-” The paladin roared, but-

Bonk.

Iris struck his helmet with her sniper as hard as she could, and the impact was enough to knock him unconscious, sending him spiraling towards the water.

“… Good work,” Finn said, folding his arms. “That was one crazy plan… but it worked.”

Iris let out a sigh of relief and flew over to him. “That was nothing compared to the plans you come up with. Still… did you really have to sound so serious? That hurts my feelings, y’know… even though I know it was just an act.”

“… If I didn’t sound serious, it wouldn’t have been convincing enough,” Finn replied. He decided to refrain from saying not all of it was an act—Iris really was just a tool… but not a disposable one. If she really was killed, Finn didn’t know where to get another pair of eyes. Zelestria was an option, of course, but if Finn had to be honest… he preferred Iris over Zelestria.

To him, Zelestria was still a mysterious individual. He still didn’t know much about her, and it felt like he never would. Compared to her, Iris was a lot more transparent. He knew about her full past pretty much, and she had nothing to hide from him anymore. That made him trust her more than he did Zelestria.

Of course, he was well aware Zelestria was listening in to all of this right now. She just wasn’t saying anything because she knew his wariness was warranted.

‘Sorry, darling…’ Zelestria thought in her head, not speaking to Finn. ‘Due to certain reasons… I really can’t tell you everything right now. If I did… you would be in grave danger. A danger far beyond mere Ghosts, far beyond the scope of this world. A danger even I won’t be able to protect you from.’