Now within striking range of the grand paladin, Daniel decided to take a gamble and rely on the power of his artifact cards, specifically the 'Hourglass of Eternity.' He charged forward, wielding his combat knives, which, if the game mechanics held true in reality, would be considered Artifact Equipment. The 'Hourglass of Eternity' bestowed protection upon all noncreature permanents, ensuring they would not be destroyed or exiled.
"Fool!" The Grand Paladin sneered with disdain, his voice dripping with contempt, before swinging down the sacred blade in his left hand towards Daniel.
Clank!
"What!?" The scene that unfolded before the grand paladin was nothing short of incredulous. Daniel's knives, held firmly in his hands, successfully intercepted the full-power swing of the sacred blade without even a scratch.
For the grand paladin, this sight was akin to a nightmarish reality. The most formidable weapon in his arsenal, one that had never failed him regardless of the circumstances, had betrayed him this time. He had wielded it against archfiends capable of obliterating small islands with a mere wave of their hands, decapitating their heads and purifying their very essence. None of their vile magic could defy the might of this sacred flame sword.
"Impossible..." the grand paladin murmured in shock, his reflexes rendered nearly unresponsive.
Seizing the opportunity, Daniel skillfully guided his knife along the sacred blade, diverting its trajectory before swiftly closing the distance between them.
Mana surged within Daniel's body as he channeled it into his hand, forming a transmutation field the size of his palm. With a decisive grip, he seized the arm of the grand paladin, who remained in a state of disbelief. As Daniel's hand made contact with the grand paladin's arm, the transmutation array sprang into action, converting the flesh of the arm into salt.
As the purity of his arm was compromised, the power of the sacred sword waned, fading away along with all hope of victory for the grand paladin.
Cracked!
Daniel hoisted the transformed arm aloft and forcefully hurled the grand paladin over his shoulder, shattering his salt-crystal right arm in the process.
With both of his arms disabled and his accumulated faith power depleted, the grand paladin had no time to replenish it through prayer. Even though his unwavering faith could passively replenish it, it would take at least an hour before he could gather enough faith power to even move, let alone continue the fight. Lying on the floor, he breathed heavily, his injuries taking a severe toll on his body, with almost no faith power left to sustain his endurance.
"You've won... heretic... now kill me, send me to God," the grand paladin uttered listlessly, all means to continue the fight stripped away from him.
.
"Is your head cool enough to talk like civilized people, Grand Paladin Christopher?" Daniel taunted, his tone laced with disdain. He then transmuted a simple chair from the ground and took a seat near the grand paladin.
"Is this the time for bargaining that mages love so much? Go ahead," the grand paladin remarked, finding it amusing that the heretic before him hadn't immediately killed him now that he was defenseless. After all, they had been trying to kill each other just moments ago.
"Perhaps it is bargaining, but if you make it easy for me, I'll offer you something you might find valuable later," Daniel began, his voice dripping with a hint of mockery. "Mr. Ward, since you know who I am, you should also know that I have just entered the Curtained World. So, I merely want to ask you some questions."
"Ask away, but if I deem the questions too personal or an attempt to unveil the secrets of our order, I won't answer," the grand paladin accepted the offer, his curiosity piqued about what this Magitek had to offer in exchange for his cooperation.
"Alright, first question. Why were you trying to kill that girl? You referred to her as an abomination. Why?" Daniel inquired.
"And what else should I call a half-human, half-angel born from the arrogance of alchemy and transmutation? A pure and innocent life?" the grand paladin responded with disdain.
"No, you see, that girl died five years ago, and I resurrected her from the ashes. With her body gone, the only option I had was to reincarnate her as an angel, but due to her origin from human remains, she became a half-human, half-angel hybrid," Daniel truthfully explained, eager to gauge the grand paladin's reaction and assess the gravity of the resurrection.
"What!? You resurrected her!? From ashes!? Are you joking!?" the paladin exclaimed in disbelief, his eyes widening at the incredulous news.
"Believe it or not, it's the truth, Mr. Ward. Furthermore, you can easily verify the authenticity of my words. Her name was Molly, and she is the daughter of Tessia Kingdom's former police force commander, Murphy," Daniel revealed Molly's name to the grand paladin.
"No! Impossible! True resurrection is nothing but a mere fantasy! And resurrecting her as a half-angel is nothing more than a legend from the Golden Age of Magic!" the grand paladin attempted to deny, continuing his protest.
"Moreover, you are a mage! While you may excel at crafting artifacts or ancient alchemy, resurrection belongs to the realm of legends in faith-based magic! Humans cannot wield faith-based magic alongside regular magic!"
As the grand paladin continued to deny the truth, Daniel's irritation grew. He decided to retreat into his mindscape, hoping to find a new card that could help him in this situation. To his relief, he discovered two additional cards among the options—a stat-enhancing card and a card that would allow him to draw more cards.
Utilizing the spell card, Daniel drew two more cards from his deck, and a smile crept across his face as he found the perfect card to silence the grand paladin.
Card: Healing Stream
Picture: The artwork depicts a cleric healing a wounded soldier, with a stream of radiant light emanating from the cleric's hand towards the injury.
Rarity: Rare
Type: Quick Spell
Mana Cost: 1 Light, 1 Generic
Description: Gain 2 Life, Draw a card. Search your deck for a card named 'Healing Stream' and add it to your hand.
Flavor text: May God aid his chosen warrior.
Daniel remained silent, a smile spreading across his face. He extended his hand, and a radiant stream of light began to emanate from his palm. (Author's Note: It's a light stream, ladies and gentlemen, not a Life stream resembling some green noodle from the Final Fantasy series.)
As the healing energy flowed from Daniel's hand, his other hand swiftly yanked the silver stake out of the grand paladin's rib, causing him to cry out in pain.
"Gah!! What the hell!?" the grand paladin exclaimed, his lack of preparation and depleted faith power intensifying the agony he felt in his rib. He shouted and swore at Daniel in his torment.
Then the grand paladin noticed the warm light emanating from Daniel's palm, slowly healing all of his injuries. The bleeding stopped, and his life-threatening wounds closed, allowing him to move again.
"God... This is a miracle. You truly possess the power of faith!" the grand paladin exclaimed, pleasantly surprised. His tone lacked any disdain, as he now saw Daniel as someone who could be redeemed to serve God.
However, despite the healing, his right arm, which had turned to salt and was broken by Magitek, remained as a stump with a closed wound. It did not regenerate, as if the arm had been severed before his body being infused with faith power.
"Hey, what about my arm?" the grand paladin asked, waving his stump of a right arm for Daniel to see. His left arm had already healed and appeared as good as new.
Faced with this new complication, Daniel scratched his head in bewilderment, unsure of how to respond. He had never encountered such a bizarre situation before, and it left him at a loss for words. Finally, he mustered up the courage to offer an honest explanation.
"Well, Mr. Ward, to be completely honest with you, this is my first time turning someone's arm into a salt crystal. I guess you could say I'm still figuring things out," Daniel admitted with a sheepish grin, expecting the grand paladin to be less than thrilled.
[Is this heretic for real!? Did he see me as a guinea pig to test his alchemy!?] the grand paladin thought, his irritation evident. Nevertheless, he begrudgingly decided to keep his complaints to himself for now. After all, he couldn't deny that Magitek's faith power had miraculously healed his life-threatening wounds.
"Alright, then. So, what's the plan now? Should I play the role of the verifier and make sure she's not an abomination? Trust me, we don't want someone from the Vatican showing up and having to go through this whole 'trying to kill each other' ordeal again," the grand paladin offered, his tone surprisingly friendly.
Daniel arched an eyebrow, a mix of amusement and confusion playing across his face. "Hold on there, Mr. Ward! Are you suddenly trying to be my buddy? That's a little creepy, you know? Just to clarify, I'm straight and definitely more into women," he teased, his voice tinged with a playful shiver.
The grand paladin gritted his teeth, enduring the humiliation while silently praying for strength. "God, grant me the strength to endure this and restrain my anger from punching this heretic in the face!" he muttered inwardly, his mind torn between his seething anger and the tempting image of delivering a satisfying blow to the smug face of the heretic before him.
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