This was a bullet specially made with a silver steel ingot as the projectile, baptized with Holy Oil, and using the sacred Blessed Gunpowder as its base.
The moment the bullet made contact with the Wraith, it shrieked and vanished into thin air.
Malin rolled once more, dodging the stab coming from behind, and as he rolled, two bullets flew up into the air; as Malin got to his feet, he deftly combined the ejected cylinder, the spent casing, and the bullets falling just right, accomplishing a reload. He slipped the Revolver back into its holster, grasped a branch in both hands, and in an instant, the branch in his hand became as long as a gun.
With a sweeping strike, he forced back the Wraith before him. As Malin pursued with a thrust, the Wraith prepared to slip into the void once more, but Malin’s left fingertip sprouted a golden light ball which landed on the body of the Wraith and ’healed’ it, interrupting its movement. Then, the small light ball ’hopped’ back onto Malin.
At the same time, the branch had pierced the Wraith’s chest.
It grasped the branch, even though the wound and the hand touching it emitted black smoke, but the Wraith still swung its Longsword, forcing Malin to retreat and also to retract the branch.
However, before the Wraith could recover from its injuries, the golden light ball bounced again; it landed on Maya’s head and then quickly struck the Wraith.
There was another shriek, healing wounds were not a blessing but also not a burden for a healthy being, but for a Wraith—it was like poison.
While the Wraith was still shrieking, Malin drew the Revolver once more, retrieved his left hand from the branch stuck in the ground, held the gun in his left and worked the hammer rapidly with his right, emptying six shots in less than a second.
The Wraith, having sustained heavy damage, even began to screech off-key; it started to self-ignite—a state from coming into contact with too much holy Spiritual Energy.
Discarding the Revolver, Malin pulled out the branch, which once again took the form of a sword at that moment. Facing the approaching Malin, the Wraith swung its sword, but Malin deflected it easily.
Then, Malin thrust the wondrous foreign object into the chest of the Wraith.
As if something had been punctured, the Spectral Power inside the Wraith’s shell was swept away.
Before Malin, the transparent ghost developed facial features. It pulled the branch out from its own chest and handed it to Malin.
After Malin took the branch, it rose, "Thank you, child."
"...I should be the one thanking you," Malin regarded the Paladin before him, "Can your Deity resurrect you, he is that... great?"
Malin truly did not want to use the word ’great,’ even though he was now in a world with gods, he still did not wish to reverence a Deity.
"No, I have ignited my soul; it is beyond salvaging now. Although we have not vanquished all the Chaos, but... your friends have helped us place the final piece of the puzzle." It looked back at the girls and then turned to walk deep into the forest.
In front of Malin, the forest gradually got replaced by the Golden Prairie. In the distance, enormous trees stood tall; the branch in his hand trembled, so Malin thrust it into the ground.
Instead of burrowing into the earth as Malin had expected, the branch sprouted new shoots, and a tiny vine twisted around Malin’s hand.
Malin did not immediately withdraw the branch; he watched as the Paladin walked toward the distance where the forms of many other similarly attired figures began to emerge.
Someone went up to shake his hand.
Someone went up to clap him on the shoulder.
He also saluted a senior with a hand over his chest and a bow.
Then a young Paladin girl emerged from the crowd, opened her arms, and embraced him.
"The Golden Prairie, the sacred land of the knights of the Church of Justice—I always thought all this was nothing more than a beautiful aspect of the teachings of the Church of Justice," Faye walked up next to Malin, her expression complex as she looked at Princess Malin, bowing her head before saying sorry.
Malin shook his head—he did not need her apology; it was his choice to stay and cover their retreat: "I made this choice. No apologies are necessary," Malin reached out and ruffled Faye’s head.
The Golden Prairie in front of them gradually faded; in the end, Malin saw the Paladin press a hand to his chest.
Malin pressed his hand to his chest as well.
He did not believe in gods because he was born in a godless world; but he respected heroes, for he had read of countless heroes who shared a dream and poured out their blood for it.
When the Golden Prairie had completely vanished, Malin turned to face Faye, looking at his peer filled with remorse, he smiled and extended his hand, taking hers.
"I really don’t blame you, and... I am very moved that you came back. I feel that for you to discard life and march towards death for me... I don’t know how to repay you."
In Malin’s heart, since he had brought them to this place of death, he should naturally give them a chance for survival, and letting Faye take Maya away was part of Malin’s plan—they were still young, not like him who had already lived a portion of life... but the girls returned for him, which was the most sincere form of friendship, irrepayable.
"...Then, repay us with your life." Faye spoke, as Jessica approached, the lamb came close, and the Bunny Girl moved over with teary eyes.