Knights in shining armour... That was a rather accurate way to describe them.

They practically slow-mo walked onto the scene as soon as they caught sight of 'criminals' they were informed of. They approached them with a dominating and heavy air about their physiques.

Some might think that their full-plated metal armour would get in the way of their joint movement, but that was only a myth. The only thing they had to keep track of was their stamina burning out quicker rather than anything else.

It was the reason they were acting like resident badasses by slow-walking onto the scene.

Though saying weren't pretty hardcore in some facets of their lives wouldn't be accurate.

After all, they went through a lot of screening to become part of the Grand Hero's personal squadron. Even their silver armour was made of high-purity Damascus Steel forged by Dwarves.

It was the reason why they looked so extraordinary!

There were clear engravings on their armour that seemed to be like electrical circuits that let out sparks every now and then.

If the Mirror Cultists were defined by uniforms that only became classier the more higher their status, then it was easy to see the difference between ordinary Knights and the Grand Knights above them by their armour.

Those four captains wore heavy armour...

Compared to the prerequisites to become a regular Knight of the Grand Squadron, the requirements to become a captain above them were so harsh that it went beyond having a very specific Rare Class...

Those with the titles of Grand Knights needed to be robust enough to wear Perfect Immunity Damascus Armour and have the qualities needed to become worthy opponents for their leader.

Behind the four Grand Knights stood the Hero everyone had been waiting for.

A celebrity wore less metal than the 'Purple Knights'. He was in lighter full-plated armour.

This wasn't out of vanity, but because too much armour would only hinder his strength.

The crowd reacted positively to his presence...

[Insert 'Reaction Guys' Meme Here]

This was a rare opportunity to see their greatest Hero smiting evil personally...!

They couldn't help but feel excited.

The orderly squadron of Knights approached the Cultists even as their footsteps rang out.

The Demon Lord didn't mind that 'Mirror Religion' was finally being seen in a negative outlook.

It wasn't like he was going to use sweet words to entice people into joining their ranks from now on.

Begging them to join wasn't his style, so he decided to just pressure them and isolate them from the Holy God before getting them to join the Radiant Sword Mirror Cult. That was how Alan did things in on Earth, and that is how he'll do it here.

One step at a time, without making any mistakes...

So what if Lancia citizens had animosity towards them? They were the state religion now, so in all technicality, the 'heretics' were those of the Luminous Church, not them. This lack of a need to win them over was why the Cult became brazen.

The numbers they had was roughly the same as their 'great' opponents, all right down to how many leading characters there were above those regular fighters.

This gave them the courage to finally test themselves against this world's strongest Knights...

There wasn't a need to exchange any words.

A hive mind functioned independently… The Cultists immediately ordered themselves with the lower members at the front and their Lord at the back in a similar formation to their opponents.

Jasmine, the Beast Master named Ronald, Law Mistress and Elemental Master, looked at the armours the Knights wore and cursed the Grand Hero inwardly. They were envious of his wealth.

They knew Brandon definitely threw around the Church's funds to pay for their expensive gear...!

Not only that, but Alan could feel that each of these Knights gave off the feeling of brainwashed 'death warriors' from the Murim.

They were like combatants who were willing to die for their designated 'master' without hesitation.

This wasn't exactly a 'Class', but the broad term used to describe fighters willing to die for their master's will.

Perhaps it was to be expected from Brandon, the Grand Hero with the Blessing known as 'Sacrifice'.

The strongest of Blessings.

Just as wrathful anger didn't translate to sin, the suicidal act of sacrificing oneself for others wasn't exactly the purest of virtues.

Even the Demon Lord didn't seem to find any 'goodness' in how Brandon trained his Knights into warriors that would give up their lives for mere platitudes.

The price of gaining Sacrifice Attributed Spell Slots was immense...

Which was understandable considering the name of the Attribute. Though gaining the imperfect Sacrifice Attribute under Brandon's tutelage also allowed them to break through a certain barrier hard to overcome when learning Mana Burst...

The armour wasn't only for defence.

Anyway, the Purple Knights under the Grand Hero's command were the first to draw Spirit Essences.

Without exception, the weapons they all held were two-handed sword, this clued the Demon Lord in that each and every one of them were of the Common Class called 'Broadsword Warrior', not some amazing Rare Class that he had speculated.

He wasn't disappointed though. Even though they only had Common Classes, that only meant that each of them went through a stricter selection process before they joined Brandon's squadron.

He wanted to test them out, so he gestured towards his regular believers to get them to take out their Spirit Essences as well. The staggering difference between them could be seen at that moment, as most of them had different weapons.

A large portion of his believers were Sword Warriors, but Mages of different elements and even Archers weren't excluded from the roster as spiritual weapons varied from each individual.

The Rogues had their daggers, the Spies had their knives, the Hunters had their crossbows, the Fighters had their knuckle dusters, and the Mages had their staffs of varied elemental affinities.

Such a messy group seemed scary to the citizens who watched with bated breaths, but the choice in party composition only gained the disdain of the experienced Purple Knights. They weren't the least bit intimidated by random Cultists gathered there.

It was because team synergy was easier when one had the same Class as the other. The reason the Purple Knights were all Broadsword Warriors wasn't to follow an aesthetic, but because these type of Warriors were the most suitable Knights.

Those with the Special Class of Paladin were definitely individually stronger than Warriors, but with such a weakness came the strength they gained as a collective unit.

Their ability to work together as a team had been tried and tested over the years of taking down many Beasts. Having experienced a lot together made them close knit.

This was why they could be acknowledged as 'the strongest Knight Squadron'.

It was said that the members of the Grand Hero's personal squadron were practically immortal.

This was likely considering their defensive capabilities and self-healing Skills.

The Purple Knights and Mirror Cultists were the first to clash, the Grand Knights and Mirror Priests watching on from the side. As expected, the Cult Archers were the first to make their move.

Since their specialty was long-range, there wasn't a need to foolishly rush into close distance.

The others who were more specialised in close and mid range combat came forward with unnatural synergy.

It opened the eyes of the Purple Knights.

The a few shots of energy-moulded arrows hit the Knights at the frontlines.

The Fighters and Warriors then came forward. Fist users were the first to throw sucker punches at the Knights who had been hit by the energy arrows, vanishing with a large step after their assault.

They then switching out with teammates, making their synergy seem easy.

The Grand Knights had fallen back, but they were immediately assisted by their companions. Their cooperation wasn't to be underestimated as they adapted to new scenarios without needing orders.

After getting some reinforcements, those who had been knocked over by Fighters regained their bearing. The regular Sword Warriors that tried to do some damage, which failed due to the armour.

It was at that point that spear and staff users switched out with them in order to save strength.

The Mages started shooting multiple Magic Skills.

Fireballs and arrows were continuously hitting the Purple Knights, though this also started to display that the strong numerical advantage the Cult had in having more specialised Classes was useless.

Normally, this would be a instant defeat for the Cultists. The only difference now was their synergy compared to regular citizens. The Grand Knights were less spread out and concentrated, but the Mirror Cultists effectively used their Skills to fight.

This was the power of the Demon Lord's Personal Ability: 'Collective Radiance'.

It was a power that allowed his inner believers to enjoy an intimate connection with each other... much closer than words.

This translated into their party synergy.

They knew each other's next action, so they could make sure they didn't get in each other's way.

This allowed them to fight perfectly as a team even without having to go through training together.

Their overall battle was a bit scary to the innocent bystanders... but it wasn't enough to take down the Knights trained personally by the Grand Hero.

Even after getting hit a few times, their 'Metal' armour resisted the Skills that had been thrown at them.

The Dwarves were known for passing on the qualities of the Metal Attribute onto the weapons and armour they smithed.

It was the reason why even Alex's NAC NAC Metal Bat would be considered as precious by those of Gaia.

This was despite the horrid name it had…

This was especially true when one kept in mind that the specialty of the Metal Attribute was along the lines of 'Piercing' and 'Resistance'.

Wearing high quality Damascus Armour made it so only true 'Spells' were capable of breaking their defence.

The Purple Knights were unscathed due to their High Resistance Damascus Armour. It was to the point that synergy of the Cultists didn't seem to matter to them as they decided to take initiative.

($_$)

Truly, the benefits of being under a man who knew how to spend his money. It was the Purple Knights who realised it was their time to shine seemed to fly at their opponents after organising themselves.

[Synchronised Burst- Rioting Storm!]

They used a different type of Mana Burst together with the special qualities of their circuit-like purple armour.

Archers and Mages, who had distanced earlier on, found themselves suddenly grabbed by the collar and thrown into the messy crowd fight.

Their large blades swung heavily, aiming to incapacitate the Cultists and bringing them in to get a fair trail.

The reason they didn't have to worry about slashing was was due to the nature of Spirit Essences. As long as you didn't desire to kill your opponent, any non-physical attack purely relying on one's own Spirit Essence was non-lethal.

All these sword strikes would do is shake up the Magic Pathways of their opponents before forcing them to fall unconscious.

This was the method many used to avoid needless bloodshed of Gaia Humans like themselves.

It was a pacifistic choice.

However, that didn't mean that getting slashed that way hurt any less from ACTUALLY having a sword cut straight through your flesh. Their broadswords also contained anti-magic covering their edges.

Just like a maelstrom of blades, their swords cut through the bodies of the Cultists… and even went as far as to create flying slashes from their broadswords to hit the people hiding at the back.

Who cared if their opponents had different Classes and specialties?

They were used to fighting many Beast Species at once without needing to rely on Archers or Mages.

Their Lightning Swordsmanship was the best at doing everything they needed.

It was as fast as wind and strong as fire, even having the Holy Attribute overlapped on top of it to do extra damage to these possessors of Spell Slots of the Evil Attribute. The Cultists roared in agony as they felt they their Spell Slots were being 'purged'.

"Do not help them." The Demon Lord ordered.

He stopped the Mirror Priests from jumping in.

So what if his side was losing? If they couldn't fight back, then this was all that they were worth.

[Collective Skill- Devilish Lights!]

A burning golden light appeared in their eyes as they retaliated against the Purple Knights.

One particular Broadsword Warrior was shocked speechless. The Fighter he cut down managed to punch him despite being on the verge of falling into an unconscious state. His felt like something had changed within the Cultist after slashing at him.

The Fighter was bisected three consecutive times in succession by his blade, which should have shaken their Magic Pathways enough to cause mental trauma. However, that fist user only roared as he was backed up by a sword used behind him.

"Watch out!" The Knight's comrade blocked the attack before they jointly slashed the two Cultists up with greater force. There seemed to be a change in the strategy of their opponents...

"Hehe, hehehehe~!" The Cultists jointly laughed before doing something the Knights didn't expect.

It was to the point that they stopped fighting.