The "Sacrifice" wasn't the Saint offering up his own lifeblood; it was a weaponization of the prayers of the masses—a forced tithe of Faith Energy.
A torrential river of devotion was transmuted instantly into a scorching, offensive Holy Light. It erupted from the Goddess's Crown, bathing Orion in a blinding luminescence.
It wasn't heat; it was purification.
Orion felt his own Divine Power igniting, the foreign energy chewing through his reserves like acid eating through metal.
ROAR!
Orion bellowed, a shockwave of pure, unadulterated Battle Will exploding from his core. It was the evolved form of a warrior's spirit, honed by his ascension to Demigod status, and it shoved the Holy Light back, creating a vacuum around him.
Having bought himself a breath, Orion didn't retreat. His remaining six arms moved in unison, fists firing like siege cannons, hammering straight into the Shield of Guardianship.
"Rite of Absolution: The Hundredfold Reprisal!"
