Chapter 104: Rebirth (13)
“Arrogant!”
Whoosh—clang—
The moment the fierce wind howled in, the smoke-covered old woman suddenly swung her giant hammer. With unerring precision, it collided head-on with the incoming Holy Lance, crushing it with an unstoppable force into a shower of golden fragments. At the same time, she bent one knee with a dull thud and leaped up again.
“d*mn it…”
“Faith Organization! Stop her—!!!”
Aresta’s eyes were bloodshot as he roared in panic. Out of his view, a knight rushing in from the left reacted first. The sound of divine miracles began to hum in succession, and golden light suddenly flared from the sky, forming a solid barrier above the old woman’s head. However, in the next moment, she swung her hammer again, the massive, cracked steel weapon creating a terrifying wind as it slammed down, making the Sin Barrier shatter into pieces!
“She wants to save Carlos!”
“LA! M! STAAAA—”
The young bishop was nearly beside himself, directing his fury at the two clerics who had joined the crowd earlier. The clerics responded quickly; when they saw the Sin Barrier fail to stop her, one of them soared into the air, radiating golden light, with slender beams shooting from his fingertips!
In a split second, the silent, blazing white light shot forth, appearing at the distant edge of the horizon. It was too fast to dodge, and the old woman, just bursting from the golden fragments, was struck directly in the abdomen, bl**d and bits of flesh spraying from the swirling black mist.
“Cough… cough…”
In mid-air, the demon-like Apheir coughed up a mouthful of pus and bl**d. She glanced at the flying cleric with a grotesque grin and, disregarding everything, charged upward again, her giant hammer whirling like a millstone. Two seconds later, she landed at the front of the cross.
“Hey, hey, hey…”
Carlos, bound tightly in chains, weakly said, “Apheir, you…”
“Shut it, noisy!”
In the next moment, within the dim blue of his eyes, the old woman’s massive figure twirled around, and the gigantic hammer, carrying a bone-chilling whistle, suddenly slammed into the top of the cross.
Clang clang clang—
A giant echoing sound resonated above everyone’s heads, and the chaotic wind whooshed outward. The knights below were instantly caught in the shockwave, stumbling and nearly losing their footing. The flying cleric was swept away with a whoosh, while the Captain of Knights grit his teeth, his face as cold as frost.
“d*mn it, d*mn it, d*mn it!!!”
On the other side of the ruins, Bishop Aresta was exploding with rage, veins bulging on his forehead, screaming with nearly deranged volume at the clerics, “Get over there! k*ll her! That damned lunatic—”
He barked out his orders without caring about the expressions on the clerics’ faces, turned on his beast, and with a huff, took off down the dirt path a few meters before looking westward, muttering a few phrases. Then, raising his right hand high, he felt the divine miracles vibrating around him.
Old hag…
Old hag!
One by one, they all try to interfere with me, BLOCK me!!!
Why should I put up with this!!!
Aresta’s pent-up fury was completely out of control now, his frustration swirling in his chest like a boiling pot. In an instant, it surged to his head. The young bishop felt as if he were about to burst if he couldn’t vent this rage, and he had no time for any fire-seed recovery business.
I don’t care who you are… what heroes…
I don’t care what happened here before…
As long as I can make those two d*e before the old Sword Saint returns, d*e a bloody d*ath, only then will this anger in my heart calm down. The crafty old man better not come back; if he doesn’t come back, then no one can stop me…
Even if he does return, he can’t do anything to me. Those damned Pope Knights dared to obstruct the will of the Church; they won’t escape d*ath. Besides, judging by Apheir’s condition, she must have been eroded by Dead Smoke… ha, serves her right!
Making this such a mess…
I told you they’re just tangling themselves up, getting bitten in the b*tt while trying to sneak a chicken! Both of them were heavily injured by that weird orb, too bad they didn’t survive…
Whoosh—
While Aresta contemplated this, he rapidly made a decision; the Light of MaFa shot up from his raised right hand, soaring to a hundred meters high before exploding into a dazzling display of sacred light, painting the gray sky in vibrant colors.
“Bishop!”
Behind him, the three clerics, hearing the command, still had not moved. They watched the young bishop riding away on his beast, observing the Holy Light rising above them, bursting forth and illuminating everyone’s eyes. After exchanging glances in that light, one of them couldn’t help but chuckle.
“What’s going on? The second son of the Rossius family looks like he’s at his wits’ end.”
“Heh, that punk…”
“Thinking he can order our Choir of Saints around…”
“Hey, should we follow his orders?”
“…Let’s wait and see. That old Pope Knight’s situation isn’t looking too good. Let the First Knights Order deal with the mess; we’ll just observe for now… Should we recall those two? To be honest, I’m even considering withdrawing.”
“Tch, that useless…”
The three of them whispered among themselves. Meanwhile, not far above, the Holy Light’s cross shattered with a bang, the spreading shockwave gradually calming down, and the old woman Apheir tumbled down from the light shards with a thud, followed closely by Carlos’s bloodied figure crashing down not far behind her.
Seeing this, the knights nearby raised their swords and began to back away, quickly enclosing the two. In the distance, more knights were rushing in, their hooves thundering on the soft ground.
“Hey Carlos, you okay?”
Apheir grinned wickedly at the gathering knights, not bothering to turn around, and soon after, Carlos’s gritting teeth could be heard behind her, “Not dead yet… but that slam you just gave… knocked the wind out of me… cough cough—”
“Can you move?”
“Probably… cough, a bit difficult…”
“Then just lie there.”
“Hey, senior, you…”
Carlos lay on the ground, propping himself up on his elbows, trying his hardest to sit up but failing miserably. He saw the bulky figure in front of him, wrapped in Dead Smoke and covered in wounds, forcing himself to keep a straight face.
“Sorry, looks like I’m… dragging you down…”
He gritted his teeth.
After a moment, he heard the old woman’s half-hearted response.
“Hey Carlos… I didn’t ask before because I was in a bad mood. Ever since you took Leah and left, both the old man and I thought we wouldn’t see you again for a while… I didn’t expect you to return to the town so quickly. It surprised me. I’ve been wondering if something happened after that, like if you met someone or encountered something that gave you a reason to act like this now…”
