Chapter 176: Turning the Tide (Part 2)
“There’s still a guard!”
The other black-robed figures looked on as their comrade clutched his neck and crumpled to the ground, their faces showing little emotion, but their reactions were lightning quick. One of them dashed away in a flash of golden light, while another summoned a blade of light and charged at the Duke, only to be met by an incoming bolt of lightning that blocked his path. With a swing of his sword, the man shouted, “The enemy’s skills are terrifying! We can’t afford to get entangled, prioritize killing the Duke—”
Buzz!
With a tremor, the retreating figure shot a thin laser that was almost impossible to defend against. The diminutive figure bathed in lightning barely had time to sheathe his sword when another member of the Choir of Saints rushed in to engage, leaving no one available to stop the onslaught. The laser zipped past, too fast to catch, disappearing as it zipped into the far end of the town.
But this shot failed to hit its target.
Though Duke Skarlij was in a weakened state, his keen battle instincts kicked in. He clutched Bella tightly and rolled to the side just in time to dodge the attack. After a scramble on the ground, he sprang up and hollered, “I still have the strength to protect myself! Warriors, focus on fighting off the enemies—”
The man realized that the attacker was a woman, petite like his daughter, but her mastery of the Power of Order was astounding. The moment she appeared, she effortlessly eliminated one of the black-robed cultists, and he understood she must have been sent over by his daughter.
In a moment of urgency, he decided not to waste words, enduring his pain. He conjured several ice bullets above his head and shot them at the black-robed assailant who was fighting the woman.
—He called me a warrior, not a miss.
Sword Demon Annasiris’ eyes sparkled with excitement as she seized the moment when the enemy dodged the ice bullets. She whirled around in a blur of electric sparks, her bright white and blue aura flaring to life, momentarily paralyzing the black-robed person in the midst of the lightning. As the last two ice bullets struck him and his head began to freeze, she swung her sword to cut open his chest, bl**d gushing forth as he fell to the ground, stiff as a board.
“d*mn it, who are you—”
“Two powerful reinforcements showed up…”
“Watch out for her lightning order!”
“Nonsense! Lucius, you two hold her off. We’ll k*ll the Duke and leave—no need to get further entangled—”
Six left…
Like the Choir of Saints’ low-ranking enforcers, none of them posed any real threat.
Ignoring the shouts, Annasiris coolly surveyed the battlefield, her gaze sharp as she charged toward the closest enemy attempting to close in on the Duke.
…………
Boom—!!
On the western battlefield, the towering icy mountain, standing nearly a hundred meters tall, suddenly crashed down, heavily crushing the nun wrapped in the Sin Barrier to the ground. I noticed that the combat in the town had mostly avoided this area, and the civilians in the dilapidated houses had long since evacuated; now I could go all out against Sister Kaimilante.
Father is seriously injured…
Although I instructed the Sword Demon to protect him, I was completely confident in her abilities, but Father’s condition was not good; he was clearly losing too much bl**d. If he didn’t get treated soon, it could become critical…
So I needed to wrap this up quickly.
However…
Just then, I wondered if that would be enough to resolve the issue.
Bang!!!
As I thought, I heard a massive explosion from beneath the icy mountain, shaking the entire region, causing the broken walls beneath my feet to collapse. I leaped onto a higher roof not far away, and behind my mask, my eyes narrowed.
Bang—
A second explosion followed, and the mountain erupted!
Boom—!!!
The massive icy peak shattered and collapsed, a wave of freezing air spreading out and a flurry of snow swirling upwards. In the mist, golden light flickered, and the nun covered by the Sin Barrier suddenly soared into the air, rising to two or three hundred meters, landing lightly despite the chaotic winds.
That shimmering barrier radiated a soft golden light, with hexagonal patterns resembling a beehive subtly rotating, keeping the surrounding icy mist at bay. The nun stood in the frost, unaffected, her garments flowing without a hint of disturbance, as if she resided in an entirely still space.
What’s this…?
I had never seen anything like it.
But—
I caught a familiar scent.
Hmm?
She seems to carry the scent of Infernal Fire…
I raised an eyebrow.
No, wait…
That’s the aura of the Goddess of Sin—so strong.
Does she have a relic of the Goddess of Sin on her?
As that thought crossed my mind, I raised my hand, condensing countless sharp ice spears around me, launching them like a hailstorm towards the nun!
The sharp, piercing sounds of ice struck the shimmering barrier, creating countless ripples like water waves. The nun’s face remained cold and expressionless as she watched, the ice spears completely failing to harm her, even the icy mist produced by their impact was ineffective.
Absolute defense…
Once again, with absolute defense.
This method of defense was entirely different from the “Immortal Ones,” looking like a stronger divine miracle compared to the Sin Barrier, a capability that could even isolate air and temperature. Indeed troublesome—if it weren’t for me, anyone else would be in for a headache.
As I pondered, I retracted my Frost Power.
At the same time, the nun in the air waved her hand.
Golden light swirled, twisting like dragons and snakes into countless currents that quickly converged around her, forming three radiant spheres of light akin to the sun. As she inhaled, one of the spheres instantly disappeared, only to reappear right beside me, glowing and heating up at close range—boom!!!
A terrifying energy erupted, engulfing my view.
Interesting…
The holy light surged, intertwining with extreme heat that seemed to shred my body. I couldn’t open my eyes, couldn’t breathe. I activated my Frost Power to cover myself as much as possible, but still, I felt the burning pain as if my flesh was being torn apart—trying to escape, I found something binding my feet. I pulled hard, and with a “clank” of chains, I broke the bonds that held me.
But the next moment, a gust of wind struck, sending me flying who knows how many meters away, with a loud crash into the ruins, being buried under the rubble.
“Gah.”
I spat out a mouthful of dust.
Interesting…
It seemed like it had been a long, long time since I had faced such an opponent.
One that could cause me even the slightest trouble…
With a ‘clank,’ I sprang up, scattering a shower of bricks and leaping up from the depths of the ruins, stepping through Moon Step mid-air, the wind roaring past me, as I zipped over a hundred meters away. Behind me, another explosive sound erupted, golden light shooting into the sky, blowing the ruins that had covered me to smithereens, fiery waves rising into the grey sky, intense and blinding.
I landed on the ground and turned around.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—
My body was enveloped in smoke, and an eye-popping scarlet glimmer flashed in my gaze. Beneath the tattered cloak, my charred skin and ghastly wounds healed at an astonishing rate, returning to pristine condition in the blink of an eye.
I then lifted my head.
The nun soared out from the lingering light and smoke of the explosion, standing on the burning ground dozens of meters away. Above her, the “sun” still floated, but her expression was one of horror, staring at me, trembling and terrified: “You… you’re not human! What exactly are you?!”
You’re the one who’s an abnormality.
I made a face…
In the next moment, I dashed forward through Moon Step, standing inches from her, my crimson gaze flaring: “Your shield’s power is quite interesting…”
With that, I threw a fist directly at her barrier.
Bang—!!!
The explosive sound, paired with a tremendous gale, spread outward like the autumn wind sweeping fallen leaves; the noise was almost deafening. In an instant, the nearby walls and bricks collapsed, and the ground beneath my feet sank sharply!
The terrifying fist force slammed into the honeycomb-patterned barrier, shattering the “upgraded” Sin Barrier again with a ‘crack.’ The fissures snaked and twisted, fracturing outwards from where my fist had made contact. The nun’s expression turned one of absolute shock as golden light swirled around her; she immediately attempted to teleport away. But I wasn’t going to grant her that opportunity.
Crack—
Boom!
I transformed my fist into claws, my fingers piercing through the rigid “egg shell” shielding her, thrusting my entire arm through the opening and grabbing her stout neck with a fierce grip.
With a bit of force.
“Cough!”
I nearly popped her eyeballs out as she spluttered, eyes bulging in fury, forehead veins popping, face rapidly turning red.
Her physical form wasn’t weak; she actually hadn’t been strangled to d*ath immediately… huh?
What is this…
Suddenly, my attention was drawn to the nun’s well-endowed chest—no, not that! Underneath her robes, I had spotted a dark item sticking out—fragments of the Goddess of Sin?
The piece of bone emitted a soft golden light, intertwining with the holy light surrounding her. I hadn’t noticed it before, but now I could feel it clearly.
“Oh~”
I revealed a sudden realization: “Divine Reliquary…”
“Sinner…”
The color on the nun’s face shifted from red to purple as she struggled, her fingers moving slightly. The “sun” hovering above her suddenly slammed down, bringing with it an explosive momentum like an intention to perish together. The massive explosion enveloped our positions entirely, the raging energy sweeping across a wide radius of over a hundred meters, scorching holy light and frigid frost mingling, and the deafening noise erupted in my ears in an instant!
I couldn’t see…
The blinding light forced me to shut my eyes once more.
But the power of the explosion seemed rather mediocre…
Or could it be that my physical resilience has utterly surpassed that of a human?
The pain barely registered…
As I contemplated this, in the blink of an eye, a fierce shockwave lifted me off my feet, yanking my hand from her neck with a wild effort. Just before being hurled away, I grabbed the black bone embedded in her robes, and with a ripping sound, it seemed I had even torn her robes apart.
Whoosh—
The wind howled as I flew dozens of meters away, feeling I had escaped the explosion’s range. I then opened my eyes mid-air, performing a flip and forming an ice platform beneath my feet, standing suspended above the ground.
Before me, billowing clouds of light loomed, an extensive area devastated by the explosion.
As I heard the sound of sizzling, my wounds began to heal again.
I looked down at the black bone in my hand.
It was like a breastplate, crudely fashioned with two steel chains, wearable as dark armor—the hook of the chains had already been snapped.
On the bone, I could still faintly sense the nun’s body warmth…
I couldn’t help but furrow my brow.
