Chapter 177: Turning the Tide (Part 2)
Is this… the occipital bone?
Or maybe a piece of the skull?
The broken bone is thick and heavy in my hand, and I can’t quite tell which part it belongs to.
But it must be one of the parts carrying the “ability” in a deity body, a so-called Divine Reliquary—remnants of Gidales’ body… and this fragment of bone is part of the gigantic skeleton shattered in the “dead” Woodward Forest.
An important piece I overlooked…
Thoughts raced through my mind.
After I grabbed the fragment, that familiar sense of intimacy surged intensely. I could feel my body trying to establish some sort of connection with the bone—an indescribable, bizarre sensation. As I gently traced the surface of the bone, I suddenly became aware of the soft, warm touch of my palm—then from deep within my heart bubbled up a long-lost feeling of “devouring desire.”
Huff—
In the next moment, my right hand holding the bone was engulfed in raging flames.
Scarlet, sinful fire.
Huh?
I frowned—thinking I should be a bit startled, but I felt nothing of the sort.
The power of the Infernal Fire wasn’t influenced by my conscious mind; I hadn’t actively released it, yet it ignited instinctively… This isn’t normal.
Suddenly, countless long, red “meat threads,” like veins, slithered and twisted through my skin, spreading rapidly across my right arm, sticking to the fragment of bone.
What the heck…
What’s happening?
I felt dazed and started shaking my arm vigorously, but no matter how hard I shook, that black piece of bone wouldn’t budge—it was as if it had glued itself to my palm, ensnared by a multitude of wriggling red threads.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—
With an ear-piercing sound, Dead Smoke started rising.
The pitch-black smoke intertwined with the burning scarlet flames, clinging rapidly along the bl**d-red meat threads, and in an instant, ignited the entire piece of bone. The spread of power surged rapidly and completely out of my control; it felt like my “meat body” was acting on instinct. The bone in my hand quickly dissolved in the licking flames and the encroaching Dead Smoke, dispersing into reddish light and silently entering my chest.
The whole process took less than a second.
Boom! A gust of wind erupted all around me, an exhilarating sensation flooded my brain, and for a brief moment, my consciousness blanked. When I came to, the Dead Smoke and Infernal Fire had vanished, along with the fragment of bone.
It was all over in the blink of an eye.
I clenched my fist, then let go, and clenched again, examining my pale arm closely for a moment—nothing seemed off, it looked so soft it could almost drip water—but the sleeve of my shirt on my right arm had turned to ashes.
And my strength…
Seemed to overflow.
A vague feeling, not particularly clear.
Whoosh—
Suddenly, before I could fully process what was happening, a dazzling golden light shot toward me from the dissipating light smoke, encasing a huge Holy Lance, whistling in like the wind. I stepped into Moon Step and side-stepped, instantly dodging the lance attack by a good ten meters.
When I lifted my gaze, I saw that the Nun, enveloped in flowing gold, leaped high into the air, darting toward the center of the town—huh?
You’ve got to be kidding me, she’s fleeing?
Darn, she seemed to be heading in the direction of Father…
Bang!
That “lack of control” feeling came and went quickly; at this point, I could no longer sense anything unusual. Instead, because of having devoured the fragment of bone, the oppressive weight built up in me since last night was instantly swept away. I felt more energetic, focused, and with a flex of my body, I shot off like a cannonball, thundering after her.
Don’t even think about escaping—
Bang bang bang bang!
A series of sonic booms echoed in the gray air, my speed felt like it ripped apart the wind. One second, two seconds… three seconds, and the Nun’s figure was already right up ahead.
She turned mid-air, her face contorted with shock and horror, golden glow radiating from her right palm as she launched an attack toward me!
Boom!
The violent explosion unleashed blinding light everywhere; I wasn’t about to try and take that hit head-on. I planted my feet on an icy platform and dodged her panicky strike, getting beside her and pressing down on her head—
Whoosh!
The Nun, completely defenseless, was driven down into the courtyard, crashing into the ruins of a stone house with a resounding “boom.” Dust erupted, and without a pause, I followed her down, vaguely seeing her scramble to get up. Using the momentum, I planted my feet firmly on her chest, sending her back into the ground!
Boom—!!
The sound was like thunder.
The stone house collapsed entirely, tables and chairs splintered, beams and countless bluestones flung high into the air, and the ensuing dust was whisked away by a frenzied wind. The Nun was buried in the pit, bl**d spewing from her mouth and nose, her chest visibly caving in.
She’s lost her protective power…
Just as I thought.
That kind of “absolute defense” was capable of blocking air and temperature, its strength was far beyond any ordinary Sin Barrier. Even Nero hadn’t had such a rock-solid shell; how could a single Nun possibly be that formidable…
When I caught the first glimpse of that Sin Barrier, a familiar aura tinged my thoughts, making me wonder if this power was similar to the protective shield from Diana’s remains back in the Land of Dragons. And it turned out I was right; this was the power the Church had obtained from that skeleton.
The so-called “Divine Reliquary”…
So, that’s how it is.
In the end, surprisingly, it was Ailna, the so-called villain in the eyes of the world, who didn’t deceive me.
What a shame—
She had said so much to me.
And I hadn’t believed even half a word at that time.
Thoughts raced, and I instinctively pushed my foot down harder.
Boom!
“Urgh—”
The Nun’s chest crumbled completely under my foot, her ribs shattered, eyes bulging with bl**d, her expression twisted and horrifying as dark red chunks erupted from her mouth!
At this point, I’d probably stomped her organs to a mush.
I flipped backward and landed beside her steadily.
“P-Please… spare me…”
The Nun, bloodied, looked at me while begging for mercy.
I paused for a moment, genuinely taken aback that she would say such a thing.
But then, expressionless, I looked down at her from above. With a flick of my finger, a sharp ice spear shot out, piercing her fidgety right arm and skewering it into the muddy ground, twisting and contorting her entire limb.
Above, the golden light that had just emerged suddenly flickered and vanished, and the unformed Golden Bell disintegrated into golden dust, gradually dissipating. My gaze turned cold as I watched her attempt to raise her arm again.
“Wait, I know—”
Boom!!
The solid ice plummeted, smashing her head directly into the ground, splattering red and white everywhere.
Her body convulsed, and slowly, she lay still.
“I don’t have time for your nonsense.” I cleared my ears.
This lady…
The power of faith seemed terrifyingly strong, but without that shield, her combat effectiveness was absolutely pathetic.
Honestly thought it might be a slightly fun fight…
Really.
Shaking my head, I turned and slowly walked out of the crumbling house, glancing at the now darkening sky—
There seemed to be a ton of enemies outside the city…
Wait a second.
Suddenly, it hit me like a bolt from the blue, and I turned back to glance at the Nun’s corpse.
She… wouldn’t suddenly get up and transform into some chaotic angel, would she?
