Chapter 334: Chaotic Battle (Part 1)

  The blue figure had just moved, and the surrounding Templars began to draw their swords, while the priests started chanting prayers.

  These were the elites of Celeste, responsible for guarding the teleportation array. Even though they had just been stunned by that killing aura and intent, their reactions were absolutely fast and steady. But in the blink of an eye it took for the Templars to draw their swords, more than ten people had already become broken corpses.

  Even with their swords drawn, it seemed to have no effect. Only one old Templar with the highest martial skill was able to thrust half a sword toward the swiftly moving figure.

  That figure's speed had already surpassed the ability of the naked eye to track. Only this old Templar, relying on martial skills honed over many years, was able to thrust his sword out by feeling. But he only managed half a thrust, because the instinctive intuition honed from years of rolling on battlefields and through killing formations made him immediately retract it and roll to the side to dodge.

  The instincts and senses honed from countless battles between life and death were the fastest reactions a human body could achieve, but no matter how fast the reaction, it could not bridge the gap in strength. This Templar, who had thrust out half his sword, only managed to dodge halfway before his upper body flew away.

  The blue light of the teleportation had dissipated, replaced by an even more intense white Battle Qi aura. The light was dazzlingly white, but in the eyes of all who could see it, it was more terrifying, more soul-shaking than any black or crimson. It was the light that represented death, that represented killing.

  The white Battle Qi aura moved rapidly around the teleportation array like a whirlwind. The swordsmen and priests who swarmed forward were blown up like torn paper, shredded, as a rain of flesh and blood fell from the sky.

  There were absolutely no weaklings in The Radiant Citadel. On the plaza, all the priests, acolytes, and mages who could see this scene, after their initial extreme shock, immediately cast their magic. Dozens, even hundreds, of light arrows, fireballs, and ice shards rained down upon that spot like a storm. But these low- to mid-level spells never even truly struck the white aura. Like tiny snowflakes that could never reach a scorching volcano, they couldn't even get close. The wind pressure and momentum generated by the movement of this Battle Qi alone blew all these magic spells askew, shattering them, causing them to disappear.

  What filled the sky was not just broken limbs and flesh, but also the immense, sharp, boundless, and irresistible killing aura, which spread even faster and thicker. Some magic apprentices and acolytes were so frightened they collapsed to the ground. This was clearly The Radiant Citadel, but they felt as if they were in a hellish killing field from another realm.

  With a loud boom, a giant white sword of light came horizontally from the direction of the Hall of Light. It was also a white light, but the white light of this sword was condensed, grand, steady, and all-encompassing.

  Before the sword even arrived, the ground along its trajectory was already cracking. The marble ground split open, forming a deep trench in the sword's wake. Flying debris was swept up in the sword's energy. Like a divine thunderbolt condensed for millennia, it rumbled and roared as it hacked directly towards that storm of Battle Qi.

  A loud bang that made the entire The Radiant Citadel tremble. The Battle Qi storm and the sword of light dissipated simultaneously. In the resulting shockwave, all the slightly weaker priests and mages nearby were thrown away. Two figures in the center of the explosion staggered back. One was encircled by the white light of a Radiant Battleplate; the other was bare-chested and empty-handed. It was Gru and Lancelot.

  Although it was just a single exchange, both had already used their full strength.

  "What do you think you're doing?" Lancelot roared, a mix of shock and rage.

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  With Sedros's methods, obtaining a The Radiant Citadel teleportation scroll would not be difficult. Lancelot and the Pope had long been on guard against an elite warrior like Gru attempting a sudden assassination. But as the heart of the Church, and for the sake of Celeste's dignity, it was impossible to shut down the teleportation array just to guard against one super-expert among a group of orcs. That was why Lancelot tried his best to stay away from The Radiant Citadel. As long as he, a person who could match Gru, was here, Gru's arrival would be nothing more than a suicide mission. After all, there were thousands of swordsmen and priests here.

  But he never thought Gru would actually come. And this killing aura. This momentum... it was no longer just a surprise attack or an assassination. There was something bigger, something more terrifying behind it. Lancelot could feel it.

  Gru's pupils were still black and bottomless, but the whites of his eyes were already filled with red veins, forged from a killing intent and fighting spirit that was nearly out of control. The previous slaughter and the head-on clash with Lancelot had already released much of his ferocity and killing aura, but when he spoke, his voice still carried the chilling sharpness of a blade's edge.

  "Go die."

  Gru's words were simple. Then he took out a small object from his robes. It seemed to be a jade ornament. He bent down, raised his hand, and this small object shot up into the high sky with a sharp sound of breaking air.

  He didn't throw this object at Lancelot, nor at any one person, but towards the high sky above.

  With the strength in his arm, this object reached several thousand meters into the sky in an instant, disappearing from everyone's line of sight.

  Lancelot's face instantly became whiter than paper. Although he didn't sense it specifically, he could guess what it was.

  The one whose face also changed was Stephen. He had already rushed over with Inham. He now stared up at the empty sky and snorted coldly, "That fool Asri, that was the only finished product we spent countless energy and top-tier magic stones to create..."

  Inham's expression didn't change. He seemed to have foreseen all of this. He said nothing, also looking up at the high sky, a somewhat satisfied smile on his face, like a playwright watching his script being grandly performed by the most famous stars in the royal theater.

  No one could see where that small object had flown. All they could see was that the clear, cloudless sky suddenly darkened, turning red. A massive, dark red cloud layer slowly appeared high in the sky.

  This cloud layer was large and heavy, seeming not to be a cloud, but a massive, red-hot rock hanging in the sky. Gradually, a vortex appeared in the center of the cloud layer, emitting a trembling roar and immense magical fluctuations.

  A burning, dark red giant fireball emerged from the vortex and then, with a trailing tail of diagonal red flames, fell towards the ground. On the ground, in The Radiant Citadel, there was a wave of cries of alarm. Everyone at the impact point was screaming and fleeing to dodge.

  With a loud boom, The Radiant Citadel jumped like a person who had been pricked with a needle. This was not a fluctuation that an explosion could produce. What had fallen was not a fireball condensed from magic, but a rock the size of a small mountain, weighing tens of thousands of pounds, combined with the drop from thousands of meters in the sky, and the high-temperature flames enveloping it had already heated the rock to a near-molten state. It exploded the instant it hit the ground. Nothing could withstand such a strike.

  But this was not the end. The roaring in the red cloud high in the sky grew louder and louder. The vortex in the cloud layer then had more fireballs falling down. And this time, it wasn't just one, nor three, four, five, six, seven, or eight, but dozens, raining down like a storm, pouring down a deadly rain of fire and destruction.

  This was the most powerful of all Forbidden Spells. It not only fused the ultimate power of the fire and earth elements, but also the power of the air and space elements. The only Forbidden Spell that combined four schools of magic: Meteor Shower.

  If cast by a mage, this Forbidden Spell could drain the magic power of four top-tier mages back to the level of an apprentice in an instant. And this was the first Meteor Shower scroll in history. Even with the wealth of Diya Valley and its numerous top-tier mages, it cost countless effort and gems, and in the end, with a bit of luck, this Forbidden Spell scroll was created. It was carried by Asri, who contributed the most effort and even sacrificed much of his own magic power.

  In truth, the purpose for which the Necromancer mages created this thing was more out of a hobby for magic than for practical use. Although its magic power was so immense it was nearly irresistible, its casting time was too long, so it could only be used against castles. And with the style and strength of the Necromancers, it seemed they would never have a use for such a thing.

  And now, this most powerful Forbidden Spell finally found the place where it could unleash its full power.

  Strategically speaking, destroying the building of The Radiant Citadel would only completely enrage all the religious nations, leaving no room for maneuver. The Church's center was here, but its power was not. So Sedros had always held back this secret weapon, which he had obtained by chance, and did not use it.

  But the Oufu of today no longer cared for strategy or tactics. All that remained was a simple desire for destruction and battle, born from revenge.

  Dozens of fire meteors rolled down, trailing flames. No matter how strong the defenses of The Radiant Citadel, no matter how many high-level swordsmen and mages it had, they were like ants before the most powerful of all Forbidden Spells. Human strength could ultimately not contend with a power that was like the might of the heavens and the earth.

  At this very moment, a giant white figure suddenly appeared in the sky above The Radiant Citadel. A body dozens of meters tall, in a majestic and boundless posture. Behind it, a pair of giant, pure white wings. In its hand was that monument-like Decapitating Greatsword.

  The Pope appeared at the top of the Grand Hall of Light. Just like that time against the phoenix, he stood still and looked up at the sky, his expressionless aside from an unconcealable desolation and weakness, looking at the giant Archangel whose face resembled his own.

  The Archangel, however, looked at the Meteor Shower coming down upon it, spread its wings, and soared upwards.