Chapter 317: The Fire Phoenix (Part 1)

  Everyone was silent. Everyone could see what terrifying monsters those two were, but the Pope had merely raised his hand and said a single word.

  Ethan was also dumbstruck. His original plan had been to use the intimidating presence of the two Death Knights to distract the encircling forces, then make his own move. But he hadn't been able to. Lancelot and the three Templar Knights hadn't even glanced in their direction; their attention had been entirely focused on him. And now, he was the one who was distracted, stunned by the surprise.

  That wasn't a white magic paralysis spell. Death Knights were not living beings; white magic couldn't control them. Even if it could hold a Death Knight, it was impossible to make their fast-moving bodies lose all momentum and become completely still in an instant. Just as the Pope made his move and spoke his low command, Ethan could feel something stir in the surroundings.

  He wasn't sure what it was, but the keen perception of his Meditations on Truth could clearly sense that the power which had stopped the Death Knights did not come from the Pope, but from something vaster and more immense in the surroundings.

  At this moment, Ethan suddenly saw the Pope's outstretched finger. On it was a ring that looked very familiar.

  Its color and style were plain, with no extraneous designs. It was just a very ordinary-looking ring, with a small, inconspicuous scratch on it. Ethan saw it clearly. This was indeed the ring that had originally been on The Black Star, the one he had always worn, said to have been left by the previous Pope, Dracon.

  Others might not have noticed, but with the keen perception of his Meditations on Truth, Ethan could see that the source of the strange sensation in the air seemed to be this ring. As the Pope raised his hand and spoke, a peculiar feeling emanated from the ring and dispersed into the surrounding air.

  "This is the Ring of Kings, an artifact created by the previous Pope, Dracon, over more than ten years. It is a holy relic capable of contending with The Black Star's power. You can't expect to pull any more tricks." The Pope also saw Ethan's gaze fixed on the ring and said lightly, "In the current situation, capturing you won't be too difficult. I am giving you a chance for the sake of your elder. I'll say it one more time: surrender on your own."

  He was surrounded by elite swordsmen and hundreds of mages. Ethan stood empty-handed in the middle, seemingly without any astonishing aura or deterrent power. But every person in the encirclement was an expert, and they all had the unique intuition of experts. They knew that as long as the man in the middle did not voluntarily surrender, disarm, and allow himself to be bound, anyone who tried to capture him would have to pay a considerable price.

  Ethan snorted coldly and said, "Don't use that thing to scare me. I wore that ring for much longer than you."

  "Oh? Is that so?" The Pope's eyebrows rose slightly, looking a bit surprised. "It's a pity that no matter how long you wore it, it's useless. This was originally a ring that only the master of The Radiant Citadel could use. The Ring of Kings is not something a little fellow like you can understand the meaning of 'King'."

  As if to demonstrate, the Pope slightly raised his hand toward Ethan. But Ethan felt that it wasn't the old man before him raising his hand, but the entire The Radiant Citadel, like a colossal giant, rising to its feet and eyeing him menacingly.

  "For you to be able to sneak in so quietly, I must admit I underestimated you. But as long as you are in The Radiant Citadel, it's impossible for you to hide from my senses. This time, I also have you to thank. You've allowed us to find the traitor we've been trying to uncover..." As the Pope spoke, the strange fluctuation in the surroundings grew stronger.

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  Only now did Ethan understand why he had been discovered, why he had been tracked and ambushed without any awareness. It was only now, as he noticed the ring and the fluctuation it emitted, that he realized this fluctuation had always pervaded The Radiant Citadel, omnipresent like the air. The fluctuation was very weak; it didn't seem to be magical power, and it was so faint that even he could barely feel it, like an illusion produced by intense concentration. But Ethan could also be certain that this was not only the power that had suddenly stopped the two Death Knights, but also the power that had intercepted the teleportation scroll in Aimee's hand, the power that had made him completely unable to perceive his surroundings.

  Although this power was subtle, the effect it produced was incomparably powerful. Ethan knew that he truly could not resist this force.

  "For hundreds of years, The Radiant Citadel has received the reverence and worship of countless believers. This power of faith, of spirit and will, is something no one can resist. Even if Sandro and Agrael came together, they still..." The Pope's words stopped abruptly, for he saw Ethan quickly pull something from his waist. His original words were instantly replaced by a loud shout: "Stop!"

  The voice did not seem to be the Pope's, but rather as if the surrounding buildings, the ground, the sky itself were all shouting, "Stop!" And what followed was the immense pressure that filled heaven and earth.

  Although others could not feel it at all, Ethan knew very clearly that the majesty and aura of the entire The Radiant Citadel suddenly pressed in on him from all sides, condensed, and then transformed into an irresistible, tangible force. This was the same power that had just halted the two Death Knights.

  An angry roar exploded amidst that immense sound. The Battle Qi on Ethan's body suddenly flared brightly. He was going to use all his power to resist this force.

  But just as the Pope had said, no matter how great one person's power, it was impossible to resist the spiritual power generated by The Radiant Citadel over hundreds of years of receiving the reverence and worship of countless believers. The light of the Battle Qi on Ethan's body had just flared up before it was completely extinguished. Even he was submerged in the reverberating echo of the Pope's angry shout. Like Rodhart and Sylka, he fell, stiff and unmoving.

  There was not the slightest relaxation on the Pope's face; instead, it was taut as a stone slab. In that instant of erupting Battle Qi, Ethan had also won a moment's opportunity. An opportunity just long enough to throw the object he had pulled from his waist.

  It was a red crystal. The moment it flew from Ethan's hand, it burst into flames as if it had caught fire.

  A crystal itself cannot burn; what was burning was magic power. A strange, majestic, and grand aura surged out from the crystal along with the burning of this magic power.

  Everyone in the encirclement was an expert without exception. Although the Pope had not had time to speak, just seeing the object being thrown and feeling its aura, everyone who could act immediately did so. They could all feel that this was likely something like a magic scroll.

  Over a hundred high-ranking priests began to chant white magic almost simultaneously, all of them using purification spells. A furious tide of white magic power surged in, immediately wrapping the burning crystal tightly. At the same time, Wilskey, one of the Temple Knights, raised his Golden Battle Bow, and a magic-breaking arrow, also made of crystal, shot out furiously.

  The magical flames on the crystal were indeed extinguished. With the purification of over a hundred high-ranking priests, even if it had been a Forbidden Spell scroll, they could have relied on this immense white magic, using Purification—a spell specifically for destroying other magical structures—to dispel the magic within. But at the same moment, gasps of alarm rose from among the priests. Although the flames were extinguished, the strange aura did not weaken in the slightest. Instead, with even more ferocious momentum, it pierced through the shroud of white magic and spread over the entire area.

  With a crisp ding, Wilskey's crystal magic-breaking arrow struck the still-airborne crystal head-on. The magic-breaking arrow shattered instantly, but the crystal itself was not damaged in the slightest, merely knocked flying by the arrow's impact. The force of the shot was great, and the crystal flew very high. Everyone's eyes followed it as it soared into the sky.

  With a loud boom, the just-extinguished flames reignited with a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand times their former power. In an instant, they formed a vast sea of flames high above everyone's heads, illuminating the night as bright as day.

  Even more ferocious than the flames was that aura. The entire The Radiant Citadel was shrouded in it, and every person beneath could feel shock and fear—not fear of the magic, but fear of a majestic existence far greater than themselves.

  The sea of flames did not fall, but simply floated in mid-air. Within the flames, a figure could be seen rapidly growing larger, and the sea of flames changed its shape along with it. When the figure within the flames had grown into a giant bird dozens of meters long, all the fire condensed, covering its body. The fire bird flapped its wings, and a scorching heat wave washed down over them.

  "It's a Fire Phoenix!" Countless people shouted and screamed. This was a mythical beast seen only in legends, the legendary immortal divine bird. The entire sky, under the light and flames of this divine bird, became the color of red and yellow fire.

  In contrast to the fiery red that filled the sky, the faces of the Pope and everyone else were ashen.

  With a cry that pierced the heavens, the Fire Phoenix circled once in the high sky, its body wreathed in flames, then dove towards The Radiant Citadel below.

  Ethan lay on the ground, still unable to move, but his heart and mind were completely unharmed. He could still convey his will to the phoenix. And his will was simple: attack, destroy.

  This was the crystal Moriel had given him. Inside was the ultimate summoning spell of the ancient elves: Summon Phoenix. However, this was not a truly existing divine phoenix bird. Like the other elemental giants, it was merely a temporary elemental creature constructed from vast elements. Commanding this phoenix was no different from commanding any other summoned creature.