Chapter 319: The Fire Phoenix (Part 3)

  The phoenix descended unsteadily onto a corner of The Radiant Citadel, its massive wound causing its body structure to near collapse. Suddenly, a burst of fiery light erupted from its body. This light was no longer the magical flames that had gushed forth before, but was its own body burning directly. In this raging fire, the fire bird's body rapidly shrank and grew smaller. When the firelight dissipated, the phoenix's body was gone; all that remained was a large pile of ash.

  The priests who could see this scene cheered again, and many people ran towards the large pile of ash.

  Standing high atop the Grand Hall of Light, the Pope could also see this scene, but he showed no joy or relief. Instead, he looked up in surprise at the sky above.

  With the Pope's perception, he could sense that a large amount of fire elements still remained in the air. Suddenly, all these fire elements converged towards one direction, as if attracted by a massive force. Moreover, not just the free-floating fire elements in the air, but even the open fires still burning around them suddenly broke away from their fuel, transforming into thousands of fiery streaks that all converged towards the direction of the phoenix's demise.

  Even some fire mages below cried out in alarm; they also felt the fire magic power within their bodies being pulled by a strange force, almost on the verge of bursting out on its own.

  The Pope turned his head to look in that direction, but he didn't really need to; he knew that the target of all this fire was the pile of ash from the phoenix's self-immolation.

  "Don't go near there!" the Pope shouted.

  But it was too late. The ashes, which had been absorbing all the fire elements of The Radiant Citadel like a giant black hole, ignited again. This time, the burning was so violent it was as if a gate to hell had opened here. The rampaging fire elements suddenly erupted with a hundred times the power they had when they were being absorbed. The flames shot into the sky for a hundred meters, so bright it seemed not fire, but as if a piece of the sun had been torn off and dropped here. Everything within a hundred-meter radius was burned to ash, including the priests who were running towards it.

  In the flames, too bright to look at directly, a giant figure once again shot into the sky.

  "The Undying Bird." The Pope's face was cold and hard as iron as he spat out the word, one by one.

  He slowly took off the ring on his finger.

  High in the sky, the Fire Phoenix, Rebirth in Flames, let out a cry that shook the heavens. The flames around its body once again surged wildly into a sea of fire. It churned this sea of fire, scanning The Radiant Citadel below, then, with its world-destroying might, carrying the sea of fire, it dove down once more.

  The phoenix's target was the Grand Hall of Light. If its massive body really hit, not only the Pope and the Grand Hall of Light above, but everything within a radius of several hundred meters would be shattered in the purgatorial flames. Many mages on the plaza were already crying out in alarm. This time, without Harlan's command, over a hundred spells shot towards the phoenix at once.

  The sea of fire around the phoenix contracted and then suddenly expanded. In an unprecedented blaze of light, these hundred-plus spells were silently devoured by the flames. The extremely dense fire elemental storm tore apart and shattered any other magical elements that entered it. Even the brightest and most vigorous flames within the sea of fire broke away from the rest and morphed into humanoid shapes on their own. Several humanoid figures of flame flew out of the sea of fire and pounced downwards along with the phoenix.

  The fire elements had actually become so dense they could spontaneously form into elemental giants on their own. This was a sight no longer achievable in the mortal world. The Fire Phoenix, after being reborn, had risen to a higher level than before, in both elemental power and life force. Legend had it that each time this immortal divine bird was nirvana-reborn from the ashes, the life and power it regained would be greater.

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  This was the ultimate summoning magic of the ancient elves, a legendary magical creature capable of contending with dragons. This was also the reason the Black Dragon Moriel chose to cast this magic here. This constantly rebirthing divine bird was enough to turn any current human city into ash. Any strong human in the world today would be as insignificant and powerless as an ant before it. This was fundamentally not a summoning magic that could be resisted by the power of any current human.

  Its massive body of dozens of meters and the boundless, rolling clouds of fire made it seem as if the very air was burning. To the people next to the Grand Hall of Light, the sky had been completely submerged by the ocean of flames about to press down. The fire elements in the air could be felt just by the skin. Everyone could imagine the scene after the Fire Phoenix, carrying that sheet of flame, crashed here.

  But in the hearts of the people, there was no panic or despair. Because a voice, amidst the phoenix's cry and the burning and tearing of the air, was still clearly audible. The voice was not loud, it seemed like just the muttering of an old man, but to all the priests and believers, this was all their hope, faith, and spiritual belief. It allowed them to remain calm and persevere in the flames about to crush them into powder.

  "Lord in Heaven, can you hear the voices of your children who believe in you? We offer you all our hearts, all our souls, all that we are..."

  On the Grand Hall of Light, the Pope was murmuring softly, but this murmur resounded throughout The Radiant Citadel. Many priests began to kneel in the direction of the Grand Hall of Light, praying along with this voice. The incessant, yet unmaskable, murmur continued. The entire The Radiant Citadel seemed to emit a faint light in this murmur. Although the light was faint, the brightness of the sea of fire in the sky surprisingly could not obscure it.

  "We, your humble servants, with our utmost piety, beg for your protection and salvation..." the Pope chanted the prayer, tossing his palm upward and throwing the ring in his hand into the air. On this originally unremarkable ring, a layer of light was now flowing. This was not the light of magic, but the light of faith and belief.

  The Fire Phoenix, with its incomparable heat and majesty, had arrived directly above the Grand Hall of Light. The Pope's clothes had already begun to burn in the scorching air, but his expression was not panicked. He was just staring intently at the ring he had thrown up.

  With a loud boom, all of Celeste shook. Firelight splashed and scorching air sprayed in all directions. But the Grand Hall of Light was not shattered, and not a single mage or priest below was burned to ash by the flames. Because the giant Fire Phoenix had been blocked and parried by someone.

  The one who could block this giant fire bird was naturally no ordinary person. It was a giant surrounded by white light. He suddenly appeared out of thin air above the Grand Hall of Light, forcefully blocking the phoenix's pounce.

  Majestic, mighty—such adjectives were well-deserved for this giant. This was a blond man magnified nearly a hundred times. His entire body was enveloped in a layer of white magic light. His chiseled face was expressionless, his golden hair and beard as dazzling as the light of the sun. On his muscular body was a golden cuirass. He held a shield in his left hand and a wavy-bladed Decapitating Greatsword in his right. But what was most eye-catching were the giant's pair of huge, snow-white wings, and a faint, sonorous hymn seemed to sound in the air.

  Almost everyone who could see this scene was stunned, and then, as if by instinct, they immediately knelt down. The form of this man had long been revered and worshipped countless times in books, on murals, and in dreams. This was a true servant of the Lord, an angel.

  In The Radiant Citadel, there were still ruins and broken walls everywhere, and still many injured and dying people. The giant fire bird representing destruction was still in the sky above, but no one cared about these things anymore. Countless priests sang hymns in unison. This was a true miracle, the Lord's favor and protection. The holy radiance of white magic, the priests' unified hymns, and the faintly audible sacred songs made this battlefield, just baptized by fire, seem as if a grand mass was being held.

  The angel's giant shield pushed forward, sending the Fire Phoenix flying backwards into the sky. Dozens of fire elementals danced out from the phoenix's side and pounced towards the angel, but these several-meter-tall elemental giants now seemed as tiny as mice before this radiant angel. With a swing of the Decapitating Greatsword in the angel's hand, these elemental giants, which only top-tier mages could summon, scattered like torn paper under the sword.

  The angel raised his great sword to the heavens again and uttered a chant that was incomprehensible but grand and deep. His huge white wings suddenly spread wide, and holy light blazed forth. The night sky, originally illuminated yellow-red by the phoenix's firelight, was suddenly suffused with a white light. Strands of white light sprinkled down from the clouds and enveloped all of Celeste.

  In The Radiant Citadel, all the injured could feel their wounds beginning to heal under a massive healing magic. Even those on the verge of death began to groan, slowly starting to recover. This white rain of light falling from the sky was actually a healing magic with an enormous range and astonishing effectiveness.

  Any priest who could feel this power had already prostrated themselves on the ground, their eyes filled with hot tears. The hymns and prayers in their mouths became more devout and were sung louder. The priests could all feel the grandeur and purity of the white magic pouring into their bodies; the magic of any white mage seemed insignificant before it. This was a miracle, this could only be the power of God.

  Almost everyone had prostrated themselves before this miracle, but there were still a few people who remained standing.

  The Pope on the Grand Hall of Light stood ramrod straight. He looked up at the giant Archangel above him. Not only did he not kneel, there wasn't even a trace of emotion on his face, just a wooden expression, like a cold, indifferent bystander.

  If someone had keen enough eyesight and looked carefully to discern, they could see that although the angel's face had thick golden hair and a beard, its facial contours were quite similar to the Pope's. That angel was just like a younger version of the Pope, with golden hair and a beard, wearing armor, sword, and shield, with wings on his back, magnified dozens of times.