Chapter 454

Seventy-Seventh Chapter: Overwhelming Power – Part One

Boom—!

A deafening explosion erupted from the dilapidated house, waves of fire surging into the sky, piercing through the gloom and rain curtain. The shattered roof and wooden beams were instantly lifted over ten meters high, countless fragments of stones and wood shavings whizzing past me.

The intense heat wave sent me flying backward several meters, my head flipping upside down. I crashed through the collapsing wall with a loud “thud,” flying out of the house, and icy raindrops pelted my body.

Damn it…

After flying another five or six meters, I quickly adjusted my posture mid-air and landed on my back, sliding a short distance before stopping. I straightened up, stretched one hand behind me to pull the leather suitcase in front of me, and plunged into the mud with a “plop.” While quickly unlocking the case, I looked up ahead.

In my line of sight, scarlet flames roiled like a mysterious and alluring red lotus, the tongues of fire reaching dozens of meters high. Thick smoke rose from the burning and collapsing house, broken wooden stakes and scorched bricks falling down, the scorching air wave spreading out in front of me, causing two stone houses nearby to collapse as well. Countless debris whizzed past me, splashing mud and water that dirtied my skirt.

Sinful Fire, Gate of Truth!

The hot wind blew continuously, my long hair fluttering wildly behind me.

So hot, so hot…

No, not at all.

“Isaac—”

I clenched my teeth and shouted loudly, opening the leather suitcase and pulling out the three-parted Captain Gray. Pushing the suitcase aside, I gripped the handle tightly with my right hand and swung it violently to the side.

Clang—

The sinister weapon instantly took shape, the sickle gleaming coldly in the rain.

How could this be…

Why did I encounter a heretic here!?

“Ugh—!”

Suddenly, I heard a roar coming from the flames.

It’s Isaac’s voice…

In the next moment, dazzling golden light emerged from deep within the flames, flowing light merging with the crimson glow. Then came a muffled “thud,” and a figure was smashed out of the inferno, flipping up into the air and soaring to the right in a parabolic trajectory.

That’s a heretic!

Thud!

Another muffled sound exploded, and a knight bathed in radiant light leaped out of the flames, like a golden meteor flying upward. The halo around him reflected splendid colors in the rain.

“Don’t think you can run away—”

The knight roared in mid-air, his voice rumbling like thunder. His massive body and sturdy armor were enveloped in dazzling golden light, resembling a war god descending with an astonishing momentum, chasing after the falling heretic.

I recognized that it was Isaac.

Isaac, carrying brilliant radiance, charged up like a cannonball, instantly catching up to the heretic who was still adjusting his posture in mid-air. His right fist pulled back, the punch roaring like a tiger’s roar.

“Foul—”

A straight punch was unleashed fiercely.

“Little rat!!!”

Thud—

The fierce wind caused by the punch made the air vibrate, the shockwave spreading like ripples in the rain. The heretic had nowhere to hide, his body igniting with sinful fire once more, but it was useless.

He endured Isaac’s attack, hit in the abdomen by a powerful punch, his body curling up like a shrimp, engulfed in flames and flying higher into the sky.

Below them, the sinful fire burned in the heavy rain. The house in front of me continued to collapse with a series of crashes. I wanted to rush in to save someone when I saw over a dozen knights, some emitting faint golden light, others surrounded by bright shields, emerging from the burning flames one by one.

Almost every member of the First Knight Order had their own miracles, mostly of the punitive kind. Those accompanying Isaac were elites among elites. Even facing such sudden circumstances, they seemed capable of handling it with ease and safety.

“Miss Hildegard, are you alright?!”

The knights rapidly retreated toward me. The fastest one shouted loudly, and I shook my head. I then noticed he was holding a comatose child.

It’s the one who asked for jerky…

I wiped the rain off my face and shouted loudly, “How is the child?!”

“Just stunned, still alive.” The knight nodded first, then shook his head: “It happened suddenly, we could only save this boy. Others…”

“They were turned to ashes instantly, there was no time, damn it!”

“They were those damned heretics!”

“No, I think they were just surviving villagers…”

“At least that woman was…”

“Focus! Don’t get distracted now that people have died!” a middle-aged man, seemingly the commander of the knights, barked angrily, “The heretics aren’t dead yet! Sir Isaac is still fighting!”

Rumble—rumble—rumble—

Thunder rumbled in the sky, the bright white light illuminating the raindrops distinctly.

My fellow knights and I looked up, seeing golden radiance blooming again above us. Isaac and the heretic crossed paths, and with a “thud,” a wave of shock formed in the rain, the heretic being struck even higher into the air, while Isaac used the recoil to quickly fall to the ground, landing with a loud thud behind a nearby stone house.

The commander’s face was stern, waving his hand: “Flank left, ready to provide miracles at any moment, we must not let the heretics escape the village!”

Thud—

Another muffled sound, I turned my head, seeing Isaac leap up again like a cannonball. He didn’t seem to use any miracles, like a charging bull, relying solely on his formidable physical strength to jump over twenty to thirty meters from the back of a stone house, grabbing the falling heretic.

The knights moved into action.

The burning house collapsed completely with a loud crash, becoming a heap of smoldering ruins, devoid of life.

I took a deep breath, stepping out with Moonwalk.

Whoosh—

My body leaped up onto the broken roof beam on the right after two consecutive flashes.

I continued running, the sickle in my hand pointing downward, leaping and running quickly along the roof towards the direction of the ongoing battle.

“Isaac—”

Anger surged in my heart.

I didn’t know how the heretic came here or what his purpose was, but the massacre in the village had claimed countless lives.

The body lay on the ground, already turned cold… There was no doubt these events were done by him.

Why…

The world had become so hard, they lost their farmlands, lost their homes, lost everything they depended on for survival, left them with tattered clothes and constant hunger, enduring harsh storms… They clung to life like that, barely human, just to stay alive…

They had nothing left to eat…

Why!

“Give me the man!” I roared.

Above, Isaac grabbed the heretic’s arm, his iron-hard fist swinging out again, howling like a hammer, smashing towards the heretic.

But this time, he narrowly avoided it.

“Hehehe!”

The bloodied figure laughed, using his arm to lock onto the bald man’s arm, pressing his hand against his face.

In the next moment, crimson flames ignited.

“Isaac!” My heart pounded.

Boom! Boom! Boom—

Continuous explosions burst from the heretic’s palms, shaking in the rain, as the two figures entangled mid-air, turning into fireballs before crashing down.

At this point, I had run to the rooftop almost directly below them, looking up, about to leap when I suddenly heard Isaac’s crazed laughter.

“Ahaahaha—”

Golden light abruptly appeared amidst the flames, and I couldn’t help but squint, catching a glimpse of Isaac pinning the heretic down, then delivering a heavy punch, sending shockwaves and both of them crashing into the muddy grass on the left, the fireball exploding like fireworks, splattering mud and water ten meters around.

The bald man, set ablaze by the inferno, showed no signs of damage…

“Li’l Mouse!”

Isaac shouted, bending and standing up, raising his arms from the fiery mud, striking the heretic still lying on the ground.

Boom!

This strike shook the entire ground, causing the beam beneath my feet to snap, and I stumbled, jumping off the roof.

“You’re too weak!”

Boom!

Another fierce blow, the heretic opened his mouth, spitting out a mouthful of bloody fire.

“Do you really think a small flame can hurt me? Do you know what they call me in the church?”

Boom! Boom! Boom—

The ground, burning with infernal flames, continued to sink under Isaac’s terrifying blows, flesh and mud splattering from shallow pits, countless cracks spreading from the center to my feet.

“Haha! You won’t get to hear it.”

Isaac laughed, grabbing the heretic, whose head was half-gone, his body a mass of twitching flesh, swinging him like a sandbag and throwing him toward a distant courtyard wall.

“Boom!” The two-meter-high wall collapsed, burying the heretic’s broken corpse underneath.

The bald man moved his arms, the golden light gradually fading, sensing my approach, turning his blood-streaked face, smiling at me.

“I got a bit carried away; didn’t control my strength well, making his death too easy.”

I stepped to the edge of the flames, standing there to look at him.

“Are you hurt?”

“How could I be hurt?”

Isaac patted his chest, then climbed out of the mud pit, stepping over the leaping flames to stand beside me.

“In any case, I feel better now.”

He raised his hand, seemingly to pat my shoulder, but I quickly stepped back, frowning. “Your hands are all muddy.”

“…Indeed.”

The huge man withdrew his hand, touching his dirty bald head.

The last trace of golden light faded from him.

I couldn’t help but ask him, “Are you… an Immortal?”

Actually, I had been thinking about it for a while.

Isaac, unharmed by the inferno, had repeatedly crashed from such heights without any cushioning, immediately charging back up. His formidable defensive capabilities went beyond mere physical training.

The aura flowing through him, similar to the rock-hard Cardinal Nero, likely originated from the same powerful divine miracle—the Immortals.

This name, I learned later from the academy library.

According to the church’s records, it was one of the most powerful divine miracles, capable of turning the user’s body into steel, impervious to water and fire, blocking all external forces including chaos powers. Unless the enemy’s strength greatly surpassed the user, an Immortal was equivalent to absolute defense.

“Yes.”

Isaac nodded.

I was slightly surprised.

It really is an Immortal…

I knew such a powerful miracle required immense faith as support. According to the church’s records spanning thousands of years, only a few individuals could truly perform and apply it in battle—Angels included.

I hadn’t expected Isaac to be able to do it.

“Probably only Cardinal Nero surpasses me in terms of Immortality among the Holy Church. As for the others… they don’t matter.” Isaac looked down at me, smiling naively. “So little one, you definitely can’t beat me.”

“Is that so?”

I responded casually.

My gaze shifted to the ruins nearby, watching silently for a moment.

“…He’s not dead yet.”

“What?”

“I mean the heretic.”

As if to verify my words, scarlet flames suddenly erupted from beneath the collapsed rubble, rapidly rising. Heat waves once again washed over my face, the piled stones starting to loosen, turning red-hot and gradually melting into liquid.

Beneath the molten liquid, heavy breathing could be heard faintly.

He’s really not dead…

I took a deep breath.

“Stage Three…”

Isaac’s smile instantly vanished, his expression turning serious.

“Baldy.”

“What?”

“Don’t interfere with this one, leave it to me.”

Since it’s Stage Three, I want to give it a try.

After the battle in the royal city, how far has my strength progressed…

Let’s test it out with this heretic first.