Chapter 545

What…

The urgent words Daniel shouted in his panic made my heart sink.

What did he mean by saying we shouldn’t worry about the town…

In my vision, the ordinary man with intense golden light released another light bird. Dozens of white birds suddenly rose into the air, twisting and converging above him, instantly forming a giant bird several meters long. It spread its wings and let out a cry, swooping toward Miss Meise, who had just struck Carl away. The man rushed after it.

I watched the figure darting through the light, frozen in place, my mouth agape. “You, what did you say…”

Buzz—

The shrill sound of the miracle drowned out my words. The enormous bird with white light circled over the woman’s head, its sharp claws constantly reaching for her head, its beak opening and closing as it swallowed countless flowing blood snakes. But soon, more blood snakes wrapped around it, causing it to struggle in mid-air. The number of blood snakes around the woman was dwindling; Daniel took this opportunity to attack, throwing a punch that burst into dazzling light, while his other hand reached out toward the blood bead.

On the other side, Carl, who had been knocked flying, crashed into a tree and fell to his knees, coughing violently. Blood spurted from his mouth as he clutched his chest, but his eyes were fierce as he looked at Olivia, who had finally managed to get up nearby. Their gazes met and quickly separated. In silence, they moved from different directions toward Miss Meise.

They really would stop at nothing to get that bead…

I understood how important that thing was, but…

I quickly turned back toward the direction of the town. Under the night sky, there were flickering flames, a scene of peace… I couldn’t see the clown, but since he hadn’t flown high into the sky, he shouldn’t have gone far. Maybe from a height, I could spot him…

Bam!

A thick ice column shot up from under my feet, lifting me into the air. I crouched atop the ice column, suppressing my anxiety and taking deep breaths. My black pupils darted around, trying to find the man running in the dark by following the golden light and the fires.

…No on the left, no on the right… toward the town…

Boom—

A shocking explosion erupted below, red flames shooting up, illuminating the dim sky again. I was startled.

Whoosh—

In the next moment, a strong wind roared out of the flames, hot currents blowing against my face. A figure emerged from the fire, rapidly approaching. Before I could react, a woman in a red dress flashed in front of me, turning and kicking. In haste, I raised both arms to shield my face, and the force hit my forearms.

Bang!

“Mm…”

I groaned, my body flying backward like a cannonball. I heard the wind approaching, the woman chasing me. In a split second, I pushed backward with my palms, spraying two bursts of frost mist, reducing my momentum. I was still in mid-air when I caught a glimpse of the red dress beside me.

She wants to stop me…

My body reacted faster than my mind. Two bursts of frost mist shot downward, propelling me upward several meters. I narrowly avoided the woman’s sweeping leg, which whistled through the air, and then lunged at her—

“You want to stop me!”

One hand pressed her face, the other snatched her right arm as she tried to swing it. I shouted harshly, blue light bursting from my eyes, and frost mist surged from my body, intertwining with the surrounding hellfire. With a series of sizzling sounds, steam enveloped our vision, and the two entangled figures plummeted toward the ground.

“You deliberately let him go!”

“You did it on purpose!”

“You’re holding us back!”

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang—

Fierce collisions between fists and arms, my knee striking the woman’s lower abdomen. She retaliated, punching my chest, causing excruciating pain as if my heart was being torn apart. I gritted my teeth, enduring the unbearable pain, flipping over to pin her down—under such close proximity, almost embracing each other in mid-air, all fancy moves became meaningless. I grabbed her silver hair, and with a loud slap, I struck her face.

“Damn woman—”

Miss Meise’s right cheek quickly swelled. She had no expression, grabbing my hair in return. As I slapped her again, she punched me straight in the face, making stars dance before my eyes, my nose stinging, my head tilting backward. Two streams of heat flowed out.

Bang!

A muffled sound, the woman’s back slamming onto the ground. I landed on top of her, my head thrown forward by the impact, forehead colliding with her prominent nose with a loud “thud.” Then, I tumbled to one side, rolling several times, quickly getting up, one hand pressing my forehead, wincing in pain. Tears welled up in my eyes, and I couldn’t help but touch my nose, feeling sticky blood.

Damn it…

Raising my head with a ferocious expression, I suddenly saw the blood bead in the woman’s hand rolling away, “clunking” into a crack in a stone.

“…”

Hmm?

Miss Meise also stood up, her cheeks and nose red, her hair messy. She staggered to her feet, subconsciously touching her nose, where two streams of blood dripped, staining her lips. This made her beautiful, cold face suddenly appear somewhat comical, as if an angel from a painting had fallen and hit her face.

“Miss Silvija!”

The golden light burst from behind the bushes to the left, gently enveloping me. In the next moment, golden light rained down from above, and the giant bell took shape and rang out!

Ding—, ding—

Daniel, wrapped in golden light, leaped out, holding a magnificent holy spear, arriving beside the woman in an instant. The holy spear suddenly stabbed forward. At the same time, Olivia, her hair stained red with blood, flashed beside Miss Mese’s back, embracing her waist, and shouted loudly, “Take the relics—!”

Moon Step!

Boom—

The earth beneath my feet exploded, and my figure vanished. In the next moment, I appeared beside the cracked stone. Amidst the raging wind, I bent down and stretched out my hand, retrieving the fist-sized crimson orb from the crevice and holding it tightly in my palm…

… It was warm and smooth.

Without time to examine it closely, I quickly retreated while holding the blood orb. In front of me, the suspended golden bell shattered amidst the swirling blood snakes. Daniel’s holy spear pierced Miss Mese’s chest, and blood sprayed out. The woman remained unperturbed, kicking away the ordinary man and grabbing Olivia by the back, pulling her hair and throwing her forward. Olivia screamed as she released her grip and was thrown in front of her.

“Ugh ah ah ah—”

Karl, blood-streaked mouth, suddenly charged out, his body transforming into a dazzling golden light, rushing towards the woman. With a flash of brilliance, a golden blade slashed at her wrist holding Olivia. Miss Mese immediately turned around, shielding Olivia, but unexpectedly, the golden light flickered again. Olivia disappeared in place, instantly reappearing behind Miss Mese, forming a holy spear and stabbing fiercely!

Clang—

Pfft.

Two unusual sounds, Miss Mese’s body suddenly swayed. The sharp holy spear pierced through her back and emerged from her right chest. Her slender arm flew up in Karl’s attack, and blood splattered as they rapidly retreated. Karl turned to shout at me, “Throw the relics over! Give her a fatal blow with all your might!!”

I instinctively made a throwing motion.

As my hand was raised high, a voice suddenly echoed in my mind, the words of the old servant.

[You must never hand the Goddess’s Tear to the Holy Church… especially not to those who acted with you tonight…]

That old heretic was trying to deceive me.

He and his master, this woman before me, were both lying to me. They claimed they wanted to kill the clown but let him escape at the critical moment… I never believed their words.

But…

“Miss Silvija! What are you waiting for!!!”

Karl roared in anger from nearby. Olivia flashed beside me, “Hurry! We take the blood orb and retreat. From afar, we’ll perform miracles to support you. Use your wide-range attacks to take down this heretic first, then find the clown…”

She reached for the orb.

“No.”

I shook my head and stepped back.

Olivia looked surprised.

“You…”

“I want to destroy it.”

Without giving the other side a chance to react, the next moment, frosty white air burst from my palm, and the sound of cracking ice filled the air. A tiny ice hammer formed instantly, and I struck the orb in my palm with all my might!

“No!”

“What are you doing!”

Olivia’s panicked cries and Karl’s angry roar clearly reached my ears. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw golden light bursting forth; Daniel was charging at me, but it was too late.

The ice hammer struck the blood orb, shattering it into countless pieces.

How fragile…

The scarlet glow only flickered for a moment. The blood orb shattered upon impact, red fragments flying everywhere in front of me, turning into warm blood that flowed between my fingers onto the ground.

…?

“What have you done!”

Daniel rushed to my side, grabbing my hand, looking at the blood-stained orb that had turned my entire palm red. His lips trembled, and a vicious look flashed in his eyes.

“Why did you destroy it!” the ordinary man shouted, spitting in my face, “Do you know what you’ve done! Do you know what you’ve done!!!”

“You’re hurting me.”

I shook off his hand, frowning slightly, “Such things should not exist…”

“You know nothing! You don’t understand anything! That orb—”

“Is that so?”

Indeed…

These people waited until the blood orb appeared to choose their moment to act. The clown’s disappearance didn’t matter to them. They didn’t seem to care about the danger to the townspeople. Their goal was clear: only this orb…

“Then, what do you know?” I wiped the blood from my nose and countered.

The ordinary man paused.

“We… we don’t even know what it is. Even the Holy Maiden can’t understand its principle. How could a heretic transfer the medium of divine relics? Why can they steal divine power? The answers to these questions lie within this orb. How could you destroy it!”

“Daniel, calm down!”

Olivia scolded, stepping forward despite the blood still flowing from her head. She stared at the blood in my hand for a moment, then suddenly widened her eyes, “No, no… How could the relic be destroyed so easily? These droplets don’t contain the medium’s power. This… this thing is fake. It’s the power of hellfire…”