Chapter 702

Chapter 9 of Chapter 87: Corruption

Bang!

The blood-red tentacles writhed to block the fireball from the crosswind, limbs and blood exploding in all directions. This fleeting sword strike still failed to break through the sphere’s defense, but the man did not waver.

He narrowed his eyes, flashing three times swiftly amidst the flickering lightning. Taking advantage of the tentacles’ disarray before they could re-form, he moved instantly, dodging the splattering blood and entering the defensive line from the side. He charged directly towards the burning blood ball, stopping less than two meters away!

Clang—

The man’s wrist turned, revealing a sudden flash of sharpness as the sword sang again.

The flames spewing from the blood ball almost reached his face. The intense heat burned his skin instantly with a sizzling sound, smoke rising from his silver armor. Carlos was so badly burned that he couldn’t even open his eyes, yet his movements became even more fierce. Gripping the sword tightly, he thrust his hand into the rolling flames, gritting his teeth as he decisively slashed at the surging, boiling blood!

Splat—

This ringing slash sent blood blossoms flying everywhere.

The blood sphere encasing the girl’s body had a straight gash cut by the blade. The burning crimson liquid flowed out like molten lava, “whooshing whooshing whooshing.” Despite Carlos quickly retracting his hand, his back and arm were still drenched in hot blood, the sizzling sounds becoming even more piercing. The man couldn’t help but groan in pain, his brows furrowing deeply.

But he didn’t retreat.

“Ugh…”

Carlos closed his eyes in agony, his expression turning fierce. As his body began to fall, he raised the red-hot steel sword once more, seemingly intending to strike again, this time even deeper. Disregarding his injuries, he tried to forcibly pull the girl out of the blood ball. His right hand, already scorched black, trembled. Red blood splattered onto his chest armor, burning holes in the silver armor. His face was also scalded bright red, with parts of his skin peeling off.

“Li…希尔…”

Whoosh—

At that moment, wind whistled from behind.

“Damn it…”

The second sword stroke finally failed to be delivered in time. Elona, cloaked in infernal flames, swooped down from behind. When the bloody claws descended, Carlos had no choice but to retreat. Lightning flashed around him again, transforming into a blue glow that appeared十余米外的废墟之中。站稳后，他的身体微微摇晃，差点跪倒在地。

嘶嘶嘶嘶——

灰白色的青烟从微微泛红的银色轻甲上升腾而起，男人脑后的头发散开了，变得乱糟糟且枯黄卷曲。他的胡须几乎被烧光，脸上有几处严重的烧伤，握剑的右手也是如此，伤口呈焦黑色，剧烈的疼痛使他呼吸困难。

“呼…呼…你，对小希尔做了什么…”

粗重的喘息中，男人睁开眼睛抬头，布满血丝的眼睛看向悬浮在半空中的火球位置。那个女异端从上方缓缓降落，而她头顶之上，自从卡尔洛斯砍出那一剑后，那些蠕动的、仿佛泥鳅般的触手立刻像是受到了重创，发出诡异的、“吱吱吱吱”的叫声，扭曲地缩回了球体的血液中。

而在血球上方，那些缠绕在冲天光束上的死烟似乎察觉到了什么，开始焦躁不安起来，扭曲着又重新将燃烧的球体包裹了。被卡尔洛斯砍出的豁口像是在慢慢愈合，血液里隐约可见的女孩身影，也开始随之挣扎扭动，仿佛在忍受着某种痛苦。

这一切只在卡尔洛斯眼中显现了一瞬间，随后就被弥漫的黑雾完全遮蔽，再也看不见球体内部的情况。

Within the lines, the female heretic fell onto a pile of burning rubble nearby. Her loose garments fluttered in the flames, and her pant legs and sleeves were reduced to tatters. The face covered mostly by scales showed no emotion, her cold eyes meeting Carlos’s calm gaze as she casually asked, “Do you know her?”

“What did you do to her!”

Clang—

The man swung his sword to his side. Sharp sword qi silently emerged from the blade, cleanly severing the ruins’ remnants. The yellow soil beneath him rose in a cloud, and he squinted through the dust, his sharp gaze piercing the unfeeling expression of the female heretic.

“Do you want to save her?”

“Heretic…”

“If you do what you just did again, you might kill her.”

“…What did you say?”

In the rapid exchange, the female heretic named Elina reined in the raging fires around her, leaping down from the ruins to the road. She took a step toward Carlos, slowly closing the distance.

“She is evolving.”

The woman spoke softly, her tone as cold as an icy spring, “I didn’t mean to harm her; I was only helping her. You understand, Knight of the Pope. You already know these things, and you know in your heart that those Church knights outside the town are the ones who will truly harm her, not me.”

“…So what?”

The man took a half-step back, his eyes wary, his fingers on the hilt of his sword twitching slightly. “Why should I believe you? Why has she become like this?”

“You don’t have to believe me.”

Facing the swordsman’s stance, ready to strike at any moment, the woman’s expression remained indifferent. She stopped about ten meters away, adopting a seemingly unguarded, relaxed posture. “In your eyes, I’m just a wicked heretic. A knight like you has no reason to trust a criminal easily, and I… I have no time to explain everything to you now.”

“But if you attempt to destroy Silvija’s evolution ceremony with your ignorant actions, thereby killing her and letting the true demon descend upon the world, then I must kill you here… Otherwise, I think we can coexist peacefully. Or perhaps we could join forces to resist the knights’ attack and save Miss Silvija… or something like that…”

She turned to look back at the sphere.

At that moment, Carlos’s right hand moved.

He almost swung his sword, hoping to take advantage of the opportunity to kill the female heretic swiftly, or at least render her temporarily immobile, so he could rescue little Silvija from the sphere before his teacher and others arrived, and then quickly leave with her and Lea.

But for some reason, he couldn’t swing the sword. His right hand lifted lightning-fast, but then slowly dropped to his side.

“…Evolution has reached its final critical stage.”

He heard the powerful female heretic say, looking up at the sphere in the sky, her voice light, as if speaking to herself, “Silvija is about to be reborn in flames, becoming a new existence on par with the gods… But at such times, her strength needs to be concentrated to resist the final erosion of the soul. By now, whether it’s the power of the inferno or the dead smoke, they are both preoccupied in their struggle and have no more energy to protect her body…”

The female heretic turned her head. That one blood-red, indifferent eye met Carlos’s gaze once more.

“If someone destroys this sphere from the outside at this moment, she will completely perish and die. Both her body and consciousness will vanish forever from this world… I only wanted to tell you this.”

“The rest, you’ll have to decide for yourself.”