Chapter 358

Chapter 144 Red and Black Part 6

What are you doing?

Eating…

Whoosh—

The figure of Cardinal Nero suddenly broke through the dust, enveloped in white light, rushing to my front. He let go of the pendant hanging on his chest, grabbed my cheek with one hand, and forced two fingers into my mouth, stirring wildly.

So salty…

“Mmm…”

“Damn it, damn it! Spit it out!”

The dead smoke rising from the dust slowly wrapped around him, entangled with the golden light. The sound of “sizzling” continued to be heard, yet it was hard to break through his defense. The divine relic necklace hanging around Cardinal Nero’s neck still trembled slightly after he released his grip, but its radiance had noticeably dimmed.

Immediately after, the feeling of being restrained in the mud seemed to ease a little.

It seems I can move a bit more…

But I still couldn’t lift my hand.

Just as I was thinking about trying to bite his fingers, Cardinal Nero suddenly seemed to think of something. He quickly pulled his fingers out of my mouth and reached down, extending them toward my stomach.

His palm opened, and bright white light immediately bloomed.

Damn it…

Rumble!

While the white light rumbled, blazing crimson flames erupted from within me, engulfing my entire body— the flickering tongues of fire only swirled in the air for half a second before gradually solidifying under the high-frequency vibrations, as if even the transmission of heat had paused.

My abdomen throbbed violently.

The sturdy armor cracked again with the fierce attack from Cardinal Nero’s chest, “crack!” My body moved like a slow-motion scene in a movie, my waist slowly arching, feet slowly lifting off the ground, flying backward, but I couldn’t move an inch.

In the next moment, Cardinal Nero raised his palm, now flickering with white light, and struck my abdomen once more.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three consecutive strikes.

Fragments of the armor flew before my eyes, hovering in mid-air. Cardinal Nero glared fiercely, his face showing a bit of madness, his white-glowing palm tearing open my belly and reaching inside.

Blood splattered beneath me, organs churned madly.

How painful…

Thud! Thud!

My heart quivered sharply.

“Huh…”

I squeezed out a laugh through clenched teeth, my ink-black pupils staring directly at his madness. In the next moment, intense heat surged from within me.

Sizzling…

“Aah!”

Cardinal Nero let out a scream, quickly withdrawing his hand from my body.

He stared at me in shock, stepping back two steps, his golden aura intensifying. His remaining hand was now bloodied and mangled, crimson flames burning from his palm to his forearm.

Cardinal Nero desperately tried to extinguish the flames. Green healing lights from divine miracles emerged from the golden light enveloping him, floating around him, but most of them dissipated in the swirling dead smoke. The few remaining lights rushed towards the flames and were instantly swallowed, proving useless.

What difference does the power of divine relics make?

I want to see how long you can stand in front of me under the dual erosion of dead smoke and infernal flames!

“Damn… monster!”

Cardinal Nero bared his teeth, his blood-red eyes piercing through the golden fog, casting a malevolent gaze upon me.

“Even if it means destroying the Goddess’s judgment, I will… kill you—!”

Buzz—

The golden light dispersed, and his bulky figure disappeared once again.

“Ptooey.”

I spat out a mouthful of blood.

The surrounding buildings continued to tremble, the heavy sensation of being stuck in the mud increasing rather than decreasing.

My body slowly fell to the ground, blood continuously flowing from the wounds on my stomach, dripping through the holes in my armor. The temperature of the blood was extremely high, igniting the stones on impact, and the flames on my body shot up five meters high, bursting through the black fog, their fierce momentum seemingly capable of setting the entire sky ablaze.

Collapsed buildings erupted in flames, the shattered ground turned into lava. The terrifying heat gradually consumed everything around.

The wounds slowly wriggled and recovered.

The pain made my brain extremely excited.

I could feel the surging power of the infernal flames within me, uncontrollably expanding and forming a subtle… opposing yet balanced momentum with the chaotic power.

Power surged recklessly.

I lifted my right foot, struggling forward… taking a step.

The dead smoke and crimson flames intertwined, red and black forces roiling in the alley, struggling and breaking free in the mud that seemed to freeze heaven and earth. Bright sparks and drifting black smoke slowly floated in my line of sight, merging into a breathtaking and splendid river of smoke.

Rumble… Splash…

Houses, roads, wooden stakes, rubble, green rocks, the entire alley was collapsing everywhere, crumbling under the erosion of flames and dead smoke, vanishing in the terrifying tremors.

I stepped on the lava, advancing another step.

Whoosh—

Pale white light suddenly bloomed from my back. Dark flames burned rapidly, transforming into wings that slowly spread from my sides…

but they couldn’t flap at all.

This was a force far more terrifying than the Golden Bell.

Deeply trapped in this mud, I couldn’t move, couldn’t do anything, couldn’t resist— not even the dead smoke and infernal flames could break free from their restraints. That sense of being unable to grasp or touch was simply like… altering some kind of “rule” within the region, making everything slow down in the next second.

Even the speed of wound recovery was equally slow.

“Nero…”

From afar, I saw Cardinal Nero’s figure.

He stood atop a tall building far away, looking down at this side. Although from here he looked like just a small black shadow… I still recognized him, it was him.

He held his hand to his chest, as if in prayer, with faint golden light circulating around him.

Rumble…

Rumble…

Suddenly, a dull thunder rumbled across the sky.

The gray fog-like cloud layer broke apart, and ten thousand feet of golden light suddenly poured down, tearing through the sky, blocking out the sun, and instantly dyeing the smoky and fire-lit royal city with a glow.

Crack! Boom! Rumble!

In the vast expanse of golden light, countless scorching white lightning bolts rapidly darted through the air, converging at high altitudes where they intertwined with the golden light, stirring up the heavens. The dazzling radiance was too bright to look at directly, and gales swept through the city, lifting flying stones and dust into the air.

An unprecedented sense of oppression descended upon us.

I remember this scene.

Back then, outside the town, Nero used a terrible miracle to destroy the entire town just to kill Margaret… That kind of force that seemed like the end of the world, he was about to unleash it again in the royal city.

But this time, there were many civilians in the city.

I gritted my teeth and took the third step.

Still very far from Nero.

The blazing energy current roared madly in the sky, carrying the destructive miracle that illuminated every corner of the royal city.

A massive force was about to pour out.

Getting hit by it wouldn’t be fun…

But I couldn’t dodge it.

I raised my head with great difficulty, driving all my strength to gather my burning wings behind me, protecting my sides.

“Come… on.”

If you can’t kill me…

Then let me devour you.

Come on!!!

Chirp—

Suddenly, a loud bird cry echoed in the sky.

Amidst the white light, a flock of leisurely white birds flew in from the south, circling gracefully amidst the wandering lightning before diving toward Cardinal Nero’s direction.

Chirp—

The melodious chirping drowned out the sound of the lightning, echoing over the royal city.

That…

The next moment, Cardinal Nero’s figure flashed in the golden light and disappeared again.

The golden birds lost their target, circling in mid-air before charging back into the blazing light. They swiftly darted through the surging energy, causing the white light to dissipate, tearing apart the lightning, and dispersing the turbulent energy as the golden light dimmed.

Immediately after, a silver-white beam of light shot upward from beneath the city, piercing through the flock of birds.

Two golden birds were struck and instantly fell, turning into light particles and disappearing. The remaining golden birds flapped their wings and rushed toward the source of the light.

The flock flew incredibly fast, almost beyond the limit of human vision. In an instant, they covered half the distance. The next moment, a brilliant light flashed in the distance, and Cardinal Nero’s figure flickered back and forth. White light shot out from various parts of the city.

Golden birds fell one by one.

But the vast energy gathered in the sky and the white lightning roaming the heavens gradually dimmed and dissipated.

Has someone arrived?

The wind gradually stopped.

The force binding me also diminished sharply.

“Huh—”

I exhaled heavily, slowly moving my wrists and ankles, then twisting my neck.

Soon, that strange vibration disappeared. The wound on my stomach began to heal rapidly, and the dead smoke and infernal fire resumed flowing.

Snap!

I stepped into the moonwalk, leaping onto the burning ruins, and stepping onto the top of a green rock wall, scanning the city below.

“Where are you…”

Suddenly, a deep blue electric arc streaked past a tower dozens of meters away, like a swift thunderbolt, vanishing in an instant as it darted into a street nearby.

…Huh?

Sizzle!

In the alley blocked by buildings, several streaks of lightning abruptly appeared.

Immediately after, a flash of golden light, and Cardinal Nero’s figure appeared atop a civilian house on the left.

His steps were unsteady, looking somewhat disheveled. Several blue electric arcs flickered on his body before he waved them away with golden light. The faint hum of the miracle still echoed in my ears.

The next moment, a silvery-white figure wrapped in electric arcs transformed into a lightning bolt, dashing to Nero in a flash. He landed on a roof tile with one foot, grasping the hilt of his waist sword tightly.

Clang—

A cold glint flashed, and the sword blade slashed toward Nero’s head.

In a split second, Cardinal Nero raised his arm entangled in golden light.

Clang!

The sharp sword struck his arm, producing a crisp metallic sound. The blade swept behind him, splitting the entire roof in two, and countless electric sparks flashed through the straight cut, causing the tiles to collapse with a “clatter.”

Hum…

As the golden light flickered, Cardinal Nero’s figure vanished once more.

Immediately after, a gust of wind whistled from behind.

I furrowed my brow.

“Hey…”

Boom!

Black flame wings suddenly spread and flapped from my back, sending a white-glowing black fire in a fan-shaped wave toward the rear. As the fire surged, I turned around and looked at the ugly face, blocked by black flames but enveloped in sacred light, not far from the ruins.

“Do I look that easy to bully? Attacking now…”

Taking a step forward.

Zzzz…

Suddenly, blue electric arcs flowed past my side.

The fierce air current tore through the burning black flames, and the electric sparks pierced through the flames, rushing to Cardinal Nero’s head. A silver figure flipped in mid-air, dancing a beautiful sword flower with the longsword in hand.

Clang—

Another flash of cold light.

Peng!

Dust flew up suddenly before my eyes, and the green rock below was split in two by a sword strike.

Cardinal Nero vanished again in the golden light.

The man in silver armor somersaulted and landed outside the black flames, stepping on half-collapsed bricks, his white cloak fluttering in the wind.

“Hey hey hey…”

The man turned his head, his voice carrying a hint of laziness from being woken up.

“How did it come to this… little Hill.”