Chapter 90 Transformation – Twelve
He seemed to…
Hear some sound.
It was like the “crack” of a hard eggshell breaking, or the “clatter” of a mirror shattering. The sound came from inside the black mist enveloping the sphere, faint and indistinct. Due to the strong wind noise, Carlos couldn’t make out what it was, unsure if it was just his imagination.
But when he tried to perk up his ears or move closer to listen more carefully, an enormous roar suddenly echoed across the sky.
Rumble rumble rumble—!
The earth-shattering explosion only rang in the man’s ears for a moment before turning into an endless buzzing. A hurricane suddenly descended from above, pressing down like a mountain. Carlos didn’t see what happened; he only felt his body plummet, followed by the collapse of the earthen wall beneath him. He and Aprphile both fell amidst the rising dust, with no chance to escape. “Bang!” They crashed into the ruins of the shattered earthen wall.
A terrifying gale descended from the heavens, sweeping through the town with overwhelming force.
In an instant, countless burning ruins completely collapsed. The raging fires were instantly extinguished, and dust rose dozens of meters high. The sea of flames created by the female heretic swayed wildly in this fierce wind, the flames being pressed down by the currents until they almost went out. The surging waves of impact covered nearly the entire center of the town and continued to sweep outward in all directions.
Only the sphere floating in mid-air remained unmoved amidst the chaotic winds, unaffected by even a fraction of the turmoil. The crimson beam shooting towards the sky continued straight, piercing through the rolling clouds.
High above the darkened sky, the old sword saint Leon retracted his sword blade, his pupils narrowing as he decisively raised his weapon in front of him. His somewhat hazy eyes reflected the scene of a blood-red behemoth, nearly half its body cut away, rapidly approaching, its gaping maw showing a sinister expression.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
Intense flames flickered in the air, gathering into a ball within the beast’s mouth in an instant. With the power to burn the heavens and boil the seas, a thick red beam shot out, instantly dyeing the entire world red!
Terrifying heat approached the aged sword saint. At this moment, the distance between him and the beast was less than twenty meters. The flames bursting from the beast’s mouth moved incredibly fast; in the blink of an eye, they reached him, leaving no time to dodge. Yet the old man remained calm. As he held his black blade in front of him, the wind began to swirl around him.
The raging fire rushing forward was actually split by an invisible blade of air into two powerful streams, surging past the old man on either side and shooting upwards toward the clouds, blasting out two holes in the rolling black clouds.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh—!!!
Although the old man blocked the beam of fire, the beast did not stop its attack. It still opened its blood-red mouth, its crimson eyes glowing faintly, spewing flames that surged upward like a tidal wave.
Its left side had been completely cut away, along with most of its left wing. Large streams of burning blood and entrails rained down onto the town below, and the small part of its body that was severed, including one tail, fell from the sky amidst the blood.
Yet, the beast’s charge seemed even fiercer.
In the intense flames, the old man suspended in the air, though blocking the oncoming flames, was pushed upward at an increasingly faster pace by the tremendous impact, gradually moving beyond the boundaries of the town. The vicious beast bit down ahead of him, its fiery breath sweeping through the clouds, nearly dispersing the massive vortex formed by the dark clouds.
At the same time, amidst the collapsing ruins of the earthen walls in the town center, Carlos lifted the heavy debris off himself, patted the dented breastplate, and quickly stood up.
He looked up at the direction where the beast and his teacher had gone. After a moment, he heard
There was a muffled “boom,” and the dirt beside them was blasted away. The old woman spat out the soil from her mouth and stood up with her giant hammer in hand.
“Fate is unkind…”
She muttered under her breath and then looked up at the sky.
Boom—
In the distance, half of the massive beast’s body had just crashed down somewhere slightly south of the town, at least three to five hundred meters away from where they were standing. However, the noise was still clearly audible, causing even the ground beneath their feet to tremble slightly.
The flames burning on the beast’s body instantly ignited the destroyed houses, and the firelight shot up to the sky. Under the raging flames in the distant sky, the red glow became as insignificant as a firefly’s light.
The scattered black clouds reformed, and the monstrous creature seemed to be flying higher and farther away. The old man’s hunched figure was obscured by the firelight, and from this distance, his condition could no longer be seen.
Two Papal Knights covered in dust raised their heads, gazing at the scene in the distance, listening to the commotion. They furrowed their brows in unison, not because they were worried about the old woman.
Despite the female heretic’s strength far exceeding their expectations, both knew that if they were to face her alone, the chances of winning would be very slim, and they might even die here. The intensity of the inferno was something they had never seen before; it was almost unheard of. If they were to engage, they might not even be able to get close, let alone win.
But if Mr. Ryan were the one facing that monster, the situation would be different.
They held an almost blind faith and trust in the old sword saint.
After all, for decades, whether it was the most vicious heretics or even the terrifying Abyss, the old man had never shown any signs of struggle. He always resolved battles within three strikes.
Just now, he had only swung his sword once.
That female heretic… had already transformed into a ferocious beast. It could withstand that strike head-on, its body split open, yet it still possessed such fierce combat power. Considering its performance during the pursuit battle, it was indeed a troublesome woman. However, heretics were often like this, their tenacious vitality always causing headaches. Even so, in the two knights’ hearts, for the old sword saint, it was merely a minor inconvenience.
At most, he would need to strike again a few more times.
They had never imagined Mr. Ryan would lose.
Not even for a moment.
And at this moment, what truly troubled these two was…
What they should do next.
“Hey, Carlos kid.”
The old woman pressed her weight onto her left foot, lifting the giant hammer onto her shoulder. Her expression appeared indifferent as she slowly said to the man, “That strange Abyss sphere looks like an unhatched egg… but why is there hellfire? Forget it, forget it. Although I don’t understand what’s going on, that thing is clearly a big problem. If we continue to let it be, something bad will surely happen. There must be something inside it, and I plan to destroy it… Do you want to stop me?”
Carlos shrugged his shoulders in response.
“…Maybe, who knows.”
He also seemed rather indifferent.
“Why?”
The old woman turned her head to look at him, her eyes filled with curiosity.
“That thing…”
The man hesitated for a moment: “It probably isn’t what you think. Well… strictly speaking, it’s not really the Abyss, and it might be… ha, you probably won’t believe it, but the person trapped inside is someone I know, and you actually know her too… But maybe you shouldn’t know about her right now? Ah… it does seem quite troublesome, but in any case—”
Carlos’ voice abruptly stopped.
Because out of the corner of his eye, he saw the huge hammer, accompanied by a whistling wind, swing directly towards his head.
