One could only say that the human heart was ever fickle.
When they first mobilized their armies, everyone's minds had been filled with thoughts of retaking Limbo, driving the Enemy of God from his lair, and then beating him like a stray dog—what sheer delight that would be!
Yet when Ji Jue actually packed his bags just as they wished, they were unhappy again.
At this moment, between the dim heavens and earth, fire and lightning flashed incessantly. Fissures ran across the hollow dome of the sky, while the earth was covered in ash and blood. Amidst the widespread devastation, severed limbs and shattered remains piled up like mountains.
Within the Scar, specks of starlight rose.
Launching a counterattack against the encircling legion of tens of thousands!
When Ji Jue reached out his hand once more, the dying Dragon of the River Styx, covered in fractures, roared at the top of its lungs. Its metallic luster surged once again. Massive engines sprouted from its back one after another. Like a comet, it soared abruptly into the sky, cultivating blazing light in its maw before spewing it forth.
The scorching light slashed through heaven and earth like razor-sharp blades, reducing everything it touched to ash.
Countless angels charged forward in waves, only to be swallowed whole by its giant maw or torn effortlessly to shreds by its sharp talons.
Braving the concentrated firepower and siege of multiple angelic legions, the frenzied iron dragon rampaged and collided relentlessly, tearing open a massive breach in the angelic formation.
The White Knights drove straight in!
Yan Fei charged at the forefront, his entire body drenched in angelic blood and minced flesh. As blood-red flames surged, his iron chassis mutated once again; crowned with a circlet of thorns, iron wings unfurled into the bloody wind as he sped rampantly through the slaughter of blood and fire.
He roared with all his might. Amidst the shrill, ear-piercing shrieks, White Knights followed hot on his heels like an arrowhead. Seizing this vital opportunity, they galloped forward along the gap torn by the Dragon of the River Styx, advancing as though marching through an empty land!
Their target was...
The holy relic enshrined at the very front line!
The commanding Saint flew into a rage and blew the horn. The reserves guarding the holy relic immediately raised their spears, and a torrent of radiant light swooped downward!
Yet within that torrent, unyielding black silhouettes advanced inch by inch against the magnificent army. The sea of figures brimming with blazing light shattered on impact, parting into crimson waves on either side.
Shattering sounds rang out incessantly.
Amidst the roar, the Dragon of the River Styx leading the charge took the brunt of the blazing rays bursting from countless sacred seals. Blown to pieces, it plummeted toward the earth.
The angels couldn't help but cheer and shout, but before their joy could even show on their faces, they saw... behind the falling debris, the berserk demon rose again, lunging forward with irresistible force!
"Cover me!"
Yan Fei's hoarse voice crackled over the channel. To sustain the auxiliary programs, his consciousness, drained of spiritus, burned as if scorched by flame—so agonizing, yet so furious!
"Die!"
The demon roared. Engines fired, accelerating; spears clashed with spears, blades struck blades, and amid the flying sparks, crimson blood spurted.
In the instant they brushed past, he hacked apart the angels blocking his path. Yan Fei pushed forward again!
The rangefinder read ten kilometers left!
So far, yet for the mobility of a White Knight, it was already within spitting distance!
Distant artillery rumbled once more as holy light shot toward them, only to be blocked by White Knights shielding the way with their iron wings and bodies.
As they shattered completely and began to plummet, they turned back and high-fived one another, passing on their final power amidst swirls of flowing silver light!
A hundred, ten, one!
The power and flames of all the White Knights ultimately converged onto Yan Fei alone.
The layered hundred wings abruptly shattered. Countless iron feathers whipped up a storm, spreading outward to clear away the last obstacles.
The broken chassis had lost its legs and right arm. The damaged spear was clutched tightly in his left hand, infused with all his remaining strength!
"—Go!"
Before being incinerated by the vast holy light, the spear in Yan Fei's hand was hurled with devastating fury. It tore through the walls of bodies before him like crushing dry twigs, breaching defenses and piercing straight through line after line.
Like a meteor, forward, forward, and forward still!
Plunging straight toward the holy relic!
Unyielding and unwavering, no matter how many angels continuously regenerated from the holy relic to bar its path!
Amid the blazing light, Yan Fei's eyes went wide, and he burst into wild laughter.
Until a cold snort sounded.
The spear's remaining point ground to a dead halt.
It stopped right before the holy relic.
Caught tightly in a grip.
A Saint.
The Saint had finally stepped in!
"Laughable!" The Saint, towering like a mountain, mobilized the defenses of the entire legion, crushing that last glimmer of light without breaking a sweat, and sighed derisively. "Overestimating yourself!"
"Is that so?"
In that instant, a chuckle seemed to ring right beside his ear.
Right in front of him.
A phantom of the Enemy of God appeared, chilling him to the bone.
Yet there was no Enemy of God.
From beginning to end, Ji Jue had not taken a single step out of Limbo, merely watching with cold detachment.
He had simply flicked his finger with casual ease.
And so, the crushed glimmer reconvened, and the flames rekindled. Right in his hand, the spear reformed, boundless crimson gushing forth from it and coiling around the blade.
The ferocious malice of Pan Ying manifested from the scarlet spiritus, violently spreading outward.
In an instant, like a meat grinder, it minced half the Saint's body into paste. Then, bursting forth, a slender wisp of scarlet leisurely crossed the final inch, lightly tapping against the holy relic.
A fracturing sound rang out.
*Snap!*
The skeleton forged of gold instantly disintegrated into dust, endless Heavenly Radiance pouring forth from within, gushing without pause.
In a mere instant, one of the holy relics was lost!
The Saint roared, his mangled half squirming, but no matter what he did, he could not regenerate. In the end, he could only fill the gap with divine power to barely shape an outline of his former self.
Turmoil broke out in the center ranks. The legions up front pressed forward frantically, trying to hold off the demons' new counterattack, while the holy relics in the rear were rushed forward. Like a great whale gulping water, they sought to recover the divine power of Heavenly Radiance spilling from the shattered relic, only to find that in just a few seconds, Ji Jue had already snatched away the greater part of it!
From then on, the defenses around the front-line holy relics were bolstered tenfold. Two Saints guarded them in person, granting Limbo no further opening to exploit.
A protracted battle dragged on for an entire day.
Until bells chimed across the dome of heaven.
Beams of light shone down from the Gates of Tiancheng.
Next, the charging angelic legions actually began to withdraw, sounding the retreat amidst hymns of rejoicing.
In a mere dozen minutes, they had vanished entirely.
After fighting and slaughtering all along the way, the Central City of the Northern Parish had clearly been right before their eyes...
Yet when drones were launched to scout ahead, they discovered that nothing remained within the Central City. Living or dead, everything had been stripped completely bare and relocated elsewhere.
Soon, flames leaped, and explosions erupted one after another.
Right before Ji Jue's eyes, the entire Central City was blown to smithereens!
Not a single tile was left intact!
After all that toil and heavy casualties, the Enemy of God had gained nothing. And it would hardly take long; after only a brief respite, Tiancheng's legions could strike once more.
The Order had adjusted its strategy once again.
They would turn this war into an outright war of attrition, granting Limbo no chance to resupply, until one day the entire realm of Limbo was bled bone dry!
When that time came, how could an Enemy of God who possessed nothing resist the Divine Kingdom?
Faced with Tiancheng's mockery, the scar creeping forward across the earth showed no hesitation or dismay whatsoever, continuing its slow advance.
The rift yawned open like a colossal maw.
Chewing and swallowing.
Without the slightest disdain, it swallowed the entire ruins of Central City completely into darkness. Even mosquito legs were meat—nothing to be ashamed of. Thoroughly and meticulously, it devoured every last scrap, reducing the entire Northern Central City to a barren wasteland.
Its speed did not slow in the least; in fact, it accelerated once again.
Continuing forward.
Rather than heading toward the heavily guarded Eastern and Western Parishes, it followed a route toward the comparatively lightly defended Southern Parish.
It acted completely unbothered, playing along with their game, fully prepared to see this war of attrition through to the end with Tiancheng.
*You want a war of attrition? Let's have one! Who's afraid of who?!*
That overbearing, swaggering posture made countless people tremble with fury. Yet amidst their enraged glares, everyone noticed that the Scar, which had been hurtling along, was gradually slowing down.
Finally, it stopped.
It halted right between the Northern and Southern Parishes—more precisely, dead center among the eastern, southern, western, and northern districts, entirely indifferent to the danger of an impending three-sided encirclement.
Darkness welled up, and dark clouds gathered once more.
Flames surged from the fissure in the earth, billowing endlessly.
As if sitting down and waiting to die.
Courting death!
Only...
"Wait, this position!"
The observers in the Hall of the Heavenly Eye began to sweat. "Something's not right!"
The exact center of the entire Divine Kingdom happened to be... right below Tiancheng!
"The Enemy of God's ambition must not be underestimated," Guangwen, who presided over the Hall of the Heavenly Eye, said slowly. "Quite likely, in this scheme of his, the Northern Parish was just a convenient side target, a snack grabbed along the way. Gains or losses there wouldn't affect the bigger picture... His ultimate objective may very well be Tiancheng!"
"Hahaha, why fret so much, Lord Guangwen?"
Across the long table, the obese Saint who was still gorging himself gluttonously grinned, sucking the grease and meat fat from his fingers, unconcerned. "How high is Tiancheng? Well over ten thousand li!
"Leaving aside the span of the Nine Heavens demarcated by the Holy God, not to mention the barriers between them, even if one grew wings, without the Order's Chime of Guidance answering, one could fly for a lifetime and not get a hair closer to Tiancheng.
"Besides, Tiancheng is blessed by the Holy God and possesses numerous holy relics. Now that all legions are garrisoned here, it naturally holds an invincible position. If the Enemy of God truly wants to come, that would be walking right into a trap—seeking his own doom."
"Let us hope so."
Guangwen smiled and said no more, turning his gaze toward the Pope seated at the head. The Pope remained solemn. After pondering in silence for a moment, he issued his command: "Regardless, precautions are essential. Issue an order throughout Tiancheng to reinforce defenses.
"We cannot allow ourselves to be led by the nose by the Enemy of God. Ready the entire army. As soon as the replenishment of Heavenly Radiance is complete, mobilize and attack immediately!"
Guangwen spoke no further.
In the silence, only the sound of chewing rose continuously.
As though it would last into eternity.
Chapter 533