The upper tier of Bandera City, encircled by thunder, had turned into a dark, hollow metropolis like an empty gorge, all due to the sudden emergence of the Bishop of Extinction.
The city-state's imperial martial music drastically accelerated into a piercing, erratic, and grotesque movement.
Meanwhile, the illusions concealing the city's lower tier began to collapse, warping and twisting to gradually reveal the truth beneath.
Chaotically heaped into mountains, the corpses of the residents were like slender black fingers reaching upward in an attempt to claw their way higher. The eyes of the dead had all become gouged, bottomless hollows, vacant and lifeless, while their slightly parted mouths seemed to warn every passerby that this was a realm of doom from which there was no return.
Clearly, this was Askesan's handiwork.
Of course, he might not have accomplished it alone.
Even as a Cardinal of the Resurrection Church, he would hardly abandon his fine position as a power broker in the empire to commit an act that would pit the Protos Empire against him in an irreconcilable feud to the death without cause.
Someone had to be colluding with him, driven by a grander scheme that compelled Askesan to carry out this wholesale slaughter.
Before the unavoidable clash, Askesan observed the two individuals trapped in his spatial lockdown with keen amusement, in no hurry to wipe them out.
"Aside from the investigation team from the Imperial Capital, there are other little mice coming to make trouble," Askesan sighed, sounding as if reminiscing about Major General Fanleiku.
"Did Imperial Great Sage Isis send you, or are you from Duke Bernhardt's family?" he asked, lifting his gaze to interrogate them.
Askesan's voice was calm and steady, like the sands of time pouring from his mouth, each word carrying an irresistible enchantment.
"..."
In the silence, entirely immobilized, Lanqi focused solely on the movements of Sigrid beside him.
Thanks to the [Polymorph: Human] spell card he had thrust upon her, even Askesan failed to see through Sigrid's disguise at this moment. More importantly, never in his wildest dreams could the Bishop of Extinction have imagined that, at this exact juncture, the Bishop of Domination—whose home territory lay far to the south—would personally penetrate deep into the northern frontier!
Before arriving on the Northern Continent, Lanqi had never envisioned that his very first encounter with the Bishop of Extinction, Askesan, would be facing him at such close quarters.
This was the distance of absolute peril Loren had warned him about.
He had taken Loren's advice to heart.
Which was why he had recruited a god-tier carry of the same caliber to beat up Askesan.
And yet...
"?"
When Lanqi looked closely at Sigrid, he saw that she was acting like a frail young girl terrified out of her wits—timid tears glistening in her eyes, her legs visibly shaking.
Lanqi's eyes widened at the sight.
For a second, he even wondered whether this supreme powerhouse was an imposter.
The Bishop of Domination really would stoop to anything.
Askesan kept his eyes on Lanqi.
Clearly, the only one capable of answering his questions was this young man who still managed to keep his wits about him.
"If you refuse to answer, then I'll just have to deal with her first—"
At that exact split second, before Askesan could finish his sentence, the look in Sigrid's eyes underwent an earth-shattering shift.
The purple eyes that were usually relaxed and languid seemed instantly coated in biting frost, replaced by resolute lethality and decisiveness.
Immobilized in midair just a moment ago, the next blink of an eye saw Sigrid erupt like a tempest, smashing her fist straight into Askesan's body!
Her ferocious power tore down the entire structure Askesan stood upon, sending it collapsing like surging tidal waves. Their initial collision, swifter than thunder, roared through the entirety of Bandera City!
The earth quaked as broad fissures cracked across the stone-paved streets, caving inward and collapsing step by step as if swallowed whole. Under the shockwaves of the two Cardinals trading blows, the intricately sculpted statues and stained-glass windows of the Ancient Herrom-style buildings were instantly shattered, shards scattering in the wind.
Hurled down into the ruins, Askesan's astonished eyes reflected Sigrid's figure. He had clearly failed to recognize the young maiden's true identity. Even though his battle instincts slowed the entire world in his perception at the onset of danger, Sigrid's lethal strike had made no sound whatsoever—by the time the sonic boom reached his ears, she had already struck him, and only then did a fatal concussive crack explode through the air.
Without granting Askesan the slightest breath of respite, Sigrid's follow-up strike was already right before his eyes.
Now revealing her true form, her skin glowed with a faint silver brilliance, pure and sacred like a crescent moon. This was not magic, but rather the phenomenon produced by the perfect fusion of her physical prowess, immunity equipment, an Original Slate, and her fist intent.
Sigrid possessed an Original Slate distinct from those of the other Cardinals—[Original Slate - Basic].
Whenever she unleashed the most direct attack with all her might, it would trigger, granting a colossal amplification to its power.
However, now that Askesan had regained his bearings, Sigrid would not have such an easy time landing another blow.
Though infuriated and shocked after taking a near-fatal hit at point-blank range, Askesan possessed numerous pieces of damage-reduction and life-preserving gear. His body was not hurled away again; he swiftly stabilized himself between the ground and midair. The square magical crest on his dark gray coat began erupting with dark purple, crackling lightning, matching the fury burning in his eyes. The invisible mana barrier unfurled before him held firm against Sigrid's fist, setting off another ring of metallic hums and concussive shockwaves.
"Bishop of Domination... Sigrid..."
Behind the mana barrier, Askesan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. Each word he spat was like a curse, and his dense, chilling mana scored deep gouges into the gloomy ground of the city-state like blades, locking down all the space between Sigrid and himself.
If it was Sigrid, then everything made sense.
One never knew when this damned woman would appear, nor when she would strike. He had wanted nothing more than to rid himself of her multiple times, yet had never succeeded!
"Very well. This time we settle all our debts, old and new. Nothing could be better than you throwing yourself into my net..."
Askesan's gradually steadying gaze shifted slightly toward the other figure in the distance.
A young man of whom he had no memory.
When the battle began, Sigrid had gone out of her way to deploy two magic cards she rarely used just to protect that youth.
Askesan could reasonably deduce that this was Sigrid's newly appointed successor. Only for that reason would Sigrid cherish him so deeply, utilizing two entire Tier 8 magic cards to ensure his protection.
Yet the Holy Son of Domination had to be under the same disguise magic as Sigrid.
Even with illusion-piercing magic, one could not discern his true features, leaving no way to immediately deduce the new Holy Son of Domination's identity within the borders of the Protos Empire.
Still, it mattered not who the Holy Son of Domination was.
Askesan glanced at the sky; night was still far off.
So long as both the Bishop of Domination and the Holy Son of Domination died here today,
this trifling ripple
could never be called a variable.
Chapter 330