Blood gushed out from the severed wound, and faintly one could still hear the screams of angels, but Balder merely cast a cold glance and once again summoned a gigantic fist.
To him, angels were just servants. Ever since angels and humans had joined forces to deal with the witches, causing the death of his beloved Rosa, he no longer regarded angels as the most reliable partners.
No matter how many of them died, he would not be sad, in any case, angels in the heavens, like demons, were countless beyond number.
The second angel's fist that Balder summoned was also quickly severed. Seeing this, Balder stopped wasting his efforts.
His eyes glimmered with a dim blue light, and his body, like that of an angel, sprouted six pairs of wings behind him.
Then, countless feathers scattered from those wings and transformed into dazzling beams of light, shooting toward Aiden.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Aiden landed on an upturned boulder. The sword in his hand shortened to about ten meters long, and he rapidly swung it on the spot.
Like a soft whip, the sword coiled around his body. Its flowing, segmented blade clashed with the endless feathers, striking out countless sparks and producing the ringing sound of clashing metal.
When the last feather was knocked aside, Aiden suddenly raised the sword. The blade rapidly shortened back to its normal length, and then he forcefully drove it into the ground.
BOOM!
That strike caused the entire town to begin shaking violently. Luckily, the town didn't have many tall buildings, and the construction standards were passable.
No houses collapsed, though Aiden himself was startled, fearing that his full-force strike might have leveled the town, in which case who knew how many people would have died.
Seeing that no buildings had fallen, Aiden felt more at ease. Drawing power from the void into his body, countless swords burst up from beneath the square's ground. Like indescribable tentacles from the void, they swept toward Balder.
Swish!
Seeing these swords radiating a scarlet, blood-like aura, a trace of surprise flashed through Balder's eyes.
But the thoughts in his mind didn't hinder his body's reactions, his six pairs of wings gave a piercing howl, propelling his body up into the sky.
But those swords seemed able to extend infinitely. No matter how high Balder flew, they could catch up to him.
There was no other way, Balder had to give up the idea of fleeing. With a thought, the six pairs of wings behind him instantly wrapped tightly around his whole body.
However, this sword was not an ordinary weapon, and its purpose was not only stabbing or cutting.
Seeing Balder wrap himself completely, Aiden controlled the swords with his mind. The countless swords coiled around the "ball of feathers" like iron chains.
Then Aiden raised his left hand and gave a fierce yank downward, the "feather ball" was forcibly dragged out of the air by the countless swords.
BOOM!
Falling from at least several thousand meters high, the ground was smashed into a crater dozens of meters in diameter. At a glance, it looked bottomless.
The commotion Aiden had already stirred up had drawn both witches and angels, and now seeing this scene, they all instinctively stopped fighting.
Then they saw Aiden, panic written all over his face, rushing toward the crater.
"Damn it, don't let me have broken my father-in-law!"
Aiden's muttered words weren't heard by the others. He quickly ran to the crater's edge, the sword planted on the ground, and leaned out to peer inside. Then he saw a figure slowly floating up from the depths.
Balder wasn't too badly injured. Aside from the mask on his face, which had shattered under the violent impact so that only half remained hanging there, his body bore no obvious wounds.
"Cough, cough… boy, you're not bad." Balder revealed half a face filled with surprise, coughing lightly as he spoke.
The Right Eye of Light had given him strength far from what it appeared on the surface. In fact, if he fully unleashed its power, even in the depths of hell he could wrestle against the mightiest of demons. But now he had been defeated.
Though he had held back somewhat, he was still very satisfied.
"Cereza, entrusted to you, I can rest easy."
Balder glanced around at the others, his gaze settling on Bayonetta. Then he waved his hand, dismissing all the angels he had summoned.
Seeing this, Bayonetta and the rest felt it strange. When they then saw Aiden and the masked man chatting face to face, it became even stranger.
They wanted to approach, but Aiden waved them back. They could only stay where they were.
At that moment, Balder's eyes shifted from Bayonetta to Jeanne.
"What's your situation with Jeanne?"
Aiden smiled and said, "Cereza has no objection."
"Seems she didn't inherit her mother's character. Rosa would never have been willing to share her man with another woman." Balder once again cast a surprised look at Bayonetta.
"At first Cereza wasn't willing either, but she and Jeanne have a good relationship." Aiden shrugged. In his normal state, his father-in-law was actually easy to talk to.
Balder chuckled. "I'd long heard she was close with Jeanne since childhood, but I didn't expect it to be this close…"
"Forget it, my daughter has grown up. Besides, I as her father have been negligent and unworthy of saying anything."
At this, Balder gave a wry smile, sighed, and then asked, "How did you recognize me?"
"We saw another Balder on Sun Island," Aiden half-truthfully said. "Cereza, Jeanne, and I killed him together."
"Is that so…" Balder looked a little surprised.
The half of his face that was visible showed a contemplative expression. Then he touched his chest, and a dim blue light appeared there, obviously the place where the Right Eye of Light resided.
"Seems this trip to hell turned me into a bad guy."
With a little thought, Balder understood some things. The Eye of the World possessed mysterious power to travel through time.
On this trip to hell, something must have happened that made him use the Eye of the World to go back into the past and commit unforgivable deeds.
He gave another bitter smile, shook his head. History could not be changed. He didn't know what the future would hold, so for now, he only wanted to handle what lay before him.
"Ah, by the way, I don't even know your name." Balder looked at Aiden, the satisfaction in his eyes growing deeper.
As a Lumen Sage, he was almost the perfect man. Though by his own aesthetics he didn't find Aiden's looks on par with his, he still felt Aiden was worthy of Bayonetta.
"Aiden, from country Z," Aiden began to introduce himself.
Balder froze, eyes showing surprise. "So you're from that country. I've been there. Over these centuries, searching for Loki, I've visited many nations. When I went there, your country was still at war."
Aiden smiled. "It has developed well now. Once this matter ends, I plan to take them and settle there."
The two of them chatted about everyday matters, the atmosphere indescribably harmonious. Those watching from afar saw the smile on Aiden's face and found it even stranger.
Dante scratched his head, puzzled. "Why does Aiden's expression right now look like those TV scenes where the son-in-law meets the father-in-law?"
At those words, Bayonetta and Jeanne's hearts stirred. When they had fought Balder earlier, his fighting style had already felt familiar, especially since he used the power of the Right Eye of Light.
But they had clearly seen Aiden put away the Right Eye.
'Could it be…'
The two witches exchanged a glance, both already bracing for the worst possibility.
At that moment, Trish's voice cut through everyone's thoughts.
"That little boy is gone!"
Hearing the shout, everyone turned to look at her. Even Aiden and Balder, who were talking happily, stopped.
"Damn it, he still managed to escape!"
Balder had not forgotten why he came. To capture Loki, he had lingered here for half a year. Now seeing his target disappear, he didn't even have time to bid Aiden farewell. He rose and flew toward the top of the holy mountain.
As he swept over Bayonetta's head, he looked down, only to find Bayonetta looking up. Their eyes met in a fleeting instant.
"It really is him."
Bayonetta froze, her face suddenly tensing. She recognized that half a face.
"He is Balder!"
"He's resurrected?" Jeanne's brows furrowed at once.
But even if resurrected, where had that Right Eye on him come from?
The two witches couldn't make sense of it.
At this moment, Aiden appeared before them. Seeing the doubt in their eyes, he nodded. "Yes, it's Balder, my father-in-law."
"Father-in-law?"
Hearing how naturally Aiden called him father-in-law, not only were the two witches stunned, Dante and Trish were full of curiosity too.
Dante wore a gossiping expression. "I actually guessed right, it really was son-in-law meeting father-in-law. But the way you two met is pretty unique. Weren't you afraid just now that you might accidentally kill each other?"
Trish said, "Unbelievable. That Sage is actually your father-in-law. When I came out of the Gates of Hell last time, he even helped me!"
Those words piqued the curiosity of Aiden and the witches, though their points of curiosity differed.
Jeanne asked, "When was the last time?"
"About three days ago," Trish thought and gave a not-so-precise time. She then briefly recounted what had happened when she met Balder, which also cleared up Aiden's doubts.
'No wonder her personality changed so much…' Aiden thought to himself.
Bayonetta and Jeanne, after hearing this, exchanged another look.
Three days ago, they had been on Sun Island, fighting Balder. Then this Balder before them…
In that instant, a trace of realization dawned in their hearts.
Digesting the astonishing information in her mind, Bayonetta looked at Aiden and asked with a smile, "Just now… what exactly did you two talk about?"
Aiden gave a mysterious smile, wagged a finger at her. "That's a secret between father-in-law and son-in-law."
In truth, the two hadn't said much, just ordinary conversation. But teasing the black-haired witch was also a kind of fun between husband and wife.
Normally, no matter how curious she was, Bayonetta wouldn't press. But now she really wanted to know. Yet just as she was about to ask further, the holy mountain suddenly showed signs of disturbance.
Bayonetta had no choice but to press down her curiosity. Together with the others, she looked toward the holy mountain, and saw that the snow-covered peak had begun to shake violently, the tremors so strong they were visible to the naked eye.
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