Chapter 212: The Marauders' Game
Flora Jacob's pupils trembled, her eyes filled with extreme panic. Her mind involuntarily conjured up the records of the terrifying figure of Amon from her family's ancient books.
Was her ancestor actually dealing with such a terrifying enemy?
He hadn't even used demigod-level abilities, yet He had easily held her in the palm of His hand like a cat playing with a mouse.
However, the vitality and fighting spirit of a demigod were not something a Beyonder without divinity could compare to. She did everything she could to release the pollution of her own divinity, focusing her "Steal" ability entirely on the host she was currently parasitizing.
But Nimrod was not afraid of the erosion of divinity, and parasitism was even less likely to succeed—if the parasitism of a complete "Parasite" was difficult for him to resist, the current Flora had decayed to such an extent that parasitizing him was no easy task.
Soon, Flora's will completely vanished, and a demigod died silently in a corner of Backlund.
Nimrod turned his wrist, and a brilliant diamond emerged in his hand.
Within every facet of this diamond, countless tiny, transparent worms seemed to be wriggling. It looked magnificent yet extraordinarily eerie, but in any case, it no longer resembled the mutated, terrifying Monster from before.
He closed his fingers, and the diamond vanished into the grayish fog, falling into Sefirah Castle.
He let out a soft breath and glanced at Jacob's corpse. He didn't plan to return to Hazel's home, choosing instead to leave this place of trouble immediately.
The commotion he had caused during the battle just now was not small. Regardless of whether it would attract Amon—who had clearly just been struck by the Lord of Storms—attracting other demigod-level Beyonders was not something he could contend with right now.
After all, he had not yet obtained divinity. Without an incomplete Mythical Creature form, he lacked the terrifying vitality of a demigod, making it difficult to recover quickly from injuries solely by relying on his level of existence.
But right at that moment, he felt that the "feedback" from the body he was currently parasitizing was somewhat sluggish.
Had he not been parasitizing this body, he wouldn't have even sensed the slightly uncoordinated feedback compared to before.
Nimrod's pupils contracted suddenly. The power of the "Black Knight" boon surged out of him, on the verge of forming a solid layer of protection.
But at that moment, his arm naturally rose and pushed the monocle on his face. The Black Knight boon on Nimrod immediately halted its armor-forming process, rapidly receding and withdrawing into his body.
Amon—Nimrod instantly figured out who was behind this. He turned his gaze toward the corpse of the rat demigod in the house not far behind him.
The rat demigod's originally out-of-control, bloated body had shrunk back down, turning into a rat covered in numerous festering wounds and...
...melting flesh.
But now, there was a circle of white fur around one of the rat's eyes. The long-dead rat, ignoring both its fatal wounds and its missing muscles, stood straight up on its hind legs and, in a very human-like manner, gently pressed its eye socket with its claw: "Very sharp."
"I originally thought it was Pallez Zoroast who wanted to use this Jacob's characteristic to restore his state. So, while The True Creators Descent and the Lord of Storms' attention were drawn away, I sent one of my more crucial avatars to monitor Jacob."
"To my surprise, the one who came wasn't Pallez, but a little fellow like you who isn't even a demigod."
"Heh, it seems the few suspected candidates I originally selected can now be ruled out. Tell me, which one do you believe in?"
Clang, clang, clang. Peals of bells that seemed to come from ancient times rang out in the surroundings. Nimrod felt everything around him freeze, and his entire being felt as if it were sealed inside a block of amber.
Nimrod calmly controlled his expression, showing no flaws, and merely stared at Amon in front of him with composure.
However, the characteristics inside his body were disappearing one by one, silently transferring to another body.
His true body, which was currently surrounding and killing Ince Zangwill, made no movement. Amon had most likely only monitored this place, and there was only an avatar of a low level of existence near Ince Zangwill. However, making any escape-related movements at this time would attract Amon's attention.
What's more, when it came to running away, Nimrod knew that he could never escape the pursuit of a King of Angels.
Even if he counted the "animated void," which possessed half the level of existence of a "Traveler," what of it? In the end, it would just be delivering a main ingredient of a "Traveler" to Amon's doorstep.
Meanwhile, Amon, who was scrutinizing the "Hugues Artois" avatar, uttered a soft "Huh?" His eyes narrowed, as if he were confirming something.
After a long while, Amon spoke again, "You are actually a 'fate-less one'? Then I have misjudged you. You wouldn't happen to be the avatar of some old friend, would you?"
He could not see the destiny trajectory of the person before Him, who was disguised as the rat demigod, Apprentice Hazel Macht. For a "Trojan Horse of Destiny," this was an extremely unusual occurrence.
Every word from Amon was a deception—Nimrod did not give any answer. He merely acted with extreme caution, deliberately creating the impression that he was waiting for something.
He believed he had handled things very carefully beforehand, as the transfer and concealment of the Beyonder characteristics had all been done through Sefirah Castle—
Amon's words could not be fully trusted. While Sefirah Castle hung in the sky like that, He might have sent an avatar to monitor Jacob, but the real reason might also involve "Adam."
Fortunately, Nimrod had already made contingency plans and preparations in advance for Amon's potential arrival, so he did not feel panicked or hopeless now.
But right then, Amon suddenly spoke, as if He had already made up His mind, "Are you waiting for Medici to save you? I see the aura and boon of the True Creator on you. You might be one of His divine messengers... Ah, I see. The avatar I left in the Aurora Order was probably purged by the True Creator. What a pity it couldn't play a bigger role."
Nimrod's heart stirred, and a look of slight anger immediately surfaced on his face. However, this expression carried a hint of theatricality, used to mask his true emotions.
Sure enough, the corners of Amon's mouth curled up slightly as He slowly shook His head, "Your acting isn't very convincing. How could someone who believes in the True Creator accept a boon from another of the Great Beings? Remember to pay attention to this in the future."
"I have already met the other two favored ones of the Great Beings. It's just a pity that my avatar was casually struck dead by Leodero, preventing me from gathering more information."
Looking at the completely unresponsive Nimrod, Amon did not show much disappointment. He merely pressed His chin gently with His finger and said thoughtfully, "Let me think. You seem to care a lot about time—it seems you indeed left some backup plans. The Great Beings you believe in, who possess Sefirah Castle, even granted you some authority to know High-Sequence knowledge, preventing your body from collapsing just by hearing the words 'Sefirah Castle'."
"I'm also curious to test what other authorities He gave you. If I were to say His name, would you lose control, mutate, and die?"
But just as Amon said this, His expression underwent a subtle change for the first time.
The body of the Hugues Artois avatar, which had still maintained Hazel's appearance, shook rapidly. His frame expanded, tearing through the young girl's clothes, and turned into a middle-aged man of average build.
Seeing this scene, Amon smiled and couldn't help but clap His hands, "Interesting."
"Of course, I'm not just praising your courage to disguise yourself like this, but I also find the anomaly in you far too difficult to guess and far too unique—all the Beyonder powers on your body have vanished. It is truly unbelievable."
He smacked His lips, "However, it looks more like the one who granted you the boon actively took back the Beyonder characteristics in your body. Were even your Beyonder characteristics bestowed as a boon by that entity?"
"It seems the one atop Sefirah Castle cannot be Pallez. Hmm, I already have a guess."
Amon did not voice His guess, because even now, He was actually not certain who the one atop Sefirah Castle was.
Although He repeatedly claimed that the hidden existence atop Sefirah Castle could not be Pallez Zoroast, He never intended to underestimate His enemy. He also hadn't ruled out the possibility that Pallez had hidden his true body atop Sefirah Castle and obtained a higher level of power through integration with "mystery."
However, this posture of completely disregarding His own favored ones and His own favor indeed made Amon associate Him more deeply with the Destroying Demon Wolf Flegrea and His offspring, Antigonus.
He smiled gently and asked, "What is your name?"
As He asked this question, He utilized the authorities of Parasitism and Steal.
Nimrod felt his mouth open uncontrollably, "Hugues Artois."
This angel-level "Trojan Horse of Destiny," Amon, clearly possessed a portion of the abilities in the domain of destiny. The questioning at this moment was conducted under a state of mild parasitism.
However, although a "Trojan Horse of Destiny" could steal others' destiny, Amon did not do so.
Special favored ones involving Great Beings always had their destinies tampered with to some extent by the Great Beings they believed in, or their destinies were naturally associated with things of a high level of existence.
Rashly stealing this destiny might even bring about some negative side effects.
"So, I plan to take you to a place no one knows about."
"Even the one you believe in won't know where that place is, and will have no way to save you."
"But actually, I feel we didn't have to make things so tense between us—would you consider becoming my favored one? As long as you are willing to tell me the identity of that hidden entity you used to believe in, I can likewise give you everything you had."
"Look, all the Beyonder powers on your body have been taken back. This shows you have already become an abandoned piece."
Amon's words carried a powerful, seductive quality. Nimrod felt the muscles all over his body become less stiff, but he still had no intention of speaking.
As long as he didn't speak, no further information could be pried out of him!
Moreover, Nimrod was also waiting—waiting for an opportunity, an opportunity to launch a counterattack from a desperate situation.
"—You are stalling for time." Amon's gaze suddenly fell upon Nimrod. "Forget it, it's just spending a bit more time. Being able to capture you makes it fine to let Pallez run around outside for a while longer."
Having said that, Amon looked up at the sky with some regret.
In the sky at this moment, the red Sun had already occupied more than half of the sky.
Flames flowed on the outer layer of the red Sun, and a figure wearing armor mixed with pitch-black and blood-red collided violently with several bolts of lightning.
Meanwhile, the sacred Sun, stained with a hint of darkness, had completely vanished, leaving only the storm and the red Sun to encroach upon each other in the sky.
Although Amon was very reluctant to see the True Creator descend His avatar onto the earth, the avatar He had sent this time had limited capabilities, and Amon was not that eager to assist Adam in completing his so-called "Completion Plan."
Was the father reviving within Adam truly still His father?
Tick-tock, tick-tock. The ticking of a clock seemed to ring out continuously as time ticked away bit by bit.
As midnight approached, Nimrod suddenly spoke, asking Amon out of the blue, "Why did you choose to assist Adam instead of Grisha?"
Upon hearing these words, Amon's expression truly changed.
He turned His head to look at Nimrod, and everything around them seemed to accelerate.
In just a moment, the surrounding air rapidly grew cold. Once the colors around them stabilized, the scenery beside Nimrod had turned into a snow-covered ruin.
Amon found a broken stone chair and sat down, His face once again wearing that smile, "It seems you really know a lot of things, but—I don't plan to ask you."
Amon decided to take a small risk—after all, this Sequence 5 before Him knew too much. No matter what choice He made, there was a certain possibility for Amon to be discovered by the hidden existence atop "Sefirah Castle."
Amon had heard the name Grisha before; it had come from the mouth of the Ancient Sun God and was His father's true name.
His brother Adam had inherited his father's surname, while He had been bestowed the divine name of the authority "Sun" by His father.
Grisha Adam was the true name of the Ancient Sun God. This should have been a secret existing in past history, unknown even to the archangels and Kings of Angels of the Fourth Epoch, a secret known only to the very few who followed the Ancient Sun God from the very beginning or were hostile to Him.
Therefore, Amon prepared to turn Nimrod into His avatar. Instead of stealing his destiny, He would read his memories bit by bit. He had even replaced His avatar, letting a sequence 4 avatar take over this body.
This was the safest approach.
After completely controlling this body, Amon did not even plan to integrate it into His network of avatars. Once He read the information He needed, He would choose to destroy it.
However, it was now 11:58 PM on Monday night.
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Chapter 213: Nimrod Kills Amon
At the instant the countdown hit zero, gray mist surged from all directions, enveloping the area where Nimrod was located.
During this process, Amon, who had been parasitizing Nimrod, temporarily lost all sound.
Nimrod gently stretched his neck, which had grown stiff from Amon's parasitism, and began to smile.
Now, the tides of offense and defense had turned.
He considered himself a person who never held grudges, but—faced with an enemy, one must, of course, eradicate them completely.
Upon arriving in the Circle of Inevitability World, the body that had shattered to bear the "Fool" revived atop Sefirah Castle.
The moment Nimrod opened his eyes, he extended five fingers, and like a puppeteer controlling a Puppet, he used the connection between them to hoist the spirit body of Hugues Artois, which was parasitized by Amon, dragging it into Sefirah Castle in less than half a second.
At this moment, both Amon and Nimrod's "Worm of Time" were parasitizing this spirit body.
After Hugues Artois's spirit body was hoisted onto Sefirah Castle, Amon's avatar parasitizing this body was naturally pulled up onto Sefirah Castle as well.
Amon's gaze contracted slightly.
He looked around at his surroundings, and what emerged in his eyes was not joy, but bewilderment.
Without a doubt, Amon had now arrived at Sefirah Castle, but for Amon, this was not a good thing, because he discovered that the connection to his main body had been silently severed.
Although many Amons were not connected to the main body every single moment, for this particular Amon, in order to more stably read the memories of this favored of Sefirah Castle, he had been maintaining a tight connection with the Angel Amon while swapping places with that Sequence 2 "self."
But now, that connection was gone.
This meant that, without realizing it, he had been led away by the hidden existence atop Sefirah Castle, escaping the gaze of his own Angel-level self.
And this happened while he was completely unaware.
Since things had come to this, Amon raised his head.
Holding onto the thought that he wasn't completely finished yet and hoping to gather more information, he looked cautiously ahead.
There was a special way for Amons to transmit information.
Although he didn't know if it would still be effective after being taken away by a hidden existence, he still had to try; he couldn't just sit and wait for death.
After all, for Amon, novelty and excitement were important components of life.
Besides, this wasn't his main body; even if this avatar died, his main body would remain unharmed.
So, no matter how treacherous the situation, to them, it was really just excitement.
Then, beside the figure whose appearance had turned into his own, Amon saw an old man sitting in a grand armchair.
Please do not misunderstand; this was just a description—the Celestial Worthy turned its gaze toward Amon quite lazily, causing Amon to involuntarily take a step back.
That was the absolute suppression from a higher level of existence, causing Amon to feel a second voice appear within his body.
Even though he was currently just a "Worm of Time," he seemed to hear the perception of himself within his memories quietly change:
His main body seemed to be merely an avatar of this Great Being before him, and his life was nothing more than a dream of this Great Being.
But Amon immediately began to resist this perception.
As the activation of the "Error" Uniqueness, and under the influence of the Ancient Sun God, from the moment he possessed vague humanity, he had been conducting a long-standing resistance against this mysterious will.
He quickly observed his surroundings and keenly found a way to break the deadlock:
The Great Being before him seemed to only have the empty rank, as the Beyonder power on his body still seemed to be only Sequence 5.
Even on this Great Being's home turf, he was not without the power to fight.
It just lacked the heaven-and-earth difference of "having or not having divinity" from before.
In other words, they had now gone from an overwhelming "hunt" to an evenly matched "slaughter."
sequence 4 fighting Sequence 5; the advantage is with me.
Upon realizing this, Amon immediately opened his right hand, attempting to Steal Beyonder abilities from the Nimrod before him.
But his pupils contracted slightly because he saw a diamond appear in Nimrod's hand—the Beyonder characteristic just taken from the rat demigod Flora Jacob, with countless tiny insects wandering inside it.
He saw him grip this "diamond."
Then, bring it to his mouth and swallow it.
The moment he saw this scene, Amon knew he had made a terrible miscalculation—what he wanted to parasitize was not a favored of a Great Being, but the Great Being himself, the "mystery" will that he had always been avoiding.
The demigod characteristic fell into his stomach.
Nimrod's gaze was calm as he felt the will of the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings within his body become much more solidified.
The Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings beside him did not make any moves; instead, he cast his gaze upon the demigod Amon, hindering the actions that the demigod Amon wanted to attempt.
The "Parasite" ritual requires repeating the ritual of "letting a person voluntarily offer everything they have to nourish oneself" nine times.
He had not completed this ritual, because the only one who could barely qualify for this condition was Lumian in the Circle of Inevitability World.
Even with an Angel rank, there was no way to split one person who didn't quite fit the ritual requirements into nine people for the demigod ritual—but just as Adam alone could act as all of Klein's Spectators, Lumian, possessing an Angel rank, could indeed serve a certain ritual purpose.
Therefore, even knowing that the Celestial Worthy had discovered the traces Amon left on the rat demigod in advance, Nimrod directly swallowed this sequence 4 Beyonder characteristic at the critical juncture of advancing to a demigod.
He had never trusted the Celestial Worthy from the beginning, and facts proved this to be true.
Although the Celestial Worthy had repeatedly denied discovering Amon during their rapid exchange of thoughts just now, Nimrod's choice was not to believe it.
After all, he had never been able to possess his own honorable name, and could only use the four-line honorable name of the "Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings" and the five-line honorable name belonging to the "Lord of the Mysteries" to respond; this explained everything well enough.
And swallowing the demigod-level Beyonder characteristic this time was precisely a test of the Celestial Worthy's attitude.
Nimrod was certain that even if the Celestial Worthy turned against him, his will would not be invaded; although it would be difficult afterward, this was a risk worth taking.
However, the result was good; the Celestial Worthy did not take the opportunity of his divinity suddenly increasing to erode his consciousness, but silently stood with him to confront the Amon before them.
No, it couldn't be called a confrontation; it was perhaps more like a hunt.
After all, Amon thought he was fighting only a Sequence 5.
Even though he had just swallowed a Beyonder characteristic and restored his sequence 4 rank, there was still a possibility of escape and resistance.
But the biggest improvement for Nimrod, who possessed the authority of Sefirah Castle, after becoming a demigod was:
He could now use Angel-level Beyonder abilities while skipping two Sequences in the Circle of Inevitability World.
For him, this was two qualitative changes.
A demigod was one qualitative change, and an Angel was also a qualitative change.
Besides this, Sefirah Castle seemed to have undergone some changes, but that wasn't something that needed urgent handling right now; something more pressing was right before his eyes.
Nimrod opened his right hand toward Amon, making no attempt to resist the tendency of his body to transform into a mythical creature, and in the blink of an eye, he turned into a humanoid figure composed of "Worm of Time" and gray mist.
"Steal"!
The Amon before him suddenly felt a chill surge into his heart.
He subconsciously evaded Nimrod's Steal, only to feel as if a layer of frosted glass had covered his eyes, and his observation of his surroundings suddenly became weak.
Nimrod waved his hand with some regret.
He had originally wanted to succeed in one strike, relying on the observation of fate from the "Mendicant Monk" and "Robot" to Steal the core ability of the Marauder: "Steal."
But unfortunately, the Amon before him had sufficiently rich experience in fighting those of the same Pathway and had evaded in time, allowing him to only Steal "Superior Observation."
He did not hesitate to release "Superior Observation," then looked for an opportunity, waiting for the next Steal.
Although the abilities Stolen by a "Parasite" could only be maintained for two hours, if not used, a "Parasite" could preserve them for a long time, but preservation also required occupying a portion of his spirituality.
Therefore, Nimrod favored the side effects after Stealing at this moment:
A Beyonder who has had a Beyonder ability Stolen will lose control over that Beyonder ability for a short period; in short, they will completely lose a Beyonder ability during this battle.
And this "short period" was only "short" relative to those permanent losses of ability.
A Beyonder who has had a Beyonder ability Stolen by a "Parasite" will be unable to use that Beyonder ability for at least half a month, and this is based on data from a "Parasite" who has just consumed the potion and has not yet digested it well.
A "Parasite" with good digestion of the potion can completely make this time longer, even making a Beyonder become an ordinary person for a month or even several months.
In just a single encounter, he had lost one of his core Beyonder abilities; this was something Amon had never encountered when fighting other Marauders.
However, this made Amon at this moment become more focused and more serious.
He was the offspring of the Ancient Sun God, the Angel of Time of the glorious era, the "God of fraud" in history!
He chuckled softly, lowered his head, and said to the Nimrod before him: "Heh, can we reconcile? I am willing to be your favored."
Arrogant at first and humble later; it made one want to laugh.
"Reconcile? At this moment?"
Nimrod scoffed, his hands not stopping, grabbing a large handful of "Worm of Time" from Amon, who was constantly dodging.
"Are you not joking?"
His fighting style at this moment was closer to that of a beast than a human, constantly inflicting damage that was not fatal but difficult to resist.
Amon was still trying to use fraud, but Nimrod no longer had the heart to continue listening to his nonsense; he just quite patiently Stole Amon's Beyonder abilities one by one, eventually causing this Amon to disintegrate into a puddle of "Worm of Time."
The demigod-level Amon struggled symbolically a few times; the "Worm of Time" on his body quickly became coated with a thin layer of gray, and then, obediently, he transformed back into a stable humanoid form.
Amon and Nimrod looked at each other.
Nimrod and Nimrod looked at each other.
"I still retain a part of Amon's self-perception. Hmm, I can feel that there is a nest of my existence in this city. Do you need me to go and eliminate them?"
The avatar in Amon's appearance naturally asked the avatar who was bearing the appearance of Hugues Artois.
Nimrod, bearing the appearance of Hugues Artois, shook his head and did not answer, only throwing a white mask to him: "Disguise yourself as Hugues Artois."
The Nimrod in Amon's appearance smiled and naturally parasitized the "smiling face."
As a demigod of the Marauder Pathway, he could now parasitize beyonder items, greatly reducing the side effects of the beyonder items while increasing their boldness.
However, Sefirah Castle had already achieved the effect of increasing the boldness of beyonder items before, and now it was just a little more insurance.
After all, what Nimrod had to face was, after all, an Angel-level Amon.
He had already prepared to abandon this avatar of Hugues Artois, instead extracting Hugues Artois's spirit body, and when he signed a contract with the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun again, he would use Hugues Artois's spirit body to deceive everyone.
As for Hugues Artois's original body?
This, it was not needed.
This was merely a physical body; if he could escape from the Angel-level Amon at the cost of consuming a physical body, this didn't even count as a price.
The most precious consumable among them was merely this "Worm of Time" that had been condensed directly by Sefirah Castle before.
It was indeed a pity to use it up directly, but Nimrod only needed to recover slightly to split out another "Worm of Time."
However, before that, he still had to do one thing—
It was now late at night; Hugues Artois's sudden disappearance would not attract anyone's attention.
Nimrod's three avatars stepped out simultaneously, twisting their wrists with extremely high synchronization, instantly crossing the distance of time and space, and appearing in the "Unique" bar.
The next moment, as gray mist appeared on their bodies, the three Nimrods twisted their right hands simultaneously.
Pieces of monocles floated out from every person in the "Unique" bar, falling into Nimrod's hands, emitting brilliant light representing Beyonder power.
In the absence of other Angels, this was the might of an Angel.
It was just a pity that for Nimrod at the moment, this was only a one-time use trial card.
He withdrew his gaze, Stole time again, and returned to the original position of the three avatars.
Although some time was consumed, there were still a few hours before he could "go back."
He looked at the countdown on the back of his hand, which had become somewhat blurry, and in a flash of inspiration, a bold idea arose—
Nimrod carefully placed the index finger and thumb of his left hand on the center of the countdown on the back of his right hand, then slowly pulled them apart.
The next moment, the blurry countdown turned into a stretched-out circle, like a clock.
Nimrod gently pinched the hour hand that had already moved one large notch and dialed it to the end.
Chapter 214 "Mr. A"
As the hour hand was dialed to the end, a gray mist emerged around Nimrod.
At the same time, the "Amon" clone standing beside the "Hugues Artois" clone raised its hand and performed a Steal from within the body of "Hugues Artois".
Nimrod had not forgotten the promise he made to Anthony Reid, so he specifically preserved the spirit body of Hugues Artois.
He casually took the soul handed over by the "Amon" clone, and conveniently retrieved a talisman from Sefirah Castle to Seal it, preventing it from dissipating.
The gray fog quickly shrouded the scene around Nimrod. The Hugues Artois clone raised its head, a strange smile slowly appearing on the corners of its mouth, as it voluntarily entered a state of loss of control before "returning".
In the Lord of the Mysteries World, the Angel-level Amon frowned, suddenly sensing something amiss.
At the moment the parasitism began, he had indeed read many things. In the mind of this "Sefirah Castle favored", there existed a large amount of secret knowledge. This did not surprise Amon, because those who serve secret existences would inevitably involve themselves with similar knowledge.
—But now, all this secret knowledge had disappeared, and even the clone he had sent to parasitize it had vanished as well.
Amon frowned, sensing that something was wrong.
Several clones immediately appeared by His side. The Angel-level clone protected these clones in front of it, and only after cautiously placing a layer of weak sequence 4 clone protection did it cast its gaze back onto this "Sefirah Castle favored".
This was because the weak sequence 4 clones had lower carrying capacity and could disconnect faster after receiving high-concentration contamination, protecting His own Angel-level clone.
A low-Sequence Amon's life, of course, was not a life.
But the moment His gaze landed on this "Sefirah Castle favored", Amon's pupils constricted slightly. He saw the "Sefirah Castle favored" before him wearing a strange smile, collapsing in a matter of seconds into countless Worms of Time stained with gray mist.
Almost simultaneously, the Angel Amon relayed the situation here to His main body, while He himself quickly disappeared from the spot, taking the opportunity to withdraw the clones that had gone to chase Triss and Prince EdSack.
Before leaving Backlund, He raised His head again, looking at the blood-red Sun in the sky, the corners of His mouth slightly pursed downwards.
In the sky, Medici, who had the status but lacked the characteristics and relied entirely on the power of the True Creator, seemed to have fallen into a disadvantage. Amon glanced at Medici, and the scene of Medici's Death once again surfaced in His mind.
"I never thought that one day I would say the term 'Leodero's Angel'. What an ironic joke."
The Red Angel laughed crazily. The black armor on His body was composed entirely of the aura of Depravity, and the inverted cross on His chest was especially conspicuous.
Under the illumination of the red Sun, there were only a few "people" in the sky who could still stand in the air.
The Red Angel Medici and Gade II, the Pope of the Lord of Storms, stood in a silent standoff in the sky—perhaps not silent, for the disasters summoned by "Calamity" were whistling toward Medici, and the abilities Medici was using at this moment were not those of the "Hunter" Pathway, but rather, He held a black longsword, every strike carrying the terrifying power to sever spirit bodies.
He was currently borrowing the power of the True Creator, relying on the "Hunter" card borrowed back from Nimrod to maintain the power and status He had in life.
And below the two, several demigods were also engaged in fierce combat and breakout attempts.
Although he had already received orders to transfer, "Singer of God" Ace Snake, who had not yet left due to the need for handover work, was also currently throwing himself into the battle.
Opposite him were two demigods of the Aurora Order, "The Dark Saint" and "Saint of Secrets".
Of course, another demigod who had also come for handover work and remained in Backlund was "Deep Blue Priest" Radar Valentine. He was currently fighting side by side with the "Singer of God", his gaze inevitably carrying a hint of pity for this colleague.
He had originally thought that Ace Snake was overly affected by the potion due to poor digestion, resulting in frequent carelessness, but he hadn't expected that this colleague had been silently bearing immense pressure in Backlund all along.
To have persisted for so long under the circumstances with so many monsters and freaks, he was truly a model for the Church of Storms.
"The True Creator is about to descend. Take the Sealed Artifacts and raid the site of the Aurora Order's God Descent Ritual."
"The Lord of Storms is watching us. Do not fear, do not be afraid, and do not forget your identities and duties!"
"Behind us are the Believers of Backlund!"
Rage flowed in Ace Snake's eyes. He finally knew who had been causing trouble in Backlund all this time.
—Although there was no direct evidence, it must be these two old rivals before him.
He looked at the two old rivals before him, while using the abilities of the "Cataclysmic Interrer" to block them, and simultaneously using the loud voice brought by his Beyonder abilities to directly transmit his orders to each of the "Punishers" of the Church of Storms.
The paralysis caused by the departure of all the high-ranking members of the Church of Storms did not exist, and Ace Snake did not need to use any schemes to disrupt the Aurora Order's God Descent Ritual; after all, the Church of Storms' actions were always to openly crush the opposition.
—Of course, not being able to weave too many schemes was also one of the reasons.
However, "Saint of Secrets" and "The Dark Saint" had now fallen into a disadvantage, because in addition to these two demigods, other hidden demigod powerhouses of the Church of Storms were gradually arriving from other cities. Except for Pathways like "Door" that could communicate with the Spirit World, the demigods of the Church of Storms were the most mobile.
The sky was illuminated like daylight by lightning and storms, and the defenses woven by the two were being constantly broken through. The "Punishers", relying on the churches, were gradually rushing toward the East Borough.
"Where are the people from the Church of the Night?"
Inside the Church of Storms, the leader of the "Punisher" squad asked. The member of the "Machinery Hivemind" who had come to assist said with a grave expression to the leader of the "Punisher" squad: "The Demoness Sect raided the Church of the Night; three 'Demoness of Undying' are currently battling Archbishop Anthony Stevenson."
"The 'Nighthawks' are trying their best to locate the cultists, soothe the spirits of the ordinary people, and slow down the progress of the True Creator's God Descent."
The tremendous noise in the sky remained, yet the atmosphere in the church suddenly froze for a moment.
The eyes of the "Punisher" squad leader almost popped out: "Three?"
"Demoness of Undying" were Beyonders with a higher Sequence than their direct superior, the "Singer of God"!
The Demoness Sect actually sent out three at once? It seems there is no point in counting on support from the Church of the Night; the situation they are facing is no better than ours.
The "Punisher" squad leader gritted his teeth and continued to ask the "Machinery Hivemind" member, this time his face filled with even more unsettling gravity: "Then what about the military? Why hasn't the support from Military Intelligence Section Nine appeared yet?"
"We haven't been able to contact the demigods of Military Intelligence Section Nine; they seem to be tracking a Beyonder who was previously wanted by them, seemingly a high-Sequence individual of the 'Death' Pathway—"
The "Machinery Hivemind" member beside him broke into a cold sweat, while the face of the "Punisher" squad leader became even uglier. After remaining silent for a few seconds, he immediately said to the other members beside him: "Let's go."
"The Archbishop has already indicated to us the location of the True Creator's God Descent Ritual."
Suppressing his inner emotions, he analyzed as calmly as possible: "The Lord is currently fighting against the Evil God. Before the Lord descends His might, we must clear the obstacles for the Lord."
A bolt of lightning flashed outside the window, illuminating the faces of all the "Punishers" and "Machinery Hivemind" members in the church. At this moment, everyone present looked solemn, even carrying a hint of tragic heroism.
Official Beyonders always walked on the edge of danger, and when the "Punisher" captain made this choice, their fate was, to some extent, already sealed.
To stop the descent of the True Creator, to prevent the destruction of Backlund, they were willing to pay everything.
And their lives were just one of the most insignificant parts of this sacrifice.
Gale, heavy rain, lightning.
Although the battleground between the Lord of Storms and the True Creator was in the Astral World, even the power slightly leaked from the collision of symbols was enough to change the landscape of Backlund on a large scale.
Violent lightning flowed over every building that was too tall, turning these buildings into ash inch by inch.
But Backlund was not plunged into chaos and panic at this moment.
The "Nighthawks" had done their best to soothe the places where problems might arise, and talismans and Beyonder abilities took turns playing their roles, allowing the residents of Backlund to sleep soundly under the iron curtain of the outside world.
The cooperation with the Aurora Order was known only to a small number of high-ranking members of the Church of the Night; for ordinary "Nighthawks", they were unaware of this matter.
Death seemed inevitable, and all they could do now was to do their own jobs well, preventing the disaster in the East Borough from spreading to other areas of Backlund, and preventing despair and deathly silence from accelerating the process of the True Creator's God Descent.
In the gloomy and dark underground of the East Borough, the Church of Storms squad had already broken in. They were quickly clearing out the Aurora Order members—at this time, most of the missionaries and pious Believers had been dispatched to various parts of the East Borough, leading the poor of the East Borough to pray to the True Creator, so as to provide the foundation for the True Creator's God Descent.
Therefore, the Beyonders of the Church of Storms and the Church of Steam were rapidly approaching this place.
Mr. A's gaze fell on Megoos. At this moment, Megoos's abdomen was highly distended, but there was no pain on her face, only peace and tenderness.
"Time might not be enough—"
Mr. A muttered, listening to the thunderous storm sounds and the faint footsteps getting closer and closer above his head. His spiritual intuition told him that some kind of disaster he could hardly resist seemed to be about to descend.
That was the power belonging to another deity, and only a deity could confront a deity.
After a few seconds, Mr. A suddenly made up his mind. He opened his arms and peacefully closed his eyes.
Before the arrival of the Divine Envoy, his idea was to let himself serve as the container for the True Creator's God Descent, using his own body to carry the Lord's will, allowing the Lord to walk upon the earth.
And now the God Descent Ritual was more than half complete; what was lacking for the True Creator was merely a body sufficient to contain His will.
As a favored of the True Creator and the Divine Envoy of the Aurora Order, Mr. A's own body met this requirement.
"Ms. Megoos," Mr. A said calmly, "Time is not enough. I am not willing to risk the ritual being interrupted by the Lord of Storms—let me carry the Lord's will."
After speaking, he did not wait for Megoos's answer, but quickly began to pray.
Megoos's eyeballs moved slightly. She did not have the strength to make much of a response at this time, only nodding gently, her gaze looking toward the sky: "He is watching us—"
"He loves us—"
The True Creator also seemed to realize that within the short few minutes of the actual God Descent, He would be caught by the Lord of Storms, who would take the opportunity to descend a True Deity-level attack with the help of the "Punishers" who had located the site of the God Descent Ritual. Therefore, faced with Mr. A's prayer, He chose to allow it.
Megoos's voice was like a murmur, and Mr. A had already begun to modify the direction of the ritual.
With the flow of those spirits in the air, Megoos's abdomen withered away, and Mr. A's body seemed to have faint signs of melting like a candle.
The noisy footsteps truly approached Mr. A this time. Mr. A only felt that he had returned to the time when he was struggling to survive in his childhood; any movement was, for the then-young Mr. A, a terror sufficient to take his life.
But now it was different.
Mr. A smiled. He straightened his body and held his hands out level, looking like a blood-colored cross that was melting.
An indescribable will was invading his mind bit by bit, followed by countless sounds of prayer.
The young, the old, the strong, the weak.
The haze in the sky pressed down like an iron curtain. Regardless of age or gender, all the poor in the East Borough did not fall into a deep sleep like the residents of other districts.
The Church of the Night seemed to have deliberately avoided this place, or perhaps not deliberately; after all, the East Borough was too large and was the earliest location of the disaster outbreak, and they were truly unable to do anything despite wanting to.
Mr. A's pupils trembled slightly. He whispered a prayer, and his vision became blurry.
He blinked, and the surrounding noise seemed to be quickly fading away. The scene before his eyes had already undergone a wonderful transformation.
In the pitch-black world that seemed like the end of the world, a blood-colored Sun stood quietly there. At the bottom of the Sun, a pitch-black cross stood upside down, and bound to the cross was a painful man hanging upside down.
He was like one shouldering all the sins, hanging upside down at the end of the world as if punishing Himself.
This man seemed to notice Mr. A's gaze. He opened his single eye, which was the same color as the blood-red Sun. The extremely insane will seemed to want to gradually melt Mr. A's will in an instant—
But in a flash, Mr. A suddenly saw a faint grayish-white, and his consciousness became clear again.
He saw a Darkness, saw countless pale golden light spots.
He opened His eyes and declared in a low voice: "My lamb, you shall be resurrected from the tangled roots after seven days! (Note 1)"
With a "bang".
Several heavily armed "Punishers" broke open the door.