The sky was shrouded by the eerie blue force field of the Prime Crystal Suppression Tower, taking on a sickly, leaden gray hue.
“For God’s order! Purge the heretics!”
On the opposite side of the battlefield, the Archbishop held high the Box of Atonement, a sacred relic crafted from the Demon Rose.
His voice, amplified by a magical array, boomed across the wasteland like rolling thunder.
Behind him, 100 Holy Arbitrators held heavy silver shields engraved with intricate exorcism runes, forming an impenetrable wall of steel.
Behind that defensive line, two black Magic Guide Cannons were being slowly adjusted by warlocks of the Human Realm.
Inside the barrels, high-energy mana was compressed to the limit, emitting a hum that made the very earth tremble.
“Horned Demon heavy cavalry! Charge! Don’t give them a chance to lock onto their targets!”
Ryan Marces stood on the high ground, his wine-red hair whipping wildly in the gale.
He stared intently at the two charging Magic Guide Cannons, screaming his orders at the top of his lungs.
This was the only way to break the stalemate — trading speed for survival, crashing into the enemy ranks before the cannons could fire to disrupt their formation.
“For the Amber Corridor! For the little ones!”
The Horned Demon Centurion roared, a 300-pound battle-axe resting on his shoulder.
His muscles bulged like solid rock as he led three hundred Horned Demon heavy cavalry in a desperate charge.
The earth shook, and the sound of hooves thundered through the air.
However, the charging speed of the Magic Guide Cannons exceeded everyone’s expectations.
“Merciful pardon,” the Archbishop whispered softly, as if soothing a crying infant, before coldly lowering his scepter.
*BOOM — !!!*
A blinding blue light tore through the air.
There was no fiery explosion, only pure annihilation.
The fifty Horned Demon heavy cavalry at the very front were instantly vaporized, shields and all.
The blue light passed through their bodies without losing momentum, slamming violently into the rocks behind them.
There was no sound of clashing metal, only a dull thud so heavy it felt like it would stop a person’s heart.
The Centurion didn’t even have time to scream.
Half of his body vanished instantly, and the remaining portion was carbonized by the extreme heat, turning into a charred hunk of withered wood that crashed to the ground while still maintaining its charging posture.
“Brother!” A Horned Demon warrior in the back row shouted, his eyes nearly bursting from their sockets.
That was his older brother!
The heavy cavalry’s formation shattered instantly, but it did not break the spirit of the Horned Demons.
The survivors, their eyes blood-red, roared as they crashed into the Holy Arbitrators’ shield wall.
“For the Corridor!!!”
“Kill!!!”
The Horned Demons swung their 300-pound battle-axes, using raw, monstrous strength to clash with the Holy Arbitrators’ warhammers.
*Clang — !*
The sound of metal hitting metal was deafening.
One Horned Demon was struck in the shoulder plate by a warhammer, his armor shattering.
But he used the force of the impact to swing his axe in a wide arc, slicing a Holy Arbitrator in half, shield and all!
Blood sprayed onto the silver shields.
The Horned Demons used their own flesh and blood to force a gap, descending into a brutal melee with the Holy Arbitrators.
“Damn it, the distance is too great! The remaining cavalry can’t make it through! Ailia! Light Wall! Cover them!”
Ailia’s white combat robes were already stained with dust and blood.
She knelt among the ruins, her hands pressed firmly against the ground, as the rose mark on the side of her neck emitted a faint but steady glow.
“Light Wall: Dome!”
A massive, translucent dome of light rose above the heads of the remaining Horned Demon heavy cavalry, attempting to block the second blast from the Magic Guide Cannons.
However, it was futile.
The blue light of the second cannon fire whistled through the air.
The dome lasted for only half a second before shattering like glass.
Ailia’s body jerked violently as she coughed up a mouthful of blood, flying backward like a broken kite and slamming hard against a ruined stone wall.
“Ailia!”
Ryan rushed to her side.
Ailia’s face was as white as paper, the glow of her rose mark dimmed almost to extinction, and her breathing had become shallow.
“Ryan…” Ailia opened her eyes with difficulty, her gaze filled with despair.
“The cannon fire is too strong… I did my best, but I couldn’t stop it…”
“It’s okay. Leave the rest to me,” Ryan said, his voice raspy as he comforted her.
“Blood…”
Ailia understood immediately.
With trembling fingers, she unbuttoned her collar, revealing the blooming rose on the side of her neck.
Ryan leaned down, his fangs piercing her skin.
Symbiotic power erupted!
Ailia’s blood, shimmering with the faint light of the holy element, flowed into Ryan’s body.
His pupils instantly ignited with flames of mingled gold and crimson.
‘I finally found them! Those rats are behind the tower!’
Ryan snapped his head up, looking toward a high point on the flank of the battlefield — there, the enemy’s high-level warlocks were operating the Magic Guide Cannons.
“Gold-Erosion Hou! Destroy them!”
Furnace-tempered gold instantly condensed into a construct beast flowing with liquid golden flames, which roared as it pounced toward the enemy’s center formation!
Everywhere the golden flames passed, the silver shields melted like wax.
“Ah — !!!”
The Holy Arbitrators screamed in terror, dropping their shields to flee, only to be instantly consumed by the golden flames behind them.
They turned to ash before they could even finish their cries.
*Roar — !*
The golden flame beast opened its massive maw and bit down hard on the base of the left Magic Guide Cannon.
The high temperature instantly melted the steel supports.
The Gold-Erosion Hou tore at the cannon body frantically, ripping the monstrous war machine from its foundation and slamming it into the ground!
*Rumble!*
The left Magic Guide Cannon turned into a heap of scrap metal in a violent explosion, and the resulting shockwave from the destroyed power core knocked over dozens of nearby warlocks.
However, the Archbishop was not angry.
Looking at his subordinates being consumed by the golden flames, his eyes even held a hint of pity, as if he were looking at a group of disappointing children.
“O stray lambs…” he sighed softly, raising the Box of Atonement.
“God’s Forbidden Realm; mortal blood cannot break it.”
100 phantom Demon Roses flew out from the box, forming a pink sealing array in the air — an elegy of the souls of 100 magical girls.
The Gold-Erosion Hou crashed into the array, letting out a pained whimper.
Its golden flames dimmed rapidly before finally collapsing into scattered sparks.
“Why resist?” the Archbishop’s voice echoed over the battlefield with a condescending tenderness.
“Children of the Amber Corridor, your struggle will only make your salvation more painful. God loves the world; even for outliers like you, as long as you kneel and repent, I am willing to leave your corpses intact.”
He raised his scepter again, pointing toward the entrance of the underground tunnels within the city.
The smile on his face vanished, replaced by a fanatical coldness.
“Magic Guide Cannon, charge to maximum power! I will bury these rats alive underground and let them reflect on their sins in the darkness!”
The barrel of the last remaining Magic Guide Cannon lit up again with a piercing blue light.
This time, the glow was more dazzling than ever before, twisting the surrounding air into a vortex.
The countdown to death had begun.
Ryan tried to summon the Gold-Erosion Hou for another charge, but controlling it just now had drained most of his strength.
He could only watch helplessly as the destructive light gathered.
‘Is it really over?’
At that moment —
“Jin! Three o’clock! Wind speed correction!”
A cold and steady female voice pierced through the clamor of the battlefield like a sharp sword.
Thanks to the chaotic battle the Horned Demon heavy cavalry had bought with their lives, the front line had been torn to shreds.
Xue Yin and Jin took advantage of the confusion to strike from the shadows on the flank, like a pair of lethal daggers aimed straight at the enemy’s heart.
A ball of ink-black fire condensed in Jin’s palm, which he threw violently toward Xue Yin.
Xue Yin had already bitten her fingertip, and a drop of High Elf blood shimmering with a pink-gold aura floated in mid-air.
“Explosive Flame Vine Cage!” — This was the combined technique they had practiced for half a month.
The moment the fireball hit the drop of blood, it erupted!
The ink-black flames instantly transformed into countless burning fire vines.
They were not ordinary elemental constructs, but were fused with the life force of the High Elf bloodline.
The fire vines ignored the suppression of the Prime Crystal Tower, winding like living creatures toward the Archbishop, who was preparing to chant a defensive spell.
“What?!” A flash of shock crossed the Archbishop’s eyes.
The fire vines instantly entangled his limbs, the high temperature scorching his holy robes as they dragged him bodily out of the center of the magic array.
More lethally, several fire vines slithered like snakes into the barrel of the right Magic Guide Cannon.
“No! Retreat!”
The warlocks operating the cannon screamed in terror.
*BOOM — !!!*
The high-energy mana inside the barrel was ignited by the fire vines.
The entire Magic Guide Cannon exploded from the inside out, and a massive fireball swallowed everything in its vicinity.
As the dust settled, two figures emerged from the ruins.
Xue Yin was mottled with blood, her silver hair in disarray.
Behind her, Jin had his black hair tied high and held two blood-stained daggers.
The wound on his left shoulder was deep enough to see the bone, yet his gaze remained as sharp as a wolf’s.
“A High Elf and black flames…”
The Archbishop struggled, his silver chains crushing the fire vines, but his sleeves were charred, and he looked pathetic.
He straightened his messy collar, and for the first time, a look of wariness flashed in his eyes — though it was quickly overtaken by a twisted excitement.
“You have defiled God’s order! But it does not matter. The more noble the soul, the more beautiful its repentance sounds.”
“Do you even deserve to represent God’s will?!” Xue Yin replied furiously.
Her gaze swept over the mountain of corpses on the battlefield — those faces that had been laughing during the Red Flame Festival were now cold and stiff.
“Jin, charge with me! Tear down that tower!”
“Yes!”
The two of them charged together toward the towering Prime Crystal Suppression Tower.
Ryan and Ailia provided full cover from behind, their Light Wall and golden flames weaving into a web of fire to tear a path for them.
However, just as they were 100 meters away from the suppression tower…
The Archbishop’s Box of Atonement floated into the air.
The 100 phantom Demon Roses suddenly expanded, transforming into a massive pink cage that slowly pressed down.
“God’s Judgment: Rose Funeral!”
“Urgh…” Xue Yin let out a muffled groan as her knees slammed into the ground.
The Waxwood Wand in her hand could no longer bear the strain.
With a sharp *crack*, it snapped in two.
The Amethyst on the wand flew off and embedded itself in the back of Xue Yin’s hand, causing blood to flow.
She felt as if her internal organs were being crushed by this power; every breath felt like swallowing broken glass.
Jin’s condition was even worse.
*Cough…*
Jin spat out a mouthful of blood, and thin streaks of crimson began to seep from his eyes, nose, and ears.
His vision began to blur, and the sounds around him became sharp and piercing.
Yet he still gritted his teeth, kneeling on the ground with both hands braced against the earth, trying to use his willpower to resist the crushing weight falling from the sky.
“Give up, poor children.”
The Archbishop looked down at them like they were ants, a compassionate smile on his face.
“In the face of God’s radiance, your bonds are nothing but a joke. Don’t be afraid. It won’t hurt much longer. I will extract your souls and roast them slowly over the holy fire until your remains are truly put to good use.”
Jin gritted his teeth, looking at the swaying Xue Yin beside him.
He heard the sound of her bones creaking under the pressure — the sound of the person he cherished most being destroyed.
The blood-red color in his eyes grew thicker as he reached toward his wrist with a trembling hand.
Beneath the thick black cloth, the crimson-gold patterns were fully visible.
‘Master, I might… have to break my oath…’