Chapter 617 Death Knell and Sacrifice
From the moment this demigod from the Aurora Society appeared, Angel decided the order of attacking the targets and focused all his energy on dealing with this saint.
Naturally, her first goal was to deal with the "Man in the Mirror" Pierce Turner, and secondly to assist Klein in herding Mr. X. As long as the latter fully activated his "disease" ability, he would die here without being able to use "travel".
But the threat of a demigod is greater than anything else. She believes that no matter how malicious the "Man in the Mirror" is, when his surface identity is "Nighthawk", he will make the same choice as her.
Looking at the black-armored knight burning in the black flames, Angel did not immediately appear from the mirror. Instead, he turned his gaze to Mr. X, Louis Wayne, who was unlucky enough to be standing still on the battlefield due to the negative effects of some magical item.
It was as if he had just recovered from the effects of losing his mind, and his eyes behind the bronze mask regained clarity. Looking at the carpet of flesh and blood around him, the burning "Dark Saint" and the Night Watcher with a huge spirit emerging from his body, he remembered what he had to do.
This damn "Blood Flower" ring suddenly has negative effects at this time. I am so unlucky... Mr. X complained in his mind, and suddenly remembered the "Queen of Disaster and Terror" in the name of the Goddess of Night, and seemed to understand the reason for his sudden misfortune.
Without further hesitation, the illusory book appeared in front of him again. However, before he could turn the page, he had a very bad premonition in his heart. He stopped moving instantly and used a short distance to "travel" to the other end of the room. At his original position, a ball of black flame gradually fell because it had no attachments, burning gaps in the surrounding carpet of flesh and blood.
Mr. X, who escaped the disaster, was not spared. He felt the air he exhaled became hot, his head felt dizzy, and his lungs seemed to be filled with liquid, making it difficult for him to breathe.
The invisible "disease" is still affecting him.
On the other side, the black armor on the body of the "Dark Saint" Xesma kept changing between the thick fog and the entity, and finally got rid of the black flames burning him. The faint shadow under his feet suddenly stretched out, pointing to Pierce in front, and then rose from the ground, turning into a black shadow that was as tall as Xesma but thinner, and collided with the spirit released by Pierce.
Suddenly, an invisible hurricane surged around, but it was as sharp as a knife. All the windows and mirrors shattered in the vibration. Although it did not affect their original bodies in reality, these mirrors were no longer usable in this mirror world.
Angel's figure appeared from the last empty corner. In this living room that had become a "mirror world", there was no mirror, and she could not hide in the deeper mirror for long.
The four extraordinary people were standing in different positions, and amid the huge noise of the collision between the spirit and the shadow, there was a brief vacuum of action.
This was exactly what the "Dark Saint" wanted. His goal at this moment remained unchanged. Seeing that the demigod witch, the Nighthawk who was still a little distance away from the demigod, stopped suppressing him because of a coordination error, he quickly raised the long sword in his hand, chopped it down with one hand, and pointed it directly at the "Nighthawk" Pierce with a tremendous force.
The latter's expression remained unchanged as a huge spirit emerged from his body again. This was the original ability he retained when he jumped from the "Gatekeeper" of the Death Path to the "Night Watcher" of the Night Path. He used the unique "Underworld" in his body to accommodate multiple spirits and use them for his own purposes in battle.
He is not afraid of this kind of war of attrition at all.
But the next moment, as the long sword shattered the spirit and rushed towards the head, Pierce's expression finally changed. He had no time to dodge and was cut in half by the sharp blade that could corrode flesh, annihilate souls, and cut through barriers, like a hot knife cutting butter.
Xesma, who cast the "Blade of Flesh and Soul", did not feel happy. His gaze only stayed on the two halves of Pierce for a moment, and then he focused again on the side where the witch was. There stood an intact "Nighthawk", and the human body that he had hit turned into pieces of flickering mirror fragments and disappeared into thin air.
A magical item? Or is it a power granted to him by the mirror world?
Questions arose in Kersma's mind, but his original purpose was not to kill someone, but to solve the "mirror world" that suppressed his abilities, increased the enemy's combat power, and even prevented him from leaving.
He raised the long sword that he had cut down again and swung out another "Blade of Flesh and Soul", but this time, the skin under his black armor was torn inch by inch, and his flesh and blood squirmed like boiling water, mixed with deep black. Inside the cracks, eyes seemed to be hidden in the shadows, looking out.
In an instant, Angel and Pierce both felt a strong aura of decadence enveloping the entire room. Angel just frowned slightly, feeling a little uncomfortable, but Pierce, who was also a "demigod", performed much worse. He looked away involuntarily, not daring to look at the black-armored knight. The spirit that emerged from his body returned directly to darkness, as if it had never appeared.
Mr. X's nerves, already tormented by his illness, finally snapped. He opened his mouth and let out a sharp, frantic yell.
"ah--"
The cry stopped abruptly as soon as it appeared, and the short but effective "incomplete mythical creature form" of "Dark Saint" Xesma ended in less than a second.
The reason why he took such a huge risk to make such a choice was naturally to drive the "Blade of Soul and Flesh" and swing it through the air with an effect far beyond usual, directly cutting through the barrier that separated the mirror world and reality in front of him.
"Bang!"
The invisible, illusory sound of mirrors breaking rang in everyone's ears, and the living room in front of Angel changed from a strange scene covered with bloody carpets to an empty but warm gathering place illuminated by dim gas lights.
Aside from the fact that the other attendees had already run away, nothing was different from five minutes ago.
As the "mirror world" shattered, Angel could clearly feel that Pierce's feeling of being a demigod, which was not much different from hers, became weaker. On the opposite side, the black-armored knight, who had briefly entered the incomplete form of a mythical creature and was now exhausted and a little hunched, had recovered into a true "demigod".
The advantage that the sealed object "1-63" brought to them has disappeared.
Mr. X, the only one present who could not withstand the damage caused by the mythical creature's form, also reacted. His resentment towards the "Dark Saint" turned into gratitude, and his subconscious desire to use "travel" to leave also turned into assisting his own demigod to deal with the Nighthawks and the witch who inexplicably attacked him.
By using short-distance "travel", he can avoid attacks from others as much as possible. As long as a "traveler" is free, his recording ability will be a nightmare for other extraordinary people.
Moreover, he had recorded four types of demigods here, extraordinary, able to...
The next moment, his thoughts, which had become brisk due to the reversal of the battle situation, suddenly became stagnant, as if cement was poured into his head, replacing his brain that had been transformed by potions and could record countless abilities.
What...situation...
Are there... other... enemies... on the field?
It took Mr. X a full ten seconds to figure out what was happening to him. He slowly opened his mouth and wanted to call for help, but his body suddenly became cold and numb. An invisible spirit penetrated his body, making him lose control of everything except his thoughts. But even this little bit of controllable thoughts became increasingly sluggish and dull.
Traveling...short distances...
He barely managed to control his spiritual power and drew complex symbols in his mind, but after just a few strokes, his limbs and body movements were interrupted. He raised his hands and his lips moved, as if making a gesture to release the ability to "record", but he did not use his spiritual power to actually activate it, as if he was hesitating which ability to choose.
In his eyes, the "Dark Saint" in black armor in front of him became tall again, wielding a giant sword and fighting with a witch who kept changing her position, occasionally drilling into the mirror that had become complete again, and then reappearing. On the other side of the two, the black-robed Night Watchman kept summoning spirits to assist in the battle, making the Black Knight unable to move and suffering from bad luck. However, the witch was in high spirits and kept suppressing the enemy.
All of this was as if the movement had been slowed down ten times, forming a series of frozen images in front of him. Mr. X knew that it was not because the other three demigods were as slow as children, but that his brain was too slow to process complex information, and could only slowly unfold the scenes he saw.
Help……
He shouted silently, but his mouth was tightly closed under the control of the possessed vengeful spirit. Even the disease that had caused him to have a fever, cough, and almost collapse stopped working, as if it was worried that these injuries would awaken the "spiritual thread" in his body.
So... so, they... are... a... group...
Mr. X watched helplessly as he walked towards his death in slow motion. Although the "Dark Saint" realized that something was wrong and wanted to get closer to rescue his companions, he was restricted by invisible threads and was attacked by frost and black flames in turn, leaving him no time to take care of himself.
Despair was like an invisible giant hand gripping his heart, causing his heartbeat, which had already slowed down due to being controlled by the spiritual thread, to almost stop.
Behind him, the figure of Klein, who had been invisible all this time, gradually emerged. He was still wearing a hooded cloak and an iron mask on his face. He was almost stuck to Mr. X's back, manipulating the other party's spiritual thread at the closest distance.
That's right, he was not "pushed away" from the mirror world by Angel before the battle began. Instead, she used her demigod-level invisibility to cover his whereabouts and hid him in the living room where the four were fighting. After Mr. X fell into a daze due to the side effects of the magical item, she began to initially control the opponent's spiritual line and wait for an opportunity.
And now is the best chance!
This "Master of Secret Puppetry" who had been hiding behind the scenes maintained the guiding thread of the spirit with one hand, and reached into the pocket under his cloak with the other hand, and turned to the three pages in "Lemanno's Travel Notes" that recorded the demigod's abilities.
The texture of this burnt, hard paper was obviously different from the other pages. He quickly selected two of them with his nimble fingers, felt the uneven patterns on them with his fingertips, and then poured his own spirituality into it.
"Lightning Storm!"
"tornado!"
The two abilities of the demigod of the "Storm" path were activated one after another, and the "Scepter of Poseidon" roared, bringing divine punishment equally to every living being.
Silver-white lightning bolts emerged from the living room, entangled with each other, and struck down along random paths. The first to be hit was the "Dark Saint" Xesma, who was wearing metal armor and holding a long sword. The darkness condensed on his body shattered in an instant, and the armor pieces fell off, revealing a face underneath that looked very young, with outstanding features, but shrouded in dark shadows.
Before anyone else was struck by the lightning, another explosion sounded, and a visible tornado appeared in the center of the living room.
It swirled, expanded, and rose, sweeping up the tables, chairs, sofas, and gas lamps on the wall. Then the four flimsy walls and the ceiling above were all swept up. The two-story building was destroyed by the terrifying hurricane in almost a second, and the wreckage was swept into it, turning it into an unrecognizable pile of debris.
The same happened to the five people present. Kesma, who was closest to the tornado, had a body over two meters tall and was as light as a feather. He was swept into the air by the demigod-level hurricane and thrown away. Pierce and Angel beside him also flew into the air in an instant. The latter barely tied the two together with a silk thread and flew to the other side in a spin.
Klein, in the process of controlling the tornado, chose the best direction, allowing himself and Mr. X, whose body was controlled by the spirit line and the vengeful spirit, to fly towards the roof of a nearby building and land gently on the flat roof. During this period, the distance between the two never exceeded five meters, which did not exceed the control range of the spirit line.
The tornado followed Klein's plan and moved north along the deserted alley. It swept through the garbage-filled lanes along the way, sweeping them away and leaving the ground dry and clean.
Klein and Mr. X landed on the ground one after another. The latter regained some consciousness amidst the pain of the fall. Although his limbs were still out of control, complex symbols were quietly drawing in his mind.
Just...travel...get away...and you can...
His half-closed eyes were forced open by the resentful spirit. The short figure in front of him grew taller and stronger. He took off his mask with one hand, revealing a thin male face. With the other hand, he raised a revolver with a slightly longer barrel and an iron-black color, and aimed the black muzzle at him.
wait……
The next second, the muzzle of the gun in his sight lit up, the mask on his face shattered, and his brain, which recorded various demigod abilities, was crushed by the "Death Knell" and flew out from the back of his head along with the skull fragments, filling the sky with red and white.
Then, these fragments strangely stopped in mid-air, as if being pulled back into place one by one by invisible hands, and pieced together into a head covered in bullet holes and blood. Although it was a little bigger than usual, the face could still be barely recognized.
Mr. X, Louis Wayne, For You the Bell Tolls.
Klein's lips moved as he spoke silently. He quickly pulled out a dark brown-covered copy of Groselle's Travels from under his cloak and placed it directly on the face of Mr. X, who was possessed by the vengeful spirit Senior and had used his Beyonder powers to reassemble his body. He smeared his stained blood on the cover of the travelogue and sucked him into the world of the book, leaving only his marionette behind. The marionette then jumped through the mirror and entered the gold coin in Klein's pocket, ready to serve at any time.
After doing all this, he opened the "Lemanno's Travel Notes" from Miss "Magician" and turned to the page that recorded "travel".
After a moment, his figure faded on the roof and entered the spirit world.
…
Not far away, Pierce Turner was flown far away by the hurricane, and slowly descended with the help of the spirit. Beside him, the witch also landed gracefully under the effect of "lightness", and neither of them suffered any substantial damage in this strange tornado.
Looking at the "Dark Saint" who was clearly being targeted by the tornado and still in mid-air, Pierce frowned slightly, glanced at the witch beside him, hesitated for a moment, and asked softly:
"He probably hasn't been hurt enough yet. What are you going to do?"
The various spirits within him were nearly exhausted in the battle, and he found it difficult to fully utilize the extraordinary abilities of a true Sequence 4 "Night Watcher" outside of the "Mirror World." At this point, he was barely the equivalent of a powerful Sequence 5, and clearly unable to defeat the Aurora Saint in a head-on battle.
And while this witch didn't hesitate to engage in battle with the two members of the Aurora Society, her identity and purpose were unknown, making him unsure of their position.
"Aren't you an official Beyonder? Where's the support?" the witch asked back.
"With such a big commotion, support from the three major churches is on the way."
Pierce answered confidently.
This was the internal process of the church he was familiar with. In Backlund, when this kind of demigod-level lightning and tornado appeared, it would take less than two minutes for the saints of the three major churches to arrive, especially after the "Aurora Society" and the "Witch Cult" had caused chaos in the capital.
This was also the reason why he was willing to delay time when he discovered that Aurora had a demigod here.
This is a home game!
"That's good."
The witch, who had a slender figure under her cloak but an iron mask on her face, spoke in a strange tone, which made Pierce take a few steps away from her with some caution. His eyes kept shifting between the black shadow that had just escaped from the tornado and landed on the ground in the distance and the witch in front of him.
"I haven't had the chance to ask, who are you..."
He had just asked the question that had been on his mind for a long time but he had no time to think about it because of the intense battle. He felt his forehead burning hot, and his body, which had consumed most of its spiritual power, became limp. The figure of the witch in his sight was getting closer and closer, but it was getting more and more blurred.
It's a "disease"!
But how did it happen so quickly? Could it be... that she had already attacked me during the fight just now?
This thought suddenly flashed through Pierce's mind.
He gathered his remaining spiritual energy and tried to release the spirit of the "Underworld" in his body, but found that only black flames came out. The "bad luck" that he tried to control fell on deaf ears and seemed to have no effect on the other party.
Oops, now it's Sequence 5 versus Sequence 4, and without the assistance of the "Mirror World"...
The glass windows on both sides of the alley reflected his gradually collapsing figure, with cursed flames all over his body, and also reflected the witch who was half-crouching and approaching Pierce.
"Pierce Turner, no, I should call you 'The Man in the Mirror,' how does it feel to be betrayed by 'The Sword of the Goddess,' by the Archbishop, and by the Church?"
Angel's voice was as low as a whisper, but it sounded like thunder in Pierce's ears.
"You know I'm the man in the mirror? Then why do you want to deal with me?"
The "senior deacon" was barely breathing, but more and more questions were in his mind. He reluctantly opened his mouth to ask, and in addition to hot gas, there was even a trace of black flame coming out of his mouth.
"Of course, it's because I want to eliminate you, the traitor within the Goddess Church." Angel stretched out his hand to display the hidden holy emblem on his wrist, successfully seeing the despair in the other's eyes. "Also, to harvest your 'despair'."
"You are, indeed, 'desperate'. Why didn't you go to Trier..."
While speaking intermittently, black flames emerged from Pierce's eyes and nostrils, rising higher and higher, enveloping him in waves of flames. However, except for his clothes being burned to ashes, his body did not burn in the high temperature. Instead, it quickly faded away, like a shadow in a mirror exposed to strong light, and disappeared from Angel's sight.
All that was left was a piece of mirror fragment half the size of a palm, with a matte surface, as if painted with black paint. Its edges were uneven, as if it was a small piece taken from a complete mirror.
This is the last trace of the "Man in the Mirror" left in the world.
Mr. Pierce Turner, see? This is the fate of the "Man in the Mirror" who took away your identity and hid inside the church... Angel recited silently, took out the small box containing the "Night Watchman" characteristics from his pocket, opened it, took it out, put it gently on the ground, and then picked up the black mirror and put it away.
Next, Angel used the surrounding window mirrors to create a corpse "stand-in" that looked just like Pierce Turner, making him lie on the ground in a black robe as if he were asleep, next to his own extraordinary characteristics.
After a second of silence for the "corpse", Angel directly pressed another window and walked into the real "mirror world".
Behind her, the "Dark Saint" Kosma finally escaped from the tornado's wrath, transforming into a shadow, clinging to the ground and about to charge in that direction. Suddenly, as if realizing something, he froze in his tracks, then quickly dived into the sewer and disappeared.
In the distance, a hurricane swept through the smog and rushed towards this side with a sonic boom. Closer, a ball of darkness that absorbed all light had penetrated from the North District into the East District. They first locked onto the "Dark Saint", and after the target disappeared, they approached the alley destroyed by the tornado without hesitation.
Darkness arrived before the storm. Saint Anthony Stevenson, the head of the Backlund Diocese and one of the thirteen archbishops of the Goddess Church, stepped out from the gloom and into the alley. His eyes immediately fell on "Pierce Turner" lying on the ground.
After watching expressionlessly for a while and listening to the huge sound waves gradually approaching, Anthony's face showed undisguised sadness. He slowly approached Pierce's body, took off the cloak outside the archbishop's robe, and gently covered him with it.
Bang, there was a loud noise from behind, and the new archbishop of the Storm Church who replaced the "Singer of God", "Deep Blue Priest" Raydar Valentine, landed on the ground with astonishing momentum. His hair was dark blue and short and thick, and a storm was brewing in his eyes.
"Anthony? What's going on here?"
As he approached, he asked the Archbishop of the Church of the Evernight Goddess who arrived first.
The latter slowly turned around, and the sadness on his face stunned Radar.
Ever since the archbishop was promoted to Sequence 3, a similar expression has rarely appeared on his face.
"One of the church's senior deacons, the devout Pierce Turner, died heroically while attempting to capture the Aurora Society's messenger."
Anthony Stevenson said this in a painful tone and with a gloomy look on his face.
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