Hymn—Heavenly Judgment! (Please Read On)

Several minutes later, only after the brief ringing in their ears gradually subsided did the two witches come back to their senses at the sound of a familiar shout.

"Hold your breath... filter the oxygen with magic power!"

Joanne suddenly snapped awake and turned her head. Lynn stood before the blazing sea of fire, staring ahead as surging heat waves whipped his robes with a sharp rustle.

The two witches had no idea what oxygen was, but they did know how to hold their breath.

But what kind of magic was this?

Joanne was too shocked for words. Beside her, White Dove huddled against a collapsed earthen wall, so terrified by the severed limbs and flesh strewn across the ground that she could not even stand.

Lynn had little mind to spare for the witches' condition. His expression was solemn as he gazed toward the harbor pier, now reduced to ruins.

Logically, no one should have been able to survive such an explosion. Yet the truth was precisely the opposite—a figure stood upright amid the blazing inferno!

Calling it a human figure was perhaps not quite appropriate, because Antioch no longer looked human. His once magnificent gilt robes had been torn to shreds, and white phosphorus flames exceeding a thousand degrees burned over his entire body.

By all rights, Antioch should have been dead. In fact, he should have died several days ago in the great battle outside Ur Town. Yet his humble prayers had moved the eternal and great existence to grant him a trace of mercy...

A wisp of divine power forcibly sustained his life. The moment he had sensed danger earlier, Antioch had activated that sliver of divine power and overreached to cast the fourth-circle divine spell—[Sacred Barrier], barely blocking that unimaginably terrifying explosion.

However, the power of a fourth-circle divine spell was ultimately limited. It had failed to keep out the subsequent shockwaves. Temperatures exceeding a thousand degrees relentlessly roasted his flesh and organs, and his life had entered its final countdown.

At this moment, Antioch could no longer feel pain. Only the purest faith remained in his mind.

Death and pain were merely trials and hardships one had to endure on the path to the kingdom of heaven!

Antioch did not fear death. But if he could send the wizard before him to hell, then the Lord would surely grant him even greater rewards in heaven...

"Hymn—Heavenly Judgment!" Antioch's vocal cords had long since been destroyed, yet as his lips trembled, a faint glimmer appeared at his burning fingertips.

It was the purest Death Ray. The glimmer rapidly expanded... flames retreated, rubble crumbled, and everything in its path swiftly vanished beneath this power.

[Ice Curtain]

Lynn stretched out his hand, and wall after wall of solid ice crystals rose up. Yet it was useless; they were shattered almost instantly. Still, Lynn used that less-than-one-second delay to twist aside, narrowly avoiding the Death Ray.

Behind him, the pure beam of light crashed directly into the churning sea, blasting up a spray more than ten meters high.

Antioch refused to relent and cast another spell. This time, it was the wider-ranging and nearly impossible-to-evade [Apocalypse Storm]!

Just then, White Dove spoke!

A piercing sound wave instantly swept across the battlefield. Antioch's movement paused almost imperceptibly, and the storm he had just gathered dispersed along with it.

But the Archbishop quickly turned his head. Dark golden fluorescence flickered in his eyes, and without making any visible movement, White Dove seemed to have had her throat seized. The piercing sound wave abruptly stopped.

The terrifying backlash instantly shattered the witch's mental defenses. The girl's body went limp, and she collapsed to the ground, blood spilling from her mouth.

"White Dove!" Joanne hurried forward, helped the young witch up, and checked her condition.

Anger appeared on Lynn's face as well. Dozens of [Magic Missiles] appeared in the air, then quickly ignited, turning into countless miniature white phosphorus fireballs that shot toward Antioch.

Third-circle divine spell—[Divine Barrier]!

Facing the swarm of fireballs, Antioch did not dare take them head-on. He immediately shifted from offense to defense. Even with that trace of divine power bolstering him, his current condition did not permit him to continuously use higher-level divine spells. He could only respond with two [Divine Barriers].

The invisible barrier collided with the explosive fireballs and soon cracked apart under the strain. But the second [Divine Barrier] behind it remained firm, blocking all the remaining white phosphorus fireballs outside.

Just then, Lynn extended his right hand and clenched it hard!

The flames scattered around Antioch and clinging to the invisible barrier seemed to receive some kind of summons. They rapidly gathered together, forming a demonic hand made of fire that gripped Antioch sideways in its palm.

Crack...

The sudden change caught the Archbishop off guard. The already battered [Divine Barrier] was instantly crushed to pieces by the giant flaming hand. Left with no choice, Antioch directly unleashed the divine radiance within his body to contend against the dreadful white phosphorus flames.

Lynn and Antioch had both staked the last scraps of power within them. This strike would decide the victor!

Dazzling Divine Light and surging flames intertwined, cancelling each other out...

At the same moment, Joanne, still holding White Dove in her arms, shouted furiously.

"Magic Missile!"

Several spheres of magic power appeared around the girl and spun as they shot toward the Archbishop.

Under normal circumstances, Antioch would never have regarded such feeble magic as a threat. But at this moment, the incoming [Magic Missiles] became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

The stalemated balance was immediately broken. The massive flaming hand slowly pierced through the dazzling divine radiance and crushed the unwilling Archbishop until he burst apart.

Only at the very moment of death did Antioch suddenly realize that the two witches he had always ignored were not as useless as he had imagined.

Seeing Antioch's corpse crushed to pieces by [Flame Demon Hand], Lynn could not help letting out a breath of relief. Then he vigilantly scanned the surroundings, deeply worried that killing Antioch might provoke God's Wrath...

Fortunately, his fears did not come true. The terrifying pressure in the air was gradually fading away.

It was finally over...

Lynn's body swayed, and he nearly fell to the ground. After fighting one battle after another all night, his magic power and physical strength had long been exhausted, and his mind was utterly fatigued.

[Overload Mode ended. Energy remaining: 2.1%.]

The intelligent brain's prompt rang out in his mind. Lynn forced himself to stay upright, glanced toward White Dove, who lay unconscious in Joanne's arms, and asked, "How is White Dove?"

"I don't know. She's in very bad condition and needs treatment immediately," Joanne said anxiously.

Lynn looked toward the rolling horizon of the sea. Since Laud had received the signal he sent and acted according to the plan, then by his calculations, he should have arrived by now...

So why was there not even a trace of a ship...

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