Volume Five: Return from the Other Shore - Worse Than a Demon

At that moment, the Divine Might pierced the heavens, even suppressing the sun's rays.

The blinding light momentarily blinded everyone, so much so that for those few seconds no one saw a beam of supremely powerful and pure light pierce the sky, shooting straight down from the Cathedral of the True God to the horizon.

The most powerful Long-Range Snipe technique, the Myriad Wheel Heavenly Light World-Piercing Holy Spear, can even shoot directly from the Spirit Star into the crust of the moon.

Because it concentrates all its energy into a single Light Gun, there's no need to worry about the emitted energy destroying the cathedral. This is why the Celestial Law chose to use it in a close-quarters battle.

The trail of light pierced the sky, gradually thinning from a straight line into a needle, and soon disappeared completely, leaving only the dispersed clouds... and wisps of faint darkness.

Something was slowly drifting down; it was a flurry of night-colored feathers, falling like winter snow.

"Haa... haa... woo!"

A slender figure staggered out of a small, cracked choir, her delicate hands and feet worn raw, the skin and flesh rolled back like a child's mouth.

Before you lies a surging river, its clear waters encircling the Cathedral of the True God like a moat, separating it from the city outside. Only four bridges span the river, connecting the cathedral to the outside world.

It is the Holy River.

This means that the sacrificial spirit has finally escaped, just as Yu Jie said.

Looking back, the once magnificent buildings were now dilapidated, a testament to the battle between Yu Jie and Tian Lu.

But where is Yu Jie?

I kept walking through the ruins, covering my head to avoid falling rocks, and I couldn't bear to look at the explosions overhead.

What exactly happened during this period?

"... Huh?"

Something was falling, like willow catkins in spring or snowflakes in winter, even though its color was pitch black, the exact opposite of white.

"Feather?"

The spirit priest's heart skipped a beat. With trembling hands, she picked up a black feather, so light and fragile. It only lingered in her hand for a few seconds before turning into black dust and disappearing, leaving behind only an indescribable sense of familiarity.

"What... Yu Jie? Where are you? Where are you!?"

There was no response.

"Answer me! Please, answer me! Where are you!!! Yu Jie!!!!!!"

"That guy, Tianlu!"

The Pope gritted his teeth as he stared at the parted clouds in the sky and the figure of the woman floating in the air, panting.

He actually used Super Divine Spell on a mere Templar Knight?

And this was done at extremely close range with the "Myriad Wheel Heavenly Light World-Piercing Holy Spear"!?

Legend has it that the first Heavenly Law Master could use this technique to assassinate a Sect Master of the Rakshasa Divine Sect from hundreds of kilometers away!

Furthermore, using Super Divine Spell is extremely energy-consuming; even for the Celestial Law user, it leaves them in a relatively weakened state afterward! What if someone takes advantage of this weakness?

Enraged, the Pope used a telepathic spell to directly question the Heavenly Law: "What are you doing! Why did you use Super Divine Spell without my permission?"

"I'm sorry, Pope Holiness... but I believe that if this man isn't completely eliminated, there will be endless trouble ahead..."

"Enough! Judging from your weak voice, at least you prepared for a long time before unleashing 'Wrath of the God of Heavenly Punishment' last time. This time you skipped the energy accumulation step and directly extracted the Holy Power stored in your body to unleash it! What if someone takes advantage of this moment!"

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. I'll go and catch the spirit right now. It's only been a short time, she can't have gone far. As long as—"

Tianlu's voice suddenly stopped.

"Hello? Tianlu?"

"Grown ups..."

"What's going on? You sound like—"

"Something's not right. The life signs coming from down below... are a bit strange."

"What!?"

In that world painted a bright white by holy light, only the feather-like shadows of darkness were so clearly visible.

There is no distinction between up and down, no gravity, and no concept of time or space.

A mangled body drifts in this empty world.

There is no such thing as life, no such thing as death; there is nothing, nothing is left.

Aside from that one feeling, that one last feeling.

"Unwilling to accept it"

If possible, I'd like to buy a little more time.

If possible, I'd like to do something meaningful before I die.

If possible, I would also like to escape from the sword of God and leave with her behind, free from all pain and deception.

If possible--

--Not yet...

"You don't want it to end like this, you don't want to die... right?"

I thought it was just me talking to myself, but I got a response.

The bright white world has changed.

A giant eye looked down on everything from above.

No, those aren't eyes.

It was an empty eye socket, specifically the left eye socket.

Deep within the hollow, something seemed to be writhing.

--Who are you?

"That's not important. What's important is that your life has already faded away, you failed to buy time, and what you wanted to protect is about to be destroyed."

The voice answered him; it was a young male voice.

--Will destroying... her also die?

"Yes."

Will I lose the person I want to protect again?

"I'm sorry."

I don't want it to be like this...

"Actually, this is not unchangeable. For example..."

The voice grew closer, and a blurry, thin human figure slowly emerged in the void.

"... A body that can't be killed by the enemy no matter what, do you want it?"

--I... want it.

Even if it turns you into a monster?

It doesn't matter anymore.

"Even if it costs me my soul?"

--It doesn't matter!

"Even if... one were to offer their soul to a being more wicked than a demon?"

That's okay!

"Very good."

The sound was nearing its limit.

The blurry human figure clearly revealed his appearance.

A dry smile appeared on his pale, thin lips.

The thing wriggling in the empty eye socket revealed its true form.

"As you wish, I will fulfill your wish."

Countless barbed wires emerged from his left eye socket, rushing towards the wandering soul.

Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle, gurgle! The remains, which had already turned to ashes, gathered together, forming chunks of flesh! Limbs, bones, internal organs, skull, and even the brain—

Swish, swish, swish! From the broken pieces of meat, rusty barbed wire shot out rapidly, attaching itself to the nearest pieces of meat in the blink of an eye! Pulled by the barbed wire, the limbs and bones drew closer, coalescing into a ball, and all parts were forcibly pulled back to their rightful places!

"Ah... ah... ah ah..."

The spine was supported by barbed wire, the five fingers were connected by barbed wire, the eyeballs were fixed by barbed wire, and the gums were joined by barbed wire!

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

His reassembled vocal cords emitted a cacophony of roars, his stiff limbs were forcibly injected with vitality, and his severed consciousness reconnected. He desperately opened his bloodshot eyelids, looking at his hands, which had been reconstructed and reinforced with barbed wire in an almost torture-like manner—

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

What exactly is going on?!

The body has returned! The body that should have died completely is back! It's back! It's back!

Despite its tragedy, its brokenness, and its state like that of a puppet on strings, it was indeed a restart, a second chance that would never have been possible!

"Gurgle... gaa... gaa... gaa... I... gurgle... what exactly--"

Forcibly pulling my attention away from the maddening sensation of the foreign object, I focused my mind and activated my supernatural ability—

Tiny black particles emerged from beneath the skin, smudged the air, and pinkish-purple light patterns appeared and disappeared—normal! The superpower could still be used normally! Opening and closing the five fingers, moving the limbs—normal! The limbs, so roughly pieced together, could still move normally!

"--Yang Yujie!!!"

With a deafening boom, a golden streak of light descended just a dozen meters away from him—it was Tian Lu! She was now staring at Yu Jie in disbelief, utterly unable to comprehend what she was seeing! Less than a minute ago, she had personally killed him! She had confirmed his death with her own eyes! Why was he still alive? Was it a hidden ability? Or some secret treasure he hadn't revealed? Or was it her own oversight? And what were those jagged barbed ropes binding him—?

It doesn't matter what happens!

Since he's not dead yet,

"Then, I'll kill you again!!!!!!!!!"

A burst of golden and silver holy light erupted, instantly reducing the distance of more than ten meters to zero. A heavy fist wrapped in lightning struck out, precisely piercing through his chest!

It's done!

The concentrated sensation was so real, the flying flesh and blood so vivid, the gaping hole in his upper body so glaring! With such injuries, there was no way he could survive!

But--

Gurgle, gurgle, sizzle, sizzle! The scattered flesh suddenly began to writhe on its own, and strands of dripping barbed wire emerged from the chunks of flesh, intertwining and connecting with each other! At the same time, the opening in the chest cavity also began to writhe, and equally bizarre barbed wire shot out from within, joining with the previous chunks of flesh, forcibly piecing together the lost body parts and pulling them back to fill the large hole!!!

Even the Heavenly Law had never witnessed such a bloody and bizarre scene!

"Gurgle... Ha!"

As darkness erupted, Yu Jie quickly distanced himself while Tian Lu was still in shock. He too was astonished as he touched his chest—this was not healing, absolutely not! The scattered pieces of flesh had merely returned, forcibly sewn back into his chest by barbed wire! It wasn't even repair; it was just forcibly keeping his body moving!

How bizarre, how ridiculous, how comical, how terrifying!

"But... it doesn't matter... no matter who you are, no matter what your purpose is... I still want to thank you..."

He casually picked up a broken piece of railing from the ground, and darkness clung to it, assimilating the ordinary wreckage into a weapon capable of cutting through steel and slicing iron!

"Thank you, thank you for giving me a chance to make amends! Come on, Heavenly Law! If you want to get through here, try and bring me down completely!!!"

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At the end of Chapter 440, there was a mistake where "Sin Annihilation" was mistakenly written as "Sacrifice Spirit." Please forgive me.