The Death of the Pope of Light

Above the Hall of Gods, Priscilla stared blankly at his right hand.

His entire arm had been pierced, and blood was streaming out as his body trembled slightly.

He couldn't understand how the body he had always been so proud of had become so fragile.

After all, divine beasts generally had much stronger bodies than humans. If they were super divine beasts, they might even be able to raise their bodies to the level of Sovereign Artifacts.

As the only divine beast on the continent, Pulixier had been able to protect a haven for magical beasts despite pressure from countless human Deities. This was certainly thanks in part to the deep divisions among humanity, but there was no denying that his strength had also been an indispensable trump card.

He had once sparred with Airlock. Though Airlock had grasped an unusual law that seemed to involve some applications of higher-level laws, Priscilla had been only slightly weaker thanks to his formidable body.

In a contest of physical strength, no one could match him.

Yet today, the body he had always been so proud of had been beaten head-on by Huosi.

The sight left everyone else shaken as well.

They couldn't understand how Huosi's body had become so much stronger, even if his strength had increased. They simply couldn't make sense of it.

"I said it already, everyone. Come at me together."

Huosi spoke again, his tone perfectly even as he looked down at the people below.

"Fine. If you can defeat all of us working together today, I, Airlock, will submit to you."

After a few seconds of silence, Airlock made his position clear.

He understood now. Huosi had come prepared, intending to defeat every one of them by himself.

If Huosi could really do that, what did it matter if Airlock submitted?

The others' expressions shifted as they glanced at one another. In the end, they all nodded, except for the Pope of Light.

Though the Pope of Light was unwilling to agree, he knew this wasn't the time to say so.

So he would fight alongside the others. As long as they beat this arrogant man, everything would be settled. No one could defile the great Lord of Light.

Huosi had no idea what he was thinking. Even if he had, he probably would have only sighed at the thought that there was nothing great about that thing, Augusta.

In the end, the Lord of Light worshipped by countless people was merely the image they had imagined. They had no idea what the real Lord of Light was like.

"Take this!"

Airlock was the first to draw his black spear and charge toward Huosi.

Blue water gathered around the spear, forming a dragon that surged toward Huosi.

Seeing this, the others unleashed their own special techniques and began coordinating their attacks.

"Looks like I'll have to take this a little seriously."

Huosi shrugged. In an instant, armor covered his body, radiating a layer of azure light.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Three different attacks struck Huosi. They produced three loud crashes, but did no real damage.

"Damn it, what is this thing? An artifact?"

Alsop felt a bitter pang, and even his movements slowed.

He couldn't understand what this hard shell was. Their combined attacks couldn't even break it. Could it be a Midgod Artifact—or even a Highgod Artifact?

How had Huosi gotten so lucky as to find such a powerful artifact?

If Huosi had known what he was thinking, he would have rolled his eyes. Interstellar Battle Armor was completely different from ordinary artifacts.

The Material Defense Artifacts of the Coiling Dragon World only provided defense. They didn't alter the body itself.

As a result, they didn't increase the user's physical attack power. Against an exceptionally powerful enemy, the user could even be shaken to death through the artifact.

Even Paragon High-Gods couldn't avoid this.

In the original story, the Light Paragon Clementine wore a Material Defense Sovereign Artifact and still nearly got shaken to death by Linley. In the end, he had no choice but to hand over the Red Diamond Crystal.

The Interstellar Battle Armor Huosi wore was different. It had completely fused with him, as if his body itself had been directly altered.

So Huosi's body had now been enhanced outright. Both his defense and physical attack power had increased substantially, and his speed had improved as well.

"Get out of the way!"

At Airlock's furious shout, a roaring water dragon surged toward Huosi.

"Come on!"

Huosi faced the water dragon head-on, his expression unchanged.

The next moment, a gigantic wall of water rose up, blocking everyone's view.

"Did it work?"

Airlock asked uncertainly.

That move had been the most powerful attack he could unleash after gathering his divine power. Its might was enormous.

Its only weakness was that it required time to prepare, making it difficult to use in a one-on-one fight.

During this group assault, he had let the others keep Huosi occupied while he gathered his strength.

Now that he had unleashed his strongest attack, Airlock still couldn't relax. He had a feeling that even this move might not truly hurt Huosi.

Sure enough, the next moment, the massive torrent vanished, revealing Huosi standing before them completely unharmed.

"Everyone, fall back. Prepare soul attacks!"

Seeing that Huosi was still completely at ease, Airlock made an immediate decision and sent the others a telepathic message as they retreated.

"It's our only option."

Salanna sighed inwardly. To be honest, she thought they were probably doomed today.

None of those present had cultivated the Laws of Death or the Laws of Fate, so their understanding of the soul was limited. Their soul attacks would likely have little effect on opponents of the same level.

Even if all six of them attacked at once, the damage to a soul wouldn't be enough. And she suspected Huosi still had other tricks up his sleeve; even if their soul attacks were strong enough, he would have a way to deal with them.

"Soul attacks? Bring them on!"

Huosi returned to his normal appearance and made no move to pursue them.

He had long since decided to defeat them head-on today. He would overwhelm them in every way and make sure they were thoroughly convinced.

"Soul attacks!"

Several different attacks came from multiple directions and instantly entered Huosi's body.

Huosi didn't dodge. He let the soul attacks enter his sea of consciousness.

Within his divine sense, destructive soul power seemed to find its target and slammed straight into the core of Huosi's soul.

But the next moment, golden light enveloped his sea of consciousness and forcefully blocked every attack.

What exactly was a soul?

Ever since coming to this world, Huosi had been pondering that question.

In his previous life, there had been many scientific definitions of the soul.

But none had ever been verified. In fact, science had never even proven that souls existed.

The mechanical civilization's universe had also done little research into the nature of the soul.

Still, using the theories provided by the technological space and his own understanding, Huosi had made a few discoveries.

In the Coiling Dragon Universe, the soul was the root of everything, the core of a living being.

A person could live without a body, but not without a soul. Doering-Kowart, for instance, had remained inside the Coiling Dragon Ring for five thousand years without a body, yet that hadn't stopped him from teaching Linley.

If he had grasped the profound mysteries of the laws and become a Deity, the Natural Laws would have given him a new body.

Then he would have come back to life completely. But he hadn't lived to see that day.

From a scientific perspective, the soul could also be considered a different kind of matter. It existed inside the body and was the core of life.

When a life-form below the Deity level died, it wasn't truly dead. Its body had been destroyed, and its soul had entered the Underworld. For Deities, the soul fused with the divine spark; when they died, their souls were annihilated.

The annihilation of the soul was true death. Even a Controller couldn't bring them back to life. At most, when creating a universe, they could make a copy.

That copy would have the same appearance and memories. Even people who didn't know better would think it was the original person.

But in Hongmeng Space, they were two different people, because their souls were no longer the same.

Following these ideas, Huosi had developed a corresponding Soul Defense Divine Artifact.

Huosi didn't know whether the Soul Defense Divine Artifacts forged in the Divine Planes were based on the same principles. But with this, ordinary soul attacks could no longer hurt him.

Although his artifact couldn't yet compare to a Defensive Sovereign Artifact, it still couldn't be damaged by a Lowgod's attacks.

"Hah, just as I thought!"

Seeing that the attacks had no effect, Airlock wasn't surprised. He hovered in the air, watching Huosi.

"I have to admit, you've exceeded my expectations. Your defense is flawless, but defense alone won't let you defeat us."

"You're right. Then try my attacks."

Huosi smiled faintly, giving him what he wanted.

"Whoosh!"

"What?"

"Back in my hometown, there was a saying: 'In martial arts, speed is unbeatable.' The Speed Profound Mystery of the Laws of Wind works on the same principle, letting you defeat your enemies in an instant."

Huosi's figure became a series of afterimages, almost like countless clones, as he circled the group and attacked.

"Whirr!"

A dagger came to rest against Airlock's forehead, radiating a dangerous aura. Though he couldn't prove it, Airlock was certain that Huosi could have killed him if he wanted to.

Was this really a Deity who had cultivated the Laws of Earth? The Earth Element shouldn't have granted him this kind of speed.

Doubt rose in everyone's hearts, but the outcome could no longer be changed.

Huosi had defeated all of them by himself.

"You win."

Airlock said the words bitterly, then smiled with relief.

"Looks like the times have changed."

Alsop cheerfully put away his weapon, with no intention of continuing the fight.

The others exchanged glances, then stopped fighting as well. Only the Pope of Light kept going.

"No! I can't! I'm a believer of the Lord of Light. If you dare steal the Lord of Light's faith, you'll be punished by him!"

The Pope of Light's eyes were bloodshot, and he refused to surrender.

He had inherited the Light Church from his teacher. The Lord of Light had been the faith of his entire life, and he would not allow it all to be destroyed at his hands.

As the most devout believer, he couldn't accept the faith he had upheld his entire life ending in his hands like this.

Reason told him that he should surrender, but emotionally, he didn't want to go on living like a coward.

"Lord, I've done all I can. Please avenge your believer!"

In the end, the Pope of Light gritted his teeth and struck his forehead with his palm.