The moment the white light entered Doehring's body, the entire world seemed to fall silent for a moment.
Doehring was struck as if by a heavy blow. His moon-white robe ripped to shreds, and a charred wound pierced through his chest, through which one could even see the surging waves behind him. He staggered backward, spitting out a mouthful of divine blood. In an instant, half of his full head of white hair withered away, and he seemed to have lost most of his life force.
That light not only damaged his divine body, but also penetrated his soul directly. If his soul, Midgod, had not been solidified and had not been immersed in the Laws of the Earth for five thousand years, he would have been annihilated both body and soul in that instant.
"Grandpa Doehring!" Linley and caught Doehring's swaying body, his voice trembling with tears.
"I'm fine." Doehring wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his voice trembling uncontrollably. "I won't die. Why are you crying? It's not time to cry yet."
But the light did not stop.
It pierced through Doehring, then veered in mid-air and shot towards Linley and Baruch's group. This time, it was aimed at Linley.
The War God of War, the High Priest, Dylan, and Cesar attacked almost simultaneously. Golden Battle-qi, profound divine power, pitch-black flames, and sharp sword light converged into a torrent, meeting the light head-on. But the light only paused slightly before piercing through all these attacks, its momentum undiminished, heading straight for Linley.
Barker roared and lunged forward, unleashing a punch that concentrated all the divine power of a lower-level Earth Element Lowgod. But the light merely shifted slightly, and Barker's entire arm vanished into nothingness. He groaned in pain and flew backward.
Bebe's eyes reddened.
"Boss!"
It rushed forward recklessly, trying to shield Linley from the attack. Linley flung it behind him and faced the light alone. The Coiling Dragon Ring on his chest trembled violently, and the dragon-shaped pattern suddenly burst forth with a layer of pale blue light, like a thin film, protecting his soul.
Despair spread in an instant.
Just when everyone thought they were doomed, a withered, ordinary hand suddenly appeared before the light.
It's Beirut.
He had appeared before Linley without anyone noticing, still looking as ordinary as ever, dressed in a gray robe, his face gaunt, like any other old man on the street. Yet, with a gentle clench of his hand, he shattered the holy light that was powerful enough to split the heavens and earth into countless fragments.
The entire sea was deathly silent.
" Augusta," Beirut spoke slowly, his voice not loud, yet clearly carrying throughout the heavens and earth, "After all these years, all you do is bully the younger generation."
The giant eye seemed to pause for a moment.
Beirut raised his head, gazing at the colossal eye that filled the sky, and suddenly laughed, "Back then you killed the Four Divine Beasts, and now you've projected yourself down to the mortal realm to attack a Midgod. Radiant Sovereign, what a display of power."
The words "Four Divine Beasts " struck Linley like a thunderbolt. He suddenly remembered the statues of the Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, and White Tiger carved on the four stone walls of the eighteenth level of the Necropolis of the Gods, and he also thought of the bloodline in his body that originated from the Dragonblood Warrior.
So, those four ancient divine Divine Beast actually died at the hands of this Radiant Sovereign?
Within the giant eye, a deep and angry thought exploded in everyone's minds like muffled thunder.
Beirut...
Just two words were enough to make the War God, the High Priest, and the others change color. Only then did they realize just how powerful this usually unassuming old man truly was.
"It is I." Beirut took a step forward, not a trace of divine power emanating from him, yet the invisible pressure caused the entire sea and the entire Holy Island to begin to crumble inch by inch. "Now that I am here, I will not tolerate your insolence in Yulan."
He slowly raised his right hand.
In their hands, a jet-black iron rod appeared out of nowhere. The rod was unremarkable, but to Doehring, the War God, and the others, it sent shivers down their spines, as if the rod contained some kind of power capable of annihilating gods.
Divine Spark Weapon.
Beirut slammed down with a stick.
That strike was completely unpretentious.
There was no golden Battle-qi, no soaring divine light, not even a sound of air being torn apart. Yet, this single blow struck the void, causing the entire world to crumble.
The sea churned up, the sky cracked, and even the high-hanging sun seemed to dim by a third under this blow.
The colossal eye of holy light that dominated the sky, along with the pillar of light that pierced through heaven and earth, shattered under this blow. Countless golden fragments scattered like fireflies, only to extinguish themselves little by little in mid-air. Each fragment that landed exploded with a beam of holy light that evaporated the seawater within a radius of several miles.
The projection of the Radiant Sovereign dissipated.
And the suffocating pressure that had been weighing on everyone's hearts vanished with it.
The maniacal laughter on Heidens' face froze. He opened his mouth, but no word came out; only despair quickly filled his eyes. He looked up at the empty sky, devoid of any light, as if his soul had been ripped out.
"No... no..." he murmured, then suddenly screamed hysterically, "Lord! You cannot forsake me! You cannot—!"
The sound abruptly stopped.
Because Linley had already walked up to him.
Linley was covered in wounds, his own blood still stained his Purple Blood Soft Sword, and seawater dripped down his robes. But his dark golden pupils were frighteningly cold, as cold as the boy who cried uncontrollably on the ruins of Hess City, who had finally reached this point today.
" Heidens." He walked step by step toward the once unapproachable Pope, his voice low but each word clear, "This sword is avenged for my mother, for my father, and for the millions you have killed."
In a daze, Linley seemed to see that boy from Hess City again. That boy kneeling before his father's tombstone, crying until he couldn't make a sound; that boy risking his life in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, all for the sake of becoming stronger; that boy, in every dark night, chewing on the same vow over and over again.
Now, it's time to fulfill that vow.
Heidens still wanted to hold up the Original Bible, to make a last-ditch effort. He frantically turned the pages, chanting intermittently, but his once invincible Fate Law could no longer elicit the slightest response from heaven and earth.
His God has abandoned him.
A flash of sword light.
There were no screams, no earth-shattering explosions. Only a head flew high into the air, then fell heavily back down, rolling into the already red-stained seawater and creating a small ripple.
Pope of Light Heidens of Light died.
The Angel Legion, having lost the protection of divine light, crumbled like a tidal wave. The War God of War, the High Priest, Dylan, Cesar, and the others did not pursue them, but simply watched the fleeing white torrent, each of them breathing a sigh of relief.
In this battle, the foundation of the Radiant Church in the Yulan Continent was uprooted.
"It's over," the War God said slowly, a hint of relief in his voice.
Beirut put away the iron rod, reverting to his usual ordinary old man appearance. He glanced at Linley, then at Doehring leaning against Linley, and said calmly, " Augusta won't let this go. His projection has been broken by me, and he won't descend again anytime soon. But the Yulan Continent will also be on his radar from now on. Your road ahead is long."
"What's there to be afraid of?" Doehring coughed twice, then suddenly laughed, only to cough up blood again as he laughed. "With Linley here, with you here, this Yulan won't fall."
Linley didn't speak, but supported Doehring, and they walked step by step toward the ship that was already wrecked but still stubbornly afloat on the sea. Bebe had jumped back onto his shoulder at some point, Barker and Sessler, covered in injuries, followed.
Sunlight broke through the clouds and shone on the sea, which was littered with corpses.
In the end, they won this battle.
On the precipice of the northern continent, a figure had been standing there for an unknown amount of time. The sea breeze ruffled her long hair as she gazed at the gradually calming sea and suddenly smiled.
That smile contained tears, joy, the weight of a ten-year wait, and a sense of relief.
He's back.