Chapter 1 The Beginning

In fact, from the start, Hao Ren hadn't expected to truly quiet the Godslayer Sword down—normally, the thing could only maintain three minutes of peace, let alone with a kindred spirit colliding with it. So after the Godslayer Sword opened its mouth, Hao Ren resigned himself to the fact, treating it as background music and trying to calm his mind as he continued to pursue and strike at August VII.

Teeth-grinding sounds of space tearing echoed continuously. Gravity became unstable, optics distorted, and the flow of time sped up and slowed down erratically. As the two Godslayer Swords collided, the battlefield between Hao Ren and August VII gradually evolved into a realm of chaotic laws and nonexistent rules. The destructive range of the Godslayer Swords might not have been as spectacular and large-scale as artillery shelling, but within a limited area, the level of power they stirred up far exceeded anything mortals could comprehend. Hao Ren possessed a demigod's body, and August VII had a "blessing" from Lockmarton, so they could survive in such an environment, but for others, this place had become a forbidden zone!

And in the constant clashes of the two "weapons," the Godslayer Sword (the Impaling Hermit) never ceased its incessant noise:

"Hey buddy, why aren't you talking? Why do you look exactly like me? Do you know who made us both?"

"Hey, let me tell you, I gave myself a title, Impaling Hermit. Do you know what 'hermit' means? It means extremely awesome..."

"Hao Ren, to be honest, this fighting and killing doesn't solve anything. Look, this old man in front of you is also very strong. How can you two decide a winner in the short term? Why not sit down and talk it out? Maybe problems that can't be solved by force can be resolved through conversation. You humans call that talk therapy, right..."

"Alas, the silent one, fate is a fickle thing. You and I should have the same origin, but now we can only bump and clash here. What's the point? If only there weren't so much conflict in this world!"

"Actually, my dream is to be a kitchen knife, usually chopping dumpling filling, cutting cabbage, something peaceful and contributory..."

"But since I've become a weapon, I have to accept it. As they say, love what you do. Just like the name I gave myself, Impaling Hermit—silent one, don't you feel a sense of freedom and joy towards fate?"

"Hey, a little higher, a little higher! You're cutting off course! That direction can obviously be blocked!"

The Godslayer Sword's incessant chatter never stopped from beginning to end. It goes without saying that Hao Ren's forehead veins were throbbing, and August VII on the opposite side also showed increasing signs of anxiety and panic. Bursts of smoke rose from the burly, demonized Pope, and even more twisted and ferocious black patterns appeared on his bulging muscles. His particularly swollen and thick right arm cracked open, and black-red blood flowed down with billowing heat, directly burning small holes in the ground that emitted light smoke!

In such a battle, the slightest difference would lead to irreversible decline, and Hao Ren immediately seized on the demonized Pope's slight weakening and quickly turned it into a huge advantage!

"Great Lord... Great Lord... Lockmarton..." August VII was shrouded in smoke and dust, and corrosive fluid mixed with black-red blood seeped out from various parts of his body. As he retreated, he muttered indistinctly. Finally, as Hao Ren shouted "Piercing Forest Leg Technique" and slashed his sword at his arm, the demonized Pope let out a non-human roar, and the "World-Rending Blade" used to block was sent flying!

However, after defeating the enemy in this way, Hao Ren was a little stunned—the demonized Pope's combat power was beyond imagination. Although he had lost his divine magic, the opponent's physical strength and the chaotic power surrounding him were terrifyingly strong. Hao Ren had originally thought that this fierce battle would last for a long time, but he didn't expect that the powerful enemy in front of him would be defeated so quickly!

Just as he was in a daze, he saw that the "World-Rending Blade" that had been knocked away suddenly let out a sharp鸣响 (mingxiang - ringing sound), and a large number of black纹路 (wenlu - patterns) bloomed around the blade, causing even the nearby ground to crack inch by inch. August VII's arm also swelled instantly, cracking countless horrifying wounds as if in resonance. Amidst the demonized Pope's howls, these cracks quickly widened and devoured his entire body in the blink of an eye!

With a soft "pop," the former Pope shattered completely, turning into a pile of rubble and ashes.

Backlash? He was actually killed by the longsword Lockmarton had bestowed upon him?

Hao Ren was still trying to figure out what had happened when he heard the Godslayer Sword mutter again, "Holy crap—isn't that guy driven crazy..."

Hao Ren was immediately shocked: "What did you say?!"

"Uh... just a possibility," the Godslayer Sword's voice sounded particularly虚 (xu - weak), as if it had been with Hao Ren for too long, and had been tainted by the aura of Raven 12345, its personality became even more bizarre, "This sword thinks... could it be that this sword drove that guy crazy?"

The "that guy" it was talking about was obviously the World-Rending Blade in August VII's hands.

Hao Ren was struck by lightning—this was no exaggeration at all, even after being struck by Raven 12345's divine punishment, he would only be as stunned as this—he stared blankly at the World-Rending Blade stuck in the ground not far away, his mind filled with thunder.

Such a fierce battle, such a thrilling fierce battle, the final victory was actually because his weapon drove the opponent's weapon crazy... what the hell?

This was definitely the most bizarre victory in history!

But the situation in front of him obviously did not allow Hao Ren to continue thinking about the logic of this victory, because after solving the Pope, there were still the remaining Annihilation Cultists here, and even Lavinia, who was fiddling with the Ark of the Covenant!

Accompanied by a loud wolf howl, two Annihilation Cultists who had selflessly blocked Lily's path flew out like tattered burlap sacks, while Willy roared, but could only retreat in anger. He was covered in scars, and black-red demon blood flowed down his wounds, forming a small pool on the ground, which looked shocking. However, Willy, who had almost broken away from the human category, seemed completely unaware of this degree of blood loss. He just waved his arms frantically, looking at the werewolf girl in front of him who was emitting a faint white light and possessing terrifying power.

Around the two of them, cultists, either seriously injured or dead, lay scattered on the ground, and the Church Knights and monks of Caraxus, as well as the savage soldiers of the sub-races, also suffered many casualties. The blood of various races soaked the land near the Ark of the Covenant, and the air was filled with a depressing bloody smell.

Fortunately, the surviving cultists were surrounded by Willy, and not far away, Caraxus gripped the platinum staff tightly, a long wound on his chest bleeding profusely, constantly emitting black gas. The power of healing magic surged near the wound, but it was clear that the high-ranking bishop would not be able to recover his combat power in a short time.

The church warriors who were still standing huddled around Caraxus, while the scarred sub-race savage soldiers gathered around the alpha wolf.

It seemed to be a stalemate, or rather, a lose-lose situation.

Lily was probably the strongest warrior on the scene. She only had a few minor injuries, and those wounds were already wriggling and healing rapidly. Her fangs dripped with the blood of cultists in the air, and her beastly golden pupils were full of high fighting spirit.

"Come on! Fight again! Aren't you powerful!"

"Pah—beast." Willy spat to the side, his tone full of mockery, but along with the mockery there was also anger. He looked at the scattered subordinates around him—these were his most loyal devotees, "崇圣者 (Chongshengzhe - Holy Worshippers)" who were even more fanatical in their support than the black-robed Ramore and others. These subordinates, who were willing to use evil magic to self-sacrifice and become guardian puppets, could be said to be his true personal trump card in the Annihilation Cult. However, in the short battle just now, most of these valuable warriors had fallen.

The savage soldiers and church warriors were still easy to deal with, and the high-ranking monks not far away, although powerful, were only mortal bodies after all. The one who really caused such great damage was that "alpha wolf."

But he couldn't do anything about her, even after receiving the power infusion of the Great Lord, Willy somewhat dejectedly realized this fact.

Because the power of order around the alpha wolf was specifically designed to restrain chaos.

But these were no longer important.

Willy put away the angry expression on his face and instead put on a treacherous smile.

He knew that his initial goal was not to defeat the enemies in front of him, but to buy time for Lavinia to complete the ritual.

He looked in the direction of August VII. The old Pope's failure did not arouse much emotion in him. Annihilation Cultists never stood together relying on unity and mutual assistance. He was just surprised that Hao Ren also had a "World-Rending Blade" in his hand, and it seemed that he used it exceptionally skillfully. However, unfortunately, there seemed to be no time to figure out what was going on.

Lavinia's incantation was about to end.

Hao Ren just happened to see this scene and only had time to shout, "Crap... wait..."

Lavinia released the seal on the disc.

In fact, before she even finished reciting the incantation, the seal had already been broken from the inside out. The last few syllables of the incantation were read out purely out of inertia.

A dazzling white light burst out from the disc, instantly devouring Lavinia's body. The latter did not even make a sound before being directly assimilated into a torrent of light.

The white light continued to spread outward, but the speed was slow enough to be captured by the naked eye. It seemed to turn into some kind of substantial fluid, first impacting the surface of the Ark of the Covenant, and then flowing around along the crystal pyramid. A sacred and vast aura overflowed from the light. Except for Hao Ren and Lily, who had already adapted to this divine aura, everyone who looked at the white light actually had the urge to prostrate themselves in worship!

However, just as Hao Ren thought that the runaway divine power would burst out and completely raze this place, a bizarre scene appeared:

The white light suddenly calmed down, as if carefully judging something, and then it rippled in layers and quickly rushed towards the twenty-one ancient jailers around the Ark of the Covenant!

Almost in the blink of an eye, this divine power disappeared into the bodies of those jailers who were bound and eroded by chaotic magic, leaving no trace.

Everyone on the scene was a little愣 (leng - stunned), but Willy was the first to react. He realized that all the plans and all the information had deviated from his previous expectations in an unprecedented way. Lockmarton's great resurrection had become a farce!

Now was his last chance to escape!

This thought quickly revolved in Willy's mind and immediately turned into action. Before anyone could react, he had cut his finger and was preparing to activate the secret art of escape.

However, just as he was halfway through this action, he suddenly saw layers of ripples appear in the air in front of him, and then a small red princess shoe poked out from inside, kicking him in the face with at least two and a half tons of impact force.