[Vol. 8] Chapter 276: The Power of Despair
But before she could make any real move, down on the battlefield, a golden holy sword, so large it seemed to connect the earth to the heavens, rose together with a certain figure. It spanned the entire battlefield, then suddenly slashed down toward the wormhole!
“Holy—Radiance—Slash!!!”
The holy sword was drawn, its target aimed directly at the giant arm that was the root cause of the disaster. With the Judgement Saintess’s transcendent-level power and the full blessing of a divine artifact, this strike might not have been as destructive as the earlier cannon blast, but in terms of pure attack power, it was even greater.
Even someone like the one behind the scenes at Saint Tyr City, who called himself [Towerf] and used a similar ability, at least at a pseudo-god level of power, would never have been able to block this slash easily. But… the giant arm stretching out right now was simply too, too strong.
BOOM!!!
The shocking slash that Saintess Frederica unleashed with the help of the [Judgment Holy Sword] was met head-on by the fleshy giant hand. It didn’t dodge, it didn’t retreat. Instead, it caught the sword in its palm and held it firmly in place, rendering it immobile!
Buzz!!!
Blocked, the holy sword’s light erupted in a blinding flare. It didn’t try to clash head-on any further. Instead, countless sharp sword auras and holy energy burst outward from the point of contact, breaking apart into countless smaller holy blades that shot out in all directions, aiming to shred both the giant arm and the wormhole to pieces.
But against this intricate sword technique, the giant hand simply made the simplest of moves—
It clenched tight, then threw a punch into the air!
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!!!
No strange powers, no tricks, no mysterious technique. Yet this punch, launched from several kilometers away, caused a chain of deafening sonic booms. The invisible shockwave swept through the battlefield, flipping over countless Holy Knights and alien creatures mid-fight, and in an instant it reached the Saintess herself, who was still channeling the sword’s power at full strength!
“!?”
Perhaps she never expected that this terrifying being, clearly unable to leave its fixed range, could still harm enemies from such a distance with such an unbelievable method. Frederica was caught off guard, too late to react. She could only grit her teeth and raise her blade in front of her as a shield.
At this moment, when her previous power had faded and new strength had yet to fully gather, she could barely muster even one-third of her normal strength. Many of the Holy Empire’s elites below immediately saw the danger she was in and shouted anxiously, trying to rush to her aid.
“Your Holiness the Saintess!!!”
“Your Holiness, be careful!”
But no matter how desperately they moved, there was no way they could reach her in time to block such a thunderous, overwhelming strike. That giant hand… was simply too powerful, so powerful it was beyond mortal understanding. Once it struck, it was almost certain death.
The fist wind closed in—
CLANG!!!
A sound like blades clashing rang through the night sky. Frederica felt a strong gust hit her face, but she suffered no real injury. Startled, she quickly looked up.
She then saw a young man dressed plainly like a mercenary, his feet stepping lightly on the wind, standing right in front of her without her even noticing when he had arrived.
He held in his hands a massive, pitch-black greatsword, its blade swirling with an unending storm. Just blocking this single blow had already caused both his palms to split and bleed, his arms trembling uncontrollably, and his breathing to grow rapid.
It was clear that although he had managed this astonishing feat, it had not come without a heavy price.
"Mr. Bevis? You…?"
Seeing the man who suddenly stepped in to help, Frederica raised her beautiful brows slightly in surprise.
She had never imagined that a Sword Saint from the Austre Empire would step forward at a time like this to help the Church fight such a terrifying enemy. After all, it is easy to add flowers to a celebration, but hard to send charcoal in the snow.
Frederica did not know where that certain priestess, who had quietly disappeared earlier, had gone. But if that person could not take action, then as the Saintess, she was the strongest fighter on their side, and she had already prepared herself to fight to the death.
The [Judgment Holy Sword] had far more power than it was showing now. Frederica knew well the world-shaking power of the [Sword of Origin]. Even though she was an unqualified host and could not fully unleash its strength, if she was willing to pay the price and release all its power, she could shine for a brief moment, like a flower blooming in an instant, before it faded away.
Just moments ago, she had been ready to do exactly that.
“Don’t get distracted. Give it your all. That’s most likely a part of a true god-level being’s body. Even if it’s only one hand, it’s far beyond anything a mortal can resist.”
Bevis didn’t look back, nor did he waste a single word. His full attention was fixed on the giant fleshy arm that had so easily swept away the countless sword shadows again. His expression was more serious than ever before.
“It seems this god is being rejected by the world, it can’t fully enter this realm. The more it forces its way in, the stronger the world’s rejection will grow. So, Your Holiness, what we need to do is not defeat it, but rather—”
BOOM!!!
Another deafening sound rose from the Holy Empire’s formation. The giant cannon once again erupted with blazing golden light, rushing toward the enemy like a meteor!
Interrupted mid-sentence, Bevis glanced at the golden light out of the corner of his eye and shook his head helplessly.
“This power is indeed impressive, but no matter how strong the attack, I’m afraid it won’t mean much against that thing. Unless…”
He had been about to explain that if this giant fleshy arm truly belonged to the supreme being behind all the [Flesh Eaters]. Then, considering even its underlings had terrifying regeneration. This supreme being’s life force would be even more overwhelmingly strong.
Unless they could destroy it in one instant, even if they pushed themselves to the limit and managed to wound it a few times, it would mean nothing to the battle. It would be better to focus fully on defense, and bet that the world’s rejection would eventually force it back out of this realm.
But before he could finish speaking, the Sword Saint suddenly froze.
Because he saw clearly that the golden light from the giant cannon, which should have been aimed at the distant giant arm and wormhole, for some reason, suddenly curved midway, soaring straight upward into the night sky. In the blink of an eye, it vanished into the clouds.
“?”
What was going on now?
Could it be that those strange little fellows’ invention had malfunctioned? How could it miss so badly, so badly that it went in the complete opposite direction?
…No.
Something clicked in Bevis’s mind.
The way the shot had curved was far too unnatural. It didn’t look like a targeting error, it felt more like some force was changing its flight path. Could it be that above the clouds…
Before Bevis could think further, the sky, dimmed by the cannon’s fading light, suddenly brightened again!
But this time, it wasn’t light from a blast or cannon fire.
It was a holy spear. Huge as a mountain, descending from beyond the heavens. Its entire body was pure and flawless, shining as if it were forged from crystalized golden light.