This bloody revenge
by M1zushiThank you dThank you darius for the ko-fi donation!
Cecilia was so furious her whole body trembled over.
At this moment, she had no time to think how a clone could have taken control of Bright Moon. At this point, her anger and heartbreak overcame even the fear she had always felt toward Huo Chao.
The black scythe morphed into a ring-like bracelet and wrapped around her wrist. Mo Yu`s soft, feminine voice called out.
“Lia, Elder Mandela has already gone to personally intercept him. Are we going to join him?”
“—No.”
Cecilia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her sharp nails dug into her palms, and the pain helped her regain some composure. It was clear: even if she deployed Mo Yu, her own mecha, she couldn’t defeat the SS-rated Bright Moon.
Moreover, her goal wasn’t to destroy either Bright Moon or the clone; it was to reclaim them.
“Lady Cecilia—!”
At that moment, Ace hurried over with a group of followers. His expression grew heavy as he spotted the spasming, convulsing mechanical warrior on the ground. He opened his mouth to speak, but Cecilia raised a hand, silencing him.
“Immediately notify everyone and activate the outer defensive barrier of the Holy Relic White Tower. He must not escape.”
Cecilia narrowed her eyes. She had just seen the experimental subject in the surveillance camera asking a researcher about Bernard and the elevator. It was precisely because of this that Cecilia could lay a trap for him.
“If all goes as expected, Elder Mandela will handle the capture of the clone. For now, we will guard Mr. Bernard.”
“Yes.”
The cold and elegant archbishop suddenly stood up and walked out with her high heels clicking sharply. Ace followed closely behind and spoke briefly.
“Lady Cecilia, I’ll arrange for Kuru to be restored immediately.”
“No need.”
As Cecilia passed the convulsing mechanical warrior on the ground, her gaze flicked briefly over his distorted, pale face. A hint of disgust flashed in her eyes.
“It’s just some useless trash. Leave it.”
Ace was momentarily stunned and his face showed a hint of surprise. He subconsciously glanced at the man on the ground.
Few people knew the truth about Chris. When he had been modified, only his head and upper body had been kept organic—the rest of his body was fully mechanical. Per Cecilia’s specific orders, his consciousness had been preserved.
But for so many years, Chris had remained fully aware. He could feel pain and comprehend everything happening around him. However, his vocal cords had been removed, and a chip implanted in his spinal nerves forced him to obey Cecilia’s commands like a mechanical puppet.
Very few people knew that Cecilia’s modification of Chris wasn’t about creating a stronger fighter—it was an act of revenge and humiliation.
This woman was exceedingly ruthless.
Without such cruelty, one couldn’t survive in this dog-eat-dog Church. Ace, despite being an alpha, lacked exceptional combat talent, so he was rejected by Leinster. He carefully observed the other archbishops and ultimately allied himself with the then-weak Cecilia.
That investment was very rewarding.
Cecilia had now surpassed Leinster entirely.
“Understood, Lady Cecilia.”
Ace quickly withdrew his gaze and silently followed behind Cecilia. As the group hurried past, none of them noticed a thin figure curled in the debris and ruins.
He Zhun was hiding there and he expressionlessly stared at the convulsing mechanical warrior on the ground.
The man had stopped convulsing and could barely cling to life. His neck, grotesquely twisted due to a partially severed connection, revealed golden, writhing Holy Stigmatas within. These marks, like living threads, stitched together the torn muscles and throat, sustaining him just enough to remain alive.
Chris’s bloodshot eyes rolled upward, staring at the distant figure of the woman who was surrounded by countless people. His heart was consumed by pain, hatred, humiliation, and a torrent of negative emotions.
But the massive blood loss caused his vision and consciousness to fade.
Tap.
A pair of feet entered his blurred line of sight.
Chris’s bloodshot eyes shifted upward, catching a glimpse of a face—both unfamiliar and vaguely familiar. But he couldn’t remember.
Blood from his severed arteries gushed out, nearly submerging his entire head.
He Zhun crouched down and looked at him carefully.
“Haa… haa…”
Then, he touched the scar beneath the back of his neck—a jagged, cruel mark that had faded over the years.
“I remember this scar. Twenty-seven years… I’ve never forgotten it,” He Zhun murmured, his tone calm yet tinged with a distant surprise.
“No wonder… no wonder I searched for you in the Illusory God Church for so many years and found nothing. Cecilia turned you into this…”
He gently traced the faded scar with his fingers and spoke softly,
“Do you remember? Your mission was to eliminate the He Qichu family. I was the child whose stomach you sliced open with your blade.”
“…”
Chris’s eyes widened instantly, and his bloodshot orbs nearly bulged out of their sockets.
He Zhun would never forget that night. A group of men in imperial military uniforms stormed into his home, declaring that his father had committed treason.
He Qichu believed it was all a ruse. He didn’t resist or struggle. Instead, he called out to his family, surrendering willingly.
[Don’t worry, Xiao Zhun, there’s nothing to fear.]
Under his parents’ reassuring gazes, the young He Zhun nervously carried his sleeping younger brother and stepped out of his room. But before he could reach them, he saw the man in military uniform, the leader of the group, stab his father through the heart from behind.
His mother didn’t even have time to react before her neck was snapped.
[There are two little ones left.]
He Zhun heard someone say.
He didn’t even have time to grieve his parents’ deaths before the men snatched his brother from his arms.
His brother, Xiao Yun, wasn’t yet three years old. He didn’t even get a chance to cry before he went limp. Then, He Zhun saw the blood-soaked blade rise high, aiming for him.
At that moment, the man lying on the ground suddenly sprang up.
He Qichu was a frail beta, incapable of fighting. But when desperation kicked in, even Chris was momentarily startled.
That brief moment caused the blade meant to pierce He Zhun’s heart to miss. Instead, it left a long gash across his abdomen.
The young He Zhun fell into a pool of blood. In the haze of pain, he saw golden, parasitic tendrils emerging from his father’s body. The same tendrils sprouted from the man in the military uniform.
Unable to speak from the pain, He Zhun could only watch as his father tore a chunk of flesh from the back of the man’s neck with his bare hands.
The world was a sea of blood—red, everywhere.
Later, his father died. He Zhun closed his eyes and heard the man in the uniform turn on his communicator.
[Mission accomplished. You can stand down on your end.]
He Zhun lay there for a long time, feeling the blood on his body grow cold. He forced himself to stay awake. Once he confirmed the men had truly left, he crawled toward the room.
—There was a medical pod inside.
His father had been an excellent doctor, so their home had a medical facility and a treatment pod. From the living room to his father’s medical room, it was only 27 meters.
That is the distance between life and death.
The young child left a 27-meter-long trail of blood behind him, but he survived.
Two hours later, He Zhun waited for Zhou Jiuya. He feigned unconsciousness and, upon waking, claimed to remember nothing.
He spent more than a year recovering in the hospital. Then Jiang Jinsheng, despite Zhou Jiuya’s opposition, insisted on adopting him.
He remembered how nervous Jiang Jinsheng had been, promising that if He Zhun didn’t want to live with him, he would find the young child an excellent family.
The weak child remained silent before finally grabbing Jiang Jinsheng’s hand and saying,
[Uncle Jiang, I want to go home with you.]
In that moment, He Zhun saw the silver-haired man nearly break into tears.
But He Zhun felt nothing. His choice to follow Jiang Jinsheng was calculated—the man’s power and influence would provide him access to better resources. Besides, Jiang Jinsheng possessed something similar to what his father had.
He Zhun had overheard his parents arguing before. His mother had cried hysterically, accusing his father of gambling their family’s safety for a friend.
Back then, He Zhun didn’t understand. Later, he did.
—His mother had been right.
It’s a pity she couldn’t stop it.
After entering the Jiang family, He Zhun met Jiang Ci, a child the same age as his young brother. He was a little soft and cute, but he had a bad temper. Yet whenever he did something wrong, he looked very obedient when cried and apologized.
Initially, He Zhun hated Jiang Jinsheng. He hated him for existing. Jiang Jinsheng felt this and, burdened with guilt, went out of his way to treat He Zhun with kindness, favoring him even more than his own son, Jiang Ci.
A year later, He Zhun witnessed the man’s final moments. Even then, Jiang Jinsheng was still apologizing to him.
He Zhun knew it wasn’t Jiang Jinsheng’s fault. He had grown fond of Uncle Jiang and felt fear and sadness at the thought of losing him.
Yet, in that moment, he couldn’t bring himself to pardon him.
In fact, He Zhun understood that with the help of Zhou Jiuya, Pei Changyun, and everyone else would make his path to revenge easier— at least he would not have to use his body as a bargaining chip.
He simply didn’t want to.
He didn’t hate them, just resented them.
He resented that Pei Changyun’s plan wasn’t thorough enough and that Zhou Jiuya had arrived too late.
And so, later on, He Zhun’s path to revenge was always solitary.
Always, always, alone.
Now, He Zhun had finally found the man in the military uniform. Back then, the man had disguised himself, so remembering his face was futile. But the scar on the back of his neck hadn’t changed.
It turns out the man’s name was Chris.
But he had already been turned into a mechanical puppet by Cecilia, and now, he looked like he was on the verge of death. The Holy Stigmata restorative power was limited, and it was clear Cecilia hadn’t fed it in a long time, planning to let him die like this long ago.
But He Zhun wouldn’t let him die so easily.
“Are you surprised I’m still alive?”
“Don’t worry, I won’t kill you just yet.”
He Zhun reached out to adjust Chris’s head so that the Holy Stigmata inside him could mend his broken throat and restore his breathing. Then, the young man took out a vial of medicine from the inner lining of his coat, attached a needle, and unceremoniously plunged it into the man’s artery.
The next second, excruciating pain wracked the dying Chris, causing him to convulse violently. This was a memory-stimulating drug, but it caused great pain.
“I want to know—who were you contacting back then?”
“Hh—”
The man’s eyes widened in terror as He Zhun reached out toward him. Golden Holy Stigmatas extended from the young man’s pale fingertips, piercing into his temples.
Just like how, back on Winter Day Planet, Julia had plunged into Ye Shu’s brain to extract fleeting, blurred memories, He Zhun could do the same. However, the Forbidden Abyss Core’s impression on Ye Shu’s brain had been strong, while Chris likely no longer remembered events from so long ago. So, He Zhun had to rely on the drug for assistance.
At that moment, a violent explosion erupted above them, and countless shattered fragments of walls and debris came raining down like a storm.
Boom—!!!
Forty floors up, Bright Moon suddenly shrank amidst a blinding white light, crashing through a wall and tumbling in like a cannonball. The teenager rolled to disperse the impact of the momentum.
Huo Xianfeng had said he was here to kill people, so naturally, he wouldn’t waste time entangling with the mechas outside.
Whatever the other side’s plan was, Bernard was the key. Killing him would bring their plans to a halt. And even without a plan, the old man was already on Huo Xianfeng’s hit list.
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At that moment, the teenager didn’t even look back. Reaching behind him into nothing, he summoned a white spear from the ruins. It shot to his hand in an instant, and with a reverse grip, he swept it forward in an arc of crackling electricity.
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Huo Xianfeng had completely given himself over to the frenzy of slaughter, as hatred filled his brain. His methods of killing grew increasingly brutal and bloody.
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Soon enough, he spotted his target—Bernard.
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Having locked onto his target, he paused for just a moment before raising his long spear. The silver-white shaft gleamed with an intense blue light as it rapidly charged. The instant it was ready, Huo Xianfeng hurled it with force.
Buzz—!!!
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But just as it was about to reach Bernard, a black scythe intercepted it.
Bang!
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Cecilia held the silver spear at bay, her grip so tight that her hands bled profusely, and the tiger’s mouth of her fingers were torn to pieces. She knew full well Bernard’s importance within the Church. If he were to die, it wouldn’t be a matter of merely being sent to the Hall of Discipline like in the case of Leinster. No, the Pope would undoubtedly have her executed.
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Bernard’s aged and panicked voice rang out in a frightened tone,
“Stop him immediately!!!”
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“If you dare to block me again, Cecilia…”
Huo Xianfeng cast a cold glance at her, and his cold murderous intent was not concealed.
—I will kill you.
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Cecilia shuddered in shock, but at that moment, she suddenly noticed a familiar figure appearing behind the teenager.
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Sharp steel claws tightly clamped onto his spear. If Huo Xianfeng hadn’t reacted in time to block the attack, his heart would have been pierced through.
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Sparks flew wildly.
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The woman snapped out of her daze and immediately joined the fight.
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He struggled to fend off their attacks and his Holy Stigmata’s healing ability was no longer able to keep up with the growing number of wounds on his body.
Damn it!
Out of the corner of his eye, Huo Xianfeng caught sight of Bernard’s retreating figure and his expression darkened.
—So close.
“Bright Moon!!!”
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Buzz—!
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A hoarse, anguished scream echoed in the distance.
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Mandala immediately realized Huo Xianfeng’s intent and dashed toward Bernard as his face twisted in desperation.
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The next second, countless bolts of electricity surged from the spear, engulfing Bernard’s body in an instant. The flash of light was so intense it was nearly blinding.arius for the ko-fi donation!
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At this moment, she had no time to think how a clone could have taken control of Bright Moon. At this point, her anger and heartbreak overcame even the fear she had always felt toward Huo Chao.
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“—No.”
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“Lady Cecilia—!”
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Cecilia narrowed her eyes. She had just seen the experimental subject in the surveillance camera asking a researcher about Bernard and the elevator. It was precisely because of this that Cecilia could lay a trap for him.
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The cold and elegant archbishop suddenly stood up and walked out with her high heels clicking sharply. Ace followed closely behind and spoke briefly.
“Lady Cecilia, I’ll arrange for Kuru to be restored immediately.”
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Ace was momentarily stunned and his face showed a hint of surprise. He subconsciously glanced at the man on the ground.
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Very few people knew that Cecilia’s modification of Chris wasn’t about creating a stronger fighter—it was an act of revenge and humiliation.
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That investment was very rewarding.
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Ace quickly withdrew his gaze and silently followed behind Cecilia. As the group hurried past, none of them noticed a thin figure curled in the debris and ruins.
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Chris’s bloodshot eyes rolled upward, staring at the distant figure of the woman who was surrounded by countless people. His heart was consumed by pain, hatred, humiliation, and a torrent of negative emotions.
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Tap.
A pair of feet entered his blurred line of sight.
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He Zhun crouched down and looked at him carefully.
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Then, he touched the scar beneath the back of his neck—a jagged, cruel mark that had faded over the years.
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“No wonder… no wonder I searched for you in the Illusory God Church for so many years and found nothing. Cecilia turned you into this…”
He gently traced the faded scar with his fingers and spoke softly,
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Chris’s eyes widened instantly, and his bloodshot orbs nearly bulged out of their sockets.
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[Don’t worry, Xiao Zhun, there’s nothing to fear.]
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[There are two little ones left.]
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He didn’t even have time to grieve his parents’ deaths before the men snatched his brother from his arms.
His brother, Xiao Yun, wasn’t yet three years old. He didn’t even get a chance to cry before he went limp. Then, He Zhun saw the blood-soaked blade rise high, aiming for him.
At that moment, the man lying on the ground suddenly sprang up.
He Qichu was a frail beta, incapable of fighting. But when desperation kicked in, even Chris was momentarily startled.
That brief moment caused the blade meant to pierce He Zhun’s heart to miss. Instead, it left a long gash across his abdomen.
The young He Zhun fell into a pool of blood. In the haze of pain, he saw golden, parasitic tendrils emerging from his father’s body. The same tendrils sprouted from the man in the military uniform.
Unable to speak from the pain, He Zhun could only watch as his father tore a chunk of flesh from the back of the man’s neck with his bare hands.
The world was a sea of blood—red, everywhere.
Later, his father died. He Zhun closed his eyes and heard the man in the uniform turn on his communicator.
[Mission accomplished. You can stand down on your end.]
He Zhun lay there for a long time, feeling the blood on his body grow cold. He forced himself to stay awake. Once he confirmed the men had truly left, he crawled toward the room.
—There was a medical pod inside.
His father had been an excellent doctor, so their home had a medical facility and a treatment pod. From the living room to his father’s medical room, it was only 27 meters.
That is the distance between life and death.
The young child left a 27-meter-long trail of blood behind him, but he survived.
Two hours later, He Zhun waited for Zhou Jiuya. He feigned unconsciousness and, upon waking, claimed to remember nothing.
He spent more than a year recovering in the hospital. Then Jiang Jinsheng, despite Zhou Jiuya’s opposition, insisted on adopting him.
He remembered how nervous Jiang Jinsheng had been, promising that if He Zhun didn’t want to live with him, he would find the young child an excellent family.
The weak child remained silent before finally grabbing Jiang Jinsheng’s hand and saying,
[Uncle Jiang, I want to go home with you.]
In that moment, He Zhun saw the silver-haired man nearly break into tears.
But He Zhun felt nothing. His choice to follow Jiang Jinsheng was calculated—the man’s power and influence would provide him access to better resources. Besides, Jiang Jinsheng possessed something similar to what his father had.
He Zhun had overheard his parents arguing before. His mother had cried hysterically, accusing his father of gambling their family’s safety for a friend.
Back then, He Zhun didn’t understand. Later, he did.
—His mother had been right.
It’s a pity she couldn’t stop it.
After entering the Jiang family, He Zhun met Jiang Ci, a child the same age as his young brother. He was a little soft and cute, but he had a bad temper. Yet whenever he did something wrong, he looked very obedient when cried and apologized.
Initially, He Zhun hated Jiang Jinsheng. He hated him for existing. Jiang Jinsheng felt this and, burdened with guilt, went out of his way to treat He Zhun with kindness, favoring him even more than his own son, Jiang Ci.
A year later, He Zhun witnessed the man’s final moments. Even then, Jiang Jinsheng was still apologizing to him.
He Zhun knew it wasn’t Jiang Jinsheng’s fault. He had grown fond of Uncle Jiang and felt fear and sadness at the thought of losing him.
Yet, in that moment, he couldn’t bring himself to pardon him.
In fact, He Zhun understood that with the help of Zhou Jiuya, Pei Changyun, and everyone else would make his path to revenge easier— at least he would not have to use his body as a bargaining chip.
He simply didn’t want to.
He didn’t hate them, just resented them.
He resented that Pei Changyun’s plan wasn’t thorough enough and that Zhou Jiuya had arrived too late.
And so, later on, He Zhun’s path to revenge was always solitary.
Always, always, alone.
Now, He Zhun had finally found the man in the military uniform. Back then, the man had disguised himself, so remembering his face was futile. But the scar on the back of his neck hadn’t changed.
It turns out the man’s name was Chris.
But he had already been turned into a mechanical puppet by Cecilia, and now, he looked like he was on the verge of death. The Holy Stigmata restorative power was limited, and it was clear Cecilia hadn’t fed it in a long time, planning to let him die like this long ago.
But He Zhun wouldn’t let him die so easily.
“Are you surprised I’m still alive?”
“Don’t worry, I won’t kill you just yet.”
He Zhun reached out to adjust Chris’s head so that the Holy Stigmata inside him could mend his broken throat and restore his breathing. Then, the young man took out a vial of medicine from the inner lining of his coat, attached a needle, and unceremoniously plunged it into the man’s artery.
The next second, excruciating pain wracked the dying Chris, causing him to convulse violently. This was a memory-stimulating drug, but it caused great pain.
“I want to know—who were you contacting back then?”
“Hh—”
The man’s eyes widened in terror as He Zhun reached out toward him. Golden Holy Stigmatas extended from the young man’s pale fingertips, piercing into his temples.
Just like how, back on Winter Day Planet, Julia had plunged into Ye Shu’s brain to extract fleeting, blurred memories, He Zhun could do the same. However, the Forbidden Abyss Core’s impression on Ye Shu’s brain had been strong, while Chris likely no longer remembered events from so long ago. So, He Zhun had to rely on the drug for assistance.
At that moment, a violent explosion erupted above them, and countless shattered fragments of walls and debris came raining down like a storm.
Boom—!!!
Forty floors up, Bright Moon suddenly shrank amidst a blinding white light, crashing through a wall and tumbling in like a cannonball. The teenager rolled to disperse the impact of the momentum.
Huo Xianfeng had said he was here to kill people, so naturally, he wouldn’t waste time entangling with the mechas outside.
Whatever the other side’s plan was, Bernard was the key. Killing him would bring their plans to a halt. And even without a plan, the old man was already on Huo Xianfeng’s hit list.
As he broke in, he looked up and immediately encountered several high-ranking believers. They opened fire without saying a word.
Due to the experimental subject’s unexpectedly high combat ability, the superiors had already allowed the use of thermal weapons. Huo Xianfeng’s speed was a fraction too slow and he was shot twice—but fortunately, it wasn’t in any vital area—and within seconds, the Holy Stigmatas in his body pushed the bullets out of his flesh.
At that moment, the teenager didn’t even look back. Reaching behind him into nothing, he summoned a white spear from the ruins. It shot to his hand in an instant, and with a reverse grip, he swept it forward in an arc of crackling electricity.
A brilliant fan-shaped streak of silver and blue light erupted, dazzling and deadly.
The opponents had no time to react before they were cleaved into two.
Huo Xianfeng had completely given himself over to the frenzy of slaughter, as hatred filled his brain. His methods of killing grew increasingly brutal and bloody.
But he didn’t care at all. He merely lamented that this wasn’t his own body—otherwise, he wouldn’t have needed to snatch Bai Min’s mecha.
Then, Huo Xianfeng looked up and scanned the upper levels of the hollow, ring-shaped architecture of the White Tower. From his perspective, he could see the activity several levels above.
Soon enough, he spotted his target—Bernard.
The man, surrounded by a group of believers, was fleeing upward in panic.
The teenager licked the corner of his torn lip, savoring the metallic tang of blood. The thrill of the chase, the rush of adrenaline, and the sight of his enemy’s frantic escape filled him with exhilaration and satisfaction.
Having locked onto his target, he paused for just a moment before raising his long spear. The silver-white shaft gleamed with an intense blue light as it rapidly charged. The instant it was ready, Huo Xianfeng hurled it with force.
Buzz—!!!
The spear sped through the air so fast that it let out a piercing sonic boom.
But just as it was about to reach Bernard, a black scythe intercepted it.
Bang!
The sound of weapons colliding echoed sharply.
Cecilia held the silver spear at bay, her grip so tight that her hands bled profusely, and the tiger’s mouth of her fingers were torn to pieces. She knew full well Bernard’s importance within the Church. If he were to die, it wouldn’t be a matter of merely being sent to the Hall of Discipline like in the case of Leinster. No, the Pope would undoubtedly have her executed.
Cecilia wasn’t afraid of death, but she can’t die yet.
“Stop him!!!”
Bernard’s aged and panicked voice rang out in a frightened tone,
“Stop him immediately!!!”
Before Cecilia could respond, she felt the overwhelming pressure before her suddenly lighten—a bad sign.
The experimental subject had appeared on their level without her notice and was once again gripping Bright Moon.
“If you dare to block me again, Cecilia…”
Huo Xianfeng cast a cold glance at her, and his cold murderous intent was not concealed.
—I will kill you.
Out of consideration for Bai Min and for the time she had shown mercy to Jiang Ci in Bright City, Huo Xianfeng had held back. Otherwise, the moment he had seized Bright Moon, he would have ended her life.
Cecilia shuddered in shock, but at that moment, she suddenly noticed a familiar figure appearing behind the teenager.
At the same time, Huo Xianfeng caught sight of the shadow reflected in Cecilia’s widened pupils. He immediately drew his weapon and turned his head back to defend
The clash of metal was ear-piercing.
Sharp steel claws tightly clamped onto his spear. If Huo Xianfeng hadn’t reacted in time to block the attack, his heart would have been pierced through.
—It was Mandala.
But the strike didn’t end there. The steel claws slashed horizontally, aiming for the hand gripping the spear. The grating screech was so shrill that it was almost unbearable to human ears—worse than nails scrapping on a chalkboard.
Sparks flew wildly.
Huo Xianfeng had no choice but to switch hands. In doing so, he found himself caught between two opponents and his movements inevitably became delayed.
At that moment, Mandala let out a low shout,
“Cecilia—!”
The woman snapped out of her daze and immediately joined the fight.
What had initially been a mission to capture an experimental subject had escalated into such chaos. If they moved up just a few more levels, they would reach the Pope. They had to capture him here and now.
Mandala’s participation instantly put the teenager at a disadvantage. This body, only thirteen or fourteen years old, relied on the power of a special Holy Stigmata to have come this far. But now, Huo Xianfeng could feel the body’s strength nearing its limits.
He struggled to fend off their attacks and his Holy Stigmata’s healing ability was no longer able to keep up with the growing number of wounds on his body.
Damn it!
Out of the corner of his eye, Huo Xianfeng caught sight of Bernard’s retreating figure and his expression darkened.
—So close.
“Bright Moon!!!”
The teenager let out a low shout, and the spear in his hand suddenly erupted with blinding light. Both opponents were momentarily startled and thought he was about to deploy the mecha.
But in truth, Huo Xianfeng had only feigned the maneuver. In the brief instant they were distracted, he broke through their defenses and hurled the spear toward Bernard.
Buzz—!
Mandala realized what was happening and lunged to stop it, but it was too late. He managed to brush the shaft of the spear, but it only altered its trajectory slightly. Instead of piercing Bernard’s neck, it drove through his shoulder with a resonant hum, pinning him to the ground.
“Ahhhhh—!!!”
A hoarse, anguished scream echoed in the distance.
But it wasn’t over.
The silver spear began to charge as faint arcs of electricity flickered around it.
Mandala immediately realized Huo Xianfeng’s intent and dashed toward Bernard as his face twisted in desperation.
“No—!!!”
Huo Xianfeng coldly observed the scene and his lips curled into a sinister, bloodthirsty smile.
The next second, countless bolts of electricity surged from the spear, engulfing Bernard’s body in an instant. The flash of light was so intense it was nearly blinding.
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