Chapter 135: The Autumn of Adolf (22)
The branch axe and spear struck the golden statue, making a loud thud, with pieces of gold scattering everywhere. The branch axe and spear anxiously cried out, “Chop people! Go chop people!” “I’m just cutting off future troubles for the team,” Jima said with righteous indignation, tossing the remaining golden arms into the small cart. “Why are you so active today?”
As Jima spoke, he shifted his gaze to the bloodthirsty creature made of gold, which seemed like a good souvenir, looking at it wouldn’t be a loss.
“Make way! Make way!” A white light descended from the sky, landing atop Jima’s head. Looking up, he saw Jenna with wings, wearing a tattered white robe. She said, “Jima, this isn’t the time to celebrate.”
“In any case, when I get to the front line, the only thing I can do is insult Marus,” Jima shrugged. “Jenna, you don’t look too good either.”
“I can only comfort everyone’s wounds as much as possible.”
“Look, I’m not just removing future troubles for everyone.” Jima kicked the small cart, which started moving on its own. He flapped his wings and flew up to look towards the front lines. “I also occasionally check on the battlefield.”
“But aren’t you worried that the Everlasting Chosen One might suddenly find a way to kill you and steal your crown fragments?”
“Isn’t there you?” Jima smiled at Jenna. “I believe you will protect me well.”
Jenna shyly cupped her egg-shaped face with one hand, smiling.
“Who’s coming over now!” A roar came crashing in.
As Jima looked, he saw the Everlasting Chosen One, Marus, standing atop a mountain of corpses, shouting angrily with a sword raised. He appeared to have reached his limit, surrounded by imperial troops, and the undead army, isolating him from the annihilation army, which already had few powerful beings left.
His chosen army had been destroyed under the scorching fireball of nuclear weapons, and his dragon legion had suffered heavy losses, turning to ash along with many powerful demons and magic folk. Now he could truly be considered isolated and helpless, with no prominent ally fighting alongside him.
He had just bellowed his bravado when undead knights of Calron Fortress rushed in. Their weapons could not harm the Everlasting Chosen One, but they could assist George and others. With the aid of the golden masked Gelt, George slashed off one of the Everlasting Chosen One’s horns, causing not blood to spray, but a stream of red iron juice.
“Is this finally coming to an end?”
Saint Jenna folded her hands together, thinking of the many people who had died, a sorrow reflected in her green, translucent eyes.
“Not necessarily,” Jima said, watching the crowd beat on the Everlasting Chosen One. He casually asked, “Did the Everlasting Chosen One come to Sigma Cathedral for some holy relic?”
“Yes, the emperor has found it and took it away before the holy relic vault fell.”
“Is it destroyed?”
Jenna shook her head. “I don’t know how it was destroyed.”
“Then where is it now?”
“It’s on that cart.”
Jenna pointed, and Jima looked over.
He saw the emperor of the empire and the remaining living people resting in front of the Sigma statue, while the cart was right beneath the emperor’s backside. A group of furious demons flew in, trying to snatch it, but a blast arrow unexpectedly shot in from somewhere, exploding the entire group of furious demons into smithereens.
“Then I can rest easy; it seems everyone hasn’t given the enemy a chance in this chaotic situation.”
Someone yelled from below, “Demon Lord! Your Holiness! The emperor of the empire commands you to come.”
Jima, feeling no sense of being a demon lord, flew to the emperor’s side. “What is it?”
“Thank you very much for your help…”
“But?” Jima interjected. “Just now, I seemed to have overheard your secret conversation about preventing new Everlasting Chosen Ones from being born and going to any lengths to stop me from obtaining the remaining crown fragments?”
The emperor cleared his throat, supporting his chin with a hand. “I didn’t adopt that opinion.”
That’s why I flew over.
Jima smiled. “How could you trust a demon so easily? It’s hard to imagine how you got to this point today, perhaps it’s part of a grand design by my god?”
“I have never trusted you, demon,” the emperor said. “I trust Saint George, I trust his character, and I trust he has the power to defeat you.”
“Actually, he has already fallen under my pomegranate skirt,” Jima lied. “I ruled another human world for a hundred and fifty years. You can hardly imagine my power; to put it bluntly, in comparison, your empire feels like a rural village, and you are the village chief.”
“I enjoy my privileges as queen, and he came to defeat me, but his sword hesitated, and he couldn’t bring himself to strike. I seized his hesitation and defeated him; only after he begged did I send a replica to save the world.”
As she spoke, Jima toyed with the ends of her hair, “What can I do? Who asked me to feel so sorry for him? So, Your Majesty, how much faith do you still have left in him?”
“Your Majesty.” A knight in armored helmet couldn’t hold back any longer. “Right now, our forces have the upper hand, we absolutely cannot let this demon become the second Everlasting Chosen One, causing the blood of the empire’s people to spill needless!”
The emperor replied, “I trust the brave.”
At the same time, atop the mountain of corpses, the holy sword struck, breaking the Everlasting Chosen One’s tattered helmet and leaving a scar of shame on his face. The formerly unified crown fragments scattered, floating back atop his head.
“Hahaha, congratulations on passing my test.” Jima again emphasized, “Of course, I’m speaking the truth. What do you want? I’ll see if I’m in the mood.”
“You seem to be able to store a large amount of supplies and call people from afar,” the emperor looked very tired as he knocked on the cart. “Can you take those holy relics away? Carry them to a distance.”
Jima gazed at the cart, feeling the terrible power contained within.
“No, I can’t take them away.”
Just like during the battle against the Mother of All Beasts in the Kingdom of Casson, Jima was unable to transport the demon king Kima’s transcendent material to the dream palace.
“I understand,” the emperor said, his eyes bloodshot, heavy dark circles under his eyes.
In that moment, Jima had a feeling. The emperor sitting atop the cart was just a mortal. Although the Sigma Hammer in his hand was always shining with light, he lacked the traits of a powerful being.
Without mentioning the distance, George had been able to fight tirelessly for several days without rest. Jenna’s skin, no matter where it was, glowed with a white luminescence. The emperor before her looked like a weary office worker who had been on duty for days, holding the Sigma Hammer, surely he could not be a mere mortal.
How could a mere mortal reach this point?
Jima shook her head with a smile, lifting her branch axe and spear, patting her wings and taking to the air. She saw George battling the Everlasting Chosen One, their forms moving quickly, exchanging blows, with the released force creating a natural boundary around them.
It looked like a one-on-one duel. The Everlasting Chosen One was facing off against George, the golden masked Gelt, nearly ten thousand undead soldiers of the empire, Eve Frostleaf, Jenna… The list could go on for a while.
In a battle of this level, the role of ordinary soldiers was limited, but not nonexistent. A massive number of elite undead empire soldiers charged into the duel, wielding various weapons to “tickle” the Everlasting Chosen One. Any obstruction or a hit, even changing his movements, was a valuable contribution.
Moreover, whenever George needed a break, he could retreat to the military formation to catch his breath and rest.
If it wasn’t for Jima being cautious and not easily stepping onto the front line, to avoid the Everlasting Chosen One revealing some strange trump card and striking her down, seizing the crown fragments; otherwise, she would have long ago set up a basin of water, grabbed a towel, and in front of the Everlasting Chosen One, wiped George’s face and patched him up, not for any other reason, just to infuriate that guy.
Better to keep working on the gold. Just as Jima thought of this, the Everlasting Chosen One suddenly launched a fully powered attack, swinging his iron shield and wielding his sword, shredding space with a teleport before slashing down at the golden masked Gelt, immediately pulling him under his sword.
George was already on guard, using the Light Charge to turn into a beam of light and rush behind the Everlasting Chosen One, slashing down with his sword.
But the Everlasting Chosen One forcefully ignored the holy sword, bellowing, “Die!”
Jima involuntarily tightened her grip on the branch axe and spear; everyone knew that if the leader of the undead army died, the entire undead army would be annihilated, and that was not impossible.
“Boom!”
The silver exploded on the spot, turning into fragments.
The emperor stood up from the cart. “Gelt!”
The molten metal next to the emperor formed a human shape, turning into the golden masked Gelt. “Your Majesty, that traitorous head of the Loyal Academy can really flee.”
The Everlasting Chosen One paid a heavy price for his desperate counterattack. George’s holy sword struck true, piercing his third eye. A flash of white light appeared, and the Everlasting Chosen One crashed onto the heap of corpses, half-kneeling among them. That prophetic third eye, the Eye of Mohr, had become a charred scar.
This terrifying opponent could no longer foresee the future.
Are we really about to win?
Jima’s hands gripping the axe handle trembled. The dawn of victory seemed about to emerge from the dark horizon.
As long as this big bad guy died, the shadow hanging over her heart would vanish, countless glory and honor would belong to her. The blissful days were just beckoning from the horizon.
But was it really that easy?
He could foresee 18 seconds into the future. Based on her deductions, the cooldown time might be 6 seconds. The recent ambush on the golden masked Gelt to the slashing of his eye took about 6 seconds; now, 8 seconds had passed. Clearly, he could predict this future but still accepted it.
Or perhaps he couldn’t see the future after losing the Eye of Mohr?
Jima counted in her heart.
9, 10, 11…
“Accept your judgment! Die!”
George, wielding the holy sword, struck down hard. The injured Everlasting Chosen One barely managed to deflect the holy sword; an arrow struck his eye, and two undead elite guards charged in with spirit hammers, smashing at his back knee.
The Everlasting Chosen One roared, raising his sword to fend off the two undead elite guards, allowing George to capitalize and strike at him, delivering the final holy cut to burn and purify his body.
12, 13, 14, 15…
The Everlasting Chosen One angled his longsword skyward, shouting, “The first ten thousand heads, are offered to the Blood God!”
16, 17, 18…
Jima felt as if she had been electrocuted. She suddenly raised her head and turned to see the flying shield previously thrown by the Everlasting Chosen One, somehow decapitating an imperial soldier.
She finally understood why the branch axe and spear were so active, why the Everlasting Chosen One’s annihilation ritual hadn’t yet triumphed, but was already beheading people all over the city. It must have been agreed upon with the Blood God.
Jima’s left eye burned, feeling the Blood God’s gaze piercing through subspace, directing attention her way, while endless anger surged.
“Rumble!”
Red lightning split the sky, and a blood-red storm smashed down to the earth. As a chosen one of the Blood God, she could hear the god’s roar echoing in subspace:
“Why is this happening! More magic! Kill the mages!”
Grinding her teeth.
With a swing of his sword, the Blood God transformed all the demons and magic folk that had been turned to gold back into flesh. Jima couldn’t help but scream, “No!”
“Victory belongs to me! The brave!” The injured Everlasting Chosen One shouted, fighting defensively against George while proclaiming, “The gaze of the Blood God will directly destroy this place!”
Thud, thud, thud.
Jima’s heart and lungs stopped as she recalled that the Blood God’s ultimate “manifestation of evil” was to destroy a city with sunlight. Few mortals could withstand the Blood God’s sunlight. To successfully manifest evil, one had to rely not only on efforts but also on whether the god wished to oblige. Jima understood why the Everlasting Chosen One continued to fight valiantly, why he kept taking risks—because the Blood God favored him.
This was his trump card, his safety net. He was also gambling; he could not foresee the outcome 18 seconds later and could only bet that the Blood God would respond to him.
Jima raised her head, looking at the fiery clouds now appearing over Adolf. The Blood God’s wrath blazed like flames, and the fire clouds were ascending. Jima could see that god, the personification of all war in the world, sitting on his bronze throne, gazing directly down at the mortal realm.
He had won his gamble.
The Blood God, this fellow preoccupied with killing, didn’t care whether the Everlasting Chosen One wanted to overthrow and kill himself; he might even be particularly excited by it.
The branch axe and spear shouted excitedly, “Blood sacrifice to the Blood God! Offer heads for the throne!”
The resurrected bloodthirsty demon roared, “Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill!”
The fiery clouds loomed over every member of the imperial side, crushing their hopes; the red light fell over Adolf, enveloping the entire city.
“Run!” Jima called to George, but seeing him intent on fighting the Everlasting Chosen One under the oppressive gaze of the Blood God, she cursed, “You idiot! Get out of here!”
The red light surrounding all of Adolf grew stronger, ready to refine all living beings along with their souls and bodies.
Jima, with tears in her eyes, flew towards George.
Why did I fall for such a big fool?
The Everlasting Chosen One raised his longsword. “I! Am destiny!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the red light disappeared in an instant.
No one died.
“Still alive?”
“How did it suddenly vanish? It’s only been a dozen seconds.”
“What happened?”
The magic folk who were charging with encouragement couldn’t help but lower their weapons, looking at each other in confusion.
Everyone looked at the Everlasting Chosen One, who held his sword aloft, seemingly waiting for him to explain. The atmosphere became somewhat awkward.
The Everlasting Chosen One’s face rare turned rugged as he gritted his teeth. “Blood God! You toyed with me! All four gods should die!”
He even thought of his loyal subordinates dying like this, tears welling in the corners of his eyes.
Jima was so curious that for once she didn’t mock the Everlasting Chosen One, instead covering her right eye and looking at the fading fire clouds with her left, vaguely catching sight of the Blood God. He too was gritting his teeth, cursing, but turning his head to look the other way.
