Chapter 1564 – Invincible
The riflemen, clad in black and red formal wear and wearing round hats, resembled a ceremonial guard. They held rifles loaded with alchemical potions. When the potions were fired, they transformed into flames, lightning, ice, or potent poisons, striking their enemies. With this rifle in hand, even someone without magical talent could become a low-level mage, one free from mana limitations and side effects.
After emptying the potion vials, they skillfully removed them and replaced them with fresh ones, much like reloading a magazine. The rifle’s construction was surprisingly simple, not much different from the water guns of my previous life. I understood its mechanics at a glance, without even needing to activate the knowledge in my brain. The only difficulty lay in the special materials required for the potion vials and gun barrels to withstand the alchemical potions. Even the materials for the rifle itself were born from Alchemy. When these alchemical potions were fired and exposed to the air, they reacted violently, transforming into pure elemental energy, unaffected by Karina’s gravity domain.
Though these elemental spells were more potent than regular bullets, they didn’t pose a significant threat to Karina. She erected a black and red shield laced with blood threads around herself, deflecting all the elemental attacks. These shields even absorbed the magic cast upon them, converting it into Gluttony magic to sustain Karina. In my research of Gluttony Divine Technique, I was far from her level.
Witnessing Karina stand unmoved amidst a hail of gunfire, everyone was struck with awe and even wavered. A courtier shouted, “Don’t worry, we have a barrier protecting us. If we keep firing here, she’s bound to break!”
“Oh, really?” Karina’s voice echoed in his ear. The courtier was terrified. Just as he turned to flee, he felt a clawed hand press against his back, and his entire vitality was drained. *When did she get behind me?* This was the courtier’s last thought as he slowly fell. Only then did the others, terrified, see the black-robed Karina appear within the palace.
*What was that outside? How did she get in?* everyone gawked at Karina floating outside the palace. Just then, her shield failed, and countless bullets tore her image to shreds. The figure in the air dissolved into a swarm of flies, scattering in all directions. Karina had long ago used a decoy, her true body having entered the palace.
The elder and the warrior, reacting fastest, followed by two knights, charged at Karina before she could utter another word. The elder, in particular, a Priest of the Heavenly Father, held a scale in his left hand, while his right produced a rare, peculiar weapon. It resembled both a pole-axe and a treble clef, with an S-shaped golden blade connected to a long golden handle, its tip shaped like a halberd. As the saying goes, the stranger the weapon, the faster the death. This unusual weapon looked less like a weapon and more like a ritual implement, but in the elder’s hands, it unleashed tremendous power.
I charged directly at the elder, my ethereal greatsword clashing against the wavy edge of the golden blade. The immense force was in no way inferior to that of a professional knight. I unleashed over a dozen spiked chains, piercing towards the elder, but he spun his golden blade, deflecting all the chains. Simultaneously, five Blood Thorns grew from Karina’s feet, lunging at the warrior. The warrior raised a Holy Sword and severed one Blood Thorn with a single strike.
But just like everyone who had opposed Via before, they might suppress Via for one or two moves, but her vast Blood Energy was enough to support her in unleashing more powerful spells. The severed thorns regrow, and this time, blood-red roses bloomed on them. As the roses opened, a large amount of blood-red pollen was released, filling the room with a rotten stench, while countless flies, mosquitoes, fleas, and bugs swarmed around the roses.
“Tsk!” The warrior was forced to retreat repeatedly. Though his Holy Sword was swift, even with constant slashes against these blood-sucking insects and Blood Thorns, they regenerated endlessly, while he was merely forced to retreat. The two Royal Knights of Hesse Duchy bravely fought their way into the inner ring of Blood Thorns, but they now had to face Karina directly. Karina didn’t appear to be a close-combat specialist, but her magic was incredibly potent. A mouth opened in her palm, and a black sword energy spewed out—the same sword energy she had swallowed earlier. Corrupted by Karina, it was now turned against its former master. Moreover, she merged two sword energies into one, adding her own magic, multiplying its power. A single knight would struggle to withstand it. Caught off guard, he hastily raised his sword to block. A large amount of magic gathered on the blade, turning his estoc golden. “Clang!” The sword energy struck the estoc, and the knight staggered back several steps. A broken blade flew up—his own estoc had snapped. The Royal Knight felt his arm go numb, unable to even grip the hilt. He reluctantly dropped the broken sword. If he had his own well-suited weapon in hand now, he could have exerted even greater combat power.
The other knight was incredibly fast, practically appearing beside Karina in an instant, his sword tip nearly reaching her head. But Karina also raised a hand towards him, generating a powerful repulsive force that sent the Royal Knight flying. Then, a small mouth opened again, and a black and red beam of light shot out—the evil magic Karina had used to cut the clock tower earlier. “Uh!” The knight raised his left hand, and a large round shield formed from golden light coalesced in his hand, adorned with a huge and complex cross crest. This was likely a divine spell granted by his faith’s deity. The black and red light struck the golden shield, pushing the knight back incessantly. Finally, he crashed through the wall, battered to the opposite room, his fate uncertain.
Seeing Karina holding her own and gaining the upper hand against multiple opponents, the others finally reacted, surrounding Karina and preparing for a righteous group assault. “Let the Heavenly Father judge your wickedness!” the elder roared, raising his scales to their extreme. The magic of good converged on the golden blade, while the magic of evil was directed at my Guardian Deity. I inwardly cursed. This was clearly a finishing move, imbued with karmic and judgment attributes, and even my main body felt a sense of danger. His downward slash was slow, but I felt it was both unstoppable and unavoidable. Even if I blocked with my greatsword and chains, they would undoubtedly be easily severed. My intuition told me so. Just then, Karina spoke again, “Who gave you permission to decide good and evil?”
