Chapter 1273
Enchantment: Crown of Thorns (Sun)
“Look, the sea that eclipses the sun—”
“Encyclopedia,” Protino exclaimed involuntarily, gazing at the magnificent scene before him. He deeply regretted not having studied classic literature thoroughly. Faced with such a spectacle, he couldn’t even muster a line of poetry, a true waste of such a soul-stirring, grand occasion. Protino had never imagined that he would one day combine the words “eclipses the sun” and “sea.” Just as he had never imagined that he, so insignificant, would once again confront a descending Heavenly Envoy and become the key to saving the world.
Protino stood atop a tall bronze bell tower, gazing at the sea in the distance, which had instantaneously solidified and blocked out the sun. Holy Spring City had already fallen into darkness. Only faint candlelight flickered within the city, as weak as unextinguished candles in a storm.
“The moment of the solar eclipse has arrived…” Protino murmured. This bell tower was said to be nearly as old as human history. The technology for crafting such magnificent bronzework came from the civilization of dragons, who favored using such ritual vessels to offer sacrifices to the gods. He wondered if this was already a desert when they built this high tower, and if the person who stood at its summit in the past had ever seen a real sea. Now, he had.
“Your Excellency, the time has come.” His two Nephthys guards behind him prompted gently.
“Ah,” Protino nodded, rousing himself from his reverie. “I know. -Let us begin then.”
*Squelch—* A dull thud of metal piercing flesh echoed, like cutting leather with a small knife.
“Amon—purify the souls before me!” Amidst Protino’s low chant, the two Nephthys guards raised their ritual daggers and plunged them unhesitatingly into their own hearts!
“Our Lord!” they cried out, their voices filled with ecstatic praise towards the Heavenly Envoy they dimly perceived in their spiritual sense. “I am the Sun!”
The surging blood transformed into golden-red flames, blooming like Iris flowers, igniting from within their armor. Then, their souls became burning orbs of fire, accompanied by clear bird songs, before striking Protino one after another! As the two balls of fire struck him, his body was instantaneously engulfed in flames.
The intense pain did not stop his incantations. He merely reached out into the void, and the heat subsided. His flame-engulfed body radiated an increasingly sacred radiance, and the two flames condensed into phoenix-like wings, forming his wings to chase the sun on his left and right. Protino slowly began to fly.
As his clothes were consumed by the flames, a still pure and flawless card tumbled from his chest pocket. He reached out and caught it. It was the shimmering golden Tarot Card, a gift from Eivass. *I’ll rely on you*, Protino thought. He didn’t know if this card held a way to save him, but Protino believed in Eivass. After all, it wouldn’t matter even if he failed. Every Horus person dreamed of becoming the sun. Only those who had despaired in the darkness would yearn for light so fiercely.
Protino curled his fingers, infused mana, and activated the card.
—[Enchantment: Crown of Thorns (Sun)]
As it activated, pure white thorns of light appeared on Protino’s forehead. With unbearable pain, they tightened intensely— Countless thorns of light burrowed into his flesh and blood vessels like living things. Protino felt them clearly, like writhing snakes or centipedes tearing his body apart.
However… After they occupied his body, those flames receded. They could no longer injure Protino in the slightest.
*Now—* Protino’s spirit jolted, and he looked towards the Abyss Heavenly Envoy in the distance. As he released his restraint, the power of the gradually uncontrollable “Sun Avatar Ritual” completely engulfed him.
On this land, the walls between the Dream Realm and the Material Realm had become incredibly fragile. They had just been destroyed by the Ouroboros Ring ritual, shattered by the Great Abyss. They had not yet recovered… Or rather, the Hourglass had not yet acted to restore them.
A trace of Xi Tian Si’s consciousness, along with the purest Dawn Fire, had already descended into Protino! Protino’s entire being transformed into a ball of white-gold fire, the distorted heat melting the surrounding bronze bell tower and causing the very air high in the sky to distort. —That was the technique of Dawn Fire! As the two golden-red wings of flame spread again, they turned incandescent white, and the humanoid flame in the center became even more blazing.
And at this moment.
Protino shook his head groggily and woke up again. He was now in his own ritual space, his human body restored. His spiritual body, like that of other Dream Traveling Monks, was a pale golden, semi-transparent glass body, resembling a blown sugar figurine. His two Nephthys guards were already waiting here for his spiritual body. Besides them, a trace of Xi Tian Si’s consciousness had also appeared.
He was an extremely handsome, robust male without any feminine softness. He had radiant golden hair like sunfire, and eyes that blazed so brightly one could not see the whites, shimmering with brilliance. He wore light white-gold armor, a white helmet shaped like a hawk, and held two phoenix-winged short swords in his hands. That was the manifestation of Xi Tian Si. He was Hengwo’s separated, opposite-sex self, embarking on the eleventh cut after ten self-divisions!
Slowly appearing in the distance was a headless youth with a pale body. He resembled a corpse floating in the sea, his skin pale and swollen. He had no head; the area above his neck was an endless, deep blue-black tentacle. He had tattered, skeletal wings on his back and wore a robe that might have once been majestic and radiant, but was now corroded into a faded greyish-white.
To save time and power as much as possible… Xi Tian Si spoke no words. He flashed forward without hesitation, trailing a golden light. The short sword in his hand erupted with a rainbow nebula as radiant as sunlight, and the entire space vibrated violently! The headless youth did not respond at all—or rather, he couldn’t. The tentacles on his head instantaneously proliferated, transforming into countless thick limbs that lashed out in all directions. At the same time, his swollen body burst open, and countless flesh and blood multiplied into liquid tentacles like maggots, spreading and devouring Protino’s spiritual world in all directions.
It was an indescribable, intense pain. Nerves burned like fire, souls were gnawed away bit by bit. Memories gradually faded, and consciousness evaporated. —Protino didn’t know how long he could hold on.
But… At this moment, Eivass had woken up. His consciousness had merged into the Abyss Heavenly Envoy’s body. Originally, they were supposed to merge into one— but the original consciousness within the Abyss Heavenly Envoy’s body had suddenly disappeared. —It must have been taken by Protino. The answer immediately appeared in Eivass’s mind. He fully believed in his friend’s plan, no matter how absurd it seemed. —To imprison the Heavenly Envoy’s consciousness within one’s own mind? Was this truly possible? Was this something a mortal could do?
Anyone else would have instinctively doubted Protino. But Eivass chose to trust him, handing him the precious “Crown of Thorns.” And trust had now been rewarded. With the disappearance of the Abyss Heavenly Envoy’s original consciousness, the fusion ritual was interrupted. Eivass was now incredibly clear-headed, awake within the Abyss Heavenly Envoy’s body— He knew almost instantly how to use this body. Because it was originally constructed using his own flesh as material, offered to “himself,” and built by “his own” power! No one understood the Abyss Heavenly Envoy better than Eivass at this moment, not even the Abyss Heavenly Envoy himself, who had lost his reason and brain!
The Heavenly Envoy’s authority— The moment Eivass’s consciousness awoke, the first thing he did was to prevent the leakage of the Abyss Heavenly Envoy’s power. He wasn’t intentionally killing, but the leaked power itself could destroy fragile mortals like ants. To stop the sea was naturally more difficult than to push it. Yet, Eivass achieved it.
Not only that… From the solidified sea, drop by drop, water fell onto the bodies of those who had just been killed. A miracle occurred— Even though they weren’t completely dead yet… after all, it had only been a few seconds ago. But everyone whose limbs were separated, twisted, contorted, and mangled at the flesh was instantly restored to their original state!
