Chapter 975: Three Punches, Double Kill!
The true appearance beneath the Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s mask… was identical to Pope Eivass himself?!
It wasn’t just a matter of resemblance; they both possessed identical, number-wise and shape-wise identical wings!
Though one was black and the other white… what difference was there between completely opposite colors and complete identity!
The shock this caused people was even greater than the “Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s strange attitude towards Eivass” from before!
Not to mention, they weren’t the only ones who saw this.
—Now, under the Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s spell, countless people were looking up at the sky and seeing the Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s face!
Even Eivass himself was surprised—
Because he had seen Lucifer in the ruins before. Although Lucifer’s appearance had been blurred into a mess back then, and he himself had forgotten his own appearance… Eivass clearly remembered that Lucifer’s facial structure was completely different from his own!
Moreover, if his appearance were the same as the Ring Heavenly Envoy’s, it wouldn’t make sense either. Eivass had already met the Ring Heavenly Envoy; Ai Shiping’s appearance was completely different from his.
“…It must be the Shepherd,” Eivass thought.
He remembered that he had met Lancelot during an Ascension Ritual as “Eivass Moriarty,” and at that time, Lancelot blurted out something like “Aren’t you the Shepherd?” when he saw Eivass using the Shepherd’s Method. In other words, the Shepherd and Eivass had the same appearance!
Eivass’s current appearance belonged to “Snake Tail,” not “Snake”!
To maintain his humanity, the Ring Heavenly Envoy continuously severed his memories from before his transmigration, creating one “transmigrator” after another, one “protagonist” after another.
They varied in gender, some were human, some were elves… In past cycles, these scenes were repeatedly staged, and their appearances were all identical, precisely because they all belonged to the “negative side” abandoned by the Ring Heavenly Envoy!
And the current Ring Heavenly Envoy was also a Snake Tail… meaning he once had the same appearance as Eivass. After he devoured Ai Shiping and became the new Ring Heavenly Envoy, he began to stage the same performance.
In this cycle, the Shepherd seemed to have realized some truth.
To resist the Ring Heavenly Envoy, he decisively used the Shepherd’s Method to commit suicide, giving his [all] to the Fallen Heavenly Envoy—thus preventing the Ring Heavenly Envoy from devouring him and preventing that part of his “self” from returning to the Ring Heavenly Envoy’s body. This was also the main reason why the Ring Heavenly Envoy initiated the Ouroboros Ring Ritual this time… For the Ring Heavenly Envoy to complete himself, he had to kill the Fallen Heavenly Envoy in the Material Realm.
Because only by dying in the Material Realm could he truly die, thus completely extracting that part of his “self” that had already merged with the Fallen Heavenly Envoy!
—This face, identical to Eivass, worn by the Fallen Heavenly Envoy, was proof that the Shepherd had once lived and resisted fate!
The moment he realized this, Eivass felt that he and the Fallen Heavenly Envoy were truly alike…
The Fallen Heavenly Envoy, within the corrupted Lucifer, had a portion of “Eivass” mixed in; and within Eivass, there was also a portion of “Lucifer” mixed in!
Neither of them was complete, and both needed to devour the other to complete themselves!
As the Fallen Heavenly Envoy crushed the bull-headed mask, the bone armor on his body gradually peeled away and shattered.
With a whoosh—accompanied by the sound of rushing wind, the Fallen Heavenly Envoy summoned forth the attire of the past King of Winged Ones!
He wore a heavy black cloak, mimicking the one made of Nibiru fur worn by the Wing Heavenly Envoy. Beneath it was a special linen garment that had an oily sheen similar to leather, covering his hands and feet and replacing hard boots.
During the Second Sun Era, this black linen was a common material, growing only in soil where corpses were buried. It appeared black normally, but when reflecting sunlight, it revealed a blood-like crimson… However, there was no sun here, so it looked like a connected black leather suit.
The Fallen Heavenly Envoy, freeing himself from his constraints, could not help but let out a long cry, slowly stretching his body in the air. The surging purple-black aura of corruption even formed new stars, wave after wave like a tsunami.
“Such a wonderful feeling—”
The Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s emotions suddenly became ecstatic: “Truly exhilarating!”
Although that armor would restrain the Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s power and resist external injuries… it also helped him maintain his sanity. Whenever the Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s emotions neared loss of control, that living armor would emit a strong oppressive feeling, urging him to sober up quickly.
—Just like Eivass, who was currently sealed in the cursed magic orb.
The reason he used this spell to seal Eivass naturally included making him experience the suffering he himself had gone through!
The Fallen Heavenly Envoy of today, believing he had complete mastery over the power of Great Sin and no longer needed restraint—let out a long cry towards the sky from his spot, roaring loudly!
The many rings bound in his hair all disintegrated, separating from his body and floating behind him. After manifesting as runes, they turned into fine dust and were absorbed back into his body. The Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s ankle-length black hair reverted to long, straight hair, making his linen cloak look even closer to the bearskin cloak of the Supreme Heaven.
The Fallen Heavenly Envoy had fully recovered to his strongest form.
He now looked even more similar to Eivass.
And that arrogant, unrestrained confident smile made people involuntarily hallucinate—that did seem like an expression Eivass could make.
“What, not attacking me proactively?”
The Fallen Heavenly Envoy looked down upon all beings, standing in the sky like a god. He watched Saint Joan continuously casting buffs and blessings on her allies, watched them continuously setting up layers upon layers of rituals, magic circles, and defenses… The Fallen Heavenly Envoy could only laugh.
A game for the weak.
“—Then let me.”
The Fallen Heavenly Envoy raised his right hand and drew back the purple sun that the Heavenly Raksha was desperately holding up.
That sun turned into layers of firelight, rapidly shrinking and flowing back into the Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s outstretched right hand. With each part of the power drawn back, a layer of purple magic circle bloomed on the outside of his right wrist; and one ring was placed outside another, until eight rings appeared.
The area covered by those eight rings was even larger than the Fallen Heavenly Envoy himself!
And he clenched his right fist.
The eight rings rapidly converged inwards, all disappearing into his fist.
At this time, Carstenning, holding his shield, had already approached the Fallen Heavenly Envoy.
As the Fallen Heavenly Envoy unfurled his wings and straightened them—
—The next moment, the Fallen Heavenly Envoy disappeared.
He instantly appeared before Carstenning!
It was a speed too fast for the naked eye to follow—
One punch!
The holy shield held in Carstenning’s left arm cracked and shattered, instantly disintegrating!
A surging torrent of flames directly poured into Carstenning’s body. Carstenning gritted his teeth, refusing to retreat even an inch—his entire body erupted with purple cracks like Cracked Porcelain, and the overflowing flames continued to erupt backward from his cracked back!
It was an incomparably beautiful and dazzling, cone-shaped purple fire mist!
A Preservation Technique barrier, erected and solidified in advance, blocked this eruption.
And on the two sides not blocked, even the Earth was burned and evaporated by it!
After the punch, the Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s wings flapped behind him, and he retreated like lightning, dodging the slash of the Candlemaster’s holy sword wielded by Carstenning’s right hand.
As the Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s wings in the sky straightened again—
The next moment, he instantly teleported before Carstenning again.
—The second punch, smashing him to pieces!
This time, the fire mist did not erupt in a cone but exploded outwards in all directions with Carstenning at the center—the Disciple of the Candlemaster was almost smashed to pieces by this punch!
It was said almost.
Because just before he was smashed to pieces by the Fallen Heavenly Envoy, Saint Joan immediately canceled the summoning of Carstenning.
His death was unavoidable—the curse fire from the “Death of the Sun” erupted from the already battered Carstenning’s body, capable of tearing him to shreds instantly!
But if he were to die in the Dream Realm, his form would merely be scattered, and he could be resurrected very soon!
And the purple flames on the Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s fist had not completely dissipated.
He still had a third punch!
As the Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s wings stretched to their limit again, straightening completely—
The Heavenly Raksha had already picked up his halberd, which had been stuck in the ground, as the fireball dissipated.
With extremely strong combat awareness, he had observed the Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s attacks twice and roughly guessed how swift this blow would be.
So he swung his halberd with all his might towards the front in advance!
—And his prediction was accurate!
The blade of the halberd directly impacted the fragile fist head-on—
The aftermath tore the Earth apart instantly.
But the one who was sent flying was surprisingly the towering Heavenly Raksha!
As the Heavenly Raksha leaned backward, he could not help but shatter the ground beneath his feet. Then he flew into the air, his body slamming against the ground, carving out one giant crater after another. It was not purely kinetic energy; this punch was accompanied by eight consecutive explosions within his body, with each explosion being twice as powerful as the previous one!
The eighth explosion had already severely injured the Heavenly Raksha.
If he did not possess the ability to endure fatal injuries without dying, this single blow would have instantly killed him!
…Even the halberd in the Heavenly Raksha’s hand was shattered by the Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s punch!
It was not a weapon bestowed by the Heavenly Candlemaster Envoy, but a weapon formerly bestowed by the Supreme Heaven to the “Raksha.” After he defected to the Heavenly Candlemaster Envoy, this weapon was also sanctified, becoming a testament to the Heavenly Raksha’s life experiences.
Now its blade was completely shattered, and the broken hilt was irreparable—purple-black corrupting energy still twined around it, continuously corroding it.
Seeing that the Heavenly Raksha had lost his combat capability, Saint Joan could only send him back to avoid him being killed directly by the Fallen Heavenly Envoy here.
“…Hmph, quite a bit of strength.”
This blow was clearly not easy for the Fallen Heavenly Envoy either.
He staggered to a stand, his right arm seemingly injured, with a slight, almost imperceptible bend. The purple flames burning on his right hand finally dissipated completely.
“But not enough—”
After throwing just three punches, he had almost killed two powerful Disciples.
The battle intent in the Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s eyes grew even fiercer!
