Free Web NovelChapter 450: Chapter 54: Even You, the Righteous One, Have Turned Traitor?
"And at that moment, we will strike from within, joining forces to crush them. Even if we can’t kill the Master of Armor Tomb, we must ensure this Demon Demigod is severely wounded! At any cost!"
Westheid clenched his fists, grinding his teeth.
Very few knew of his pact with Anise. Westheid had been meticulous, using small tricks to conceal his identity whenever he entered or left Serralis.
This careful maneuvering had paid off. The Forest of Serenity had cut off several Demon Realms, intending to savor them one by one.
But the Holy Spirit would never know that Westheid planned to strike at the height of their fierce battle.
To defeat Anise, the Master of Armor Tomb would have to manifest most of its Divinity. If they could swallow that power in one gulp, it would be ideal, shortening a long, agonizing battle to a single moment.
Reiya nodded upon hearing this. "Risking it all on one decisive battle? We’ll only get one chance."
"That’s why we need absolute secrecy and maximum effort. Anyone who can fight in this battle must go. We can’t hold anything back."
Westheid said faintly, his gaze fixed on the cracks on his arm.
Yolanda asked, "What about the Wind Law Queen? Will she be alright?"
"Ailorus can hold the defensive line. We can afford to focus our energy elsewhere."
Westheid said calmly, his words filled with complete trust in Ailorus.
This wasn’t just baseless talk. Although the Elf Lolita could seem naive and innocent in some respects—namely, when it came to emotions—she was an exceptionally brilliant Monarch.
The precocious Little Queen had never had the chance to govern or command personally, but since reclaiming her power, Ailorus had begun to reveal her true talents.
The platinum-blonde girl frowned. "To be honest, this is still too risky. With your current resources, you don’t need to engage in such a life-or-death battle."
’Duke Qinghui has plenty of escape routes! The Master of Armor Tomb can only act so mighty in the Land of Thousand Lakes. Outside the range of the Grand Ensemble, it’s nothing.’
"Me, afraid of risk? Ridiculous. As long as the probability of success is close to fifty percent, there’s no reason to be timid!"
Westheid glanced again at the forward base they had established and said slowly,
"No matter how many of these Burning Ambers we lose, it will only inflict insignificant damage to Its power. Our attempts to breach the City in the Lake have been far from ideal so far. If this operation fails, the campaign to come will become excruciatingly difficult. Never mind the worst-case scenario where the Royal Court is shattered and dismembered; even if we ultimately win, it will be a pyrrhic victory."
Hearing this, Yolanda said no more. In truth, she hadn’t expected to be heeded. She knew Westheid’s personality all too well.
The platinum-blonde girl bowed her head and offered a salute. "I wish you fortune in battle."
...
「Serralis, the heart of the Master of Greedy Banquet’s realm.」
The outer regions of the City in the Lake, once a place of eternal banquets and fields of crimson maple, had devolved into a Purgatory Battlefield surrounded by a cruel forest.
Tens of thousands of Burning Ambers and hundreds of Heroic Spirit Armors charged into a deluge of bombardments. The defensive systems of Serralis were layered, with three permanent, towering city walls, each separated by a lake. A legion of several hundred thousand defended this place, repelling the Forest of Serenity’s assault with all manner of weapons.
The all-out slaughter between the two Demon Realms had vitrified the land outside the city. Every second, strongholds were lost and retaken.
A battle of this magnitude was rare even in the entire Mortal World, let alone in the Thousand Laws Royal Court, which had long known peace.
However, these mundane sieges were merely a sideshow. The true battlefield, where victory would be decided, lay beyond the city’s defenses.
The battle between Demon Demigods.
The Holy Spirit’s Incarnation still had the same appearance: a hooded robe over Secret Silver Heavy Armor, looking both magnificent and noble.
Mysterious and arcane Runes flickered across the Silver Armor. Its Arm Armor held a variety of weapons, mostly Long Sabers and Sword Spears, but it would occasionally draw a Great Bow to snipe. The Hundred Martial Arts were displayed to their fullest extent.
The Holy Spirit Incarnation was larger than when it first encountered Westheid. Unlike its probing clash with Duke Qinghui, the Master of Armor Tomb knew how powerful Anise was and had thus infused its incarnation with sufficient Divinity.
A storm of clashing blades and spears. The aftershocks from the two Demon Demigods could even overwhelm the din of several hundred thousand mortals fighting. Each brief, instantaneous exchange left a horrifying scar on space itself, creating a palpable sense of fragmentation.
"Hahaha! Is that all you’ve got? This isn’t your true power, Woodland Immortal. You can’t kill me like this!"
Anise, clad in a long coat that seemed to reflect a starry sky, danced in the air. The silver-and-violet-haired Enchanting Demon brandished a Whip Blade shrouded in an eerie light. Even from a thousand meters away, she relentlessly assaulted the Holy Spirit Incarnation with a flurry of strikes.
The body of divine metal took no damage from the lashes, but it was knocked off balance, struggling to move. It seemed Anise was deliberately inflicting some kind of stun effect.
’Child of the Enchanter... more troublesome than I imagined.’
The Holy Spirit Incarnation had been fighting Anise for a long time but had yet to defeat her, and it was growing impatient.
’It should be fine to inject another wave of Divinity,’ it thought. ’Once Divinity is infused into an incarnation, it can’t be withdrawn for a short time. This is rather dangerous for a formless Demon, but the Demon Demigod didn’t feel there was anything to worry about.’
’I’m just dealing with a junior, after all. The front line of the Royal Court Legion is still far from here. There’s no way I’ll get pincered, right?’
With this in mind, the Master of Armor Tomb began to pour Divinity into its incarnation’s Silver Armor.
Its aura surged, exploded, and skyrocketed! The next moment, the towering Armor appeared before Anise and sent her delicate, girlish form flying with a single punch. The simple, pure difference in power smashed Anise into a wall.
A complete statistical domination!
"It’s over... Child of the Enchanter."
The Holy Spirit Incarnation arrived before Anise, ready to deliver a cold verdict, only to be met with a beautiful, tragic, yet mocking face.
’Hm? Why are you smiling? You’re facing imminent disaster...’
The will of the Master of Armor Tomb, residing within its incarnation, felt a sense of foreboding the instant it saw Anise’s smile. The teleportation glow that then erupted within Serralis made its unease a reality.
"I’m here to help!"
Along with the shout, a blade flashing with crimson light arrived in an instant. The Holy Spirit Incarnation blocked immediately but was still sent flying by the immense impact.
Westheid landed in front of Anise and pulled the Enchanting Demon from the ruins of the wall.
"Hah, if you hadn’t shown up, I was just about to run for it."
Anise said, shaking her head.
Westheid laughed. "I came the instant you sent the signal. Not a moment’s delay."
A mortal and a Demon, slinging their arms over each other’s shoulders like old friends. The sight made the Holy Spirit Incarnation’s movements sluggish.
"Holy Spirit Descendants?! You! Why are you here, helping the Child of the Enchanter?!"
The Master of Armor Tomb stared at Westheid and the reinforcements he had brought, utterly astonished.
It had never imagined that Anise would get mixed up with mortals. It had always assumed this was an internal conflict among the Thousand Laws Series Demons.
’You, with your honest face, you’re a traitor too?!’
’You’ve betrayed the Demon class, you son of a bitch!’
"How interesting. Why can’t I cooperate with a mortal?"
Anise seized the opportunity, lashing out with her Whip Blade to wrap it around the Holy Spirit Incarnation’s throat. She laughed heartily.
"Mortals can join me in my banquets. Isn’t that a hell of a lot better than a dog-like thing such as yourself, with your fondness for tombs and the dead?!"
Accompanied by his comrades, Westheid also fixed a cold gaze on the Holy Spirit Incarnation:
"This time, I won’t let you run. Enough with your timid strategies and schemes. Come and fight, like a Warrior. Do that, and I’ll at least see you as a Warrior and give you the respect you deserve."
