Chapter 79: Annihilation
Reno could not understand how Li Nanke could maintain a calm smile in the face of such utter despair.
The two of them had barely survived their battle against Faliano, only managing to kill their enemy by exploiting the terrain. Now, they didn’t even need the most powerful Gravekeeper Archbishop to intervene; if they dared resist, the Punishment Army would sound the horn, summoning tens of thousands of troops stationed at the Ashen Mountain—enough to ensure their bodies would never be found.
Reno drew a deep breath and unsheathed his sword. The wolf-headed greatsword erupted in fierce flames. He whispered to Li Nanke at his side, “Edward, don’t worry about me. I’ll do everything I can to give you a chance to escape.”
“I was prepared to give my life returning to the Holy Assembly. It’s just a shame I couldn’t help Anya find peace in the end.”
“If you manage to escape the Assembly, maybe you can help Anya later… No, if you make it out, just live well.”
At the long table, Melchiades slowly rose to his feet.
His body, hidden beneath a black robe, was tall, thin, and grotesquely twisted. Three withered, elongated arms emerged from the wide sleeves, gripping the skull-topped staff leaning beside the table.
A sudden howling wind swept through the underground chamber, parchment scrolls whirling wildly, and the anguished wails of the dead echoed through the gale.
“So you’ve chosen the most foolish way to die. Do you still hope for a fair trial? I have never cared for such things…”
“Prepare to die!”
As Melchiades raised his staff and began chanting, the Punishment Army soldiers received their orders and rushed forward, swords slashing!
Blades flashed coldly, the stench of decay grew stronger with the wind’s roar.
Reno shouted, the flames on his wolf-headed sword surged, blazing fiercely.
Li Nanke’s eyes flickered.
A metallic bracelet appeared around his wrist, composed of intricate components. A blue energy bar formed a halo across its surface.
The bracelet appeared remarkably advanced—utterly out of place among the armor, swords, and robes before him, as if from another era.
With a hum, the blue energy burst outward from the bracelet, spreading like spilled dye. A stasis field enveloped everything in the chamber, coating every object and every living being in a layer of blue light.
For an instant, time seemed to stop.
The wind ceased. The airborne scrolls froze mid-flight.
They neither drifted nor fell, as if seized by an invisible hand.
Swords, their edges gleaming, slashed from every direction, but halted in midair, unable to descend.
---
The Punishment soldiers were locked in place—stepping, swinging, shouting—their movements fixed by the blue energy.
Nearby, Colonna’s vicious expression was frozen, his mouth slightly open as though about to chant, yet unable to move at all.
The flames on Reno’s wolf-headed sword flickered slowly, the tips trembling. His grip strained, but he could only swing the sword in painful slow motion.
Reno’s gaze was filled with shock—and he was not the only one with such a look.
The Gravekeeper Archbishop’s eyes widened, his composure gone.
His mouth opened and closed with agonizing slowness, syllables of his spell mangled and disconnected, unable to form a coherent incantation.
Melchiades tried to swing the skull staff, but the stasis field bound him; even with all three arms, he could not break free.
Only Reno and the Archbishop were not fully immobilized, but their movements were sluggish, as if a slow-motion film.
The blue stasis field spread in a circular pattern, with a maximum diameter of twenty-five meters, covering nearly five hundred square meters. It produced an effect akin to time stopping; the less kinetic energy a target possessed, the closer it was to complete stasis.
The field could last up to ten minutes, but the larger its area and the greater the kinetic energy within, the shorter its duration.
“Reno, don’t waste your strength. Trust me,” Li Nanke said.
He extended his fingertips, gently pushing aside the blade of a cross sword, and strode toward the Gravekeeper Archbishop.
With his hands poised, a massive, brutal warhammer materialized in his grip.
“This consumable is extremely precious—I had meant to save it for the Holy King and the Four Judges, but plans change.”
His body was now clad in powered protective armor, the internal support system granting him immense strength.
Dragging the heavy warhammer, Li Nanke’s pace quickened from a jog to a sprint, blue flames jetting from the armor’s back as the spatial propulsion system roared at full power!
“Boom, boom, boom!”
With each forceful step, the ground trembled.
His figure, neither tall nor muscular, now seemed transformed into the fiercest, most violent beast.
“Since you, Gravekeeper Archbishop, seek death—let me grant it to you!”
Melchiades’ face contorted in terror. He struggled to break free from the stasis field, but could only twist his body in slow motion.
He was skilled in spellcraft, but physically, he was weaker than Faliano, and even Reno surpassed him.
Melchiades could only watch as Li Nanke, wielding his bloody warhammer, charged toward him.
With unstoppable momentum, Li Nanke stamped forward!
---
A crack resounded—the solid floor shattered under the combined weight of man and weapon.
He gripped the hammer and roared, swinging the massive weapon in a full circle.
He stomped, twisted his waist, arched his spine like a dragon, channeling all his ferocious strength into his arms and the hammer!
The wind whipped up by the warhammer made it nearly impossible to keep one’s eyes open.
Melchiades’ eyes widened as he watched the enormous, barbed hammerhead—half the size of a man—descend from above, growing rapidly in his vision…
The explosive roar of the hammer tearing through the air was deafening, its destructive force unstoppable!
Boom!
Melchiades’ final thought was: Who gave such a deadly weapon to a heretic?!
The warhammer smashed the Archbishop’s twisted form, crushing it into the ground.
Flesh, bone, and blood burst apart like a watermelon under immense force.
When Li Nanke lifted the hammer, only scraps of torn black robe and sticky blood remained in the crater.
With the death of this powerful enemy, a surge of primal energy flooded his body.
[Main Substance: Blood Moon]
[Level: 7 (22%) → 9 (4%)]
Li Nanke’s physical strength surged once more, an inexhaustible stream of power coursing through him.
The heavy warhammer seemed lighter, more responsive in his grasp.
He glanced at Colonna and the immobilized Punishment soldiers at the chamber’s entrance.
Murderous intent boiled in his eyes, and the warhammer glowed with a faint, bloody light.
(End of chapter)