Phaethon didn't move a muscle, only his gaze sharp as lightning swept past Jacob to the empty doorway behind him, then returned to Jacob. His voice was unnaturally steady. "You'd better explain, Jacob. Who's here?"
Jacob, taken aback by Phaethon's demeanor, stared for a moment before spilling everything. He spoke of Vittorio's well-intentioned efforts, the situation with Helios and Ascalon. And... Vittorio's plea for help to Okhema.
"That's right! They're all here! Helios's people! Ascalon's people!" Jacob's hand gestured wildly towards the outside, then towards the Sanctuary. "Teacher... Teacher is being held up by them! The Sanctuary Guards... they've all been reassigned! It's a trap! They're here to capture Miss Cyrene! High Priest Ascalon has given the order... to... to eliminate you!"
"Eliminate me?"
Not even Phhaethon's eyebrow twitched. Instead, the corner of his mouth curled into a faint, icy arc, like moonlight reflecting off a blade's edge.
"Heh, really..." He slowly raised a hand and, using the blurred reflection in the window, precisely pressed down that unruly cowlick on his head.
(Phaethon: I've pressed my cowlick down. Watch what you say around me!)
"—How exciting."
"Exciting?" Jacob's voice was laced with bewilderment, his thoughts failing to keep up with the trailing echo of Phaethon's words.
**BOOM!**
A beam of pure, eye-searing white light, condensed into solid substance, tore through the air without warning! It didn't emanate from Phaethon's hand, but rather seemed to coalesce out of nothingness beside him, carrying the authority of judgment and destructive fervor. It whistled past Jacob, grazing the corner of his clothes!
Its target—the world outside the door!
The old man in the high priest's robes embroidered with gold thread, his face plastered with a "benevolent" smile mixed from being kind and venomous, the prayer beads in his hand reeking of decadent, strange perfume, and the four ostentatiously dressed yet sewer-rat-like priests behind him...Were gone.
Not blasted away. Not shattered.
Vaporized!
Like boiling water poured on snow, without even a chance to scream. All that remained was a puff of instantly vaporized, shockwave-shredded crimson mist, dissipating eerily in the scorched air. The cloying, strange fragrance was utterly overwhelmed by the intense stench of char and the iron-like odor of blood.
As for the eight Sanctuary Guards accompanying them, merely grazed by the edge of the light beam—
*Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!*
The upper halves of four guards, along with their sturdy leather armor and the swords at their waists, vanished as if bitten off by an invisible behemoth, the severed ends charred black, smoking. The four remaining guards froze completely, the scorn on their faces solidifying, then shattering, leaving only pupils dilated to their limits in pure terror, their bodies shaking as if their bones had been removed.
Why wait for the enemy to make the first move? In this end-times inferno where flesh is fuel and morality has collapsed, should one still recite the long-rotten, stinking scriptures of benevolence and righteousness to jackals and wolves?
Phaethon had no patience for nonsense, especially from enemies.
Since he already knew the people coming were no good, why bother listening to their drivel?
Who would enjoy watching those long, drawn-out, cliché scenes of persuasion, threats, and coercion?
Since the outcome was inevitable—crossing blades—why not just get on with it?
Phaethon lifted his long-prepared sword and stepped out of the small eatery that had been his refuge.
[Agility Blessing], [Strength Blessing], [Precision Blessing], [Spirit Blessing], [Energy Blessing], [Endurance Blessing], [Berserk Blessing], [Calm Mind Blessing], [Guardian Blessing], [Life Blessing]...
These sigils, which normally required an elaborate priestly ritual to obtain, lit up one after another in his consciousness. Power surged into his limbs like a tidal wave. The moment his foot landed, it suddenly change!
(Phaethon: All skills, activate! Activate! Activate! Activate! And this one too!)
*Whoosh—!*
A sound tearing through the air exploded from his side! Phaethon didn't even turn his head. His wrist twisted, the long sword on his back perfectly positioned behind him, deflecting the attack and scattering a shower of dazzling sparks!
*"CLANG—!!!"*
A dull roar, like a giant hammer striking an ancient bell, reverberated outwards! The millennia-old stone bricks beneath his feet instantly cracked like a spiderweb! The sneak attacker's heavy, powerful slash was firmly blocked by Phaethon at an impossible angle, with just one hand.
(Phaethon: No joke, kid. The moment I can block a heavy sword with one hand, you should run.)
Phaethon slowly turned his head, his icy gaze sweeping over the menacing black armor that had burst through the neighboring wall to close in on him.
"Ascalon's hyenas?" His voice was terrifyingly calm, yet sharp as a blade dipped in ice. "To get this angle on me, you must have trampled over the bones of many refugees, didn't you?"
Before the words faded, the hand gripping Phaethon's sword shook violently! An overwhelming force sent the sneak attacker stumbling back. At the same time, his free left hand was already raised, palm up, fingers curled loosely—
Direct Cast - Composite - High-Level Spellcraft — Purifying Flame, Explosive Fireball, Incinerate, Quenching Flame, Light Degradation, Material Separation, Holy Radiance Healing...
(Phaethon: Sorry, too many skills, the screen can't fit them all. Just pressing randomly. Wait, seems like something strange got mixed in. Whatever, the enemy won't survive anyway.)
A hum! Light of such purity it made souls tremble burst forth from his palm without warning! The light didn't spread; it shot forth like a spear of judgment, instantly piercing the path the sneak attacker had taken, precisely enveloping all the hidden figures in the shadows!
"No—!" Cries of shock and screams were swallowed by the light.
The light vanished as quickly as it came. Only a few wispy tendrils of smoke rose from the spot, and the ground was plowed into a searing, smooth, deep trench. The sneak attacker and those four guards, bathed in the supreme light of purification, left not even ashes behind.
"Instant-cast high-level spellcraft!!" At the end of the street, the leader, Verto, let out a horrified roar, his eyes beneath his helmet wide almost to the point of splitting. "Impossible! And how do you know so many spell, and you manage to composite all of them too??!"
(They cleared this area in advance to capture Cyrene... Heh, saves me the trouble.) A cold understanding flashed through Phaethon's mind.
Now, a large number of Sanctuary Guards in standard-issue iron armor finally poured out from the end of the long street. Witnessing their comrades' instant annihilation, their fear, in turn, ignited a blind, charging fervor. They surged forward like a tide of steel, crashing down!
"Kill!"
But what greeted them was another kind of light, one that purified all and pierced through falsehood!
"EX—"
A second beam of light, thicker, more violent, like divine punishment descending upon the world! It tore through the air with a deafening roar and slammed headlong into the charging steel tide!
**BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!—!!!** Where the light touched, armor forged of fine steel melted like wax, heavy bodies vaporized instantly! That legendary radiance, which had guarded the Sanctuary for sixty years in the annals of history, had now become the most merciless torrent of destruction, raging and scouring the narrow street!