Chapter 353
It’s even quite possible that the goddesses or mother goddesses they spoke of had no idea about the existence of the Savior Goddess Church...
Thus, it provided an opportunity for this counterfeit to take advantage.
However, the lack of communication among them was a good thing for Xia Er.
She could exploit the information gap, skillfully control both the Savior Goddess Church and the Holy Ascendancy, without worrying about the real goddess or mother goddess suddenly showing up at her door.
A newly arrived extraordinary being interrupted Xia Er’s thoughts, but as she caught sight of the figure emerging from the dust, a familiar sensation surged within her.
That hair, those eyes...
Aivina’s father?
“Heretic! What kind of tone is that?”
Tala raised her staff, pointing it directly at the newcomer.
“Wait, Tala.”
Xia Er spoke up, halting Tala’s actions, then turned her gaze toward the middle-aged man.
At that moment, the negative effects of the [Time Distortion] faded away. Xia Er’s figure twisted, her hair once again cloaked in red. With her pink pupils fixed on the man, she asked, “Who are you?”
“Charles Russell.”
Charles looked at Xia Er calmly, molten iron dripping slowly from his hands, the warm breeze carrying the terrifying heat toward her, enveloping her in a suffocating wave.
“You dare to perform a sacrifice here?”
That name... indeed belonged to Aivina’s father.
Father-in-law?
Although Aivina didn’t have a good relationship with him, using him as a countermeasure felt a bit off.
But right now, Xia Er didn’t have the luxury to ponder too much. While the power of the Anomaly Worm hadn’t weakened due to the passage of time, she needed to leverage it to gather more information.
Now, the main task was urgent.
No matter who had arrived, she had to act quickly.
First, deliver a beating, and when they were on the brink of death, ask all the questions.
Go.
With a mere thought, the Anomaly Worm, half-kneeling behind her, melted into the shadows below like dark mud.
Not good!
Charles’s pupils constricted. The moment he saw the shadow, his extensive combat experience had already devised a response.
He leaped into the air, the molten iron rapidly melting and splashing down onto the ground beneath him.
In the next moment, the shadow below him erupted with the terrifying form of the Anomaly Worm. As a torrent of molten iron splashed onto it, it quickly solidified, forming a cage that burst forth with silver light.
The intense silver glow illuminated every corner around the Anomaly Worm, casting away all shadows, as if placing it under a spotlight.
Typically, a “Punisher” would find themselves trapped if there were no other large shadows within a hundred meters when faced with this move.
But the Anomaly Worm merely stretched its wings slightly, and the moment its semi-transparent wings brushed against the edge of the cage, the glowing prison shattered into pieces.
The Anomaly Worm calmly regarded Charles, who had landed a short distance away, and slowly raised its bony right hand.
That was Eleanor’s right hand, still resembling a human, but the power it could unleash now was beyond what Eleanor had ever been capable of.
The Anomaly Worm’s palm slowly clenched, and from afar, it seemed as if something had gripped Charles by the neck, lifting him inch by inch into the air as the Anomaly Worm’s right hand rose.
This is bad...
Charles struggled, glancing down at the ground.
Even under the sun, he cast no shadow, while his own shadow was being held by the Anomaly Worm’s shadow, thrashing desperately.
Crack, crack—
The Anomaly Worm’s right hand tightened slowly, and a metallic deformation sound echoed from Charles’s neck, sparks flying.
The Anomaly Worm’s arm continued to exert force, but in the next moment, its muscles suddenly tore apart, losing their strength. Charles fell to the ground, and the shadow that had been holding him returned to its original place beneath him.
“Cough, cough…”
Charles struggled to rise quickly, his right hand gathering red-hot molten iron, a massive black two-handed sword materializing in his grip.
“Weakling…”
The Anomaly Worm looked down at its arm, now severed and curled in two, realizing it had lost all power.
Xia Er caught this scene, her mouth slightly agape in surprise.
Gripping someone’s neck could exert too much force and break Eleanor’s arm muscles? That was a Tier 4 physique!
This isn’t a “Crown Guard,” is it? This is Tier 4? So tough?
“Slow down.”
Charles gripped the sword hilt, driving the door-sized greatsword forcefully into the ground.
A blue halo rapidly expanded from him, instantly enveloping everyone in the square.
Even the leaves falling from the sky seemed to freeze in mid-air—no, they were still descending, but at an incredibly slow pace, defying all logic!
In that moment, he felt like the architect of the world’s rules, establishing the laws of this domain.
As the domain enveloped the Anomaly Worm, crimson flames ignited all over Charles’s body, propelling him like a cannonball toward Xia Er.
Capture the leader first—he could see who had been calling the shots here.
“Die!”
Charles’s muscles tensed, the red-hot molten iron rapidly coalescing in his right fist, crashing toward Xia Er’s head—just then, a shadow abruptly appeared in front of him, blocking Xia Er.
When did that happen!
Countless black limbs surged from beneath the Anomaly Worm, mingling with frenzied tendrils.
In that instant, Charles saw nothing but the shadowy figure before him, the monstrous black entity dissipating... its blood-red eyes wide open, a maddening howl echoing in his mind.
The verbal restraints he had set up moments ago were instantly undone, and the leaves in the air resumed their descent, swirling in the wind. Charles’s eyes filled with bloodshot veins, his trembling pupils fixated on some indescribable presence.
A stream of blood tears flowed from his eyes.
Buzz—
At that moment, a melody rang out.
The buzzing in Charles’s mind was suddenly subdued, and he staggered back a few steps, lowering his head, no longer looking in the direction of the shadowy figure.
Thud—
A beautiful chord resonated again, and the Anomaly Worm’s body trembled violently, a thick cloud of black mist rising from it, only to vanish without a trace.
“Hmm... a familiar feeling…”
The Anomaly Worm’s voice echoed in Xia Er’s mind.
“Perhaps we can’t leave... any survivors…”
“Then kill them.”
Xia Er quickly issued the command.
“Kill all who resist.”
In the next moment, reality and illusion overlapped, a warhorse materializing from beneath Xia Er, lifting her up. She guided the horse swiftly toward Tala, bending down to grab Tala by the collar, lifting the petite girl and laying her across the horse’s back.
Xia Er urged the warhorse to gallop away from the sound of music, while behind her, the terrifying aura of the Otherworld was no longer concealed. A shadow that blotted out the sky covered the heavens, and the warhorse’s speed barely outpaced the spread of the shadow.
She knew that staying here was meaningless; it would only lead to unnecessary contamination.
The attempt to merge the sects had succeeded.
The strong sound had already been unleashed; since capturing and torturing a Tier 4 was impossible, they could only execute the original plan—testing their trump cards.
As for the members of the Savior Goddess Church, Xia Er had no intention of letting them go, deciding to stack them as countermeasures—this way, when they saw her in reality, they would be influenced by the countermeasures and feel fear, making it easier for her to merge the church.
But there was no need to continue stacking Tala, to avoid her losing control every time she saw Xia Er’s potion.
After riding the warhorse for nearly ten kilometers down the main road, the dark sky finally ceased its spread. When Xia Er looked back, she saw a colossal, terrifying shadow, along with the crimson light she had witnessed on the train.
This nearly enveloped the entire Westminster area in darkness. Xia Er could see countless people screaming and rushing out of their homes, driven by anger and madness.
Burning, killing, and looting—this area, once a political and religious center, had plunged into chaotic madness. Although the darkness only covered Westminster, its impact on ordinary people spread throughout almost the entire western district.
Included in this chaos was the Church of the God of Order.
And those members of the Savior Goddess Church, also affected, became the Anomaly Worm’s most capable “assistants,” helping it eliminate the discordant noise.
At this distance... the strong sound wouldn’t escape.
Table of Contents
