Yet from behind him came an unusual, fragmented Shard sound. He could not turn around, as even that might take half a minute. Still, he could sense something else.
He could feel the flow of Magic. This was a major sacrificial summoning Magic Array node, and as the regional overseer, he could observe the local Magic movement. But now, the flow had reversed and was accelerating wildly.
What had once been a gentle stream was now a roaring river, expanding at an abnormal rate. Faint light began to glow from the ground itself. The wind scattered outward in panic, forming rushing currents, followed by the sound of something landing nearby.
Though his body could not move, his eyes still worked. He saw a violent light that should not exist here emerge directly behind him. It pierced through his robe and burned into his flesh with cold indifference.
The light intensified, and he felt his bones and flesh dissolve inch by inch. The pain stretched endlessly in this distorted moment. Around him, other Abyss Cultists slowly showed terror on their faces before their bodies were stripped to exposed flesh and pale bone, then completely erased.
In the end, only a hollow robe remained where he had stood, supported by nothing. His body was reduced to ash, his soul purified and erased along with it.
Strangely, the captives bound at the edges were unharmed. Their visible wounds began to heal, shock spreading across their faces. Their eyes quickly filled with devotion and fervor, tears streaming as their lips and hands trembled with the urge to worship.
Reflected in their eyes was a figure wrapped in light. The radiance did not burn them at all, instead feeling like the warmth of a rising sun. They were overwhelmed, because they had personally witnessed a great being step gently from the heavens into the mortal world.
Bare feet touched the ground, and green grass spread beneath them. Each blade shimmered with light, glowing from within with a golden Gold Rank hue. The Profane Art arrays that should have dominated this place were effortlessly seized and reversed.
Soft light seeped into every corner and spread across the entire Cathedral City. Statues and murals in churches throughout the city faintly glowed. In ancient churches nearly a thousand years old, dried stone murals peeled away, revealing golden Gold Rank essence beneath.
Iron arrows embedded in bodies slid free and fell to the ground. The being's gaze lingered briefly on the captives, then turned elsewhere.
Was that Alba? Maybe.
The woman wore a hood, her long robe tattered and dyed nearly White Tier in color. Strands of luminous hair spilled from beneath the hood. Her golden Gold Rank eyes shone with indescribable presence, like twin suns set within them, a noble red glint at their core.
A red White Tier solar halo revolved behind her head, radiating divine light that was bright but not scorching. She walked barefoot, untouched by dust or corruption. Wherever she stepped, scorched earth stained by fire and blood turned into radiant green grass.
All who saw her found their wounds healed and pain gone. Collapsing buildings and shattered remains froze midair, flames halted, and everything else, people and objects alike, seemed locked in time.
High above the city, Abyss Cult Leader and Priests witnessed the impossible Holy Light blazing under the suppressed night. Before they could react, their bodies and Magic froze, and they melted under the light.
Each bore shock and terror before vanishing. Their only advantage over ordinary Abyss Cultists was that they managed to glimpse her once. Staring at the sun had a price, and they were burned to blackened husks.
She did not care and continued walking. The golden, radiant path stretched toward the besieged manor. Meanwhile, more than half of the controlling Magic Array was reversed, freeing enough capacity for another action.
The god's first act beyond walking was to breathe out.
"Hoo…"
Then, in a completely mood-breaking move, he patted his chest and bent over, muttering, "Damn it, controlling a robot that can only walk stiffly is awful. I'm exhausted."
Watching Belial shake his head in irritation, Ham and Bella could only sigh. "Just endure it for a bit," one said. "Getting kicked out of the World would be worse."
"There's plenty of faith energy there," the other added. "Let him have some fun, it should be enough."
Ham estimated that even if the stockpile could not support large-scale output from Belial, using Alba's body alone would be more than enough to resolve this.
For Belial, controlling things from behind was extremely awkward. It felt like using two fingers to play a controller. Even walking was slow, one step at a time. At this rate, reaching the target would take forever.
It all started just moments ago. While Belial was sleeping, he received a call from a friend. He guessed the preparations made earlier had finally come into play.
"It'll also help cure my boredom."
He excitedly split off a small Clone and, using the call as an anchor and burning that unlucky guy's soul as fuel, built a high-speed passage. When he arrived and saw the scene, he was shocked to find someone nailed to a wall.
At first, he wondered if she was cosplaying something, planning to hang there for days before jumping down to gain followers. But after sensing who was around and checking her life signs, Belial realized that if he did not act, she would not last three days.
Seriously, was she really that weak, or was this just how a Mage died in close combat? Belial could not understand it. She worked for a god, so how was she nearly dead from injuries like this?
Still, she had helped him before, so he assumed special circumstances and let it go. He possessed the body smoothly and prepared to use a bit of Magic to wipe out the dozens of Abyss Cultists nearby and snowball from there.
Then he felt intense rejection.
The entire World seemed to be isolating him. For others this might cause despair, but for Belial it was just annoying. "Is this World being ungrateful?"
He scratched his head and cursed the stingy god behind Alba. "Your employee calls for backup and you do nothing."
Inside the Observation Station, Bella saw massive storm clouds forming outside and patted Ham on the shoulder. Ham, watching everything unfold, rushed to stop Belial from punching the World.
Fortunately, this had been expected. She sent the translated explanation to Bella, who forwarded it to Belial. The message was simple. He could not just log in with Clone and slaughter freely anymore.
Being on the World red list meant rejection and passive suppression. Sleeping was fine, but active possession was dangerous. If he fought at full power, he would not last even three minutes.
So Ham had already planned a solution.
If he could not use his own account, he would use someone else's.
"The method is that I, the Lord, move on someone else's account." "I use myself as a bonus, add a few universal skills like a cheat, and only then can I barely control it without too much backlash. Even worse, it is limited by time and by Hao Ran!" "This stupid game is getting harder and harder to play!"
What does you, Alba, have to do with me, Belial anyway? A woman glowing all over, wrapped in White Tier cloth and holding a long-handled hammer, walked through the filthiest and darkest city. She was the most sacred and dazzling presence moving through the streets.
The light grew even brighter as the Solar Crown and Radiant Wheel that had beenInvestment began to rotate without pause, expanding as she walked. Green grass spread beneath her feet, yet it was crystal clear, giving off scattered points of golden light. With every step, the ground itself changed.
She seemed to be simply walking, ignoring the shocked, fanatical, or disbelieving stares cast her way, like the sun moving across the sky. Anyone who dared look straight at that sun was blinded by the glare, then vanished like bubbles under daylight. None were spared.
Wherever she passed, no trace of night was allowed to remain. Clad in Solar Crown, she rejected darkness and ended the night itself, and the curtain of shadow retreated with her steps. The city was forced to yield.
Meanwhile, Belial hiding behind the scenes still had no idea how to properly play this body, and for now could only press the forward control and walk straight ahead. This state was essentially maintained by Ham and Bella providing cover from behind, temporarily hiding Belial's traits and fully activating the side that belonged to Alba instead. It was a fragile workaround.
The rough principle was to link Belial's Translation Pocket with Alba, allowing internal remote control. The current Dusk-aligned Alba manifested the divine aspect of the Thousand-Year Dragon King, and then the Thousand-Year Dragon King put on the skin of Alba. That was more or less how it worked.
As long as they were inside Cathedral City, faith power was still abundant, so there was no need to worry about consumption for now. All this trouble was because of that damned Mark of Finality. If it were the usual Clone mode, there would be no need to save anyone at all.