NOVPUBSigrid’s intuition was still sharp. Sensing the unusual ripples in the air, she seized Lanci’s arm and tugged him aside. They narrowly avoided a formidable slash from the Sealing Magic Cut.
This spell showed up like a wall of deep grey castle, swiftly rising from the ground, splitting the earth apart and revealing the deep soil beneath the snow.
At the moment they were about to land, time seemed to stretch. The edge of space suddenly revealed bands of purple light.
Unlike the previous event, the caster had already anticipated their actions.
A massive Transparent Cage was formed; the invisible magic power trapping Lanci and Sigrid, turning into heavy chains shackling their legs, making it hard for them to move.
A grey figure somehow stood on the distant snowfield and raised his hand, with the fingers slightly curled, as if he could control the entire snowfield at will.
Looking at Lanci and Sigrid who were sealed, a hint of a smile spread across his mouth, as if observing two mice caught by himself.
Sigrid stared coldly in his direction. This sudden battle put her on high alert.
"It’s my honor to fight the Bishop of Hegemony."
The man’s voice echoed in the snowfield, reminiscent of a death knell.
"Unfortunately, I didn’t expect you to descend to relying on such a weak Saint of Hegemony."
"Anello..."
Sigrid’s voice carried a hint of long-suppressed anger.
The Saint of Nirvana had found them long before.
However, he had not shown himself, continuously using the Grand Priest to deplete and probe the bottom line of Lanci and Sigrid.
He did not want others following him, the Grand Priest of Nirvana, to know that he would kill the Bishop of Hegemony today, nor did he want anyone to know that the [Original Tablet - Foundation] would fall into his hands.
Now, waiting for dawn, as the Bishop of Hegemony weakened, he finally emerged.
The impending dawn on the snowfield was cruelly paused, and a battle was about to break out in the dim snow curtain.
Even though Sigrid escaped the shackles through Purification Magic at the first moment and grabbed Lanci to continue running, the grey magic power in the air grew stronger as Anello slowly lifted his hand behind them.
The snowfield around began to crack. Each crack was like being carved open by an invisible knife, as if the end of the snowfield had become a massive magic circle.
Then, those cracks began to glow, and the grey black fog rose to the sky, blocking the entire snowfield in front of Sigrid and Lanci, and heavily covering it up.
When Sigrid’s figure flickered and appeared on the other side, another magic barrier, moreover a potent spirit oppression, once again firmly locked them down.
At this point, even Sigrid realized, she and Lanci were no match for Anello. Not to mention resisting him, escaping from him who was so composed would be as difficult as ascending to heaven.
Anello slowly approached, his steps completely silent on the snowfield.
He maintained a certain distance and gazed at Sigrid who was still resisting. His eyes held a detached indifference. He focused his magic power at his fingertips. The air in the direction he pointed at began to distort, forming deep-grey cracks. Whatsoever the cracks devoured seemed like they would be crushed instantly.
One by one, the grey lines further restricted the movement of Sigrid and Lanci.
Sigrid was all too familiar with this magic.
It was the same magic Asksan had used against her in the battle at Bandera City on the northern border.
If they accidentally touched those grey lines, seeming like cracks in the air, they would trigger their rapid expansion and intersecting explosion.
Given their current state, she and Lanci wouldn’t be able to cope with a large scale triggering damage magic by Anello, at the top of the sixth-order.
If triggered, she and Lanci would inevitably both die.
"Sigh."
Sigrid felt fatigue and powerlessness surging up. All she could do was look at Lanci.
Being pursued all the way, she had given her all. With the moon disappearing, she was now struggling even against a Grand Priest.
If her Saint Heir couldn’t defeat the Saint of Nirvana, they would both die here today.
"That’s the Saint of Nirvana, Anello?"
Lanci confirmed with Sigrid.
"It’s him."
Sikder was convinced that this was the Saint of Nirvana who killed her Saintess.
However, due to her status, she, as a Cardinal Bishop of the eighth-order, would not stoop down to the level of breaking the agreement between Cardinal Bishops by causing a ruckus to kill a Saint Heir.
"Do you really believe I wouldn’t kill you?"
Seeing the Saint of Hegemony still chatting with the Bishop of Hegemony, an unusual curve appeared at the corners of Anello’s mouth.
He had never seen such a destitute Cardinal Bishop and such a weak Church Saint Heir.
Of course, he also came across the so-called Sealing Skill from the Saint of Hegemony; this guy was indeed a bit special, but the restrictions were also substantial, and after the chase and escape along the way, his mana should have pretty much been used up.
However, he didn’t intend to kill the two here; he planned to capture them first and take them to a place unknown to anyone.
The Saint of Hegemony could meet a brutal public death after his value has been exhausted, while the Bishop of Hegemony...
Just thinking about it, Anello could no longer hold back his sick satisfaction that appeared at the corners of his mouth.
"Bishop of Hegemony, do you know? Your Saintess was really nice."
Anello lightly held his chin, looking at Sigrid in the distance, and said teasingly,
"It’s a pity you didn’t see her desperate resistance and could not even commit suicide... She quickly fell apart and couldn’t even give birth to a child. I dared not let you know these things, for fear that you would come after me like a madman..."
"But not only the Saintess of Hegemony, I’m surprised that one day I would be able to enjoy the Bishop of Hegemony."
In his eyes was an infatuation and obsession, which did not hide his greed for the treasure of the Cardinal Bishops nor his desire to violate and insult them.
After this, he would no longer need to fear the retaliation of the Bishop of Hegemony, and could even seize the opportunity to capture the Bishop of Hegemony!
And after personally murdering the Bishop of Hegemony, he could become a new Cardinal Bishop, and the unique, tailor-made, indestructible proof of the Bishop could be his breakthrough to the seventh order.
Everything was so perfect!
Anello couldn’t help but savor this rare moment of blissfulness in his life.
The distant.
"..."
Sigrid did not say a word during this time, Shadows climbed her face, and strands of hair blocked her eyes, she neither changed her expression nor lost her composure because of Anello’s words. But her fingers trembled ever so slightly, veins pulsing on the back of her hand.
Anello was simply pleased watching the powerless Bishop of Hegemony at this moment, looking forward to her impotent rage.
After a moment.
"Lanci..."
She spoke softly to Lanci next to her.
"Hmm?"
Lanci’s ear moved half closer to her.
"Can you punish him severely?"
Her faint voice carried a hint of terror, like the peak of anger within powerlessness.
".... No, I’ll change him with my love."
Lanci negated.
"..."
Sikder should have been very disappointed upon hearing this.
But when it came from her Saint Heir, this very much "Virgin Mary-like" phrase had a different meaning.
According to her understanding of her Saint Heir, once he took the moral high ground, this Living Yama could definitely do something worse than a severe punishment!
Indeed, her Saint Heir is the best at all times.
