Just as Yang Chen was deducing out loud, the three Sargeras’s in midair clashed with the two angels, and violent sparks erupted!
Just as everyone was already shocked by Sargeras’s powerful technique, they were immediately dumbfounded by what happened next!
Brandishing the huge platinum-colored light swords, the two angels dashed violently at the three swift figures. They had planned on repelling the Sargeras’s in a perfect semiarc, but before the angels had reached them, the Sargeras’s seemed to have altered their state!
BANG BANG BANG—
Three loud explosions as the Sargeras’s transformed into three masses of black demon blaze simultaneously, like three huge fireballs which swallowed the two angels!
“They’re decoys?!”
The bystanders understood what had happened. The three Sargeras’s were in fact the demon blaze transformed into clones—Sargeras had simply thrown out these ‘human hand grenades’!
As the demon blaze was a legendary technique of the blood race, almost no one knew of it’s potential!
But where was the real Sargeras?
Before they could tear their eyes away from the suspended black flames, an abrupt conflict on the ground had already begun!
Sargeras’s speed practically broke the spacetime barrier as he traversed almost a hundred meters in the blink on an eye, face to face with Cardinal Cruyff!
“Go and meet your damn God!”
Sargeras stood with his head high, his eyes cold and grim, in front of Cruyff, and the sword of demon blaze slashed down straight and true!
Everyone knew that although it looked like the battle between Sargeras and the angels was contained in that one area, it was just because they focused all their powers within this small perimeter.
If any of the so-called experts present wanted to join in, the sight of the battle alone was enough to scare them off. Everyone knew that Sargeras’s strength could rival that of a god; even if he couldn’t warp spacetime, his condensed power was enough to break it!
And despite having the support of impressive luminous spells, the Catholic Cardinal himself had a frail body.
As the cardinal faced Sargeras whose body and skill were at their peak, at such close range, the audience didn’t think that he would survive…
It’s over… With a flawless trick and his skills, Sargeras has vanquished the supporting Cruyff; in that case… the Vatican stood no chance—almost everyone was thinking this, and even the battling Lilith was moved by her father’s victory!
But!
No one noticed that, when facing Sargeras, Cruyff wasn’t frantic in the least, and even—had a bit of anticipation!
“I don’t think so…”
As the blazing black sword descended, Cruyff had only this one thought.
At the same time, something like a shield of light suddenly flickered around Cruyff. As the long black sword reached his forehead, its descending forced was held back by the shield!
“How is this possible?!” Sargeras himself couldn’t believe what he was seeing!
What power is this, to be able to stop such a thunderous blow from me?!
But in the next moment Sargeras suddenly understood everything…
“Go!”
Cruyff’s aged face had a red complexion and his bulbous nose seemed particularly prominent as he used all his energy to roar!
A ray of silver-white light suddenly erupted at the front of Sargeras’s chest!
PSHH!!
A clear thrusting sound which made everyone terrified!
After hitting Sargeras, this incredible beam of silver light had actually pierced through Sargeras’s unimaginably durable body?!
Sargeras looked down disbelievingly at the smoking, three-inch-wide hole in his own chest. This was a strange feeling, because in his memory it had been over a thousand years since he was injured…
His body was suddenly exhausted. That power which had pierced him had started to corrode his own energy, causing him to collapse.
Watching the prince of the blood race, the king of the underworld, finally collapsing at his feet, the centenarian Cardinal Cruyff heaved a few quick breaths before his eyes took on a wild joy.
“Haha… Haha… I… I did it? I—I did it!!!” Cruyff spread his arms and laughed wildly at the sky. “Sargeras! I defeated Sargeras! God! Did you see that! I have avenged Father!!!”
Lilith, who was fighting evenly with Gabriel, felt her heart sink, and Gabriel took the chance to slit a wound in her arm, spraying wisps of dark red blood with a golden luster.
But Lilith couldn’t care about that. Leaping down, she landed besides Sargeras, and while Cruyff was still guffawing, took the chance to carry him somewhere further away.
“Father… How… How could this be?” Lilith couldn’t accept the fact that her undefeatable Father was actually penetrated and becoming weaker.
Sargeras could no longer sustain the demon blaze around his body, and it gradually faded away. His pale face became ashen as he coughed while fixing his gaze at the distant Cruyff. “I was too careless, I didn’t anticipate that he could have held… held the Lance of Longinus…”
“Humph, seems like you have some knowledge.” The delighted Cruyff was in no rush to make the next attack. With a wave, the silver beam of radiance appeared again, but this time in his grasp.
Only now did the onlookers notice that this was actually a lance as tall as Cruyff. It looked extremely simple, with a silver body and a spiral shape, and its point was dyed red with specks of bloodstain!
“It’s a holy weapon of the Vatican, the Lance of Longinus… no wonder it could pierce even the vampire body of Sargeras.” Yang Chen clicked his tongue as he shook his head, perhaps regretfully or with some other feeling.
Sauron and the rest were dazzled by the whole thing. Listening to Yang Chen speaking about the lance’s origins, Sauron suddenly thought of something, and asked, “So this is the Lance of Longinus that had pierced Jesus’s body in the legend and was stained with the blood of the saint? So its existence is not just in the myths? I’ve heard that, in ancient Europe, any monarch who obtained the lance could seek hegemony, leading to a struggle over it. I didn’t expect that… it would be in the Vatican’s hands.”
Yang Chen shrugged. “It’s not that surprising. After all, it’s no divine weapon, just a holy one. It’s on the same level as the Massacre Blade in Lilith’s hand, only it’s extra destructive towards creatures like the blood race. It’s just that since the Vatican dares to let Cruyff used it, the Catholic Pope must have had extreme faith in Cruyff’s abilities.”
At this point, the two six-winged angels were in no rush to attack as well, and landed behind Cruyff. Gabriel kept his huge sword and stood to one side, too.
Evidently, from the Vatican’s perspective, the battle was over. All that was left was to use the Lance of Longinus to end the long lives of this father-daughter pair. With this, no one would complain if they decided to take the Sword of Thanatos for themselves.
Their power proved that they had this right.
The crowd from Takamagahara and the Sword in the Stone remained silent. Although they were proud, they wouldn’t clash hastily with the two angels—based on just the angels’ demeanor, they knew that they would lose.
Cruyff grasped the lance which glimmered with faint silver light as he approached Lilith and Sargeras like he was on a leisurely walk.
Sargeras’s strength was slowly ebbing away. Although it was gradual, the wound caused by the lance couldn’t be healed quickly, limiting his capabilities. Presently, he wasn’t even at half of Lilith’s strength, and had long lost the confidence that he could defend against Cruyff.
“Baby, I’m sorry. Your mother will certainly never forgive me. I even said we were just coming out for a quick round of fun, and then we’d head back immediately…” Sargeras gave a bitter smile from the corner of his mouth.
Although Lilith seemed pampered and domineering, she couldn’t help but tear up. Even though she had lived for over two hundred years, in the eyes of the blood race she was only a young woman.
“I will protect you, Father,” Lilith said stubbornly as she pulled out the Massacre Blade again.
Sargeras reached out with difficulty and stroked Lilith’s amber hair, saying tenderly, “Lilith, go, if you’re lucky you could still escape, you can handle it even if it’s a six-winged angel. Don’t be silly now. Our only fault is in underestimating our opponents, I was too arrogant and thought I myself was enough, ohh…”
Hearing his sigh, a flash of inspiration suddenly came into Lilith’s mind, and her beautiful eyes shone with a strange look.
When Cruyff was already nearing them with his emotional smile, Lilith suddenly stood up and vigorously threw the black box in her hand to the back!
No one expected this move—Lilith had casually thrown away the Sword of Thanatos which she had painstakingly held on to until now?!
Why?
It’s simple—the one whom she threw it to was someone who had been standing by doing nothing: Yang Chen!
Yang Chen looked at the box before him hesitatingly, and instinctively reached out to grab it. But as he touched the box he was hit by a sudden realization—Oh no! It’s a trick!
As expected, Lilith wiped her eyes, and turned back to smile prettily at Yang Chen while blinking her eyes. “Your Dear Majesty Pluto, I do believe the fault lies in you for asking us to obtain the sword for you. But now that my father’s hurt, I think it’s best if you take it for yourself.”
What! What did Lilith mean by that? They were under orders to seize the divine weapon?!
The gazes of everyone, including Cruyff and the rest of the Vatican, fixed nastily on Yang Chen, and the black box in his hand.
Yang Chen laughed bitterly. This Lilith is a fast thinker indeed, to use a tactic like this to drag me down with them. Doesn’t she know that I just have to throw the weapon back to her, and everyone would realize that she’s bluffing?
But Yang Chen did no such thing, because as he glanced again at Lilith, he saw in her beautiful red-rimmed eyes… an unprecedented plea.
This proud pureblood female vampire, at this moment, had laid down all her pride and aloofness, using her eyes to tell Yang Chen as best as she could—I beg you, please pity us, save us…
Lilith was a woman unafraid of death, to the point where death was something exciting for her.
But this did not mean that she was willing to watch her own father stabbed to death by a holy weapon wielded by the Vatican!
Even if they were the blood race, even if they didn’t have beating hearts, they were still family!
Yang Chen helplessly admitted that ever since he returned to China two years ago, his heart had gone soft. Even if he knew that this woman was just setting him up, he felt that it was still his duty to help this pleading woman.
In the past, he had no parents, but now he had a mother… Ah, family—he could understand this feeling.
With a sigh, Yang Chen tossed the black box to Sauron besides him, and stepped forward to face everyone, especially that Cruyff, saying loudly, “That’s right, I’m the one behind this heist, Sargeras and his daughter are under my watch…”