The blood-red runes in the sky all emitted a crimson glow, bathing the entire world in a bright red light.
A blood moon was held aloft in the sky by Bastello with one hand.
This blood moon was only a few dozen meters wide, yet it was incomparably solid. The power contained within it distorted the surrounding air to such an extent that Calca and Zesshi could no longer clearly see Bastello's hideous face.
Most absurdly, the light screen in the sky magnified Bastello's blood moon countless times.
It was as if such a bizarre moon truly hung high above, ready to crash down and destroy the world at any moment.
Even those who were not present instinctively held their breath, their hearts pounding uncontrollably.
"The demon is so strong!"
"Can the Holy Queen and the others withstand this attack?"
"Is his very first move already this terrifying?!"
Zesshi Zetsumei stood atop the city wall, holding her scythe in reverse. Looking into Bastello's disdainful eyes, she could not help but let out a cold laugh.
"I've never fought a demon like you before."
Beside her, Calca's slender body radiated pure white holy light. Her blonde hair fluttered without wind, and under the glow, her beautiful face appeared especially divine.
"Holy Light Barrier!"
She pressed her delicate hands together and, with herself as the center, released a circular holy barrier of light that rapidly expanded until it enveloped the entire city.
The radiance emitted by the barrier turned the entire city into daylight, clear and warm.
It stood in stark contrast to the crimson blood-red outside the barrier.
Calca stared at Bastello with a fierce gaze, the holy light power within her body constantly condensing, ready to reinforce the barrier at any moment.
'Even with the blessing of the God Lord, the gap in strength between me and Zesshi or Helant is far too great. Right now, the only thing I can do is give my all to protect my citizens and… ensure that Helant suffers as little interference as possible.' Calca thought with a determined look.
Helant's tall and holy figure appeared filled with divinity under the reflection of the holy light barrier. If he were to claim to be a god at this moment, many would likely believe him.
However, through the light screen, everyone knew that Helant was currently performing a crucial ritual, summoning the Holy Domain God Lord.
In the face of the aggressive demon, it seemed that only that distant and ethereal Holy Domain God Lord could appear as the savior at this moment.
Bastello split his bloodstained maw, revealing sharp fangs, and mocked, "Whether it's the first generation, the second, or you, the ritual to summon the Holy Domain God Lord is always long and tedious. Sigh, I don't know why you haven't improved it."
As he spoke, the energy within the blood moon seemed to reach a critical point. The blood-red light flared intensely, and a silent vibration spread out, causing a buzzing resonance to erupt within everyone's hearts.
He slowly raised his hand, looked down at the girl with black and white twin-tails, and said with a contemptuous smile, "Do you intend to block me?"
This was one of his prospective mistresses. In terms of strength, before being empowered by Lord Helant, he would have been the one bullied by her. But now, he could not exactly bully her in return.
'That look in his eyes is really annoying…'
Zesshi held her Divine-class long-handled scythe across her body and said coldly, "Are you looking down on me?"
Although the demon before her was indeed more than a level stronger in raw power, Zesshi Zetsumei, as a youth who had lived for over a hundred years, still possessed her own pride.
Even though she had mentally prepared herself, she could not help but feel a trace of competitiveness at this moment.
"The supreme existence that transcends the mortal world..."
Just then, Helant's melodious and divine voice echoed from within the barrier, causing Bastello's eyes to sharpen. His demonic claws suddenly struck downward, smashing the blood moon directly toward them.
Hum—!
The crimson blood moon moved extremely slowly, but its size of dozens of meters made up for that flaw. In an instant, it was about to collide with the barrier.
Everyone within the barrier could only watch helplessly as the massive blood moon loomed overhead. An instinctive fear seized them, leaving their bodies weak and trembling.
"Greater Gale Pace, Greater Defense Reinforcement, Instant Reflexes!"
Zesshi Zetsumei's physical attributes surged. A sharp, cold light flashed across her scythe as her small body leaped lightly into the air.
In midair, she sneered at the massive blood moon.
"At least deal with me before attacking the barrier!"
She skillfully spun her scythe, gripped the long handle, twisted her waist with force, and then brought it down in a fierce slash.
"Martial Art: Greater Slash!"
Shink!
A long, narrow black blade of light was unleashed from the scythe, instantly expanding to dozens of meters as it tore through the air and struck the blood moon.
Whoosh!!
In almost an instant, the blade of light sliced through the blood moon, leaving a thin black line at its center. The blood moon's descent seemed to stall as the energy within it surged violently.
Boom!
A second later, the blood moon exploded. The crimson light scattered like a shockwave, whipping up a violent gale that uprooted the trees on the ground.
Within the holy light barrier below, cracks continuously appeared and were rapidly repaired.
Zesshi looked at the scene, then turned toward the demon with a provocative gaze.
"Is this all you've got?"
'I've bought over twenty seconds!'
"I didn't want to waste time on weaklings," Bastello smacked his lips and continued, "I only need to kill Helant within three minutes, and in those three minutes, I could kill you a hundred times over!"
'I wouldn't dare kill her even once.'
At those words, a few veins bulged on Zesshi Zetsumei's forehead, but she suppressed her anger and said coldly, "Stupid demon, come and fight me!"
She knew very well that the demon before her could stand against a True Dragon Lord. Most of her abilities were suited for close combat, so she could not possibly gain an advantage in a direct battle.
However, her task right now was simply to stall for three minutes.
'Since I don't need to worry about anything else, I'll just fight with everything I have!'
Zesshi charged straight forward with her scythe.
In an instant, a flash of panic crossed Bastello's eyes. He casually blocked her attack, unsure of what to do.
His current strength was around level 95, while this prospective mistress was clearly not even level 90. If he did not take it seriously, the act would not be convincing, but if he did, he was afraid of hurting her.
Just as Bastello was feeling conflicted, Helant's voice sounded in his mind.
-"Go ahead and fight. I'll handle everything. It's fine."-
In the distance, Helant maintained the appearance of preparing the summoning ritual while keeping an eye on Zesshi Zetsumei.
Zesshi Zetsumei's class distribution is truly poor. It's just a random mix of whatever she wanted to learn. I have no idea how those people in the Theocracy trained her.
If I were to optimize it, her raw power would increase by at least two tiers!
____
15 Advance chapters:
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