Hearing the cold voice from the sky, Astrid and Raphael's expressions changed drastically. They had originally thought they could buy more time but didn't expect the enemy to be so fast.
"Helios! Why are you persistently chasing after us without letting go?" Raphael shouted his question.
He partly wanted to curse, but his main goal was to stall for time so Astrid could stabilize her energy as much as possible. After all, sacrifice was inevitable; it couldn't be wasted.
Helios glanced at the three of them, his golden eyes flashing with a cold light. Having confirmed they didn't have much fighting strength left, with victory in his grasp, he wanted to vent a little.
For a whole month, he had lost sleep and appetite precisely to chase this slippery duo. As the temple lord of The Great Sun Temple, with a status among the highest on the continent, being served by others daily, he naturally felt extremely annoyed.
"Hmph, since you're about to die... I can tell you."
Helios spoke leisurely, his tone cold and arrogant. The disheveled appearance from before had diminished considerably; now he looked much more like a supreme being.
"Gabriel... that damned father of yours stole our divine artifact. Not only that, he betrayed us, attacked the branch temples of The Great Sun Temple, and recruited a bunch of commoners to follow him in rebellion. Tell me, doesn't your family deserve death?"
The more he spoke, the angrier he felt. Clearly, everything was developing well. Relations with the two great empires were growing closer, wealth and influence were increasingly solid, and then suddenly such a major disaster emerged.
"Attacking women and children, don't you find that despicable? Why don't you go settle the score with that old man instead? This has nothing to do with us."
Although he knew it was useless, Raphael still wanted to say it. If luck was on their side, perhaps they really could save their lives.
Helios wasn't waterlogged in the brain; he absolutely would not accept such a foolish request. If he accepted, wouldn't that mean he had been playing the fool for the past month?
"Do you think I'm stupid? That damned old man, though his behavior is despicable, his character nonexistent, wicked, shameless, stealing and robbing, betraying his ancestors, disrespecting the gods, stabbing his brothers in the back..."
He ranted a long string, using who knows how many 'beautiful words' to describe someone who was once a core figure in The Great Sun Temple.
"But that old man is a level ninety-nine contractor, one of the strongest on the continent. Tell me, with what should I fight him? Such a difficult task should be left for my father to handle; I'll just deal with the remnants of this sinful family."
In terms of combat power stats, there isn't much difference between a level ninety and a level ninety-nine Contractor. But the key point is, from level ninety upwards, each level gained leads to a huge increase in the energy capacity within the body. If fighting in rotation until energy is depleted, one level ninety-nine person could potentially defeat ten level ninety Contractors.
Helios was only level ninety-one; the two old men beside him were level ninety-two; Astrid was level ninety; and Raphael was level ninety-one.
If he could only bring one person, Helios would not have enough ability to hunt down Astrid and Raphael. But with two people, it was different. Those two old men had a fusion ultimate skill that created a strong weakening and hindering effect.
"We have known each other for many years, we are of the same generation, and can be considered friends. Why can't you leave us a way out?" Raphael questioned.
Don't be fooled by their fierce fighting into thinking they have a deeply conflicted past. On the contrary, they were once comrades-in-arms fighting side by side.
Helios hesitated slightly. The memories from before, not that old, once again ran through his mind, but he shook his head.
"Raphael, this isn't something I want to do; it's something I must do. If possible, I would also like to reconcile with Gabriel and share the same boat once more. But... you know that is impossible. You should understand what is most important to the Phoenix clan."
Raphael fell silent. Others might not know, but he knew many secrets. The Phoenix clan is actually the descendants of the god. The Great Sun Temple isn't just some superstitious organization deceiving people into worship; the Sun God had been on this continent tens of thousands of years ago.
That old man Gabriel must know about this, which made his behavior even more puzzling. If he wanted to help the common people, why did he need the divine artifact?
"What if I renounce the Dawn surname? Look, the two of us have reached a semi-divine level after all, surely we would be useful. Moreover, if my father comes, you could use me as a hostage to distract him." Raphael probed.
He didn't have confidence that he could make that damned old man stop, but distracting him for a moment should be possible. After all, decades of father-son affection; if it couldn't move that old man even for a second, that would be too bad.
Helios frowned, thinking for a moment. He had indeed considered this before. But then he immediately shook his head again.
"It's a good proposal, but you should have proposed it from the very first day, not after making me chase you around for so long."
The face of someone equal to an emperor, with supreme power on the continent, cannot be trampled upon casually. Even if he regrets losing talent, The Great Sun Temple is not lacking in just two people.
Of course, saying this was just to maintain an image of being magnanimous. Family relationships are extremely hard to gauge; the likelihood of Raphael betraying them in the future was very high.
"Raphael!" Astrid shouted. Energy erupted from her body; strange patterns and symbols appeared all over her form.
The energy grew larger and larger; her body gradually turned into a blinding mass of light before shooting straight up into the sky.
Raphael immediately drew the Angel Holy Sword, pouring all the energy he could muster into it and shooting it skyward. His eyes were already so soaked they couldn't get any wetter.
"Not good! Protect temple lord!"
The two old men exclaimed, disregarding their own safety to use all their strength to protect Helios.
From the sky, a voice gentle but cold as ice rang out:
Ultimate Fusion Skill – Heaven's Collapse!
A giant magic circle instantly covered dozens of miles; holy swords, hundreds of times larger, fell incessantly like a meteor shower. An unavoidable attack aimed directly at the three figures in the sky.
The power of a semi-divine level contractor's sacrifice was terrifyingly immense; even a level ninety-nine here would have to be cautious.
Raphael didn't linger for a second longer. He immediately clutched Leo tightly and dashed deep into the forest.
"You bastards!" Helios roared, the veins on his forehead throbbing.
Facing such a horrifying attack, he should have been defending, but now he just wanted Raphael to be crippled even if he didn't die.
Fourth Ultimate Skill – Eternal Flame!
A small flame gathered on his fingertip, emitting a terrifying light as if he held the sun in his hand.
Helios flicked his finger; the flame flew several times the speed of sound, striking straight into Raphael's chest.
It didn't pierce through, didn't ignite, and left no visible trace. It simply vanished as if it had disappeared.
At the same time, the powerful attack from the sky also fell, causing Helios to cough up blood, but the corner of his mouth curled into a smirk before he focused all his strength, along with the two old men, on defending against the attack.
Running a few more seconds, Raphael suddenly collapsed to the ground. Blood spewed from his mouth; his whole body now felt like a living furnace, sensing a terrifying flame burning inside.
"Damn it! I can't die here... I promised her..."
He gritted his teeth, trying to use the remaining energy inside his body to suppress that flame.
Luckily, not far away was a river. He fastened Leo securely to himself, grabbed onto a tree trunk, and jumped into the water, then concentrated all his strength on containing the flame.
The flame quickly subsided, but his vision darkened. Overconsumption of energy made it impossible for him to stay conscious any longer.
Watching the flowing water carry him towards an unknown destination, he silently prayed before losing consciousness.