A massive flash of lightning burst across the sky. Furious currents of air carried purple thunder as they roared toward the Holy Light Angel like a raging beast.
A gigantic purple monster, covered with needle-like fangs, crushed through space itself, dragging traces of emptiness behind it as it cut across the speeding lightning.
Suddenly, the thunder beast completely condensed into a hundred-meter-long arrow. A world-shaking roar exploded outward, and the sound of thunder echoed wildly through the air.
The angelic believers suspended beneath the dark clouds still radiated sacred and righteous light.
Yet whenever the thunderous tremor sounded, the enormous angel's body seemed to tremble along with it.
The body wrapped in holy light faintly showed signs of breaking apart.
But the attack had not ended.
Bolt after bolt of thunder turned into dazzling purple-black lightning arrows. Carrying an explosive force of despair, they rushed straight toward the golden angel shining in the sky.
Each time thunder exploded in the air, the knights and ministers who had been covered by wicked thoughts were forced to tremble all over.
Their clouded eyes gradually cleared amid the booming sounds.
Their blurred consciousness slowly broke free from chaos, and reason returned to their bodies.
At that moment, the golden angel in the sky also sensed the change among the knights and ministers.
The justice that once filled its eyes dimmed slightly.
Amid the continuous thunder, the ministers and knights all regained their senses.
At this moment, they collectively fell into a state of confusion.
What just happened?
What were they thinking just now?
How could they have produced such filthy and vile thoughts?
The knights saw the demi-humans standing on guard against them. They opened their mouths but could not speak.
Their limbs felt weak. At this moment, they developed deep doubts about the justice they had always believed in.
They actually wanted to wipe out these demi-humans? Just because… of jealousy?
'H-how could that be possible?'
In the end, they had failed to hold onto their hearts.
They had betrayed the virtues and beliefs of a knight.
If that was the case, could they still be considered qualified knights?
Were they still worthy of the silver-white armor on their bodies and the knightly swords they carried?
Some knights could not accept this fact at all. They crouched on the ground with their heads in their hands.
Curling their bodies tightly, with the kind of pain that made them question their entire lives, they burst into deep sobs.
Compared with the knights, the ministers trembled even more. Fear and panic filled their eyes.
What on earth had they been thinking?
They had actually wanted everyone here to die along with them?
They wanted everyone here to die?
They even wanted the princess to die in their place?
'What a treasonous thought!!!'
Now Viktor was here.
Even if they all died, Viktor would never stand by and watch the princess die.
Such rebellious thoughts were absolutely forbidden.
They might not care about the princess, but if any of them truly harbored the idea of killing her along with everyone else...
Even if they survived...
The entire empire would hunt them down.
At that moment, the ministers and knights finally noticed the bright white light shining in the distant sky.
That was the dazzling heat produced by thunder colliding with thunder.
When the black and purple lightning intertwined, it was as if a miniature sun had been ignited beneath the gloomy clouds.
Light instantly swept across the surrounding sky, like an extremely brilliant daytime suddenly appearing.
Heavenly light poured down from a massive crack, as if the clouds in the sky had been split in half.
This terrifying scene left everyone present completely stunned.
The white light burst out and swept through the canyon with magnificent thunderous power, spreading outward.
Rocks were crushed into dust by the surging energy. Space itself seemed compressed into a thin membrane as violent airwaves rolled and stirred up towering thunder.
BOOM!
The white light gradually faded. After suffering the violent impact, the enormous canyon became shattered and fragmented, and broken rocks continuously fell toward the ground.
Just like that, half of the canyon vanished from the world.
The originally brilliant golden angel had now become incredibly weak. The golden holy light had been blown away in large amounts.
The remaining power on its body began turning into layers of cracked skin that slowly peeled off.
The winged angel had lost most of its body. Its once majestic posture of justice had lost all its dignity.
Only black, writhing flesh remained, dripping down from its body as it fell into the deep valley below.
Viktor still stood proudly in the sky, lightning flashing behind him.
The gigantic hand filled with purple thunder seemed capable of grasping everything within its palm.
Lightning and floating electric arcs jumped through the air, darting rapidly.
Viktor quietly watched the black angel that had already lost half of its body, his expression calm.
After the intense attack, it was now on the verge of death.
The special power possessed by the Calamity of Thunder could deal extremely terrifying burst damage to a single target.
And the attack he had just used, "Brilliant Flash Thunder Arrow," had almost completely erased this monster.
After all, that creature was a massive collective formed from ten thousand believers unified in thought.
In a single moment, nearly ten thousand believers would have died under that magic.
However, this also indirectly showed just how thick the health bar of that twisted monster really was.
The combined body of ten thousand believers had reached a level equivalent to Level 60.
But unfortunately...
Being a combined Level 60 did not mean they had truly reached the sixth tier.
Compared with a real sixth-tier being, they were clearly far too weak to qualify.
But their durability was fairly decent.
At the very least, it had indeed reached a sixth-tier level of toughness.
And now, as countless people regained their thoughts and woke up...
After witnessing that terrifying scene...
The ministers finally understood.
What exactly the sacred yet filthy angel before them truly was.
"So this… is the true form of the goddess's believers."
Under that attack, the angel's entire body was covered in twisted black flesh.
Its body was filled with warped black flesh, and sticky foul-smelling liquid dripped continuously from its broken limbs.
The flesh wings formed from tentacles had also fallen apart. Countless severed tentacles kept dropping into the canyon.
Seeing the goddess of justice, who had always been bathed in golden light, turn into such a blasphemous and filthy appearance left everyone in deep shock.
So the followers of the goddess of justice were actually this disgusting.
Everyone present felt nauseated.
Many ministers suddenly understood.
Why the empire did not allow religious sects to spread or establish themselves within its territory.
Because they were nothing more than monsters that bewitched people's hearts and bred evil thoughts in others.
They did not even deserve to be called "human."
Aurelian looked through the window of the first-class carriage, her eyes sparkling like stars as she gazed at Viktor still standing firmly in the sky.
Professor Viktor's performance made her admire him even more.
As long as the teacher stayed by her side, she would always feel the sense of security he brought her.
Suddenly, an abyss-like darkness surged in from one side, like a storm of black ink that flooded everything completely.
Aurelian immediately sensed something was wrong.
Because the Eternal Furnace within her heart could no longer absorb any magic.
The surrounding magic seemed to have been cut off beneath that black barrier.
What would happen if a mage could not use magic?
The answer was obvious.
She instinctively sensed danger and suddenly shouted toward Viktor outside the train.
"Teacher!!!"
But this warning seemed to come too late.
The black barrier seemed to completely block the surrounding magic.
The purple-black thunder giant hand behind Viktor also gradually dimmed at this moment.
The raging lightning around them slowly stopped. The sky above the canyon gradually returned to calm.
Only the still violent wind remained, blowing Viktor's coat and making it sway continuously.
Viktor put his hands in his pockets. The thunder giant hand behind him, which had already begun flickering, slowly withdrew.
Yet he himself still floated in the air, standing firm.
At that moment, the pitch-black sky suddenly revealed several golden beams of divine light.
Just like before, they pierced through the thick clouds and slowly descended.
Seeing this sudden scene, countless people widened their eyes in shock.
"Th-that… what is that!?"
A minister pointed toward the sky in fear.
At this moment, everyone saw it.
Ten sacred golden figures broke through the clouds and floated in the sky.
The pure holy light seemed capable of redeeming all dark creatures. Their proud and majestic bodies radiated inviolable authority.
The ten descending angels were exactly the same as the one from before.
They surrounded Viktor, encircling him completely while he could no longer use magic.
The moment they saw the ten angels, countless people felt disbelief.
Just one of them earlier had already driven them into despair.
Now ten angels had appeared at once.
How could Viktor possibly deal with this!?
Suddenly, from the ankles of the ten angels, golden chains extended outward.
They wrapped around Viktor's wrists, shoulders, ankles, and neck, binding him completely.
The chains tightened violently, as if trying to hang Viktor in the air.
Seeing Viktor suddenly restrained by angels, everyone's hearts seemed to stop for half a beat.
Worry and shock intertwined in their hearts.
The foreign ministers' brows nearly twisted together.
After all, if Viktor died, these old men who were unarmed and only good at talking would certainly have no chance of surviving.
Aurelian was even more anxious.
With magic cut off, she could not imagine how Professor Viktor would escape this situation.
But suddenly, she felt something was wrong.
If the teacher could not use magic...
Then when the magic failed just now...
Why could he still float in the sky?
Aurelian blinked.
Her gaze fell on Viktor's expression.
The corners of his mouth had slightly curved upward.
As if Viktory was already in his grasp, as if everything had been calculated in advance.
With confidence and a hint of arrogance, he spoke calmly.
"You've finally come."
"I've been waiting for you for a long time."
The next second, a black staff with a golden bird head appeared in Viktor's hand.
On the staff, the phantom of a scale began to sway. Golden light flickered faintly on the black staff.
It carried an incomparably sacred aura, shining with holy and mysterious brilliance.
Along with that dazzling light, Viktor's voice suddenly rang out.
"Gwen."
As the word fell, everyone's gaze turned toward Gwen.
She remained extremely calm and stepped out toward the canyon outside the train.
Everyone froze. Some knights even cried out in alarm.
"Count Gwen! Don't!"
They thought Gwen would lose her life.
But they were wrong.
Accompanied by the clashing sounds of her armor, Gwen's step landed firmly on the air outside the train.
At that moment, it was as if a staircase made of golden light appeared.
And it gradually extended upward.
Step by step, the stairs lifted her feet, allowing Gwen to walk upward slowly.
With every step, her body seemed to endure immense pressure.
But at the same time, the holy light of the staircase grew brighter.
She seemed to be bathed in sacred light, walking firmly toward an increasingly brilliant sun.
And the end of those stairs was exactly where Viktor stood.
Surrounded by ten twisted believers wrapped in holy light, with the phantom scales on the staff constantly swaying, the holy light became brighter and brighter.
Until Gwen crossed the hundredth step before everyone's eyes and arrived in front of Viktor.
She turned around and looked at the ten believers radiating holy light.
At the same time, the believers' gazes also turned toward Gwen.
It was as if a force of faith filled their minds.
"Go…ddess…"
"Go…ddess?"
The next moment, Vega's deep single eye flashed with a bright blue light.
Almost at the same time, the staff in Viktor's hand burst with heavy and astonishing magic power.
"Since you love your goddess so much."
"Then."
"For the sake of your most beloved goddess."
"Offer your lives."
The scales in the sky could no longer suppress their light. Radiant holy brilliance spread across the entire world like the sun!
Countless people felt it.
Justice and faith poured down across the world, across the entire canyon.
Vast magic surged from Viktor's heart, yet this time he did not let it overflow.
Instead, he completely suppressed it within his body and poured it into the staff in his hand.
"Grand Prosperity."
Under the stunned and shocked gazes of countless people, Gwen raised her hand and touched the phantom scales in the sky.
Carrying the holy light of the scales, her entire body was completely enveloped.
"Ascending Stairway to Godhood."
At that moment...
A curved golden crown appeared upon her head.
The veil that fell gently covered Gwen's eyes.
From the silver-white armor on her body, a pair of tall, pure white sacred wings slowly emerged.
Gwen bathed in dazzling holy light, surrounded by drifting white feathers.
Even the flaming sword in her hand began to change rapidly.
The originally red flames grew even fiercer, eventually turning into blazing orange fire, as if capable of purifying all filth.
Gwen tightly gripped the long sword. The wings behind her slowly flapped as she floated in midair.
The sword was planted before her. Calm eyes carried absolute authority, as if a holy spirit had descended upon the world.
A distant sacred voice slowly echoed around Gwen, hollow and solemn.
"Filthy sinners."
"Your sins cannot be forgiven."