The night curtain was torn apart by streaks of blue lightning snakes.
The thunder in the sky had not fully dissipated; instead, it transformed into countless fine blue lightning snakes, frantically squirming within the thick dark clouds. As if guided by some invisible force, they flickered and converged in unison toward a certain direction on the edge of the city.
"Over there!" Lin Huai immediately pointed toward where the lightning was gathering.
"Let's go!"
Thor didn't waste a single word at this moment. He grabbed Lin Huai with one hand. With his other hand, completely disregarding Danitz's feelings, he clamped him tightly to his side with his thick arm and thigh, just like a briefcase.
"Shit! Let go of me! I can..."
Before Danitz could finish his protest, Thor kicked off the ground with a powerful thrust, soaring into the sky amidst a dull sonic boom. He turned into a silver-blue meteor, charging straight toward the direction indicated by the lightning!
"Ah—Help!!! I'm going to fall!!!!"
The high-pitched and shrill scream traced a long, vibrating parabola across the night sky of Bayam.
Held in Thor's hand, Lin Huai faced the rushing wind, looking expressionlessly at the rapidly receding scenery below, his mind a chaotic mess.
Am I... really just a Marionette?
This feeling of being controlled by others, of being unable to act on one's own will, was so familiar yet so loathsome.
If I am just a string Puppet, then who exactly bestowed upon me this so-called humanity? Was it Zhou Mingrui, who left a brand deep in my soul and yearned for his "hometown"? Or was it... that Celestial Worthy who sits high above the gray-white mist, overlooking all of eternity?
Why did the Lord of Storms wait until this moment to send down a revelation?
If these deities must join forces to maintain that so-called "Barrier" to prevent the invasion of Outer Gods, wouldn't it have been better to tell me the truth about the ritual earlier? We could have planned ahead and stopped it calmly.
Why wait until now, when everything is on the brink of spiraling out of control, to smash the clues into our faces in such a crude manner?
You... what exactly are you plotting?
What kind of massive game are these high-and-mighty existences playing? And what pathetic role do I play in this game?
"We're here!"
Lin Huai snapped back to his senses and looked up, his pupils suddenly contracting.
The scene before him was as if doomsday had arrived.
Above the sky, the thick dark clouds formed a colossal vortex. Countless blue lightning snakes scurried frantically along the edges of the vortex, yet they dared not cross the line. Directly beneath the vortex, on that black rocky beach, three inverted crosses of varying sizes stood quietly.
On the two smaller crosses, two familiar figures had already been hung upside down.
The one on the left, whose magnificent green robe flapped in the sea breeze, was Loki.
And the one on the right, wearing a tight black dress that outlined her explosive figure, was none other than that Demoness of Afflictions, Kaelan.
Both had their eyes tightly shut, their status unknown.
"There seems to be no one below." Thor hovered in mid-air, scanning the area below, his voice filled with vigilance.
Lin Huai and Danitz, who was being squeezed so hard his eyes were rolling back, suppressed their discomfort and carefully observed every inch of ground and every rock below.
However, except for the howling sea breeze and the eerie sound of crying coming from the distance, the entire coastline was empty, and the silence was unsettling.
"Loki!"
Thor could no longer contain himself. Looking at his motionless brother below, his patience was completely exhausted. Regardless of any potential ambush, lightning flashed around his body as he prepared to charge down and save him.
Lin Huai and Danitz exchanged a look, seeing both helplessness and determination in each other's eyes.
Knowing there's a tiger in the mountain, yet heading straight for it.
This is one hundred percent a trap.
But... so what?
The people must be saved!
Almost at the very moment their feet touched the rocks on the ground.
"Whoosh—!!!"
A soft sound, as if a curtain had been pulled open. A pair of black wings, large enough to blot out the sky, extended from the void without warning, instantly enveloping the entire coast!
The sky was completely sealed off!
"Rumble!!!"
The lightning vortex in the sky seemed to have been provoked. The long-accumulated lightning snakes instantly became violent, transforming into pillars of blue lightning as thick as barrels, frantically smashing toward those wings!
However, those wings merely gave a gentle flap, and a layer of dark halo as thin as a cicada's wing spread out, stubbornly withstanding the bombardment of all the lightning without suffering the slightest damage.
Looking at those familiar wings, the corner of Lin Huai's mouth pulled into a grimace as he muttered under his breath:
"Good... They're all here."
Lin Huai took a deep breath, feeling the despairing pressure in the air. To be honest, he didn't even know how they could win.
In that case... Lin Huai suddenly looked up and shouted with all his might toward the sky shrouded in Darkness:
"You big shots spectating up there! Have you seen enough?!"
"If we fall here today, please do us a favor and send this blond barbarian and that black-haired liar back!"
"I promised their old man that I'd take good care of them! Although I don't know what you're plotting, you wouldn't want my humanity to suffer any irreversible damage because of this mess, would you?!"
Lin Huai's voice echoed across the empty coast and then vanished without a trace.
Above the sky, except for those slowly flapping giant black wings and the blue lightning behind the clouds symbolizing the wrath of the Lord of Storms, there was no response.
A figure slowly descended from beneath those sky-blotting wings.
It was the same young man in black he had seen in the Tidal Church; his face was as handsome as ever, but his pure black eyes were filled with indifference.
Behind him, the old man named Itmer followed closely like a soulless Puppet.
"Seeking help from them?" The young man in black's voice reached everyone's ears clearly, carrying a bone-chilling mockery. "Seeking help from that group of cowards who only know how to hide behind the Barrier and tremble?"
His gaze swept over Loki and Kaelan, who were hung upside down on the crosses, and a satisfied curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"The final sacrificial offerings have finally all arrived."
"You dare—!!!"
Thor's roar exploded like thunder. Looking at his lifeless brother, the string of his sanity snapped completely. His entire body's lightning power erupted without reservation, and he turned into a silver bolt of lightning that tore through the night. The mjolnir in his hand, carrying the blue divine thunder bestowed by the Lord of Storms, smashed toward the young man in black with the force to split mountains and shatter rocks!
Facing this incredibly violent strike, the young man in black didn't even lift an eyelid.
He simply raised his right hand casually, fingers splayed.
Buzz—
An invisible ripple spread out.
"Bestowed divine power is, after all, someone else's." The young man in black's tone was as flat as if he were stating a fact.
In the next second, he flicked his finger.
"Bang!"
An unrivaled, immense force erupted instantly. Thor, along with his hammer, was sent flying backward, tracing a pathetic parabola in the air before smashing heavily into the distant cluster of rocks, kicking up a cloud of debris and dust.
"Sh... shit..." Danitz trembled all over, his teeth chattering. "That's an... Angel! We're dead... We're dead!"
Lin Huai gritted his teeth, forcing himself to calm down as he met those pure black eyes: "Your Excellency, what exactly do you want? Why are you so eager to enter this World?"
"For what?" The young man in black said with a smile, "Naturally... to go home."
He looked at Lin Huai, a playful smile appearing on his face.
"This fragile World... will soon welcome its true Master."
Before he had even finished speaking, he suddenly raised his hand and snapped his fingers sharply toward the sky.
That Saint, like a Puppet, walked toward the largest cross!