Chapter 1282: Aftermath

“Bishop?”

The clergy standing before him was an elder over sixty years old.

But his current condition was quite poor.

Not only was his body covered in burns, but three ninja blades were also embedded in his back, and a massive bloody hole in his chest was gushing blood.

Such injuries would have killed a ninja long ago.

Yet the elder remained steadfastly alive.

Not only that, his life force was still vigorous.

The black stiletto in his hand was stained with blood—both of his own and his enemy’s.

A young boy of thirteen or fourteen named Hidan looked on in surprise at the elder who approached him.

He was the prominent figure serving as the bishop of the Evil God Cult he worshipped.

“Cough, Hidan…”

Though his life force was still strong, the elder’s injuries remained unresolved, and his body’s fatigue was growing more apparent.

If not for his formidable willpower, he might have already fallen under enemy attack.

Hidan discarded the wildflowers he’d picked from the bushes and walked to the bishop’s side, supporting him to rest against a tree.

“There’s no need for such trouble; I will soon die…”

The elder bishop said.

The three ninja blades in his back had each pierced his heart.

Even as his life force remained vigorous, it too was rapidly dissipating.

In the end… he had not received the blessing of the Evil God, failing to achieve a perfect undying body.

This regret would disappear as he was about to die.

“Ah?”

Hidan was at a loss, staring blankly at the bishop who seemed fine just days ago, unsure of what had caused this sudden change.

“Bishop sir… don’t you possess an immortal body?”

Hidan asked blankly.

Indeed, someone with the ability of an immortal body, how could they possibly die?

“Immortal body…”

The elder bishop ruminated over the term and chuckled bitterly.

Although the Evil God Cult does possess such an ability, not every cultist can attain it.

In fact, because the undying power is too potent, until now, besides the cult’s founder, no second person had achieved an immortal body.

His body merely had an overpowering life force that could ignore most injuries, supporting eternal combat through sheer will.

But if his limbs were severed, he’d be nothing more than a lamb to be slaughtered.

There’s also time.

Time is the world’s most ruthless and terrifying force.

An undying person cannot achieve eternal youth and would still die of hunger.

This is also the limitation of an immortal body.

Nonetheless, even with this limitation, the ability remains formidable.

If not for the Evil God Cult’s foundation, he would’ve died over ten times in the previous battles.

“The enemy will soon arrive; you must leave quickly. You are the last hope of our Evil God Cult. Whether it can thrive in the future depends on you.”

The elder bishop said, gazing enthusiastically at Hidan.

Unlike him, Hidan, a loyal cultist, had a body that perfectly matched the Evil God Cult’s forbidden techniques, possessing a stronger undying body than he.

The only flaw is that his mind isn’t sharp—calling it simple-minded or low intelligence wouldn’t be accurate; he’s rather impulsive and tends to dullness, and beyond the Evil God, he harbors no reverence.

But such disciples are precisely those favored by the Evil God.

“Even if you say so, Bishop…”

Hidan frowned in distress.

He had merely snuck out for a stroll and returned to find the cult’s bishop on the brink of being eliminated, with the Evil God Cult’s downfall imminent.

The world’s changes were too rapid for his brain to immediately comprehend.

“This is the Evil God’s forbidden technique—Death Controlling Possessed Blood, which demonstrates full power when combined with a truly immortal body. Originally, I intended to personally teach you this technique, but now it seems there’s no time. You’ll have to learn it alone.”

The elder bishop lamentably took out a scroll, solemnly placing it in Hidan’s hand, and continued urging him to leave quickly.

Hidan accepted the scroll and was just about to leave when he suddenly turned back and grinned, asking, “By the way, Bishop, would you like me to conduct the final ceremony for you?”

“What?”

The elder bishop didn’t quite understand.

Stab!

The same black stiletto extended from Hidan’s hand, ruthlessly slicing across the elder bishop’s neck.

The head rolled to the ground, blood sprayed out.

The elder bishop’s expression remained frozen in astonishment as he departed this world.

Hidan gazed at the bishop’s headless body, solemnly using the black stiletto to cut open his own abdomen, enduring the pain as blood streamed down to paint a peculiar symbol of a triangle within a circle on the ground, placing the elder bishop’s corpse within the symbol.

Then, Hidan removed the silver pendant from his neck, which matched the symbol on the ground, closed his eyes, and began to pray.

“Bishop, may your soul return to the embrace of the Evil God, and rest in peace.”

The future brilliance of the Evil God Cult is entrusted to me. Hidan’s heart surged with fervor, and his lips curled into a sinister and malevolent smile.

…

Black-clad ninjas surrounded the forest, observing the elder bishop’s headless corpse amid the blood-painted emblem of the Evil God Cult, blood sprayed on the ground and the nearby tree bark.