Vol 4. Chapter 175: A Cruel Decision

"Go on, then. I trust you won't disappoint me, Archbishop Pandora."

"Yes, Your Holiness."

Having received the token granting her authority to mobilize the Holy Decree Envoys and the Church's central army, Pandora nodded respectfully, her voice filled with confidence.

However,

After accepting the token, Pandora did not immediately leave. Instead, she slowly raised her head and glanced hesitantly at the scene behind Kaelrode.

Upon taking a closer look at what lay behind him, Pandora couldn't help attempting to offer a word of advice.

"Um, Your Holiness..."

Yet the moment she opened her mouth, she hesitated, unable to continue. Something seemed to have crossed her mind, leaving her uncertain about what to do.

And just as Pandora was struggling with her hesitation, Kaelrode's cold, meaningful words slowly reached her ears, causing the Archbishop to tremble involuntarily. A bead of cold sweat even trickled down her forehead.

"Archbishop Pandora, you needn't concern yourself with what happens here."

"..."

Sensing the overwhelming pressure concealed within those words and the unquestionable, utterly commanding tone that permitted no resistance, Pandora could only nod helplessly.

"Yes, Your Holiness."

With those words,

Suppressing the reluctance and sympathy in her heart, Pandora gave Kaelrode a farewell bow before quickly turning around and hurrying toward the exit of the Paradise Gardens.

With the assistance of her mana, Pandora soon disappeared from Kaelrode's sight.

...

Watching Pandora depart, Kaelrode gradually allowed the coldness on his face to fade, replacing it with his usual warm, cheerful, and sunny smile.

Yet beneath that smile, there seemed to lurk a deadly blade.

"Being too capable and having too many ideas of your own isn't necessarily a good thing."

Muttering this observation, Kaelrode slowly turned to look behind him.

"Hmm?"

"ROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRR!!!"

Almost the instant Kaelrode turned around, an earth-shaking roar suddenly erupted from directly ahead of him.

The violent surge of power accompanying that roar swept forward like a terrifying air cannon, crashing straight toward Kaelrode and sending his ceremonial robes whipping wildly in the fierce wind.

Accompanied by that thunderous, fury-filled roar and the onslaught of overwhelming power, an enormous white figure rapidly expanded within Kaelrode's vision.

However,

Faced with such terrifying pressure, Kaelrode merely raised an eyebrow, his dark-red eyes filled with utter disdain.

He showed not the slightest trace of panic before the gigantic beast charging toward him.

Shaking his head helplessly, Kaelrode casually waved his hand.

In an instant, the vast reserves of holy magical energy within his body erupted violently!

Dark-red light surged forward like a ferocious beast breaking free of its chains, carrying an overwhelming killing intent as it blasted toward the approaching figure!

With unstoppable force, the attack shattered the white beast's assault and violently hurled its enormous body more than ten meters away!

In an instant, the entire Paradise Gardens trembled violently.

Even Pandora, who was still hurrying through the gardens, felt a lingering chill of fear.

After Kaelrode made his move, the giant beast's attack was unsurprisingly neutralized.

"To think that the sacred beast who once protected the Church and fought fiercely against the Red Spider Lily would be reduced to such a pitiful state. How miserable."

As he gazed toward the enormous white beast lying on the ground ahead, Kaelrode's sorrowful, regretful words slowly reached its ears.

And this enormous white beast...

Was none other than the highly revered sacred beast of the Asumos Church—

Huiming.

She was also the true master of these Paradise Gardens.

Several meters away,

The enormous beast lay sprawled on the ground, her body covered in golden scales and white fur.

Even standing on all fours, she stood over ten meters tall, while her body measured more than thirty meters from head to tail.

A pair of long, sharp horns resembling those of a mountain ram crowned her head, while a crimson blood diamond adorned the tip of her tail.

Her four limbs were as massive as pillars supporting the heavens.

Her joints were covered in platinum-white armor-like scales and long, flowing manes, while the dazzling sapphire embedded in her chest was particularly striking.

However, that brilliant blue gemstone was now covered in cracks.

The beast's eyes were as red as blood, and she was glaring at the figure standing before her with undisguised hatred.

Although a ferocious aura continued to emanate from her entire body, and she clearly wished she could charge forward and tear Kaelrode into countless pieces,

At this moment, the enormous beast simply lacked the strength to do so.

Forget launching another attack.

After taking a single ordinary magical blast from Kaelrode, Huiming had already been left utterly exhausted.

Even struggling to rise from the ground had become an incredibly difficult task.

Despite her best efforts, Huiming ultimately collapsed helplessly back onto the ground.

Compared to the majestic, imposing sacred beast who had once protected the Church, she was practically an entirely different creature.

Panting heavily, she resembled a drenched, defeated dog, looking utterly miserable.

"How truly... ugly."

Looking at the white sacred beast that no longer posed the slightest threat to him, Kaelrode sighed with apparent regret.

As he did so, the blond man raised an eyebrow slightly, looking with mild surprise at the broken chains hanging from the stone pillars nearby.

She actually managed to break free of her restraints?

That's somewhat unexpected.

But...

That was all.

His peripheral vision drifted toward the blue gemstone embedded in Huiming's chest, which was now on the verge of shattering.

Kaelrode let out a long sigh.

"After breaking free of your restraints, you've lost more than ninety percent of your strength. How could you possibly hurt me now? You're overestimating yourself. Just give it up."

Unfortunately,

Kaelrode's words had no effect whatsoever.

Huiming continued forcing her weakened body to move, barely managing to push herself off the ground.

Her eyes remained firmly fixed on Kaelrode, brimming with hatred.

Clearly, this sacred beast had not abandoned her desire to attack him.

A series of hoarse, broken sounds gradually emerged from her mouth.

"G-Give... give me... my child... b-back..."

"Sacred °• N ?? v ?? l i g h t •° Beast, I believe I've already told you. Until that child has completely forgotten about you, I will not allow her to see you."

"You... bastard!"

With an enraged roar, Huiming unleashed a heart-wrenching howl and dragged her battered, terribly weakened body forward, charging toward him once again.

Faced with this desperate charge, Kaelrode slowly raised his hand in contempt.

"How unsightly, Sacred Beast."

A dark-red light flashed through his eyes.

In an instant, four chains constructed from concentrated holy magical energy emerged from every direction, snapping around Huiming's four limbs!

The chains forcibly interrupted the sacred beast's charge before violently dragging her back toward the center of the square surrounded by four pillars.

No matter how desperately Huiming struggled, the disparity between her remaining strength and Kaelrode's power was simply too overwhelming.

In the end, despite her unwillingness, she was forcibly chained once more to the center of the square.

"Why bother?"

After effortlessly suppressing Huiming, Kaelrode casually walked forward.

Although Huiming still attempted to open her enormous jaws and bite the bastard standing before her to death, the chains restraining her continued draining what little power remained in her body.

Soon, she barely had the strength even to open her mouth.

All she could do was release a series of unwilling, low growls.

"Kaelrode... you bastard..."

"Sacred Beast. Huiming, why must you insist on this?"

Kaelrode waved his hand and spoke in an exceedingly helpless tone.

"If you would simply pass your power on to your child willingly, wouldn't you be able to reunite with her?"

"No! I will absolutely never do that! I've already told you, the Red Spider Lily's curse has not been lifted! If I pass my power on to that child, the curse will gradually erode her as well! I can't... I can't harm my own child... Until I've broken the curse, I will never give my power to her!"

"Break the curse? Sacred Beast, you really do enjoy making jokes. You've been trying to break that curse for hundreds of years now. And what exactly have you accomplished? Wouldn't it be so much easier to just hand over your power?"

"Impossible!"

"Even if it were a divine revelation from the Goddess herself?"

"A divine revelation?"

Hearing those words, Huiming immediately bared her fangs in fury, her voice overflowing with contempt.

"What divine revelation?! Isn't it all just your own will?! Using the Goddess's divine revelations as an excuse to commit such utterly deranged acts! Kaelrode, you're nothing but a beast! You're the one blaspheming against the great Goddess!..."

As though determined to vent every last bit of the rage and humiliation she had accumulated over the decades of imprisonment within the Paradise Gardens, Huiming continued hurling thunderous accusations at Kaelrode.

"..."

Faced with Huiming's furious roars and the sacred beast's unwavering determination, Kaelrode showed no anger whatsoever.

His expression remained completely calm and indifferent.

Only after Huiming had exhausted herself from shouting did Kaelrode finally speak with apparent regret.

"It seems we won't be reaching an agreement today, either."

"I will never agree to your plan! Never!"

"I understand."

Faced with the enormous beast's absolute refusal to compromise, Kaelrode no longer attempted to persuade her.

"In that case, I cannot allow you and your daughter to meet. Since you refuse to pass on your power directly, I have no choice but to let the little sacred beast inherit it through devouring you."

"Y-You... If you do that... you'll kill that child! You'll completely sever the sacred beast bloodline..."

"No, that won't happen. Although the Red Spider Lily's curse is indeed capable of completely destroying an Eighth-Tier powerhouse, it still takes thirty or forty years to progress from its initial stages of erosion to its final stage. That's more than enough time for a new sacred beast to be born."

Kaelrode paused slightly.

"It's just... Hmm... I can only hope that your child won't be as stubborn as you when the time comes."

"You really are... a bastard..."

"..."

Paying no further attention to Huiming's furious condemnation, Kaelrode slowly turned around.

With a strange smile on his face, he casually slipped both hands into his pockets and began walking toward the exit of the Paradise Gardens.

"Everything I do... is for the sake of the Goddess..."