Lord of Prayer

Chapter 124: Chapter 104: Illusion Realm

On the street, countless people stopped in their tracks, looking up at the holy Angel.

Zhou Chen and Erin included.

The figure was mysterious and awe-inspiring, shimmering with a dazzling light that dispelled the despair and oppression brought by the darkness…

Amidst a Holy Song that sounded like a chorus of ten thousand voices, they felt their souls being cleansed. An indescribable warmth and peace washed over them, making them want to rush into the Angel’s embrace and sing praises of peace and happiness.

But in the next second, a hideous serpent’s head, its scales like fiery black magma, lunged from the Gate of Hell and bit viciously into the Holy Judgment Angel’s arm. Then, as if it had bitten into a rotten nut, the massive head opened its mouth in disgust and spat a glob of magma mixed with yellow pus at the Angel.

The Angel casually swatted the magma away. But after being bitten by the great fiery serpent, its hypocritical disguise was torn to shreds.

The halo above its head became filthy and turbid, dripping with the foul-smelling essence of Darkness.

The Blazing Holy Sword in its hand turned cold and dim, entwined with writhing flesh and tendrils, reeking of filth.

The wings on its back were covered in black, sullied blood, yellow grease, and green mold, and were overgrown with tumors…

It stood over a hundred meters tall, towering between the skyscrapers. Its body was slender, and its long, thin arms were covered in a dense cluster of eyes. After the vicious bite from the serpent’s head, the ruptured eyeballs oozed a foul-smelling yellow pus that dripped onto the buildings and streets below, carrying a potent corrosive effect.

Though it still had a humanoid form, it was a world apart from its previous holy Angelic image. It was now utterly bizarre, disgusting, and saturated with filth.

’This isn’t backup from the Star Association…’ The world went dark for Zhou Chen. His mind felt as if it were being violently stabbed by a thousand needles. The once-solemn Holy Song had twisted into a bizarre, demonic tune that made him dizzy.

’This is bad. Ordinary people probably can’t withstand this level of mental corruption…’ Zhou Chen whipped his head around, only to find that the pedestrians on the street had vanished at some point.

Only a handful of people remained on the entire street, and they all emanated Essence Fluctuation.

They were all Ascenders.

’Where are the ordinary people…?’ A chill ran down Zhou Chen’s spine. He decisively swung his backpack to his front, cast aside all propriety, hoisted Erin onto his back, and activated his Helandy Flying Boots, sprinting toward the Star Association’s headquarters.

Thankfully, they hadn’t come too far. With the Flying Boots, he could make it back in less than three minutes.

In the distance, a behemoth that was impossible to ignore squeezed its way out of the Gate of Hell.

It was a Nine-headed Giant Serpent, its entire body flowing with dark magma. Its nine heads were massive and hideous, its long necks writhing in black, fiery flames, radiating an aura of brutish, violent savagery.

The moment its colossal body landed, it triggered a massive earthquake that nearly obliterated an entire city district. It slowly advanced on the Filthy Angel, easily crushing skyscrapers underfoot as its nine heads roared in unison at the creature.

“Heh, what a naughty little pet.”

In the sky, a Golden Robed Priest with a kind smile appeared. He spoke in a gentle voice, “You were once a Monarch of the Abyss. Why do you so humbly obey the King of Chaos? You possess the great Power to stand above all living things, so why do you choose to bow and scrape?

“Resist. Resist the rule of the King of Chaos. Fight. You must fight each other until a winner emerges.”

It was like the temptation of Satan. Even the fallen Abyssal Creature was bewitched by that gentle voice. The Nine-headed Serpent’s nine heads immediately began to slaughter each other brutally, blood raining down like a waterfall.

At the same time, the Filthy Angel swung the Flesh and Blood Sword in its hand at the Nine-headed Serpent. A turbid blade of light swept out, filling even the air with the stench of decay.

A figure suddenly appeared before the turbid blade of light, flicked a finger, and… SNAP.

The blade of light shattered.

It was a humanoid Demon with goat horns. A Dark Fire Ring floated above its head. It had dark skin, powerful muscles, and a tail swaying behind it.

“A Demon?” The Golden Robed Priest was stunned for a moment, then smiled. “Fallen Paradise also has a ’Demon’ who looks a lot like you. Hmm, then again, all Demons look pretty much the same to me. It’s a pity he didn’t come. Otherwise, I’m sure the two of you would have a very pleasant conversation.

“However, Mr. Demon, you possess such incredible Power…”

“Cut the crap, Inciter.” The Demon said with contempt. “Instead of spouting nonsense, let’s settle this with a fight. We don’t have much time to play games with you.”

The instant the words left its mouth, the goat-horned Demon appeared before the Golden Robed Priest known as the “Inciter” in a move akin to Instant Teleportation. Its clenched fist blazed with surging Chaos Fire.

“Go on, resist,” the Inciter said, a calm smile spreading across his face.

BANG!

The goat-horned Demon’s fully-charged punch slammed heavily into its own face. The terrifying force contained within the blow sent it flying, and it crashed into a street in Jinzhu, completely obliterating the entire block and its surrounding buildings.

“Naive,” the Inciter sneered. He took a single step and appeared beside Li Xiaoxiao, reaching for the box.

Without warning, the goat-horned Demon’s figure appeared in front of him. The Dark Fire Ring above its head rained down Chaos Fire, which expanded violently and instantly engulfed them both. When the flames dissipated, their figures had vanished along with them.

Li Xiaoxiao lowered her gaze, unperturbed by the external chaos, and focused on conducting the ritual.

“ROAR!” The Nine-headed Serpent had already recovered from its “incited” state. Its nine heads spewed forth different kinds of destructive power: fire, Thunderbolt, hurricanes, frost, death rays…

The Filthy Angel swung its Flesh and Blood Sword. A turbid blade of light swept out, and all the attacks decayed into nothing before it.

“█!”

The Filthy Angel spat out a single word. A large patch of mold immediately began to spread across one of the Nine-headed Serpent’s heads. Even its scales, forged and tempered in the Abyss, could not withstand the strange mold’s assault. The serpent’s head was soon covered in dense pustules and tumors that would burst at the slightest movement, splattering pus everywhere.

In response, the Nine-headed Serpent resorted to the simplest, most brutal form of treatment. One of its other heads spat a death ray, severing the infected head. A brand new one quickly regenerated in its place.

It let out a deafening roar at the Filthy Angel, and its massive, mountain-like body charged forward to engage it in a life-or-death struggle.

·

The battle between Tier Five beings had erupted.

If one were to pull their perspective back and up, viewing the scene from above, they would discover that all these events were being reflected in a glass mirror.

——Reflected in countless mirror facets, as mesmerizing as a crystal kaleidoscope.

The mirrors were crystal-clear, refracting a dizzying, illusory light. What they reflected was the battle between the High Tier Extraordinary beings taking place in Jinzhu City.

As if decreasing the magnification on a microscope, pulling the perspective back and up even further revealed the countless mirrors beginning to overlap and shrink, rapidly receding into the distance.

Finally, zooming out from the “microscope” revealed a hard, round Crystal Ball.

A pair of broad, strong hands were holding up the exquisite Crystal Ball. Their owner was a taciturn, middle-aged man with graying temples.

Jiang Che withdrew her gaze from the Crystal Ball’s interior and looked at a monitoring device—Jinzhu was sunny, filled with the songs of birds and the fragrance of flowers, showing no signs of destruction whatsoever.

“Let’s begin the operation,” she said, calmly taking a sip of coffee as she looked at the Crystal Ball in the middle-aged man’s hands.

This was an artifact that symbolized the “Authority of the Mirror.”

——The Illusion Realm.