Chapter 698: The Ark Demon

Judging by appearances, the thing was over a hundred meters tall. The Desolation Deer would be little more than a pet next to it.

“What is that thing?”

Reflection Naclis stared at it, somewhat dumbfounded. Its size was beyond all reason.

“It’s still in the fog. I have no idea what it is either...”

Loren instinctively tightened his grip on Requiem. Something that enormous was unlikely to be weak.

After all, its base stats alone were enough to cause massive destruction with a single step.

“Looks like this is the Plague Church’s trump card.”

Loren remained calm. Generally speaking, nothing in the mortal realm could be stronger than an Angel. Loren had already killed so many Angels that he naturally wasn’t worried about this thing.

Besides, Loren had developed Colossal Beast Cleave himself. There were plenty of enormous creatures in this world, so the technique often came in handy.

Loren had taught Colossal Beast Cleave to Luna and the others some time ago. Every witch who knew martial skills had learned it, just in case.

Even without Loren stepping in, that thing would be no match for Luna.

“What the hell is that thing?”

The King had also noticed the darkness in the distance. The Desolation Deer seized its chance and impaled him with its antlers.

Given the size of the Desolation Deer’s antlers, the blow had practically cut the King in half.

“Damn it...”

Blood spilled from the corner of the King’s mouth. He drove his greatsword into the Desolation Deer’s antler and pushed himself off it. His lower body was connected to his upper body by little more than a strip of skin.

Yet the moment he broke free of the Desolation Deer, his body healed instantly.

The price, presumably, was the instantaneous deaths of several of his subjects.

“Doesn’t that make his ability invincible?”

Reflection Naclis began to complain from nearby. The King’s injuries recovered instantly, without even going through a healing process. He recovered faster than Mirrorheart.

“As long as you kill him in a single blow, he can be dealt with. He only draws on life force. He doesn’t drain life itself directly.”

While Loren and Reflection Naclis were talking, the shadow was gradually drawing closer.

The ground shook with every step it took, proving that the thing wasn’t an illusion.

The first thing Loren saw was its ribs, as if they had been forcibly pried out of its body.

“I think I know what that thing is...”

When the creature came into view, the entire battlefield fell silent. The King, the Desolation Deer, and the soldiers all froze in place.

“Luna, fall back.”

Loren promptly warned Luna. She immediately came to her senses and quietly put some distance between herself and the King.

The next moment, the sky went dark. Only Loren, watching from far away, could see what the thing really was.

It was a gigantic hand. That hand alone was probably far larger than the city wall. Its fingernails were sharp, and thick nails were wedged beneath them.

They were nails on the giant hand, but pillars to everyone else.

Its skin seemed to be sewn together from human faces. Every one of them wore an expression of pain, and they looked horrifyingly lifelike.

Because it was so enormous, the creature’s movements seemed slow. In reality, it was unbelievably fast. Before the King could react, the giant hand smacked him, as if swatting a fly.

“What in the world is that thing?”

Reflection Naclis asked. Even she had never seen anything so outrageous.

“It’s a demon, an artificial demon.

“Its name should be the Ark Demon. It’s the ultimate weapon created by demons, forged from the pain and corpses of other intelligent beings.

“Like an ark, it bears the suffering of the world. That’s why it’s called the Ark Demon.

“And this thing actually has little to do with the God of Pain, so the Severance Ritual won’t have much effect on it. At most, it can seal its abilities related to pain, but its stats are already high enough on their own.”

Loren explained it to Reflection Naclis, though he still didn’t consider it a threat.

The unknown was what made something terrifying. Now that he knew what it was, it no longer posed any threat to Loren.

“The Ark Demon is as powerful as an Angel, but it doesn’t have an Angel’s authority.

“But in terms of sheer destructive power, this thing is even more terrifying than an Angel.”

As the giant hand came down, everyone finally saw the creature in its entirety.

Overall, it looked like a demon, with two horns on its head and dark red skin. But only on closer inspection could one see that all its skin was stitched together from faces. It also had numerous instruments of torture hanging from its body.

“It’s so huge... How many people would they have to kill to make this thing?”

“In the God of Pain’s territory, there’s no shortage of raw materials. They don’t even need to go out of their way to kill anyone. All they need is for someone to experience extreme pain before dying.

“After all, when Followers of Pain perform their rituals, they have to make the sacrificial offerings suffer excruciating pain before killing them. The leftover scraps from the God of Pain’s rituals are perfect for making this thing.

“And the Ark Demon wasn’t made in a short time. The demons may have been building it for thousands of years.”

“Ah!”

People screamed and fled in every direction. With a casual sweep of its hand, the Ark Demon smashed a group of soldiers into a pulp.

Then the Ark Demon kicked the city wall. The wall and the guards atop it were sent flying together. The supposedly indestructible wall seemed like it was made of paper.

Many Followers of Pain and demons stood on the Ark Demon’s shoulders. They had already prepared the Severance Ritual.

The only ones who could deal with the Ark Demon were basically Angels. And as soon as an Angel appeared, they would activate the Severance Ritual.

“Looks like the Church of Pain and the Plague Church are determined to defeat the Bountiful Church in one fell swoop. Have I put that much pressure on them?”

No matter what, the Bountiful Church was still an Orthodox Church. It couldn’t possibly be defeated so easily.

Even without bringing Angels or Orthodox Gods into play, they still had a way to deal with the Ark Demon.

That was the flesh giant trees, the kind created during the Christmas ritual, like the one Loren had sacrificed to the God of Greed.

The flesh giant trees were weaker in combat than the Ark Demon, but they had numbers on their side. The only real drawback was the steep cost, since each tree represented the faith of many believers.

“Looks like it’s my turn to make an appearance.”

The flesh giant trees had terrible mobility. By the time the Bountiful Church realized what was happening, it would already have suffered heavy losses.

Now the God of Bountiful Harvest had to face two Orthodox Gods at once. They might fall because of this, and that wasn’t something Loren wanted to see.

The Ark Demon rampaged through the city, and every time it lifted a foot, it was like a natural disaster.

It casually grabbed a handful of people and tried to bring them to its mouth.

But just as it raised its hand to its mouth, the hand suddenly fell off. The Ark Demon and the Followers of Pain standing on its shoulders all looked confused.

At that moment, Loren appeared before them.

Black wings beat behind Loren as he held Requiem and hovered in the air.