Chapter 379: The Goddess Is Not Real!

But this time, instead of just a little bit of greying hair here and there on his blonde head, his hair was a complete, stark white. Deep, heavy wrinkles covered every single inch of his face. He didn’t look like a man in his early forties anymore. He looked like a frail, sixty or seventy-year-old man.

Adrian looked down at the severed limbs still lying on the ground, and muttered, "So you used your lifespan again."

Gabriel did not respond. He just stared at Adrian with dead, lifeless eyes.

He stared at Adrian for exactly two seconds before he finally spoke.

"I will kill you for the heavens."

Adrian let out an exasperated sigh and ran a hand down his face.

"How do you even die?" Adrian complained loudly. "Your heart was completely fucked up with two holes. Your lungs had four holes punched through them. Should I just chop your head off to kill you? Will that do it?"

Gabriel just slowly shook his head.

"The only way to kill me is to make sure that not even a single piece of this body remains," Gabriel rasped. "But of course, you cannot do that, can you? Your strongest weapon... your little light spell, is merely the thickness of a finger. You do not have enough destructive output to bring me to that state before I heal."

Adrian nodded slowly.

"Well, you just made a really big mistake then," Adrian said softly.

To Gabriel’s absolute surprise, Adrian suddenly dashed forward and grabbed the Apostle directly by the neck.

Gabriel just stared into Adrian’s eyes in pure, unadulterated horror.

"How?" Gabriel stammered, his old voice cracking.

Adrian’s speed had increased drastically. His movement was a complete blur, and his crushing grip on Gabriel’s throat was exponentially stronger than it was just a few minute ago. Gabriel literally did not know how or why this human had suddenly become so strong.

Adrian had completely forgotten about his skills too.

Specifically, he had forgotten about the very first skills the system had given him when he first arrived in Oresfall.

[Status Buff: Daddy’s Strength]

[Effect: Whenever Aria is within a 100-meter radius of the Host, all of the Host’s physical capabilities receive a 1000% boost.]

He had genuinely forgotten all about it and never even factored it into his battle plans because he just always wanted his daughter to be as far away from danger as possible. Since he was usually fighting in dangeour fights and didn’t want his daughter all that danger, he made sure she was never near him during combat. Because he hadn’t experienced a buff like this for almost two years straight, it had completely slipped his mind.

But now, as he faced off against Gabriel with Aria standing just a few feet away, the system’s notifications were rapidly popping up in front of his face, reminding him that he did, in fact, have an insanely broken skill sitting right there in his arsenal.

Adrian chuckled wryly.

He pulled his fist back and punched Gabriel directly in the face, completely shattering not just the Apostle’s nose, but both of his cheekbones in a single blow.

He let go of Gabriel’s throat. As the Apostle fell backward toward the ground, Adrian stepped to the side and activated his other forgotten skill.

He delivered five successive, humiliating spanks to Gabriel’s backside.

Gabriel instantly felt almost all of his buffs; all of the boosted growth and power he had just gained from sacrificing his vessel’s lifespan completely disappear into thin air.

He fell foward onto the ground on his knees and looked up at Adrian with nothing but absolute, primal fear in his eyes.

Before Gabriel could even try to run or defend himself, he felt a violent tug on his hands and legs. It was almost like something invisible had tied him up.

Adrian’s telekinetic mana strings tightly looped around Gabriel’s ankles, binding them together. More strings wrapped around the Apostle’s wrists, tying them behind his back.

With a flick of his wrist, Adrian made the bound Apostle float high up into the sky for everyone to see.

Adrian enhanced his vocal cords using mana and spoke.

"Soldiers of Avarice! Heed my call!" Adrian’s voice boomed across the entire battlefield. "Your Goddess’s so-called Apostle has fallen to the Goddess of Prosperity! The Goddess of Prosperity’s words stay true, and I, her Blessed One, am here to bestow judgment and deliver the divine truth!"

Adrian paused and closed his eyes.

He listened as the chaotic sounds of war; the clashing of swords, the breaking of shields, and everything else slowly died down. Thousands of men across the battlefield stopped fighting, lowering their weapons just to listen to the voice.

Adrian opened his eyes and spoke again.

"The Goddess of Iron and Steel is not real!" Adrian declared. "She is nothing but a false idol created by the leader of a cult! And this man dangling in the sky is nothing but a twisted mage trying to be an impostor!"

Adrian pointed up at Gabriel.

"The healing blessings that you all just received were nothing but a mere spell! A spell that is entirely demonic in nature! A dark spell that uses human sacrifices to heal you! This cult leader had to brutally slaughter thousands of innocent people, harvest their souls, and steal their life energy just to give it to you! Do you know what that means?"

Adrian paused again, letting the dreadful information settle deep into everyone’s hearts and minds before he continued.

"It means that you now have the blood of thousands of innocent people on your hands! Your souls have been completely tainted by dark magic!"

Gabriel desperately tried to speak, but his mouth simply did not open. Adrian’s mana strings were keeping his jaw clamped firmly shut. Every single word that Adrian had just said to the people was an utter lie, but Gabriel couldn’t do a thing to stop it.

Adrian continued nonchalantly, not caring about Gabriel at all.