Chapter 714: Dead Duel and Badge

Yet at this moment, Emma could no longer hear what Li Ang was saying.

The Goddess of Wealth, feigning outrage at Li Ang's insult, had secretly reclaimed part of her power—and now held absolute dominance in this struggle over the thrusting sword.

As the blade of the thrusting sword was steadily pulled out, the stable balance atop the 【Scale of Contentment】 began to tremble violently, and even half of the heart within the left tray had vanished.

"Aoooooh…"

Watching the grotesque heart conjured by the 【Scale of Contentment】 shrink and finally vanish entirely under the Goddess of Wealth's resistance, the massive black-green crocodile beneath them could not help but wear a distinctly human expression of disappointment.

"Wait."

Just as the Crocodile God prepared to leave after a fruitless trip, the skulls piled at the valley's bottom all smiled faintly, then spoke in a gentle tone:

"Don't go yet—don't you want something to eat?"

Not fully understanding the Goddess of Wealth's words, the colossal crocodile cautiously stepped back half a pace, then tilted its head slightly, using its gaze to convey its confusion.

"What I mean is… you've come all this way!"

No sooner had the Goddess of Wealth finished speaking than a soft *plop* echoed—the last remaining tip of the sword was pulled from her own heart.

Immediately, blood reversed, flesh sealed, clothing restored—as if time itself had reversed—the wound the thrusting sword had carved into her chest vanished completely.

"It's my turn to judge you now, isn't it?"

After smiling at Emma, who clenched her lips and unleashed the 【Poem of Pain】 to hold her back, the Goddess of Wealth, eyes blazing with fury, snatched the thrusting sword and drove it straight through Emma's chest—not only piercing the parchment scroll of the 【Poem of Pain】, but also burying the blade deep into her heart, the sharp tip bursting out her back!

"Ugh…"

Emma gasped as her heart was pierced, then felt her strength draining wildly with her blood; realizing she had little time left, she gritted her teeth against the agony and lunged forward, throwing her arms around the Goddess of Wealth in a tight embrace.

Simultaneously, a dark walnut-colored iron coffin, bound tightly with chains, silently rose behind Emma, and from nothingness, a dark, dilapidated church rose on the blood-drenched bottom of the Jade Valley.

The crimson pillars, their paint flaking in large chunks, barely held up the towering, crumbling arches; the ancient stained-glass windows, made of shattered glass, were coated in thick dust, fracturing and dimming the daylight that filtered through the church's sides.

The candlesticks upon the central altar, meant to glow with divine radiance, burned with pale, ghostly blue flames; one by one, gray-robed worshippers lifted their bloodless, withered faces, their hollow eye sockets sunken deep into bone, staring fixedly at the two women locked in a tight embrace at the center of the candles.

"Damn it! Are you insane?"

Seeing the coffin behind Emma—its lid mirror-smooth, eerily reflecting her own headless corpse—the Goddess of Wealth, whose head had somehow regrown, shuddered violently. She abandoned all thought of making Emma suffer the same heart-measuring fate and instead unleashed all her strength, thrashing wildly to break free.

The Goddess of Wealth, well-versed in the occult, recognized the iron coffin at once—it was the 【Coffin of the Dead】, a passage to the Realm of the Dead!

If she dragged her into it, this damned cleaner would surely be captured by the Realm of the Dead and never return—but neither would she, a flesh-and-blood true god, escape. Worse, her own overwhelming vitality might cause the rulers of the dead to devour her alongside Emma!

"Let go! Let go now!"

Watching the 【Coffin of the Dead】, its chains now severed, slowly open, the Goddess of Wealth dropped her slender sword and grabbed Emma's shoulders, shoving with all her might, cracking Emma's shoulder bones with each push, arching her knee upward to slam it brutally into Emma's abdomen, desperate to force her away.

Emma groaned in pain, her left arm, now petrified jade, trembling violently, cracks spreading across its surface—but she clung to the Goddess of Wealth with stubborn determination, pulling with all her strength toward the 【Coffin of the Dead】.

Damned madwoman! Damned Cleanup Bureau! I shouldn't have come today! Terrified by Emma's resolve to die, the Goddess of Wealth watched the iron coffin's lid swing fully open, glimpsing the bowed corpses marching along the Path of the Dead—and knowing she had no time left, she gritted her teeth, pulled out a toad-shaped pendant, and swallowed it whole.

Then, in her hand appeared a glass vial containing a small black snake, which she crushed in one grip.

…

"My goddess! No! No! I'm useful! I still have value!"

Sensing what was coming, the wounded serpent spirit widened its eyes in terror and screamed in desperate plea.

Hearing the serpent's cries, the Goddess of Wealth's cheek twitched slightly—but seeing the Path of the Dead drawing nearer, she ignored its pleas, tilted her head back, and swallowed it whole.

As my sacred spirit, to offer all you are is your sacred duty!

After swallowing both the toad pendant and the black snake, scales sprouted rapidly across the Goddess of Wealth's face and arms, and bumpy growths like a toad's back emerged on her exposed back.

"Let go!"

With a roar of furious rage, the Goddess of Wealth's strength surged—and with sheer grip, she crushed Emma's shoulder blades, causing the arms locked around her to go limp.

Instantly, the 【Coffin of the Dead】, now half-open and without a target, vanished; the ruined church and the kneeling dead around them disappeared too, and the two women were back once more at the bottom of the Jade Valley.

Having paid an enormous price to escape the Realm of the Dead, the Goddess of Wealth's first act upon regaining freedom was to kick Emma to the ground, then bend down with murderous intent to pull the slender sword from Emma's chest.

But at that moment, a furious roar erupted behind her.

"Stop!"

Oh right—you're still here.

Watching Li Ang stagger toward her, face flushed and steps unsteady, the Goddess of Wealth's elongated serpent eyes filled with deep malice.

You were willing to drag me into the Realm of the Dead just to save him, weren't you?

Glancing at Emma's suddenly alarmed expression, the Goddess of Wealth smirked faintly, then beckoned Li Ang with a finger, her face gleeful as she declared:

"In the name of the Serpent Spirit of the Scale of Gold, I purchase your youth and years, your marrow and flesh—I claim your… Huh?"

After snapping her fingers twice, she realized all her power had fallen empty—she could not seize the drunken Li Ang before her, and even the coin of trade vanished the moment it appeared. The Goddess of Wealth froze in shock, instinctively trying to retreat.

But in that moment of hesitation, the man who had drunk deeply of the 【Immortal's Wine】 had already reached her side.

At the perfect distance to strike, Li Ang, seeing double, instinctively applied the Kingdom Police Combat Technique he had practiced for two days, blocking the Goddess of Wealth's outstretched arm.

Then, in one fluid motion—he flipped his wrist, seized her shoulder, drove his head into her face, hooked her leg—and shattered her balance, sending her toppling backward. Following the move a female officer had taught him, he squinted through his blurred, drunken vision and kicked hard into the exposed abdomen and chest of the falling Goddess.

"Aaaaaaah!!!!!!"

"Sssss…"

As the Goddess of Wealth screamed and the familiar hum echoed, a mechanical voice suddenly sounded in Li Ang's ears.

【You launched a grossly unsportsmanlike assault on a key area of a female true god—you have successfully activated the hidden Golden Badge: "Too Bad, No"】

?!!

(End of Chapter)