Chapter 538: The Divided Battlefield

During the escape, the clothes on Ke Lai En suddenly seemed to come alive, the belt, shirt, coat and trousers all tightened one after another, wrapping him in layer upon layer like a bundle of rice dumplings, with a terrifying force as if it were a giant bear's embrace.

His forward step halted, his body lost its balance and fell uncontrollably to the ground, while several semi‑transparent ice‑crystal arrows with a sickly green hue gathered in front of him, exuding a heavy aura of death and lunging toward his chest.

Mi Ou Ji Er Xi Ai Si extended his right hand forward, a pale blue flame igniting in his palm, forming a massive cage that froze the sickly green ice‑crystal arrows in mid‑air.

As the ice‑crystal arrows shattered point by point, the pale blue flame also turned into a transparent ice sculpture, radiating a chilling cold.

Bound by his own clothing, Ke Lai En tried to rub his fingers, hoping to ignite the paper figure in the inner pocket of his garment to create a spark for a flame jump.

The hem of his clothes, seemingly sentient, twitched and tightly wrapped around his hands, rendering him unable to move.

Leaves, newspapers and other items that had been lifted into the air by the wind suddenly changed direction, swarming toward him.

Just as they were about to strike him, the leaves and newspapers defied physics, abruptly altering course and plunging en masse into the trunk of a nearby street tree.

The tree trunk, originally as thick as an adult's waist, was instantly pierced into a wasp nest.

A pale‑yellow paper figure, covered with various symbolic and magical markings, suddenly appeared, carried by a sudden gust of wind to land beside Ke Lai En.

The moment it touched the ground, the paper figure ignited on its own, bursting into a bright pale‑gold flame that traced peculiar symbols representing light and the sun.

In the next instant, a grand, pure, blazing column of light descended from the heavens, enveloping the surroundings with a majestic, sun‑filled aura.

The clothing that had tightly bound Ke Lai En suddenly loosened, and a translucent, ethereal body floated into the air a short distance from him.

He looked extremely aged, deep furrows etched across his face, sparse white hair like autumn leaves—he was the Rose Sect's saint, Jie Ke Si.

Under the blazing sun, his ethereal, flickering form showed faint signs of melting.

Not far away, the demonic‑postured Ji Er Xi Ai Si also sizzled in the scorching sunlight, dark‑green smoke constantly rising from his body.

The blazing sunlight arrived swiftly and departed just as quickly, and the Prophet's Avatar, exuding great authority and oppression, appeared at the spot where the paper figure had self‑ignited.

Tiny brass‑colored glimmers darted before him, outlining a pattern resembling a balance scale.

In a voice imbued with indescribable authority, he solemnly recited ancient Hegemis words: "This place forbids vengeful spirits and shadows!"

"This place forbids levitation!"

"This place forbids curses!"

As his words fell, the ethereal, translucent figure hovering in the air sank rapidly, its body becoming heavy and no longer able to float.

Deprived of a chance to react, the Prophet's Avatar continued to simulate the law‑spell:

"Exile!"

An invisible, overwhelming force suddenly erupted, blasting the still‑shadowed Jie Ke Si outward.

"Exile!" "Exile!"

The Prophet's Avatar repeatedly simulated the "Exile" spell several times, pushing Jie Ke Si toward the opposite side of the street where a howling, swirling gale rose.

Having done all that, he turned his head toward the Ke Lai En who had just gotten up from the ground and said, "You may call Miss Messenger over; I'm fairly confident I can kill the Rose Sect's saint."

"But you may have to face some danger alone; the Blood Pirate Crew is waiting for you outside the city, and their captain is most likely a 'Wizard King' of the 'Moon' path."

"I have to face a 'Wizard King' alone, plus her entire pirate crew. Are you sure you're not just sending me to deliver a head?" Ke Lai En's mouth twitched slightly.

He was unfamiliar with this newly emerged pirate ruler, only knowing that she was sent by the Rose Sect to take over the Blood Pirate Crew and the Blood and Flesh Tree, calling herself the Crimson Queen.

The Prophet's Avatar lightly nodded and said:

"You must trust your own strength, and Miss Messenger and I are two against one; we have plenty of energy to look after you."

Ke Lai En let out a soft sigh, produced the mouth‑organ used to summon Miss Messenger, brought it to his lips, and gave it a strong blow.

Dressed in an elaborate, ornate yet gloomy black gown, and holding an identical golden‑haired, red‑eyed head, Miss Messenger appeared here silently.

"The Rose Sect's saint present here is Jie Ke Si; does he have anything on him?"

The four heads carried by Lei Ni Te Ti Ni Ke Er simultaneously turned toward the other side of the street and, in order, spoke:

"Together." "Kill." "Him."

The Prophet's Avatar nodded knowingly, turned back to signal Ke Lai En could leave first, and said, "Of course, but Si E A could arrive at any moment; we need a chance for a one‑shot kill."

The head that hadn't spoken yet, held by Lei Ni Te Ti Ni Ke Er, spoke first:

"Can."

After aligning with Miss Messenger's opinion, the Prophet's Avatar immediately raised his hand, conjuring tiny pale‑blue lights that formed a mysterious symbol of secrecy before him, while softly chanting in ancient Hegemis: "Secrecy!"

A night sky studded with tranquil, twinkling stars suddenly appeared, enveloping both him and Miss Messenger, concealing any trace of their presence and aura.

On the other side of the street, the swirling, howling gale in the air suddenly calmed, and the gloomy, dim surroundings brightened slightly, as if dawn were near.

A golden, semi‑transparent rain began to fall from the sky, feeling holy and warm. The rain hit the Rose Sect members, instantly becoming scalding, scorching their skin with speckled black burns and puffing up plumes of black smoke.

"Hum!"

Bound by an invisible, powerful wind in mid‑air, Jie Ke Si let out a cold snort, his hoarse, low voice dripping with unmistakable malice and a cursed aura.

The surrounding wind, now an invisible binding, suddenly intensified, the temperature dropping sharply, the rain falling in mid‑air crystallizing into fine ice shards that were driven forward by the abruptly fierce gale.

The howling hurricane waned in the next moment, and within a breath or two only a gentle breeze that brushed the face remained.

Silver‑white bolts of lightning snaked through the dark clouds in the air, as if ready to strike at any moment.

At the same time, a highly authoritative spirit, brimming with intense anger, swept over the entire Baiyam in an instant, scanning even the Prophet's Avatar and Miss Messenger who were in hidden mode; they all clearly felt its gaze upon them.

A flash of silvery white appeared then vanished in the Prophet's Avatar's eyes; after a pause he said, "People of the Storm Church are using sealing items, something akin to artifacts of the Black Emperor or the Judicator path."

"Let's first stay away from Baiyam City; there's no need to clash head‑on with the Storm Church."

The four heads in Lei Ni Te Ti Ni Ke Er's hands surveyed the surroundings carefully, and one of them spoke:

"Can."

As soon as the words ended, Lei Ni Te Ti Ni Ke Er's figure bearing the four golden‑haired, red‑eyed heads retreated quickly; at the spot where she had stood, a silver spearblade pierced the hidden ground.

A tide of silvery white suddenly erupted, the surrounding "secrecy" melted oddly, and space itself warped at that moment, causing beings and objects of extraordinary power to separate irrepressibly from the real world, forming two overlapping yet non‑interfering dimensions.

Sharp silvery rays divided the surroundings into checkerboard‑like squares, as if partitioning a battlefield.

A silver‑white transparent barrier rose between the Prophet's Avatar and Lei Ni Te Ti Ni Ke Er, and as they glanced at each other, one of the heads she held suddenly opened its mouth and exhaled.

A whooshing wind sounded, a chilling gust mixed with death and cold sweeping over the silver‑white transparent barrier, striking it without eliciting any reaction before vanishing.

The prophet's clone stepped forward two paces, raised a hand and pressed it against the silvery-white transparent barrier, as if touching a solid wall of air; no matter how hard he pushed, his arm could not move forward even a centimeter.

He slightly turned his wrist, and specks of pale blue light rippled outward like waves, one circle after another, but the door that should have formed never appeared.

He lowered his arm and explained calmly:

"This wall seems like something that cannot actually exist; it cannot be connected across by 'opening a door'."

He paused, then added:

"Can you directly leave this place and return to the Spirit Realm?"

One of the heads that Renee Te Ni Ke Er was holding suddenly flew off her hand, quickly becoming illusory and transparent, then swiftly flew back, as if it had struck something.

The remaining three heads in her hand looked around in turn and spoke one after another:

"Cannot." "The Spirit Realm is" "sealed."

The prophet's clone lowered his head thoughtfully and sighed in a low voice: "Perhaps the Storm Church's sealed item, which can block the connection between the Spirit Realm and reality, also incorporates the high-level characteristics of the 'door' path."

The head of Renee Te Ni Ke Er that had not spoken just now quickly opened its mouth: "It's possible."

As soon as the words fell, the many checkerboard-like squares divided by silvery-white threads around them began to change, either constantly swapping positions or merging with each other.

She suddenly turned her body, and her four heads with eight eyes stared fixedly at the side-front and said:

"Jex" "was" "thrown over" "here."

The prophet's clone did not answer her; he had already been moved to another place along with the squares on the board.

The four heads that Renee Te Ni Ke Er was holding looked around for a while, but could not find the other's figure in the constantly shifting space.

Boom! A thick silvery-white bolt of lightning suddenly struck down; Renee Te Ni Ke Er had sensed it beforehand and moved her position a second before the lightning struck.

Where she had just stood, the ground bore a charred pit, with tiny silvery-white electric snakes wriggling around it.

The previous lightning was like a signal; the layered dark clouds in mid‑air continually flashed with lightning, emitting a rumbling roar.

Boom! Boom! Silvery-white electric snakes shot out, carrying a violent destructive aura as strong as tangible substance, striking thickly toward the surroundings, completely enveloping the checkerboard space where Renee Te Ni Ke Er and Jex were inside the Thunder Forest.

The violent and fierce attack was dense and indiscriminate, overwhelmingly destroying everything that was enveloped.

On the other side, before the prophet's clone suddenly appeared an old man with white hair wearing a black soft cap, his silver eyes unusually solemn.

He wore a black robe embroidered with storm symbols, and on his right hand he wore a black‑based glove embroidered with an eye pattern composed of many symbolic signs and magical sigils.

In the blowing of the gale, his robe continually fluttered up and down; his azure eyes flickered with silvery‑white light, lightning coiled around his body, and heavy dark clouds gathered of their own accord in the sky.

"Blasphemer of the Storm!" the old man's voice from the sky was deep and hoarse, almost a growl, and the silvery‑white electric light flickering in his eyes grew two shades more intense.

The prophet's clone quickly recognized his identity, twitched the corner of his mouth, and laughed lightly: "'God's Singer' Ai Si·Si Nei Ke, Original Beckland Diocese Archbishop of the Storm Church, were you sent to Baiyam? Are you replacing the previous Bishop Qiao Ge Li?"

(End of chapter)