Chapter 653: Assault and Traps

Under the shroud of twilight light, the viscous black fog gradually thinned, dissipating bit by bit, and the double doors forged from scarlet magma and pale blue flame kept shaking, emitting an unreal, teeth‑aching creak, as if they might collapse under the pressure at any moment.

The orange‑red twilight gleamed like a massive spear, stabbing down from the heavens and plunging into the floating crimson mass, continually highlighting the various faces within the fresh red.

On that pool of fresh red liquid, faces emitted delirious cries of pain; the sound carried an extreme evil and filthy aura, and merely hearing it could cause the extraordinary beings in this port to lose control, suffer grievous injury, become mentally chaotic, or be cursed.

Below, Snaerna's body ignited, swelling continuously until he became a giant enshrouded in blazing white and scarlet flames, his hands dragging a blood‑stained, fire‑wreathed long sword through the void.

Bathed in twilight, it leapt fiercely, its long sword slashing down, piercing the scarlet liquid from below upward; the crimson flames rose from nowhere, forming blades of various shapes that, from different angles, drove into the faces highlighted on the fresh red liquid.

The fresh red liquid instantly shattered, turning into a spray of red droplets that evaporated under the orange‑red twilight before reaching the ground.

"Ah!!"

A piercing shriek rang out of nowhere, stabbing the spirit and causing Snaerna's body to tremble briefly and stiffen, his mind suddenly blank, momentarily losing all thought.

The next second, a gigantic grotesque arm protruded from the spirit realm; its surface was black and sticky, oozing an aberrant liquid and sprouting all manner of bizarre growths, rapidly spreading an extreme sense of evil, filth, and decadence that polluted the surroundings.

Within those fresh red raindrops, scarlet objects continuously precipitated, only to be snatched by the suddenly extended arm.

Having obtained what it wanted, the arm withdrew without pause, retracting back into the spirit realm and distancing itself from here.

Regaining his senses, a faint substantive flame rose in Snaerna's eyes as he stared toward the direction the arm withdrew, gritting his teeth and saying:

"Sse'ea"

"Rose School, and that demon just now—who's scheming against us?"

After Sse'ea departed, taking with him the traits of the summoned fresh red entity, the orange‑red twilight quickly faded, and the Crimson Moon once again bathed the area.

Leike Dun withdrew his hand from Tu Ba Ge's ear, clasped his arms across his chest, and mused, "What we just saw wasn't the Cosmic Dark Side, but it did possess the divinity of the Cosmic Dark Side, along with extreme madness, like an out‑of‑control monster."

Leike Dun let out a light laugh, thinking of a possibility: the reward Anggelwide previously obtained by invoking a weakened Cosmic Dark Side must be linked to a method of evading the pollution of the Desire Mother Tree.

"In the high sequence, the best way to avoid contamination is to die once, and the Audience happens to excel at stripping away identities once held."

"The Cosmic Dark Side cleanses the Desire Mother Tree's contamination by shedding identities and shifting traits, alleviating its own condition, and those polluted traits were reclaimed by Sse'ea. No wonder the feeling it gave me earlier included not only evil madness but also decadence and filth."

"Boss, what are you talking about?" Tu Ba Ge asked Leike Dun with puzzlement, clearly understanding each word but not the whole sentence.

"I'm admiring the resolve of the Cosmic Dark Side; it must have shed many of its own traits, using this self‑destructive method to escape contamination, and now it may have fallen from the stature of a true god."

Leike Dun gave a brief explanation, regardless of whether Tu Ba Ge understood, and immediately transformed it into a torrent of information, surging into the depths of the spirit realm.

In the sky over Xi Te Long, the capital of the Northern Province, thick clouds shrouded the heavens as several airships pierced the mist, their sides bearing the triangular holy seal of the Steam Church.

These airships, forged by the Steam Church, clearly outperformed those of other nations and sects; their flight generated barely audible noise, almost drowned by the wind, weaving through the mist and hard to spot from the ground.

One by one, the airships glided lightly across the sky, tracing arcs and dropping metal‑cased missiles toward the brightest part of the city's lights.

A "radiance" composed of pure knowledge surged from the void, swiftly threading between the shells, dismantling their structures from within and rendering the projectiles inert.

On the ground, a government building emitted no outward flame, yet its interior blazed with light, making the area feel like broad daylight.

Luo Se'er stood before the floor‑to‑ceiling window, gazing at the night sky, a faint smile tugging at his lips as he laughed with excitement, "I knew the Steam Church would strike this city first; the church's senior deacons and archbishops have minds like unmaintained machines, lacking any creativity or ideas."

"Your metaphor and conclusion bear no relation," a brown‑haired, brown‑eyed figure of Ge Lan materialized beside Luo Se'er.

Luo Se'er turned his head, slightly surprised, toward Ge Lan and asked, "You could have just let those raiders go, but why did you return so quickly? Do you have acquaintances on those airships?" "Acquaintances? There is someone I know, but not really close," Ge Lan shook his head, not dwelling on the topic, and continued, "The Holy Word Angel who dispatched it, even if it remains dormant on this land, its angel can easily wield power beyond its own sequence."

"So I don't need to be involved in the aftermath; the flexibility of information organisms makes me better suited for roaming support rather than deep engagement on a battlefield."

"Just as you said before, the period while that one sleeps is their best offensive window; miss it, and even if Steam and Sun join forces, they'll only be pressed down."

"How can a 'sage' of the Morse Ascetic Society be so confident about another's deity?" Luo Se'er chuckled teasingly.

Ge Lan's gaze remained steady as he looked ahead, saying evenly, "We worship knowledge, truth, and wisdom, not a narrow, self‑centered perception colored by strong personal bias."

Luo Se'er, sensing the mood, dropped the subject, his eyes drifting lazily to the sky; the heavy clouds that had cloaked the whole city had vanished, revealing the semicircular Crimson Moon behind.

Under the red moon, a bronze‑colored gate etched with indescribable mysterious patterns appeared high in the air, shaking, creaking, and slowly opening.

Inside the gate lay endless darkness, filled with countless indescribable eyes staring outward.

A cold, fetid wind blew out from behind the gate, swiftly sweeping the sky; bright yellow runes ignited on the airships, bursting with Sun domain light that cut off the whimpering cold wind.

Suddenly, a massive, somewhat ethereal dark‑green silhouette surged from the gate, darting through the sky at breakneck speed, spiraling and encircling all the airships.

Its body was sheathed in massive, dark‑green to black scales; between the gaps sprouted rows of pure white feathers, each feather and scale bearing strange symbols of various shapes, its eye sockets alight with pallid flame, and a pair of exaggerated, hefty wings unfurled behind it.

It is a feathered serpent, a genuine feathered serpent!

Pu La Ke·Ai Ge Si, clad in a dark coat, was lifted by an invisible spiritual support, hovering at the feathered serpent's head; he bowed respectfully toward the massive creature and said:

"Much obliged, Mr. Ta Na Si."

The feathered serpent known as Ta Na Si gently swayed its massive head, its thin, detached voice reaching Pu La Ke's ears:

"In accordance with the contract left by the Death God, this will be my final gratuitous aid to you."

"Understood," Pu La Ke nodded lightly.

The colossal feathered serpent fell silent, casually beating its wings, and a gust of chilling wind immediately rose around it.

Countless undead wailed, shrieked, and glared with poisonous resentment at every living being nearby, as if the underworld were projected here.

Rot, cold, and the scent of death swiftly corroded the airships' pale‑golden glow; their surfaces became visibly mottled and decayed, as if being dragged in a frantic sprint along a road of death.

"Wuwu." An indistinct, indescribable "speech of the dead" emanated from the feathered serpent's throat.

The sound pierced the pale‑golden aura on the airships, bypassed the bodies of the extraordinary occupants, and launched an assault on their spirits.

Inside the airships, everyone's bodies aged visibly, turning decayed; eyes grew clouded, hair turned gray, age spots appeared on skin, and a rotting odor emanated from their bodies.

In the foremost airship, a series of warm radiance suddenly burst outward, enveloping all the airships suspended in the sky, purifying the surrounding death domain and causing them to dissipate swiftly.

Deep in the sky, blazing white fire erupted, darting through the clouds like a meteor, a long spear—heavy, sharp, unstoppable—hurtling toward the eye socket of the massive feathered serpent.

At the same time, a translucent soul materialized beside Pu La Ke.

His attire resembled that of a turn‑of‑the‑century court count, with upward‑curving, exaggerated‑arc shoes, a gold‑threaded coat puffed at the shoulders and thighs, and trousers tucked into white socks.

(End of Chapter)