Chapter 2420

The resentful orphan stared at Su Xiao for a few seconds, then looked away and hurried toward the corridor inside the church.

Qi Si raised his hand to block the resentful orphan, then approached the blacksmith and placed one hand on his old friend's shoulder.

The blacksmith's hammer-holding hand trembled slightly as he restrained himself from attacking the familiar aura ahead; as for who it was, he could no longer tell.

"You've worked hard—rest a while, old friend. When you wake up, everything will be over."

Black light flickered on Qi Si's hand; the blacksmith's cloudy eyes dimmed, his iron hammer clanged to the ground, and he collapsed. Though strong, he used his last consciousness to suppress his body, refusing to fight the familiar aura.

Qi Si easily neutralized the threat from the blacksmith, while Baham dragged the blacksmith out of the church, threw him through the main doors, and Am pushed the metal doors shut from within.

With a click, the church doors locked, ice spread across them, forming a half-meter-thick layer—no one could enter or leave.

In the corridor, Qi Si led the way, the resentful orphan followed behind, and Su Xiao brought up the rear.

At the end of the corridor stood another crystal wall, beautifully named a "trial," but in truth, it was merely a means for the archbishop to kill the resentful orphan.

The archbishop's goal was simple: everything before was merely groundwork. The saintess ensured the "trial-taker" would not die from severe injury; after the trial-taker killed Qi Si, they would obtain the Ash Furnace, which the blacksmith would use to forge weapons, further strengthening the trial-taker.

The ultimate purpose was to enable the "trial-taker" to kill the resentful orphan, whose existence likely interfered with the archbishop's attempt to seize or fully monopolize the ancient god's power, rather than sharing it within the Misfortune Town branch.

Qi Si placed his hand on the crystal wall, which was pale red; upon contact, the wall showed no change.

"Resentful one, use your blood."

"Roar."

"..."

Su Xiao said nothing; though the resentful orphan appeared mad, it would still comply with certain demands.

As expected, when the resentful orphan grew agitated, it scratched its palm with its claws, flung blood onto the crystal wall—but nothing happened.

"Try pulling out its heart for experimentation."

"Roar!"

This time, the resentful orphan flew into a rage—clearly, this had touched its bottom line.

"Step back."

Qi Si raised his hand, signaling Su Xiao and the resentful orphan to retreat. After stepping back over ten meters, he lunged forward and vanished from his original position.

Thud!

Qi Si kicked the crystal wall straight on; his motion froze, and after a few seconds, he slowly lowered his foot, calmly saying:

"This thing is extremely hard. At twenty, I could have shattered it with one kick."

Though Qi Si faced away from Su Xiao and the resentful orphan, his voice remained calm, yet his face beneath the mask twisted—had it not been for pride, he would have already shouted, "Damn it, this hurts like hell!"

"Cough—don't just stand there. If slashing with sharp tools doesn't work, try ramming with your body."

"..."

"..."

Su Xiao and the resentful orphan had no intention of ramming; Qi Si's obvious frustration was clearly an attempt to drag more people into the mess.

Su Xiao approached the crystal wall and took out an Apollo. The situation differed from opening the first crystal wall—no need to worry about what lay inside.

As Su Xiao prepared to affix the Apollo to the wall, cracks spread across it with a crackle, and the crystal wall shattered.

The scene revealed a vast chamber spanning thousands of square meters, its four walls covered in murals depicting the changes of Misfortune Town.

Taken as a narrative, the murals portrayed the archbishop in radiant glory, alongside the saintess, the blacksmith, Qi Si, and the immortal ones, all basking in his light.

The resentful orphan also appeared, depicted as utterly wicked and devouring everything, with a subsidiary image showing it lunging with bared fangs into a septic tank, labeled: "The All-Consuming Evil Spirit."

Seeing the mural, the resentful orphan's body sparked with fire—yes, it would consume many things, but never feces; this was slander.

With both parties present, the mural's content seemed both ridiculous and absurd.

At the center of the spacious chamber stood a circular altar dozens of meters in diameter, raised half a meter above the ground, surrounded by a ring of steps.

At the altar's exact center sat an elderly figure in gold-red robes, his hair and beard white, his skin bearing a healthy complexion. Compared to him, the others in the Redemption Church appeared wretched—only the archbishop remained "normal." He had turned the once-strong into the weak, the once-loyal into the suspicious, the once-sincere into liars, and the once-immortal into monsters.

"Outsider, what role do you wish to play in the mural? The savior hero, or the treacherous abandoner?"

The archbishop spoke in a flat tone, unangered by the exposure of his plan, nor did he ask how it had been uncovered. Long years had made him calm, aloof, surveying all like a deity above, gazing down upon earthly beings.

"He hopes to become your long-lost biological father."

Qi Si's venomous tongue was clearly no less than Baham's.

"Qi Si Erman, you deserve praise—after all, you deceived me, who am an ancient god."

"Pfft~"

Baham's laughter caused the archbishop to slowly shift his gaze.

"You lack even the tentacles and exoskeleton standard for an ancient god—what breed are you? A mongrel?"

"A mongrel—quite the fitting title."

Qi Si and Baham played off each other; if verbal sparring could decide life and death, the archbishop should already have died six or seven times.

The immediate problem: no one dared charge forward to fight the archbishop. If only Su Xiao's team were present, Su Xiao would have attacked long ago—but with Qi Si and the resentful orphan still present, whoever moved first would surely be the first to suffer misfortune.

The Apostle's Eye floated beside Su Xiao, beginning to scan the archbishop's data.

【Comparing intelligence attributes……Comparison complete. Our intelligence attribute is??? times the enemy's. Detection failed.】

【Due to divine judgment suppressing part of the divine (ancient) energy, enemy data at 65% successfully detected.】

Name: Archbishop·Yaboya·Sagukleo

Category: Human/Ancient God

Health: 100%

Divine Energy (Ancient): 63600/63600 points

Strength: 172 (True Attribute)

Agility: 162 (True Attribute)

Stamina:???

Intelligence:???

Charm: 1

Skill 1, High-Ranking Divine Spirit (Passive, lv. 75): HP +95000, immune to all control effects, fire, light, and dark damage reduction 62%.

Skill 2, Dark Repentance (Active, lv. 73): The Archbishop can form a dark domain, suppressing all enemies within 150 meters, dealing 4300 corrosion damage per second + 530 true damage, and receiving movement restraint.

Note: The dark domain will persist, and can only be dispelled by willpower, stamina, and intelligence effects.

Skill 3, Light Sin (Active, lv. 72): The Archbishop can form a Light Source Spirit; under its shroud, the Archbishop recovers 1052 HP per second and suppresses all healing abilities within 150 meters.

Note: The Light Source Spirit will persist, is an energy lifeform, can be destroyed, and has 41000 HP.

Note: Every 2 minutes, the Light Source Spirit performs a Light Baptism, dealing 10 light attribute damage to all hit units and temporarily reducing enemies' maximum HP by 15%, lasting half an hour.

Skill 4, World Seed Transplantation (Passive, lv. 65): The Archbishop has transplanted a pure World Seed within his body.

Note: HP +42500, physical defense increased by 172, blunt damage reduced by 13%, slash damage reduced by 20%.

Skill 5, Death's Gift (Active lv. 65): The Archbishop targets an enemy unit, immediately dealing true damage equal to 20% of its HP (if the enemy's HP is below 23%, it triggers an execution effect, causing instant death.)

Note: This ability can be used by the Archbishop once every 4 natural days.

Note: If the execution fails, the Archbishop immediately recovers 90% of the damage dealt as HP.

Skill 6, Divine Skin Book (Active, lv. 71):???

Skill 7, Ancient God Combat Technique (Basic Ranged Skill Class Ability, lv. 45):???

???

Skill 12, Uncrowned Divine Spirit (Passive lv. 61):???

Skill 13, Light/Dark·Fire Birth (Ultimate Ability):???

……

Seeing this data, Su Xiao affirmed his previous adventure attempts; without deceiving Qisi and the Resentful Orphan, there was no chance of victory.

The Archbishop's dark ability is area suppression, with explosive damage intensity; his light ability heals himself, and most troublingly, he is an energy lifeform.

The Light Source Spirit not only has high HP but also restricts nearby healing effects; its attack power is very weak—10 points of light attribute damage—but after enduring its attack, the target's maximum HP is temporarily reduced by 15%, dropping from 100% to 85%, lasting half an hour, which is very troublesome.

Other abilities need not be mentioned—execution and ranged combat techniques are present; the Archbishop shows no awareness of being a fragile ranged fighter, and his survivability far exceeds that of melee fighters of equal strength.

Su Xiao felt the Archbishop absolutely surpasses ancient gods of the same tier; this guy not only possesses ancient god power but has also transplanted a World Seed within his body.

"This is too damn meaty. I fuck!"

Bahha began keeping distance from the Archbishop, but the altar is only so big—he can't retreat far.

The Archbishop rose from the divine seat on the altar; the stone chair representing the divine seat slowly sank into the ground.

The Archbishop, holding his scepter, surveyed the few people, finally fixing his gaze on Qisi, who immediately sensed something was wrong.

"Kneel down."

As the Archbishop's words fell, a dark force field appeared around Qisi; with a boom, Qisi was forced to kneel on one knee.

Seeing this, Bahha's breath caught—Qisi had been the first to curse the Archbishop, and he was the second.

As Qisi was just suppressed, the Archbishop's gaze turned to Bahha—this old guy, unexpectedly holding a grudge.

Su Xiao had already made Am lock the church doors; today, either he walks out sideways, or he puts the Archbishop down—there are no other options.

ps: (Today two more chapters, this world is about to end, organizing my thoughts.)