Chapter 139: For Whom the Bell Tolls

  "Ugh—!"

  Feeling the overwhelming pressure desding from the sky, Alex staggered. It was as if an invisible giant hand had struck him down, smming into his body with immense force. Despite this, Alex gritted his teeth and tinued his motion, driving the Void Bde toward ie’s chest!

  "Stop this insolence!!"

  Just as Alex's bde was about to pierce ie's chest, a thunderous shout erupted. At the same time, Alex felt as though something had struck him, f him backward. He let out a grunt as he crashed heavily to the ground. Wheood up again, a man stood before ie, his face dark with ahe man’s haed on the hilt of his sword, and his cold eyes locked onto Alex.

  "In broad daylight, you dare attempt murder?"

  "Isn’t it strange? As a padin, upright and righteous, why shouldn’t I kill someone in broad daylight? It’s not like it’s something to be ashamed of!"

  Alex spat the words through gritted teeth, gring at the man with a murderous iy.

  "F-Father…"

  Seeing the middle-aged man appear, ie finally snapped out of her daze. Moments ago, she had genuinely believed she was about to die at the hands of this deranged cultist. But now, with her father by her side, she felt a renewed sense of security and quickly stood up.

  "He… he’s a cultist…"

  "…"

  The man, Brand, remained silent for a moment before turning his gaze toward Alex.

  "Do you have any expnation for this?"

  "Expnation?"

  Alex s Brand’s question.

  "I suspect ie is the cultist. There’s your expnation!"

  "Enough!"

  Brand roared, his voice eg across the courtyard. He gripped the hilt of his sword, his gaze fixed coldly on Alex.

  "Guards, seize him! I’ll interrogate him myself!"

  "Lord Brand!"

  "You want to capture me?"

  Alex let out a cold chuckle at Brand’s and.

  "Ridiculous. That woman attacked first, and you want to arrest me? Birds of a feather, aren’t you? Looks like your whole family is rotten to the core."

  "Alex!"

  Hearing this, the crowd turned pale, and Grand Padin Stone hurriedly stepped forward to intervene.

  "Keep quiet! That’s Lord Brand, the Padin ander!"

  "Oh, he’s the Padin ander? I thought he was the Creatod or something. Does he think he’s divine, deg whatever he pleases?"

  Alex’s lips curled into a menag grin as he slowly drew his sword.

  "I don’t care if she’s your daughter or your favorite disciple. Today, I’m killing this woman. No one stop me—not even the Padin ander."

  At this point, Alex’s fury had reached its peak. This deranged woman had tched onto him like a rabid dog. Attag him was ohing, but to harm Ikaros? He didn’t kly what the meant to Ikaros, but her heartbreak had stoked an untrolble rage within him.

  Kill her. That’s all that matters.

  Alex had no patience for politics, expnations, or diplomaymore. Strength was the only nguage that mattered.

  More importantly, killing her would make him feel better.

  This man is insane!

  The crowd was dumbstruck. Even Stone and Archbishop Karl exged bewildered ghey had never seen Alex like this—utterly ed by bloodlust, willing to fight anyone, even family. Though no one fully uood what had just happened, Alex’s i was clear—this would not end until one of them was dead.

  "Such arrogance!"

  Brand’s expression darkened. He had already been displeased with Alex, and now this. His earlier dispy of divine pressure had been inteo make Alex back down. But not only had Alex refused, he was now brazenly defying Brand himself. This was unfivable.

  "Prepare to meet your end!"

  Brand roared, drawing a radiant longsword from his waist. The bde, golden and emanating divine energy, was her than the legendary Bde of Justice, a sacred sword said to have fallen from heaven to hell itself.

  Whoosh!

  As Brand uhed the holy bde, a beam of light desded from the heavens, smming into Alex and pinning him to the ground. Alex gripped the Void Bde tightly with both hands, his gre fixed on Brand. His clothes began to tear and burn as the oppressive force, mingled with fmes, engulfed him entirely.

  "This is the Fme of Justice… all evil will reveal its true form before it!"

  Raising the Bde of Justibsp;in his hand, Brand stared at Alex's figure with a stern gaze."Even if it’s a cultist or a padin… justice will treat them the same!"

  “Heh…”

  trary to Brand’s expectations, Alex showed no fear, even as he was engulfed in the fmes of justice. Instead, he raised his head, his cold eyes log onto the older man.

  "Your justice ’t stop me… because… no one stop death!"

  Ding.

  As Alex’s words fell, a glowing soul stone suddenly materialized in front of him. Around it, several enha stones shattered intments. At the same time, a system notification fshed before Alex’s eyes:

  [Masai’el has entered breakthrough awakening. Enha +3 pleted.]

  “Something’s wrong!”

  Brand instantly felt a shift imosphere. From the young man before him came an overwhelming, almost suffog power. His expression ged abruptly. Without hesitation, Brand raised his sword, and the pure white fmes of justice ignited once more, enveloping the entire bde.

  With a roar, Brand swung his sword, sending a massive dragon of pure white fmes r toward Alex. The bzing dragon, with its maw wide open, surged forward like a tidal wave of wrath. Before its immense size and power, Alex appeared as insignifit as a mouse. Orike would reduce him to ashes…

  But in the instant, a wild gale erupted.

  A cold and indifferent mist densed into a fierd frigid storm that collided head-on with the fiery dragon. Uhe chilling gusts, the once-mighty fme dragon began to weaken. Its bzing body flickered and diminished, shrinking rapidly. With a final, eg wail, the dragon of fmes was torn apart, dissipating intments within the icy tempest.

  What kind of power is this?

  The onlookers were stuhis had been the Padin ander Brand’s full-force strike, yet it was not only blocked—it appeared ughably iive.

  Even more bewildering was the nature of this power…

  "What is this power?"

  Archbishop Karl furrowed his brow, his eyes fixed on Alex. As a vampire, he could sehe pure, icy death energy within the cold winds. Yet this wasn’t the same as the death magic used by neancers—it was something far more refined, more… absolute.

  The dust settled.

  "Hmm?"

  Brand’s eyes narrowed. The young man before him had ged. His tattered, scorched clothing was gone, repced by a sleek bd-silver robe. Alex stood there silently, his icy gaze pierg through Brand. But what shocked Brand even more was the t figure that hovered behind Alex.

  The figure was pitch-bck robes and armor, holding two scythes in its hands. Beh its hood, no face could be seen—only an endless void of darkness.

  "So, you’ve truly sold your soul to evil and darkness?"

  Brand, too, sehe pure aura of death radiating from Alex. His expression grew heavier. To him, the truth was clear: Alex had turo a dark and malevolent power. No doubt ie had uncovered this, which was why Alex had tried to kill her.

  "Alex, you…"

  Brand’s words stirred the crowd. Padins cast hostile gres at Alex, and even Stone furrowed his brow, staring at his former ally in fusioruggled to recile Alex’s as with the man he knew. Alex wasn’t the kind to betray light and order, yet the deathly aura surrounding him and the ominous figure at his back were undeniable.

  Could he truly have…?

  While the ulled over their doubts, Alex’s lips curled into a cold smile.

  "Evil and darkness? For a Padin ander, you sure don’t uand the essence of order ht. How you reached your position is beyond me. But never mind—I’m not in the mood for a lecture. As the saying goes, seeing is believing. Let me show you just how foolish your assumptions are!"

  "Enough nonsense!"

  Brand was doh words. To him, Alex had undoubtedly struck a pact with some dark entity, likely to destroy the cathedral itself. Such a dangerous individual could not be allowed to live.

  Brand tightened his grip on the Bde of Justice.

  "rades, evil stands before us. We ot stand idly by! Let us join forces to vanquish this darkness! By the light, we shall not falter!"

  "Yes, Padin ander!"

  At Brand’s and, several padins stepped forward from the crowd, raising their swords toward Alex. Meanwhile, the bishops lifted their staffs high, their voices eg sacred prayers.

  And then, suddenly—

  g—

  A bell rang.

  The deep and resounding toll of the bell reverberated through the air, sileng the crowd and halting all movement.

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