Chapter 84: Stop
Xingluo moved before Qin Haoran finished speaking, crossing the prayer hall with her sword already aimed at his throat.
Miao Tianhe attacked from the opposite side, while Han Zhen rushed up the altar steps and drove his weapon toward Qin’s chest. The remaining participants spread across the hall at the same moment, sealing the paths between the crystal coffins and releasing their attacks before he could retreat toward the throne.
Qin raised one arm and caught Xingluo’s sword against the guard covering his forearm, Miao’s blade struck his side while Han Zhen’s attack landed directly against the centre of his chest.
A heavy metallic sound passed through the cathedral, but Qin Haoran was pushed back only half a step and none of the attacks broke through his defence.
The ceremonial robe covering him tore open beneath the impact and revealed pale-gold armour beneath it. Engraved plates covered his chest, arms, waist, and legs, while thin white markings connected every piece into a complete set.
Several attacks from the surrounding participants reached him immediately afterward. Blades, arrows, and condensed mana struck from different directions, covering the altar steps in smoke and broken stone.
Xingluo pulled away before the attacks landed and moved toward Ruan Mei, but Qin stepped out of the smoke before she could reach her.
There was no visible wound across his body, and even the armour had only gained a few shallow marks where Han Zhen and Miao Tianhe had struck it.
Wuxia’s Soul Perception passed over Qin, but the concealment surrounding him resisted the first attempt. He forced his perception deeper, following the mana moving through the connected plates until the information beneath it became clear.
At nearly the same moment, Han Zhen’s eyes narrowed and a faint light passed through Miao Tianhe’s pupils. Both had activated stronger detection abilities after seeing the armour withstand the combined attack.
Han Zhen took one step backwards.
"Level 150."
The words stopped several of the participants preparing another attack.
Miao Tianhe’s expression darkened as he examined the armour again. "A complete Epic-grade set."
The remaining participants looked between them, unable to determine whether they had heard correctly.
Someone near the entrance muttered, "That is impossible."
Xingluo received Wuxia’s confirmation through their connection before she could ask.
They are right. He is Level 150, and every piece of that set is a damn Epic grade.
During the military competition, all of them had been suppressed to Level 70. Qin had never revealed his real level, and no one had possessed a reason to believe that he had already reached the maximum limit allowed inside the legacy realm.
Miao Tianhe tightened his grip around his sword. "How long have you been hiding this?"
Qin glanced down at the armour exposed beneath his robe. "Long enough."
Han Zhen raised his weapon again. "It does not matter. He is alone."
The order broke the hesitation spreading through the group.
Several participants rushed from the sides while those farther back released another wave of ranged attacks. Xingluo left two people beside Ruan Mei and joined Han Zhen and Miao Tianhe at the front.
Qin stepped down from the altar as the participants closed around him.
The first attacker reached him from the right and swung toward his neck, but Qin caught the blade in one armored hand before it touched him. He pulled the participant forward and punched him in the stomach, folding his body around the gauntlet before letting him collapse at his feet.
Han Zhen entered before Qin could move again striking the side of his knee while Miao Tianhe cut toward the joint beneath his arm. Both attacks landed together, but the pale-gold plates remained intact beneath their weapons.
Qin turned with the impact and drove his elbow into Han Zhen’s chest. Miao avoided the following punch and cut the same joint twice more, forcing Qin to raise his arm as Xingluo approached from behind.
Her sword thrust toward the narrow gap beside his neck, but Haoran lowered his head and caught the blade between his collar and shoulder guard before Wuxia’s shadows rose from the blood-covered floor and wrapped around his arms.
Two held his upper body while the others condensed across his legs and pulled him away from the altar.
The surrounding participants attacked with them and a hammer struck Qin between the shoulders, two swords cut toward his sides and several condensed chains tightened around his waist.
Mana attacks crossed the prayer hall from behind the crystal coffins and struck wherever the others left an opening.
Qin Haoran remained upright beneath their combined weight as the markings across his armour brightened and pale-gold force burst from his body. Wuxia scattered the shadows before the power reached their cores, but the participants around Qin were thrown through the prayer hall.
Several struck the crystal coffins while others rolled across the blood-covered floor. Xingluo crossed her arms before herself and was driven backwards until a shadow condensed behind her and stopped her from crashing into the altar wall.
Miao Tianhe struck the floor, rolled with the impact, and rushed forward again before Qin could leave the centre of the hall.
His sword hit Haoran’s chest and returned to the same point from a different angle. Han Zhen followed with a heavy downward strike, forcing Haoran several inches into the cracked stone beneath his feet.
The others recovered around them and those nearest Haoran attacked from the front and sides, while the participants farther back positioned themselves between the crystal coffins and waited for his attention to shift.
Every time Haoran raised an arm to block Han Zhen or Miao Tianhe, another weapon struck the joint beneath it.
Xingluo cut toward his neck again, and Qin Haoran blocked her sword with his gauntlet and turned it toward Miao, but one of Wuxia’s shadows caught his elbow before the redirected blade reached him.
Han Zhen stepped inside the opening and struck Qin across the side of the head and the impact forced his face aside, blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Tianhe followed immediately, cutting toward his eyes as Xingluo drove her knee into his stomach. Haoran avoided the sword but the combined force pushed him back toward the lower altar steps.
A participant behind him struck the back of his knee with a hammer and another pulled a chain around his shoulder, while two more pressed their weapons against his sides and prevented him from turning.
The group continued forcing him away from the throne. Qin looked at the blood across his fingers and gave a quiet laugh. "You finally managed to hurt me."
The mana surrounding him changed before anyone answered and golden force erupted through the prayer hall.
The nearest participants were thrown from the altar, while those farther away were driven behind the crystal coffins. Chains snapped around Qin’s body, loose weapons struck the floor, and several cracks spread across the stone beneath him.
Something pushed against the armour covering his back, the plate around his right shoulder bent outward as a long white structure tore through it. Bone extended from beneath his skin, followed by pale flesh and golden material that closed around the growing frame.
A massive wing unfolded behind him and white feathers covered its upper surface while the underside was formed from overlapping golden plates with dark veins running between them.
Its full length crossed the altar and shattered the edges of two crystal coffins as it opened.
Qin looked across the scattered participants without showing any pain from the transformation.
Miao Tianhe rose with one hand pressed against his chest. "What did the Church turn you into?"
Qin moved the wing, and the air compressed in front of it and swept across the prayer hall. Han Zhen planted his weapon into the floor, while Xingluo lowered herself behind her sword and allowed two shadows to support her from behind.
Several participants were lifted from their feet and thrown toward the entrance, but Qin Haoran reached them before they landed.
He appeared beside the nearest participant with one beat of the wing and punched through the guard raised in front of his chest. The man folded around the strike and crashed against a crystal coffin, where he remained without moving.
Two others attacked Qin from behind, but the wing closed around his body and caught both weapons against its plated underside.
Qin turned with the movement, sweeping the attackers across the floor before they could pull their weapons free.
Han Zhen reached the joint where the wing entered his back and brought his weapon down with both hands. Miao attacked the same position from the opposite side while Xingluo thrust toward the centre of Qin’s chest.
All three attacks landed together and Qin was driven across the stone, but neither the wing nor the armour broke beneath them. Han Zhen’s weapon left a shallow mark near the joint before Qin forced the wing open and pushed them away.
Wuxia summoned more shadows throughout the cathedral, several dragged the injured participants away from the altar while the rest condensed around Qin’s legs and wing, slowing him long enough for the group to close in again.
Qin blocked Han Zhen with the wing and caught Miao’s sword against his gauntlet, leaving his side open to Xingluo. She ignored the armour and cut across his face, opening his cheek before he caught her arm.
A spear struck Qin’s back while chains tightened around his leg. Wuxia forced his elbow aside with a shadow, allowing Xingluo to tear herself free as Han Zhen and Miao attacked from opposite directions.
The others followed without giving Qin space to recover. Weapons struck his joints, the base of his wing, and the exposed parts of his head, forcing him back toward the altar despite the armour remaining intact.
Blood ran from his mouth and cheek as he tore through the restraints, but every movement opened another side to the surrounding participants.
Golden light began gathering behind him as circular formations opened behind Qin and spread across the cathedral wall, their overlapping rings surrounding a massive closed eye.
The eyelid opened and a dark-gold pupil moved across the participants before stopping on one near the entrance.
Miao Tianhe saw it first. "Move!"
Han Zhen struck the participant aside as a golden pillar descended through the place where he had stood and pierced deep into the cathedral floor.
More eyes opened around the outer rings, marking several people at once, the group scattered between the crystal coffins as pillars of light followed them through the prayer hall, while Wuxia dismissed every marked shadow and summoned it again beside the rotating formation.
The shadows struck the outer symbols as the remaining participants joined them, forcing several rings to shake and one of the smaller eyes to close.
Qin turned his wing toward them, but Xingluo rushed beneath it and struck his chest. Han Zhen and Miao Tianhe attacked with her, driving him across the altar while the others continued breaking the formation behind him.
The armour held, but Qin lost his footing and dropped onto one knee. Wuxia’s shadows wrapped around the wing before it could close, allowing Xingluo to free her sword and strike the side of his face.
Before they could surround him completely, the empty throne trembled.
A heavy pulse crossed the cathedral and the eye still open behind Qin turned toward the ancient seat as the markings carved across it began to shine.
Pale force erupted from the altar and scattered the entire group across the prayer hall.
Qin rose from the centre of the steps, his armour still intact and the damaged Divine Eye rotating behind him.
Another tremor passed through the cathedral as he turned and began climbing toward the throne.
Xingluo forced herself upright, but the ancient seat shook again before anyone could close the distance.