Chapter 505 - 111: The Demon is Dead
The sky was suddenly torn apart.
It was not the sun of the Material Realm that was falling, but something beside it—a blaze of white-hot light far more brilliant, violent, and blinding than the midday sun. Like a burning meteor, it was plummeting toward the Holy City with unstoppable momentum.
More accurately, it was hurtling down upon the Tower of Revelation in the heart of the Holy City!
It left a trail that stretched across the sky and burned through the clouds, transforming the once-gray heavens into a hell of molten gold.
The unimaginable heat and Energy Fluctuations, even from such a great distance, crashed against the soul of every onlooker like a tangible, raging wave!
In the square, the slight commotion born of confusion instantly froze.
Then, it was replaced by a panic a hundred times greater!
"The... the sky!" someone shrieked.
"What is that!"
"The Sun is falling!"
"God’s punishment! It’s God’s punishment!"
"AHHH—!"
A sudden gasp, then a terrified scream, completely shattered the calm in the square.
The apprentices’ faces were ashen. The crowd began to move uncontrollably, pushing and shoving, trying to scatter and flee in all directions.
Panicked parents searched frantically for their children. Shouts, cries, and the pained yelps of those who were knocked down all mixed together.
The Temple Knights tried to maintain order, but they were faced with a celestial anomaly beyond comprehension and the crowd’s instinctual panic.
Even when they resorted to force, the square was too large, and besides, the Temple Knights themselves were gripped by fear at the sight of the falling sun.
Their efforts were pale and powerless.
On the high platform, Cardinal Adrian gazed up at the falling "sun," the gentle, charismatic expression on his face flaking away piece by piece like a mask.
In its place was a look of twisted ecstasy and a fiery, near-frenzied glint in his eyes, born from an emotion that had been suppressed for far too long.
He paid no mind to the chaotic crowd below, nor did he have the slightest intention of calming them.
His chest heaved violently, as if to unleash all the frustration, anger, and hatred that had been pent up for eleven long years.
’He had endured for too long. Far, far too long!’
’To watch the path of the Wizard brazenly take on the mantle of the Priest, to see the Holy Scripture willfully distorted, to see that blasphemous white tower rise from the ground thanks to his own "dedicated" efforts, to watch those ignorant, innocent children be led astray...’
’Every day, every moment, was like a red-hot iron searing his soul!’
’And now, finally... finally!’
The words from the Holy Scripture of Truth, Book of Proverbs, Chapter Seven, Verse Nineteen, surged through his mind like boiling lava: "All that is defiled shall be cleansed by flame; all who are rebellious shall be smitten by thunder!"
’The time for the cleansing has come!’
’This land, polluted by Heresy, this faith, twisted by Demons—all of it will meet a shared destruction beneath this falling, heretical "sun"!’
"Silence! Everyone, maintain order!"
A clear female voice suddenly rang out, cutting through the din.
Eleanor had, at some point, strode to the front edge of the platform. She stood perfectly straight, the hem of her deep blue dress unmoving. Though a trace of imperceptible sadness lay deep in her eyes, her face showed no panic, only calm authority.
Her voice was not especially loud, but it carried a strange, soothing power that clearly reached the ears of every panicked person nearby, quelling much of the terror.
"Do not panic! The Holy City is protected by the blessings of every Holy Throne, and the Tower of Revelation is shielded by an Array! All apprentices, please follow your tutors and proceed in an orderly fashion along your practiced routes to the designated shelters! Parents, please do not push. Keep the paths clear..."
"Principal Temeris!"
Adrian whipped his head around, cutting Eleanor off.
His voice cracked with agitation. His eyes, behind their lenses, were fixed on Eleanor, dancing with unconcealed malice and glee.
"Even now, you’re still putting on a show, maintaining your ridiculous ’order’?" he sneered, raising a hand to point at the ever-closer, ever-more-terrifying Dark Gold Meteor. "Look! Open your eyes and look! Your ’Sun’ has fallen! That Demon you all rely on, that reckless, arrogant being you call the ’Holy Sword’—his judgment has come! Hahahaha!"
He burst into wild laughter, the sound especially grating and crazed in the panic-stricken square.
"Why aren’t you running? Take your two little bastards, and these pitiful wretches you’ve deluded into becoming apprentices, and go hide in some dark corner of the Continent like the true rats you are! Maybe you’ll live a little longer! But no matter where you hide, we will drag you out of your filthy holes, one by one! Wizards are Wizards—vermin that can never see the light of day!"
This blatant, hate-filled, threatening tirade was like another bucket of ice water dumped on the crowd.
The panic, which had briefly subsided at Eleanor’s words, instantly rebounded with even greater ferocity!
Even some of the Temple Knights began to look shocked and uncertain.
’The Cardinal... just called the Principal and the apprentices "rats"?’
’That was one thing, but to openly call the Holy Sword a "Demon"... What in the world...?’
’And Wizards... aren’t they Priests?’
"Father! Mother!" Bobby stood on her tiptoes in the chaotic crowd, anxiously searching for any sign of Claude and Juno.
Her small face was ashen, her tea-brown braids were in disarray, and her eyes were welling with terrified tears.