The Fourth Sacrifice

The vines wrapping around Glaaki suddenly retracted, revealing dense spikes beneath them that had long been aimed at Rooney as he fell from the sky.

“Karl Jones!”

Rooney bellowed, clutching the scripture to his chest. No explanation was needed; everything was already painfully clear.

Having been cautious his entire life, he had let his guard down at the crucial moment of facing a common enemy. His light-transformation ability required preparation time, and it was now too late to activate it. He could only watch as all the spikes locked onto him, about to send him down the same path as Salin.

Damn it, this was the last chance to expel Glaaki.

Rattle!

The sudden sound of metal clashing rang out as a segmented whip lashed out from the side.

“Come back, Rooney! I have a way!”

Lynch, who had never let his guard down, used the enhancement from Death Coil to sprint to the edge of the pool at top speed, extending a helping hand to Rooney in mid-air.

I won't let you have your way, Karl Jones. As long as Rooney has a point of leverage to push off of, he might be able to escape the range of the spikes in time.

However, before Lynch could even finish his sentence, his expression changed drastically. He realized Rooney was completely ignoring the whip sent his way, charging straight toward Glaaki without even looking at it.

“Praise the Lord! The Lord's radiance shall surely purify all evil in this world!”

As the final line of the prayer left his lips, Rooney, suspended in mid-air, threw open the already radiant scripture. Enveloped in a majestic sacred aura, he held the scripture high and slammed it down fiercely toward the spike-covered Glaaki. At the same time, the forest of spikes shot out rapidly, impaling Rooney as he fell.

“Hahaha! Go back to the Dreamlands, you filthy monster!” Rooney laughed wildly amidst the brilliant light. “You damn cultists, if you have a plan, use it now! I'll suppress it for you, and the rest is in your hands! Remember to kill the traitor for me! Hahaha! Praise the Lord! The Lord's will shall shine upon all things!”

Amidst his wild laughter, dozens of spikes pierced through Rooney's body. At that exact moment, the glowing scripture pressed hard against Glaaki's flesh.

The radiance of the blazing sun erupted instantly, and a sacred aura descended from above. To the sound of echoing hymns, the majestic power of light suppressed the pale, bloated monster's avatar, forcing it to curl into a corner, struggling to hold on.

Damn it, you didn't have to die!

Are you people from the Church of the Blazing Sun all lunatics?

I haven't even settled the score with you for burning down my house, and yet you just run off like this? Get your ass back here if you've got the guts!

Though he felt a trace of admiration, Lynch knew this was no time to be emotional. He had to seize the time and opportunity Rooney had bought with his life; he could not let him die in vain.

“Judy, do it!”

Shouting his command, Lynch turned his gaze to the pool.

Glaaki was currently suppressed by the sunlight, and there was no telling how long that would last, but the retracted vines had already extended once more, crowding around the moss-covered pool.

Karl Jones.

Lynch did not know where the man's true body was, but he was not worried. He knew this state definitely had a weakness—because plants were afraid of fire.

That made things easy. While Judy prepared, he would buy her some time.

With a flick of his wrist, a dozen bottles of Flame Oil appeared in his hands. He hurled them around the pool as if they cost nothing.

Violent explosions, accompanied by soaring flames, brought sudden chaos to this main tomb chamber, which had been devoid of human presence for countless millennia.

The vines kicked up sheets of water in an attempt to block the spreading fire. For a moment, fire and water were locked in a stalemate. Right then, a sinister grin appeared on Lynch's face, and another item materialized in his hand.

Miss Valente's special care package—a coastal defense artillery shell.

The round shell was a fuse-lit model. Without a second thought, Lynch lit the fuse, hurled it toward the densest cluster of vines, and immediately dove to the ground, covering his head.

The winding vines covering the ground suddenly froze. Presumably, Karl Jones, who was controlling them, had never expected to see such a thing.

We were having a proper fight, so why did you suddenly pull out a bomb?

Before he could wrap his head around it, a muffled boom shook the earth and rattled the mountains, sending water splashing in all directions.

The artillery shell exploded.

The shockwave, composed of shrapnel and rushing air, swept across the pool's surroundings, snapping and twisting the vines on the ground. The fire, which had been locked in a stalemate, was catalyzed by the explosion and rapidly devoured large swathes of the vines. Whether scorched or blasted, Karl Jones let out a miserable groan as he emerged from the moss, stumbling back a few paces to escape the searing flames.

Disheveled and furious, Karl was about to attack the prone Lynch when he suddenly felt the surrounding temperature skyrocket. He turned his head and saw Judy, who had been standing to the side.

Judy had already put on the ring. Through some unknown method, she had forced the mystery relic ring directly into an uncontrolled state. The uncontrolled relic unleashed its “memory” attribute, endlessly looping the event recorded within—the moment a mortal hosted the passion of the Lady of Fire.

This was the exact moment they needed. The Great Old One in the memory was not the actual evil god, yet it was equivalent to one. It did not need to manifest; it could simply step out of the memory and enter the host's manifestation vessel without violating the laws of the mortal world. It was like exploiting a glitch.

Although the relic would quickly be destroyed by the evil god's power, banishing the memory along with the projected evil god back to the Dreamlands, this brief window was more than enough.

Thus, the disheveled Karl Jones watched as Judy suddenly transformed into a burning planet. The celestial body was completely enveloped in high-temperature flames, radiating an incomparable, terrifying pressure. The planet surged toward the ceiling before hurtling down toward the pool like a meteor. Even before it struck, the extreme heat instantly reduced the surrounding moss and shattered vines to charcoal.

A fraction of the Lady of Fire's power was revealed in reality by Judy through this alternative method.

To a supreme will, large and small were merely conceptual wordplay. The massive planet crashed into the pool in the center of the main tomb chamber without any resistance. Under the devastating heat, the water in the pool evaporated instantly. Countless tons of fresh water turned into steam, instantly blanketing the entire chamber in thick fog and dropping visibility to near zero.

The pool was evaporated in an instant; no amount of water could withstand the scorching heat radiating from the Lady of Fire. Having made a sweeping pass, the burning planet floated back into mid-air.

“You... will... regret... this...”

Having just escaped the sunlight covered in wounds, the avatar had immediately been greeted by a bomb. And when that finally ended, the pool it relied on for its existence was completely wiped out. Whether out of sheer rage, the innocent avatar's pale flesh turned slightly red. With one final, unwilling roar, it was expelled back to the Dreamlands.

Boom.

A pillar of fire fell from the sky, crashing right next to Lynch. It reverted into Judy's form, and she collapsed to the ground with a pale, haggard face. Clutching her chest, she panted heavily, completely lacking the strength to even stand.

Just as Judy completely lost her combat effectiveness, Karl Jones drew his rapier and pointed it at Lynch, who stood protectively in front of her.

“Splendidly done. To think you actually managed to expel Glaaki. However, it's a pity that this is where it ends. I am truly sorry, but this is a necessary measure. Only by doing this can I ensure the ritual can never continue.”

Lynch was still dressed as Ms. Selene and looked quite disheveled himself, yet he still raised his cane to confront the rank four authority expert, Karl Jones, from a distance. “So, this is your true face? The person you claimed wanted to kill everyone was actually you all along?”

“What do you think?” Karl Jones warily aimed his weapon at the unfathomable Ms. Selene. “It was a real pity earlier. Not only did I fail to frame you, but you even uncovered Salin, forcing me to silence him too. I thought he could serve as a distraction for me. But it's fine now. Everything is back on track. Rooney, with his dangerous items, and Judy, the most troublesome one, have both been eliminated. Now, only you and I remain, Mr. Lynch Levive. With your strength, there is no need to struggle. Let's bring this to an end.”

“Hiss, you even know my identity?”

With Karl's sword pointed at him, Lynch knew he could only rely on himself now.