Chapter 723: Bonds

"I see. So the mice that snuck in this time really are a bit too many."

Shenyi opened his eyes expressionlessly.

"But the Life Church that prides itself on justice will also wallow in the same filth as those people?"

"Wallow in the same filth? No, no, no. That only counts as a sort of coincidence. In truth, what we each need is different—we just happened to gather in the same place."

The Judgment Archbishop still wore that gentle smile, looking completely at odds with the name “Judgment,” yet her words were like they were mixed with blood—cruel to the extreme.

"If not for the spatial rift above the Abyss blocking the descent of the holy domain, the Goddess’s radiance would have burned all the unclean things here into ash long ago—naturally including those mice. Honestly, having to fight alongside those mice is disgusting to me as well."

"Such a big mouth."

"This is not arrogance. This is the Goddess’s salvation. For sinners—for humanity’s enemies—only flame and spear can manifest mercy."

The Judgment Archbishop raised her hand.

Endless brilliance poured down like a dazzling galaxy.

Her injured hand had, at some unknown time, already fully recovered, turning flawless white-jade again, and as she lightly clenched her palm, the Holy Light spear that symbolized judgment appeared once more in her grasp.

This time, even Shenyi found that sacred brilliance glaring.

"Then, Lord Shenyi, could I trouble you to listen to... the Goddess’s teachings?"

Holy Light surged.

Blades and arms fell again!

...

...

"Salvation Society?"

Shenyi rubbed his chin, falling into thought.

After quite a while, it was as if he finally dug up information about those three words from deep within his memory, and a faint look of realization surfaced.

This was not because his memory had declined with age. It was that demonfolk trapped in the Abyss truly knew very little about the detailed situation on the continent. If not for certain “tacit understandings” with the Kingdom in private, he might not have known even these bits of intelligence.

"The continent’s largest terrorist organization? I heard you’re best at doing things so terrifying even evil cultists feel ashamed—like driving beast tides and slaughtering an entire city’s residents in a single night?"

"Terrorist organization... that really doesn’t make one happy to hear."

The Black Knight shook his head with troubled resignation, yet every gesture still carried the elegance of an old gentleman.

"We act with lofty ideals, for the sake of saving this world. In other words, it would not be an exaggeration to call us saviors. How could you slap such a vulgar label as ‘terrorist organization’ on us?"

"Lofty? Heh. Someone just now also saw herself as lofty."

"That’s not the same. I trust Lord Shenyi already understands what a hypocritical existence the so-called Life Church is. For the sake of their own selfish interests, they have thrown the entire world into crisis, with destruction possible at any moment."

The Black Knight adjusted his gentleman’s hat and smiled.

"And we exist to pierce that hypocrisy, to truly save this world. Unlike those sanctimonious people in the Life Church, to achieve the goal of saving the world, we will stop at nothing."

"Sounds like you’re more likely to stand on my side. After all, I also like the words ‘stop at nothing.’"

"Haha, Lord Shenyi is absolutely right. Right now, I’m very willing to join you in killing that little bitch from the Life Church. It’s just..."

"Just?"

"Before that, I need to borrow something from you."

"Borrow something?"

Shenyi’s face was blank. "I don’t recall having anything in my hands that could save the world—some holy relic."

"There’s no holy relic, indeed. But you do have one miraculous tool that can make it more convenient for us to save this world."

The Black Knight’s lips moved, and he softly spoke those words.

"An ancient relic—Myriad-Age Cycle... what we want is this."

"..."

Shenyi’s gaze instantly sharpened. Calm as he had always been, he rarely let out such bone-chilling killing intent.

"I don’t recall this thing having any function that saves the world."

"Perhaps your imagination isn’t rich enough?"

The Black Knight smiled indifferently, as if he felt nothing at all of Shenyi’s threat. Even within that smile, there seemed to be some deeper meaning.

"But I believe Lord Shenyi knows perfectly well how terrifying the effects can be, if that ancient relic that can manipulate souls is used properly."

"...Looks like you know even more than I expected."

"Of course. To save the world, one can’t let learning fall behind."

The Black Knight said, "So? As long as you lend me that thing for a bit, I’ll immediately rush up there and smack that little bitch from the Life Church with a brick. I trust that with the two of us joining forces, the Life Church’s famous Judgment Sanctum will soon fall into a temporarily leaderless state."

"That sounds... tempting."

Shenyi stared into the Black Knight’s eyes and said each word slowly.

"But unfortunately, Myriad-Age Cycle is private property of our king. It is not for loan!"

"...Is that so."

The Black Knight let out a soft sigh, propping himself on his cane as he lowered the brim of his hat.

"Then I can only endure the disgust and stand on the same front as those hypocrites."

Blood trickled. At some unknown time, it had already flooded the entire room.

Upon that stage cast in blood, a vast shadow gradually gathered beneath the Black Knight’s feet, incomparably ferocious.

"Then—would you be willing to dance a piece with me, Lord Shenyi?"

...

...

"Human... get out of the way!"

The succubus had long since lost her soul. She was nothing but a walking corpse.

Yet the ferocious eye that had flipped out from her cheek was filled with chilling malice, and with something... the will of a higher existence.

"So you have already been corrupted to this extent."

Shenyi let out a long sigh, his tone full of pity.

He was not familiar with the human kingdoms’ Life Church, and he did not know any so-called Salvation Society.

Yet it seemed... he knew very well the will hidden inside the succubus corpse.

"The Life Church comes to kill me for so-called ‘justice.’"

"The Salvation Society comes to snatch our king’s things for so-called ‘greater righteousness.’"

"Then you... you—what did you come for?"

Shenyi murmured softly, asking.

"Human... get out of the way."

But the will within the succubus’s body clearly had no intention of speaking with him.

"Is that so? I understand... In truth, what I said was probably all nonsense. For the demonfolk of today, the only thing that could make you pursue it... would be that."

Shenyi’s fingers moved lightly. A deep-gray curtain fell, isolating all pollution entirely within this corpse-mountain space.

"But likewise, unfortunately, to achieve that goal—to welcome our king’s return... 【that】 is also indispensable."

"..."

As Shenyi spoke, the succubus’s body body had already begun to writhe, as if gradually melting, turning into a lump of sludge. More corpses also swayed as they stood, beginning to fuse with the succubus.

Very quickly, a massive monster—mountain-like, formed by the fusion of countless corpses—nearly stuffed half the underground space.

Who knew how many heads—unrotted, about to rot, or already rotted—jutted out from that monster’s body. They opened their hollow eyes and roared at Shenyi together.

"Human! Get out of the way!"

...

...

"This is that insane?"

Feeling the terrifying commotion coming from three different directions, Muen couldn’t help twitching his cheek.

"Yi Dashan?"

This level of viciousness made Muen think of King Yintuo, who had once gone around Belrand and absolutely slaughtered everything in sight.

No—this time the gold content was far higher than that time with King Yintuo.

Because whether it was the famously renowned Judgment Archbishop up in the sky, or the two presences underfoot—though he didn’t know who they were, their auras were also terrifying to the extreme—none of them could be compared to the little cats and dogs King Yintuo had dealt with in Belrand back then.

Even among Crowned Ones, there were differences!

"This isn’t anything remarkable."

Standing in front of Muen, Shenyi, who from beginning to end still hadn’t moved, smiled.

"In my era, these people could only be considered ‘barely in the stream.’ They’re still very far from the true peak. And besides—if my own strength weren’t hard enough, how could this decayed demonfolk have eked out survival for an entire thousand years?"

"...I-is that so?"

Muen’s eyelids were already twitching like crazy.

No wonder, as former worshippers of a Demon God, the demonfolk had not been liquidated after the ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) era of great chaos... so it wasn’t that they hadn’t been liquidated. It was that with this kind of old monster here, the human factions that had already been utterly crippled back then simply had no spare strength to carry out a purge!

"Of course, there were some other reasons, but those are old matters already abandoned in the river of time."

"Sounds like it was something incredible..."

Muen asked carefully, "Then may I be so bold as to ask—one thousand years ago, what level were you at? Ah, I mean before the era of great chaos."

"Before the era of great chaos?"

Shenyi froze, and then on that weathered face, a complicated, wistful look actually surfaced.

"Back then, I was probably just an ordinary, green young boy."

"Oh."

Then it’s fine.

If he was still just a green boy in that era, then it meant this old thing’s old-thing-ness still had a certain gap compared to another old thing—one that loved to act young and play loli, yet had already been old as hell a thousand years ago.

Which meant...

This “Yi Dashan” guy... wasn’t as easy as he looked!

"Hm?"

Shenyi seemed to sense the change in Muen’s thinking. His brows lifted.

"What, brat—you still won’t give up?"

"Give up? Giving up a trembling pretty girl isn’t my style."

Muen drew Elizabeth and sneered. "I absolutely won’t let you touch An even once."

"Why?"

Shenyi could feel this guy’s stubbornness, yet it only made him more unable to understand.

"Do you really think that with you—a tiny Fourth-Tier martial artist—you can stop me? With that strange black flame of yours? No. Even that kind of thing couldn’t deal with the Enchantress."

"Of course not!"

Muen said seriously, "What I’m relying on is obviously not that kind of thing, but rather... bonds!"

"?"

Shenyi froze again.

Even when facing the Judgment Archbishop, facing the Black Knight, facing the pollution of a corrupted Love God, he had not furrowed his brow like this.

"Bonds? What do you mean?"

Could it be that he truly knew too little about the human world, and these two words were actually the name of some terrifying weapon?

"That’s right—bonds!"

Muen said.

Isn’t that how it always is in stories?

The Demon King accumulates power for a thousand years—schemes, plots, fermenting—and is about to destroy the world completely.

And then the hero who trained for two weeks comes before the Demon King.

You ask: why can a hero who two weeks ago was still in the village sneaking looks at girls’ thighs defeat the Demon King?

Obviously—it’s because of bonds.

Bonds are invincible!

"Right... Liya."

...

...

The Life Church’s most supreme place.

Hearing the call, the current Saintess Liya couldn’t help puffing her cheeks in a huff.

"He actually called my name in front of other women—and he’s playing something this exciting. So infuriating!"

She still hadn’t even seen Muen like this herself!

Damn it, why does it feel like I just got cuckolded?

...That said, Liya still clasped her hands at her chest and prayed devoutly to the Goddess, blessing that hateful bad guy.

And then...

With the Saintess’s authority, she mobilized endless Holy Light!