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However, this absolute protection could only shield the divine artifacts themselves—even their wielders were not granted such guardianship. As the Pope, the voice of the Light God, he now relied on his own power, combined with the forces of the two divine artifacts, the "Thorn Crown" and the "Eternal Holy Grail," wrenching open this domain to a size sufficient to protect his entire body, thus withstanding the full-powered attacks of the two beastman masters. Yet, this unnatural form of protection came at the cost of immense consumption of divine light power. To supply the necessary energy, the Thorn Crown on Paul VIII's head had twisted and deformed, its countless barbed black vines snaking and coiling like serpents, burrowing into the Pope's ears, mouth, nostrils, squirming under his flesh, carrying blood and shredded flesh, along with a hundred times the normal agony, transforming into endless divine light power that ceaselessly poured into the "Eternal Holy Grail."

Such a state could not possibly last. Both Samantha and Chen Xuanfeng undoubtedly possessed greater endurance than the Pope, yet the two beastman masters had no intention of prolonging this fight.

With a twist of his blade, the condensed purple energy sphere Chen Xuanfeng had gathered suddenly veered off its original trajectory, bizarrely evading the Pope's interception and streaking toward the rear of the "Eternal Heroic Wheel." Meanwhile, Samantha once again propelled himself into the air, his massive axe radiating layers of dense black force fields, hovering threateningly toward the Pope, ready to strike again at any moment.

If the Pope refused to dispel the divine artifact's protective barrier, Chen Xuanfeng would directly destroy the core of the Sky City. If he chose to intercept Chen Xuanfeng, then, missing both legs and an arm, he would first face Samantha's onslaught.

It was a difficult choice, but for the Pope, there was no choice at all.

Almost immediately after Chen Xuanfeng's move, Pope Paul VIII dispelled the divine artifact's protective barrier. The six radiant wings on his back unfurled, unleashing countless luminous arrows toward Chen Xuanfeng's back. Simultaneously, Samantha's massive axe erupted with tremendous force, screaming downward.

Even knowing this pursuit might be a mistake, even knowing that dispelling the barrier might lead to his death under the beastman king's axe—still, he was the Pope. He had no choice.

Sure enough, the moment the Pope dispel the barrier, the glow of Chen Xuanfeng's "Tiger Soul Blade" shifted once more, executing an impossible near-180-degree reversal, propelling the colossal purple-black energy sphere back toward the Pope.

After all, beneath the Pope's feet lay the core of the entire magic circle.

"Perish—"

"Taste my blade—"

Heaven and earth clashed once more, and this time, the Pope had no chance to reactivate the divine artifact's protective barrier.

"KABOOM—"

A blinding explosion of light surged skyward. Samantha's "Cataclysm Axe" struck first, landing on the Pope's back. The six radiant wings shattered into motes of light, and even the sturdy backplate of the "Ancient God" battle armor split apart under the axe's blow. Though hindered, the axe's edge still bit deep, severing the Pope's spine with a bone-snapping *crunch* before being repelled by the surging Divine Light Power within the Pope's body.

With the enemy grievously wounded, a single strike from Chen Xuanfeng would crush both the Pope and the magic circle, ensuring the Sky City—mankind's crowning achievement—would crash on its very first day of flight.

Chen Xuanfeng thought the same, so his blade descended without hesitation. Paul VIII's injuries had left the Pope teetering on the edge, barely managing to raise the "Eternal Holy Grail" to meet the descending purple energy sphere, utterly uncertain he could withstand this world-ending strike.

Yet, at that very moment, the entire space suddenly filled with an eerie crimson luminous haze.

Had anyone been observing from the shattered ceiling, they would have seen a crimson magic circle, a hundred meters in diameter, flash beneath the Pope's feet. Countless eldritch sigils converged at its core, forming the image of a massive, blood-red eye. Its peculiar hourglass iris bore no resemblance to any known creature—it was as if the very stare of damnation, from the deepest abyss of hell, had turned upon the world.

The magic circle vanished as swiftly as it appeared, unnoticed by the three combatants. Yet its consequences disrupted the entire battle.

With a *schlick*, the broad blade of the "Tiger Soul" cleaved into the Pope's chest, gouging a terrible gash across his torso. Blood sprayed along the blade, splattering onto Chen Xuanfeng's face. Yet Chen Xuanfeng, Pope Paul VIII, and even the beastman king behind the Pope—all froze in shocked stillness.

Because the true threat within Chen Xuanfeng's strike—the purple energy sphere condensed with enough dark power to obliterate half the Sky City—had disappeared upon contact.

Just like that. Suddenly. Gone.

Neither Chen Xuanfeng nor the Pope could react. The Pope's left hand, still outstretched with the "Eternal Holy Grail" to block the energy sphere, hung suspended in midair. The "Tiger Soul Blade," now devoid of dark power, swept past that hand and into the Pope's chest. Both supreme warriors momentarily forgot to counter—Chen Xuanfeng even neglected to follow through and cleave the Pope in half, merely blinking in stunned disbelief.

The next moment, just as the three began to regain their senses, a violent tremor erupted beneath their feet.

With a thunderous *kaboom*, the fifth underground chamber's floor bulged like a beating heart, hurling the three combatants in separate directions. Then, a series of explosions roared from below, ascending from the depths until—with a thunderous detonation—the massive red eye-shaped magic circle reappeared on the ground, blasting open a cavernous void hundreds of meters wide.

A mass of void-black radiance surged from the abyss, colliding head-on with Samantha's unfurled Sword Saint domain. The golden domain force met the black mass—*crack*—and was forcibly shattered. Samantha's face paled as he spat blood, his entire "Roaring Throne" domain collapsing instantly.

The black mass, too, paused midair from the impact. Though utterly dark, it exuded a vast, boundless aura—as if containing endless mountains, rivers, and starry skies—radiating infinite majesty and oppression. Its terrifying grandeur surpassed even what Chen Xuanfeng had faced during his trial under the "War Saint" Leimen, magnified tenfold, a hundredfold.