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"Boom—"

In an instant, blazing white sacred flames erupted from Pope Paul VIII's chest, spreading rapidly along his flesh and limbs, soon engulfing his entire body. The sacred fire, seemingly fueled by his life and soul, burned fiercer and fiercer. The holy conflagration radiated outward, and within moments, it had transformed into a dazzling white sun dozens of meters in diameter. The power radiating from it rivaled that of the Great Demon King earlier, forcing even Chen Xuanfeng and Samantha to leap back, temporarily retreating from the terrifying white flames.

Then, the massive sphere of holy power shot upward—but instead of charging at Chen Xuanfeng and Samantha, it hovered briefly before descending into the yawning chasm left by the Great Demon King’s escape, vanishing into its depths in the blink of an eye.

Chen Xuanfeng and Samantha were too late to intercept it, forced to watch helplessly as the white sun disappeared into the abyss.

"The Saint Spirit Mountain… shall not fall… the blessed land… shall remain in the heavens…"

From within the white sun, Pope Paul VIII’s voice faintly echoed. Yet both Chen Xuanfeng and Samantha could clearly tell—it was not a sound made by throat or lips, but a whisper emanating directly from the soul.

"He… actually burned his soul, trying to replace the Great Demon King as the power source for this floating city," Chen Xuanfeng muttered, frowning in disbelief as he watched the fading white light.

Samantha glanced down at the hole, seemingly considering whether to pursue, then said, "Wishful thinking. Aside from the gods, only the Great Demon King in history has possessed an indestructible soul. How long does he think a human soul can burn? Even with the aid of divine artifacts, he can’t sustain this mountain-sized fortress’ flight for long. Didn’t you sense it? The power he unleashed by igniting his soul was intense, but it was all outward explosion—nothing like the deep, boundless, and restrained presence of the Great Demon King’s soul."

Chen Xuanfeng nodded in agreement before adding, "Still, it seems our plan to completely eradicate the Saint Spirit Mountain’s forces has failed. With the Pope and two divine artifacts, keeping this sky city aloft for a few days is entirely possible. And unlike before, when they relied on the Great Demon King’s dark power, now that it’s fueled by holy light, the city’s combat strength will at least double. I advise Your Majesty against pursuing. This is the foundation of the Holy Temple—who knows what traps lie below? If we descend, we might be the ones to perish. Besides, though much of the mountain’s flight system is destroyed, if the humans want to escape our occupied territory with the entire sky city, they won’t waste time fighting us. But if we cut off their hope of escape and force them to drive this trillion-ton fortress into a suicidal charge, the losses would be unbearable."

As they spoke, the surroundings began to change. The "Eternal Heroic Wheel," previously 90% shattered, rapidly reconstructed under a white glow. Countless bone fragments in the air reformed into heroic skulls, swirling and resonating with an invisible force, releasing choir-like resonances. Meanwhile, the unconscious Four High Priests, three Holy Grail Knights, and Xi Luo, master of the "Hero’s Sword," vanished in flashes of light—clearly teleported away.

"Hmph, didn’t expect the old man to regain control of the core so quickly," Samantha remarked with a hint of regret, watching the closing chasm. "Lord Blizzard, let’s go."

Without another word, the two leaped upward through the shattered ceiling. Moments after their departure, a barrage of holy energy cannons bombarded the spot where they had stood. It seemed that, upon seizing control of the flight system, the Pope’s soul had also begun operating the weapon systems.

However, as Chen Xuanfeng and Samantha ascended, they confirmed another reassuring fact—the Pope’s pure light-based power couldn’t activate the ancient elven elemental runes. In other words, he could only rely on the Temple’s cruder, self-made magical systems to keep the sky city airborne. Thus, despite the enhanced combat capabilities from the light-aligned core, the holy energy consumption for flight had multiplied. If the Pope didn’t want the holy city to crash in beastman territory, his only option was to flee immediately.

Upon emerging from the catacombs, they discovered another fortunate development—a sea of beastman warriors trapped in the sky city had already retreated during its brief landing. Of course, Jin Luosha and Youlijia had flown away directly. Though the sky city now lurched skyward, only a few rearguard beastman elites remained. Some relied on the eagle tribe or flying mounts, while others simply leaped from heights of over a hundred meters—a distance not insurmountable for their kind.

However, when Chen Xuanfeng and Samantha emerged, they found themselves surrounded by a sea of human forces. While they could easily fight their way out, doing so under relentless holy artillery fire would take time—time the sky city would use to ascend beyond reach. Without hesitation, Chen Xuanfeng let out a long cry, summoning his mount, *Dongye* (Winter Night). As the colossal beast tore through the human angelic warrior defenses in a surge of icy mist, the two leaped onto its back. Samantha, whose phantom beast had been destroyed earlier, claimed a spot on the dragon without ceremony. With a mighty flap of its wings and under the escort of eagle tribe elites, they finally broke free from the Saint Spirit Mountain’s battlefield.

Soon after, the massive sky city of Saint Spirit Mountain ceased its lingering and began a slow ascent, drifting southward into the skies.

In the year 1407 of the War God Calendar, the beastmen’s siege of Saint Spirit Mountain concluded with the Holy Temple’s retreat aboard the fleeing sky city. The battle cost humanity hundreds of thousands of soldiers, over five thousand mages and priests, and countless elites, with centuries of strongholds utterly destroyed. Afterward, millions of devout light-worshippers chose death over surrender, slaughtered by the beastmen until their blood pooled into lakes. The beastmen, too, paid a steep price—numerous fallen Shamans and champions, and even the Beastman King and War God Pope suffered grave injuries. The butcher's bill was staggering.