Chapter 780 God Exists?

“Let us praise the Almighty God!”

Gattuso gripped his knightly sword with both hands and kept swinging at Chen Xiaolian.

Every swing of his sword would reduce a stretch of space into formless chaos.

At the same time, he would also recite strange words of prayers out loud.

“The Hand of the Almighty supports us!

“From the beginning to the end, His merciful love is ever unchanging!

“Grace crowns my years!”

…

“Damn it! This fellow has truly lost it!”

Chen Xiaolian’s face was cold as he swung the Sword in the Stone to block Gattuso’s frenzied attacks.

Back then, during the ‘gathering’ in Zero City’s Room Zero, Shen had mentioned that there had been several members of this knightly order who managed to read the information within the wings before.

Chen Xiaolian was able to read the information in the wings thanks to the Sword in the Stone’s skill which allowed him to dispel all distracting thoughts.

But these religious fanatics could only rely on a high degree of devotion.

However, to think that these fellows would become so crazy that they could not even conduct the most basic of conversations. This had far exceeded Chen Xiaolian’s expectations.

“Gattuso, I’ll ask you one last time. You…”

“Silence! Blasphemer! Your head will become a sacrifice to the Lord, placed upon the altar of our knightly order!”

Gattuso uttered loudly, interrupting Chen Xiaolian. His eyes had already become as red as blood.

“Forget it… you’re the one who asked for this.”

Chen Xiaolian sighed.

He did not like killing. However, he had already given this mad man his chance to talk properly.

Gattuso continued gripping his knightly sword with both hands to slash at Chen Xiaolian like a crazy tiger.

In the face of the incoming sword attack, Chen Xiaolian suddenly put away the Sword in the Stone.

“Did you really think… I can't kill you?”

A dazzling radiance suddenly burst out from Chen Xiaolian’s hand.

Gattuso’s sword swung down again. A loud booming sound rang out and a formidable rebounding force surged up from the edge of the sword. The resulting vibration shattered the sword into pieces.

Gattuso himself was knocked away by the formidable force, his figure hurtling down to the ground in a diagonal line.

“Ga… Gattuso!”

Mene, who was hovering far away on his unicorn, stared. His eyes had nearly popped out from their sockets.

This was impossible!

Ever since Gattuso received the Divine Revelation, Mene had never seen Gattuso face defeat.

No. It wasn’t just defeat. It would be more accurate to say, be it the monsters in the instance dungeons or the other participants, Mene had never seen someone that Gattuso could not instantly kill.

At that very moment, however, Chen Xiaolian had blown Gattuso away with just one attack?

The light dissipated and Mene was finally able to clearly see it. What Chen Xiaolian was now holding was no longer the sword from earlier. Instead, it was a uniquely-shaped longbow.

A blade jutted out from each bow tip.

Earlier, the thing that collided against Gattuso’s sword was the blade on the longbow.

“Did you think that, by obtaining the power from the wings, you have become invincible?” Chen Xiaolian hovered in mid-air, coldly looking down on Gattuso, who was on the ground.

“You…” Gattuso stood up. Appearance wise, he did not suffer any serious wounds. However, the muscles on his face contorted from rage and shock. “What are you?!”

“Flash Bow of Ketu-Rahu,” Chen Xiaolian said coolly. “The two of us have obtained part of this world’s source code power. Logically speaking, we should be equal in strength. Unfortunately, I have two sacred artifacts and…”

“And what?!”

Before Gattuso could open his mouth, Mene had roared out from anxiousness.

“There’s no need for you fellows to know.” Chen Xiaolian gave Mene a glance. “Since you refuse to listen to me while I’m being polite… I’ve changed my mind! No more deals. Hand over the pair of wings in your possession in exchange for your lives.”

Mene clenched his teeth and his body trembled.

This Chen Xiaolian was too strong. Although Mene did not know how he could also receive the Divine Revelation from the wings, the current situation was as clear as day. Gattuso was no match for him.

“The wings…”

“Silence! Mene!” Gattuso suddenly shouted, interrupting Mene. Next, he charged up into the sky again. “If you dare make a deal with a blasphemer, you will be the first I kill!”

His gaze had only stayed on Mene for a moment, but the mad killing intent within his eyes made it so Mene was incapable of continuing what he wanted to say.

“I’ve already said. There will be no deal.” Chen Xiaolian slowly shook his head. “What I want is your surrender.”

“How can a servant of the Lord surrender to a blasphemer?!” Gattuso broke into a wild laughter. “It’s just two high-grade equipment. You dare put the word ‘sacred’ on them?! [1]”

“Buzz, buzz, buzz… like a damned fly.”

Chen Xiaolian snorted. He looked at Gattuso, who had raised a war hammer to rush at him again. Gently, he shook his head.

Boom!

The war hammer and the blade of the longbow collided and Gattuso smashed down upon the ground once again.

Like the knightly sword before it, the war hammer also shattered to pieces by the resulting vibration. This time, after getting to his feet, Gattuso staggered. Just as he was about to fly up again, his face abruptly sank and he coughed out a mouthful of blood.

“Enough. Now, you don’t even have the chance to surrender.”

Chen Xiaolian did not wait for Gattuso to charge up again. He changed his bow-holding posture.

He stopped holding it as though it was a melee weapon. Instead, he held the middle of the bow with his left hand while his right hand pulled the bowstring until the longbow took the shape of a full moon. He aimed the longbow at Gattuso below.

He did not like killing people. However, when necessary, he would not be soft-hearted.

Aside from the old monsters who were still trapped, Gattuso was the strongest amongst the Players and Awakened ones that he had ever encountered.

Letting such a mad man wield so much power was too dangerous.

Chen Xiaolian had decided.

He had to, while still inside this instance dungeon, kill off Gattuso.

An arrow condensed from light appeared on the bowstring, emanating a terrifying aura of might. Rather, it was seemingly freezing the entire Imperial Palace.

“No… don’t! We surrender!” Seeing Chen Xiaolian pull the bowstring further and further back, Mene promptly shouted, his face filled with anxiety. “But the wings are not in our possession… as long as you let us leave…”

However, Chen Xiaolian did not even look at him. His hands did not stop pulling the longbow.

Mene clenched his teeth, a knightly sword appearing in his hand. Aiming the blade of the sword at Amaterasu’s neck, he cut down with it.

Back when Gattuso defeated Amaterasu, he did more than just cut off her limbs and messed up her face. He had also used the source code power he obtained from the wings to completely seal up Amaterasu’s power.

If it weren’t for that, he would not have so confidently thrown her to Mene.

Although Mene was also a devout believer, he was at least not a complete mad man like Gattuso.

He could clearly see that Gattuso was absolutely no match for Chen Xiaolian.

Knowing that a loss was inevitable, why sacrifice their lives here for nothing?

Run!

By killing Amaterasu, this instance dungeon will end. Even if the instance dungeon decided that their faction had failed, they would still be able to preserve their lives. As for the need to accept the system’s punishment. That was something they could worry about after leaving this instance dungeon.

Mene’s actions were swift, without any hesitation.

But just as the edge of his sword cut into Amaterasu’s neck, Gattuso suddenly let out a wretched cry, like that of a wounded animal. He raised his palm towards Mene.

A beam of holy light suddenly burst outwards to shoot towards Mene.

Mene’s sword had cut one third of Amaterasu’s neck. However, before he could hear the system prompt for Amaterasu’s death, his hand, which was holding the sword, suddenly lost its strength, no longer capable of moving.

He looked down in disbelief at his chest.

The holy light had punched a hole the size of a basketball through his chest, armour included. Blood sprayed out, some falling upon the unicorn that he was riding while most of them simply flowed down to the ground.

Mene turned to Gattuso, his mouth open, but no sounds could come out.

“I told you. If you dare make a deal with this blasphemer, I will kill you first!” Gattuso watched coldly as Mene slipped off the saddle to fall to the ground. Then, he aimed his palm towards Chen Xiaolian.

The unicorn that was staying in mid-air uttered a long and mournful neigh.

“The Holy Spirit of the Lord favours me! How could I… be defeated by a blasphemer like you!!!”

Gattuso took a deep breath. With extreme madness in his eyes, he roared.

Holy light, even more powerful than the one he used to kill Mene, flared out from his whole body before surging towards Chen Xiaolian.

Chen Xiaolian cast a look of indifference at Gattuso and released the bowstring.

Flash Execution of Ketu-Rahu!

The instant the arrow shot forward, the whole world lost it colour, leaving only the colours black and white.

The same was true of Gattuso’s holy light. It had become as small as a firefly.

…

“Though I may one day face death… … my song stopped for a time…”

The ground beneath Chen Xiaolian had originally been an area with a high number of buildings.

At that very moment, however, not a trace of those buildings could be found. Not even debris was left. Everything had disappeared into nothingness in the face of the Flash Execution of Ketu-Rahu’s might.

The ground had become as flat as a mirror and only Gattuso was left standing there.

No scars could be seen on his body. Even his armour was still intact.

Only, his face had turned deathly grey. There was no longer any rage there.

Chen Xiaolian had already kept the Flash Bow of Ketu-Rahu and he looked down at Gattuso, who was still chanting words of praise intermittently.

“But in the glorious beauty of Heaven… the rhapsodies of praise will never end…”

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Chen Xiaolian sighed and slowly shook his head.

Earlier, he had gone all out with the Flash Execution of Ketu-Rahu move. Gattuso, who had also obtained a power equal to him through the wings, did not possess any sacred artifacts. More, he also did not possess the Oddity.

To be precise, Gattuso was already dead.

He was simply relying on the power of faith within his heart – a faith that was so extreme – to support himself, albeit barely.

“Chen-Xiao-Lian!”

After reciting the final hymn, Gattuso slowly raised his head. With all his strength, he shouted.

“GOD… EXISTS!!!”

“Mad man. Shen was right. All you fellows from your knightly order who could read the information within the wings are all mad men.” Chen Xiaolian snorted and swung the Sword in the Stone. As a result, the unicorn that was hovering far away in mid-air and Amaterasu were simultaneously cut into two.

[Prompt: Amaterasu has been killed. Following the degree of contribution, you have obtained 10,000 points. Dropped equipment: the Yata-no-Kagami, the Yasakani-no-Magatama and the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi…

[…

[Instance dungeon completed. Teleporting out in 30 seconds.]

Chen Xiaolian instantly received a prompt in his personal system. While the list of rewards and items was very generous, he did not give it a detailed look.

No matter how many points there were and how many equipment of this level he received, all of them would mean nothing at all for his future confrontation with Shen.

That said, his guild members would still be able to use them. Thus, Chen Xiaolian picked them up and kept them in his storage gear.

“Hear me! God… exists!!!”

Gattuso, who was on the ground, released a final hoarse shout.

After that, his body slowly fell to the ground. Then, starting from his fingertips, bit by bit, his body turned to ash, blowing away into the wind.

Seeing the final look of fanaticism that Gattuso directed towards him, Chen Xiaolian’s heart skipped a beat.

1 Sacred artifact. Translated from ‘神器’, pinyin ‘shén qì’. The character ‘神’ that was translated as ‘sacred’ could also be translated as ‘God’ or ‘divine’.