Vol 4. Chapter 53: Return

"Return to the Goddess's side, Nick-Baxiulion. Your mission has come to an end."

As Kaelrode-Andoluvich spoke these words filled with sorrow and reluctance, the statue of the Goddess behind him suddenly began to tremble. Dense Holy Aura began rippling around the statue, while waves of sacred golden light abruptly surged from the Goddess statue's eyes.

A divine statue emitting light was undoubtedly the manifestation of a miracle.

If ordinary believers of the Asumos Church were present, they would undoubtedly erupt into hysterical cheers at the sight before prostrating themselves devoutly on the ground, awaiting the Goddess's grace. Yet this scene, which would have driven nearly every believer of the Asumos Church into ecstasy, instead caused White Yama's expression to abruptly change.

As for Nick himself, his face twisted into an expression of utter agony.

Fear, despair, rage, and countless other negative emotions erupted from within him all at once, making the old Archbishop's face grow increasingly distorted and hideous.

Trembling all over, as though he had been completely dragged into a mire of terror, Nick desperately mobilized every last bit of Holy Aura throughout his body, trying to escape the area enveloped by the golden light! As he gathered his power, Nick had already thrown every shred of dignity befitting an Archbishop to the winds, screaming himself hoarse as he begged the blond man before him for mercy.

"No! Your Holiness! Wait?! I... I can still do it!"

"Nick, there's no need to panic. Returning to the Goddess's side is a blessing bestowed upon you by the divine."

Kaelrode-Andoluvich opened his arms and smiled faintly.

The next instant,

amid Nick's heart-rending pleas for mercy,

a golden beam suddenly shot straight down from the Goddess statue! In an instant, it completely enveloped Nick as he attempted to flee! Almost immediately, the Holy Aura within Nick's body seemed to answer some kind of summons. Completely beyond Nick's control, it continuously poured out of his body and flowed along the golden light toward the forehead of the Goddess statue.

The magic formation Nick had only just gathered beneath his feet in preparation for a desperate escape collapsed in an instant.

And it wasn't only his Holy Aura. After his body was enveloped in the golden light, his vitality also began rapidly draining away.

"Y-Your Holiness! ...Goddess... please... forgive... me..."

As his power continued to drain away, Nick's cries grew weaker and weaker.

"No... don't..."

...

Meanwhile, White Yama's heart violently trembled at the sight.

Nick?

A-Archbishop?!

Wh... why?!

White Yama's azure eyes were filled with incomprehension and overwhelming terror. Her delicate body trembled from fear, and her limbs went completely weak. She simply stood rooted to the spot, utterly at a loss.

It wasn't until Nick's increasingly feeble screams repeatedly entered the Heavenly Apostle's ears that White Yama finally managed to snap out of her stupor.

And the instant she came back to her senses, White Yama fiercely gritted her teeth, a resolute expression appearing on her face.

Although Nick was annoying, frequently bullied her, and was always ordering her around, there was no denying that Nick had done her a great kindness. If Nick hadn't brought her back to the Asumos Church and raised her all those years ago, how could she possibly have become the Heavenly Apostle she was today?!

She probably would have died on the streets long ago after being abandoned by her parents, wouldn't she?

"Your Holiness! P-Please... wait!"

White Yama summoned her courage and roared.

At that very moment, the formidable Mid Eighth-Tier Holy Aura within her body violently erupted. Empowered by the white Holy Aura, White Yama instantly transformed into a white meteor, rushing toward Nick beneath the golden light at tremendous speed, intending to drag the Archbishop out of its range.

However,

White Yama's actions naturally couldn't escape Kaelrode-Andoluvich's notice.

Watching White Yama race toward him, Kaelrode-Andoluvich helplessly shook his head.

"Interrupting the 'Rite of Return' is an act of grave disrespect, Bai Xiaozou."

As he spoke,

Kaelrode-Andoluvich slowly raised his hand, and dense waves of Holy Aura began rippling around his fingertips. A trace of coldness flashed through his dark-red eyes.

"Divine Artifact Soul—Lock."

Following the silent incantation in his mind, an intense platinum-white light suddenly erupted from Kaelrode-Andoluvich's fingertips! Dense Holy Aura burst forth like floodwaters breaking through a dam! In an instant, it swept across the enormous temple.

The terrifying pressure of his aura caused even the surrounding space to gradually distort, while cracks appeared across the temple's solid, sturdy pillars.

A raging wave of energy formed from platinum-white light suddenly came crashing down from every direction, surging toward White Yama with unstoppable force and directly shattering the field of Holy Aura surrounding the white-haired girl.

The sheer pressure of his aura alone was enough to blast White Yama backward and make her spit out a mouthful of blood.

"Y-Your Holiness..."

White Yama unwillingly looked toward the blond man.

But White Yama had no intention of giving up just yet. The light-attributed Holy Aura within her body began surging wildly. Clearly, White Yama intended to enter her 'Holy Battle Body,' unleashing all of her power to resist Kaelrode-Andoluvich's pressure.

Yet at that moment,

as though he had already seen through White Yama's intentions,

the enormous mass of platinum-white Holy Aura that had struck her like heavy artillery and blasted her senseless suddenly twisted and reshaped itself, directly transforming into countless energy chains!

Before White Yama could even react, the chains violently wrapped themselves around the white-haired girl, binding her from head to toe!

"Boom~"

Accompanied by a deafening roar and a violent eruption of Holy Aura, White Yama lost her balance and slammed heavily into the ground. The Holy Aura she had intended to use to activate her 'Holy Battle Body' was instantly sealed as the chains blazed with light. No matter how desperately White Yama tried to mobilize it, nothing worked.

D-

Damn it!

White Yama couldn't help cursing inwardly.

Unfortunately, right now, all she could do was rage helplessly.

Meanwhile,

after casually suppressing White Yama, Kaelrode-Andoluvich helplessly shook his head. He had no intention of doing anything further to her. Instead, he slowly turned his head and calmly looked toward the white-haired old man enveloped in golden light.

"Return peacefully to the Goddess's side, my friend. Farewell..."

As Kaelrode-Andoluvich spoke his final goodbye,

the golden light surrounding Nick instantly became even more dazzling and piercing.

And within that sacred golden radiance, the expression on Nick's face completely sank into despair and endless terror.

Under the baptism of the golden curtain of light, every trace of Holy Aura within Nick's body was stripped away and drawn toward the Goddess statue. And as the Holy Aura flowed back into the statue, the remaining power within Nick's body gradually reverted from Holy Aura into ordinary mana...

The old man's body gradually shriveled.

His vitality and the power of his soul seemed to be stripped from his body along with the loss of his Holy Aura.

Slowly,

Nick even lost the ability to feel fear, as though he had forgotten his terror of death. His entire consciousness began sinking into an empty, ethereal void.

In a daze,

the Archbishop's consciousness completely fell into darkness.

...

As the final wisp of Holy Aura was stripped from his body, Nick's shriveled corpse, under White Yama's sorrowful gaze, simply crumbled into countless grains of sand and scattered across the floor...

"A-Archbishop...?"

Meanwhile, the golden energy permeating the hall slowly flowed back into the Goddess statue.

Everything returned to tranquility.

Apart from White Yama's sobbing, the hall was so silent that a falling needle could be heard...