A backup plan left behind before the seal was set, who would have thought it would now turn into a threat against her. Zenobia felt a surge of enslavement in her heart.
Sophia remained silent, only coldly staring at her, her gaze unwavering and resolute.
Zenobia stared back at her for a long while, her eyes swirling with violet mist.
After a long silence, she finally turned to Luca and slowly spoke, “I’ll give you one last chance. Leave!”
“Or else… suffer the consequences!”
Luca raised his head and met her gaze directly. A faint smile curved his bloodied lips as a cold sneer appeared on his face. “You may not get the chance,” he said.
As the words left his mouth, a silver-white light flashed from his body, and in an instant, he appeared before Zenobia.
With the Power of Thunder surging in his hand, he struck her forehead with a palm.
“Seeking death!” Zenobia’s face darkened completely. Without any visible movement from her, a faint purple shield appeared around her, enveloping both herself and Sophia.
At the same time, purple mist began to emanate from her eyes.
The moment Luca caught sight of those eyes, an overwhelming wave of desire and brutality surged within his mind, growing stronger by the second. His eyes turned red, and a strong suicidal impulse suddenly overtook him. His originally aimed strike toward Zenobia shifted, and the palm that was about to strike her forehead now redirected toward his own head.
“Luca!” The urgent voice of the Solar Divine Spear rang in his ears, jolting him back to reality. His hand, covered in thunderous light, stopped just before his face, a mere ten centimeters from his forehead. Had it been any slower, he would have ended his life on the spot.
This guy’s power is ridiculously strong! Luca clenched his teeth in frustration. He knew that he was now on the verge of breaking through to the Divine Lord level, yet in Zenobia’s presence, he couldn’t even stop one of her gazes.
But this only strengthened Luca’s resolve.
If the Lord of the Realm of Sin managed to escape the Abyssal Demon Realm, who knew how many would die in the two worlds.
How could he stop her?
Suppressing the turmoil in his heart, Luca’s mind raced, but it yielded nothing. With his current strength, there was almost no possibility of approaching Zenobia, who had merged with the Celestial Pearl.
Could he just watch his woman die?
The torment in his heart was far worse than the pain in his body.
As his thoughts raced, he suddenly gritted his teeth and lifted his gaze toward Zenobia, who was expressionless.
A mad decision surged within him.
If he couldn’t even save one woman, then what was the point of saving the world?
In that case, everyone should just die together!
With that thought, the golden wings on Luca’s back flared, and he shot forward once again.
At the same time, he shouted, “Give me three seconds!”
Zenobia furrowed her brows, unsure of what Luca was trying to do.
Sophia looked just as confused, but she unconditionally chose to trust Luca. The divine rank of frost on her forehead gleamed with a blinding ice-blue light.
Waves of cold air spread from her arm toward Zenobia, quickly covering her arm with frost.
At the same time, the previously calm ritual suddenly began to stir.
“Since I gave you a chance and you refused, then you can all die together!” Zenobia’s anger flared, and she no longer felt the need to uphold the previous agreement.
The powerful force of sin and desire coalesced in her hand into a sinister purple-handled long sword. With a slight wave of her hand, the air was filled with Demonic energy, and the immense power of sin split the space apart in an instant.
The razor-sharp blade swung toward Luca’s neck, moving so fast that there was no way to dodge it. Yet, Luca seemed to have no intention of avoiding it. He sped toward Zenobia with even more reckless abandon, looking as if he had no care for his own life.
Those watching from outside couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat. This guy had guts! That was the direct attack of a god, after all.
Fratis clenched her skirt tightly, silently praying for him.
However, just as the long sword was about to strike Luca, it suddenly halted in mid-air. The force of the blade drew blood from Luca’s neck, but Zenobia couldn’t move forward any further.
Layers of silver frost spread over her, freezing Zenobia completely in place.
She didn’t have time to explode with rage, because by this time, Luca had already reached her.
Golden runes appeared in Luca’s hands, quickly transforming into a chain.
Golden Lock Divine Spell!
His movements were lightning-fast, and he struck again, aiming a palm toward Zenobia.
“You think you can bind me?” Zenobia sneered, her eyes filled with contempt. The boundless force of sin inside her exploded, shattering the frost that had covered her.
At the same time, a flower made of energy, adorned with purple patterns, bloomed around her, forming a protective shield.
God King-level Monster Defense Divine Spell—Violet Bloom!
With Luca’s current strength, there was no way he could break through her defenses, so Zenobia remained utterly unflustered.
But she had overlooked one thing—Luca was not the only one attacking her.
“Break!” The frost divine rank on Sophia’s forehead cracked with sharp, audible sounds, and a torrent of cold mist surged from her body.
In the sky, snowflakes fell, and a dragon made of frost formed, charging toward Zenobia with a deafening roar!
Winter White Dragon!
Boom! Luca and Sophia’s attacks collided with Zenobia almost simultaneously, the golden, purple, and blue light illuminating the dark Abyssal Demon Realm. The storm of energy shredded and froze all the monsters in the vicinity.
The violent force erupted into the sky, shattering the purple shield and the Winter White Dragon. The space around the three of them trembled violently. Luca’s hand struck Zenobia without any obstruction, and the golden lock divine spell transformed into golden chains, wrapping around her like serpents, tightly binding her.
At the same time, a golden chain appeared on Zenobia’s forehead, and her aura suddenly dimmed, her fusion process interrupted once again.
“Die!” After being repeatedly humiliated, Zenobia’s fury reached its peak. She hadn’t expected that, in a moment of carelessness, she would actually fall for their trick.
Her patience had run out. As her words fell, a purple scythe materialized in her hand, its massive form disproportionate to her body.
Sensing the imminent danger, Luca pushed Sophia aside and positioned himself in front of her.
At the same time, a pattern appeared in his eyes.
Fate Duplication, activate!
Zenobia twisted her wrist, and purple radiance flashed through the air in an instant.
Luca couldn’t even see her movements; he only felt a sudden chill at his neck.
Then, he realized his vision was starting to flip.
After a moment of vertigo, Luca saw his own corpse.
Blood flowed in torrents from his neck.
The last thing he saw was Zenobia’s cold, menacing face and Sophia’s pale, shocked expression.
So, it seems I couldn’t escape after all…
Luca’s head slid off his body and rolled twice on the ground before coming to a stop at Sophia’s feet.
Sophia’s mind went blank, her body frozen in place, her expression blank as well.
In that instant, the air itself seemed to fall into an eerie silence.
They all stared at the young head lying on the ground, blood still pouring from it.
Everyone felt disbelief, as though they had slipped into a dream.
Dead… Luca is actually dead?!
Fratis stood frozen in place, her body as still as stone.
Slowly turning her head, she gazed at the body that remained standing even in death. Her heart suddenly felt a tearing pain, her lips trembling uncontrollably, and tears unknowingly slid down from her beautiful eyes.
Augustine, dressed in mage robes, opened his mouth, but no words came out.
His already aged face seemed to have aged a further ten years in an instant, his hands trembling uncontrollably.
Luca… dead?
Ellie stared blankly at the sky, a sensation like something breaking deep in her heart. Her vision blurred, and darkness clouded her mind. Her legs buckled, and she collapsed onto the ground.
“This can’t be… that was the same man who killed Lord Rod with a single blow! How could he die so easily?” Isaac and Gavin’s faces turned ashen, their eyes wide with disbelief.
“I don’t believe it!” Isaac clenched his fists tightly, and his usually calm face twisted with rage. “Lord Luca could never die so easily!”
Gavin, standing beside him, said nothing. He only tightened his grip on his staff, a thin layer of red filling his eyes.
It wasn’t just them—every soldier of the Clinton Empire had fallen into a deep silence.
They looked up at the headless corpse in the Abyssal Demon Realm, as if they had all turned into lifeless statues. The morale that had been so high just moments ago had completely crumbled.
No one had expected that the brilliant Luca, who had just moments ago effortlessly slain Lord Rod, would now lose his head in such a short time.
“Good riddance! Good riddance indeed!” On the other side, the Via Empire reacted completely differently. Their faces were manic with joy, full of celebration. It was as if they were about to pop champagne to celebrate Luca’s death.
So what if they’d killed their Lord Rod? He, too, had died here! The ruler of the Eternal Continent was still their Via Empire!
In the Abyssal Demon Realm, Sophia slowly lowered her head, looking at the familiar face at her feet. At that moment, it felt as though her soul and body had been drained of all energy. Her eyes became empty, and the vitality within her seemed to dissipate.
In that instant, countless thoughts raced through Sophia’s mind. She thought about the time they met in Riverfall City, about Luca’s heroic act of breaking through The Nightmare Cult’s Blood-Sealing Formation.
She thought about their fight together against the monster horde, saving all of Riverfall City.
She even thought about how she’d rushed to him when she heard of his danger in Southwind City, her instinct urging her to see him again.
Countless images flashed before Sophia’s eyes, only to shatter one by one.
If only she hadn’t followed him… If only she could have cast one more divine spell… So many “what ifs” appeared in her mind, only to vanish like smoke, leaving nothing behind.
At the same time, the sense of death within her grew even stronger.