Chapter 203: Chapter 201: No! My Millennium-Old Castle!

The divine power surged magnificently, but in Rose’s eyes, it was like a stray dog—no matter how you looked at it, it was pathetic.

Divine power? That’s something weak gods use to put pressure on people when they can’t beat Holy-tier Mages. For the Twelve Main Gods, using this thing just lowers their status—it’s embarrassing, really.

But now, not only is Ethel using it, he’s using it to suppress two Tier Four Mages.

Oh, not just two Tier Four Mages—seeing the situation, Rose couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

Hilia muttered to herself, "What a terrifying aura... Is he... a Tier Five Mage?"

Rose tried to hold back her laugh and said, "Have you ever seen a Tier Five Mage who, after unleashing their presence, can’t even move themselves?"

"Huh?" Hilia blinked, not quite getting it.

In the end, Rose couldn’t help but laugh out loud. "Look, after he unleashed his aura, did he do anything at all?"

"Ah... You’re right."

Hilia was left dumbstruck.

The three up there, after the ’Magic Puppet’ unleashed its terrifying aura, all went silent—just staring at each other, nobody moving a muscle.

The City Lord and Vanessa were pinned in place by the ’Magic Puppet’s’ presence, unable to move.

This aura was way too strong—maybe even stronger than what a Tier Five Mage could manage.

So, naturally, they started to panic a bit.

But after the initial panic, they calmed down again—they realized that after the overwhelming pressure, the other guy just... sort of glitched and stopped moving.

Their eyes were full of question marks.

What the hell?

The ’Magic Puppet’ seemed to realize something was off, the divine power slowly fading, and it let out a frustrated, angry growl.

"Mortal things... troublesome..."

After canceling the divine presence, it turned toward the plaza, slipping straight into the shadows and dashing off.

The Southern Border City’s Protective Array "auto-responded," gathering all kinds of magical lights in front of it to block its path.

Vanessa and the City Lord also broke free from the divine pressure. Seeing it dashing toward the plaza, the City Lord quickly called out, "Its target might be the divine hall behind the plaza—the divine hall is one of the core parts of the array! Stop it!"

Saying that, he’d already charged after the Magic Puppet.

Vanessa didn’t hesitate either—she charged in with her own Magic Puppet.

The array’s spells converged rapidly on the ’Magic Puppet’, but it let them blast against itself, forcing its way through—clenching its fist and hitting the floating runes. Deep blue magic power and gray-black corruption twisted together on its fist, smashing the rune with one punch.

Hidden within the ’Magic Puppet’s’ Heart of the Magic Puppet—or rather, Ethel’s own Divine Fragment—Ethel pierced through the array’s runes and saw Hilia hiding beneath them.

"Not Zeus... and you dare lay hands on my divine format?"

There are many gods—some, after condensing their divine formats, didn’t want to be ruled by the Divine King and secretly went into hiding to cultivate.

Those who snuck around gathering a bit of faith were the heretics from a thousand years ago, the very first Evil Gods—at least, until Rose ascended. Since those gods were too weak, the gods all agreed to strip them of the Evil God title and instead gave it to Rose—making her the one and only Evil God officially recognized by the gods.

As for other gods calling themselves Evil Gods? They’re just fake gods, nothing more! 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

As long as it wasn’t the Divine King, the other Twelve Main Gods, or that sealed Evil God Rose, Ethel didn’t fear anyone meddling with his stuff.

"After the calamity, you barely survived till now. Cornered, huh? Quietly descended onto a weak human, and because you lack a divine format, you set your sights on mine? Picked the wrong target, I’d say!"

Boom!

Ethel punched the City Lord’s Magic Puppet, sending it flying.

Boom!

Another punch—Vanessa’s Magic Puppet was knocked backward, crashing into a statue in the plaza and smashing it to bits.

There was a crack running down his Magic Puppet’s body.

"Annoying array..."

The ’Magic Puppet’s’ fist was now blazing with terrifying magic power; deep blue water elements, like a devouring tidal wave, condensed onto its fist.

"Break... for me!"

The finishing blow!

Under the City Lord’s bulging eyes, the punch smashed directly into the array.

In an instant, the whole of Southern Border City shook!

The divine hall and castle—the core of the array—wobbled violently as the array was forcibly shattered. Cracks split across the walls, spreading quickly, as if everything might collapse.

People inside the divine hall and castle ran for their lives, chaos everywhere.

Meanwhile, as it was destroyed, the array’s leftover magic power erupted all at once—a thick purple magical mist rose above the castle, surging out in a wave that swept over the city!

At that split second, Rose instantly took control of Hilia’s body, thrusting her own spiritual power into the array and activating all the patched-up runic modules that no longer formed a united whole, making them use their last drops of magic to transform into a final thread of light sheltering the city from the blast.

The shockwave swept across the entire city. Under Rose’s command, the shockwave obliterated every runic module in exchange for successfully saving the city’s buildings.

"No! My thousand-year-old castle!" The City Lord’s legs went limp, and he collapsed to his knees, letting out a heartbroken howl.

The City Lord snapped.

His Magic Puppet, empowered by pure rage, somehow broke its own speed record, instantly appearing before the ’Magic Puppet’.

"You damned bastard!"

Boom!

The City Lord’s Magic Puppet punched the ’Magic Puppet’ in the face, caving its face right in.

Still, the ’Magic Puppet’ acted like it felt nothing—let itself be pummeled.

Landing a solid blow, the City Lord seemed possessed—another punch, sending the ’Magic Puppet’ crashing down onto the plaza with a loud bang, smashing a hole into the ground.

Only then did the ’Magic Puppet’ seem to snap out of it, leaping up and charging forward.

Vanessa looked in the direction it was heading, spotting a small figure appear in its path.

Looked very familiar.

Vanessa’s face went pale. "Hilia? Run!"

With the array destroyed, Hilia’s figure became visible for all to see.

At that moment, she was still spaced out—Rose had seized control to protect the city, and then abruptly handed her body back, leaving her a bit dumbfounded.

At the same time, as the array was shattered, her Mage’s Hand got smashed as well, which affected her spiritual power. Her disguise faded as well.

Vanessa’s cry finally snapped her out of it.

But right then, the ’Magic Puppet’ was only three meters away.

But! The furious City Lord was even faster!

"Trying to run?"

The City Lord’s Magic Puppet rushed up behind, landing a crushing punch right at the back of its head!

Boom!

With the City Lord’s furious blow, the ’Magic Puppet’s’ body was smashed to scrap metal.

At the same moment, a pale sea-blue phantom blasted out from the ’Magic Puppet’ and shot into Hilia’s body at incredible speed.

Hilia’s eyes rolled back, her body went limp—before she blacked out, she heard Vanessa’s desperate scream.

"Hilia!"