"Liya!"

To be honest, when Muen called out, he was nervous inside.

From what the Judgment Archbishop had said just now, he knew Liya was probably watching this place, but if he could choose, he’d rather Liya not watch.

Don’t look... don’t look... don’t look at me like this.

...Damn it, I’m the famous yellow-hair—how did I end up reduced to some zero-boobs mess like this?

So what the hell is going on?

Wasn’t I just putting on a disguise and sneaking in?

Why did it end up like this?

If you actually count it up... An, Senior Anna, Celicia, and now Liya.

Doesn’t that mean everyone knows what I look like right now?

...They’re not really going to start some kind of “special play” later, are they?

The moment Muen imagined his dignified yellow-hair self getting really, really “that” by a bunch of evil little devils in the future, he felt a wave of trembling cold rage—can yellow-hair still be saved, when will yellow-hair finally stand up again...

But.

Once he shoved all those tragic things aside, once that surging hot current poured into his body, Muen instantly straightened up.

Because Holy Light came down from the heavens.

"What?" 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Grand Duke Shenyi instantly sensed something was wrong, but maybe it was because of his contempt for Muen, a mere Fourth-Tier martial artist, or maybe it was because most of his attention was on three other, far more important directions.

By the time he reacted, it was already too late.

The gray curtain extended, but before it could even touch Muen, it was swallowed by black flame.

This time, the black flame was not a wavering little cluster, nor was it just a smear that could only dart and twist with Muen’s consciousness.

It was... a raging sea of fire!

The firestorm rolled over, beginning to madly devour that deep-gray curtain in reverse!

"Surprised?"

Muen smiled.

Of course Shenyi would be surprised.

After all, Muen was not a believer of the Life Church, nor was he clergy.

He understood even less about anything like the power of faith, and he also didn’t believe the Goddess would be so generous as to bless a yellow-haired pig who’d messed with her Saintess’s cabbage.

So he should have had nothing to do with the Life Church’s Holy Light, not even eight hundred poles away, and it should’ve been impossible for him to use this power.

But.

Think back—how was this power of the Evil God, of his, born in the first place?

The most important part, without question, was the Divine Favor power provided by Withering Bro. That absolutely couldn’t be forgotten. So if he could win this fight, Withering Bro deserved at least one-third of the credit. After this, he could even sacrifice a few femboy Evil God believers to Withering Bro or something—Withering Bro was pissed, so let him vent a bit.

However, on top of that, Muen’s black flame had been pushed along by a certain old loli, and through the fusion of the Life Goddess, the Mother of Abundance, the Silent Moon... and maybe even a few forces that even that old loli hadn’t anticipated, it built up into the pitch-black sun that existed today.

In other words, the Life Goddess’s Holy Light could be said to be the best fuel for black flame. It didn’t even need to deliberately swallow and digest it—Holy Light itself could strengthen black flame.

Of course, all of that was under the premise that the Life Church was willing, because the permission to control Holy Light was in their hands.

But for Muen, at a time like this, that biggest problem wasn’t a problem at all.

Because...

"This is love and bonds, you undead old single dog—do you understand?"

Muen wiped the nosebleed that wouldn’t stop flowing and bared his teeth at Shenyi, whose expression had turned incomparably ugly.

His mind was still enduring unimaginable agony at this moment. After all, even with Holy Light support, his mental space still couldn’t bear this vast power.

But Muen still repaired his mind with Holy Light while pushing that pitch-black sun, lofty above all else in his mental space—pushing it!

So the sky that had been lit by Holy Light suddenly grew dim again.

Because a pitch-black sunwheel that looked like it could swallow even light itself was turning a sacred solar corona, hanging high in the heavens, coldly overlooking the entire city!

"That is..."

Shenyi went blank for a moment.

Because not long ago, he had also received a report from the Youyan Grand Duke on the front lines.

An unknown Evil God projection had passed by the battlefield at the empire’s defensive line, and its signature was a pitch-black sun!

"So that’s how it is."

Shenyi’s expression gradually sank.

"So the entire demonfolk has already been completely played once by your little schemes and tricks!"

Back then, even a million-strong army had been frightened back by that Evil God projection. That retreat had reduced the pressure of the offensive, and might have directly pushed their momentum back by a full half month!

"Schemes and tricks? No!"

Muen swung his fist, rolling surging black flame as he smashed toward Shenyi in front of him.

"In common terms, when you’re dealing with a villain like you who wants to snatch a pretty girl away, this is called being resourceful and clever!"

"And this isn’t bullying the few with the many—this is a righteous group beating!"

"It’s four-on-one now, old bastard!"

Black flame burned without a sound.

It didn’t have Holy Light’s blazing heat, nor did it have the Black Knight’s weirdness, nor the horror of those corpse fusions in the underground space.

But this fist wrapped in black flame made Shenyi extremely wary—so wary that even he, the demonfolk’s number-one Grand Duke, actually took the initiative to retreat, dodging a mere Fourth-Tier martial artist’s punch.

It was completely different now.

Even his “domain,” as a Crowned One, couldn’t completely avoid being swallowed by this black flame.

Black flame strengthened by Holy Light was like it had been reborn... no, this couldn’t be called rebirth. It was only that the rank it had always deserved finally had enough power supporting it!

So even that black sun was humming, vibrating with excitement. A massive pitch-black ring descended along with the crushing pressure of the sunwheel, about to burn the entire city to the ground!

"Don’t even think about it!"

Shenyi flew into a rage.

A dazzling crown rose.

This crown was more ancient and solemn than any crown Muen had ever seen. Those sacred totems were even stained with blood.

Normally, just the might of that crown rising would have crushed Muen straight into flesh paste.

But unfortunately, right now, he had to put more attention in other directions.

Just as Muen said, it was four-on-one now.

So there was no time to display the crown’s true power. The deep-gray curtain spread again—Shenyi forcibly resisted that black sun that kept crushing down, and at the same time he pointed a finger at Muen.

"Pff."

Like a bubble being punctured, Muen coughed up blood.

Under that one finger, his body nearly split apart completely. The female body concealed by the potion revealed a flash of spring light; blood streamed out, miserable to the extreme.

But that misery only lasted an instant. Under the dual recovery of black flame and Holy Light, the wounds on Muen’s body were like time flowing backward, quickly leaving not a trace.

"Do you understand the gold value of double heals?"

Muen wiped his nosebleed and threw another punch.

Facing an enemy at Shenyi’s level, Elizabeth had temporarily lost its use. After all, Muen himself was too weak right now—since Elizabeth was his weapon, it also couldn’t pose any threat to Shenyi.

He might as well just use his fists!

To hell with you trying to steal my little maid—who the hell do you think you are?

The deep-gray curtain was suddenly burned through, and this punch actually landed on Shenyi’s abdomen.

Shenyi didn’t move at all, because his physical strength was just far, far beyond Muen’s. Even if Muen hit him, to him it was no different from being bitten by a mosquito.

But black flame had already touched his flesh, beginning to burn and swallow his thousand-year-cultivated body!

Shenyi was quickly swallowed by black flame.

But another Shenyi stepped out again, as if what had just been burned and devoured was only an illusion.

Shenyi’s face was like still water.

A thousand years—when had he ever suffered such humiliation? To actually be forced into a somewhat miserable state by a mere Fourth-Tier martial artist.

Killing intent rose in him. He wanted to concentrate his strength first and crush this guy in front of him—the guy yelling about love and bonds—into dust.

But the moment that thought rose...

"You were distracted, Shenyi."

Above the heavens, the Judgment Archbishop smiled faintly.

Infinite Holy Light flowed. With a turn of her palm, it condensed into countless Holy Light crosses that fell like rain!

Majestic radiance descended—light once again took the upper hand!

Although most of it was still blocked by the deep-gray curtain Shenyi held up, a small portion still pierced that curtain that seemed able to isolate space itself, falling onto this ancient city.

Dust and smoke billowed. Earth and stone roared. Several tall towers slowly collapsed.

Time had not been able to destroy them, yet they still turned into scraps under that cold Holy Light.

Shenyi’s eyes reflected it all. He lowered his head to look at his own sleeve—it had already become somewhat tattered.

On the other side, the Black Knight also seized this chance. The vast shadow beneath his feet devoured the space around Shenyi in great swaths, forcing Shenyi into constant passive defense.

The edge of Shenyi’s clothing was torn as well.

And in the underground space, that monster formed from countless corpses melting and reshaping kept charging without regard for anything amid its howls, and it also seemed on the verge of breaking through Shenyi’s blockade.

And at this moment, a vivid red appeared in Shenyi’s palm as well.

How long had it been? How long had it been since he’d felt the taste of bleeding and being injured?

"Well? You still won’t admit defeat?"

The human brat in front of him, spraying blood a thousand times faster than him—so fast it even made people suspect he might just bleed out like this—was still swinging his fists at him, even though he looked like he should fall earlier than Shenyi.

But Muen still hadn’t fallen.

His movements had already started to look a little ridiculous, yet Shenyi couldn’t ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) laugh at all.

The wounds on his body were also increasing.

Hands. Feet. Body. Face.

Step by step.

Even if he was strong, even if it was one-on-one, he could easily grind any one of them here into slag.

But right now, he seemed like a beast being forced, little by little, to the end of the road.

"Admit defeat, old bastard!"

Muen’s mind was already on the verge of collapse, yet the more he fought, the more excited he became.

After all, chances like this to beat the hell out of a big shot weren’t common at all. The thrill of it might be second only to really pinching that old loli’s soft cheeks hard!

"You no longer have any hope of winning."

"Admit defeat, Shenyi," the Judgment Archbishop said. "There’s no meaning in resisting anymore."

"Why bother, Lord Shenyi," the Black Knight also said. "I clearly only wanted to borrow something."

"GAH-HO!"

The monster roared.

"Get out of the way! Human!"

"..."

Shenyi fell silent, then suddenly let out a long sigh, the whole of him looking as if he had suddenly aged a great deal.

"Looks like... I lost."

Maybe he shouldn’t have sent nearly all the demonfolk Grand Dukes to the front lines, leaving only Enchantress, that useless waste.

Maybe he should have killed this irritating human brat from the start, so he couldn’t make so many unexpected things happen.

Or maybe... he should have been colder, pushed this plan earlier, so that even the human Life Church wouldn’t have had time to react.

But... in the end, there was no “maybe.”

At least up to now, he’d been outplayed by one move.

So...

"I’m truly sorry."

Shenyi suddenly turned his head and looked toward An at the side. In his turbid eyes, thick sorrow flowed.

"In the end, it still has to be His Majesty who personally takes action..."