Chapter 833: Chapter 833

Cowen gripped the hilt of his blade tightly, eyeing the young man before him.

He leapt forward, his left leg shooting out towards the young man’s temple.

At the same time, the young man raised his right elbow to block the sudden kick.

Accompanied by a dull thud, Cowen’s flying kick collided with the young man’s elbow, causing both their bodies to tremble simultaneously. The young man’s grip loosened, and Cowen took the opportunity to draw his sword, as both of them simultaneously took half a step back.

Crimson Paper Butterflies flew from the hooded young man on the ground, landing on the fingertips of the black-robed young man.

It was indeed the "Domain" of the Paper Butterflies that enveloped him, allowing the hooded young man to masquerade as a powerful Transcendent, deceiving Cowen who had never seen Yiluo before.

The Paper Butterflies could also save the hooded young man and Lena in a moment of crisis, allowing them to hold on until He Ao arrived.

"Little Divine Being, I was brave, wasn’t I?"

The hooded young man took the opportunity to stand up, grinning at He Ao, his voice that of a young boy’s for the first time.

At the same time, Lena walked up behind He Ao.

He Ao, with his hands behind his back, gave the little boy a thumbs up as the black Exoskeleton Armor swiftly detached from his body.

The boy’s physique was naturally slender, like Yiluo; with the addition of height-increasing shoes, he closely resembled Yiluo in size.

Strictly speaking, the boy’s performance was somewhat unexpected.

Just now, the short duration He Ao managed to "deceive" Cowen was not only due to He Ao’s voice and reasoning, but also the boy’s maintained "composure," which was an essential factor.

He Ao gently lifted his hand, the crimson Paper Butterfly flying out of his palm, vanishing into thin air.

Cowen, ahead, lifted his golden longsword, a hint of a cold smile playing at the corners of his mouth, "isn’t it too early?"

The opposite side was clearly celebrating a successful ’deception,’ and he was the one being deceived.

A too trusting belief in Yiluo’s intelligence caused him to excessively heighten his vigilance towards Yiluo, even assuming that all of Yiluo’s actions were ’justified,’ without questioning their irrational aspects.

This led him to fall for such a simple ’disguise strategy.’

Although the deception was for a very brief time only, this short span was sufficient for the ’Yiluo’ in front of him to execute changes that could alter the game.

For the most intelligent and suspicious, the simplest and most straightforward ’stratagems.’

Cleverness entangled by cleverness.

The ’child’ on the opposite side was not only physically strong but also adept at manipulating people’s hearts.

Cowen positioned the golden longsword horizontally in front of him, his other hand’s fingers sliding over the sharp blade.

He was not fearful or concerned; instead, he was excited.

The more intelligent and formidable the enemy, the greater the sense of satisfaction after defeating them.

It had been a long time since he had encountered an enemy of this caliber.

He Ao watched the ’High Priest’ intently, his right hand drawing a bone sword from behind his black robe and slightly lifting it.

At this moment, his Exoskeleton Armor had completely retracted; the armor that had just protected his elbow had been shattered by Cowen’s kick, but the rest remained intact.

He grabbed the retracted Exoskeleton Armor with his left hand and tossed it to Lena behind him, "Take the little one to Vili, quickly."

Lena looked up just in time to catch the Exoskeleton Armor coming through the hole He Ao had just smashed in the ceiling.

Then he hugged the little boy beside him, leaped into the air, and jumped out through the ceiling just as the Exoskeleton Armor unfolded.

Throughout this process, Cowen didn’t make a move.

He simply watched He Ao silently, gripping the golden longsword in his hand.

His brown eyes held only the reflection of the black-robed boy.

His sword wasn’t very big, long and thin, and if it weren’t for the single-edged blade, it would look more like a ’longsword.’

"Has your body undergone some kind of ’strengthening’?"

After Lena left, Cowen, gazing at He Ao’s hand, spoke thoughtfully.

His sword wasn’t something formed on the spot. It was the culmination of his years of dedication, something even a B-level Transcendent wouldn’t dare to block barehanded.

Unless the opponent had some kind of protective Prop.

He Ao lightly flicked the blade of his bone sword and tilted his head slightly.

"I certainly don’t indulge in whimsical thoughts on the battlefield."

Cowen chuckled and shook his head.

He lowered the longsword in his hand, and a golden ring appeared around his waist, securing the blade, making it look as though he had sheathed his sword.

Brilliant golden light streamed along the blade’s edge.

He Ao watched his movements, stretching out his other hand to grasp his bone sword.

Both men took a simultaneous step forward.

Undulating flesh emerged from the ceiling of the corridor, spewing orange-gold light, which flowed into Cowen’s body.

At the same time, He Ao’s left eye lit up, an orange inverted triangle embedded in his dark pupils appeared.

In the profound void, as if eyes were emerging invisibly, they slowly ’erased’ those streams of light.

Golden light descending from the sky was almost simultaneously extinguished by the dark pupils, and there was no change in either of their auras.

Distorted, bizarre howls resonated in the deep void, but neither man’s actions were affected.

It seemed as though the forces they were contending with invisibly didn’t originate from either of them.

The distance between the two closed almost instantaneously, He Ao’s sword edge faster, as his sharp bone sword slashed like an illusion, aiming for Cowen’s face.

Simultaneously, Cowen quickly dodged to the side, evading the blade as it swished past him, unsheathing his longsword downward while simultaneously lifting it in one smooth motion, his other hand instantly rising to grasp the hilt.

The slender golden longsword almost immediately spun halfway around between Cowen’s raised hands, its tip switching from pointing down to up.

Then he stepped forward without hesitation, bending his knees, channeling all his strength, he slashed at He Ao’s neck.

He Ao immediately turned around, raising his hand holding the sword, sweeping it to block Cowen’s descending longsword.

The sword and sword collided.

Accompanied by the crisp sound of impact, the bone sword broke abruptly, with the top half of the blade flying out, piercing through the wall and lodging into the flesh inside the workshop.

He Ao looked up at the golden longsword in Cowen’s hand, stepped back, and watched the man before him.

"Your weapon doesn’t seem all that impressive."

Cowen raised his golden longsword, stood upright, still smiling as he watched He Ao.

He Ao looked down at the half of the broken sword in his hand, casually threw it, and it stuck into the flesh by the side of the workshop.

Then he raised his hand, drawing another, thicker bone sword from behind his back.

As he drew the bone sword, his complexion turned redder.

"Your defense, it became weaker?"

Cowen watched He Ao as layers of golden light cascaded from above the corridor, disappearing above his head. He glanced down at the golden longsword in his hand, a smile tugging at his lips, "It seems your ’defense’ prop is not without its flaws,"

"I can break your sword, and I can kill you,"

He narrowed his eyes, "Relying solely on cleverness won’t suffice if you lack strength."

He Ao held his sword in one hand, the tip touching the ground, his index finger resting on the blade.

Thin, orange blood oozed from between his fingers, tracing intricate ’patterns’ along the blade.

They were the ’Strengthening Magic Array’ he had seen on the Knight’s Sword.

Cowen looked at the finely forming patterns and suddenly moved forward, leaping towards He Ao with a downward chop aimed at his face.

He Ao quickly sidestepped, lifting his sword to deflect Cowen’s golden longsword while simultaneously dodging to one side.

The orange blood continued to swiftly spread along the blade.

But Cowen didn’t pause; as He Ao moved aside, Cowen landed, immediately pressed down, and lunged forward, sweeping his blade towards He Ao’s face.

He Ao once again raised his sword to block, deflecting the golden longsword.

Cowen swiftly flipped his blade, its point now down, slashing towards He Ao’s shin.

Cowen advanced further, raising his sword for another horizontal sweep, which He Ao again blocked by raising his sword.

In that instant, Cowen drew his blade downward.

He Ao instinctively thought he was going for another leg sweep and prepared to lift his leg, but at that moment, he changed his mind and watched Cowen’s blade movement.

In the brief moment, the golden longsword traced a horizontal oval shape resembling a rugby ball in the air, diving down from above.

He Ao quickly crouched slightly, using his sword to block Cowen’s ’stab.’

Had he been deceived into moving, that strike would have pierced his neck.

This time, Cowen didn’t withdraw his blade but instead swept it horizontally along the bone sword’s blade towards He Ao’s face.

He Ao moved his sword from vertical to horizontal, deflecting the golden longsword upwards while simultaneously ducking, evading the ’sweep.’

By then, the ’strengthening patterns’ on the bone sword were complete.

Cowen, having his longsword deflected, drew his blade once again, slashing towards He Ao’s lower body. This time, He Ao did not retreat; instead, he thrust his bone sword downwards, intercepting Cowen’s longsword.

The new bone sword collided with the longsword, the orange patterns above flickered momentarily, the blade vibrated slightly, but it still blocked the strike.

He Ao raised his head and offered Cowen a slight smile.

Cowen suddenly raised his blade, slashing down towards He Ao’s chest.

The floors and walls of the corridor continuously cracked from their fight, exposing the writhing flesh beneath.

While dodging the slash from Cowen, He Ao moved sideways forward, not retreating but advancing, thrusting his sword towards Cowen’s face.

Cowen raised his blade to block the sword while simultaneously gliding his blade down along the sword edge towards He Ao’s chest.

He Ao quickly flipped his body sideways, raising his hand to block this strategic strike, then he sharply flicked his blade, dislodging the longsword, stepped forward, and thrust towards Cowen’s chest.

Cowen retreated several steps, dodging the thrust, then he moved forward, swinging horizontally, diagonally slashing towards He Ao. As He Ao leaned back against the wall, Cowen took another step forward, his slender blade stabbing towards He Ao.

This strike seemed bound to pierce He Ao’s body, but in Cowen’s sight, the He Ao who was ’standing’ there suddenly ’flickered,’ and in an instant, he appeared at one side.

The golden longsword successfully stabbed into the writhing flesh within the wall.

Cowen’s expression changed suddenly.

However, He Ao didn’t give Cowen a chance to react. He immediately lifted his foot and stepped on the blade, then thrust his sword towards Cowen.

Cowen leaned back and dodged, then He Ao swiftly retracted his sword inward, slicing across Cowen’s chest as orange luminescent blood spattered out.

Cowen violently pulled his sword back and then leaped up, smashing through the ceiling above and landing on the roof.

He Ao followed suit and landed on the roof as well.

The howling cold wind swept through his robe, and scattered snowflakes fell from the sky.

The domain of the Eternal Divine Nation drove away the ordinary people around but did not dispel the wind and snow.

In this silent ’street block,’ the wind and snow became the lone embellishment under the night sky.

Unbeknownst to him, the wind and snow had grown much stronger, with the bright snowflakes fluttering about like falling willow catkins.

The shimmering snowflakes landed on the rooftop and quickly melted.

He Ao stared at Cowen, who was bleeding from the chest not far away.

The rich golden radiance still spread continuously around him, trying to enter his body, but was erased by an invisible force.

The power Cowen tried to "borrow" from the Eternal Divine Nation and the Eternal Radiance had been erased by He Ao.

This meant, in battle with He Ao now, Cowen could only use the power emanating from himself.

His body had undergone some ’special enhancement’; this enhancement wasn’t a temporary ’Grace’ but a long-term ’change’, permanently integrated into a part of his strength.

Therefore, his strength was much higher than an average B-level, with physical fitness between seven to eight thousand.

Under conditions without any cheats activated, this physical fitness could easily overpower everyone except for Bright, the leader of the Eternal Ancient Teachings.

However, as an Archbishop and in the situation of using cheats, he could activate much greater cheats.

If He Ao didn’t possess the ’Eye of Annihilation,’ the ability to erase ’external powers’ and ’seal cheats,’ he might have faced a terrifying enemy linked to the entire Eternal Divine Nation ’Reality Intersection’ of this nearby street block.

The level of terror could far surpass that of the ’Bishop’ who bound himself to the Inner Church.

Even so, when Cowen unleashed his full strength, his power was still much stronger than the maximum his body could handle.

Of course, with the movement techniques learned from Bright, he could barely contend with Cowen.

"You let your two companions come to ’deceive me’,"

Cowen glanced at his chest wound, then looked up at He Ao with a smile. "Aren’t you afraid I might kill them?"

"You wouldn’t, would you?"

He Ao calmly watched him.

"Of course, if I didn’t keep them, you wouldn’t come to the rescue,"

The golden tip of the longsword touched the ground, and Cowen’s face still held a smile. "Some cost paid must yield some gain, right?"

The vast rooftop began to writhe with flesh, and distorted bloody figures emerged from the ground.

The entire ’street block’ seemed to endlessly ’writhe.’

He Ao watched him, evidently, Cowen had thought of a way to utilize the ’Grace of the Eternal Divine Nation.’ Since the conferred power would be erased, let the Eternal Divine Nation ’participate’ in the battle in some form.

"Actually, I’d really like to show you the scene of the great Kingdom of God’s advent to the world,"

His tone was somewhat regretful, "unfortunately you’re too clever, so clever that you must die here for us to be at peace."

"The Corona of Radiance is in your possession, right? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been able to kill Bright,"

His gaze narrowed slightly. "So, why don’t you try to see if you can ’kill’ me too."

A slick, viscous sound echoed beneath the veil of snow; it was the music of all surrounding skyscrapers writhing.