Chapter 514: Chapter 514: Sad Misfortune (1)

"Are they all... dead?" The Cardinal of Envy widened her eyes, fear filling them.

Those sixty-seven people were the cream of the crop.

So why did they die so easily?

Fear crept over her, but she forced herself to remain calm.

Turning to Malverna, she asked in a cold voice, "Who are you? Why are you interfering with my work?"

She couldn’t act recklessly. The woman before her was far too terrifying.

A voice deep in her heart warned her that one wrong move would be her last.

Malverna remained silent, as if indifferent to the question.

Then she raised her left hand, lowering her index and middle fingers at the same time.

"Meteor Shower," she muttered coldly.

Buzz!

A magic circle suddenly appeared in the sky. From it, hundreds of blue fire meteors shot toward the Cardinal of Envy.

The Cardinal’s eyes widened in fear. She gathered all the strength in her legs and leaped backward.

Boom!

A meteor struck the spot where she had been standing. The explosion destroyed everything within a radius of tens of meters.

The corpses of the Underworld Gate members were blasted in all directions, shattered on impact.

Strangely, the magic circle shifted slightly forward.

It had only one target: the Cardinal of Envy.

Whoosh!

Dozens of meteors shot out again, chasing after her at terrifying speed.

Realizing escape was futile, the Cardinal of Envy quickly opened her palms.

All of a sudden, two black chains appeared. They were no ordinary chains—sharp blades like swords were attached to their ends.

"Hyaaa!"

She leaped into the air and spun the two chains at blinding speed.

The meteors burst apart before they could reach her.

"Oh? That’s quite an impressive ability," Malverna said, a hint of surprise in her voice.

Admittedly, the woman had some strength. But that was all. After this, she would end things quickly and go meet her beloved former disciple.

"Hah... Hah... Hah..." The Cardinal of Envy gasped for breath, her face pale beneath her mask. ’Damn... That woman is ridiculously strong! How could I be this unlucky?’

It hadn’t even been a month since she joined the Gate of the Underworld, and this was her very first mission.

To make matters worse, misfortune seemed to cling to her ever since she left, leading her to encounter the mysterious woman before her.

"You do have some ability," Malverna said casually. "But what if you take another strike from me?"

A few seconds later, the sky darkened even further.

Thick black clouds appeared out of nowhere, gathering as they formed a terrifying vortex.

Black lightning roared in all directions, as if an ancient monster that had slumbered for thousands of years were about to awaken and plunge the world into chaos.

The Cardinal of Envy trembled in fear. The sight was so horrifying that her body froze in place.

"Catastrophic Level Magic: Abyrion!" Malverna cried coldly.

Boom!

Boom!

A powerful explosion erupted from above. Moments later, a terrifying giant face emerged.

It was pitch-black, its red eyes bulging, and the rows of exposed teeth—devoid of lips—only made it even more menacing.

A black eye opened above its forehead. Just looking at it made the Cardinal of Envy feel as if her heart were being gripped by an invisible hand.

"No... Don’t! Don’t kill me!" she screamed hysterically.

Tears streamed from her eyes as despair, fear, and horror mixed together.

Sadly, the giant face remained indifferent to her screams.

The eye on its forehead glowed brightly. Suddenly, the mask covering the Cardinal of Envy’s face began to crack, slowly at first, before completely shattering.

And it wasn’t just the mask—her entire body began to fracture. Faint cracks spread across her form, driving her even deeper into terror.

"No... Don’t... I don’t want to die!"

Crack!

The fractures multiplied, and with a loud boom, her figure shattered into countless pieces that scattered in all directions.

The giant face gradually faded away, followed by the dispersal of the black clouds in the sky.

Malverna showed no joy or emotion. To her, the Cardinal of Envy was nothing more than an ant, utterly incapable of posing any threat.

In fact, she could have toyed with her. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the time.

Her gaze shifted toward the distance as she whispered coldly, "Ignis, I’m coming. Prepare your neck."

With those words, her figure dissolved into light and vanished.

***

"I must finish this quickly. But it seems the palace has powerful figures. They’re at the Celestial level, and there are... three—no, four."

Flying through the sky, the Cardinal of Lust narrowed her eyes warily.

She wasn’t afraid to fight a Celestial Mage one-on-one. But facing two—let alone three—would be extremely difficult.

Fortunately, those three weren’t in the direction she was heading.

They were on the south side of the capital, which meant she could ensure her own safety.

"Everyone, prepare your weapons. In a few minutes, we’ll arrive and destroy them immediately. Understood?" she ordered indifferently.

"Understood, the Cardinal of Lust!" the seventy people behind her replied in unison.

"Good." The Cardinal of Lust nodded in satisfaction and was about to give further instructions when the space around her suddenly froze.

Her eyes widened in horror. She hurriedly mobilized the power within her, but strangely, it wouldn’t respond.

Her body was suspended in midair, completely immobile. Only her consciousness remained under her control.

A few seconds later, space returned to normal, and she regained her freedom.

When she looked back, her face turned deathly pale.

The seventy people she had brought with her were gone.

Lowering her head, she saw their lifeless bodies scattered among the piles of snow.

The Cardinal of Lust froze for a moment before regaining her composure. She scanned her surroundings warily and asked coldly, "Come out. Don’t be a coward!"

The frozen space from earlier, along with the sudden deaths of her subordinates, was clearly someone’s doing.

Who that person was... she didn’t know.

What she did know was that this figure was so powerful that even she—who had always believed herself invincible—felt her hair stand on end.

Seeing that her enemy still refused to reveal themselves, the Cardinal of Lust grew irritated.

She opened her left palm. A map suddenly appeared above it.

She spread it open, then bit her thumb and let her blood drip onto the surface.

Dragging the blood to the left side of the map, she shouted, "Eye of Truth!"

Buzz!

The air grew colder as the sky above began to tremble. From thin air, a giant red eye formed.

It was enormous—nearly ten meters across. The eye swept over the Cardinal of Lust’s surroundings before locking onto a point exactly ten meters away from her.

"Found you!" The Cardinal of Lust grinned widely.

She clenched her right hand. In an instant, two-meter-long black thorns burst from the ground, shooting toward the spot targeted by the giant eye.

But suddenly—

Slash!

All the thorns shattered into fragments. From that spot, a playful voice echoed.

"I don’t know who you are, but you’re pretty strong. Could you be one of the Seven Cardinals?"