Chapter 160 Purging Dissenters

That bastard Zhou Tian! After slamming his fist heavily against the table, a cardinal stood up in a flurry of anxiety and began pacing back and forth around the room.

Had Avra and the others been present here, they would likely have recognized him immediately. This cardinal pacing around the table was none other than Rayne, the cardinal of the Church of Light who had been severely disciplined by Zhou Tian before the latter left the Holy City.

Why was Rayne cursing Zhou Tian here? To trace the origin of this grievance, one had to go back to the time when he was humiliated by Zhou Tian.

Aside from being a cardinal of the Church of Light, Rayne also held the position of Vice Inquisitor of the Church's Inquisition. His authority was so immense that it was practically on par with the grand cardinals stationed abroad.

The Inquisition was an extremely powerful department within the entire Church of Light. The External Inquisition specialized in demon-hunting missions. Apart from major operations, missions like the ones Zhou Tian and his companions used to undertake were entirely managed and dispatched by the External Inquisition. Strictly speaking, Zhou Tian's squad originally belonged to the members of the External Inquisition.

Unlike the External Inquisition, which faced outward, the responsibility of the Internal Inquisition was, naturally, internal.

Within the Church of Light, whenever any member committed a serious crime, they would be arrested and convicted by the Internal Inquisition. In terms of power, the Internal Inquisition functioned as the public security and judicial system of the entire Church of Light. As the Vice Inquisitor of the Internal Inquisition, one could easily imagine how formidable Rayne's authority had been back then.

Because the two sides did not belong to the same faction, Rayne had always enjoyed making trouble for Vivian and her group. From beginning to end, Vivian and the others were always the ones being bullied. Due to the disparity in their statuses, Rayne had never suffered a loss at Vivian's hands. Even as a candidate saint, whenever Vivian was bullied by him, her only thought was how to escape his persecution, utterly lacking any notion of fighting back.

That was until Zhou Tian appeared. Only then did Rayne suffer a violent retaliation.

Protected by the Pope's partiality, Rayne's status meant almost nothing to Zhou Tian. Moreover, Zhou Tian was a lawless individual who fiercely resisted Rayne's harassment from the very beginning. When pushed to the limit, he simply gave Rayne a thorough beating. Yet, bizarrely, after being beaten by Zhou Tian, Rayne had nowhere even to lodge a complaint.

Under the Pope's shelter, Rayne had no way to retaliate against Zhou Tian. Especially as Zhou Tian continued to rise in prominence, it became even harder for Rayne, relying solely on his own strength, to pose any threat to Zhou Tian.

Instead, having suffered defeat at Zhou Tian's hands multiple times and having completely lost his dignity in the Holy City long ago, combined with the Pope's disfavor, Rayne lost his position as Vice Inquisitor of the Inquisition before long.

His enemy was growing stronger and stronger, while Rayne's own strength was diminishing. If things continued this way, forget about revenge; Rayne would likely lose even the qualification to make Zhou Tian look at him properly in the future.

Fortunately, Rayne was not the only one displeased with Zhou Tian; quite a few high-ranking officials within the Church of Light shared that sentiment. No matter how great the Pope's authority was, he could not completely control all the forces within the Church. At the very least, when all the factions opposed to Zhou Tian united, the Pope was often forced to make compromises.

This time, Rayne had been assigned to the capital precisely because of one such compromise made by the Pope.

Many people within the Church knew about the feud between Rayne and Zhou Tian. Perhaps Zhou Tian had long since forgotten about such a person, but others certainly had not. Taking advantage of the rare opportunity to deal with Zhou Tian after the latter committed a grave mistake, they naturally dispatched Rayne, who hated Zhou Tian to the bone.

Because Zhou Tian had experienced many events after his conflicts with those people, those old skirmishes had long since ceased to occupy his mind. Thus, without realizing it, Zhou Tian had completely forgotten the very existence of his enemy, Rayne.

Zhou Tian might have forgotten Rayne, but Rayne certainly had not forgotten Zhou Tian. Therefore, upon arriving in the capital, Rayne immediately dispatched people to scheme and force Avra into readily ceding the Church's proselytizing rights. According to Rayne's original plan, he intended to convert all the residents of the capital into believers. Once all of Zhou Tian's subordinates were brainwashed by him, he could overthrow Zhou Tian's rule in the capital in one fell swoop. By then, not only would he settle the old score of how Zhou Tian had dealt with him, but annexing everything Zhou Tian possessed and becoming the new lord of the capital would not be an impossible feat.

However, Rayne had not anticipated that Zhou Tian's reaction would be so swift and ruthless, preferring to sacrifice a portion of his own strength rather than grant him any opportunity at all. Although he obtained the right to preach in the capital, Rayne's original plan was no longer executable. After pacing angrily around his room for a few circles, Rayne finally sighed and reluctantly accepted the outcome.

Presently, Zhou Tian still held absolute authority in the capital. As long as Zhou Tian wished it, he could do whatever he pleased. Although his plan had been ruined, Rayne could do nothing to stop him. Aside from racking his brains to see if there were any other ways to continue his previous plan, he was utterly helpless against Zhou Tian.

"Although my plan has been ruined by Zhou Tian, the right to preach has genuinely fallen into my hands. Even if I cannot achieve my previous objective now, as long as I preach diligently, it might not be impossible to rival Zhou Tian in the capital. Then, I will slowly investigate and acquire the manufacturing technology for those puppets. When that time comes, let's see what you have left to be arrogant about, Zhou Tian!" With a cold snort and a decision made in his heart, Rayne immediately sprang into action.

Even though Zhou Tian no longer remembered him, Rayne did not dare to openly show his face. Everyone knew Zhou Tian was a lawless individual. If Zhou Tian were to recognize his identity, Rayne had no doubt that Zhou Tian might directly execute him right there in the capital.

Therefore, regardless of what he did, Rayne ordered others to carry it out while he himself hid in the shadows day in and day out, waiting for the day when he truly possessed sufficient power to finally have the courage to face Zhou Tian.

Zhou Tian was unaware that an enemy named Rayne was lurking in the shadows, keeping an eye on him. Therefore, while he maintained some vigilance against the cathedral in the capital, he had no immediate intention of eradicating it. Upon seeing that his decree had been issued and the usual hustle and bustle around the cathedral had vanished, Zhou Tian ceased paying much attention to the place.

While Zhou Tian remained oblivious, Rayne's petty maneuvers were incessant. Every day, he either relentlessly brainwashed believers or planted individuals who feigned apostasy into the capital's administration, hoping to incrementally swallow up Zhou Tian's sphere of influence through such methods.

Although Zhou Tian did notice some minor actions originating from the cathedral, he ultimately refrained from saying much. After all, the actions Zhou Tian had taken previously were truly a bit excessive; wrongdoing required punishment. If Zhou Tian continued to remain unyielding on this matter today, the Pope would not be able to protect him, and the Church of Light would move against him.

In any case, Zhou Tian cared little about the administrative rights of the capital. Unless the cathedral crossed the bottom line of his tolerance as it had before, Zhou Tian would not—and could not—make a move against Rayne's people for the time being. Of course, Rayne was unaware that every single move of his fell into Zhou Tian's eyes. Since it was currently inconvenient for Zhou Tian to act, he simply let Rayne play his hand for now. Once the uproar surrounding his previous actions died down, Zhou Tian would naturally settle accounts properly with the subordinates under Rayne.

Time flowed gently by. While the capital continued to expand and grow stronger, Rayne's influence began to seep into the city bit by bit. By the time the memory of Zhou Tian's siege of the city had nearly faded from people's minds, Rayne had even begun to forget the original purpose that had brought him to the capital in the first place.

Long-term political struggles and maneuvering against the capital's officials caused Rayne to spend his days solely focused on calculating this and plotting that. The contention for power had completely consumed his heart and mind. Not only had his personal strength failed to make any progress during this period, but even his original goal had undergone a shift.

Under such circumstances, Rayne was single-mindedly obsessed with seizing more power from the capital, completely failing to notice that ever since the uproar of the siege blew over, the atmosphere in the capital had begun to change quietly, bit by bit.

Zhou Tian might not remember a person named Rayne, but forgetting Rayne did not mean Zhou Tian would refrain from taking action against the cathedral within his own city.

Although most of Rayne's actions remained within the baseline of Zhou Tian's tolerance after the initial phase, Rayne constantly plotted to wrest the rule of the capital from Zhou Tian's hands. To achieve this objective, he continuously employed unscrupulous plots and schemes to undermine others. Although Rayne had achieved most of his goals during that period, the fact that his petty actions fell into Zhou Tian's eyes only deepened Zhou Tian's dissatisfaction with the cathedral. It was merely because the turbulence had not yet fully subsided that Zhou Tian found it inconvenient to act against them.

Now, the moment the controversy quieted down, Zhou Tian naturally could no longer restrain himself and sought to wipe the cathedral—ruled by Rayne—right out from under his very nose.

Seated in the primary seat, Zhou Tian glanced at the general kneeling below and asked, "How are preparations for the matter coming along?"

"Reporting to the Lord City Lord, the troops have already reached their designated positions. Any abnormal activity within the city can be suppressed in a timely manner."

"Very well. Remember, I don't care what status the other party holds; anyone who dares to show abnormal activity at that time is to be executed without regard for their status. After all this time, it is finally time to excise the tumor from our capital."

Hearing Zhou Tian's words, the general below did not dare to reply. He simply kept his head lowered, wearing an expression as if he had heard nothing at all.

"Dismissed!"

"Understood, City Lord!" Receiving the order, the general heaved a quiet sigh of relief and cautiously retreated.

"Hopefully, after this incident, the Church will learn to be a bit wiser!" With a faint sigh, Zhou Tian rose from his seat and walked outward.

It had to be said, although Rayne's personal strength was mediocre, he was genuinely adept at controlling people's minds.

Even though Zhou Tian repeatedly restricted the development of the Church of Light, Rayne managed to continuously expand the cathedral's influence under such unfavorable conditions. Not only were there increasing numbers of believers in the capital, but nearly thirty percent of the officials under Zhou Tian's command had secretly pledged devotion to the God of Light.

In the past, Zhou Tian might not have cared about such a situation. After all, religious belief was their freedom; if they wanted to believe, they could go ahead. Zhou Tian simply lacked the time to bother with such trivial matters.

The problem now, however, was that the person in charge of the capital's cathedral harbored ill intentions toward Zhou Tian. Even though Zhou Tian did not believe the other party could do anything to him, having someone constantly lingering around you, watching and plotting against you, was something no normal person could endure.

Therefore, the moment external pressure eased slightly, Zhou Tian became impatient to make a move against Rayne.

However, Zhou Tian still underestimated Rayne to some extent.

Because the entire capital was enshrouded under the Twelve Heavenly Godsfiend Grand Array, as long as Zhou Tian desired, every movement of everyone within the capital could not escape his detection. Thanks to this capability, Zhou Tian was crystal clear about whom Rayne had contacted over the years and what those individuals had done.

It was precisely because of this capability granted by the Twelve Heavenly Godsfiend Grand Array that Zhou Tian dared to move against the cathedral so effortlessly. Knowing which residents in the capital were affiliated with the cathedral, which were neutral, and which were loyal to him, and possessing a hundred percent certainty of uprooting Rayne's faction without needing to worry about future repercussions, Zhou Tian naturally acted without any misgivings.

Yet, no matter how formidable the Twelve Heavenly Godsfiend Grand Array was, Zhou Tian's personal energy was ultimately limited. Under Zhou Tian's surveillance, although the identities of nearly all of Rayne's subordinates had been investigated and identified, there were inevitably a few fish that slipped through the net. Those whose identities were known remained entirely unaware of Zhou Tian's operation, but because Zhou Tian had failed to notice a few insignificant characters, they ended up participating in this operation. As the operation was about to unfold, those few minor figures needlessly generated a great deal of trouble for Zhou Tian.

Rayne and his people had no inkling that Zhou Tian was about to strike against them, and consequently, they had made no preparations whatsoever. Had everything unfolded according to Zhou Tian's plan, all the forces established by Rayne would likely have been captured or killed by Zhou Tian's troops without even realizing what had happened, leaving not a single survivor.

Yet just before Zhou Tian's operation commenced, those few minor figures suddenly tipped off their targets. As a result, Zhou Tian's foolproof operation encountered quite a few variables.

With warnings issued, even though not all of Rayne's subordinates knew of his wild ambitions, very few were destined to submit docilely and be captured when faced with imminent arrest. Therefore, just as Zhou Tian's troops prepared to make their arrests, the targets—a group of Rayne's subordinates—chose to resist without a moment's hesitation.

Following that, because of Zhou Tian's operation, the entire capital erupted into chaos.

Although Rayne's faction was completely incomparable to Zhou Tian in strength, having operated in the capital for so long and backed by the high echelons of the Church of Light, it was absolute nonsense to say he possessed no underlying strength at all.

If Zhou Tian's original plan had proceeded smoothly, perhaps there would have been no trouble. But now, before Zhou Tian even had time to act, his intentions had been exposed to the enemy, giving Rayne time to rally his forces in resistance.

When all those events transpired, Zhou Tian was left grinding his teeth in frustration. He had exercised the utmost caution to ensure Rayne would not discover the operation beforehand, even excluding anyone who had excessive contact with Rayne from participating. Yet he never expected that under such circumstances, some of Rayne's people still managed to infiltrate the operational ranks, turning what should have been an effortless task into a much more cumbersome endeavor.

Even so, it was merely troublesome. As for Rayne's attempts to resist Zhou Tian, his meager strength fell far short.

Since Rayne's people had already discovered him, Zhou Tian simply cast aside all restraint. With a mere thought from Zhou Tian, the Twelve Heavenly Godsfiend Grand Array immediately surged into motion.

"Not good!" Having already broken out into a fight, Rayne's people naturally noticed the changes in the capital. The moment the Twelve Heavenly Godsfiend Grand Array activated and the twelve divine statues began to stir, the expressions of those currently resisting instantly shifted.

For the capital to achieve its current prosperity, the Twelve Heavenly Godsfiend Grand Array had undoubtedly played a massive role.

The Monster Forest—residing in such a place held immense appeal for many, but due to frequent monster stampedes, any ordinary person would have to consider whether their safety could be guaranteed before choosing to live there.

The terrifying power of the Twelve Heavenly Godsfiend Grand Array was widely renowned across the continent. Everyone knew the capital possessed twelve divine statues capable of defeating demigods when working in unison. In a world where the Saint Realm was considered the peak and demigods never stepped onto the public stage, one could easily imagine what kind of overwhelming power the Twelve Heavenly Godsfiend Grand Array represented.

Because they held absolute confidence in the capabilities of the Twelve Heavenly Godsfiend Grand Array, so many people dared to move into the capital and reside there. As members living within the capital, even though they belonged to Rayne's faction, they were far from unfamiliar with the grand array. Seeing the array activated by Zhou Tian, many of them instantly turned pale.

Those who still understood nothing about the situation finally realized who was moving against them. Completely ignorant of Rayne's intentions and failing to comprehend why Zhou Tian was targeting them, panic-stricken individuals quickly dropped their weapons and chose to surrender on the spot.

However, compared to those who lacked understanding, quite a few were well aware of Rayne's plan. Upon seeing that Zhou Tian had even mobilized the Twelve Heavenly Godsfiend Grand Array, they offered bitter smiles before preparing to launch desperate, mutually destructive counterattacks without a second word.

However...

Zhou Tian would not allow the capital to suffer damage because of this operation. Thus, the moment the array activated, the twelve ancestral witches, acting under Zhou Tian's command, swiftly launched attacks against the stronger faction among Rayne's subordinates.

The moment the twelve ancestral witches made their move, Rayne's subordinates instantly collapsed.

Presently, Zhou Tian's Twelve Heavenly Godsfiend Grand Array utilized vastly superior divine statues, elevating the strength of all twelve ancestral witches to the divine level. With twelve divine beings striking simultaneously, what could those practitioners—whose strength at best barely reached the Saint Realm—possibly use to block the onslaught of the Twelve Heavenly Godsfiend Grand Array?

In merely two or three minutes, under the assault of the Twelve Heavenly Godsfiend Grand Array, all of Rayne's subordinates perished beneath the terrifying attacks. Only then did Zhou Tian shift his attention toward the cathedral.

Zhou Tian had almost no lingering impression of Rayne, nor had he ever inquired about him with Avra and the others. Therefore, although Zhou Tian knew the person in charge of the cathedral had consistently opposed him, until this very moment, Zhou Tian still remained somewhat unclear as to why Rayne harbored such hostility toward him.

Failing to recognize Rayne mattered little now. Since Zhou Tian had made up his mind, he naturally would not show leniency toward Rayne. Having exhausted his tolerance for Rayne's petty actions, Zhou Tian had finally taken action and was fully prepared to wipe him out completely this time.

Would Rayne willingly submit to being killed by Zhou Tian like this?

Obviously, that was impossible.

In fact, if Zhou Tian wanted to kill Rayne, while it was not entirely impossible, actually executing him might prove far more difficult than Zhou Tian imagined.

Zhou Tian had long since displayed the terrifying might of the Twelve Heavenly Godsfiend Grand Array before the envoys of the Holy City. Given Rayne's personality, no matter how much he hated Zhou Tian, without absolute certainty regarding his own safety, he would likely prefer to forgo revenge rather than plunge himself into mortal danger.

With such a personality, Rayne's appearance in the capital undoubtedly indicated that Rayne—or rather, the high-ranking factions within the Church of Light who opposed Zhou Tian—had long since devised a method to deal with Zhou Tian. If Zhou Tian wished to kill Rayne, he would at least need to neutralize their prepared trump card first. Yet of all this, the current Zhou Tian remained entirely ignorant.

With a single command, Zhou Tian directed the twelve ancestral witches—manifested through the power of the Twelve Heavenly Godsfiend Grand Array—to hurl a massive punch directly toward the cathedral in the capital.

Given the strength of the twelve ancestral witches, a single punch of this magnitude would likely cause the cathedral to vanish entirely from the capital. Rayne, residing within the cathedral, naturally would have no possibility of escaping unscathed.

Yet, contrary to expectations where Rayne should have had zero chance of survival, the attack of the twelve ancestral witches was unexpectedly blocked.

A dazzling milky-white radiance suddenly erupted from the cathedral in the capital. When the attacks of the twelve ancestral witches landed upon that pillar of light, they were directly intercepted and halted by its formidable energy.

"Could this be... divine power?" Zhou Tian never anticipated that Rayne possessed such power in his hands. The moment that divine power surged from the cathedral, Zhou Tian knew instantly that his operation this time would likely not resolve as easily as he had planned.

"Zhou Tian, I never expected you to lose your patience and move against me so quickly!" Just as the attacks of the twelve ancestral witches were blocked, Rayne emerged from the cathedral, holding a 'chalice' in his hand.

"You are..." Taking a close look at Rayne from a short distance, Zhou Tian felt a vague sense of familiarity. However, too much time had passed, and his impression of Rayne had never been deep; thus, despite the familiarity, Zhou Tian genuinely could not remember who Rayne was.

Observing Zhou Tian's reaction, Rayne was driven to exasperation.

Sometimes, directly ignoring someone was far more infuriating than hitting or cursing them. Rayne had always considered himself Zhou Tian's archenemy. Although their individual strengths and spheres of influence had gradually drifted apart over time, Rayne had never imagined that while he regarded Zhou Tian as a mortal enemy, the very person he feared had long since forgotten him entirely.

This was a blatant, resounding slap to the face!

Seeing Zhou Tian's expression, Rayne's face darkened instantly. He already harbored deep animosity toward Zhou Tian, and with the addition of today's events, Rayne likely hated Zhou Tian to the marrow of his bones by now!

Yet Zhou Tian truly did not remember who Rayne was. Seeing Rayne wear such a resentful and indignant expression, Zhou Tian actually asked him once more, "Come to think of it, you look somewhat familiar. We must have met back in the Holy City, right?"

"You... you!" Rayne's lips trembled. The scathing curses he had prepared were choked back by sheer fury. Glaring bitterly at Zhou Tian, Rayne finally gritted his teeth, whipped out a spatial scroll, tore it open, and cast a final, venomous glare at Zhou Tian. "Zhou Tian, remember today's grievance! This is only the beginning. One day, I will return every single bit of the humiliation you inflicted upon me!"

"Um..."

"Just you wait!"

"What I wanted to say was that once the grand array of my city is operational, spatial scrolls cannot be used."

*Caw, caw...* A metaphorical crow flew past overhead...

"How can this be?" Rayne felt as though he was about to vomit blood.

The high echelons of the Church of Light were already well aware of the terrifying power of the Twelve Heavenly Godsfiend Grand Array. Regarding a capital boasting no fewer than thirteen divine-level combat strengths, it was not that the Church lacked the ability to destroy it; rather, until Zhou Tian committed some heinous atrocity, the Church's leadership likely lacked both the intention and the resolve to do so.

Therefore, the reason Rayne dared to come to the capital had nothing to do with any combat strength in his own hands. In fact, up until this very moment, Rayne had never considered using brute force to deal with Zhou Tian. After understanding the combat power Zhou Tian possessed, although Rayne had once burned with envious fury, he had to admit that relying on martial might alone meant he could never hope to exact revenge on Zhou Tian in this lifetime.

The reason he dared to come to the capital relied entirely upon the 'chalice' in his possession and the unsealed spatial transmission scroll.

The power of the 'chalice' was sufficient to help him block the attacks of the twelve ancestral witches, while the spatial scroll could whisk him out of the capital the moment Zhou Tian moved against him.

It was precisely because of these two safety guarantees that Rayne dared to venture into the capital. Although Zhou Tian's swift action took Rayne by surprise, he felt no fear because he held the trump card to guarantee his safety.

Yet now, just as Rayne was brimming with confidence that his spatial scroll could teleport him away, Zhou Tian informed him that spatial scrolls could no longer be used within the capital. One could easily imagine how complex Rayne's emotions were at that moment.

His ultimate trump card had suddenly malfunctioned. His perceived absolute safety transformed instantly into standing alone against thirteen divine-level powerhouses. Regret, panic, and terror filled Rayne's mind; the only thing entirely missing was the self-confidence he had displayed just moments before.

While Rayne stood there awkwardly, wondering what he should do next—and whether he should surrender to Zhou Tian—Zhou Tian made his move.

Although Zhou Tian still could not recall who Rayne was, he had clearly sensed the intense hatred Rayne had displayed toward him just before attempting to flee. For Zhou Tian, anyone harboring such malice toward him could not be spared. Regardless of how weak their power was, an enemy had to be eradicated as early as possible. Zhou Tian certainly did not wish to let Rayne go only for him to eventually morph into a threat akin to the snake-people of the past.

With a flick of his mind, the twelve ancestral witches surrounding Zhou Tian instantly launched another coordinated assault upon Rayne, who had failed to escape.

Fire, water, lightning, space...

Every ancestral witch was a master of a specific element. Under the combined onslaught of the twelve ancestral witches spanning over a dozen elements, Rayne's figure was swiftly swallowed and buried beneath wave after wave of destructive energy.

After sustaining several consecutive rounds of attacks, the twelve ancestral witches finally ceased their assault, and Rayne's figure reappeared within everyone's field of vision.

Trembling slightly as he patted his body, Rayne discovered that the recent attacks of the twelve ancestral witches had not inflicted any serious harm upon him. A triumphant, excited smile spread across his face as he glared defiantly at Zhou Tian. "Zhou Tian, you didn't expect this, did you? I am protected by the Holy Grail! So what if you possess numerous divine-level powerhouses in your hands? You still cannot kill me!"

"Sigh." Seeing Rayne's performance, Zhou Tian shook his head, pointed directly at him, and said, "Although I have no idea what kind of object the Holy Grail in your hands is, I must admit it is truly an impressive treasure. Being able to withstand the attacks of twelve divine-level powerhouses for this long—calling it a divine artifact is no exaggeration. However, an artifact is ultimately just an artifact. If you could replace the Holy Grail in your hands with the deity who manufactured it, perhaps I truly could do nothing to you today. But what you hold is merely a lifeless object forged by one. No matter how powerful an instrument is, it cannot compare to a living person. The Holy Grail possesses formidable defensive capabilities, but it must still be sustained by energy to operate, right? I noticed from the very beginning that the magic power within your body has remained completely untouched. In other words, that Holy Grail must be drawing its defensive power from some other source of energy. I neither know nor care what specific energy it utilizes, but if this is your only trump card, then I can proudly inform you that you are unlikely to walk out of the capital alive today."

"Are you trying to scare me?" Hearing Zhou Tian's words, Rayne felt a primal surge of unease. However, because the target of his defiance was Zhou Tian, no matter how uneasy he felt, Rayne refused to display any 'weakness' in front of him. Thus, even while knowing his current situation was far from favorable, Rayne put on an arrogant front and hollered at Zhou Tian, "Is the defense of the Holy Grail something you can easily shatter? Haven't your puppets already tested it? Since they couldn't do a thing to me just now, they won't pose any threat to me now either. I suggest you stop wasting time here and let me leave the city. Otherwise, if this fight continues, while I might have a hard time, the one who suffers losses in the end will definitely be you!"

"Is that so?"

"Do you agree or not? If you don't clear the path right now, I really will start slaughtering those civilians."

"Is this how you serve as a cardinal? You're actually preparing to slaughter civilians. Have you forgotten the doctrines of the Church of Light?"

"Stop spouting nonsense! You forced me into this."

"If you hadn't spent every day scheming against me, I wouldn't have had the time to specifically target you. To put it bluntly, if your ambitions weren't so bloated, today's events would never have transpired in the first place."

"Cut the crap! Will you let me pass or not? While I may not be a match for your puppets, if I truly strike, slaughtering the civilians of your capital is something your powerful puppets will be just as helpless to prevent!" As if to add persuasive weight to his words, Rayne suddenly dropped a bombshell: "You probably didn't know this, did you? Ever since I arrived in the capital, I've secretly planted numerous unstable magic cores throughout the city! With just a single thought from me, this capital will be blown sky-high by those buried cores. Can you truly bear to watch the civilians inside your city die in that explosion? My strength poses no major threat to you anyway; can't you just let me off this once?"

"You probably didn't know this, did you? Ever since I..." Just as Rayne finished threatening Zhou Tian, Zhou Tian's body suddenly projected the sound of Rayne's voice, repeating the exact speech Rayne had just delivered word for word.

Only at that moment did Rayne finally realize why Zhou Tian had bothered to converse with him for so long.

However, realizing Zhou Tian's intentions came too late for Rayne to stop him.

A cold smile crossed Zhou Tian's face as if he were deliberately baiting him. After broadcasting Rayne's voice, Zhou Tian remarked mockingly, "I really must thank you! After all, you represent the Church of Light. Without a valid justification, even if I killed you, the Church of Light might not go to war with me, but my reputation would undoubtedly take a hit. However, if you've planted so many hazardous, explosive materials throughout my city with the intent to blow the capital sky-high, then even if I execute you, the Holy City won't be able to find a single excuse to hold me accountable, right? Furthermore..." At this point, Zhou Tian cast a derisive glance at Rayne and continued, "Did you really think I was incapable of harming you just now?"

Rayne's heart sank. Hearing Zhou Tian's words, he realized he had been manipulated by Zhou Tian from the very beginning. Because he had been careless, he had handed Zhou Tian the very 'evidence of his crimes.' Even if Zhou Tian killed him now, no one would stand up for him. Instead, for the sake of its own reputation, the Church of Light would likely make him a scapegoat.

Unless he could kill Zhou Tian right now, neither Zhou Tian nor the Church of Light would let him off. Contemplating his current plight, Rayne was left with only a single thought: escape! Only by fleeing and saving his life could he consider anything else; otherwise, if Zhou Tian truly executed him right here, he would lose everything utterly and completely.

"Have you not noticed that the density of the divine power shielding your body has diminished significantly?" Just as Rayne prepared to flee, Zhou Tian's loud voice rang out in warning. "I noticed it just a moment ago under the attacks of the twelve ancestral witches—the defense of your so-called Holy Grail has weakened considerably. Though unblemished, it confirms my earlier hypothesis. The defense of your Holy Grail is formidable, but it requires energy to sustain. Since you have no supplementary energy source on hand right now, continuous attacks mean you simply won't last much longer in your current situation!"

Hearing Zhou Tian's words, panic gripped Rayne's heart, and his attempts to flee became even more frantic and disheveled. Yet, no matter how panicked he was, what could he do? Given the insurmountable gap between him and Zhou Tian, he was destined to have no chance of escape.

"Kill him!" At Zhou Tian's command, the twelve ancestral witches formed by the Twelve Heavenly Godsfiend Grand Array launched yet another strike against Rayne.

Just as Zhou Tian had stated, while the divine power defense of the Holy Grail was formidable, the internal energy stored within it was severely limited. After enduring nearly three rounds of attacks from the twelve ancestral witches, the Holy Grail's energy was finally exhausted, causing the defensive barrier of divine power to snap back into the cup.