Chapter Ninety-One: The Seven-Ringed Halo of the Burning Heavens

"Ah—damn it." Although she managed to retreat and evade the lethal strike of the twin blades, a wound was still carved into her thigh. The upper-ranking evil god howled in pain and swung the shadowy black blade at Zhuang Xiaoyuan. As the evil god moved, a jet-black shadow shot forth from the blade, as if the weapon had suddenly elongated, slashing toward Zhuang Xiaoyuan. At the same time, the other two mid-tier evil gods had already raised their black blades and were charging forward.

"Crane Wing Triple Sequence." Catching sight of the attacks converging from three directions, a gleam flashed in Zhuang Xiaoyuan's eyes. The battle-hardened experience and sixth sense imparted by Chloe allowed her to remain composed even when beset on all sides.

She hurled the black and white twin blades in her hands toward the upper-ranking evil god. Before the shadow blade could strike, Zhuang Xiaoyuan vanished from her spot, utilizing Chloe’s displacement power—a magical skill akin to instantaneous teleportation. She reappeared behind the upper-ranking evil god, where, accompanied by a crimson shimmer of projection, a fresh pair of black and white blades materialized in her grip.

The upper-ranking evil god responded swiftly; missing the strike and finding Zhuang Xiaoyuan gone from before him, he instinctively shifted into a defensive stance. Ignoring the first pair of black and white blades spinning toward him from the front, he spun around, raising his shadow blade toward Zhuang Xiaoyuan, who now stood at his back.

For a second time, Zhuang Xiaoyuan threw the twin blades, vanishing once more before the upper-ranking evil god. Now, with the black and white blades whirling close, the evil god had no time to search for her true position—he could only swing his shadow blade to parry the twin blades before him.

"Ah!" "Ah!" As two anguished cries rang out, the upper-ranking evil god, having deflected the twin blades, turned to see his two subordinates—who had shielded him from the first pair of blades—collapse in succession. Zhuang Xiaoyuan was now within a single stride of the upper-ranking evil god.

Just moments before, after hurling the second pair of twin blades, Zhuang Xiaoyuan had once again shifted to her earlier position, where the two mid-tier evil gods were still fending off the first thrown pair. A mocking smile curled at the corner of her lips as a crimson light blossomed in her hands—the third pair of twin blades emerged, longer than the previous ones by half again, and evidently sharper and sturdier.

Projecting this elongated pair for the third time, Zhuang Xiaoyuan didn’t throw them; instead, she swooped in toward the mid-tier evil gods. As they were still preoccupied with defending against the first assault, she appeared before them, crossing the extended blades in her hands and slicing both enemies in half at the waist.

Though it might seem as if much time had passed, in truth, from the moment Zhuang Xiaoyuan threw the first pair of twin blades to the instant she projected the third pair and dispatched both mid-tier evil gods, only two or three seconds had elapsed.

In just those brief seconds, her opponents were reduced from three to one. Now, with the last remaining foe within arm’s reach, it seemed as though one casual strike would end it—but that, of course, was wishful thinking.

"Courting death." Accompanied by an inhuman, malefic voice, a surge of shadow energy erupted from the upper-ranking evil god. The shadow beneath his feet suddenly grew solid, shooting up spike after spike of sharpened darkness.

"Tch." Zhuang Xiaoyuan reacted instantly, shifting two or three meters away and clicking her tongue in mild annoyance. She hadn’t managed to end it in one fell swoop, though she had turned the tide from being surrounded to a one-on-one duel in the blink of an eye. Still, she didn’t want this battle to drag on—who knew if there were more evil gods lurking within the city? She needed to conserve her divine power. As expected, an upper-ranking evil god was not so easily dispatched as a mid-tier one.

If she used the Crane Wing Triple Sequence again, the effect likely wouldn’t match the first surprise attack, and to deploy her Noble Phantasm would consume far more energy. To save her strength, she would have to rely on a drawn-out fight. With that plan in mind, Zhuang Xiaoyuan was caught off guard when her adversary’s condition suddenly changed.

The outburst of shadow energy had clearly taken a toll on the upper-ranking evil god; after all, shadow attacks were a skill only king-class evil gods truly mastered, and this one could only borrow such power for brief moments. Now, he was half-crouched, panting heavily, but there was no trace of regret on his face—only a wild, destructive excitement.

"Heh... to think you’d corner me so far, not only foiling my mission but denying me any chance at redemption. If I’m doomed to die, let me at least offer my final service to Lord Akasa. Lord Akasa, may the deepest darkness be with you. Come perish with me, Guardian." His face twisted in fervent anticipation of destruction, the upper-ranking evil god’s body began to swell grotesquely, as if preparing to self-destruct.

"Damn—lunatic! If you’re going to blow yourself up, take it somewhere deserted!" Seeing his swelling form, Zhuang Xiaoyuan hastily shifted over and, disregarding the danger of a shadow attack, kicked him hard, hoping to send him flying far away.

Unexpectedly, at her kick, the evil god detonated—not in a powerful explosion, but rather as if his core had been shattered, his body disintegrating into drifting ash. Yet this ash did not disperse; instead, it coalesced into a column of smoke that shot straight into the sky, using the roof of Zhuang Xiaoyuan’s truck as its origin.

This black smoke pillar was strikingly conspicuous—visible from a great distance. It was as if the evil god’s self-destruction had created a signal, a marker transmitting some kind of message.

"A marker? Not good." The realization struck Zhuang Xiaoyuan, and she dashed to the rear edge of the truck’s cargo hold, raising her right hand diagonally toward the sky. "Projection: Seraphic Shield of Sevenfold Rings!"

At her invocation and the expenditure of considerable energy, a vast, ethereal crimson blossom unfurled from her raised hand. At its center was a circular core, surrounded by exactly seven petals—matching the seven rings of its enchanted name.

The Seraphic Shield of Sevenfold Rings was Chloe’s most-practiced Noble Phantasm—each petal a layer of defense, seven in all, forming a conceptual armament boasting absolute protection against thrown weapons and ranged assaults.

No sooner had Zhuang Xiaoyuan projected this defensive Noble Phantasm than beams of green light shot from the distant horizon, each one precisely targeting the transport truck at her feet.

Clearly, the upper-ranking evil god’s final "self-destruction" had served as a beacon for the artillery-class abominations outside the city, directing them to eliminate the significant threat he had discovered.