Wandering Swordsman |

Her breathing suddenly stopped.

The scene before her was so absurd it was dizzying—the pope who sat atop the holy mountain, looked up to by millions of believers, and whom even emperors had to kneel before, was now prostrate at her feet, his robes stained with dust, his crown askew, like a clay statue that had been pushed over by a child.

Shen Mo stood beside her, his black robes imposing, his back like a mountain.

She raised her right hand, and holy power silently gathered in her palm. Her murderous gaze was aimed directly at the Pope's throat.

The Pope tilted his head back, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, then suddenly laughed, his voice hoarse and strained like sandpaper: "Alice...you killed me, and tomorrow the Tsarist Empire will be a river of blood...countless citizens will be buried with you..."

Her fingertips trembled, and she fell into thought.

If the Pope were to die suddenly today, the Holy See would unite with four other nations under the pretext of "protecting the faith" and target the Tsarist Empire... The Invincible Duke, the behind-the-scenes power behind the Tsarist Empire, would face the combined forces of five nations.

She closed her eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, the last trace of blood had faded, leaving only a deep, still pool.

I won't kill you.

The sound was very soft, yet it slightly eased the tense atmosphere in the hall.

With a flick of her wrist, the holy power she had gathered in her hand disintegrated and scattered.

"But remember this: if you use this as an excuse to start a war, you will not have a good end!"

Shen Mo remained motionless until she turned around, at which point he followed her and left together.

The two walked side by side toward the palace gate, their footsteps echoing clearly in the deathly silence.

Just as their figures were about to disappear outside the archway—

"Hoo... Hoo...!"

One of the deacons coughed violently and collapsed to the ground;

The knight of judgment staggered and fell to his knees, his helmet slamming to the ground with a thud...

The aura of the Beast King dissipated.

The Pope, meanwhile, was still lying on the ground.

He slowly propped himself up, his left little finger twisted at a horrifying angle, yet he was completely unaware.

He raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the mess on the ground... Finally, it fixed on the faces of his subordinates who had just regained their mobility but still dared not raise their heads.

That usually kind, compassionate face, which always seemed to hold a hint of a smile, was completely stripped away.

The wrinkles were distorted, the nasolabial folds were like knife cuts, and the jaw muscles were so tense that they trembled.

His Adam's apple bobbed, and suddenly he roared like a wild beast: "Useless trash!!!"

The sound waves exploded, making the sacred crystal in the dome vibrate!

He grabbed the scepter that had rolled to his feet and smashed it hard into the face of the nearest cardinal!

"Bang!"

Blood bloomed on the bishop's forehead, but he didn't even dare to dodge.

"You bunch of idiots who grew up on communion! You can't even handle one person?!"

He roared, spittle flying everywhere: "The Papacy's thousand-year-old prestige has been completely destroyed by your hands!!"

No one dared to answer.

Only his heavy breathing echoed against the stone walls in the empty temple, like an old lion trapped in a golden cage, on the verge of madness.

He watched helplessly as Shen Mo's black robe swept across the cracks in the ground, as the silver armor of the Judgment Knight peeled away its gold leaf under the pressure, and as his proud "Holy Spring Chassis" had no effect on Shen Mo...

This is no longer a failure, but a humiliation of divine authority being taken away by mortals!

"Useless! All of you are useless!"

A roar ripped through the deathly silence.

He staggered toward the niche, tearing down the crimson command flag hanging there, embroidered with a menacing thorn and scales emblem—the oldest authority of the Papacy for "purification."

"Bruce, listen to my command!" The voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping. "Gather ten thousand elite cavalry immediately! Pursue those two!"

He was panting heavily, his chest heaving like a demon just crawled out of hell: "I want to see... how they can hold off ten thousand cavalry with their flesh and blood!"

Cardinal Bruce knelt on the ground to receive the Pope's order, his forehead pressed against the cold stone bricks.

Then the Pope issued a new decree: "The daughter of the Invincible Duke is harboring heretics and plotting to assassinate the Pope. Immediately send a message to the cardinal councils of the four nations, urging the kings of each nation to send troops to punish the Tsarist Empire on the grounds of 'blasphemy against the Holy Mountain'!"

A chilling smile played on the Pope's lips. He paced to the window, his voice as soft as a viper's hiss: "Tell the kings of the four kingdoms... that if they do not send troops immediately, they will be disobeying God's will, and God will punish them..."

......

After leaving the Holy Mountain, Shen Mo and Alice traveled day and night for five days and nights and were finally approaching the border of the Holy Kingdom.

Shen Mo touched the ground with his toes, and his figure transformed into a streak of dark lightning that tore through the fog.

His left hand rested lightly on the scabbard of the Green Ox Sword at his waist, while his right hand remained suspended half a foot to his side—there, he should have been protecting a figure that might fall at any moment.

Alice was right beside him; her silver mask had long since been removed, revealing a face as pale as paper.

Her eyelashes trembled violently, and each breath was accompanied by the sobs of a dying animal.

She struggled to keep up with Shen Mo's pace, but her legs felt like they were filled with molten lead, and her kneecaps made a soft cracking sound with each flexion and extension.

Sudden--

Her vision went black, and the world spun around her. Her body tilted forward uncontrollably, like a white rose broken by a storm.

Just as she was about to crash into the jagged rocks, a warm hand steadily supported the back of her neck.

Shen Mo didn't even turn around. His right arm wrapped around her knees like an iron hoop, and his left arm scooped up her back. With a swift turn, he gently lifted her up.

Alice's cheek pressed against his dark collar, inhaling the scent of pine needles mixed with the chill of snow. She tried to struggle, but even the strength to lift a finger had evaporated. Her eyelids felt heavy as lead, and the last thing she saw was Shen Mo's thick eyelashes as he lowered his gaze.

"If you can't hold on any longer, go to sleep." His voice was deep and resonant, like an echo from the depths of the earth, making her eardrums vibrate slightly. "We're almost entering the Tsarist Empire..."

Not long after, Shen Mo led Alice away from the border of the Holy See Kingdom. Shen Mo's footsteps on the gravel road of the Tsarist Empire's border did not disturb a speck of dust.

He wasn't running, but rather gliding across the earth—his feet were three inches off the ground, his clothes remained perfectly still in the wind, as if the laws of gravity had failed around him.

Alice felt a strange sense of peace in her drowsy state. She heard the wind whistling past her ears but felt no turbulence; she saw the mountains on either side rushing past like the receding tide, yet her heartbeat remained steady.

......

She didn't know how much time had passed when she seemed to sense that Shen Mo's pace had slowed down, so she struggled to open her eyes.

Before my eyes, a city is rising from the horizon - Kitamura Castle.

Under the rule of the Invincible Duke, the most peaceful pearl in the far west.

With a light tap of his toes, Shen Mo transformed into a streak of dark lightning that tore through the fog.

The guard didn't even have time to draw his sword. He only felt a gust of wind sweep across his face, and the cold fragrance of pine needles and snow lingered around his nose. When he looked up again, the dark figure had disappeared into the depths of the city gate like a ghost, leaving only the silver wolf flag fluttering slightly in the wind.

Inside the Duke's mansion, the lights were on.

Shen Mo moved with lightning speed, traversing corridors and crossing courtyards, finally stopping in front of a tightly closed rosewood door. He could sense the presence of the Invincible Duke inside.