Oveich was filled with doubt and unease.
He understood all too well the terrifying pressure this state of his imposed upon his enemies.
The last time he revealed such power, the royal family's wizard had turned pale with fear.
Yet Sunan seemed unfazed, even showing a nostalgic, reminiscent expression.
Judging by his tone, it seemed he had encountered similar situations before.
But how could that be possible?
Besides himself, were there other humans on the continent who wielded divine power?
Sunan quickly adapted to the oppressive aura surrounding him.
In his past life, he had faced similar situations countless times.
Divine emissaries, demigods, and even actual deities—he had confronted them all personally.
Compared to those formidable and terrifying beings, Oveich was hardly worth mentioning.
Sunan could see that Oveich was merely absorbing divine energy into his body and using it.
In his current state, Oveich was essentially half a sacred artifact, with his will and cognition already twisted by faith imprints.
"True divine power is far beyond your level," Sunan chuckled, and before the puzzled Oveich could respond, he raised his hand, releasing a spell missile that struck Oveich.
However, the starlight surrounding Oveich merely flickered slightly, extinguishing the incoming spell missile.
Oveich snapped back to reality, his expression turning icy. He tore the star-shaped necklace from his neck, clenched it tightly in his hand, and in the next instant, a brilliant starlight burst from his palm, quickly forming a ghostly blue spear.
Swoosh!
The ghostly blue spear tore through the void, hurtling toward Sunan with an ear-piercing screech.
But Sunan had already completed another spell. His entire form blurred, splitting into eight identical figures dispersing in all directions.
Mirror Image!
One of the figures was pierced by the ghostly blue spear and shattered like a bubble.
"A mere illusion!"
Oveich snorted, taking out a Star Book, and with a slap of his palm on its pages, an invisible wave spread out, shattering each Sunan one by one until only the real one remained.
Sunan was unfazed. Taking advantage of the opportunity, he had already cast Lightness, Tenacity, and Shield spells on himself, preparing yet another spell.
Scorching Ray!
A searing, crimson beam shot toward Oveich, but it was once again blocked by the starlight enveloping him.
"Useless. You can't harm me."
Oveich spoke coldly.
Entering this state, his demeanor seemed to transform entirely, lacking his previous warmth and calm.
Hearing this, Sunan merely shrugged, ignoring him.
There was no such thing as an invincible defense.
Any defense, no matter how strong, had its limits.
It could either have a cumulative damage threshold, like the Extreme Protection Ring.
Or a limit for instant damage, requiring substantial energy to sustain, like the Magic Rune Core.
In either case, once the damage accumulated to a certain point, it could be breached.
Quickly calculating, Sunan hurled a high-level rune gem, transforming it into lightning that struck Oveich.
At the moment of impact, Oveich's starlight flared brightly.
Though he ultimately blocked the lightning, his reaction revealed a hint of vulnerability.
"Just as I thought," Sunan's eyes flashed with a smile, "Your defense must consume a lot of divine grace, right?"
Oveich's expression darkened, "So what if it does? Can you hold out until I exhaust my divine grace?"
As he spoke, his hand was already pressing on the Star Book again.
The surrounding stars hummed and tremored, then plummeted like a meteor shower toward Sunan.
Sunan nimbly dodged while swiftly countering with high-level rune gems.
The battle quickly escalated.
Both sides exchanged blows, dodging to minimize damage, testing who would falter first.
In this, Oveich was confident.
When he killed the royal family's wizard, he used only seven or eight years' worth of accumulated divine grace.
Now, with nearly forty years' worth within him, even if Sunan was stronger than that wizard, it should be more than enough to exhaust him!
But as time wore on, Oveich's expression grew uneasy.
In just five or six minutes, Sunan had endured five star falls and seven star spears, yet showed no sign of exhaustion.
Just how many magical items did this guy have?
Oveich wasn't entirely ignorant of magical items. By his estimation, even if Sunan carried thirty or forty alchemical-grade magical items, they should have been depleted by now.
Could Sunan have multiple twilight-grade protective magical items?
And more than one?
As Oveich was gripped by shock, four enormous gray claw shadows materialized, clawing down on him.
Startled, Oveich wasn't afraid of harm; the starlight guarded him, and the claw shadows couldn't touch him.
What shocked him was that these four gray claw shadows drained nearly four years' worth of divine grace!
"This power is definitely not just twilight-grade!"
Oveich was aghast.
The next moment, six more gray claw shadows appeared.
Oveich's face turned green.
He tried to dodge, but the claw shadows pursued him relentlessly, draining nearly six years' worth of divine grace.
In just a moment, his divine grace was reduced to merely seven or eight years' worth!
Oveich suddenly realized that high-intensity attacks and defenses had already consumed a vast amount of divine grace.
Looking at Sunan, he remained composed and unperturbed.
"Just how many trump cards does this guy have?"
For the first time, a sense of dread crept into Oveich's heart.
Sunan watched Oveich's demeanor, inwardly amused.
He had a total of ten Extreme Protection Rings, and had only used seven so far, with three remaining.
Even if the Extreme Protection Rings were depleted, there was still the Magic Rune Core.
In fact, if not for conserving mental energy for using the Magic Rune Core's defense, his attacks could have been even more aggressive.
The Calamity Ring was used up, but for this operation, he had prepared enough high-level rune gems, with over twenty left in his spatial ring, enough to overwhelm Oveich.
In terms of endurance, he truly feared no one!
With a flick of his wrist, three high-level rune gems appeared in Sunan's palm, which he hurled without hesitation.
In an instant, flames, lightning, and a raging storm engulfed Oveich!
Crack!
The surrounding starry domain finally gave way, shattering with a crash.
Sunan blinked, and in an instant, he was back in the night sky.
Looking at Oveich, he had transformed into a streak of starlight, fleeing into the distance.
That last strike had drained over four years' worth of Oveich's divine grace and shattered his will to fight.
By now, he understood that he was no match for Sunan, and when his divine grace was fully expended, it would be his end.
Seizing the moment with a bit of divine grace left, he fled.
If he could reach the church headquarters in Giant Nan City, there might still be a chance for a comeback!
But his hope was destined to be in vain.
Before he could get far, a wave of heat washed over him from the side.
Oveich turned in horror, seeing a rush of flames tinged with sulfurous breath!
Buzz!
The starlight around Oveich flared, extinguishing the flames instantly, but the next moment, a dragon-like beast pounced, clawing and biting. The two struggled, plummeting to the ground like a meteor.
"Damn it!"
Oveich was furious and terrified, summoning a star spear to strike the beast, but just as he moved, the beast released him and retreated.
Oveich hesitated, a dreadful premonition arising. Sure enough, a torrent of silver metal stormed in from all directions.
Swish swish swish!
Countless spikes rained down on Oveich, causing the starlight to flicker erratically.
After two or three breaths, the starlight finally shattered, and the spikes pierced through Oveich's body.
In an instant, the archbishop of the Spark Church was reduced to a bloodied figure!
"Wait—"
He only managed to utter a single syllable before being shredded into a mist of blood.
The silver light vanished, and silence returned to the night.
Sunan descended slowly, glancing at the Shadow Dragon to confirm it was uninjured, then turned his attention to the items on the ground.
A book and a star-shaped necklace.
With Mage Hand, he retrieved the book and necklace, focusing on them with a nod.
This Star Book contained divine grace, at least four or five times that of the one obtained from Jensen.
Which made sense, considering it was held by an archbishop and far more powerful than the previous one.
The star-shaped necklace contained less divine grace, comparable to the previous Star Book.
"The divine grace extracted from these two sacred artifacts, combined with the previous amount, should be enough to synthesize completely unpolluted pure energy."
The thought of soon increasing his mental strength brought Sunan a surge of joy.
The heartache from spending over ten thousand gold coins on high-level rune gems during the battle eased considerably.
Stowing his items, Sunan re-cast Floating Spell and flew back toward the estate.
Inside the estate, the battle raged on.
With the starlight's blessing, the Spark Church followers unleashed formidable strength, backed by soldiers gradually arriving from outside, firmly suppressing the golem puppets.
Elsewhere, Brack and Yorris couldn't defeat the second-circle legendary spider puppet but, with their sacred artifacts, held their ground for the time being.
The tide seemed to turn in their favor.
Yet Marquis Lake Blue's heart remained heavy, unable to find peace, as he frequently glanced toward where Sunan and Oveich had gone.
He knew well that the outcome here was inconsequential; the true decider was the battle between Sunan and Oveich.
If Oveich could kill Sunan, the golem puppets would pose no threat.
But if Sunan won, everyone present faced certain doom tonight.
Seeing Marquis Lake Blue's furrowed brow, Kasper spoke softly, "Don't worry, Marquis. With the archbishop himself involved, there's nothing to worry about!"
Kasper's tone was full of confidence.
Outsiders might not know, but those in the mid to high ranks of the Spark Church understood that Archbishop Oveich was favored by the divine, a wielder of divine power!
Even a wizard couldn't stand against a divine-favored archbishop!
From the moment Sunan chose to reveal himself rather than flee, his fate was sealed.
"Once Sunan is dealt with, Shimmer Territory will be no threat. Suppressing the rebellion will clear the way for the church's mission in the Starlight Duchy, ushering in prosperity for the church."
Kasper mused silently, a smile curling his lips.
Just then, a startled cry rang out.
"Someone's coming!"
Everyone looked up to see a silhouette approaching from afar.
As the figure drew closer, their features became clear.
Upon recognizing the youthful face, everyone widened their eyes in shock.
Kasper turned ashen, exclaiming in disbelief:
"Impossible! How can it be Sunan?!"
"How could the archbishop lose?!"
Marquis Lake Blue couldn't focus on Kasper's outburst. From the moment Sunan appeared in view, he felt as though plunged into an icy abyss, cold seeping through his limbs.
With even Oveich defeated, no one in Lake Blue Province could stop Sunan.
They were finished!
Regret flooded Marquis Lake Blue's heart. He was filled with remorse.
Had he known how unreliable the Spark Church was, he would never have rushed to take sides.
Even defying the Grand Duke's orders, enduring a reprimand and losing some territory would have been better than losing everything, even his life.
He should have known better!
Turning to Kasper, who was pale-faced beside him, Marquis Lake Blue was suddenly overcome with rage. He drew his sword and thrust it into Kasper's chest.
Caught in his despair, Kasper hadn't expected an attack from Marquis Lake Blue. Unprepared, he was skewered, looking at the marquis with shock and anger.
"You, you—"
Before he could finish, Marquis Lake Blue withdrew his sword and beheaded him.
Sunan, landing on the ground, watched this unfold, his expression amused.
Internal strife already?
Clang!
Marquis Lake Blue dropped his weapon, forcing a smile at Sunan, "Lord Sunan, there's no need for us to be in this position. We had no real enmity, did we? It was all the Spark Church's doing. I can switch sides and offer Lake Blue Province with open arms, just spare me and my family!"
Sunan looked deeply at Marquis Lake Blue, then smiled faintly.
Seeing this, the marquis was overjoyed, thinking Sunan agreed. But the next moment, a bolt of lightning pierced his forehead.
"Eliminating you and your family, Lake Blue Province will still be ours, and much cleaner."
With Marquis Lake Blue's face frozen in disbelief and resentment, Sunan spoke calmly.
Without another glance at the fallen body, he turned his gaze to Yorris and Brack, fleeing into the distance.
Upon Sunan's appearance, the two Spark Church chief priests had abandoned their followers and fled.
But Sunan had anticipated this.
They hadn't gone far before being intercepted by the Shadow Dragon.
The Twin-Blade Spider quickly joined the pursuit.
Two second-circle legendaries against two first-circle legendaries—the outcome was certain.
Sunan shifted his focus to clearing the battlefield.
The night deepened.
Moments later, Sunan calmly exited the estate, glanced at the now silent darkness behind him, and soared into the sky, vanishing into the night.
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