Chapter 457: Chapter 457: The Betrayer
"Kira, surrender," Alice said, looking at him.
Facing Alice, who now wielded the power of the Hundred Flowers God, even Kira felt immense pressure.
But it wasn’t enough to make him surrender.
Kira drew his Treasure Sword and pointed it at Alice. His fiery gaze cooled, turning to ice.
He shouted firmly, "Attack!"
’The Hundred Flowers God has descended. This is the perfect time for me to seize its power.’
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
At Kira’s command, twenty City-Defending Crossbows were brought forth from the army’s ranks.
City-Defending Crossbows were extremely powerful weapons, typically mounted on city walls to counter siege engines and giant beasts.
They were difficult to move.
But Kira had mounted them on specially modified, enormous carriages.
Each City-Defending Crossbow required eight to ten soldiers to operate.
The process, from loading to firing, took several minutes.
Each Crossbow Arrow was as thick as an adult’s arm, tipped with a Demon-Breaking Armor-Piercing Arrowhead forged from Magic Metal. It possessed immense penetrating power, enough to be fatal even to a Tier Four Heavy Warrior equipped with a Heavy Shield.
In a frontal assault, even a Tier Five Warrior would struggle to breach the defense of a Tier Four Heavy Warrior with a Heavy Shield.
Heavy Warriors already possessed incredibly high defensive capabilities.
Combined with a Heavy Shield, their terrifying Defense Power would make even a typical Tier Five Professional hesitate.
Yet these specially crafted City-Defending Crossbows posed a fatal threat to them.
This was because the City-Defending Crossbows were originally designed to deal with the giant beasts of the Beastman Race.
This weapon was never meant to be used against humans.
Now, all twenty City-Defending Crossbows were aimed at Alice.
A terrifying volley, equivalent to the full-powered strikes of twenty Tier Five Extraordinary Professionals, was about to be unleashed.
Alice’s eyes narrowed slightly, and she too seemed to feel the pressure.
Kira noticed the change in her expression. Seizing the moment, he swung his sword and roared, "Fire!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
In an instant, twenty deafening booms erupted from the army’s position.
The soldiers near the City-Defending Crossbows were dizzied by the immense sound, some even stumbling to keep their footing.
The terrifying recoil kicked up a massive cloud of dust from the ground.
Twenty gigantic Crossbow Arrows, each as thick as a man’s arm and tipped with Demon-Breaking Armor-Piercing Arrowheads, shot toward Alice, propelled by terrifying kinetic energy.
The multicolored ribbons of light floating behind Alice flew up, forming a giant flower bud that enveloped her completely.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Fifteen of the arrows struck the bud, embedding themselves so deeply that less than half of their shafts remained visible.
The remaining five arrows went wide. Two struck the ground, leaving two bottomless black holes in the solid altar and shattering the surrounding stone.
The other three flew off to parts unknown.
No one could track the arrows, which had been accelerated to several times the speed of sound in an instant.
The entire assault was over in a flash.
Everyone stared nervously at the motionless bud hanging in mid-air.
Suddenly, the fifteen massive Crossbow Arrows embedded in the bud were slowly forced out.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The massive, heavy arrows clattered to the ground. The bud then bloomed like a flower, revealing Alice, completely unscathed.
Kira drew a sharp breath, utterly stunned.
Alice had blocked the entire terrifying assault.
He wouldn’t have been so surprised if she had dodged it.
But she had taken it head-on.
It was tantamount to her withstanding the full-powered strikes of fifteen Tier Five masters at once.
If an attack this terrifying couldn’t break her defense, it was hard to imagine just how powerful she had become.
But Kira showed no fear.
’Alice is indeed powerful with the Hundred Flowers God’s strength, but she isn’t invincible.’
Alice ignored the stunned soldiers. Her eyes fixed on Kira, and with a mere thought, the ribbons of light around her sharpened into blades and shot toward him.
Kira swung his sword, its blade glowing with a deep, sky-blue Sword Qi.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The Sword Qi collided with the ribbons of light, sending them flying.
Kira himself was knocked back several meters.
However, he had only repelled a single ribbon of light; Alice was controlling eight of them at once to attack him.
The other seven were bearing down on him from all sides.
’It took so much effort to block just one; I can’t possibly withstand a combined assault.’
Kira yelled, "What are you waiting for?! Act now!"
As he finished speaking, he unleashed his full power.
He unleashed sixteen slashes of Sword Qi in quick succession, each faster than the last.
The sixteen streams of Sword Qi layered over one another, erupting with an unparalleled, terrifying force.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The combined Sword Qi blasted away six of the light ribbons, leaving only one to shoot toward Kira’s chest.
Kira blocked it with his Treasure Sword.
With a deafening BANG, shattered light scattered in all directions.
Kira was thrown back more than ten meters, his arm trembling so violently he could barely keep his grip on his sword.
Alice was wondering what Kira’s shout had meant.
She was about to press her advantage when she felt her power rapidly fading.
The power of the Hundred Flowers God was draining away from her.
A jolt of alarm shot through Alice, and she whipped her head around to look behind her.
Her heart lurched at the sight of what was happening on the altar.
"Kuris, what are you doing?"
A pitch-black Crystal had appeared in Kuris’s hand, and it was devouring the Flower God’s power.
As the pitch-black Crystal devoured the Flower God’s power, a light began to glow within it, forming into a black datura flower.
Kuris’s gaze was as cold as a December frost as he stared silently at Alice’s shocked and bewildered face.
He did not explain his actions.
But Alice already understood.
Kuris had betrayed her. He had sided with Kira.
"Bella!"
Alice cried out.
Kuris finally spoke, his voice calm. "Don’t bother shouting. Bella is no longer here."
"I have exiled her."
It was an ability of the Wind Messenger.
He had already sent Bella dozens of miles away with his wind.
Even if Bella rushed back with all her might, it would take her some time to arrive.
And that was all the time he needed to seize the power of the Hundred Flowers God.
Alice’s heart ached, as if a chunk of it had been brutally gouged out.
She questioned Kuris, her voice hoarse, "Why are you doing this?"
Kuris did not answer Alice’s question.
Kira let out a piercing, mocking laugh. "Hahahaha! Why? Because you’re too selfish! You were unwilling to share more of your power with him."
"Among the four members of the Hundred Flowers Clan, Wise Elyes, Lady Rose Evelyn, and Thunder General Bella all received far more power than he did."
"And what Power did you give him? Windflower? What is that? It’s nothing but a weed growing by the roadside—something no one pays attention to, something that wouldn’t even be missed if it were trampled to death. What a joke!"
Kuris let out a low growl. "Don’t say any more! That’s enough!"
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