“How did you know it was me?” A flash of white light passed through the sky, and the Virtue Angel who had previously thundered and attempted to kill Rody appeared, snorting coldly.
“You should look in a mirror. You look so sleazy, and your sneaky actions are too obvious to go unnoticed!” Rody chuckled, “Just a Virtue Angel acting all high and mighty. Don’t you know a six-winged female angel wants to sign up to be my sex slave?”
“Don’t think you can deceive me a second time.” The Virtue Angel was really angry but held back, as his previous rage had allowed this insignificant human to use the storage space to escape his attack. At first, he was reluctant to believe it, but after witnessing Rody easily killing a magic master, he realized this young human male was not as simple as he seemed and far stronger than he appeared.
“With your intelligence, I could toy with you again and again. In the end, you’d still feel good about yourself, amusingly played by me!” Rody laughed heartily.
“Say what you will, I definitely won’t get angry now,” the Virtue Angel also laughed, “I won’t be angry with a dead man!”
“Really?” Rody slowly put away his dark servant, asking nonchalantly.
“To make sure you die thoroughly, without any chance of revival or salvation... I have prepared this treasure for you.” The Virtue Angel suddenly took out a silver cross shining with holy light, tossed it into the sky, and chanted a spell. A beam of light from the sky shone on Rody, and the silver cross rapidly enlarged. Small chains on it came to life, binding Rody and pulling him up into the air, tightly fastened to the silver cross.
“Is this the Holy Cross Judgement?” Rody had read in Father Sado’s books that this was the method angels used to burn evil demons. The holy silver cross was a treasure possessed by every angel.
“The real show is yet to come!” the Virtue Angel sneered, “No mage using necromancy, even a Wizard King, could escape the binding of the Holy Cross. These silver crosses are filled with the God of Light's will and the power of laws. The more evil the presence, the more insignificant it becomes before it. This is just the first course I’ve prepared for you. What’s next, soup? Let me make you the best soup!”
“I’m waiting,” Rody said unflinchingly, seemingly unaware of the imminent judgement that would cast him into hell.
“A good soup can make the entire dinner wonderful,” the Virtue Angel took out a small light orb, crushed it, and said, “The Escape Orb is now shattered. Unless you are a deity, no one can leave.”
“This soup is quite good; I like it,” Rody nodded in agreement, as if he had just tasted a delicious oxtail soup.
“Next is the side dish.” The Virtue Angel saw Rody still maintaining a smile on his face, which infuriated him, but he forcibly suppressed it. He produced a glittering scroll, unfurled it, and chanted a spell. The scroll’s radiance intensified, spreading around and finally forming something like a transparent fortress, enveloping Rody.
“What is this?” Rody found himself in a transparent spatial fortress, about the size of a three-story building. His mental power could no longer penetrate it, indicating it was likely a powerful magic scroll.
“This is a Spatial Fortress. Inside the Spatial Fortress, except for the god of space, no one can detect the existence of this separate space. Even if someone walks past you, they won't see you in this alternate space, while you can see everything. This will be your last view before death. Haha, I know you will like this side dish. What’s next? The main course, I have prepared the richest main course for you!” the Virtue Angel tried to find a hint of panic and unrest on Rody’s face, seeking the pleasure of overpowering the weak. But to his disappointment, Rody remained unflustered.
“Not bad, I like it. What's the main course?” Rody laughed, not panicked at all, like a pauper suddenly arriving at a castle.
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“Sands of Time,” the Virtue Angel gritted his teeth. Originally, he could have cut Rody in half with a single sword strike and thrown his soul into the hell furnace, but that wouldn’t bring him joy. If he didn’t see this human succumb, fear, or suffer, he would feel utterly defeated.
“What does it do?” Rody asked indifferently.
“The Sands of Time can accelerate or slow the passage of time in space. Look, I set it to ten times its normal speed,” the Virtue Angel inverted the magical hourglass in his hand, indicating to Rody, “You will watch yourself age rapidly and see your own death.”
“Hmm, quite interesting,” Rody chuckled, “I like this main course. This Sands of Time is an unexpected and delightful surprise. Oh, by the way, did you forget to prepare a dessert for me? You know, dessert is also crucial for dinner. Without the best dessert, a painting lacks soul!”
“How could I forget!” the Virtue Angel was almost driven mad. Even at this moment, this damned human could still laugh, which was truly unbelievable.
He projected a ball of fire accurately at Rody's feet.
The fire blazed fiercely, and Rody's feet caught fire instantly, the flesh sizzling. The Virtue Angel awaited Rody's screams of pain, but after a long wait, this detestable human didn’t even frown. Looking at the blazing flames below, Rody laughed, “This dessert is quite good, but I'm worried it might not last long enough. If it goes out after a while, that would be disappointing.”
“Don't worry, it is the Eternal Flame's Heart,” the Virtile Angel grunted through gritted teeth, “It’s a divine fire made by the Fire God. Even if you're reduced to your last bone, it won’t extinguish.”
“Is that so?” Rody nodded and smiled, “In that case, it’s really likable.”
“The best part is yet to come!” the Virtue Angel wanted to unleash his most powerful magic to blast this human into smithereens, but he really wanted to see if Rody would submit to his endless torture. Killing a human is easy, but subduing their will is the hardest part. He had to defeat this infuriatingly calm man.
The Virtue Angel took out a bottle and poured the seven-colored glowing water over Rody’s head, sneering, “This is the drink I prepared for you. It's the Fountain of Life, made from angel blood and divine water from heaven. It contains the will of the god of life. For ten years, it will continuously regenerate your skin, flesh, and bones. Before you die of old age, you don’t have to worry about being burned to death by the eternal fire. It regenerates quickly, of course, doubling your pain, as each recovery of skin and bones accumulates pain until the Fountain of Life is exhausted. This is a torment even gods cannot withstand. You can't pretend to be a hero in front of me. I know you’re in extreme pain, seething with hatred, furious enough to explode, and so aggrieved that you want to cry loudly…”
“That's true,” Rody burst into laughter, “But I just won't cry, won't rage, won't hate, won't shout, won’t struggle or run away. Everything I do will be beyond your expectations. What can you do to me?”
“You insignificant ant, I want to kill you!” the Virtue Angel almost drew his sword to strike Rody, but it took a lot of effort for him to hold back.
“Go ahead!” Rody spat at the Virtue Angel and laughed, “Look at you, what kind of angel are you? You can't even handle a human. What use are you? Worthless! Go ahead, kill me! Stab my heart with your sword! Come on, birdman!”
“You…” The Virtue Angel drew his holy sword, stopping just a centimeter above Rody's head, and sneered, “Wishful thinking if you want to die!”
“Pathetic!” Rody sighed disdainfully and stopped looking at the Virtue Angel.
“Provocation won’t work on me. I’ve thought long and hard to come up with this method to torment you. Do you think making me angry will make me kill you? Enjoy the burning of the eternal fire! I’ll come see you in ten years, hoping you’re still alive then. Haha, I think you will miss me! By then, you will be kneeling at my feet, begging me to kill you…” The Virtue Angel became more delighted the more he thought about it, eventually bursting into maniacal laughter.
“I regret it, never thought I’d talk so long with a lunatic!” Rody shook his head and sighed.
“Be hard-mouthed. Let's see how long you can endure,” the Virtue Angel huffed and left the Spatial Fortress. He then chanted a spell and drew magical circles in six directions with a holy wand, sealing the entire space, before flying away triumphantly.
Ten minutes after the Virtue Angel left, Rody spewed out a mouthful of blood.
The burning of the eternal fire was unbearable for humans. Although Rody's skin had some resistance to fire, it was no match for the divine fire's burning. Not just his body, but even his soul felt a melting heat. However, the reason he gave up escaping and let the Virtue Angel bind him to the holy silver cross was because he believed the angel would use every means to torment him. The angel, being a celestial being, possessed treasures not available to earthly powerhouses.
Rody felt his own strength was limited and couldn’t forcibly snatch them, but he thought of trying another method.
The dark servant was difficult to use during the day, and Rody longed for something new to replace it and also to enhance his strength. Now, he had to see if he could claim these treasures for himself.
“Looks like this eternal heart of flame really never goes out,” Rody supported himself and broke free from the holy silver cross. The cross could judge all necromancers of the world, but unfortunately, Rody was a fake, having never signed a contract with the dark demon god. Moreover, according to the elder Tree Shepherd Toka, his soul was golden, not evil at all, so the cross had no effect on him, only binding but not eternally judging him.
However, he couldn't escape the Fire God's eternal fire.
His legs were on fire, following him wherever he went, and under the effect of the Fountain of Life, Rody could clearly see his skin and flesh being burnt by the flames and rapidly regenerating.
Rody summoned Nicholas for pain transfer.
But just transferring a small flame burned Nicholas's entire skeleton to ashes.
“The holy silver cross is good, but I also like the Sands of Time. Which treasure should I take?” Despite the pain of being burned by divine fire, Rody walked step by step towards the hourglass of the Sands of Time and the holy silver cross, tilting his head to examine them, planning to forcibly snatch the Virtue Angel's treasures with his mental power. In this closed space, he had all the time he needed.
If the Virtue Angel knew that this was Rody's plan from the beginning, he probably would have died from rage.