Ah Dai scrunched up his fist, looking away in deep thought. A minute passed before he opened his palm and reached into his cloak. Ah Dai sighed in great grief, then took out a jade pendant, which on it was carved a magnificent dragon.
"Yue Yue, I'm so sorry, but there's no other way..."
Ah Dai chanted mystically, while the jade pendant glowed with a brilliant blue. Then, a white light burst out of the pendant, expanding in the hall then compressing down into shape. The entire hall rumbled under the immense pressure of the shape, then a bellowing roar shook everything violently. A massive dragon took the light's place, it's scales obsidian with stains of scarlet and it's colossal claws larger than bears.The dragon's head too was crested obsidian and scarlet, the scales covering everything but the mouth - instead filled with enormous teeth that individually stood higher than a full-grown man. His body crushed the ceiling of the hall, debris tumbling towards the ground and dust kicking everywhere.
'Brother... what... what is this?'
Ah Dai looked at the dragon with his mad and grief-filled eyes. His feelings and memories were sent through to the dragon, and instantly the eyes of the dragon matched Ah Dai's. He turned his head and growled fiercely at Xuan Ye, whose fear of the dragon was vividly evident on his face. Ah Dai shook his head, and instead looked at Xuan Yue.
"Don't fight him, Sheng'Xie, that's my job. Stall Yue Yue for me - don't hurt her."
Xuan Yue looked alarmingly at Ah Dai, who now turned his head away and faced the Pope.
"I'm sorry..."
Ah Dai then unleashed all of the might - Shengsheng Dou Qi, stored Magic force, and Evil Qi all crushingly weighing on the nearby.
"Sheng - Sheng - Transformation... "
The massive swirling energies condensed into Ah Dai's palms, turning into a dazzling mixture of silver and dark-blue. On the left palm was a silver sun, while the right palm held a crescent moon. Immense power radiated away from the two like the real sun and moon was truly held in his hands. Ah Dai gritted in pain - compressing all this energy put an unimaginable amount of strain onto his body, and he wasn't done yet. He quickly activated something on his right arm, which shone brightly even through the dark cloak. Suddenly, 3 more Ah Dai's appeared next to him, each holding a silver sun and moon, but noticeably weaker. Each bore the mad grin that terrified the Red-Robed Bishops.
"Doppelgangers? Does Ah Dai have more Godly Artifacts? This is not good!"
The Red-Robed Bishops stood in awe and terror at the power, until Xuan Ye snapped out of it and hurriedly gestured to the others.
"Fools! Stop Staring! This will kill us if we don't counter it! We'll have to use that!"
They too now snapped out, and the four Red-Robed bishops quickly stood back behind the Pope, holding hands and closing their eyes. None even berated him for indirectly calling the Pope a fool - the situation was too dire for meaningless banter.
"Oh, great heavenly god! I ask you, grant us the power of the divine!"
Holy light surged throughout their bodies, as they prepared to muster all their Magic to stall for the Pope, who was chanting another spell. They chanted out precisely in time with each other, connected by the light and magic coursing through their bodies.
"The Light of Healing! The Light of Restoration! The Light of Judgment! The Light of Purity! The Light of Luck! The Light of Blessing! Condense into the power of the Divine Might, and fuse to smite the evil!"
Under the chanting of the spells, the holy light surging around them turned into a pure white, forming an arrow and shooting towards the four Ah Dai's.
Boom!
The four Ah Dai's could not dodge the level 8 spell barrage and had to take the full force of it head-on. Their physiques were tempered enough to be able to handle the brute force of them, but even so, he felt the warm blood seep out of their wounds. He breathed in deeply, finding himself struggling to control all the turbulent forces in the 4 suns and moons. This was supposed to be used with only Shengsheng Dou Qi, but he had condensed all the Evil Qi in the air with it. Ah Dai was burning his Life Force to control them, but to him, this situation was all or nothing. Why live when there is nothing left of your heart?
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"Crossing - Lightning - Blast!"
The suns and moons flew out of Ah Dai's palms, the doppelgangers bodies dissipating after all their energy had evaporated. When the suns and moon touched, the sky boomed and heavens shook with great thunder! The blue skies were now covered by the Evil Qi clouds, dark lightning hurdling everywhere with great force. Ah Dai felt all the energies of the world bow down to him, his Qi unstoppable and utterly domineering. But the Red-Robed Bishops spells had ultimately given the Pope enough time to cast his own spell.
"Oh holy light of the great God, come to the human realm and bless us with thy Divine Power! I, Xuan Yuan, shall use thy Divine Power to purge the evil back into the cycle, so grant thy the ultimate light! Erupt, awaken,Samsara's Light!
The Popes' eyes glow with white light, his entire body emitting misty gas. His body had now become the vassal of God's Wrath - the summoning of God's judgment. The holy aura permeated the room, then twisted back into his body, absorbing and transforming the God's Wrath. The originally white aura turned into a golden-blue, then into a light blue, and finally into a faint blue, now exuding a deathly aura, not unlike that of Ah Dai. It was almost an oxymoron - a veil of death coming from the purest of lights.
"Samsara's Light?! No! You can't use that! No!"
Xuan Yue's eyes widened with fright. As one of the Red-Robed Bishops, she knew this spell all too well. From its creation till now, it had only ever been used 3 times, and those three times could only be described as pure and utter annihilation. With the 4 Red-Robed Bishops supporting, the Pope could unleash a power that nothing could rival - not even the former 3 spells combined could match the staggering amount of Magic Energy poured into this. In front of the Pope, a beautiful six-winged golden angel materialized, wielding a magnificent sword that shone with an eerie death aura.
The dark lightning shooting from the sky consolidated then sent flashing towards the Pope. It produced a hideous shriek, like tortured souls begging for release, the Evil Qi unleashing the countless spirits reaped with the Ming'Wang'Jian. The six-winged angel intercepted the lightning, slashing at the lightning with her sword.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
In those moments, in Ah Dai's eyes, he saw everything - the lightning striking the angel, her sword struggling against it, then the lightning being overwhelmed by pure force. He froze. It was over, the angel appearing before the defenseless Ah Dai.
She was merciless in her final slash.
Ah Dai looked down, his clothes split wide open, the wound slashed from his chest to the end of his abdomen. The angel, emotionless, dissipated as he collapsed onto the floor, his blood pooling underneath him. A loud crack was heard as he dropped the Ming'Wang'Jian onto the ground. Pain racked his body, but the tiredness numbed everything. Ah Dai was tired of it all - all the sufferings, death, falsehoods and separation that pervaded his life. He was tired everything.
"AH DAI! NO! AH DAI!"
Ah Dai barely registered the painful cries of Xuan Yue, who rushed towards him. Sheng'Xie was too shocked from the sudden development, and so didn't stop her from running away. She grasped his arm, pulling his head onto her lap. Ah Dai's face was as white as paper, blood all bleeding out from his wounds. All of his Life Force was drained, and not a shred of Shengsheng Dou Qi was left. Xuan Yue knew there was no more hope, but she just could not accept it.
"Don't leave me, Ah Dai! AH DAI! Don't leave me, you'll be fine, you'll be fine..."
Her voice trembled, eyes staring in horror at his inactivity. Then, to her relief, Ah Dai coughed violently, blood spurting out everywhere onto her face. The Crimson, warm liquid dripped down her chin as he spoke.
"Yue... Yue..."
"Don't speak! Rest there, Ah Dai, you'll be fine! Yes! Everything will be all right..."
Ah Dai bitterly smiled.
"No... Yue Yue... don't... hurt yourself... anymore... Ah Dai is going... to leave now... Ah Dai... is going to.. finally... meet up with the... others... again..."
"NO! Ah Dai, you can't leave me! I only love you, I can't live without you!"
Ah Dai stared into Xuan Yue's eyes, oh those eyes! Those eyes he loved, eternally captivating and enchanting, and never would he ever forget them. It pained to see her beloved eyes twisted in such suffering.
"Silly girl... Ah Dai loves... you too... and only... you... in my... life... Ah Dai want.. you to live happily. Promise me... promise Ah Dai... you will live happily... even without me... yes?"
"No! Ah Dai, I can't live without you! You promised me to be my lackey for my entire life!"
Ah Dai brought his hands up towards Xuan Yue's face, caressing her cheeks and touching her for the last time in this life. His blood was smeared all over her face.
"Yue... Yue... then... I will... have... to be... your lackey... in my... next life..."
Ah Dai's arm dropped.
Xuan Yue felt life drain away from her. She laughed manically, the sounds echoing through the destroyed hall.
"AH DAI! AH DAI!"
Her heart was utterly crushed. Xuan Yue's face fell into a crazed grin.
"If I can't be with Ah Dai this life... then I will join him in the next!"
She picked up the Ming'Wang'Jian lying next to Ah Dai's body. The Evil Qi instantly started to take away her soul, the Qi permeating her body, greedily sucking at her Life Force. Xuan Ye, drained of magic, could not hope to reach to her in time. His daughter had gone utterly mad.
"No! Yue Yue! Don't do it!"
Xuan Yue faced her father. The edge of the Ming'Wang'Jian pointed directly at her chest, both hands grasping at its hilt.
"Father... this is the end..."
She plunged the blade in, the Ming'Wang'Jian tearing effortlessly through her flesh. Xuan Yue felt the tip of the blade come out of her back, and collapsed onto it, driving the blade completely through. Her pool of blood mixed with Ah Dai's.
-
Ah Dai was thoughtless. Emotionless. Powerless.
All he felt was falling...
Falling...
Falling...
The void greeted him with an open embrace.