Bang!


    The crack of breaking bone rang out clear enough for everyone to hear.


    A section of his shoulder caved in on the spot.


    Jared''s whole body flew backward like a kite with its strings cut, and he mmed hard into the ground dozens of yards away.


    Blood burst out of his mouth.


    "Jared!"


    Lydia''s face turned sharp as she yanked out her sword and started straight for Aurelius, but Jared lifted a hand and stopped her.


    Jared struggled back to his feet.


    His left arm hung useless at his side, and the bones in his shoulder had already been shattered.


    Every slight movement sent a savage jolt through him.


    He looked at Aurelius.


    The cold in his eyes only deepened, while a mocking curve pulled at his mouth.


    "Lord of the Basilica? So this is how your Celestial Basilica does things? You wait until someone''s down and then strike?"


    Aurelius didn''t change expression.


    "When dealing with an arrogant fool like you, there''s no need to talk about rules. You destroyed the Hallowmere Order in the Luminous Sanctuary and trampled the dignity of the celestials. You deserve to die."


    He turned toward Skr, and the shift came so fast it was almost ugly. A smile spread across his face at once as he cupped his hands.


    "Senior Skr, I am Aurelius, Lord of the Basilica.


    I''ve heard your name for a long time. Now that I''ve finally met you, your reputation really does live up to the stories. You have a grudge against Jared, and I do too.


    I''m willing to lend you a hand so we can deal with this bastard together. Like they say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. What do you think, Senior?"


    Skr looked at him and said nothing.


    That gaze was calm in a way that made the air go still, like he was looking at a dead


    man.


    Aurelius brightened inside and took it for consideration.


    He hurried on, "Senior, the Celestial Basilica has stood in the Luminous Sanctuary for tens of thousands of years. Our foundation runs deep. If we join forces, then whatever you choose to do in the Luminous Sanctuary from now on, the Celestial Basilica will back you with everything we have.


    Resources, intelligence, manpower-whatever you need, just say the word."


    He paused, then went on. "Please rest easy, Senior. I mean nothing else by this. I sincerely want to befriend you. Jared is ruthless. He kills the innocent without blinking. Everyone has a right to put him down. If you and I join forces, that would only make sense."


    Aurelius dressed it all up beautifully, and expectation showed inly in his eyes. As far as he could see, Skr had no reason to turn him down.


    The Celestial Basilica was one of the oldest forces in the Luminous Sanctuary. With its backing, anything Skr wanted to do there would go a lot smoother.


    On top of that, he had taken the initiative to show goodwill and lowered himself this far. Surely Skr would not p away that kind of face.


    He was wrong.


    Skr looked at him and suddenly smiled.


    It was a faint smile, but the mockery and disdain in it showed without the slightest effort, like he was watching a clown hop around in front of him.


    "Aurelius?"


    He repeated the name softly, his tone loose and almost casual. "You just said the enemy of my enemy is my friend?"


    Aurelius hurriedly nodded, his face full of smiles. "Exactly, exactly. You have a grudge against Jared, and I have a grudge against Jared. If we work together, that only makes sense."


    Skr shook his head, looking for all the world like he was staring at a child who did not know any better.


    "Aurelius, did you get something wrong?"


    He walked forward at an unhurried pace.


    Each step left a deep footprint in the ground.


    At the edges of those prints, the dirt touched by his demonic aura turned ck at


    once and crumbled into charred powder.


    "You think you''re worthy of being my friend?"


    Skr''s face was full of ridicule.


    Aurelius''s smile froze on his face, like someone had just dumped a bucket of ice water over his head.


    Skr went on. "Your Celestial


    Basilica loves to call itself righteous, but behind the scenes, you round up demonic cultivators and wandering cultivators and run those filthy bloodline experiments. For your own gain, you turn living people into monsters and let them die in agony. What you do is worse than the demons."


    His voice wasn''t loud, but every wordnded like a hammer straight into Aurelius''s chest.


    "Trash like you think you''re fit to talk to me about working together? You think you even qualify as ''the enemy of my enemy''?" The mockery on Skr''s face deepened.


    Aurelius went white. Cold sweat broke out across his forehead as he hurried to speak. "Senior, there has to be some misunderstanding here! Our Celestial Basilica..."


    "Misunderstanding?"


    Skr let out a coldugh and cut him off. "I saw it with my own eyes. I heard it with


    my own ears. And you''re calling that a misunderstanding?"


    He raised his right hand.


    A strand of ck hellfire quietly appeared in the center of his palm.


    The me was small, but the heating off it made the air around it twist and


    warp. A sharp sizzling sound spread through the space.


    "How many demonic cultivators has


    your Celestial Basilica captured? How many people have you killed? Those demonic cultivators you took, those wandering cultivators you used as test subjects, their wronged


    SOS are still wailing n the deep forest right now. You think I don''t know that?"


    Aurelius shook all over and unconsciously backed up a step. Even his voice came out warped. "Senior, only did it for the future of the celestials. If f we don''t grow


    stronger, the Celestial Basilica will end up following the Celestial Pce sooner orter..."


    "The future of the celestials?"


    Skr cut him off again. His eyes held nothing but contempt.


    "You think I can''t see what you''re really after? You want to use me to deal with Jared, then wait until both sides are spent and collect the profit for yourself."


    "Or maybe you want to borrow my name to build up your Celestial Basilica, then kick me aside the moment you get the chance. Aurelius, whatever little scheme you''re ying at, I can see through it at a nce."


    Aurelius''s face changed on the spot. His lips shook as he tried to exin, but Skr gave him no chance to speak.


    "Aurelius, the one thing you never should''ve done was take me for a fool."


    Skr''s voice was so even it turned the air cold. Under that calm, though, sat something vast enough to tear the world apart.


    "You think I''d work with people like you? You''re not even fit to carry my shoes."


    Skr let out a cold snort.


    Only then did Aurelius break.


    This time, he was truly shaken.


    His legs went weak, and he nearly dropped to his knees. His voice shook as he


    begged, "Senior, I never meant that! I just... I just..."


    Skr stopped listening to his nonsense.


    He raised a hand and struck out with his palm.


    The ck hellfire that had been rolling in his palm all this time erupted with a st in


    that instant.


    This wasn''t the casual me he had tossed out earlier against Godric.


    This was the true world-ending fire, unleashed with his full power. ck hellfire roared out of his palm. At first it was only a thin pir of me, but in


    the blink of an eye it swelled to dozens of yards thick and turned into the ck fire- drake, vicious and twisted, lunging straight at Aurelius with ws and fangs bared.


    Everywhere the fire-drake passed, space itself was torn open into a massive crack, exposing the pitch-ck void inside.


    The broken fragments of space along the edges of that tear melted and evaporated inside the ck hellfire, giving off a harsh, piercing scream.


    The ground was scorched into a trench several yards deep. Along the edges, the


    dirt melted under the heat and turned into dark red molten fire, bubbling nonstop.


    Aurelius''s face drained of all color.


    He drove everyst bit of spiritual power in his body into motion.


    His holy ward meant nothing in front of the demonic mes. The instant it touched them, it tore apart like paper.


    He threw out a warding relic to save himself.


    That golden treasure mirror that had stayed with him for thousands of years held on


    for less than a breath inside the demonic mes. Then it broke with a sharp crack


    and exploded into shards across the sky.


    He spun and tried to run.


    But the Fire Dragon was too fast. It was so fast he did not even have time to react.


    In an instant, the demonic mes swallowed his holy ward, swallowed his body, and swallowed the spirit.