I became a god through archaeology in the Wizarding World.

Chapter 134 Tearing Apart the Dome of Hypocrisy, Six Wings Descend

"boom-!!!"

At this moment, it seemed as if all sound had been lost between heaven and earth.

That wasn't true silence, but rather the sound waves generated by the collision far exceeded the limits of human hearing. Outside the holy city of Lumen, the black sword beam, thousands of feet long, collided violently with the "Great Light Barrier," which was as thick as a mountain, unleashing a blindingly destructive halo.

Half of it is the deepest darkness of an abyss that devours everything, and the other half is the sacred aurora that scorches all things.

Two diametrically opposed yet equally powerful energies were violently crushing each other in mid-air.

Devouring and annihilating. The violent energy turbulence transformed into a visible, tangible storm, sweeping outwards in a ring from the point of impact in all directions.

On the Plain of Sighs, the hard permafrost layer was torn apart and shredded like fragile paper, turning into dust everywhere.

Even the Abyss army stationed ten miles away, including its massive, thick-skinned low-ranking demons, was thrown into disarray by the terrifying aftershocks. Had the headless knight lord and several Abyss fire demons not joined forces to erect a shadow barrier in time, the mere shockwaves from the collision would likely have inflicted heavy losses on the Abyss legion.

At the epicenter of the collision, the situation in the holy city of Rumen was even more dire.

"Hold on! The great God of Light is watching over us!"

On the city walls, tens of thousands of Templar Knights and high priests frantically squeezed out their battle aura and magic power, pouring them continuously into the defensive array beneath their feet. Each of them was ashen-faced, and blood even seeped faintly from their seven orifices.

The "Great Light Barrier" was trembling violently.

This absolute defense, blessed by successive popes and said to be able to withstand even a god's attack, now emitted a teeth-grinding "crunching" sound under Rhode's black sword called "Calamity".

On the surface of the barrier, the golden runes that had once flowed endlessly and exuded a sacred aura were now visibly dimming and melting, as if they had encountered strong acid. The black abyssal aura, like a malignant tumor, spread wildly in all directions of the barrier from the point of pressure of the sword's edge, staining the pure white light shield with a layer of despairing ashen gray.

"No—this is impossible—"

Standing atop the highest point of the city wall, Pope Clement VII stared intently at the black sword beam overhead that seemed poised to cleave the world in two, his cloudy eyes filled with disbelief and terror.

He could clearly feel the energy of the barrier draining away at an alarming rate. The black-haired youth hovering in mid-air wasn't breaking the barrier with brute force at all; the sword in his hand was directly severing the connection between the barrier and the laws of light elements in the world!

"What level has he reached? A demigod? Or... a true god?!" Clement's fingers, gripping the pure white scepter, turned white from excessive force, and he didn't even notice his nails piercing his palms.

In mid-air, Rhodes maintained his stance of wielding a sword with one hand, looking down at the Holy City, which resembled a trapped beast.

His expression remained indifferent, as if he were not chopping down the strongest defensive barrier of mankind, but merely a slightly harder piece of rotten wood.

"Is this the turtle shell you're so proud of?"

A cruel smile curled at the corners of Rhodes's lips, and a hint of disdain flashed in his dark red eyes.

"Too fragile."

The moment the words left his mouth, Rhodes pressed his sword-wielding right hand down sharply.

"Click"

A crisp cracking sound reverberated deep within the souls of every Holy City defender.

Immediately afterwards, amidst the despairing gazes of everyone, the "Great Light Barrier," considered the last hope of the Holy City, cracked open with a tiny fissure starting from the point where the swords made contact.

This crack was like the last snowflake that triggered an avalanche. In less than half a breath, countless spiderweb-like cracks spread across the entire hemispherical light shield at an astonishing speed.

"Bang!!!"

With a deafening roar, the "Great Light Barrier" shattered completely!

Countless fragments of the barrier, imbued with a high concentration of light elements, rained down from the sky like a meteor shower, crashing into the streets, houses, and crowds of the holy city. These sacred forces, which were meant to protect them, instantly transformed into deadly bombs once out of control.

The deafening roar of explosions echoed throughout the city, magnificent buildings collapsed in droves, and piercing screams tore through the night sky.

Even more terrifying is the backlash of magic that occurs after the barrier shatters.

On the city wall, tens of thousands of Templar Knights and Priests connected to the barrier's array patterns coughed up a mouthful of blood the instant the barrier collapsed. The lower-ranking priests, whose cultivation was slightly weaker, didn't even have time to scream before their bodies exploded into a cloud of blood mist under the violent backlash of magic.

It was just one sword strike.

The supposedly invincible holy city of Lumen suffered a catastrophic collapse due to its strongest defenses, with more than half of the defenders on the city walls instantly killed or wounded!

"The devil—he is the real devil—"

The surviving cardinals collapsed to the ground, their eyes filled with nothing but pure terror as they watched the black-robed figure slowly descend from the sky. The frail prince who had struggled agonizingly on the stake a thousand years ago had now become an insurmountable abyss of despair.

Rhodes strode through the void, walking step by step toward the city wall. He didn't rush to order the abyssal army outside the city to launch an attack, because he enjoyed the process of cornering his prey and watching them crumble little by little.

"Clement".

Rhodes' voice rang out above the deathly silent city walls, like the pronouncement of death.

"Ten years ago, you stood on this city wall, declared to the whole continent that I was a heretic, stripped me of my royal status, and sent me to the stake." Rhodes's gaze pierced through the smoke and locked onto the trembling old pope. "You said then that the flames of the God of Light would purify the sins in my soul."

"Now, I have returned with the karmic fire of the abyss. Where is your god?"

Faced with Rhodes's questioning, Clement VII's face turned pale and then flushed. He gasped for breath, and suddenly, as if remembering something, he abruptly turned his head to look in the direction of the cathedral.

"Quick! How far along is the descent of the angels?!" Clement roared furiously at a cardinal beside him. "Why haven't the angels descended yet?!"

The cardinal, his face covered in blood, trembled as he answered, "Your Majesty—all ten thousand believers in the underground plaza have been sacrificed—but—but the energy is still insufficient! That demon's sword strike just now disrupted the flow of light elements around the Holy City, making spatial coordinates extremely unstable, and the gods—the gods cannot be located!"

"Not enough? Then keep sacrificing!" Clement's eyes blazed with a beastly madness. He grabbed the cardinal by the collar. "Ten thousand isn't enough? Twenty thousand! Twenty thousand isn't enough? Fifty thousand! Drive all the commoners in the city into the underground plaza! Fill those low-ranking priests in too! As long as we can summon the angels, we'll slaughter them all!"

"But Your Majesty, those are our people—" the cardinal cried out in despair.

"Fool! What use are these subjects if the Papacy falls?!" Clement shoved him aside, raising his pure white scepter high and frantically pouring the last of his divine magic into it. "I am the Pope! I represent God! For the great light, all sacrifices are worthwhile! Go and carry out the order!"

This scene on the city wall was clearly seen by Rhodes.

He stopped, hovering in mid-air, looking at the high-ranking members of the Vatican who had gone completely mad in their struggle for survival, and suddenly let out a low, cold laugh.

"Hehe—hahahahaha!"

Rhodes' laughter grew louder and louder, eventually turning into unrestrained maniacal laughter. His laughter was filled with sarcasm, pity, and a profound understanding of the world's hypocrisy.

"Is this the light you believe in? Is this the merciful god you speak of?" Rhodes pointed his sword at Clement, his eyes full of mockery. "To save yourselves, you didn't hesitate to swing your blades at those who worshipped you. Clement, look at yourself now, you are uglier than the most vile demon in my abyss."

"Shut up! What do you know, you heretic!" Clement screamed hysterically. "This is for a greater good! This is a test from God!"

"A test from the gods?" Rhodes' smile vanished, his eyes turning icy cold. "No, this is just an excuse for you parasites to cover up your greed and cowardice. Ten years ago, you framed me as a heretic to seize the relics left by my mother; ten years later, you slaughter your own followers to save your own lives. You are not worthy to talk about faith."

Rhodes slowly raised the sword "Calamity," and a chilling black light once again gathered on its blade.

"Since you enjoy sacrifices so much, I'll give you a hand. I'll sacrifice all your souls to the abyss."

""

Just as Rhodes was about to unleash his second sword strike to completely flatten the city wall, a dazzling golden aura suddenly shot into the sky from the ruins!

"For the Light! For the Holy See!"

With a roar of defiance, the commander of the Templar Knights, a powerful knight with the strength of the early Saint rank, was engulfed in golden flames as he shot towards Rhodes in mid-air like a meteor.

He knew he was no match for the monster, but he had to buy time for the Pope and for the descent of the gods.

He burned his life essence, condensing all his fighting spirit into the two-handed greatsword in his hand, transforming it into a dazzling sword beam a hundred meters long.

"Holy Cross Slash!"

This was the pinnacle strike of a Saint-level knight; even a ninth-tier dragon would perish on the spot under this sword.

However, Rhodes didn't even lift an eyelid in the face of this powerful attack.

"A pointless struggle."

Rhodes did not swing his sword; he simply raised his left hand slowly and gently clenched it in front of the charging golden meteor.

"Buzz"

Space seemed to freeze at that moment.

The knight commander's golden sword light, powerful enough to cleave mountains, abruptly halted in mid-air, ten meters from Rhodes's hand. No matter how frantically he channeled his battle aura, the greatsword could not advance an inch further.

An unprecedented fear instantly gripped the heart of this holy knight.

He saw a miniature black vortex appear in Rhodes' left palm. The vortex was incredibly deep, as if connected to the darkest abyss in the universe, radiating a terrifying gravitational pull that could devour even light.

"You know nothing about the nature of power."

Rhodes coldly stared at the desperate Holy Knight before him, his five fingers suddenly clenching.

"Bang!"

There was no earth-shattering explosion, nor any dazzling magical light and shadow.

Before everyone's horrified eyes, the high and mighty Holy Knight Commander, along with the holy sword made of refined gold in his hand, and even the golden battle aura within his body, were instantly compressed into a blood-red sphere the size of a fist by an invisible, terrifying force under Rhodes's grasp!

Sold out instantly!

A dignified Saint-level powerhouse, a being at the pinnacle of humanity, couldn't even withstand a single move from Rhode, and was easily annihilated like an ant being crushed.

With a casual wave of his hand, Rhode sent the crimson sphere, which contained the essence of a Saint-rank knight's flesh and soul, flying into his palm. The Abyss Star Vortex spun slightly, and the sphere transformed into wisps of pure energy, merging into Rhode's body.

"The taste is passable." Rhodes licked his lips, a strange blush appearing on his pale face.

On the city wall, there was a deathly silence.

Clement VII collapsed to the ground, his pure white scepter rolling to the side. His proud leader of the Knights Templar had died before him like a joke.

Despair completely enveloped this once glorious holy city.

Without another word, Rhodes raised "Calamity" once more, ready to end this tedious farce.

However, just as his sword was about to fall, a sudden change occurred.

"Buzz—!!!"

An indescribable, terrifying pressure suddenly erupted from the depths of the cathedral's underground. This pressure was so pure and noble, yet it carried an absolute coldness that regarded all things as worthless.

The night sky, which had been stained inky black by the abyss's aura, was suddenly torn open by a huge rift.

A pure white beam of light, over a hundred meters in diameter, descended from the crack like a divine spear of punishment connecting heaven and earth, landing precisely on the dome of the cathedral.

The moment the pillar of light appeared, the abyssal aura surrounding Rhodes seemed to have encountered its natural enemy, emitting a violent hissing sound and being forced back hundreds of meters.

"Oh?"

Rhodes stopped what he was doing, narrowed his eyes slightly, and looked at the towering pillar of light. He could sense that the energy level contained within that pillar of light far surpassed the realm of humanity; it was the aura of a truly higher-dimensional being.

"It's a success! Hahaha! It's a success!"

Clement VII, who had collapsed to the ground, leaped up as if in a final burst of energy. Pointing madly at the sky, tears and snot streaming down his face, he cried out, "The gods haven't abandoned us! Angels have descended! Rod Griffin, your death is nigh!"

As the Pope laughed maniacally, the pure white beam of light began to slowly shrink.

As the light faded, a tall, slender figure appeared atop the cathedral's spire.

It was a being whose beauty defied description in human language. It (or rather, it) possessed long, flowing golden hair and wore a seamless celestial garment condensed from pure light elements. Its face was indistinct, as if shrouded in a divine radiance, making it impossible to look directly at.

What's most eye-catching is what's behind it.

Three pairs, a total of six enormous wings composed of pure white flames, slowly unfurled behind it. Each flap of the wings created visible, sacred ripples in the air.

Six-winged angel!

In the Vatican's scriptures, this is the highest-ranking angel, second only to the deity himself, and is the ultimate weapon representing the deity in carrying out destruction and judgment!

The moment the six-winged angel appeared, all the surviving members of the Papacy in the Holy City, whether cardinals or ordinary soldiers, were unable to control themselves and knelt on the ground, weeping and kissing the ground.

"Praise be to my Lord!"

The angel ignored the ant-like believers at its feet, slowly raised its head, and turned its blurry face toward Rhodes in mid-air.

Although he had no eyes, Rhodes could clearly feel two cold, mechanical, and emotionless beams of light locking onto him.

"High concentrations of abyssal contaminants detected."

A clear, grand sound, as if composed of countless superimposed voices, exploded directly in Rhodes' mind.

"Judgment: Heretic. Procedure: Holy Purification."

The angel slowly raised his right hand, and a longsword formed entirely of golden flames appeared in his palm. The blade pointed directly at Rhodes, and the surrounding space began to melt under the scorching heat of the holy flames.

Facing this six-winged angel exuding terrifying divine power, Rhodes not only did not back down in the slightest, but instead laughed.

He laughed heartily, his eyes burning with an unprecedented, fervent fighting spirit.

"Finally—a toy that's even remotely decent has arrived."

Rhodes gripped the "Calamity" in his hand, the Abyss Star Vortex swirling wildly within his body, and dark golden magic runes instantly crawled all over his face and neck. The void behind him completely collapsed, transforming into a churning sea of ​​dark red blood.

"A six-winged angel? I wonder if your feathers can withstand the flames of the abyss?"

From the sea of ​​blood behind Rhodes, the roars of countless demons faintly echoed. He took a step forward, his figure instantly vanishing from his spot, transforming into a black lightning bolt that tore through space, and charging towards the high and mighty angel!

"Come on! Let me see just how much these so-called gods really are!"

"boom--!!!"

The next second, the pure white holy sword and the pitch-black calamity collided in the sky above the holy city without any fancy moves.

The true battle of the gods erupted at this moment.