It's so hard being a hero!

After saying that, she squeezed hard.

With a snap, the crystallization of desire shattered.

The moment the crystal shattered, the enormous statue seemed to lose its heart; the pink luster on its surface quickly faded, turning it into a lifeless, ordinary stone statue.

Those kneeling on the ground simultaneously went limp and collapsed one after another.

The pink mist was also visibly dissipating, from thick to thin, from thin to transparent, and finally completely disappearing into the air.

"what?"

The moment the crystallization of desire shattered, Belis, who was outside, immediately looked towards the cave.

Her face was filled with disbelief.

Inside the cave, just as Sophia crushed the crystal of desire, a powerful will suddenly descended upon this space.

Upon sensing this power, Sophia shuddered. She looked up at the area at the top of the cave that was illuminated by the purple crystal.

A giant human face was slowly coalescing.

It was a face of breathtaking beauty.

But the other party's expression at this moment was not the indifferent look of a god looking down on ants, but a look of deep doubt.

The owner of this face is none other than Lilith, the witch of desire.

Sophia instinctively became wary upon seeing the other person.

The two exchanged glances.

After a moment of stunned silence, Sophia surprisingly raised her right hand, her palm still bearing traces of the purple fragments of the Desire Crystal.

In front of Lilith's projection, she opened her palm, letting the fragments fall, and then clenched her fist again.

This action was highly provocative.

After witnessing this scene, a dangerous glint flashed in Lilith's purple eyes.

She opened her lips as if to say something, but before the sound reached Sophia's ears, Sophia interrupted her.

Sophia clenched her fist suddenly, and a golden magical power exploded from her palm, causing the surrounding space to tremble.

Lilith's projection became blurred amidst the spatial tremors.

The enormous face in the void vanished, like smoke blown away by the wind.

The cave fell silent once more.

Sofia also breathed a sigh of relief.

She looked down at her right hand, where the residual power of the crystallized desire was stimulating her nerves.

But more than that, she was more concerned about that brief moment of eye contact.

Lilith saw her.

Although it was only a fleeting projection, and there were countless layers of spatial barriers between them, those purple eyes did indeed see her face.

Sophia took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.

It's too late for her to regret it now; what's done is done.

Just as she had thought, she couldn't keep hiding because she was afraid of being discovered by Lilith, otherwise she would never be able to do anything in her life.

She will inevitably have to deal with events related to Lilith frequently in the future; this is unavoidable.

But the matter didn't end there, because someone else arrived.

A figure flew into the mountain cave.

It was Belis.

As she rushed into the cave, her gaze first swept over the believers lying on the ground, and then landed on the statue of a god on the altar that had completely lost its luster.

Finally, her gaze settled on Sofia, who was standing at the entrance of the passage.

Bellis's expression went from shock to disbelief, and from disbelief to anger.

Those dark purple eyes were filled with rage.

"you?"

Her voice was trembling.

Sophia looked at her distorted face and gave a strange laugh.

"What do you mean, 'you'? No need to ask, I did it."

Bellis opened her mouth as if to say something, but only a hoarse, frustrated sound came out of her throat.

The branch she had built over nearly twenty years, the crystallization of her desires that had been condensed with countless efforts, was gone just like that.

At that moment, Bellis's rationality completely collapsed.

"You brat, you're asking for it."

She raised her right hand, and dark purple magic power in her palm frantically condensed, transforming into a dark purple magic ball the size of a fist.

This magic is swirling with intense desire, radiating an unsettling aura.

Sophia looked at the ball of light, and her eyelids twitched.

She's only at the Bronze level now, while Belis is a Diamond-level Deity of Desire Temple. She definitely can't withstand a head-on confrontation.

But she didn't intend to tough it out.

Her left hand had already been quietly placed behind her back, and a tiny spatial mark was gathering at her fingertips. As soon as the other party made a move, she would immediately teleport away.

This was Frey's life-saving measure, which allowed her to tear open space and perform a spatial teleportation.

However, just as Belis was about to make her move, a fiery red figure rushed in from outside the passage.

The person who came was Xinuoya.

Her gold and red armor was covered in battle marks, but it seemed that Baird, who had lost his power, had been dealt with by her.

The moment Xinuoya rushed in, she saw the dark purple ball of light gathering in Belis's palm. Without saying a word, she raised her hand and swung her sword.

A thick, fiery sword aura shot out from the greatsword in her hand, slashing towards Belis's back.

Belis's expression changed, and she couldn't care less about dealing with Sophia anymore. She quickly dodged to the side.

The fiery sword energy grazed her shoulder and blasted a charred dent into the wall behind her.

"Little girl, did you ruin their ceremony?"

Without turning her head, Xinuo asked a question.

"Yes, while you were fighting, I sneaked in and discovered that the fog outside all came from the crystals inside this statue."

“I crushed the thing inside her idol,” Sophia explained.

Upon hearing this, Xinuoya paused for a moment, then understood what was going on.

"Haha, well done."

She smiled and looked at Belis again.

"Witch, so what are you going to do next?"

Bellis bit her lip. She glanced at Sophia, who was hiding behind Xinuoya, and knew there was nothing she could do about her.

She couldn't beat Shinoya either.

After a moment of silence, she let out a cold laugh.

"Don't be too happy yet."

After she finished speaking, her body began to blur.

"Your Excellency, that's enough for today, but remember this: this matter is not over yet."

"Especially you brat, I'll remember you."

Belis glared fiercely at Sophia one last time before disappearing into the void.

Shinoya frowned as she looked at the spot where Belis had disappeared, but did not chase after her.

Meanwhile, outside the fortress, a large number of powerful individuals suddenly flew in, led by two diamond-level experts.

Upon arriving above the fortress and seeing the situation inside, they immediately ordered the knights riding various flying mounts behind them to attack the fortress's defensive array.

They easily breached the fortress's defensive array in the end.

Chapter 70 Reinforcements and the Ending

Bellis's figure quickly disappeared without a trace.

"Pah! You shameless hussy, you're quite fast."

Hinoya said unhappily, then sheathed her greatsword, turned to look at Sophia, and sized her up.

"Little girl, are you alright?"

Sophia shook her head.

Shinoya's gaze passed over Sophia and landed on the statue on the altar that had completely lost its luster.

"This thing should be the source of that power from before, right?"

"Correct."

Sophia also turned around and glanced at the three-story-tall statue.

“I crushed the energy crystal she had hidden inside, and then the ritual was interrupted.”

Shinoya stared at the statue for a few seconds, then glanced at the believers lying on the ground.

"More than 20,000 people are being held here. That bastard Baird deserves to die a hundred times over."

Just then, a muffled rumbling sound came from above.

The sound came from above the fortress, as if something had been smashed to pieces.

Immediately afterwards, the entire fortress trembled.