The Villain Saint is my secondary account

However, before it could finish its cry, Ye Xiao's long sword had already drawn an arc and slashed diagonally from its shoulder to its waist.

The sturdy armor split in two like a piece of paper that had been cut.

"Roar—!" The manticore raised its forelimbs and slammed down, but its hard claws only managed to grab a clump of broken metal.

The beast's gaze swept across the ground and immediately moved upward, just in time to see a foot stepping on its nose.

Ye Xiao stepped on the scorpion lion's nose and slashed horizontally with his sword. The straight blade cut through the lion's nose and precisely grazed its two large, copper-bell-sized eyes.

Blood splattered, and the agonizing beast let out a mournful roar.

At this moment, Freya, who was floating quietly in mid-air at the main gate, seemed to realize something only then, stopped chanting, and threw out a bit of starlight from her hand.

At the same moment, Ye Xiao noticed that the system countdown had mysteriously reversed by ten seconds. The scorpion lion, whose eyes he had blinded under his feet, suddenly unleashed a tremendous burst of energy, sending him flying several meters away from where he hadn't expected it.

Chapter Forty-Six: The Tower of Babel

【8: 52】

Ye Xiao tumbled to his feet after a few awkward movements on the ground. He saw the crowd that had been lying prone in the main square begin to stir.

"My people..."

“Someone is trying to desecrate this great ceremony.”

Freya's cold voice began to sound more mature, no longer carrying the childishness of her original girlish voice.

"Find him..."

"kill him!"

Upon hearing Freya's words, the Hope Town believers who had been prostrate on the ground at the main gate scrambled to their feet and charged forward on all fours like mad dogs, forming a vast, dark mass that resembled a sweeping wave.

The manticore at the side gate has brass mechanical parts in its eye sockets that pierce through its skin to form two expandable and contractible metal pupils. Its flesh is stretched open with cracks, and bloody metal scales begin to grow.

"How can we even fight ghosts now!" Ye Xiao couldn't help but curse inwardly.

The momentum of ten thousand people marching together was like a mountain collapsing and a tsunami crashing. With time pressing, Ye Xiao had no time to hesitate. He bent down and sheathed his sword.

He held his breath, his eyes fixed on the manticore that was leaping off the ground and charging towards him.

The next moment, an unstoppable force pierced through the lion-tailed scorpion's massive body, cleaving it in two along with the thick side door of the tower, accompanied by a surge of blood.

"what……"

Ye Xiao staggered a few steps, exhaling a breath of murky white air from his mouth. He sheathed his sword with his right hand, then picked up the staff on his back. With his left hand, he took out a stamina potion from his ring and took a swig. He walked forward while regulating his breathing, trying to recover from the sudden exhaustion as quickly as possible.

The monster blood sprayed onto the tower wall bounced back and poured down to the ground like a torrential downpour.

The terrifying power of this strike even stunned the alchemy guards at the gate who weren't hit along with the blade. They hesitated for a moment before reacting, gripping their halberds and stepping forward to block Ye Xiao's advance.

"Frosty Clouds," Ye Xiao uttered softly.

The hurried alchemy guards didn't notice that the pool of blood beneath them suddenly turned as cold as ice. They slipped and fell to the ground, sliding in all directions like out-of-control curling stones.

Ye Xiao spat out the empty medicine bottle and took the opportunity to slide into the wide-open door.

【8: 41】

The interior of the tower was surprisingly simple, with a central column made up of countless moving mechanical parts.

On the outside is a simple spiral staircase that runs along the curved wall, without railings, leading straight up to the towering top of the tower.

"Such a tall tower, and they didn't even build an elevator!" Panting, Ye Xiao looked at the tower's top, which seemed to stretch endlessly, and felt like he had just finished a marathon only to find that the organizers had moved the finish line back another kilometer.

Despite his complaints, he quickly took a few breaths and ran up the stairs.

The massive army outside the gate arrived immediately, swarming in and almost breaking down the gate.

These residents, dressed simply and neatly as if they had stepped out of a fairy tale, with smiling faces, twisted their agile and strange bodies, climbing up the brickwork with their metal fingernails like monkeys.

As expected of evolved life forms, the old man reached the height that Ye Xiao had taken half a lap to cover in just a few bounds.

"Awooo!" The moment the old man saw Ye Xiao, the smile on his face instantly turned into a ferocious expression. He opened his mouth, which took up almost half of his face, and pounced on Ye Xiao.

Ye Xiao showed no respect for the elderly or children and kicked the person who was like a tattered sack falling into the crowd below. He then started running towards the top of the tower.

However, his speed of running in circles was too slow for a normal person. Before long, he was blocked on the steps in front by the crazy residents of Hope Town. Residents kept jumping down from the sky like dumplings being dropped into a pot, trying to grab Ye Xiao.

Ye Xiao gripped his staff and swung it down the stairs like a baseball bat, striking the onrushing residents one strike at a time, but his steps were inevitably hindered as a result.

"Wind Summoning Technique!"

Left with no other choice, Ye Xiao could only release a spell to make his body fly. He originally wanted to save his mental energy at the top of the tower to destroy the magic array there.

After all, it's hard to guarantee that the magic array above won't have some kind of protective measures. If it does, he, who can no longer use his master sword skills, can only rely on his abundant mental energy to unleash the evil god magic of his contract with Ella to break through the defenses.

But if we keep messing around like this, we won't even be able to reach the top of the tower. We still need to use our skills.

Ye Xiao used the wind element to take off from the steps, and the surrounding residents and alchemy guards immediately jumped up and pounced on him in mid-air.

Faced with the encirclement from all sides, Ye Xiao suddenly swung his staff and struck the nearest resident on the head, bending the resident's upper body while simultaneously kicking the resident's shoulder.

Using a sudden upward sprint at a different angle, Ye Xiao barely managed to jump out of the encirclement in the air.

The townspeople and metal guards beneath him collided with each other, making a loud "clanging" sound. Ye Xiao kept chanting incantations, and as soon as he stepped onto the steps, he immediately cast a wind summoning spell. He cast several wind summoning spells in succession until he separated his soaring figure from the crowd surging up from the bottom of the tower.

【7: 23】

Ye Xiao finally saw the large round clock at the top of the tower; through the hole in the white dial, he could see the second hand slowly passing by.

Surprisingly, this clock is quite accurate; the second hand moves almost perfectly in sync with the system's countdown.

Ye Xiao hunched over, slightly out of breath. A few more floors and she would reach the top.

Seven minutes should be enough to stop that magic circle...

Just as I finished setting my mental goal, a figure in a tuxedo emerged from the shadows beneath the watch face.

The other person's face, hidden beneath a top hat, was made of brass parts.

"Mr. Luo, it's a pleasure to meet you," Ye Xiao said with a wry smile.

“Deep down, I want to stop this divine descent.” His mechanical face couldn’t display complex expressions, but his tone seemed full of helplessness. “But I can’t control my actions.”

As he finished speaking, Luo Er gently flicked his cane, and the intricate parts of the cane rotated and transformed into a sharp rapier.

A man and a machine faced off, their figures appearing tiny beneath the enormous dial.

“Mr. Ye, this is not the future that the Engineering Society hopes for.” Luo’s voice continued, but his hand had already raised his rapier. “I believe you can defeat me, and I also hope to take this opportunity to tell you what I know.”

"It's a bit difficult to fight while listening to the plot." Ye Xiao also drew his sword from his waist. With the help of the potion, he recovered some of his strength, but of course, some of it was wasted on climbing the tower.

"There's no way around it. The moment I became a resident of Hope Town, my body no longer belonged to me."

Unlike the other residents of Hope Town who had gone mad, Luo Er remained polite and gentle, even taking off his hat and bowing slightly to Ye Xiao.

Ye Xiao glanced at the countdown. Time wasn't too tight yet, and this guy's words might contain some crucial information.

Okay... I'll give him two minutes.

Luo Er straightened up, and the thin lens of his eye reflected Ye Xiao's slightly bowed posture.

The next moment, as the second hand of the precision mechanical clock chimed, the two simultaneously lifted their feet and rushed towards each other.

Chapter Forty-Seven: Paradise in Hell

In the temple square sealed off by the barrier, High Priest Evans, with his graying hair, saw that Ella remained silent while kneeling on the ground, so he turned around and cast his gaze down the steps of the main hall.

The paladins and elders who were worshipping in a circle around the steps were also restrained by the magic circle. Even their pious expressions and kneeling postures were fixed, as if time itself had been frozen.

The trap, prepared by the highest-ranking clergy of the Loren Sanctuary for sixteen years, is far beyond the capabilities of ordinary people.

Even some of the nobles from the Loren royal palace who came on pilgrimage and worship did not meet the requirements for breaking through the restrictions.

Except for one person.

A man wearing a red robe and with a short golden ponytail slowly walked up the seventy-seven wide steps, his cold gaze fixed on Evans through his monocle.

His gaze was not that of a kind priest preaching, but rather like that of a hunter eyeing his target.

“Bishop William,” High Priest Evans read out the name of the visitor, “these magic arrays are indeed too weak to deal with you.”

This was the cardinal who had come all the way from Morning Star Ridge. As an envoy sent by the Holy City, he seemed to have a mission beyond pilgrimage.

“Evans, you have turned your back on my Lord and brought harm to millions of lives.”

“Alas…” Evans sighed deeply, a golden light seemingly flowing within his deep brown pupils. “You don’t understand, Tobias… it is the gods who have abandoned us.”

Ella seemed to have heard Evans say that several times already.

What does this mean? The silver-haired girl kneeling on the ground was filled with doubt.

“According to the code, the church will pronounce judgment on your sins.” Bishop William did not respond to Evans’s words; his purpose seemed to be solely to execute the apostate.

“You are very young, just like I was back then.” Evans looked at the cardinal who was showing murderous intent, but his eyes revealed kindness and a hint of inexplicable sympathy. “However, your talent is greater than mine, which is a pity.”

Bishop William drew a silver longsword from beneath his robes. The hilt was exquisitely crafted, and the slender blade was engraved with enchantment circuits that flowed like water.

The next second, the crimson figure vanished from its spot, its unstoppable sword pointing straight at Evans's face.

Several blue magic circles, perpendicular to the ground, appeared out of thin air, bringing the sharp sword tip to a stop just in front of Evans.

“Unfortunately… I can only save one.” Evans, leaning on his cane, remained motionless, his weathered voice continuing, “Only…”

Before he finished speaking, the enchanted patterns on the silver sword in Bishop William's hand suddenly lit up with a dazzling golden light, which split and transformed into a circle of golden swords floating around the blade.

Suddenly, he drew his sword and thrust it out again, the circle of sword light formed by holy light striking the magic circle protecting Evans.

The unparalleled power instantly shattered the weak magic array. The sword light, trailing a golden stream of light, pierced through Evans' chest in an instant. The vast aftershocks even broke through the temple wall a hundred meters away behind him, and finally dissipated into the huge barrier at the edge of the square.

Ella, who was watching silently, could tell that the power of this sword was far greater than Ye Xiao's Grandmaster-level sword-drawing slash, but it had not yet reached the extraordinary level.

【7: 02】

“Traitor who has turned his back on God, accept the punishment of the Holy Light.” Bishop William looked at Evans’s pierced chest with an indifferent expression.

“Tobias, the closer you get to the Holy Light, the closer you get to madness.” But then, Evans, whose heart had been pierced by the Holy Light Sword, opened his mouth again and continued to speak.

He had a huge opening in his body through which his vision could even pass through to the sanctuary behind him, but it seemed to him that nothing had happened.

“You’re the one who’s crazy, you monster.” Bishop William frowned as he looked at the bizarre scene.

“You’re right, I really have gone mad.” The flesh on Evans’ chest began to slowly writhe, and objects like metal gears grew out of the flesh, gradually filling the bloody hole and forming a brass-colored shell. “Once you’re out of the magic circle, your soul can’t reach Hope Town. So, before you are also devoured by madness, I have no choice but to kill you.”

……

【6: 53】

Meanwhile, it is located atop the tower in Hope Town.

Sparks flew from the clash of metal beneath the giant clock.

Amidst the flashing swords and clashing blades, Luo Er's gentle voice slowly rang out:

"The earliest scholar who learned this, and who also created me, broke a taboo in order to save a child who died from disease."

"He wanted to use an alchemical body as a vessel to attract the souls of the dead."

"This was undoubtedly a failure; mortals who have crossed the line between life and death are destined to fail."

This mechanical gentleman's swordsmanship was as refined as his words, and his movements were graceful and measured, as if he were dancing a sword tango.

"But his actions violated the laws set by the gods, so he was cast into hell by Morse, the god of death."

"Yet even in hell, this grieving scholar did not give up."

"He made a deal with the demon god Mammon, using his own soul, in exchange for Mammon lending him a portion of his territory as the basis for his alchemical experiments."

While dodging and parrying the dense thrusts, Ye Xiao listened to the words spoken by his opponent and searched for flaws in his swordsmanship.

His movements were completely haphazard, a style developed purely by seasoned players through experience and practice.

"Even with alchemy that uses divine power to reverse the laws, it is still impossible to bring back his child's soul."

"So the scholar thought that his child was no longer hopeful, but perhaps he could use the technology he had discovered to bring hope to others."

"This is the prototype of the Society of Craftsmen. This scholar hopes to use the alchemy of the Reversal Law to transform those lives in the world who are suffering."

"Let their souls escape the control of the gods and return to the paradise created in hell, which is now Hope Town."

"The soul returns to paradise and is freed from the laws of life and death; the body is transformed by alchemy and no longer ages or gets sick. This way of achieving immortality is the most perfect evolution he pursues."

At this point, Luo Er's swordsmanship began to stagnate, and his body movements seemed to slow down as well.