Extraordinary Pedigree.

Chapter 995 [Solomon's Key - Crocell]

Patriarch Astaroth's patience was completely shattered by Xia Xiu's cold, sarcastic question.

"Enough! Do you think you're the only one with a destined hero?!"

His roar shook the dome, causing the bells to chime and even the candlelight on the altar to flicker.

The shepherd's staff slammed heavily onto the stone slab, and the air suddenly froze, as if a slit had been torn open.

——【The Avatar of the Overlord - Krosel】.

Crocell—the 49th demon in the 72 demons of Solomon, with the title of Duke, possesses the ability to see secrets and impart geometry and art. Appearing in the form of an angel, he can reveal mysterious and hidden things, and teach geography and the art of science. Under the control of the ruler, he can create a massive, turbulent sound, yet nothing is actually there; he can heat water and discover hot springs.

With a deep rumble, a tall, slender figure suddenly appeared behind Astaroth.

It was a colossal humanoid shadow composed of transparent crystal and flowing water patterns, tall and with sleek lines. Its entire body shimmered with geometric light patterns, like constantly changing mathematical formulas flowing across its surface. Its head resembled an angel statue, but it lacked specific facial features; only two points of azure light gazed ahead, cold and empty.

Behind it, a six-pointed geometric ring floats and rotates, each rotation bringing with it the roar of flowing water, like a whirlpool stirring the entire space.

Water vapor filled the air, the temperature in the sanctuary suddenly dropped, and then rose sharply in the next instant. Steam shot straight up to the dome, and geometric patterns appeared in the mist.

"It's the Patriarch's chosen hero—Krosel!" The believers stood up one after another, but in the chaos they dared not run away. They could only huddle among the benches, their eyes fixed on the giant crystal figure.

In all the heavens and myriad realms, the hierarchy of extraordinary beings is strictly enforced.

The highest level is no longer comprised of so-called saints, kings, or even the wisest wizards, but is collectively known as—legendary heroes.

This is a realm that transcends the limits of the mundane.

When life transcends the barriers of flesh and soul and resonates directly with the laws of the world, it is no longer confined to "human beings".

These legendary heroes are able to manipulate rules, shape environments, and reverse cause and effect.

Every legendary hero has their own heroic incarnation—a bridge between them and the laws, a projection of their soul.

In secular legends, these incarnations are given countless names, while in academic texts, they are uniformly recorded as—the heroes of destiny.

Their power no longer relies on traditional spells and combat techniques, but directly invokes the underlying logic of the world, using the power of the laws to launch battles; their bodies and souls have undergone a complete transformation, and conventional poisons, weapons, and even mental erosion cannot truly harm them.

In the eyes of Patriarch Astaroth, the blond youth before him was nothing more than a nameless upstart who had just been chosen as a hero.

He admitted that the opponent's avatar was powerful and possessed the rarest spatial laws, making it easy to suppress the Qing Staff Clan, but that did not mean that the opponent could challenge him.

Even legendary heroes have differences, like myself.

He is the Cardinal Patriarch of Saint Cuthbert, who a century ago embodied his own sovereign form, [Crossell], and firmly stands among the ranks of legendary heroes.

Over the course of a century, he witnessed countless power struggles and extraordinary duels, and the fall of many rising stars. Those promising newcomers may have shown their brilliance for a time, but in the end, they all disappeared without a trace.

More importantly, he is no longer just an ordinary legendary hero.

Upon encountering the "Fifth Truth," he received a forbidden gift: the Epic Book.

That was a legendary forbidden scripture, a scripture that could grant the power of a god without relying on divinity, allowing one to break through the shackles of legend and possess divine power.

He is no longer just a legendary hero who has broken through the boundaries of ordinary heroes. He possesses multiple epic blessings and the power of the Mother from the Fifth Truth, and has the strength to challenge demigods.

If he were to go even further and spread more of the Fifth Truth to the Great Sea of ​​Stars, he might even reach the realm of gods.

Therefore, when the Patriarch looked at Xia Xiu, there was no fear in his eyes, but rather a coldness and contempt.

The Patriarch's eyes, like those of an old but still sharp eagle, were fixed on Xia Xiu.

In that instant, all the candles in the sanctuary flickered, as if echoing the power emanating from the depths of his chest.

"Young man, don't be too angry."

His voice was deep, yet carried an undeniable authority, like an ancient, eternal bell echoing through the dome of the sky.

"You think you can rival me just because you wield a little power? Ha, I have lived longer than you can imagine. How many empires have you witnessed fall? How many heroes have you seen whose names were once celebrated but are now nowhere to be found on tombstones?"

The Patriarch slowly raised his hand, as if caressing some unseen river of history:

"I have eaten more salt than you have walked roads. My prayers have been more numerous than your breaths. Do you think your light is unique? No, you are just one of many shooting stars, destined to flash across the sky and then fade away."

"There are too many hot-headed brats like you who have no idea how high the sky is or how thick the earth is."

As the words piled up, the air seemed to be filled with an invisible tide, steam surged between every stone pillar, and the dome of the sanctuary emitted a deep rumble.

At that moment, all the attendants, priests, and guards held their breath, glancing nervously at the young man standing in the center of the oppressive aura.

Xia Xiu simply stood there quietly.

He raised an eyebrow slightly, his golden eyes gleaming in the dim light and firelight, as if he had spotted some extremely interesting prey.

He let out a soft chuckle:
"Oh haha."

The two short syllables, however, were like a needle, piercing the heavy, iron-like air within the sanctuary.

Xia Xiu's lips curled into a sharp arc, his eyes showing no fear, but rather the unexpected joy of a hunter encountering rare prey.

“I never expected this,” he murmured, his voice filled with excitement, “that I would actually encounter a new Solomon Key in all the myriad worlds.”

Hearing Xia Xiu's words, the Grand Patriarch was completely enraged.

He had been magnanimous enough, but the young man in front of him kept provoking him.

"Crazy!!!"

The Patriarch's eyes blazed with furious rage in an instant, and his voice boomed like thunder, shaking the murals on the dome and distorting the candlelight on the altar.

Along with the sound came a cold and damp power.

The air suddenly seemed to sink, as if countless invisible hands were descending from the ceiling, pulling the sanctuary into a deep, oppressive atmosphere. Moisture surged inexplicably, and an incredible thin mist appeared around the altar, then twisted into a gigantic vortex, as if an invisible abyss had been carved out of the void.

The shepherd's staff hit the ground, and a burst of water vapor erupted.

The holy water pool boiled with white mist, water seeped from the cracks in the pillars, and the trace amounts of water in the candle tears were forcibly drawn away, flowing towards the tall crystal figure behind Astaroth—[Krosel].

The hexagonal geometric ring rotated, and light patterns flowed rapidly across its body. The watermarks on the ground suddenly elongated, condensing into beams of clear "water blades."

The blade has a hard spine and a fine edge, leaving narrow water streaks as it moves.

Several more water scrolls, with a hardness close to that of crystal, fell from mid-air, their openings sealed in a crisscross pattern.

Xia Xiu didn't move an inch and whispered, "Move back."

The Sisyphus figure behind him raises his arm, extending his five fingers.

[Vector Manipulation] Unfurled—the speed of the water blade was taken away, its momentum was rewritten, and the blade veered ninety degrees in the air, grazing past the two people and embedding itself in front of the altar.

The scrolls and hard blocks fell, and Sisyphus snapped his fingertip, giving them a reverse thrust, causing them to shatter into water droplets with a clang.

The entire sanctuary resounded with the sounds of a tsunami, rushing water, and dripping water, the three sound fields overlapping and constantly changing their source angles.

When the cochlea malfunctions, the sense of direction is lost.

Monford's heart tightened, and he took a half-step off course.

Xia Xiu's gaze darkened, and the fist of [Sisyphus] missed its mark. A silent zone appeared in the air, with a radius of three meters, and the sound waves were stripped away at the edge of the zone.

Inside the membrane, only heartbeats and breathing remained; the sound of the waves outside was shut out.

At this moment, the Patriarch's deadly move struck again.

The surrounding temperature suddenly shattered into two extremes.

On one side, steam surged and heat waves assaulted the face, as if it were about to be steamed alive; on the other side, frost condensed, the floor tiles cracked with frosty patterns, and exhaled breath instantly turned into white mist. The alternation of hot and cold, the air like a repeatedly hammered furnace, drastically slowed one's reactions by half a beat.

Montfort's chest tightened, his heart burned, his blood seemed to boil, and his limbs gradually lost control. He forced himself to reach for the short sword, but his palms slipped in the cold sweat and steam.

At the same time, symbols suddenly lit up in the sea of ​​fog. Hexagrams, rings, and geometric arrays all glowed, fixing the water mist into a visible framework.

The path ahead instantly solidified into a crystalline wall, crystal clear yet as hard as iron, blocking any way to retreat. The Water Cube beneath their feet suddenly rose, closing in from all sides, trapping Xia Xiu and Meng Fu Te firmly within it.

"boom--!"

The sound of water converged into a roar, and the entire sanctuary seemed to be filled with a giant sea, with beams of water shooting towards it.

Astaroth extended a finger, and the six-pointed ring behind him spun wildly, its blue light sweeping across the hall, its chill reaching the back of his neck.

Xia Xiu looked at these deadly moves and simply clicked his tongue in amazement, saying:
"Regarding the free shaping of water elements... as well as water sound illusions, multi-source sound field interference... the old antique still has some ability. At least based on his current performance, his strength is at least equivalent to 3.5 Mr. Night."

As soon as he finished speaking, a colossal purple-gold shadow suddenly rose up from behind him—[Sisyphus]!
The colossus burst through the steam from its shoulders and back, its muscles like sculpted steel, its power surging between its flesh and blood. With a stomp of its foot, the [Möbius strip] burst open on the ground, instantly dislocating space by half an inch.

The next moment, fists rained down!

[Sisyphus] roared, its massive body pounding down with frenzied force, the dense, almost overlapping bombardments echoing throughout the sanctuary. The crystal walls were shattered by each punch, the Water Cube deformed and exploded under the heavy blows, and the water spears, before they could even get close, were manipulated by vectors to change their trajectory, swirling and disintegrating.

Break all laws with one force!

"Drink——!"

Sisyphus took another step, and the [Möbius strip] suddenly twisted, instantly overtaking him and Xia Xiu, crossing the fog and barriers, and appearing directly in front of Astaroth.

Almost simultaneously, [Krosel] appeared.

Its crystal-like body stretched and took shape in the mist, the geometric rings on its back spun rapidly, and its arms suddenly extended into two long crystal blades, slashing at the oncoming purple-gold giant shadow.

Transform into hand-to-hand combat, unleashing explosive power in an instant!
Ora Ora Ora Ora!!!
[Sisyphus] swung his fist with a roar, fist and blade colliding, splashing up a sky full of water mist and sparks of energy cracks.

"Thump thump thump thump!!!"

A series of impacts shattered the sanctuary, cracking the walls, toppling the icons, and shattering rows of chairs.

【Krosel】's water blades cut in layer by layer at geometric angles, trying to suppress the giant shadow, while 【Sisyphus】's fists, with their ferocious vectors, punched one after another, forcefully breaking the blade surface inch by inch.

At this moment, the entire sanctuary had become a ruin.

Broken stone pillars lay scattered across the ground, walls collapsed, and statues shattered into dust. The once solemn dome had vanished, leaving only the stench of blood lingering among the ruins. The Patriarch's relentless assault had instantly turned the surrounding mortals into a bloody mist, scattering limbs and twisted corpses across the ground. Screams and cries had long since died down, leaving only a few blood-soaked survivors trembling among the rubble.

In the center of this desolate wasteland, two enormous figures are colliding violently.

On one side was the High Patriarch's [Krosel], enveloped in a semi-transparent psychic avatar, like a walking divine judge. On the other side was Xia Xiu's [Sisyphus], a colossal purple-gold shadow like a god descending to earth, its heavy steps exuding an oppressive aura like a mountain.

boom--!
The fist and palm clashed head-on, and the resulting shockwave directly overturned the remaining wall, turning a radius of tens of meters into a deep crater in an instant.

"How could this be..." The Patriarch's heart tightened.

In a pure numerical clash, the Patriarch quickly found himself at a disadvantage. To his horror, he discovered that his own palms were cracking apart inch by inch during the head-on collision.

Click, click!
That wasn't energy dissipation, but real shattering! [Krosel]'s metacarpal bones shattered like torn glass, accompanied by a piercing cracking sound, and the entire illusion's wound was reflected back onto his body.

puff--!
The Patriarch's arms exploded at the same time, flesh and blood flew everywhere, and blood gushed out like a waterfall!

His eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief: "How is this possible?!"

This was his most prized divine incarnation, bearing prayers and holy power, yet it couldn't even withstand a single direct confrontation under the suppression of the colossal purple-gold shadow.

He lost in the numerical comparison.

How could this be? [Krosel] is invincible in Destiny Heroes!!!

The Patriarch staggered backward, his chest heaving, his face filled with shock and disbelief. Blood gushed from his arms, the pain breaking his breath, his voice cracking with trembling anger.

"You...who are you?"

Xia Xiu stood quietly amidst the rubble and pools of blood, his figure outlined by the gray-gold light falling from the shattered dome.

He slowly raised his hand and took off his dusty top hat, his movements unhurried, as if the carnage and destruction before him had nothing to do with him.

A calm smile appeared on his lips:

"Me... well, I'm just a Fifth Church investigator who happened to be passing through."