He became the White-Haired Evil God after wearing the Seven Curses Rings.

The moment the Expeditionary Sword broke through the clouds, Atoris blinked, a rare occurrence for him.

That Titan flagship, as imposing as a mountain, should have been anchored in a naval port deep within the Empire.

But how did it end up here?

In fact, Atoris knew very little about the so-called expedition plan.

Since Orion succeeded her as Empress, she has paid little attention to the internal affairs of the Empire.

Trusting Orion, Atoris rarely interfered with him, mostly letting Orion make his own decisions.

After all, managing the branch of the Wheel of Fate had already taken up most of Atoris's energy and time.

As for the meeting organized by Brandon, Artoris did not attend for the same reason.

This meant she was unaware of Brandon and their plans.

The only ones responsible for liaison work were Roland and Orion, who was relayed by Roland, who were making arrangements for this matter.

Artorias, on the other hand, was completely outside of this matter.

But it wasn't a big deal anyway.

According to the established plan, she should be stationed in Carlos Sri Lanka at this moment, responsible for handling the branch's daily affairs.

She probably doesn't have the energy to interfere with the conflict on Tianshan Mountain.

But now, due to some unexpected factors, Atoris has finally ended up standing here.

At that moment, the imperial flagship she knew all too well was slowly turning its dark blue cannons toward their direction.

The surrounding air seemed to freeze instantly, and even the wind slowed down.

What is the simplest way to destroy a ritual?

The answer, of course, is to directly destroy the vessel that carries the ritual.

As the vessel for the high-ranking angel summoning ritual, Mount Tianshang naturally became a target of the Expeditionary Sword.

next second.

The hull of the Expeditionary Sword began to light up one by one, and the entire warship's alchemical core and thousands of auxiliary magic arrays began to operate at full power.

Its cannon muzzle was pointed directly at the central cathedral atop the mountain in the sky.

This is also where they are right now.

If this blast lands, the entire mountain will likely be sheared away.

"Wait, wait, wait, this isn't right! We... we're still here!!!"

Cecilia's face turned deathly pale under the blue light.

As the greatest alchemical creation of this era, no one can say for sure how much alchemist wisdom is embodied in the Expeditionary Sword.

And now, that cannon is pointing right at them so fiercely.

With one shot, not only will the mountain be destroyed, but three layers of the mountain's foundation will also be shaved off.

Atoris ignored Cecilia's panic.

She simply looked up at the giant ship that was charging up its power, her azure eyes calm to the point of being indifferent.

"When the Expeditionary Sword was first built, I was present at the test launch and witnessed its ultimate power..."

Atorist paused for a moment.

"Due to the technological limitations of alchemy at the time, its main cannon's output was only capable of effectively killing units below the demigod level. As for those above the demigod level..."

She turned her head slightly and looked at Cecilia.

"I estimate at most the skin will be scratched."

"what?"

Cecilia turned her neck stiffly, her voice weak.

"Um...Sword Maiden, is it possible...that I'm not a demigod yet?"

"I know."

Artoris answered nonchalantly.

The next instant, a pure golden light shield burst forth from her palm, completely enveloping the two of them.

[Imperial Shield Lv.1]

This is the only defensive skill that Atoris has learned since entering the realm of demigods, and the only one he is willing to learn.

It expresses the deep affection that all the people of the Aodu Empire have for this land, their prayers for peace, and their trust in its guardians...

She condensed all the will she could bear into a pure and inviolable energy barrier.

Its intensity and scope depend on how much of this will she mobilizes at this moment.

However, this skill also has a key mechanism, which is the friendly fire judgment.

"Buzz—"

The world fell silent instantly.

next second.

"Bang------!!!"

The world instantly turned a deathly white.

Cecilia huddled inside the golden shield, her eyes tightly shut.

Although there was no real danger, one could still feel the impending destruction washing over the surface of the shield.

I don't know how much time passed.

The all-consuming white light finally faded away slowly.

The main cannons of the Expeditionary Sword fell silent, and the once towering mountain peak—

No more.

Only a vast expanse of flat land remained.

Tianshan Mountain is at most a massive mountain, essentially no different from other mountain ranges.

Without the protection of the High Court, even the Sky Mountain would find it difficult to withstand the bombardment of the Expeditionary Sword.

Cecilia opened her eyes in a daze.

"Hmm... Is it over...?"

Before the words were even finished, a strong feeling of weightlessness washed over me.

"Wait, where am I—"

high altitude.

The Expeditionary Sword blasted the entire mountaintop away with a single shot, vaporizing the area beneath their feet as well.

After the shield was removed, she and Atoris were freefalling from a height of several hundred meters.

"Waaaaaahh ...

Cecilia flailed wildly in mid-air, while Atoris remained calm, not even her skirt fluttering as she fell.

"Bang--!"

Upon landing, Atoris stood firmly, completely untouched by dust.

She reached out and lifted Cecilia, whose body was half-submerged in the rubble.

"Cough, cough..."

Cecilia exhaled a puff of dust, a slightly embarrassed smile appearing on her face.

"Sword...Sword Maiden, thank you...I should still be alive...?"

"If there's nothing wrong, just stand up on your own."

"Oh well!"

Cecilia immediately stood up straight.

As a legendary assassin of the Wheel of Fortune, even though she has not yet reached the level of a demigod, her physical abilities far surpass those of ordinary people.

Even falling from hundreds of meters in the air, he only suffered a few drops of blood on his forehead.

She wiped away the blood covering her left eye and looked around.

The once towering Tianshan Mountain has now become a plateau.

Cecilia let out a long sigh of relief.

"The high angels... are they not going to descend?"

"At least not today."

Atoris's tone remained calm.

"But the foundation of the ritual was not completely destroyed."

Although the core area of ​​the ritual was lost after the mountain peak was cut off, most of the mountain remains, and the basic rituals inside are still in operation.

The next second, the ground began to churn.

Countless fragments were expelled from the shattered soil by some force.

They had clearly been dead for a long time, with fragments of church ceremonial robes remaining on their bodies.

Platinum-colored tumors burst forth from inside these corpses.

Millions of corpses.

Millions of deformed angels.

These angels, who descend swiftly by relying on corpses, are far less powerful than before, and their levels are generally only between fifty and seventy. The time required for their complete descent has also become much slower...

But they have a quantity.

Even Artorias would find it difficult to deal with a million mutated angels.

Cecilia felt a tightness in her throat.

"No way... there are so many?!"

Seeing this, Atoris silently gripped the hilt of his sword.

Just as she was thinking of a solution, the sky suddenly darkened.

Look up.

The Expeditionary Sword remains hovering high in the sky.

But behind it, the clouds are being torn apart by countless warships.

The second, the third, the fourth...

One after another, warships emerged from the clouds, forming a menacing wedge formation behind the Expeditionary Sword.

Expeditionary fleet.

The next moment, the landing hatches on the belly of the fleet opened simultaneously, and countless alchemical machines rained down from the sky, the shockwaves from which instantly annihilated a portion of the mutated angels.

After gaining their footing, the alchemical patterns on the steel behemoths lit up one by one, and then they began to charge in formation.

With the support of artillery fire from the aerial fleet, the mutated angels were harvested by the mechanical legion like weeds.

Cecilia stood frozen in place, her voice trembling.

"This is... the Empire's... plan...?"

She looked at Atoris blankly, but he shook his head slightly.

Cecilia looked at Atoris, but he shook his head.

"To be precise, I was not aware of it either; it was probably a plan that Roland and Orion agreed upon on their own."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over the overwhelming imperial fleet.

"They dared to redeploy the expeditionary fleet to attack Tianshang Mountain, presumably because they had the support of the Northern Frontier."

After a moment's thought, Atoris guessed the general cause and effect.

The mechanical legion's charge was unstoppable, but Atoris, watching all this, frowned deeply.

"It went too smoothly."