Those time travelers that year

Under Voban's control, more than a dozen bolts of lightning fell from the sky and struck the Vatican's Crusaders. There was no doubt that once these lightning bolts struck the Crusader knights, the intense heat would be enough to instantly turn them into charred remains and ashes.

However, at the very instant the lightning struck, accompanied by a dazzling, holy light, a pure white radiance flowed from the angel's phantom. This radiance instantly created a thin screen, blocking all the striking lightning.

"Marquis Voban, do you really want to wage war against billions of Catholic believers worldwide?!" The cardinal roared at Voban, his face grim. To be honest, he was also quite aggrieved. The Vatican's deployment of its resources was naturally intended to deal with that Lord of Hell, the Demon King of Pride. However, who would have thought that this Lord of Hell, whose seven deadly sins included pride, wouldn't appear before them at all, displaying none of the so-called majesty of pride (in fact, it truly didn't), seemingly hiding somewhere.

Conversely, in this country, the official history compilation committee, which is clearly an organization of heretics, completely ignored them. At first, it didn't matter, but faced with the more powerful Vatican, the official history compilation committee had no choice but to back down.

Unexpectedly, these heretics, whom the Vatican considered infidels, shamelessly colluded with a heretical group known as the Godkillers. Feeling emboldened, they began openly and covertly ostracizing and targeting the Vatican's crusaders. To preserve their strength for the yet-to-be-revealed Lord of Hell, the Vatican's crusaders naturally chose to proceed cautiously.

These believers probably never imagined that you'd bring thousands of people over, stay on their territory, openly brandishing weapons, and then talk about being cautious—it's all a joke. Unfortunately, due to their so-called European pride and the Vatican's arrogance, these brain-dead clergymen genuinely didn't anticipate this.

So, behind the scenes, the Vatican, being an outsider, was immediately targeted by the four powerful families of the official history compilation committee, who had regained their patronage. Various minor conflicts arose, and it was clear that the Vatican was far more disliked by the local powers than the individual Campiones who had come alone. The former fawned over the Vatican, while the latter were constantly hostile.

This led to a situation where, during a private conflict, a young knight, in a fit of anger, struck first. It's likely no one suspected that their long-sought target was involved. Without this covert influence, the conflict would never have escalated to the point of a physical altercation.

However, nobody here knows this.

These crusaders, believing themselves to be capable enough to confront the elusive Lord of Hell, were fundamentally mistaken. They failed to grasp that the true divine being Lucifer used to descend was neither the Son of Dawn nor the Lord of Hell, but rather the antithesis of God, the shadow of the Lord.

Therefore, just as they hadn't anticipated Lucifer's true divine nature, they also hadn't realized that, through the hidden aspects of God's opposite, the divine nature belonging to the shadow of God, Lucifer had already thoroughly influenced these believers of God in secret. The negative seven deadly sins had long been secretly implanted in their hearts, but unfortunately, they were completely unaware of this.

How can believers in God resist the influence of God's shadow?

……

No matter how frustrated these Vatican crusaders may feel, they cannot change the fact that the situation is now completely out of control.

Voban completely ignored the cardinal's angry glare. It was utterly laughable that a mere phantom of an angel could withstand his attack.

"Die!" Voban said disdainfully, looking coldly at the Vatican clergy. "In your despair, pray to your gods!"

Rumble rumble rumble...

In a timeline not modified by Ciel, this veteran Campion, who has lived for over two hundred years, is completely overwhelmed by a series of protagonist halo effects, brainless halo, harem halo, fool halo, etc., and does not display the power that you can match for the longest-lived Campion.

Unfortunately, the timeline has long been completely messed up by the Ciel. So... a Campione who has lived for over two hundred years, wielding the power called "Gale and Fury"—a power that once destroyed a port city—is actually being used by a rookie?!

How could such a thing possibly happen in real life?

Voban has possessed the power of [Raging Storms] for over two hundred years. Over a hundred years ago, he could destroy a city with this power, so what about now, over a hundred years later?!

Without the influence of his unlucky aura, and with the help of the power of [Gale and Raging Waves], Voban demonstrated a level of control over storms and thunder that was in no way inferior to that of the Unruly Mekal.

One, ten, one hundred...

Blazing, dazzling lightning bolts rained down from the sky like hurled spears upon the Vatican Crusaders. After withstanding only a dozen or so bolts of lightning, the illusory image of the angel shattered like a bubble.

But as the phantom of one angel was blasted to pieces by more than ten bolts of lightning, a new holy light shone from within the Vatican ranks, and new phantoms of angels materialized. This time, more than ten phantoms of angels together created a massive barrier, firmly blocking the onrushing hundreds of bolts of lightning.

"Angels descending?!" If it were a devout believer witnessing this angelic apparition, they would have already knelt down in tears and prayed. Even someone who doesn't believe in Catholicism would be moved by the sacredness brought about by the appearance of these angelic apparitions and brainwashed into becoming a most sincere believer. However, in Voban's eyes, this kind of thing was nothing but a useless piece of junk. "...A trick to fool people, hahahaha, the sound and light effects are not bad, but more than a hundred years ago, I would have already dismissed such boring tricks."

"So, let me send you on a journey. But not to the heaven where your gods reside, but to my own death prison!"

"I wouldn't mind having a few more Vatican dogs among my servants!" Voban once defeated Osiris, the Egyptian god of the underworld, and obtained the power called the "Cage of Servants of Death," which allows anyone he kills to be resurrected as an absolutely loyal servant of the dead.

Now, Voban's words are an even more blatant act of contempt.

He not only despised these Catholics, but also made it clear to them that after they died, their souls would not go to heaven, but would fall into hell controlled by him, Voban.

However, Voban remained unfazed by the clergy's rage, instead pointing a mocking finger at the crusader knights and pressing down. With a thunderous roar and howling wind, the dark clouds descended from the sky.

A towering tornado was being pulled down from the sky and falling toward the Crusader Knights.

535. Chaotic Battle 3

The tornado falling from the sky was a terrifying natural disaster, powerful enough to ravage the earth and reduce an entire city to ruins. Clearly, Voban, this Campione, intended to utterly destroy the entire Vatican Crusade.

What if there are thousands of knights? What if angels descend?

The difference between Campione and the Grand Knight is like the difference between a god and a human. Both are unstoppable natural disasters and destructions. The power contained in that tornado, the high-speed airflow alone, far surpasses any sharp weapon, not to mention that it was released by authority. More than two hundred years is enough time for Voban to fully understand these "spoils of war" that he has plundered.

Unless these Vatican officials have someone among them who can activate the aura of idiocy, they can only try to tough it out themselves.

But clearly, none of these guys are among them. However, the Vatican, which has brought thousands of people here to cause trouble, is not without its trump cards. Otherwise, how could it possibly face the still-elusive Lord of Hell if it couldn't even contend with Campione?

Twelve beams of holy light shot into the sky from the ranks of knights, twelve fully armed knights. At first glance, they appeared no different from the other knights, but at this moment, these knights were surrounded by holy light, and a pair of wings formed of light appeared on their backs. The knights' attacks were also imbued with holy light, far exceeding the power of a Grand Knight.

That was the limit that humanity could reach in this world; it was the ability of a paladin capable of contending with a divine beast. The thousands of high-ranking cultists were created by the Vatican using its resources, and the purpose of creating these high-ranking knights was precisely for the scene before us.

This technique infuses the human body with the power of angels, temporarily granting them the person and power of the Holy Spirit. When necessary, all Catholic Crusader clergy here can use this spell; although the cost is high, it is absolutely worthwhile.

The twelve paladins, each possessed by an angel, joined forces, amplifying their shared power. The twelve of them alone were enough to withstand the tornado summoned by Voban and shatter it.

Even after shattering the tornado, the twelve knights plummeted to the ground, their holy light dimming. However, they managed to hover in mid-air, albeit with difficulty. This was astonishing. It was as if the myth of the Campione had been shattered. Humanity was not incapable of fighting against the Campione who had slain gods.

One thing was quite obvious: the cardinal was utterly confident. Keep in mind, there were thousands of people present, including knights, priests, and clerics—all of them possessed by superhuman abilities, instantly gaining the status and power of the Holy Spirit through angelic possession!

"Marquis Voban, please leave!" Seeing that his territory could rival Campion's, the confident archbishop spoke to Voban once more. "Otherwise, in the name of God, we are not afraid to fight you to the death."

"Hmph... Hehehe, hahahahaha! Angel possession, interesting. Isn't this another angelic descent trick this time?!" Voban laughed, showing no anger at the shattering of his attack. If thousands of people could conjure up the so-called angelic possession, it would indeed be a big problem, but only a big problem. "You don't really think you can contend with me with the power gained from some angelic possession, do you?!" Voban's cruel gaze swept over the high-spirited crusader knights, his tone quite mocking.

"you……"

Before the archbishop could say anything, an unexpected event occurred. From another direction, a clear voice, the voice of a young man, pierced through the wind and rain and carried over: "I will not allow anything I cannot cut to exist. This sword can cleave and sever everything on earth; it is an invincible blade..." This was a spiritual incantation. When Voban heard this voice, his expression changed slightly.

Just as the Vatican clergy were still wondering what was happening, a sword light slashed from the side, parting the curtain of rain, severing the ethereal gale, and vanishing in an instant past the paladin possessed by the twelve angels who had just withstood an attack from Voban.

Then, blood rained down, and all the incomparably mighty knights who had used angelic possession were utterly and irrevocably cut down in this single sword light. The shattered figures and splattering blood shot out, leaving everyone present stunned.

"Hey! Old man, are you getting old?!" A man dressed in a short-sleeved shirt and beach shorts, dragging a bunch of flip-flops, carrying a black suitcase in one hand, casually tossed aside a steel pipe that had been torn off somewhere. If he wasn't mistaken, the sword light that had instantly killed twelve paladins was unleashed by this young man with that steel pipe. "If you're getting old, you shouldn't be fighting. You haven't been able to take down the 'angels' for so long... Come to think of it, I thought these 'angels' were pretty tough. Tsk tsk tsk..."

“Salvatore Tony?!” Voban called out the young man’s name directly. “…Kid, you want to try?! I haven’t settled the score with you from last time yet!?”

“Oh! Sorry…” Tony gave a bright smile. “I didn’t mean to steal your prey, but unfortunately… I did it on purpose.”

"You really want to die once?"

"I don't mind fighting!" Tony said eagerly.

Those familiar with this guy know he's a trouble-making machine, a self-centered idiot who specializes in causing big problems. But there are advantages to being an idiot; at least after this guy appeared, Voban's attention was immediately drawn to him, and he completely ignored the Vatican officials.

Similarly, Tony, who casually killed twelve paladins possessed by angels with a steel pipe, didn't even look at the crusader knights, just as he had casually crushed a few ants earlier.

That's normal. While the Sword King, Salvatore Tony, isn't exactly a bloodthirsty person, unfortunately, he's a simple-minded idiot lacking common sense. He probably just wanted to see what this so-called angelic possession was, and then subconsciously used his power to unleash a sword strike.

And that was it. It was just something he did unintentionally, or perhaps he just thought it was a way to say hello.

However, to the Vatican Crusaders, this greeting was nothing short of a blatant provocation. Seeing their comrades killed, some knights closer to Tony charged forward, their eyes red with fury… only to be reduced to charred remains by several bolts of lightning, turning to ashes before they even had time to use their angelic possession abilities.

This time it was Voban who made the move, but unfortunately, not to protect Tony—something utterly impossible. Rather, it was in response to Tony's sudden, instantaneous killing of twelve paladins.

In other words, it was a "return gift" after Tony "greeted" him.

Then, this 'return gift' turned into the appearance of Crusader knights... What bad luck!

536. Chaotic Battle 4

Logically speaking, an organization like the Vatican, which is renowned and powerful throughout the world, should be the most powerful villainous boss. Unfortunately, in this world, the biggest bosses are actually the gods from various mythologies, followed by the Campiones who defeated them, and then the few progenitor gods who opposed the Campiones and were reincarnated as humans.

The Vatican alone doesn't even rank highly, which is unavoidable. After all, these individuals are already exceptional among humans, and they are the mainstream of this world. If anyone is to blame, it's the rules of this world itself... That's right, what makes these Vatican clergy so frustrated is not anyone else's fault, but the fault of the entire world, the fault of Tokiomi.

Just like the Sword King Salvatore Tony, who swiftly killed twelve paladins who were possessed by angels with a single stroke. He didn't do it intentionally; rather, in his single-minded way of thinking, seeing angels made him instinctively want to see what these angels were all about. So he swung his sword. Of course, in the eyes of the old man he called Voban, this was Tony's provocation. The two had a grudge, the last time being a few years ago when Tony had stolen his prey.

In response to Tony's actions, several bolts of lightning, under Voban's control, struck down from the sky, turning several knights, blinded by the murder of their comrades, into charred remains and ashes.

Suddenly, the battlefield fell silent.

This scene caused a taut string of reason to snap in the minds of all the clergy from the Vatican. What followed was the negative emotion secretly instilled by Lucifer.

“Salvatore Tony… Sasha de Jansdar Voban…” the cardinal said, his voice trembling, “You, you all… you, you heretics, you demons, you Campiones who defy God, you deserve to die…”

"Shut up!" Voban glanced at the clergy and said, "You have no right to speak here. Get out of here... pathetic trash..."

"Fine, fine, fine!" The cardinal laughed in fury. Unbeknownst to everyone, the seventh deadly sin, [Wrath], had begun to gradually take hold of his mind. Not only him, but also the other clergy from the Vatican were beginning to be corrupted by [Wrath].

"Shepherds of the Lord!" the cardinal shouted angrily, raising his Bible high. "...The devil called Campione has ruled the world. It is time, in the name of the Lord, to punish these unruly devils with divine retribution! The time for holy war has come!" Upon hearing this, the Crusader knights, who had been extremely frustrated, roared. As the priests and priests who accompanied the order prayed, a holy light began to envelop the knights. One after another, phantom images of angels appeared and then descended and merged into the bodies of the knights.

At the same time, this scene also drew the attention of Tony and Voban, who were locked in a standoff. The two Campiones had different expressions. Tony raised an eyebrow, a smile of excitement on his face, watching the Vatican Crusaders' actions with keen interest. Voban, however, frowned, his face once again radiating anger. He had originally planned to settle accounts with Tony before dealing with the Crusaders, but now it seemed these Crusaders were simply courting death.

"If you want to die!" Voban said in a cold tone, raising his hand. "Then I will grant your wish... You will die along with this city!"

Boom...

The power was fully unleashed, and with each thunderclap, tornadoes began to descend from the sky. At the same time, thousands upon thousands of blazing bolts of lightning tore through the sky and indiscriminately struck down upon the earth below.

It seems that Voban, having lost all patience, intends to indiscriminately destroy everything in the vicinity. However, this would mean that everyone in the city, except for the Vatican crusaders, including the various families of the official history compilation committee and ordinary people who are completely unaware of the situation, would be drawn into this catastrophe that would destroy the city—just like the Dalmatian port city of Zadar in 1854.

Unfortunately, Voban, consumed by rage, was no longer willing to care about such things. With his reckless use of his powers, storms, torrential rains, thunder... these natural disasters began to descend from the sky, drawn down by Voban's power, and then raged indiscriminately.

As the tornado descended, it shattered and ripped apart buildings, tearing everything in its path and sweeping it into the sky. Not to mention, every wisp of air within these tornadoes was an incredibly sharp blade, making them like meat grinders that began to frantically grind everything in their path.

Lightning bolts struck, ignoring the lightning rods created by human society. These lightning bolts, summoned by power, easily pierced through skyscrapers from top to bottom. The buildings pierced by the lightning collapsed and crumbled amidst mournful cries.

"God is with me..."

In this hellish landscape ravaged by natural disasters, resounding hymns echoed with the cry of Hallelujah. The Vatican's Crusader Knights had all gathered, and a spell known as Angelic Possession began to descend upon each member, elevating their status and granting them temporary access to the Holy Spirit's power. Together, they erected a massive shield, deflecting the tornado of lightning that hurtled towards them.

A single one cannot contend with the power of Campione, which has fully unleashed its strength. But here are thousands of Crusader Knights who can use angelic possession, and all of them can be temporarily upgraded to paladins who can rival divine beasts.

After withstanding Voban's indiscriminate attacks using his powers, the knights began their charge towards Tony and Voban, who were not far away. They charged, the knights who had temporarily gained power comparable to divine beasts through angelic possession unleashing their charge; at least dozens of knights charged forward with basic attacks.

Then they were blasted away.

"—Last year we fought at the source of the Sanggan River, this year at the Cong River, our soldiers were washed by the waves of the Tiaozhi Sea, our horses grazed on the snowy grass of the Tianshan Mountains, a long march of ten thousand miles, the three armies are all old and weary—" Amidst the raging wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, a folk song rang out clearly. "—The Xiongnu cultivated their land through slaughter, from ancient times only white bones and yellow sand fields have been seen. The Qin dynasty built cities to avoid the Huns, while the Han dynasty still burns beacon fires, the beacon fires burn without ceasing, the war never ends—"

The storm roared in, accompanied by the sound of songs. The strong winds turned into gales, and the gales into storms. The shockwaves swept in and directly attacked Tony and Voban.

The paladin who initiated the charge was simply caught in the crossfire by accident.

The shockwave swept away everything in its path, easily crushing the bodies of dozens of paladins into bone dust. Then, with its undiminished momentum, it carried these tragic figures toward Tony and Voban.

537. Chaotic Battle 5

This terrifying shockwave did not obliterate Tony and Voban. They both knew what it was: the power of Luo Hao, the martial arts king from Jiangnan.

Both of them had their own ways of dealing with it. Tony let out a happy laugh, and then the [Tearing Silver Hand] was activated with a spiritual incantation. He unleashed an incomparably sharp sword light, forcefully splitting a gap in the terrifying shockwave that swept in.

Unlike Tony, who forcefully cleaved through the shockwave that crashed down in front of him, Voban displayed a ferocious side. As immense magical power surged forth, the old man transformed into a giant werewolf, thirty meters long with silver-white fur, and withstood the shockwave's attack amidst the Roaring God.

"—Death in hand-to-hand combat, the defeated horse neighs mournfully to the heavens, a crow pecks at human intestines, carrying them away to hang on a withered tree branch—"

"—Soldiers lie dead in the wilderness, generals have served in vain; thus we know that weapons are instruments of destruction, and even sages use them only as a last resort—"