This heretic cannot be burned, he must be hung up and whipped!

Despair and powerlessness surged in his heart. His noble identity had changed several times, and under the strong stimulation of the third order, he went crazy.

"Hee-hee! I can survive—I can! Woo-"

Tears streamed down his face, turning into smoke the moment they hit the ground. Asmodeus, his back to the door, tears streaming down his face. His mouth gaped, almost to his ears, and he appeared to be smiling, but his sobs and tears betrayed his madness.

"Forgive... forgive me—please save me! Save me!"

His shoulders twitched as he begged for mercy from the hostess, without showing any of his previous arrogance. He knelt on the ground in a dishevel, not even having the courage to face Neos. He begged for mercy from the "ants" like a drowned dog.

"You don't even have the courage to face me."

A soft sigh froze Asmodeus's body. Neos came from behind him, and he was shaking with fear like a sieve.

But Neos passed him by and put the greatsword burning with golden flames in the hand of the girl on the ground. The soft light immediately dispelled the plague and curse on her. The girl opened her eyes wide and wanted to see the face of her benefactor, but she could only see a middle-aged man with a laurel crown, golden armor, wings on his back, and a blurred face under the soft white light.

"you--"

Before the hostess behind him could finish her words, Neos replied, "Just call me Mr. Neos."

As soon as the words fell, the girl could see her benefactor's face clearly in the soft white light. The previous illusion gradually dissipated. When she came to her senses, she had already raised the burning sword with the help of Neos.

"No—you can't! I...I beg you...please let me go! I can—"

Seeing this, Asmodeus dropped to the ground, kowtowed to the girl, and begged for mercy, looking pitiful. But knowing the demon's true nature, how could the girl hesitate? With a gentle poke, the begging demon's head was pierced. Asmodeus didn't even offer the slightest resistance before dissolving into smoke.

"saint!"

Neos waved his hand, dispelling the sword, and slowly walked out. The whispers and prayers in his ears grew louder. As his power in the mortal world grew, the barrier between him and the Warp grew increasingly fragile. The actions of his followers, their thoughts and ideas, their emotions and memories, constantly washed over his will.

He could no longer see the streets outside clearly. The chaotic scenes of the real world and the subspace were intertwined. His consciousness and body seemed to be gradually separating, as if he was about to ascend to heaven.

"slap" "slap"

He walked with a limp, followed by pilgrims and soldiers. He could no longer hear the doctors' concerned questions and the believers' shouts.

"boom!"

The flames began to die out. It seemed that the souls of the city's dead soldiers had finally burned out. Neos's will, which was almost broken, suddenly relaxed. The shouts of the crowd finally reached his ears. Darkness surged in like a tide, and he lost consciousness.

----------

At the same time, the Budapest East District Command

"Report!" The captain of the guards at the east granary said anxiously, "The situation is constantly changing. Originally, we were above ground, and the heretics were underground. We just drove them out from below, and they climbed up again."

While the West City District was facing the armored forces of the Lord of Pride, the East City District was also fighting a desperate battle with the legions of Beelzebub, the Lord of Flies.

The Lord of Flies' legions lacked extensive armor; instead, they were filled with countless small creatures, both visible and invisible. The Black Death, anthrax, typhoid, yellow fever, pneumonia... Few soldiers died directly from the bullets of Beelzebub's legions.

Most of the soldiers died from infection. The more people died, the stronger Beelzebub's power in the city grew. The heretic soldiers' rifle bullets were soaked with various plagues. Even if the Crusaders' armor was not penetrated, they would be infected with disease under the power of the Lord of Flies.

The city commander made a difficult decision. Anyone hit by a heretic's infected bullet would be automatically considered dead, and all soldiers had to kill as many enemies as possible before they died.

They all knew that there were no medicines left in Dongcheng District, not even a drop of disinfectant or alcohol. These medical supplies were exhausted in the fourth hour of the Black Grail Cult's attack.

In order to prevent the spread of the plague, the Crusaders resolutely carried out suicide attacks, hoping to kill a few more heretics before their death.

"Saint Neos—bless us as we charge against the heretics!"

Street fighting in Dongcheng District entered a state of total stalemate with rapid changes. A room, a workshop, a water tower, a section of railway embankment, even a wall, a basement, and a pile of rubble could trigger fierce fighting.

One market was passed back and forth between the two sides thirteen times. The ruins of the wall, which the heretics had taken at great cost, were recaptured by the Crusaders in a few hours.

There was no retreat, and all the soldiers who participated in the battle had already considered themselves dead before they were hit by the heretics' infected bullets.

"You have already died, but you must kill thirteen heretics for Neos before your life ends and you are forced to betray him under the plague!"

"For Neos! Charge!"

Everyone knows that they have no hope of surviving. They are just ordinary mortals, ordinary from birth to death. They know that their lives are worthless, and they know that the distant saints and God will not come down to save them personally.

They knew that they were just an insignificant coin in Neos's great plan. They were angry and hateful. They hated their own incompetence and ordinariness. Their fear of death had long been thrown out of the window!

For these Crusaders, dying from the plague rather than in battle was a disgrace.

In a frenzy of killing, the two sides faced each other, machine-gunning each other. When their bullets ran out, they engaged in a bayonet fight. When their swords broke, they pulled the trigger and lobbed grenades, all for mutual destruction. The distance between us and the enemy was no longer measured in meters, but in bodies.

But the Lord of Flies' army could not be defeated by their iron will alone. The living fell and then got up again. Giant locusts wearing iron armor covered the entire East City District. There was no such thing as logistics and battle lines. The entire East City District was in the midst of battles.

Apparently aware of the crushing defeat suffered by the Lord of Pride's troops in the West City District, Karsus, the Plaguebringer of the Black Grail Cult, ordered the exhausted cult to launch a final attack.

As long as they advance 600 meters, they will reach the banks of the Danube River. More than half of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Dongcheng District were killed in just two days of fighting, but on this 600-meter-wide front, soldiers from both sides were still fighting desperately.

They wrestled among the rubble, punched, kicked, clawed and bit, fighting like wild beasts for two days and two nights, until only filthy soldiers with bloodshot eyes and ghostly appearances were left on the battlefield.

This is the faith and will of mankind.

On the night Neos fell into a coma, Karsus dispatched more heretic troops from the rear, riding on black chariots that spread plague, preparing for a final charge.

"Brothers!" A Crusader commander, his face black, half-knelt on the ground, leaning on his gun. "We can't fall down. We must hold on until the saints arrive!"

Dark blood oozed from the corners of his mouth, and bloodshot streaked his eyeballs. The plague had already consumed most of his body, but he still stood. His very existence was a miracle.

"We will perish here together with the heretics!"

The soldiers were already exhausted, some unable to even stand up, and could only lean behind cover and fire their guns. But their eyes still shone with loyalty and faith in Neos.

"We are the Great Wall of Neos!"

At a command, the last Crusaders rushed out of the bunker. Their bodies no longer looked like humans, but zombies eroded by the plague, but their souls still shone with the brilliance of humanity.

Karsus stepped down from the chariot, a look of disdain appearing on his tumor-ridden face.

"Foolish humans, do you think you can stop our attack with these remnants of our army?"

As he waved his hand, countless plague flies flew out from his sleeves, forming a black cloud and rushing towards the Crusaders.

"We don't need to stop you, we just need to kill as many of you as possible!"

The commander detonated the grenade in his hand and rushed towards Karsas with his immobile body.

"Neos! Please accept our souls!"

"boom!"

Explosions rang out on the front line of the battlefield, and the commander's body was blown to pieces, but his actions ignited the fighting spirit of all Crusaders.

A soldier holding a flamethrower rushed towards the heretic's chariot and sprayed flames at the body of the chariot. The filthy material on the heretic's chariot immediately burned, emitting a foul-smelling smoke.

"Burn these heretics!"

Another soldier threw a fragmentation grenade, blowing the heretic soldiers around Karsus to pieces.

"You think you can stop us like this?" Karsus' voice was full of sarcasm. "We are the embodiment of the plague. We will never be destroyed!"

He raised the staff in his hand, and the power of plague surged out from the top of the staff, forming a black wave that rushed towards the Crusaders.

"Ahhhh!"

The soldiers hit by the waves howled in pain, their bodies began to rot rapidly, pustules appeared on their skin, and their eyes turned pitch black.

"For Neos!"

Even though their flesh was rotting, the soldiers charged forward, pulling the trigger with every last ounce of strength they had.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Gunshots echoed across the battlefield, and heretic soldiers fell one after another, but more heretics came from behind.

"Hahahaha!" Karsus laughed loudly, looking up to the sky. "You are just ants, and we are gods!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a golden light descended from the sky, illuminating the entire battlefield.

"Then I'd like to know how you 'gods' can kneel before ants."

A calm voice came from the other end of the battlefield, and everyone turned to look.

Neos stood on a half-collapsed building, with a team of Crusaders behind him, their armor burning with blue-white flames, forming beams of light that illuminated the entire battlefield.

"saint!"

The surviving Crusaders knelt on the ground, their eyes filled with awe and gratitude.

"Impossible!" Karsus took a few steps back in horror. "With this level of power—you should have ascended into the Aether Sea. How could you still be here?"

Neos did not answer, he just slowly raised his hand, and golden flames surged out of his hand, forming a huge lightsaber.

"For the future of mankind, for all those who believe in me, you can go back to hell."

PS: 240 votes, next update 4.5k...

Rising Flames: 1914: Chapter 41: I'm Waiting for the Warmaster, Who Are You Waiting for?

Karsus's large, yellow-green face twitched continuously. His gaze was fixed on Neos, his eyes flashing with suspicion and hostility.

"Pfft!" "Pfft!"

The huge tumor on its back throbbed with its heartbeat, and its cyst-covered face continued to ooze pus, dripping onto the ground with a slight hissing sound. The servants behind it reverently picked up the brass plate to catch the precious liquid, and drank it all in one gulp under the envious gazes of the Black Grail believers.

"This is impossible..." Karsus roared in his heart, "Such a powerful being should not exist in this world. Even a saint blessed by the God Tyrant should not possess such vast power."

As Beelzebub's most favored emissary, Karsus is well aware of the nature of Hell's power.

His mission is to infect humans through plague, sacrificing their deaths to Beelzebub and strengthening him. His plan is that if enough souls are slain by the plague, Hell's most powerful unit will emerge: the Black Grail Overlord, a being capable of subverting the order of the world.

You know, only the saints most favored by the God Tyrant can fight against the Black Holy Grail Overlord. If you take the opportunity to launch a sacrifice and give birth to the Black Holy Grail Overlord, you might be able to kill Neos.

But... if this monster before him, this cursed one, was truly that powerful, what should he do? Last night, he had been able to kill Asmodeus as easily as mowing grass, completely disrupting his plans.

Behind Karsus, the soldiers of the Black Grail Order began to pray in low voices, their voices trembling with fear and fanaticism.

"Great Lord of Flies, please grant us strength..."

"May the Black Holy Grail of the Demon Lord purify everything..." "Lord of Hell... please protect your loyal servant from the wrath of God's tyrant..."

Some of them even fell to their knees, pressing their foreheads into the dust, their bodies trembling with fear. The pressure emanating from Neos suffocated them, and the bluish-white light stung their eyes, as if they were staring directly into the sun. Some soldiers began to sob softly; they had never felt such overwhelming power before.

Seeing this, Karsus quietly cast a spell. His fingers danced lightly at his sides, and a hidden wave of purple-black energy spread across the city. This was a signal—a directive to the Black Grail cultists lurking throughout Budapest: Begin the sacrifice ritual immediately.

In every corner of the city, Black Grail cultists received the order. From basements, abandoned buildings, and even occupied homes, they sprang into action. They dragged out imprisoned civilians, prepared knives and magic circles, and whispered obscure incantations. The bloody ritual was about to begin, and the arrival of the Black Grail overlord was imminent.

Karsus turned to Neos and raised his voice: "Let us talk, Neos."

The battlefield was completely silent. Everyone held their breath, expecting Neos to slay Karsus without hesitation, just as he had done with Asmodeus. But Neos simply replied calmly:

"can."

These two short words shocked everyone present.

The Crusaders in the East District shouted, "Saint! This is a trap!"

"Don't believe this monster!" "Please let us eliminate this heretic for you!"

Their voices were filled with anger and anxiety, and several soldiers even drew their weapons and rushed forward, ready to launch suicide attacks. One young soldier had already taken out the explosive pack, his eyes gleaming with the determination to die a martyr.

"Om-"

Neos simply waved his hand, and a soft blue-white light spread from his palm, enveloping the wounded soldiers. Wherever the light reached, the soldiers' wounds began to heal, the black spots of the plague gradually faded, and the traces of the curse began to fade.

This scene made Karsus even more vigilant. He had never seen such a powerful purification ability before. Even the most powerful paladin in the church could not dispel the plague of the Lord of Hell so easily.

At the same time, the Crusaders behind Neos began to advance. This group was different—their armor burned with blue-white flames, and their faces were solemn and resolute. Although their equipment was worn and battle-scarred, their spirits were unusually high, and their eyes gleamed with determination.

These soldiers came from the West City District and had experienced countless fierce battles. Their clothes were tattered, and some even lacked complete armor, but every one of them stood straight, their eyes filled with almost fanatical trust in Neos.

When the team approached the soldiers in Dongcheng District, a shocking scene occurred.

"Oh my God! That's... that's General Winston!" a soldier exclaimed, "But he died in battle at the South Gate three days ago!"

"Oh my God... That was my squad leader... I saw with my own eyes that he was blown to pieces by a bomb..." another soldier muttered to himself, his voice trembling.

More voices sounded:

"That's Captain Raymond!"

"I recognize that logo. It's Francis from the 7th Commando!"