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

Each Black Grail Overlord is unique, representing a concept of disease. They die, never to be reborn, like a toy that can never be reproduced. And when the Lord of the Flies' beloved toys are forever destroyed by the cursed, the entire Chapter bears the Lord of the Flies' wrath.

They have been subjected to the most severe excommunication. They will no longer be allowed to return to the City of Beelzebub, and their names will be permanently removed from the Order of the Flies, unless... unless they can perform deeds to wash away the shame, such as sacrificing this prospective saint whose soul exudes a sweet and delicious scent to the Lord of Flies.

"boom!"

Karsus casually cast a spell, sending a wave of green energy piercing the air. Amos raised his shield to block the attack, but the force was too great, sending him flying and landing heavily in the ruins more than ten meters away.

At this point, all fighting on the battlefield had ceased. Everyone laid down their weapons and watched Karsus approach Luce. No one fired a shot, no one uttered a battle cry, as if everyone agreed that this was a personal duel.

Some soldiers bowed their heads in prayer, and some even began to sob for Luce, tears of awe and sorrow in their eyes. They had seen the end, but were powerless to change it.

But Luce didn't give in. She took a deep breath, dropped the useless machine gun, and drew the pistol from her waist. She calmly aimed and pulled the trigger.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The bullets hit Karsus' eyes, throat and heart accurately, but the wounds were immediately filled with wriggling flesh, failing to stop him from moving forward for a moment.

Even at this point, Luce was still unwilling to give up. The Crusaders around her watched her futile resistance with a complex and admiring look. They had once thought they understood the meaning of courage, but at this moment, they understood what true courage was.

"Damn demon!" Luce cursed, threw away the pistol that had run out of bullets, and drew out his dagger.

Her petite body stood straight, and she walked resolutely towards the Tumor Lord standing before her, gnashing her teeth and tightly gripping her dagger, without a trace of retreat in her eyes.

Amos, who had been knocked away, barely regained consciousness. Seeing this, he knew he had to act. He reached for his shield, but found it had been destroyed by the spell. Without hesitation, he threw the shattered remains of his shield, raised his trench club, and limped towards Karsus.

"For Neos!!!" His cry drowned out all the sounds on the battlefield.

Karsus slowly raised his claws, the sharp bone spikes gleaming in the sunlight, ready to destroy the two stubborn resisters with one blow.

"Buzz——"

At this critical moment, a soft white light emanated from Luce. At first, it was as faint as a candle, but it instantly grew stronger. The light wasn't blinding, but it carried an irresistible power, like the sun rising slowly on a cold winter morning.

The many Black Grail members surrounding Luce, their bodies twisted and distorted, were terrified. They covered their eyes to avoid looking directly at the soft white light on Luce's body. The light seemed to be poisonous to them, causing their skin to blister and their muscles to tremble.

A synthetic beast—a terrifying creature that mixed the characteristics of humans, insects, and indescribable creatures—even dropped its weapon, knelt on the ground, and crawled on the ground instinctively. Its mountain-like body began to tremble violently, as if it was worshiping some existence more powerful than its master.

"That's..." a heretic whispered, his voice full of fear.

"Yes...it's Him..." another responded, with a complex emotion of panic and awe flashing in his eyes.

The heretics began to whisper, and the forbidden title, accompanied by panic, spread like a virus across the battlefield.

"The Cursed..."

"The Cursed..."

The word uttered from their rotten mouths like a curse, filled with indescribable fear and hatred. The heretics retreated in fear, and with every step Luce took, the vacuum around her expanded.

The cancer angels' swollen wings flapped rapidly, their flight no longer graceful, but panicked, retreating backward as if facing a natural enemy. The corpse guards trembled, raising their shields, no longer attacking, but defensively. The singers carrying their own heads also fell silent, their necks drooping the ever-shifting blasphemous symbols on their necks, losing their original sinister vitality.

"You—" Karsus began, his voice betraying hesitation and fear for the first time. But before he could finish, the white light emanating from Luce grew stronger, illuminating most of the battlefield.

In a trance, all the Crusaders saw a cold sun behind her head, a pale golden laurel wreath hanging above her head, and wings with pure white feathers faintly emerging from the light. This was no longer the Luce they knew, but a greater, more sacred existence manifested through her.

Luce ignored Karsus and walked straight to Amos, pulling him up. Her hands burned with a cold blue-white flame, and when the flame touched Amos, it miraculously dispelled the scars on his body, and the broken bones and torn muscles were instantly restored to their original state.

"My...my lord?" Amos' pupils dilated, his voice trembling as he looked at the cold sun behind Luce.

Luce looked at Amos quietly, and his hand, burning with blue-white flames, gently patted his shoulder, as if comforting a frightened child. There were no words, but this simple gesture was enough to convey everything.

Then she walked straight towards Karsus, who stood there. The woman's clear voice and the middle-aged man's voice resonated in the air, forming a strange harmony:

"roll."

This simple word held immense majesty and power, shaking the very air. Karsus's entire body trembled violently, barely able to lift his arms, as if bound by invisible chains. The wounds on his body, burned by the holy oil, began to ooze pus. Under Luce's light, the pus began to vaporize, rising into a foul-smelling smoke.

"Why..." He gritted his teeth, his voice filled with pain and hatred, "Why won't you let us go!"

Luce didn't even look at him, as if this several-meter-tall tumor lord was as insignificant as air in her eyes. Her eyes passed through Karsus and looked into the distance.

"You will pay for what you have done," Luce said, in a voice that was both her own and not quite hers.

"Price?! You actually said price!" Karsus roared, his voice twisted with anger. "It was you, the Crusaders, who summoned us in Jerusalem, and now you're asking for—"

Before Karsus could finish, Luce spoke again and interrupted him.

"You will definitely pay the price."

Karsus followed Luce's gaze, puzzled. Her gaze wasn't directed at him, but rather towards the sky above the altar where Luce had been sacrificed to repair the Black Grail. There, a rift to Hell remained open, a dark purple energy surging through it, emitting a plague-like aura.

Karsus looked at the familiar aura in the crack and suddenly realized the true meaning of Luce's words. An unprecedented fear gripped his heart - if he still had a heart.

It turns out that the cursed one was not talking about me, but my Lord.

PS: 240 votes, next update 4.5k!

In Flame: 1914: Chapter 45 He Was Human, But You Still Prayed to Him

"I—wu—"

Just as Karsus was about to speak, a black and purple energy band suddenly emanated from the rift in reality leading to hell and enveloped him.

An extremely unpleasant sound, mixed with the sound of billions of flies flapping their wings, came from him:

"Cursed One...what are you going to do?"

Beelzebub projected his power onto Karsus and asked Luce through this mortal body.

No, I'm not asking Luce. Two extremely powerful beings in the subspace each chose a spokesperson. Although in reality it looked like a living saint was conversing with the heretic's legion leader, in the eyes of the two confronting each other, these were just mouthpieces.

"You seem to have entered this war with a naive illusion: that only you can bring the flames of war to human land, while humans cannot fight back and attack your territory."

Luce said softly, the soft white light around her and the plague breath emitted by the hell rift continued to fight against each other, forming layers of light waves in the air.

"you dare!"

The being behind Karsus responded furiously, and the sound waves shook the ground. Ordinary mortal soldiers could no longer stand under the aftermath of the Lord of Hell's power. Only those crusaders and priests with extremely firm faith could witness the conversation between the two extraordinary beings.

"You are impatient, you man-eating monsters of the Warp. You can't wait to expedite the sacrifice, to pave the stairs of your ascent from the depths of the ethereal sea with human blood and souls."

Luce raised his hand, and the turbulent earth calmed down again. The maggots crawling among the flesh and blood disappeared under this power. The mortal soldiers felt this power. Valentine leaned against the trench, lit a cigarette with a trembling hand, and took a puff.

He felt the difference. The feeling of Neos's cold sun shining on them was different from that of Luce. Her power was warmer, making people feel calmer and more hopeful. This soft and warm power prompted the soldiers to constantly remember the things that supported them to continue fighting, perhaps it was their relatives, friends, or perhaps ideals and beliefs.

This filled all the Crusaders with determination.

"She...she really deserves the title of a living saint," thought Valentine.

Luce continued, "You are afraid of humans gaining powerful powers. You are terrified. You know that once humans become independent of your control, you will not be able to extract their souls. Whether it is hell or heaven, the purpose of you monsters is the same."

This outrageous statement would have been enough to get Luce burned at the stake for a thousand years anywhere, but surprisingly, no one among all the Crusaders on the battlefield stood up to question her.

Even the fanatical believers in the team who were absolutely loyal to the church and the Pope were thinking and analyzing Luce's words.

Reason and religion are intertwined on this battlefield, achieving a special harmony.

"You too! You liar, thief, and cursed one, you did it too! You deceived your believers, you used their souls as firewood, you relied on deception and blind obedience to make the lambs obey your tyranny. You are as bad as that hypocritical tyrant!"

Beelzebub laughed loudly, and his voice echoed throughout the battlefield. He was very curious about what these crusaders who believed in Neos would look like after they learned the truth. He loved to see the reactions of these mortals!

"..."

The Crusaders on the battlefield helped each other to stand up and walked silently behind Luce.

"What's up? Are you anxious? Will you unleash your power to destroy these mortals who learn the truth? I can do it for you, hahahaha!"

Beelzebub watched all this with a wild laugh, as if he could already see the Crusaders' rebellion, or perhaps even their despair. Luce's light suddenly dimmed for a moment, as Neos seemed to have withdrawn her power.

"You-you're actually going to run away?!"

Beelzebub said sarcastically. But in return, he received the clear and resolute gaze of the young woman before him. It had devoured countless human souls, memories, and emotions, and it knew very well the will of this weak human being speaking to it.

"I knew your truth from the beginning. Neos told me everything."

Luce said: "He didn't give me fame and fortune, but he gave me responsibility and loyalty - that is to follow Neos in the great cause of reviving mankind. He said that he had witnessed the glorious era of mankind, an era without gods and without you warp garbage, an era of brilliant civilization that we can never imagine in our dreams.

For eight hundred years, we have been at war. Countless people were born in the trenches and turned into mud in the artillery fire. Hundreds of years of countless human sacrifices seem to have changed nothing. The fate of mankind was originally going to gradually decline just as you arranged.

But now it's different. He showed me the way. He told us that human beings should not be like this. He showed me a clear future, a future without war, without heaven and hell, a future where we will live freely as human beings.

No one! No one can remain indifferent after learning of the brilliant future we should have had. Even if it means making great sacrifices, what does it matter? We have already sacrificed for over 800 years. We don't mind paying even a little more!

In the face of this great cause of rejuvenating humanity, no reputation or power is worth mentioning; only responsibility, loyalty, and sacrifice are important.

Beelzebub's voice froze for a moment, but he still insisted, "That's just the result of your brainwashing, idiot. You paid with your loyalty in exchange for the power of the cursed, but what about those mortals? No god would spread his power to all his believers. No god would do that!"

"Clap!"

Valentine suddenly stepped forward from the crowd behind Luce and turned to face the silent Crusaders.

"Battle brothers!

Without darkness, there is no light;

Sacrifice is always based on death, and only through our desperate fight can we win victory!"

"god?"

Valentine stood straight, facing the Lord of Hell. The mortal, tiny as a speck of dust, sneered at the god with disdain:

“Humanity will never need God!”

"Ridiculous!" Beelzebub actually interrupted the preaching of a lowly mortal. "Then what do you believe in now?! The cursed, like us, are destined to become the supreme beings of the Aether Sea—"

"He is not a god! He is a human, just like us! Neos will never be the god you call him! He belongs to us, and will always belong to mankind!"

Valentine ignored Beelzebub and shouted in front of the Crusaders, sword raised:

"We must understand that God is not essentially greater than we are!

Only the weak will succumb to all the false reputation and power they promise!

Fellow countrymen, remember that we share the same blood as Neos—

He walks among us, He is always aware of this and wants us to have the same perspective as Him!!

Human beings are greater than these monsters and their creations!

We are the greatest beings in this world, and Neos is the most powerful among us!

He's a human being and yet you still choose to pray to him—"

His voice reached its peak, and Neos' power continued to strengthen and echo in the battlefield. Everyone felt the mutual belief between compatriots, regardless of you or me, and stood up straight and knelt on one knee facing a certain location in the east.

Everyone, regardless of gender, age, health or illness, slammed their weapons on the ground, raised their heads and praised in unison:

“All hail the man emperor of the mankind!”

"boom----!"

Neos' power reached its peak in the rift between the mortal world and hell. Violent blue-white light covered the battlefield. The light emanating from all the Crusaders turned into a wave, rushing towards the rift between the mortal world and hell.

Wherever this torrent swept through, it destroyed all heretics in its path like a storm. Synthetic beasts as big as mountains were torn to shreds before they could even blink. The ground, contaminated by the Beelzebub strain, was purified along with the crawling maggots! Karsus completely gave up resistance and stood there, quietly awaiting his fate.

In a trance, Karsus seemed to see Neos' face in the sweeping storm.

He conforms to both the Western concept of "God loves the world" and the Eastern concept of "man can conquer nature". He is a collection of such concepts. A god who claims to be a mortal completely disrupts hell's plans of hundreds of years!

"call----"

Beelzebub had no time to speak harshly. A group of plague flies transformed into the shape of hands and rolled the remaining Black Grail Cult soldiers on the ground back into the rift. It knew that it could not stop Neos and wanted to stop the loss in time to save its men.

Half of Karsus' body had been torn into pieces by the torrent, but he was dragged back to the Seven Rings of Hell by Beelzebub. Just when he was about to rest for a while, he heard an unusual chaos, as if something was swept into hell through the crack!

It felt the destruction of the Black Grail fragments, like the tolling of a death knell, which it could feel but could not hear.

The Plague City trembled with earthquakes. The strange, demonic creatures that inhabited it let out a shrill cry. In the plague-infected areas of Mani, reality trembled and began to return to its normal state, and maggots and flies began to die.

"No...no!" wailed an archon.

Karsus sensed something large and dangerous advancing through the Warp.

The ground began to tremble again. The second toll of the invisible death knell struck terror into the denizens of the Plague City. Trees uprooted themselves, but collapsed before they could escape. Billions of plague flies rose from the piles of corpses and flew away in swarms.

Beelzebub could no longer sit still. It flew out from the palace of the Seventh Ring of Hell and cast a hellish spell to seal the rift leading to the real world, even though it had consumed a considerable amount of its strength to open this stable rift.

But it found that it could not block the gap.

The ground in Plague City shook violently, and demons of all sizes screamed and swarmed out of their hiding places, running wildly. In the distance, no matter where you went in the city, you could see the palace of the Lord of Hell shaking.