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

Sugo is actually a past incarnation of the future Neos, a fragment of his personality. After the false God was destroyed, the future Neos decided to create another Sugo. After all, it's still him, right?

Ending?: Families can decide for themselves

Crimson Tide: 1921: Chapter 68 Neos, the car is ready!

“Satan disguises himself as an angel of light, and his servants disguise themselves as messengers of righteousness. Their end will be in accordance with their deeds.”—1 Corinthians 11:14-15

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The propeller of Neos's plane had just stopped rotating and the cabin door had not yet fully opened when a wave of noise hit him in the face.

"Welcome the great Marshal Neos!"

Officials and church representatives in neat uniforms gathered around like sharks smelling blood, their faces filled with standardized, almost identical smiles. The strange vision that swept over Rome a few days ago and the disturbing rumors around St. Peter's Basilica seemed to have never happened.

"What a grand ceremony...if you don't know, you would think it's the founding ceremony of the country." Neos exclaimed.

A bright red carpet stretched from the airport's main entrance to the tarmac. Flower girls carried baskets on both sides, scattering roses and lilies. The air was filled with a rich floral fragrance, even masking the airport's distinctive odor of kerosene and motor oil. Flocks of white doves were released, circling above the red carpet, bearing olive and laurel branches in their beaks.

When Neos and his only companion, Luce, stepped off the plane and onto the red carpet, the crowds on both sides instantly erupted in cheers like a landslide and tsunami.

"To the protectors of humanity!" "Long live the Carpathian Eagle!"

The cheers merged into a torrent. Neos squinted his eyes, adjusting to the frequent flashes of the cameras. With a gentle smile on his face, he waved to the crowd.

The streets were bustling with people, dressed in brand new, respectable clothes, their faces beaming with smiles. Everyone held flowers in their hands and chanted prayers and poems in praise of Neos. The air was thick with the fragrance of flowers. Everywhere you looked, every building and lamppost was draped with the flag of Neos, the eagle and cross.

There were no assassins, no black gun muzzles, and the only metal device on everyone present was a cross. This was understandable.

There were no beggars, no homeless people on the streets, and everyone present was well-dressed, their faces filled with respect and enthusiasm for themselves, which was also to be expected.

The streets were filled with his own portraits and manuscripts promoting his legendary deeds. Although Venice was only a few hundred kilometers away from the front line, the war was still burning in Venice, while the city of Rome seemed to be another peaceful world that had not been affected by the war.

It was as if he had come not to a meeting on the fate of Europe but to be crowned a savior.

It's so perfect... so perfect... almost too perfect.

"This pomp and circumstance—you guys are really thoughtful!"

Pope Benedict came to greet him personally. He was dressed in the luxurious clothes he wore when he was crowned as a pope and shook hands with Neos through his gold gloves.

"Thank you for your contribution to mankind. You deserve this welcome! It's an honor to meet such a legend in real life!" "Snap! Snap! Snap!"

Benedict and Neos shook hands, turning slightly to face the reporters. The blazing lights of countless spotlights almost obscured the sun in the sky. Neos smiled and waved at the reporters' cameras.

"My dear compatriots! Good morning! On behalf of God, I wish you all good health!"

“ohhhh!!!”

The crowd began to make monkey calls in unison. The Roman guards formed a human wall. Wearing iron helmets, their expressions could not be seen. They blocked the citizens who wanted to rush up to see Neos's glory.

Behind Neos, Luce brushed the buckle of her visor and rechecked her protection. Her instinct, cultivated through years of Bible study and self-cultivation, was constantly warning her that something was amiss in this city—perhaps even nine out of ten!

"Recheck your equipment and protection. If you feel anything is wrong, pray to me immediately!"

Luce calmed down the tension caused by the scene and asked in his heart: "Saints, these people——"

"They are in a critical state now," Neos responded to her in his heart.

"Don't be fooled by the fact that they still have normal thinking and language abilities. I sensed in the subspace that their human souls are basically intact. But as soon as I have deeper contact with them, or certain pre-set conditions are triggered, their controlled cores will be completely exposed. It's ridiculous!"

“The disguise is so perfect, so stupidly perfect!

I looked in the warp and saw that the entire city was filled with the soul fluctuations of fanatics - pure, strong, almost burning faith.

No, the war has become such a mess, with the legions of Hell almost at the gates! With so many zealots absolutely devoted to their faith, why aren't they conscripted into the army? Why aren't they deployed to the countryside to stabilize the rear and gather resources?

Why did they pile all these fanatics into the city of Rome and hold this welcoming ceremony?

Is this Pope saving up the dowry for Beelzebub at the Fountain? Such a poor manager?! This is so fake!

Luce's nervousness was eased by Neos' interruption. She smiled inwardly, "The Pope may not have a brain, but it's unlikely that he doesn't have a brain."

Neos and Luce carried on a mental conversation, a conversation only they could hear, while maintaining a polite smile as he answered the reporters' barrage of questions. Pope Benedict, observing him from the side, seemed to notice that Neos didn't want to waste time on such occasions, preferring instead to get to the meeting place as quickly as possible. He immediately understood and happily declined further questions on Neos' behalf, then led Neos and Luce to a readily available convertible.

"Okay, enough chit-chat," Neos said to Luce in his mind. "Let's not shatter their illusions, at least not yet. This is the real world. No matter how powerful I am, I can't withstand dozens of heavy artillery rounds or several tons of high explosives. We're here for only one purpose—to drag out that 'God' hiding in the shadows and play tricks on us to see what He's really up to!"

"Yes, Saint." Luce took a deep breath and ignored the Roman residents who were reaching out to them on the side of the road. Just as she was about to close the car door, the Pope helped her close the door from the outside.

The Pope's enthusiasm was so great that it made her feel a little uncomfortable.

"You're so welcoming!" Neos got into the back seat of the convertible, with Luce sitting next to him. The Pope sat in the middle row, so he could talk to them just by leaning over.

Neos looked at Luce on his left, then at the driver and the Pope in front of him on the left. He felt a chill in his head, and an inexplicable sense of déjà vu came over him, as if if he laughed at this moment, his life would immediately end in some outrageous way in this convertible.

"For the great hero of humanity! This is what we should do. Saint, this is probably your first time in Rome, and this car is perfect for sightseeing." The Pope turned around, leaning back slightly, a smile on his face. "You can enjoy the view of Rome from the back seat! This—"

The Pope turned his gaze to Luce, and he was obviously curious about this "tin can" who was fully armed and whose face could not be seen, and asked.

"Your Holiness, you can just call me Luce." Luce's voice came through the gap in the visor.

Unlike some anime "female knights" whose armor looks the same whether worn or not, Luce is now fully armored from head to toe. Neos has personally crafted a suit of armor for her using his psychic powers. The visor of her helmet has only a cross-shaped slit, leaving space for her eyes and nose to breathe. But wearing this set of armor, weighing dozens of kilograms, doesn't give Luce a sense of security in Rome.

"Ms. Luce, you can take off your helmet. The city is safe." "My duty is to protect Neos's safety. I'm sorry, Your Holiness, I cannot obey your order."

Knowing this meeting was likely a Hongmen Feast, Neos brought only Luce to Rome, leaving no one from the Carpathian base behind. Bringing too many people would be pointless and a burden.

"Relax, Luce." Neos tapped Luce's gauntlet. "If you can't beat me, I can still take you away. You just need to buy me one second to open the subspace rift. Believe in me, and believe in yourself."

……

The convoy finally arrived at St. Peter's Basilica. Shrouded in the power of the Warp, this magnificent building still appeared solemn and sacred, but to Neos's psychic perception, it seemed like a living entity shrouded in a vast shadow. Neos and Luce exited the vehicle and, accompanied by the Pope and several church leaders, were about to enter the church when they were suddenly stopped by two guards at the gate.

"Guards are not allowed to enter!" one of the guards said, "Please wait in the hall."

Neos's eyebrows raised slightly.

Pope Benedict feigned anger upon seeing this, reprimanding the guard for being rude to Neos. However, he tactfully explained to Neos and Luce that, according to convention, for such important meetings, only key representatives could enter, for security and confidentiality reasons, and that guards would usually wait in the lobby. His implication was that he would not allow Luce to enter the church.

"Why can't she enter?" Neos still had a gentle smile on his face, but his eyes became sharp. "Isn't she the saint you recognized before? What's the problem with a saint entering the most important church in the holy city?" He asked with interest, his eyes fixed on the Pope.

"This—" The Pope's expression stiffened slightly. He evaded the question, vaguely explaining some complicated details about the "Sainthood Certification Procedure" and "Special Period Safety Regulations," but never directly addressed Neos's question.

Neos didn't press him, but just looked at him quietly. Then, he suddenly changed the subject and started asking one seemingly unrelated question after another.

"Your Holiness, how much do you know about this country?"

The Pope was clearly not expecting Neos to ask this out of the blue. He paused for a moment, then stiffly replied according to his pre-set answer: "I understand... Our country has a long history and abundant human resources..."

"Then why don't I see anything related to war in this city?" Neos interrupted, his tone tinged with confusion. "The enemy is almost at the gates! I heard artillery fire and saw wounded soldiers every day in the Carpathian Mountains, but here it's like heaven."

Beads of sweat began to form on the Pope's forehead. His eyes flickered, and his voice became hurried. "We...we implemented the strategy of saving men and losing territory in order to improve our equipment, mobilize effectively, and develop the wartime economy while adjusting the battle line..."

"Can I ask what the representatives sent by other countries think of this war so far? For example, the delegations from the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of France have arrived, right?" Neos continued to ask.

This question seemed to touch a sensitive spot. The Pope's body began to tremble slightly, his eyes becoming somewhat unfocused, and he began to mumble unconsciously, as if trying to extract information from a database, but his instructions were either too many or incorrect.

"Don't talk...Don't talk..." He muttered to himself, his voice getting lower and lower.

Neos didn't stop, knowing he was getting closer to the core of the truth. He asked one last question, the most crucial one:

"So what do you think of the difference between Christianity more than 800 years ago and Christianity today?"

This sentence was like the last straw that broke the camel's back.

"Stop talking... Stop talking..." The Pope's muttering suddenly became louder, with a desperate and sharp tone on the verge of collapse.

White foam formed at the corners of his mouth, veins popped on his forehead, and his temples throbbed violently. His eyes stared blankly ahead, his body rigidly standing. His entire state resembled an old computer being forced to run countless complex programs, maxing out its performance, only to attempt to quickly assemble a nonexistent answer in the file manager, ultimately causing the system to completely overload.

As the Pope's symptoms worsened, Neos noticed that the surrounding citizens and the soldiers who had stood perfectly still began to show similar symptoms. Their smiles disappeared, their eyes became dull, their bodies began to stiffen, and their mouths emitted low, unconscious moans.

“..I can’t-speak…Gu-” The Pope made a strange sob in his throat and his whole body was completely stiff.

"Snapped!"

Neos, without hesitation, stepped forward and slapped the Pope in the face, attempting to break his frozen "overload" state with a physical blow. The slap didn't cause any physical damage to the Pope, but it seemed to produce some strange mental stimulation. A hint of clarity instantly returned to the Pope's eyes, but the words he spoke were no longer his own.

"Hey, God, I want to ask you something." Neos looked at the body in front of him, whose body belonged to the Pope but whose will was obviously the container of another existence, and said in a calm and almost provocative tone.

"Hmm?" The Pope, or "God," uttered a brief response.

"Do you know what we would do if we encountered a political opponent with high influence who wanted to quickly and 'legally' remove him from office without giving him a chance to fight back?"

"What?" "God" seemed a little confused, or rather, the Pope, as a container, was unable to quickly understand the meaning of Neos' words.

"Inform him to come to the meeting and not bring weapons."

"Om-!"

Before he finished speaking, a massive, twisted wave of Warp energy erupted from the "Pope" like a flood. As the energy erupted, Neos didn't hesitate. His right hand instantly ignited with a brilliant blue-white flame. The flames quickly coalesced into a flaming greatsword in his hand, the tip of which pointed directly at the "Pope" before him.

"Get out of here!"

Neos roared, and slashed down the "Pope's" neck with the burning sword!

The sword struck without the expected sound of metal clashing or the sight of blood and flesh flying. The Pope's head fell to the ground, but his body, as if all bones and flesh had been drained away, instantly transformed into a pool of foul-smelling blood that quickly seeped into the ground. The head also dissolved into bloody foam, leaving only the luxurious tiara, which fell to the ground alone.

"Ding--!"

Suddenly, the city fell into a deathly silence. All the citizens and soldiers on the streets, who had been trembling stiffly, fell to the ground one after another with a "thump, thump" sound, like puppets with their strings cut. Then, their bodies began to dissolve at a visible speed, turning into pools of rotten, smelly flesh.

In Neos' psychic perception, he clearly felt that fragments representing human souls were converging at an unprecedented speed towards a certain place in St. Peter's Basilica, which was the center of the most violent fluctuations in subspace energy.

"Hide inside?" Neos didn't risk entering the eerie church door. His intuition and a year's worth of combat experience told him that a deadlier trap must be hidden behind that door. He opted for a more direct and violent approach.

"boom!!!"

A mighty blue-white psychic flame erupted from his body, transforming into a massive fireball that roared down upon St. Peter's Basilica. The magnificent church quickly lost its superficial splendor under the enveloping flames. The meticulously crafted decorations, the pristine walls, the pristine marble, all revealed their true colors under the holy fire: rust, decay, and distortion, like a disgusting scar, quickly covered the vast building.

"Clap!"

The image of Rome flakes off like shattered glass, dissipating, replaced by the turbulent landscape of the Warp. Distorted stars, blurred forms, indescribable colors, and chaotic whispers echoing in their ears instead of hymns gradually replace the familiar world, forcibly pulling Neos, Luce, and everything around them into the chaotic, lawless Warp.

The Warp demon that had stolen the throne of "God" finally revealed its true form. A twisted figure gradually solidified within the vortex of Warp energy, shrouded in ancient, twisted hymns. Neos's bluish-white flames burned around it, but it failed to instantly incinerate it as it had with other Warp creatures. The hymns and a certain power surrounding it seemed to provide an effective defense.

Without further ado, the Warp Demon's attack was a killing move. The church that had just been set on fire by Neos exploded the moment it entered the Warp!

"boom--!!!"

At least dozens of tons, or even more, of explosives were placed in the church. The shock wave of the explosion, carrying church fragments, burning rubble, and chaotic subspace energy, attacked Neos and Luce like a tsunami!

"Luce, cover me!" "Die, devil!"

Battle erupted instantly in the Warp. While Neos's blue-white flames couldn't instantly destroy the demon, they still managed to inflict damage. Every time the flames licked his body, the twisted figure let out a wail of agony, its surface festering and charring.

However, the demon had apparently somehow gained intelligence about Neos's power in the Americas and knew that Neos's flames were less effective against the indigenous gods, who embodied the power of human faith. Therefore, the demon began to mobilize the faith that the Crusaders had accumulated over hundreds of years in Jesus, the true vessel of God.

This huge and pure power of faith was transformed by the demon into an invisible shield that surrounded him and greatly blocked the erosion of Neos's flames.

Luce followed closely beside Neos, shielding him in the chaotic Warp. The demon didn't rely solely on its own strength; it summoned a large number of twisted Warp creatures. The soul fragments of those who were once Roman citizens and soldiers were further twisted by it, transforming into hideous demons and twisted spirits of various shapes and forms, rushing towards them!

"Right! Three o'clock!"

Neos instantly turned sideways, and a blue-white psychic shield unfolded on his left side, blocking another demonic claw that pounced from the void. He swung his sword back, burning the claw and the demon behind it to ashes.

Neos and Luce stood back to back, charging left and right against the endless waves of demons. Luce's light spear continuously fired light bullets, buying Neos room for close combat. Neos used his flaming greatsword to clear the way, reducing the creatures of the Warp to nothingness, and at the same time used his powerful psychic energy to intimidate and repel the larger and more powerful demons.

The power of the Warp demon seemed boundless, and its manipulation of human faith far exceeded Neos's expectations. The shield prevented Neos's flames from reaching their full potential, requiring each attack to consume greater psychic energy. The demon itself exploited this defense, unleashing a continuous barrage of twisted energy and mental contamination.

The situation grew increasingly critical. Both Neos and Luce were wounded in the battle, their armor scorched and scorched, and their spirits began to show a hint of fatigue. Seeing this, the demon began to emit a sharp, piercing laugh, invading their minds directly.

"Those idiots who believed in me for over eight hundred years! They contributed so much power to me! Do you think I'm just a simple warp demon?!"

"Struggle! Despair! This city, this world, will eventually belong to me!"

The constant influx of demonic waves filled Neos with anxiety. He knew that if things continued like this, he and Luce would eventually be exhausted and die here. Their psychic energy was limited, while this demon seemed to be able to drain power endlessly.

"No, this is a mistake," Neos said, sensing the complex yet strangely integrated power within the demon. "I didn't expect this demon to be able to use both the pure faith of humans and the power of demons at the same time! How strange—"

The power of the true God is clearly lethal to the Warp Demons, so how can the Demons use these two powers at the same time? This is theoretically impossible, unless..."

His mind raced, trying to find an explanation for this paradox. Pure power of faith should harm Warp creatures, while Warp energy and the power of faith were incompatible; the two shouldn't coexist perfectly within the same entity, enhancing each other. This demon's behavior completely overturned his understanding!

When Neos was considering whether to expend a large amount of psychic energy to forcibly open a subspace rift, withdraw Luce back to the real world, and rethink the response strategy, Luce suddenly cried out.

"Wait! Saint! I think I understand how that devil did it!" Luce's voice was filled with shock and excitement after discovering the truth, "Listen carefully--!"

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