Chapter 596: The Great Cause of Killing Demons
When the two Holy Knights leaped in from the flank to launch their attack,
The two Stand users, Judgment and Justice, exchanged a glance and coordinated seamlessly, entangling Yonglu with far greater tacit understanding while preparing their killing blow.
Yet even in the face of this crisis, Yonglu showed no sign of panic.
He erupted in crazed laughter, his expression one of pure delight.
The scythe in his hand swung wildly, and the blood surging through his body seemed to pound like a roaring engine.
The more dangerous the situation became, the more he reveled in it.
Killing thrilled him, and being killed intrigued him even more.
"Come on!"
"Make me happier! Ahahahahaha!"
"The Great Cause of Killing Demons!"
A pillar of bloody light burst into the sky from the Blood Scythe of Yonglu.
Facing the four who surrounded him, Yonglu unleashed a massive arc-shaped slash, blood-colored ripples slicing through the air.
It tore through the countless restraints of the magic mine and finally reached the sky.
"What is that?!"
"The sky was cut open!!"
The guards stationed at Sand City stared in horror at the massive rift that had appeared far above.
The clouds split apart, and streaks of light pierced through, dreamlike and unreal.
Although the ground had been quaking intermittently, the guards remained dutifully at their posts. They hadn't even watched the ceremony's live broadcast.
Now, standing here, they witnessed an unbelievable sight in the sky.
A crimson slash had erupted from underground, cutting straight through the sky.
The instant they saw it, they knew unimaginable monsters were battling.
Their strength might be low, but even if they'd never eaten pork, they had certainly seen pigs run.
In recent years, battles between monsters, and even clashes involving gods, had occurred. This was nothing like a natural phenomenon.
Even so, they trembled before the overwhelming spectacle in the sky.
The bloody light originated from above the magic mine.
Anyone who had experienced just how tough the magic mine was would understand: For such a terrifying attack to erupt from within… Something unimaginable was happening underground.
The guards swallowed hard, equally shocked and curious.
What kind of monster…?!
If that bloody light had been aimed their way, they would have been wiped out instantly.
"It's terrifying. Do you think we could ever be that strong?"
A middle-aged guard was stunned silent for a moment when he heard the young man beside him.
"Tao Bai, stop dreaming."
"We may have received martial arts training, but after a while you'll realize, people's physiques truly aren't equal."
"For example, one of my brothers went off to be a C-rank hunter, while I'm still here as an ordinary soldier."
Tao Bai asked after the uncle's discouraging comment: "Could it be that you just didn't work hard enough?"
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!!"
"I exercise one whole hour every day in my free time, one hour! I've even read fewer comics because of it!"
"Uh…"
Setting that aside.
In the underground battlefield, Yonglu launched another devastating strike.
His body, however, was also severely damaged.
Just moments ago, Holy Knight Earth-Rhythm Pasadong's Super Gravity Fist had forcefully deflected Yonglu's ultimate attack.
During that brief opening, Justice used Justice Judgment.
This mental attack placed the target's consciousness on the scale of the void to weigh their sins.
Although this technique used the Stand, Yonglu's current strength made him difficult to restrain.
But even a momentary daze was enough for the other two attackers to land heavy damage.
"Cough…"
"Wait, humans!"
Yonglu spat two mouthfuls of blood, the two holes, one in his heart, one in his abdomen, beginning to rapidly regenerate.
As a Demon King whose very existence was tied to killing, Yonglu naturally would not die so easily.
Even with a destroyed heart, he could quickly repair his body, though at greater cost to his magic power.
Seeing Yonglu continuing to heal, the four prepared to attack again.
But they were given no chance.
Kizaru could no longer stand by.
The War King was furious at the four-on-one attack, and once he acted, he held nothing back.
"Axe of War!"
A massive black axe-head, combined with Kizaru's Yasakani no Magatama, blasted toward the four, forcing them to scatter.
"An angry apostle is terrifying!"
As the group fell back, they turned toward Sakamori.
Kizaru simply spread his hands, expressing helplessness.
He wanted to block it too, but the opponent's power output was overwhelming.
Sakamori didn't entirely believe Kizaru, he doubted the Admiral's excuse. If Kizaru really tried, Sakamori didn't believe he couldn't stop that attack.
Still, Sakamori said nothing more.
Fortunately, his earlier holy-power strike had prevented Yonglu from regenerating too quickly.
At least the Demon King's combat strength was currently reduced.
"Good, very good, excellent!!"
On the other side, the War King watched as the gaping hole in Yonglu's abdomen slowly closed.
War King, usually expressionless, shouted the three praises in a row, emotion radiating even through his dull metallic voice.
As the War King, embodiment of war itself, he wasn't upset because Yonglu was injured. He wasn't that sentimental.
He was furious because the two opponents had abandoned fighting him midway to attack his subordinate.
Such an act utterly disregarded him, an insult straight to his face.
"What's 'good'? Why are you shouting when your companion has a hole in his body?"
Opposite the War King, Pasadong's right hand was covered in blood.
To deflect Yonglu's attack, he hadn't escaped completely unscathed.
Yet at this moment, he was more curious about the War King's praise than concerned about his injury.
Hearing Pasadong's question, Sakamori wanted to bury his face in his hands.
He could feel the strange looks from the people nearby.
Those looks made him want to stuff Pasadong into a sack and ship him away.
This Holy Knight is really… something.
Zeno and the Evergreen Jayne nearby all had the same thought.
Suddenly, they all looked toward the sky again.
A streak of purple light swept down from the massive hole above.
Marine Admiral Kizaru also saw it, and he finally relaxed.
Because he recognized that figure.
It was the holder of the Purple Smoke Pearl, a mythical God Killer Equipment.
Originally, during the Mythical Beast Conference, the Purple Smoke Pearl had been obtained by Aizen, President of Iron Sun.
After studying it for some time, he selected someone to wield this artifact.
From the candidates offered, the final wielder chosen was Magellan, the current director of Impel Down.
Kizaru had heard that Magellan's strength had skyrocketed after receiving the God Killer Equipment, apparently with Chairman Aizen's assistance.
This made Kizaru extremely envious.
(End of this chapter)