Chapter 380: Did the Plague Devour the Sun?
The golden sword possessed the power to sever divine forces.
The more detailed and abundant the knowledge of the opponent's origins, the stronger this sword's power could become.
However, Verethragna did not possess particularly intricate knowledge of the origins of the foe before him.
Although he had noticed the rift in the sky that day and thus had some understanding of its identity—likely the Apocalypse Knight symbolizing plague—that was all he knew.
He needed more information about how this Apocalypse Knight came to be to fully unleash the golden sword's power.
The opponent also possessed an ability similar to the Golden Sword—by acquiring more detailed knowledge about the adversary, they could recreate mythological events, inflicting wounds that the target had suffered in the past.
It was this very ability that severely wounded Verethragna, ultimately forcing him to expend his eighth avatar, Aries.
This power could only be activated when on the brink of death from critical injuries, allowing flesh to regenerate and reviving him as if reborn.
Of course, such an ability could not be used indefinitely; at the very least, it would be unusable for the following day.
Thus, Verethragna needed to employ another trump card to settle the outcome with his foe.
That trump card was the third avatar—White Horse, which would bring him the undying sun and rain down all-consuming solar flames upon the enemy.
Yet this Authority could not be invoked arbitrarily.
A prerequisite was required: the opposing party must be a great sinner who brought suffering to the masses.
And this Apocalypse Knight, within biblical mythology, was the embodiment of plague—a calamity that tormented the people.
Therefore, it appeared to perfectly meet the conditions for activating the White Horse.
And so, as Verethragna invoked the White Horse, the eastern horizon ignited in flames.
The White Horse answered his summons!
"Oh? Do you intend to defy the sun's judgment?"
Before him, the Apocalypse Knight's body erupted with vast clouds of black mist in an instant—he was transforming into the plague itself.
Was he trying to disperse himself into vast clouds of black mist like this, so that the solar flames couldn't completely incinerate him and he could survive?
No, the opponent had formed a deadly plague mist—not to disperse or escape, but to surge skyward and confront the sun.
That erupting black mist seemed intent on blotting out the sky and devouring the sun?
This was simply accelerating his own demise!!!
With Verethragna's Authority, the more intense the opponent's wickedness, the more terrifying the solar flames that descended.
Thus, the more powerfully the opponent transformed into a plague and erupted, the more horrifying the solar flames that would burn him.
"Come, seize victory for me, undying sun!"
At that moment, the sun delivered by the white horse shone with intense brilliance, as if the very sky were ablaze.
Perhaps the sky truly was burning, for white flames enveloped the entire firmament.
Then, arrows of light rained down like a downpour from the blazing fiery clouds, descending upon the black mist that sought to devour the sun.
In an instant, the black mist was vaporized by the ultra-high-temperature flames, rapidly dissolving and vanishing—or so it should have been—
"Wh-what?!"
Verethragna stared in astonishment at the scene before him.
The solar flames hadn't burned away the black mist; instead, it seemed as if the black mist were burning the flames, devouring them.
Not only was the mist not weakened, but it appeared to have been fueled, exploding in volume.
In mere moments, the scale of the black mist rivaled the solar conflagration in the sky.
His pupils contracted as he noticed the black mist subtly coalescing into countless squirming—specters?
They surged upward, gnawing at the sun.
"How... how is this possible?!"
It shouldn't be!
The natural enemy of plague was the sun; it shouldn't be able to suppress the sun. Yet, what was happening before Verethragna's eyes was his summoned sun being consumed by the plague.
This phenomenon, which seemed to defy the laws of the universe, left him utterly bewildered.
Of course, it wasn't just the sun being retaliated against. Verethragna also noticed countless figures composed of black mist materializing on the ground, swarming toward him.
The densely packed crowd surged like a human tsunami.
"The plague... consumed the sun?"
Erica, witnessing this duel, murmured in disbelief, unable to comprehend it.
It was like the common knowledge that fire and water are incompatible—fire should normally be suppressed by water, extinguished by it. But here, the result was reversed: not only did the water fail to quench the flames, it fueled them instead...
Looking closely at those forms coalesced from black mist, were they specters?
Did they harbor intense hatred for the sun? Why?
Their appearances were also dreadful, bodies seemingly ravaged by plague until they were neither human nor ghost.
Most of them shared a common characteristic: countless black patches covering their bodies.
This closely matched the symptoms of a particular plague—the Black Death!
Ah, that made sense. The birth of the Apocalypse Knight was tied to the outbreak of the Black Death, a new mythological figure crafted by humanity.
But undeniably, the countless ferocious figures before them were truly spine-chilling.
Despite knowing this was the manifestation of her master's power, Erica couldn't suppress the growing fear. A chill ran down her spine, and her scalp tingled with dread.
Ah, it felt like she was developing trypophobia.
"So that's it!"
The Witch Lucretia seemed to understand why the plague could devour the sun, and why the countless lives claimed by the plague harbored anger toward the sun.
"I see, this is the reason for your wrath against the sun."
The God of War Verethragna's bitter smile suggested he too had realized why his solar flames were being consumed.
"No wonder the sun's fire, which judges great sinners, is ineffective against you. You are not the sinner who brought down the plague, but the embodiment of the hatred of the millions—no, tens of millions—of people slain by the plague, or rather, killed by the sun!"
The God of War's subsequent bitter words left Erica stunned.
What was happening? These people had clearly died from the Black Death, so why were they said to have been killed by the sun?
As Verethragna spoke these words, his body began to show signs of infection, with dark spots appearing as if he were contracting the Black Death.
"Cough, cough!"
He suddenly coughed, spitting out blood.
"Let me bear your wrath in place of my master! Let me face judgment!"
The moment these words fell, a flicker of flame landed on him.
Was he burning himself alive?
So, what exactly was going on?