Chapter 1440: Hell

The clanging sounds continued incessantly, Anthony, moving swiftly amidst a rain of arrows-like blades, narrowly evading most of the attacks. However, some blades grazed him, slicing his arms and torso, leaving behind bleeding wounds.

This was not the end. Hundred arms swung, as if a hundred people were wielding swords at Anthony, blades attacking from different angles. Their coordination was tight, not interfering with one another, not attempting to block all of Anthony’s movements.

No escape now. Anthony raised the Nail Sword, holding it vertical before his chest, trying to shield his neck and heart, hoping to endure this round of attacks.

He knew well he couldn’t fall yet; Anthony still needed to command the battlefield, guarding the Gate of the Celestial Kingdom. He couldn’t afford to forsake everything and transform into a Demon of hatred.

A gust of chilling wind swept through, causing Anthony to feel strangely calm, and he sighed inwardly.

If only his Authority were Medanzo, that dense Iron Armor would shield him from most attacks, and he could use it as a barrier to press forward.

Unfortunately, his Authority was Raphael, the illusory realm was ineffective against Demons, who retained their primal desire for slaughter, making even the most delirious hallucinations nothing but another lavish feast of carnage for them.

Indeed, that’s all it meant.

The blades closed in, tearing Anthony’s figure into countless fragments, flesh and blood splattering, but soon they stagnated in the air, then began collapsing like ashes after a blaze, disappearing from sight.

It seemed they had not cut into Anthony, only tearing apart a blurred shadow. Following this, sharper pain surged from another direction, and the Nail Sword easily sliced open a bloated torso, releasing a gush of gray-white fluid from beneath its pus-covered skin.

Anthony’s gaze was piercing, dodging and charging, the illusion barely affecting the Hundred-Headed Demon, but as long as it could somewhat veil his presence, it sufficed.

It emitted a series of roars, flames between its hundred heads grew fiercer, severed arms dragged by red threads, followed by its torn skin starting to writhe bizarrely, as if nurturing some kind of monster within.

In the next moment, countless, ghastly pale palms burst forth.

The newly emerged palms waved frantically, momentarily, the Hundred-Headed Demon resembled more a mass of writhing seaweed made up of innumerable arms, grasping everything around, pressing the ground, hoisting its bloated body.

What was more peculiar, was the palm opening up, revealing scarlet eyes that swiftly rotated, surveilling the surroundings, while the five fingers grew sharp and slender, just like other blades, chasing Anthony, trying to tear him apart.

Anthony felt a headache, retreating backward, increasingly more palms spread across the Hundred-Headed Demon’s body, it was like a massive porcupine, covered in blades, making it difficult to approach, more importantly, it embodied the Authority.

As he pondered how to handle the situation, the complex sound of gunfire erupted, followed by shouts.

“Dodge!”

The instinct of his body drove Anthony, as it did the other Demon Hunters, causing them to dodge to the sides, hiding behind large stone pillars, followed by countless projectiles erupting from flashes of fire behind them, pouring out furiously.

The Holy Hall Knights had entered the battlefield, unable to fight Demons up close like the Demon Hunters or even confront them directly, yet possessing considerable combat strength; on the Night of the Holy Arrival, it was the overwhelming number of Holy Hall Knights that gradually controlled everything.

Pulling the trigger, bullets formed a torrent of steel, the clash of metal with bricks, stone, flesh, and blood mixed together, repeatedly assaulting people’s eardrums, until only monotonous noise remained around.

Fire, reload, fire.

They seemed intent on exhausting all their ammunition, shell casings fell to the ground with a crisp sound, soon enveloped by the noise of gunfire. Everything in sight was subjected to the fierce impact of metal, even the sheltering stone pillars couldn’t escape, covered in dense holes, almost piercing through them.

“This is not enough! It will melt all of this!”

A Demon Hunter shouted, having all witnessed the flames the Hundred-Headed Demon stirred; the Holy Hall Knights’ surprise attack couldn’t last long. Once the Hundred-Headed Demon adapted, its counterattack would begin.

“Disrupt it!”

Someone shouted, quickly followed by another voice, Demon Hunters fell to the ground, faces tense, flames burning within their eyes.

“I’m trying!”

He responded, releasing his Authority, trying to implant more illusions before the Hundred-Headed Demon.

Anthony, in the corner, shook his head; he knew well, illusions could only protect oneself, incapable of affecting the Hundred-Headed Demon, regardless of the illusion it faces, its sole task remains.

Destroy, destroy everything in sight.

It was powerless to halt its raging fire, merely a futile endeavor.

So should they charge out, taking advantage of the moment the Holy Hall Knights suppress the Hundred-Headed Demon, to launch a fierce attack on it? This seemed implausible too, as it would inevitably expose the participating Demon Hunters to the rain of bullets as well; without stepping into darkness, breaching the threshold, Demon Hunters couldn’t avoid the damage from the bullet rain.