The Po River is the largest river in Italy.
Originating from Mount Viso in the Cottian Alps at an altitude of 3,841 meters, located at the border between Italy and France, the river initially flows from west to east. It turns north at Saluzzo, passes through Turin, skirts the Monferrato hills, then turns east again at Chivasso, and finally empties into the Adriatic Sea 20 kilometers east of Porto Tolle.
The river spans a total length of 652 kilometers and has a drainage basin of approximately 75,000 square kilometers, crossing the northern part of the country and forming the Po Valley. It flows through cities such as Turin and Piacenza. The middle and lower reaches are dotted with many lakes and tributaries, including the Tanaro, Scrivia, and Trebbia rivers.
Shinji fled westward, aiming to utilize this major Italian river to escape. The small town where the Night of Wallachia occurred is located near a minor water network east of the main stem of the Po River.
Since Dead Apostles are the origin of vampire legends, many characteristics from those legends hold: they drink human blood, have servants, fear sunlight, can be repelled by baptismal rites, and cannot (merely with their physical bodies) cross running water. Rivers, streams, and seas are insurmountable barriers for them. To Shinji's knowledge, the only one who overcame this limitation was Sumire, a member of the Twenty-Seven Ancestors, known as the "Water Demon."
As long as Shinji could enter the Po River, he would be safe. The river's waters would wash away traces of human activity, and the Dead Apostles' weakness to running water would prevent Ortenrosse's pursuit.
This was Shinji's plan, and he acted on it. Understandably, when he heard the sound of rushing water and saw the shimmering river under the moonlight, his heart filled with joy.
However, before the joy of imminent escape could reach his face, his wounded and exhausted body tensed once more.
The King of the Dead Apostles, clad in white with immaculate white wings, stood on the riverbank. His expression was calm as if he was merely enjoying the scene.
Seeing Shinji approach, he greeted him leisurely: "You're here, though a bit later than I expected."
"My apologies for the disappointment," Shinji replied, using this precious time to adjust his condition.
After such a prolonged battle, Shinji fully understood the formidable regenerative abilities of the Dead Apostle King. He knew that if he did not make the most of every second, he would fail at this crucial moment.
Unfortunately, this small calculation was seen through by Ortenrosse who smiled and snapped his fingers: "I'm not disappointed. If you had escaped, I would have been disappointed. So—"
His left claw slashed horizontally while his right claw cut vertically, sending ten invisible strikes from all directions, sealing off Shinji's escape routes.
"—fall here."
It wasn't that he didn't want to chat more with Shinji; he simply couldn't afford to.
Yes, he couldn't.
In the relentless pursuit, Ortenrosse had driven his prey to the brink of despair multiple times. Yet, at each critical moment, Shinji would come up with an unexpected move, turning the tide. Ortenrosse always thought that would be the final surprise, but Shinji continuously found new ways to escape from desperate situations.
The Scythe of Serpents: Harpe, Indra's Thunder, Athena's Shield, Hades' Cloak, Hermes' Winged Sandals, Vajra's Left Arm, Divine GunBlade, Rune Magic Bullets, Command Spell Enhancement, Rune Magic... the surprises seemed endless and inexhaustible.
If not for the circumstances of the Po River and the impending dawn, Ortenrosse would have loved to see what more tricks this peculiar magus had up his sleeve, even if it meant getting embarrassed or injured.
But at this moment, Ortenrosse couldn't afford any slip-ups. Otherwise, the cooked duck would fly away, and he, the ancient King of the Dead Apostles, would become a laughingstock.
Aware of his enemy's intent, Shinji remained silent, focusing all his strength on the battle.
Athena's Shield materialized, blocking the invisible strikes;
Medusa's Eye opened, turning the world in his vision gray.
Ortenrosse, having suffered once from this, wouldn't fall for it again. As soon as the shield appeared, he moved to Shinji's side, engaging in close combat.
At such a close distance, the long-weapon Scythe of Serpents couldn't be wielded effectively. Without the most feared weapon by the Dead Apostle King, Ortenrosse could fully leverage his advantages to crush Shinji.
Weapons are unusable, strength is unmatched, and the difference in experience is like heaven and earth. Let's see what tricks you still have!
It must be said, that Ortenrosse's strategy was correct and his tactics were very cautious. But he underestimated Shinji's determination and willpower, and even more so, he underestimated the education Shinji had received and his wide-ranging (imaginative) thinking—Just because the Scythe of Serpents was neutralized, does it mean I have no other options?
Beaten by Ortenrosse to the point where his arms were swollen and blood was trickling from his mouth and nose, a fierce glint flashed in Shinji's eyes. There was a burst of Buddha light, and the only hand that could wrestle with the Dead Apostle King grabbed the latter's wrist. Then, he directly rammed his entire body into him, causing Ortenrosse to stagger.
But before Shinji could release his left hand and distance himself from the enemy, Ortenrosse, having recovered, grabbed Shinji's left hand with a backhand and forced himself closer. However, unlike Shinji, he didn't ram but extended his left claw to grab Shinji's head. As long as he caught this vital part, the outcome would be decided, and the Dead Apostle King had no fewer than ten ways to strip Shinji of his ability to resist.
Ortenrosse's left claw came very fast, so fast that Shinji didn't even have the chance to raise his hand to block it.
The confident claw came straight at him, and through the fingers, one could see Ortenrosse's smile of assured victory.
However, this smile froze as the claw descended.
The claw, which could slice through gold and jade-like cutting tofu, simply passed through the mask's face and then through the head behind the mask.
No mask fragments, no blood, and no brain matter—there was nothing as if he had grabbed a handful of air.
An illusion? But then, what about the left hand he was gripping with his right hand?
It turned out that the special effect of Hades' Cloak only worked on the sensory organs of living beings and did not directly change appearance and physique. Shinji's disguised height was a common 180cm for Westerners, but his actual height was less than 150cm. Grabbing at the head based on the disguised height naturally missed because it was too high.
To avoid being noticed as a fraud, Shinji tried to avoid direct contact with others, especially his upper body, while in his disguised form. At this moment, he went against this principle to calculate Ortenrosse and the effect was surprisingly good.
Before Ortenrosse could react to what was happening, thunder suddenly roared in his ears, and golden lightning raged before his eyes.
Shinji, whose "head" had been pierced by the claw, held the most destructive golden artifact in a reverse grip. The black pearl at the end of the artifact was filled with heart-palpitating, unpredictable thunder.