As the numbness gradually subsided, Bavaria charged forward without hesitation, the tip of his whirlwind strike aimed at Robert.
However, to everyone's astonishment, Robert effortlessly caught Bavaria's giant sword with just two fingers, as if the blade had sunk into solid rock, unable to move. This was a power no human could possess. Bavaria stared at Robert in disbelief.
At that moment, Robert's eyes had turned pure white, his skin radiating a dazzling glow, and he muttered incomprehensible words. Bavaria roared, using all his strength, and finally wrested the giant sword from Robert's grip.
At that instant, the light emanating from Robert's skin became even more intense, eventually cracking open, revealing a tall angel emerging from within like a butterfly breaking free from its cocoon.
The angel was about two and a half meters tall with a youthful, almost childlike face. Its gender was ambiguous. Its black hair was like charcoal, its white skin like milk, and it had wings on its back and a sword in its hand. To ordinary people, this was a double-handed greatsword, but in the angel's hands, it seemed like a mere single-handed sword.
The crowd erupted in uproar, murmuring amongst themselves.
"What is that?"
"Looks like a divine messenger."
"No, the Holiness side calls them angels."
"An angel!"
"Incredible! It actually summoned an angel! No wonder it dared to fight alone."
"Linley is a god, can an angel beat a god?"
"It's hard to say. The god of wine is not known for his fighting power."
The angel coldly addressed Bavaria, "Mortal, retreat."
Bavaria roared, "I am a divine messenger too!" and unleashed a whirlwind strike towards the angel. The angel nonchalantly raised its sword to meet the attack.
With a clang, the swords clashed. Bavaria was pushed back a step and fell to the ground, his greatsword bent into a circle, his hands bleeding. Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that his hands were cracked at the knuckles.
The angel remained unscathed, its sword unmarred. It stepped forward and swung its sword down towards Bavaria. Bavaria hurriedly threw away his greatsword, the angel dodged, and Bavaria scrambled backwards.
"Stop!" Linley stepped forward.
The angel turned towards Linley, saying coldly, "Pseudo-god, die!"
It spread its wings, soared into the air, and then swooped down on Linley, creating a gust of wind. Linley remained calm under pressure, raised his grapevine slingshot, loaded Pandora's Tear, poured in all his divine power, and aimed at the angel, firing.
The angel plunged towards Linley, crashing heavily to the ground, kneeling on both knees, as if bowing to Linley. Its face remained unchanged, except for an egg-sized hole in the center of its forehead, empty of brains, filled with a dull gray substance.
A searing inferno erupted from the hole, quickly spreading to engulf the entire angel. The fire was fierce, burning the angel to ashes within seconds, leaving no trace behind.
Silence descended upon the crowd. Everyone was stunned.
Usually, when a deity confronts a divine messenger, the deity always wins. However, this time was different. The god of wine was not known for his fighting prowess. People only associated him with guiding his followers in winemaking. And Holiness, who had conquered the Olympian gods and become the national religion of Rome, was clearly more powerful.
Robert directly demanded a duel, even sacrificing himself to summon an angel. He must have been confident to do so. This unprecedented defeat left everyone dumbfounded.
The gods walked the earth, and mortals could not resist, not even the bishop of the Church of Holiness.
"Dionysus!" Linley's followers cheered.
Others joined in, shouting, "Dionysus! Praise Dionysus!"
The cheers grew louder, drowning out the fading sounds of battle as people gathered to discuss what had just happened. Further away, thousands of slaves, led by a caravan of merchants, rushed into the city from the manor outside the city.
A clear prompt sounded in Linley's ear. The system notified him: "You have achieved a glorious victory and captured Andros Island."
He had experienced many battles before, and the system prompt had never appeared. Linley thought there was something wrong. Was it a combined calculation of the battles? But why was it settled immediately after the battle with the warship, but not after capturing the Governor's Mansion? Why did it have to wait until the church was captured before it was considered over?
The system explained: "Because this is the same battle. After you finish fighting the warship, you can choose to leave immediately, which will not affect your subsequent actions, so it is considered an independent battle. After you capture the Governor's Mansion, the battle is not over, your army is still in danger, and you have not gained the right to act freely, so it cannot be considered an independent battle."
Linley retorted: "I could also retreat after I finished fighting the Governor's Mansion."
The system responded: "When you retreat and leave Andros Island, it can also be considered the end of the battle. But the rewards you get will not be comparable to capturing the entire island. Now you can claim your rewards."
Linley entered the spirit world and came to the small house. A wooden box was already placed on the table. He opened the box and immediately felt his body lighten, apparently having leveled up several times.
The following prompt confirmed his feeling: "You have gained four hundred experience points."
Linley asked in surprise, "You can gain four hundred experience points at once? Did I level up four times in a row?"
The system explained: "Of course. You performed exceptionally well this time, leading one hundred people to capture the entire Andros Island."
Actually, there was also a factor of luck. The Roman fleet happened to have left. Otherwise, Linley, with only one hundred people, would have been unable to defeat a Roman fleet of several thousand.
Even with the quinquereme, a five-oared galley, Linley would have had difficulty winning, it was all thanks to the enormous power of the ruby explosion. However, there was only one ruby. It would be advantageous to have an unlimited supply.
The guards in the Governor's Mansion on the island were lax and failed to organize resistance in time. Bavaria launched a surprise attack, capturing Governor Goliath. Attacking the church was much more difficult. Linley liberated the slaves and had Goliath pretend to be in charge, hoping to sow doubt among the remaining slaves and prevent them from fighting.
But at this point, the outcome was still uncertain. Who knew that the bishop in the church could summon angels? If Linley hadn't leveled up before, his divine power hadn't increased, and he hadn't received the system prompt, using Pandora's Tears as projectiles, he might not have won this time.
He continued to examine the wooden box and found a sword inside, seemingly the one the angel had used. A closer look revealed it was marked as the Angel's Sword, with incredible power.