A silver bullet pierced Ethan Hayes' body and shot straight into the Mutant monk who had the ability to turn invisible.
"Tsk tsk, bald priest, you killed the monk. I wonder if he'll make it to heaven now," Ethan casually remarked, discarding the corpse without a second thought.
The bald priest's expression darkened, sparks flying from the large gun he held as it fired off more rounds. The luxurious decor of the hotel room was soon in ruins.
"What kind of monster are you?!" the priest shouted, pulling out a vial of holy water and rushing toward Ethan. But as he threw the water, it reversed mid-air and splashed back over him.
"Shoot him! Kill him!" the priest commanded.
A heavily armored knight broke through the wall, his shining sword aimed directly at Ethan's neck. But with just two fingers, Ethan caught the blade.
The paladin, fearless but shocked, attempted to headbutt Ethan, but Ethan was quicker. With a flick of his fingers, the knight's sword broke, the tip driving through his armor and into his heart. Despite the paladin's divine power, which rivaled that of Gwen, Ethan remained unfazed. This paladin, like so many others before him, was no match for him.
The bald priest, seizing the distraction, had already fled.
Ethan stepped out into the corridor where four more armored paladins swung their swords in unison, forming a cross-shaped barrier to block his path.
[Elementalization of Burning Fruit!]
The flames flickered and danced, but in the next moment, Ethan's body reformed, unscathed and without a single wrinkle on his clothes. With a simple motion, an ice spear materialized in his hand, piercing the four paladins effortlessly.
One after another, more paladins appeared—strong enough to battle the Hulk, but sadly for them, their opponent was Ethan Hayes. His mastery of water control magic and the Frozen Fruit made him unstoppable. He didn't even need to shatter their defenses; he merely controlled the water in their bodies, freezing it and sending ice spikes through their hearts. Simple. Efficient.
Wherever Ethan went, the Paladins of the Judgment Legion collapsed, unable to rise again.
"The hotel evacuated everyone earlier. It's almost like they wanted me to have free reign for this massacre," Ethan mused as he strolled through the hotel lobby.
He glanced up at the security cameras, knowing full well someone wanted to capture footage of his killings. Whoever orchestrated this probably intended to control or blackmail him, but the Holy See wouldn't let their secretive forces be exposed like this. The Vatican would likely erase the footage before it could be used against him.
Checking his phone, Ethan realized there was no signal here—a blessing, really. No one had seen his true face.
As he stepped out into the cool Roman night, dozens of paladins in chain mail stood at the ready, their swords raised. The bald priest stood solemnly among them, accompanied by several powerful clerics wielding staves, Bibles, and various weapons.
"Father Bald, you sure know how to run fast," Ethan called out.
"Blasphemer! This sacred land will not be defiled by your evil!" the priest shouted.
Ethan glanced at the silver box in his hand, then at the source of a dark power lurking nearby. "All this over a tiny chalice?" he asked with a wry smile. "If I were just an ordinary person, or even an average superhuman, you'd have dragged me back and tortured me by now. But it's too late for that. Those who wrong me will pay dearly."
His thoughts turned to the Vlad family. They had set him up, putting him in a position where he was forced to fight for survival. They would regret it.
As for the Holy See… Ethan regarded the bald priest coldly. "You're all so eager to get to heaven. How could I possibly deny you that?"
Flames erupted from his palm, melting the silver box into molten liquid. His fiery hand reached out and grabbed the Holy Grail of the Blood Patriarch. An ear-piercing screech filled the air, causing Ethan to wince. For a moment, he saw a monstrous bat emitting a powerful soundwave that attacked his soul, but his psychic immunity protected him, forming a shield around his mind.
"Paladins, attack!" the priest commanded.
Dozens of knight swords pointed at Ethan in unison. [Frozen. Double Thorn Spear!] Two icy spears formed in Ethan's hands. As the Dragon Elephant Prajna Kungfu flowed through his body, frost covered him, forming an armor of ice.
"Kill!!!" the priest roared, firing silver bullets at Ethan.
With precise, superhuman reflexes, Ethan deflected the bullets with his spears. The paladins charged, their swords flashing in the moonlight.
Inside, Ethan felt a surge of excitement. This was the first time since gaining his powers that he'd faced so many opponents at once. The paladins, despite their holy strength and mastery of aerial slashes, were no match for him. With his Phantom Fist techniques and the spear techniques of Bajiquan, he pierced their hearts one by one.
The paladins' swords crashed against his ice armor, shattering it, but it reformed instantly. The battlefield was drenched in blood, and the once-pristine square outside the hotel became a graveyard of fallen knights.
The bald priest, now impaled by one of Ethan's spears, stared up at him with lifeless eyes. Around him, the remaining priests had already been mummified by the freezing power of the Frozen Fruit.
"I told you this was pointless," Ethan muttered, yanking the spear from the priest's chest. "You said I didn't steal it, but you chased me anyway. Now look at you—so many dead, all reunited in heaven."
His ice armor cracked, his clothes torn, and his body bore several wounds from the paladins' swords. But thanks to his elemental abilities, he had avoided serious injury. Even so, the divine energy lingering in his body had tried to destroy him during his transformations.
"The Holy See won't forgive you for this," the priest gasped.
Ethan shook his head. "At this point, it's too late for forgiveness."
Flames erupted from his hands once more, spiraling into two massive fire snakes that coiled around the entire hotel, setting it ablaze. He left the corpses of the Paladins of the Judgment Legion untouched. Let the world see what had happened here.
As he walked away, his body transformed into flame, propelling him across the sky like a rocket. He soared above the Vatican, freezing everything in his wake. [Ice Age!]
The Vatican, the heart of the global faith, was encased in ice. Time and space itself seemed to freeze as Ethan's power swept through the holy land, plunging it into darkness.
Ethan smirked. This was his declaration of war against the forces of heaven. The Holy See would never let this go, but he didn't care.
As he checked his stats, Ethan felt a surge of satisfaction:
Host: Ethan Hayes
Wealth value: 28.06675 billion points (can be used to improve Ability)
Desire points: 13.9 million points (can be used to break through)
Abilities: Strength of Mammoth, Dragon Pulse, Frozen Fruit (Tier 2, Awakening Peak), Burning Fruit (Tier 2, Awakening Peak), Mind Immunity (Passive), Water Control Magic (Dominator Level)
Skills: Phantom Fist (Transformation Realm), Dragon Elephant Prajna Kung Fu (Peak of the Thirteenth Floor)
Reward: Red Blind Box (1)
Task:
[1. Destined Encounter: In the face of a special heroine, you can establish a super-friendship with her, and you will gain a lot. Task reward: blue blind box (optional stacking, has been stacked for the third time). Task attributes: independent branches, unlimited tasks.]
[2. Destroy the Blood Coffin: The ancient Nightcrawler who once slept in the blood coffin was abandoned by God and cursed by God. He is the king under the night sky, the notorious puncturer, and the eternal evil villain in film and television. Inside the blood coffin, the soil of the hometown has been eroded by evil blood, and a large number of blood-sucking parasites of blood ancestors have been born. They are the original sin of blood. Please destroy them. Reward: Purple Blind Box!]
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