Chapter 003: Death Before Surrender

The warriors on both sides collided, with streams of steel churning beneath them, and various spells and divine arts flashing with light above. Under such circumstances, the entire scene was illuminated as brightly as day by the glow of magic and divine arts. From time to time, someone would scream under the light of a spell or divine art before falling to the ground, only to be trampled into pulp by the wild horses. Yet even so, no one stepped back voluntarily.

At such a moment, it was meaningless to determine whether magic or divine arts were more powerful. Even the most devout spellcasters had to bring out their full strength when facing a magician. Strength was everything.

For Nicholas and Barros, the battles around them seemed to have no effect on them. Both were recognized as leaders by their respective sides, making their duel absolute—no one would interfere, as this was not just a fight between the Holy Church and the Mage Guild, but also a battle between two mighty warriors.

As they stared at each other, Nicholas remained calm, but Barros’s expression grew increasingly fierce. Seeing that Nicholas hadn’t revealed his plans, he sneered inwardly, raised his staff, and instantly, several streaks of lightning appeared in the air, charging toward Nicholas.

Nicholas raised his eyebrows slightly at this and couldn’t help but exclaim, “Perfect timing!”

With that, his body glided backward as if skating, as if something in the air was supporting him. Then, his wide sleeves flared slightly, and countless small light balls flew out from him. These balls, as if alive, attached themselves to the lightning bolts. Watching from behind, Barros realized clearly that Nicholas intended to purify his magic with holy light.

Fortunately, he wasn’t an ordinary person. With a casual gesture of his staff, he made one of the lightning bolts vanish from the air, only for it to reappear right at Nicholas’s chest. This was completely beyond Nicholas’s expectations…

Before Nicholas could react, Barros already sneered. His wand moved slightly again, and he softly uttered, “Storm!” A loud “boom” was heard as the lightning instantly transformed into its most primal magical elements before exploding violently. The explosion was terrifying—like tossing a spark into a pile of gunpowder. In an instant, all the magic around them exploded with a “boom,” and Nicholas, being at the heart of the explosion, didn’t even have a chance to dodge.

Watching this, Barros gently lowered his wand. With a sneer, he said indifferently, “Saint Nicholas, nothing more than that!” After saying that, he turned slightly, frowning at the battle around him, seemingly considering whether to intervene. Just then, his brows raised slightly in surprise as he murmured, “Hmm…” Before he could finish speaking, a beam of holy light shot out from the explosion and enveloped Barros.

Although surprised, Barros was prepared. He waved his wand backward, and instantly a huge triangular magic shield appeared in front of him. The holy light struck the shield and exploded violently, causing the entire world to tremble. “Divine Impact?” Barros muttered with a frown, then his gaze fell on where Nicholas had been. The smoke from the explosion kept shrinking before disappearing into the air. Nicholas still floated in midair, his face filled with devotion. Somehow, a transparent shield glowing with a faint holy light surrounded him, protecting him as if unharmed.

Barros’ expression finally changed. He couldn’t help but exclaim, “What on earth is this?” On the platform, Bishop Aaron had been worried earlier, but seeing Nicholas use this ability, his concern vanished instantly. He let out a soft sigh and said, “I never thought Lord Anthony would give him this.” Du Fan stood there, frowning slightly, and said, “Lord Aaron, what is this…”

Aaron glanced back at Du Fan before softly saying, “Lord Du Fan, that is the absolute protection of our Holy Church… Haven’t you known that after being in the Holy Church for so long? With that in place… those mages are no match at all. If you don’t believe it, just watch!”
With that, Bishop Aaron casually pointed upward.
Soon, as the absolute protection appeared around Nicholas, a similar glow erupted from the divine mages who had been retreating under the mages’ attacks.
Once that glow appeared, the situation quickly turned in a one-sided direction.
No matter what magic the mages cast, it became ineffective the moment it struck the absolute protection!
Whenever the holy light above the protection flashed, all magic that touched it instantly vanished…
The expressions of all the mages changed!
“This absolute protection isn’t anything extraordinary,” Aaron continued. “It can only defend against most magical attacks. Unless it’s a magic more powerful than the one used to cast this protection, any other magical attack is ineffective.”
“If I’m guessing correctly, the one who cast this absolute protection is Archbishop Anthony, right?” Prince Fischer, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke calmly.
Aaron nodded and said, “Your Highness is indeed wise… Then please watch—right now, the members of the Mage Guild are retreating steadily. It’s only a matter of time before the Temple Knights deal with the secret agents… At this point, I think Your Highness doesn’t have any backup plans left… Shouldn’t this chaos also come to an end? Before I came, Lord Anthony asked me to convey a message to you: Never go too far!”
“Never go too far?” Prince Fischer suddenly laughed. He glanced at Du Fan and said calmly, “Du Fan, do you think I’ve gone too far? Or not?”
Du Fan pursed his lips but didn’t answer. He simply watched the battle in the sky, sighing softly in his heart.
This massive battle was nearing its end. Faced with Nicholas, who had absolute protection, Barros’s expression turned extremely ugly. His magic wand pointed forward like a phantom, and various spells kept hitting Nicholas… but it was useless… nothing worked. No matter what magic he used, no matter how powerful it was, as long as it touched the absolute protection, it would vanish instantly…

Such a situation was as if Nicholas had instantly reached a legendary state—magic immunity. After several such encounters, Barros’s expression had turned somewhat frantic. Nicholas stared at Barros with a strange look and said softly, “Don’t you understand yet? Under these circumstances, you have no chance of winning at all… So, do you still want to continue?” Barros sneered repeatedly, “Nonsense! I am a great magician. How could I possibly be defeated by you charlatans? Guys who only know how to play tricks! What else can you do?” Nicholas shook his head and said calmly, “Don’t you understand? Losing is losing… No matter what excuses you make, it can’t change this reality… Look, nearly half of your men are already dead. If you stop now…” “Stop?” Barros’s expression turned strange. “Do you think I’m the same kind of person as you charlatans?” With that, Barros suddenly threw his magic wand in Nicholas’s direction while rapidly tapping his hands in the air. Following his movements, the wand exploded with a loud “boom,” turning into a pile of powder that rolled toward Nicholas, seemingly accompanied by a pitiful wailing sound. Seeing this, Nicholas sighed and said, “As you know, no matter how desperately you try, it’s useless…” Before his words faded, the powder reached Absolute Protection, where another “boom” sounded as a fierce flame erupted—but it still couldn’t cause Nicholas the slightest harm. As the flame burned in the distance, a flame also appeared on Barros’s body, burning his flesh relentlessly. In less than a moment, a stench of burning flesh filled the air. Barros screamed a few times before suddenly shouting loudly, “A great magician never surrenders, even in death—” With another “boom,” his body exploded completely, turning into powder in the air… Nicholas frowned, his expression tinged with sorrow, “Life-Burning Magic… Even if you burn your own life, you can’t change the outcome of the battle… So why go to such lengths?”