NOVEL NEXT Chapter 436: Archbishop
It didn't take long for that powerful aura to slowly approach and reveal his face — a middle-aged man with a fairly ordinary face.
Lifeless cold eyes and long gray hair, wearing robes exactly like the other two Corruption bishops Daniel had seen before, so it was obvious this was another bishop.
However, judging by his aura he was far stronger than either of the bishops Daniel had faced so far — at least a Peak A Rank, and his combat power probably matched a False S-rank.
The Corruption Bishop looked at the ruined mountain and then at the corpses of his subordinates lying on the ground. His expression didn't change, but a bone-chilling cold glittered in his eyes.
Then his gaze landed on Daniel, and the latter felt a little chill.
"I didn't expect to be lucky enough to see a [Heretic] with my own eyes," the Bishop said in a cold tone.
"I didn't expect to meet another bishop either," Daniel replied calmly. He expected to face a bishop, just not one this powerful.
"A bishop? No… I'm not an ordinary bishop. I am an Archbishop." The middle-aged man corrected Daniel as he tilted his head.
"An Archbishop? I thought Cardinals came after bishops."
"Your knowledge isn't wrong. After bishops come Cardinals, but there's a ranking within bishops too, and the strongest among them are called Archbishops."
"I see. So I'm facing one of the strongest, huh?" Daniel laughed.
"That's right, [Heretic]. Unfortunately today is your unlucky day and also the last day of your life," the Archbishop of Corruption said coldly.
"Really? That's what those down there said too — the ones I turned into eternal servants, the two other bishops I fought and many more… Result? I'm still here and all of them became my eternal servants." Daniel smirked.
The Archbishop frowned slightly, but the frown faded quickly. He waved his hand and an enormous corruption power isolated and quarantined the whole area.
"Don't even think about running." He stretched out his hand and a staff appeared in it.
Daniel said nothing and simply extended his hand. The Heaven's Honor appeared in his grip.
The sky twisted into black and purple. Clouds that smelled of sulfur and rot churned.
In the center, the Corruption Archbishop stood. He slammed his bone staff into the ground and a sound like thousands of breaking skeletons echoed across the area.
"[Heretic]… this is the domain of Corruption. Let's see how many breaths you can still take."
Daniel raised his sword. The blade of The Heaven's Honor shone like a lone light in the sky. But before he could attack, the world around him collapsed.
[Blight Dominion]
A realm of darkness and purple spread around Daniel. The ground and sky turned into a rotten liquid. Every particle tried to consume any energy in his body.
'Damn… even the sword aura and death are being eaten away.' Daniel clenched his teeth and scowled, but before he could think further...
Chains began to fall from the sky.
[Corruptive Chains]
Dark chains wrapped around his arms and legs. Every movement weakened a portion of his power.
Daniel slipped through the shadows with [Bloody Shadow Dance] and shattered part of the chains, but the Archbishop's laugh echoed in his mind.
"Run or fight… Corruption always begins from within."
[Death Roar]
A wave of dark mental energy shot at the Archbishop, temporarily blinding his capacity to analyze. Daniel waited for that momentary slip to finally launch an attack.
But the Archbishop placed a finger at his temple and smiled.
[Mind Decay]
Whispers of a thousand souls invaded Daniel's ears. The image of sky and ground inverted. For a moment he couldn't tell what was real and what was illusion.
Daniel forced himself to lift his sword.
[Strike of Destruction]
A destruction aura twisted around the blade and rammed into the enemy's barrier.
The Archbishop calmly slammed his staff into the ground.
[Rotting Barrier]
A semi-transparent wall made of black, decaying tissue formed. The sword shattered it, but the destruction energy within the blade was eaten by the corruption.
"Damn!" Daniel retreated, his eyes flashing.
[Eyes of Destruction]
Beams of destruction burst from his eyes and surged at the Archbishop.
But the beams vanished on the Archbishop's body like water on rusted metal.
[Eternal Corrosion]
Every force that reached the Archbishop was corrupted and erased.
The pressure was intense. Daniel had to activate his armor.
[Burning Man Armor]
An armor of burning flames enveloped his body. He breathed a momentary sigh of relief; at least it reduced the damage.
The Archbishop still smiled. He lifted his staff and the air and ground detonated.
[Plague Nova]
A wave of corruption energy expanded across the sky. Tens of thousands of dark insects poured out and swarmed toward Daniel like a locust cloud.
Daniel raised his shield.
[Demonic Twilight Shield]
A black-red shield appeared before him, absorbing part of the assault and reflecting some energy back. But the plague pressure was so strong it threw him backward.
"See? Everyone is worthless before Corruption. Corruption never ends. Everything it touches becomes itself." The Archbishop looked down from above. His voice was calm, but crushing.
Daniel kneeled in the air. His armor was cracked and blood dripped from his mouth. Still, he gripped his sword tightly.
He took a deep breath and stood up again. His body was badly damaged, and even his wounds were healing slowly.
That damned aura of corruption was blocking his Mana Healing. Worse than that, in this cursed space his energy was being drained every moment. No matter how hard he tried to neutralize it, it was useless.
'I underestimated a False S-rank too much. This bishop might not officially be at that level, but in terms of power, he's not any weaker—maybe even a little stronger,' he thought to himself.
Until now, he believed he was the strongest below S-rank, but he realized he had been deluding himself. Still, if he could win this battle and devour those corruption cultists, maybe he really could become the strongest.
But the most important part was victory. His eyes gleamed with a dark light as he locked his gaze on the archbishop, who was staring at him with disdain.