Chapter 53.2

Luckily, the massive wings helped cushion the descent, and as Kevin landed, he swiftly rolled off and shielded the bird's head.

Sirius crashed heavily onto the ground, losing consciousness without a sound. The advancing army, impacted by the intense light, fell with a thunderous crash, sending winds and sands swirling into the sky.

Those on the outside merely lost consciousness, but for those on the inside...

Kevin closed his eyes for a moment, his clenched fists hanging tightly at his side. He strode toward the broken wall of the old castle, and the people crowding in front of him hardly offered any resistance, easily parting with a swipe of his hand.

For they had already lost consciousness.

Tens of thousands of people were gathered here, and from the outside, it was a disturbing sight – human heads densely packed together, seemingly never-ending. It was an awe-inspiring and eerie scene.

As Kevin pushed them away, the unconscious bodies fell across the ground like a receding tide. The way they collapsed was peculiar, as if compelled by an external force, brought to their knees.

This sight furrowed Kevin's brow even deeper, and his face grew as stern as though he had just been unearthed from an ice-cold cellar. The sand beneath his feet grew increasingly damp.

But it wasn't water that dampened it; it was blood.

Kevin did not know what these people had experienced before his arrival. They were far less fortunate than those who came later. Apart from those unconscious, most of them had no pulses or breath.

Even in the moment of their death, they remained upright. Due to the sheer numbers, they clumped together in clusters, with only a few individuals collapsing.

It was only when Kevin pushed them aside that their expressions of surprise froze in place, their bodies maintaining a pious kneeling posture.

At first, Kevin instinctively supported them with his hand, but eventually, he closed his eyes and stopped reaching out. He knew he couldn't help them, and even if he could, their hearts would never beat again.

Blood flowed relentlessly from their bodies, the wounds nearly indistinguishable upon first glance.

Thus, with each step, Kevin walked closer to the damaged tower of the Old Rose Castle, blood dripping from his feet, to face the trapped giant bird bathed in light and flames.

His pallid complexion, which had remained pale ever since he awakened in the depths of the Andorha Forest, finally showed some color.

It was as if someone who had long been sick was gradually recuperating. Yet, his expression was not one of joy but of silence and heaviness.

This colossal sacred being was none other than the phoenix, the godly embodiment of Phae, the Light God – a godhead he himself had shattered thousands of years ago.

He never expected to come face to face with his godly essence again, as no one had ever been able to reunite a destroyed godhead.

No one, except Melo. And his motives for doing so were all too clear—

Kevin could regain the godhead, but only if he killed it with his own hands. He could choose not to accept it, but the purest godhead would continue to attract people to come for pilgrimage without the wrapping of a body.

These people would either die from the light of the godhead, fall into a coma.

Kevin could also choose to destroy his godhead again with his own hands, as he had done thousands of years ago. However, this would likely lead to him being caught in a never-ending cycle with Melo again.

Or, he had a third option...

Kevin stared into the phoenix's eyes, as if he was thinking something through them. After a while, a mocking sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth.

He reached out a hand to the proud giant bird and said in a deep voice, "I'm back."

The phoenix cried out in a piercing shriek, its wings sweeping through the air as it descended from the broken wall of the tower. It melted into Kevin's body, bathing him in a dazzling light.

The golden flames that had wrapped around the phoenix's wings were now held in Kevin's hands, forming a golden longbow in an instant.

The figure standing in the holy light was tall and slender, and the blood that stained his feet only added to his awe-inspiring presence.

"Do you like the gift I gave you?" Melo's voice was slow and light, carried on the wind from all directions, but its source was impossible to discern. "Ordinary people are born to kneel at the feet of the gods. This is my last respect."

The figure in the holy light smiled coldly, drawing a long golden arrow out of thin air and nocking it to his bow. He shot it into the distance without even looking.

The black wind in the sky suddenly took the form of a long snake, but it was pierced by the arrow and scattered in all directions. Melo's voice also stopped abruptly.

The archer held his bow and tilted his head slightly, his dark and silent eyes sweeping over the tens of thousands of people gathered there.

This was exactly the same scene that the old priest Mowgli of the Priest Academy had seen in his vision, except that what he saw was not the past, but the future.

The God of Light, Phae, had returned.