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Hearing Darian call him a bird-man, Gabriel wasn't the least bit angry.
At least it proved that the "ugly bitch" comment from earlier wasn't directed at him.
He held the spear of longinus horizontally and swung it through the air toward Darian.
The spear tip sliced through space, and several crescent-shaped light blades poured out along the edge. They layered and spread out, covering the vast expanse of the sky in the blink of an eye. The entire screen was filled with blinding white light—a full-on sensory overload of light pollution.
Darian didn't retreat; instead, he advanced, throwing himself headlong into the net of light blades.
His body stretched and deformed freely in mid-air, maneuvering through the almost airtight gaps between the light blades. His movement speed broke the sound barrier, leaving layers of afterimages in his wake.
In the blink of an eye, he broke through the encirclement of light blades, charged straight to Gabriel, clenched his fist, and punched out.
Gabriel reacted swiftly, raising the spear of longinus to block head-on.
Boom——!!
The moment the fist collided with the spear shaft, a deafening sonic boom exploded.
Violent air currents swept out from the point of Impact in all directions, instantly tearing apart the clouds surrounding them and clearing a circular void several kilometers in diameter.
Gabriel used the recoil to drift back a hundred meters. With a gentle flap of his six wings, he dissipated all the force, hovering steadily in the air.
He raised his left hand to draw in the water vapor of heaven and earth. The gaseous water molecules within a radius of several kilometers rapidly condensed, hovering evenly around him like frozen raindrops.
The number of water droplets surged, skyrocketing from hundreds to thousands, eventually forming a transparent curtain of water that covered half the sky.
As an Angel in charge of water, Gabriel unlocked this fundamental power after unsealing part of his strength.
Gabriel moved his fingertips slightly, and countless water droplets shot out simultaneously.
Each water droplet elongated and sharpened during flight, transforming into high-speed rotating water spikes, sealing off all of Darian's retreat paths from every direction.
Darian had nowhere to dodge and was directly engulfed by the water curtain.
But when the water curtain dissipated, Darian was still hanging in place, perfectly fine, without a single scratch on him.
Gabriel frowned at the sight.
His perception clearly confirmed that the attacks had all landed; how could Darian be unscathed?
The doubt had just arisen when he saw Darian's body acting like a showerhead; dense jets of water shot out from the wounds all over his body, tracing fine arcs in the air as they poured down toward the ground below.
Gabriel: ( )
Darian grinned, "A mere fatal wound is nothing to fear."
In fact, the strongest ability of the Spinach Can wasn't the strength boost, but the special effect of death immunity.
While the Spinach Can was in effect, he was an immortal being; no matter what damage he received, he would not die.
This was the power of the mechanics.
Before Gabriel could recover from this absurd sight, Darian had already charged again.
Dense black Energy Tentacles surged out from his body, spreading to cover the sky and Sun, rushing toward Gabriel with sharp, air-piercing sounds.
The strength of the Energy Tentacles increased in sync with Darian's base stats. With the enhancement of the Spinach Can, the Energy Tentacles also received a huge boost; at this moment, even a single one carried terrifying force.
Gabriel remained calm. The ambient water vapor surged instantly, transforming into countless water ropes entwined with holy light, meeting the incoming black Energy Tentacles head-on.
The two collided fiercely in mid-air.
Shattered black energy fragments and holy light water droplets splashed everywhere. Each collision exploded with a dull thud, shaking the surrounding air violently.
Darian and Gabriel were also locked in combat, their fists and the spear of longinus clashing frequently.
After all, Gabriel was a High Angel of Heaven; his combat skills were nearly perfect, with every move aimed at vital points, and his rhythm was steady without a single flaw.
Darian, on the other hand, focused on the unexpected, with his fists always attacking from tricky, counter-intuitive angles, making it impossible for Gabriel to defend against.
But this balance didn't last long.
"Hahaha, I've got you!"
Mammon suddenly darted out from behind Darian, wrapping his four limbs around him tightly, unleashing some philosophical wrestling from Hell.
"Gabriel, hurry up and attack, don't worry about…"
Before Mammon could finish his sentence, Gabriel didn't hesitate for a second. The spear of longinus in his hand swept horizontally, and the holy light brought by the spear tip condensed into a ring-shaped shockwave, slamming into Darian's chest.
"Gabriel, what the f*ck!"
Accompanying Mammon's curse, the massive Impact force carried both of them straight down toward the ground. The surrounding air was squeezed into rings of white shockwaves, exploding one after another.
Boom!
The two slammed heavily into the ground. The Impact force spread along the surface, causing the ground to crack instantly. Rubble and air currents shot into the sky, creating a giant crater.
Darian stood up from the bottom of the pit, looked down at the 'human' shaped crater in the pit, and thanked him, "You're such a good person, helping me cushion the fall. I hope you can make it to Heaven in the future."
Mammon: "....."
What a vicious curse.
While speaking, the gruesome wound on Darian's chest had already healed rapidly, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.
One has to admit that Gabriel in his six-winged state was truly formidable. Coupled with the enhancement of the spear of longinus, even Darian, having eaten an expired Spinach Can, couldn't take him down directly.
"If one cheat isn't enough, then I'll turn on two."
Darian closed his eyes and stood in place, not making a move.
Gabriel didn't know what Darian was going to do, but his instinct told him that what was coming next was definitely not good.
He didn't hesitate in the slightest, raising the spear of longinus. The spear tip began to accumulate blinding light, the brightness climbing continuously, and the pressure around him becoming heavier and heavier.
When the light at the spear tip accumulated to its peak, a white pillar of light piercing through heaven and earth fell straight down, pointing directly at Darian at the bottom of the pit.
The High Angel's fundamental power, combined with the destructive nature of the spear of longinus that could even end the Son of God, amplified the power of this move to the extreme. In an instant, the entire night sky was illuminated by the white light, and it seemed as if only this scorching ray that judged all things remained between heaven and earth.
Just as the pillar of light was about to strike Darian, his aura suddenly surged, scorching heat erupted from his body, and his eyes lit up with burning golden light.
His Sin of Pride skill had been activated!
Normally, the Sin of Pride required solar energy supply, but it was currently late at night, and there wasn't a shred of sunlight overhead, so the activation conditions for the Sin of Pride couldn't be met at all.
But who said the Sun could only hang in the sky?
Darian expressed that as long as there is a Sun in one's heart, then the Sun exists all the same.
That's right, it's just that idealistic.
This kind of operation wasn't pioneered by Darian.
When Superman in the DC Universe comics was exhausted, even if he was in a desperate situation without sunlight, he could rely on his faith to bathe in the Sun of his heart, forcibly restoring his abilities—it was practically cheating in plain sight.
Although Darian didn't have Superman's biological field, he possessed an equally unscientific comedic field.
It was precisely because of this that he could forcibly activate the Sin of Pride skill in the dead of night.
Kryptonian form plus the expired Spinach Can; under the superposition of the double BUFF, Darian felt that he was terrifyingly strong right now!
He looked up to face the white pillar of light, and two thick golden lightning bolts suddenly shot out from his eyes, meeting it head-on.
Boom!!
The golden light and white light collided in mid-air, erupting with an earth-shattering roar.
The two energies stalemated for less than a moment before the golden light ferociously overpowered the white light, surging upward from below. The white pillar of light was forced back, shattering piece by piece, turning into light debris that scattered across the sky.
"How could this be!?"
Gabriel exclaimed in shock.
That expressionless face finally cracked, revealing a trace of disbelief.
He had unsealed part of his true power and had the blessing of the god-level equipment, the spear of longinus, yet he was actually being suppressed by a human.
Seeing the golden lightning bolts charging straight at him, he hurriedly gripped the spear with both hands and blocked it in front of him, with endless holy light condensing into a thick shield before him.
The golden lightning bolts slammed heavily into the light shield, and the shockwave instantly swept across the entire sky.
Cracks spread rapidly on the light shield. Gabriel felt his arms go numb, and a powerful force traveled along the spear shaft, pushing him backward for hundreds of meters. He had to flap his six wings with all his might to barely stabilize his body.
He pressed his hands on the spear of longinus, holding the spear upright in front of him. The water vapor around him gathered crazily, condensing into a boundless ocean of water beneath his feet.
As the spear tip pointed downward, the entire ocean instantly surged into giant waves, pressing down on Darian's head with heavy, fierce pressure.
Darian looked up at the incoming giant wave, grabbed the back of his neck with a backhand, tensed his muscles to build up power, and threw himself out.
Power Charge: Throw!
Under the blessing of the two skills, Darian transformed into a human Rocket, shooting into the sky at a speed difficult for the naked eye to capture, directly piercing through the giant wave.
The water curtain was smashed into a giant void, and before the water at the edges could close, he had already rushed to Gabriel's front.
Gabriel's pupils shrank suddenly, and he hurriedly blocked with his spear in haste.
Darian punched the center of the spear shaft. The Impact force was transmitted through the shaft, and the force was so fierce that Gabriel almost let go of the spear of longinus.
He gritted his teeth, his six wings flapped violently, and as his body retreated rapidly, his left hand grasped the air.
The water flow that had been broken through by Darian didn't dissipate; under Gabriel's control, it gathered again, transforming into several water snakes that wrapped around Darian's limbs, neck, and waist/abdomen.
The spear of longinus in Gabriel's hand erupted with blinding light, and a white beam of light spanning the sky was swung out with the spear, sweeping across the entire area where Darian was.
Darian instantly broke free from the water snakes wrapping his arms and slapped directly at the incoming white beam of light.
The energy attack, which should have been intangible and formless, was actually caught solidly by his bare palm, and he turned it around and slapped it back the way it came.
"This is unscientific!"
Gabriel, a top-tier existence on the theological side, couldn't help but complain in his heart.
The white beam of light rolled back, its speed faster than when it came by thirty percent.
Gabriel's expression changed suddenly, and he hurriedly blocked with the spear in front of him. The beam of light slammed heavily into the spear shaft, erupting with a circle of blinding white light.
Before he could catch his breath, Darian had already flashed in front of him and shouted.
"Take this punch!"
Hearing this, Gabriel instinctively raised the spear to block.
But unexpectedly, Darian kicked him in the abdomen, causing him to instantly double over like a shrimp, his breath stalling.
Immediately after, Darian backhanded an elbow strike, slamming it into his back.
Boom!!
Gabriel fell from the sky and slammed heavily into the ground.
"Why is the ground a bit soft?"
Gabriel sat up, somewhat confused.
"You f*cking landed on me! Get up quickly!" Mammon's wail came from under his buttocks.
"Oh."
Gabriel immediately stood up and said seriously, "This human is not right. Don't tangle with him; start the ritual immediately."
Mammon finally crawled out of the ground. He was furious and unwilling, saying, "I am the Son of Satan. If I have to avoid a human, how will I be able to show my face if this gets out?"
"Move!"
Gabriel let out a low shout, kicked Mammon aside, and simultaneously retreated violently.
Rumble!!
Two thick golden lightning bolts descended from the sky, accurately striking the position where the two had just been standing. The ground was instantly blasted into two huge, deep pits, and the soil and rocks were scorched black by the current, sizzling and emitting white smoke.
Mammon looked at the pits that were still sparking in front of him, changed his expression in a second, and nodded solemnly to Gabriel, "I think what you said makes a lot of sense. There is no time to lose; let's start the ritual now."
Gabriel: "..."
The next moment, Mammon's belly suddenly bulged high, just like a ten-month pregnancy. Strange shadows were constantly squirming under his skin, which looked very eerie.
"Hurry up!"
Mammon's voice came out muffled from his abdominal cavity.
Gabriel did not hesitate, raised his hand to grip the spear of longinus, and was about to stab down with the spear tip aimed at Mammon's abdomen.
Using the spear of longinus as a guide to break the boundaries of the human realm was the final step of the ritual.
"Acting like I don't exist, huh."
Darian's figure slammed violently between the two. His right hand grabbed Gabriel's wrist as he held the spear of longinus, and he took the opportunity to lift his leg and kick Mammon's bulging belly.
After a dull thud, Mammon flew out sideways, slamming into the ruins in the distance.
Mammon: "Why is it always me who gets hurt?"
"You cannot stop me."
Gabriel looked at Darian with a cold expression, "I am different from those bastard Angels. According to your human terminology, my authority is higher, and my power is the purest. I will neither be killed nor forcibly expelled back to Heaven."
"I can fight with you until the end. Even if you destroy this ritual, I can still find an opportunity to hold it again."
He said this, intending to make Darian realize the gap and give up futile resistance.
Who knew that after hearing this, Darian's tone suddenly became subtle, "Oh, you mean that as long as your power is no longer pure, you will die or be expelled?"
"What do you mean?"
Gabriel's heart skipped a beat, and a strong, ominous premonition arose.
The next second, Darian had a small glass bottle in his hand that exuded an evil aura. The bottle contained a black-red viscous liquid, and just looking at it made one feel uncomfortable.
This was exactly the Evil God's Blood that Darian had just drawn.
The moment Darian took out the Evil God's Blood, Gabriel's breathing stalled.
Even through the bottle, he could smell a thick, filthy odor, so pungent that it made one nauseous.
"This is..."
Just as Gabriel opened his mouth, Darian suddenly shoved the glass bottle into his mouth, followed by an uppercut to his chin.
"Drink up, brothers, let's go!"
The huge force caused his jaw to snap shut violently. The glass bottle shattered instantly in his mouth, and the Evil God's Blood inside flowed out, quickly spreading throughout his mouth.
"Yue!"
Gabriel clutched his throat and bent over, making a retching motion.
Constantine once said that for an Angel, the taste of this filth is equivalent to sh*t.