IBHJ 1273

"Professor Lev was a Demon God," she said. "Goetia has already disappeared, so Professor Lev couldn't possibly still exist. And another thing—how could Professor Lev know that the Emperor is the Counter Force?"

Hearing this, Kiara froze in shock, suddenly realizing the truth. Goetia... had already been killed by Manaka!

And there was no way Lev could possibly know that the Incarnation was the Counter Force of the Eternal Kingdom!

None of this made any logical sense!

Now understanding the situation, Kiara and Laeticia quickly moved to stand beside Ayaka, all three facing Lev. "Tell us who you really are," they demanded.

"I see where I slipped up," Lev said casually, as if the hole in his chest was nothing. He patted the wound, and suddenly mud began flowing from it, completely covering his body. A moment later, Lev had transformed into a figure wrapped in a black cloak.

"You—you're—" Ayaka stared at the hooded figure in shock. "You're the Lord of Salvation's servant!"

"I'm flattered you remember me, Manaka's sister," he replied, studying the startled Ayaka with interest.

Though frightened, she instinctively positioned herself in front of Kiara. "That woman isn't here. Why have you come?"

"Isn't it obvious?" The cloaked figure looked past Ayaka directly at Kiara and said ominously, "I'm here to reclaim the core!"

"Core?" Kiara looked at him, completely confused.

"They didn't tell you, did they? Hmph, this sickening friendship... it brings back so many unpleasant memories—"

He fixed his gaze on Kiara. "You are Demonic Bodhisattva's core. Without you, she remains nothing but an empty shell, like a plant floating without roots. I need to take you back—to force you back into Demonic Bodhisattva. Otherwise, she can never become the true Bodhisattva, never become my weapon of vengeance against the Holy Spirit!"

"What are you talking about? How could I possibly be her core..."

Before Kiara could finish her sentence, Ayaka launched an attack at the cloaked figure and turned to shout at her friend, "Kiara, run! Now!"

"You think you can escape from me? That's not happening!"

The cloaked figure waved his hand, and a violent gust scattered Ayaka's black magic like dust. Then, with just a thought, a long dragon head emerged from beneath his black sleeve, lunging straight at Kiara.

The dragon head came with a deafening roar. Startled, Kiara instinctively summoned countless arms from behind her back, resembling the Thousand-Armed Kannon, and sent them striking at the dragon head in rapid succession.

But something impossible happened—when her manifested hands made contact with the dragon head, they instantly crumbled like ancient stone columns, turning to sand and blowing away in the wind.

The sight left her completely stunned. "How is this possible...?"

The essence of her hands was pure energy, pure desire—something intangible and formless—yet now they were disintegrating like ordinary sand. This defied everything she understood, leaving her absolutely shocked!

"Kiara, move!" Ayaka shouted in panic.

She heard Ayaka's desperate warning and finally snapped out of her shock, but the dragon head was already mere inches from her face.

Just as the beast was about to devour her, there was a deafening BANG! In that split second, light and shadow seemed to blur together, as if the light itself was being consumed, and a beam of dark energy struck the dragon head directly, obliterating it.

Kiara turned to see Laeticia holding a black rifle, white smoke pouring from its barrel.

But Laeticia's expression had completely changed.

Her gaze was now intensely focused and resolute. It was clear that the person controlling her body at this moment wasn't Laeticia herself, but Jeanne.

"This is... Interesting. I never expected humans could replicate that weapon," the cloaked figure remarked. "But that feeling, that despicable aura of the Holy Spirit... You, are you the Saint chosen by him?" He studied Jeanne with curiosity.

"Your existence is an insult to Father and a corruption of this world. I am Jeanne, and I will destroy you in His name!" Jeanne's eyes remained locked on the cloaked figure.

"My existence is an insult to him?" A cold aura radiated from the man as he regarded Jeanne. "Oh, holy Saint chosen by Michael, it seems your hometown friend François Prelati failed to teach you the true meaning of faith."

"Prelati..."

At the mention of this name, Jeanne froze. "How do you know about Prelati? And how do you know he was from my village?"

During the Holy Grail War at the Romanian connection point, the red Caster who served the Outer Gods and assisted Demonic Bodhisattva in creating chaos was François Prelati—the very magus who had orchestrated Jeanne's capture and ultimately led to her trial and execution.

His true identity was something few knew: he had been Jeanne's childhood friend from the village of Domrémy in France.

After Jeanne was declared a saint, the church began crafting and sanctifying stories about her life. Among these was a tale of how the kind-hearted Jeanne once gave up her bed to a homeless beggar seeking shelter in Domrémy.

This story was actually true. And that homeless beggar was none other than the young François Prelati, a descendant of fallen nobility who supported the royalist cause.

Moreover, due to regional dialect and accent differences, François Prelati went by another name in those days—Bertrand de Poulengy!

The same man who would later be celebrated in legend as Jeanne's very first knight!

Yet this childhood friend, who had witnessed Saint Michael's revelation to Jeanne, eventually joined a secret society. He obtained a copy of the R'lyeh Text that Marco Polo had transcribed from ancient Shu ruins in the East. He turned to worship the Outer Gods and ultimately orchestrated Jeanne's execution.

After Jeanne was burned at the stake, he passed this Text to Gilles de Rais, corrupting him into a follower of the Outer Gods as well, transforming him into the infamous monster known as Bluebeard.

"Wait... could it be?" Jeanne stared at the Beast in shock. "The voice that François Prelati heard back then—the voice he thought was God but actually made him fall—was that you?"

"People only see the beginning of God, never the end. They see God's grace and love, but not His glory and victory. They believe God has an initial plan that He pursues extensively, yet never completes His purpose. That view is flawed and incomplete. I am Revelation. I am also Apocalypse."

"When Michael chose you as the savior, I naturally had to destroy you. I simply allowed him to glimpse the Outer God, but I didn't expect he would mistake it for the Lord. Still, it worked for my purposes. I had hoped that after your downfall, you would trigger a war between England and France, wiping out all the legends left by the Eternal King, and destroying the foundation for the Eternal King's rebirth. But you surprised me—you chose to be burned alive rather than falling, which was beyond my expectation."

"Looks like there's one more thing I need to take. It's just a pretty vase, but I can already imagine the look on that worthless Michael's face when he sees you. Just thinking about it makes me happy. Hahaha—!"

The Beast laughed loudly, as if remembering something that brought him great pleasure.

"That's enough!" Jeanne shouted, her eyes flashing with anger and shame. "You've insulted my Father, you've corrupted my friends one after another... your sins are beyond counting!"

She raised the black rifle in her hand and prepared to fire.

In that moment, she felt grateful that Lord Bathomelloi had given her this weapon—a chance to destroy this monster who had mocked her faith, her character, and her friend!

"Boom—"

A beam of black light erupted from the rifle, carrying with it the concept of lifespan capable of striking down even Machine Gods and Aristotle.

While Jeanne engaged the Beast in battle, Ayaka grabbed Kiara's hand and pulled her back.

"We need to get out of here!" She cried.

Even though Jeanne was qualified to use the rifle, their opponent wasn't an ordinary Beast!

He was the one responsible for all the tragedy in the world!