A Demon's Journey

"I never expected that a demon would stand before me in this church so fearlessly," The High Pontiff spoke while raising his wooden staff.

Holy Ardor leaked from that wooden staff and transformed into the shape of arrows. After creating dozens of arrows, the High Pontiff launched them at Yrellea.

Yrellea acrobatically dodged all these Holy Arrows and closed the distance between them. There was a murderous look on her face as she realized that she must prevent the High Pontiff from leaking this secret.

Fortunately, the prayer hall would remain isolated for a few more minutes.

"Aqua Bomb!"

Yrellea launched a large bubble of pure water to attack the High Pontiff.

The High Pontiff sneered in response, "Hmph. Too weak."

"Luminous Barrier!"

A large barrier of pure light appeared in the High Pontiff's forefront as it easily blocked the Aqua Bomb. However, the Aqua Bomb burst upon contact, completely blinding the High Pontiff's vision.

The High Pontiff realized that Yrellea had set up a scheme and lifted the Luminous Barrier while utilizing another attack to swiftly deal with this much water.

"Solar Flare Burst!"

As the High Pontiff hastily unleashed his attack, he failed to accurately assess Yrellea's position. Seizing the opportunity, Yrellea deftly manoeuvred toward the High Pontiff's location, cloaked by her Heavenly Poison Scripture cultivation technique. The passive poison she released had the power to dull the senses to some extent, rendering the High Pontiff unaware of her approach.

Under normal circumstances, the High Pontiff would have noticed a disruption in his senses. Still, the explosive sound of the Aqua Bomb's detonation had jostled him, leaving him vulnerable to Yrellea's stealthy advance. In the scant moments it took for the High Pontiff to recover his bearings, Yrellea had closed the distance between them, ready to strike.

The nail on Yrellea's index finger turned purple as she stabbed the High Pontiff's gut. She quickly pulled her finger and created some distance between them.

"Y-You filthy demon! I will kill you!" The High Pontiff shouted as his staff shone brightly.

"Radiant Vortex!"

A swirling vortex of light appeared around Yrellea, drawing her close to the center. The light of this vortex was actually harming her body. She had a feeling that the consequences would be dire if her body touched this vortex's center powered by intense Holy Ardor.

Utilizing Demonic Ardor to deal with it would be pointless.

"Oceanic Tempest!"

Yrellea unleashed a powerful burst of water that crashed into the Radiant Vortex's center. It caused the center to go erratic and the Holy Ardor started dispersing.

"Radiant Fist!"

As Yrellea was busy dealing with the Radiant Vortex, the High Pontiff decided to approach her. His right hand was congealed with pure Holy Energy that would definitely damage if struck squarely.

Unfortunately for him, Yrellea's senses were working normally. She saw him coming and was prepared.

Misty Blossom Dance!

Yrellea utilized this movement technique to narrowly dodge the High Pontiff's punch by side-stepping gracefully and created some distance once again.

Noticing that his attack was unsuccessful, the High Pontiff raised his staff and quickly launched another attack.

"Aetheric Blades!"

Dozens of Holy Blades were launched at Yrellea. They were much more powerful as compared to the Holy Arrows he had used previously.

Yrellea easily dodged them by utilizing her Misty Blossom Dance as she hopped from one place to another.

The High Pontiff began to grow frustrated as his attacks missed. He quickly decided to launch a powerful attack that would cover the entire area, preventing Yrellea from dodging it.

"Celestial Shockwa-"

In the midst of launching his spell, the High Pontiff felt his body growing increasingly numb. He was actually losing control over his body.

"It finally worked, huh? And here I thought that poison wasn't effective on you," Yrellea commented with a smug expression.

"W-What did you do to me?" The High Pontiff questioned with a terrified look on his face.

"I injected poison in your veins. This poison slowly cuts off the connection of your veins with your brain, completely paralyzing you."

"Hmph. Do you think such a profane thing can paralyze me?! You underestimate me, demon!" The High Pontiff shouted. He instantly flared his Holy Ardor to remove this poison, but unfortunately, it didn't work.

"You don't get it, do you? This is not Demonic Ardor that you can purge through the Holy Ardor. This is poison. And to remove poison, you need its antidote. Although the Holy Ardor can treat the majority of poisons, this isn't one of them," Yrellea spoke nonchalantly.

"If you want to survive, you should give up now. It will be much better if we cooperate rather than fighting each other to death like this," Yrellea spoke solemnly.

"No way! I will never cooperate with a demon!" The High Pontiff stubbornly replied.

He started chanting, "From the heavens high and bright-"

This chant was to summon an angel, but unfortunately, before he could even shout the first verse, Yrellea lost her patience and decided to take him out.

She pulled out a spear from her Mystical Spiritual Connection Ring and threw it towards him. The spear impaled the High Pontiff, interrupting his chants.

After killing the High Pontiff, Yrellea let out a breath of relief, 'Fortunately, I didn't need to use my trump card.'

'How come no one is charging into this hall even after the two of us were locked in an intense battle? Just our Ardor flaring should have alerted everyone in the church of this battle.'

It was only then she noticed that the gates of the prayer hall were completely shut and there was Holy Ardor surrounding the entire room.

"A high-level array created of Holy Ardor seems to be put in this room that prevents Ardor and sound from leaking," Yrellea muttered.

"I need to do something about this scene," Yrellea spoke while gazing at the murdered High Pontiff.

Actually, he wasn't her only problem. The residuals of her battle were scattered throughout the entire prayer hall.

Yrellea utilized her Water Ardor to clean up the floor over which the High Pontiff had died. There was no blood stain visible on the ground.

Yrellea picked up the High Pontiff's corpse and threw it into one of her Spatial Rings. She picked up his staff and threw it into her Spatial Ring.

Fortunately, the remaining signs of the battle were her scattered Demonic Ardor and the water puddles. The floor remained safe, while nothing, in particular, was destroyed within the prayer hall.

However, just to remain safe, Yrellea threw multiple spoke bombs and flooded the prayer hall with sleep powder to ensure that any person who opened the gate would inhale this powder and fall unconscious.

During this time, Yrellea absorbed the water puddles and the demonic ardor into her body. Just as Yrellea was done cleaning up, someone opened the door to the prayer hall.