Chapter 153: Asmita Makes a Move

Thud!

With a muffled sound, Suigintou was struck square in the chest by a heavy blow, shattering her petite form. Though crafted from special materials rather than ordinary flesh and blood, her body was far more fragile than that of a human of equivalent tier. Facing the full-strength attack of a peak Tier 7 super-combatant, she was smashed to pieces.

Witnessing this, Suigintou’s little face froze in a daze, while Billy wore a triumphant smile. However, Billy’s smile quickly solidified, for Suigintou’s broken body suddenly burst into ghostly blue flames and vanished into fine ash.

The next moment, one of the scattered doll remains on the ground below suddenly underwent a transformation. It caught fire with the same ghostly blue flames, and as the blazing fire dissipated, Suigintou reappeared completely unscathed.

Billy’s expression flickered with shock as realization dawned upon him. Narrowing his eyes, he muttered, "So that's how it is. Is this the power of your Heart's Domain? As long as these doll remains exist, can you resurrect infinitely? How utterly bizarre. Why on earth do you possess such a peculiar Heart's Domain? What kind of experiences have shaped you?"

Hearing this, Suigintou let out a cold snort and retorted, "In order to create me, Mother used countless materials. All the doll remains you see here were produced during the arduous process leading to my birth. I became her only successful creation, inheriting the hopes of all those little ones. Within this domain, as long as they remain, I cannot truly die. The place of my origin was a barren wasteland—the world that left the deepest impression upon me. This wasteland represents that very realm."

It had to be said that Suigintou possessed virtually no cunning and was entirely oblivious to the importance of concealing one's abilities, spilling the mechanics and origins of her Heart's Domain the moment someone asked.

Billy was momentarily taken aback by her candid response. He had only spoken in passing, never expecting his opponent to answer so honestly. Could this doll-like little girl have been an actual child even before undergoing soul transference?

"A child is still a child. Since you've confessed everything so neatly, I won't hold back anymore," Billy said with a ferocious grin. Suddenly, he let out a roar as his battle aura surged outward, and Holy Yuan Energy began to condense frantically. A shroud of crimson mist enveloped his body, and the surrounding temperature skyrocketed at an alarming rate.

The next moment, shouting, "Roar, Crimson Lotus Karma Fire—Blazing Demon Scorching Hell!" Billy plunged downward toward Suigintou like a cannonball.

Suigintou was startled and hastily summoned over a dozen winged black dragons to intercept him. Yet, upon colliding with Billy, the dragons were instantly engulfed in raging infernos, completely unable to halt his momentum. In the blink of an eye, Billy reached Suigintou and slammed directly into the pile of broken doll remains. A blinding, searing explosion erupted instantly, swallowing the entire Heart's Domain. Everything in its path turned to ash, ultimately forming a colossal mushroom cloud.

When the blast finally cleared, the entire Heart's Domain was left in utter ruins. At the very edge of the domain, one of the surviving doll remains ignited with ghostly blue flames. Suigintou materialized from the fire, but looking at the near-obliterated domain, she was seized by a deep terror, her small face pale with fear—her opponent was simply too terrifying.

"Found you! I knew you weren't dead yet, hahahaha~~~" At that moment, Billy’s voice rang out nearby. Startled, Suigintou whipped her head around to see Billy walking toward her with a sinister grin.

After all, Suigintou was still just a child. Facing such a terrifying enemy, her will to fight had completely collapsed. Terrified, she shrank backward, stammering, "D-Don't come closer!"

"Hehehehe, scream, little girl, scream to your heart's content! Even if you scream your throat raw, no one will come to save you," Billy delivered this classic line with a menacing sneer. But right then, a cold, serene female voice interrupted.

"Is that so? O sinner, the hour of your judgment has come—Heavenly Supreme Exorcism: Spirits and Demons of All Kinds!"

The voice startled Billy, causing him to look around frantically, yet he could find no one. Moments later, an intense chill gripped his body, and he felt something seize his ankles. Looking down, he discovered countless spectral hands emerging from the ground, clawing frantically up his legs—endless vengeful spirits.

These phantoms scrambled up his body in a frenzy, gnawing at his flesh as if attempting to devour him entirely. Fortunately, Billy was protected by powerful magic-steel equipment, preventing them from inflicting physical harm.

Yet, the horrifying spectacle terrified Billy to his core. He frantically unleashed his battle aura in a desperate bid to shake off the specters, but the vengeful spirits remained utterly unfazed. Even when blasted away, more and more terrifying spirits took their place. These phantoms appeared to be those who had died at Billy’s hands; they wailed and shouted ceaselessly, accusing him of his sins and lamenting their own wretched fates. Their overwhelming resentment was deep enough to outlast the oceans.

"Ahhh! I told you, stay back! Get lost, all of you! Get away from me! Your deaths weren't my fault—I only killed you because our employers ordered it! As for those women, you were the reward those clients gave to us brothers; the ones who truly killed you were those employers, not me! Stay away from me!" Completely broken by terror, Billy thrashed wildly at the spirits clinging to him while retreating in a frenzy, trying to put distance between them. Yet the spirits advanced relentlessly, attacking from the heavens and the earth with absolute deadliness, driving Billy to the brink of collapse.

In the distance, Suigintou watched Billy's "madness" in utter bewilderment, unable to fathom what was happening to him. To her eyes, there was nothing around Billy at all; he was simply thrashing about wildly by himself, acting like a raving madman.

"W-What on earth is wrong with that terrifying human?" Suigintou murmured under her breath, her little face etched with shock and confusion.

At that moment, a calm voice sounded beside her ear: "He has fallen victim to my Gold Technique, Heavenly Supreme Exorcism: Spirits and Demons of All Kinds, and is trapped inextricably within a karmic illusion of his own making. The heavier one's sins, the harder it is to escape the illusion."

Startled, Suigintou whipped her head around to find a breathtakingly beautiful blonde woman clad in golden armor, sitting cross-legged and floating meditatively in mid-air. Her figure was ethereal and dreamlike, her slender blonde hair fluttering gently in the wind. The sight was so stunning that Suigintou froze in a daze. "Such a beautiful person..." Recovering her wits after a few seconds, she hurriedly asked, "W-Who are you?"

"My name is Asmita, the Virgo Gold Saint," the gentle voice resonated once more, though Asmita's lips remained motionless. "Lady Suigintou, please rest assured; I harbor no hostility toward you. I am a Saint loyal to your father, the Grand Pope, and I have appeared here to eliminate this enemy. Right now, I am merely projecting an illusion into your Heart's Domain through my Seventh Sense, so I cannot unleash my full power. The effect of the Gold Technique will also wear off soon. Please dismiss your Heart's Domain, and I shall deal with this adversary."

"But... Very well, I understand." After a brief moment of hesitation, Suigintou agreed, won over by the woman's serene yet comforting demeanor, and immediately deactivated her Heart's Domain.

As a result, the moment Suigintou reappeared, a chorus of voices rang out: "I-Isn't that Lady Suigintou? Why is she here? Could that black orb from a moment ago have been her doing?"

Turning her head at the sound, Suigintou spotted a group of humans not far away. They were Aiolos, his brother, and a contingent of Holy Knights. Upon rushing into the forest and healing Aiolos and his brother, and seeing that Saga's side was secure, the Holy Knights had hurried back just in time to witness the Heart's Domain manifest as a five-meter-wide black sphere, remaining unable to see inside until the domain dissipated.

Unfazed by the astonishment of Aiolos and the others, Suigintou looked around and, noticing that Asmita's projection had vanished, urgently shouted, knowing all too well how dangerous Billy was, "Quickly fall back! That human in the red armor is extremely dangerous—he is Father's enemy!"

Startled by her words, the group noticed Billy. Having snapped out of his hallucination and taking in his surroundings, Billy realized he had fallen victim to an enemy trick. Driven into a berserk rage by the psychological torture that had shattered his mental state, he blamed Suigintou entirely for the illusion: "Damned little mongrel! How dare you use such cheap tricks against me? I'll make sure you die without a burial site! Roar! Crimson Lotus Karma Fire!"

As the words fell, brilliant red light erupted from Billy's body, and an endless torrent of searing energy coalesced within him. He looked like a humanoid missile loaded with thousands of kilograms of explosives, ready to detonate at any second.

Horrified by the sight, the crowd did not immediately flee. Instead, they rushed forward to stand in front of Suigintou, intending to use their own bodies to shield the young doll mistress. Suigintou’s eyes widened in disbelief. At that apex of power, Billy roared the words "Demon Flame Impact!" and thrust his arms forward, unleashing a crimson beam of light toward the group.

The crowd instantly threw up various defensive barriers in a desperate attempt to resist the onslaught, while Suigintou erected a new shield using her winged black dragons, wrapping everyone tightly within. Yet, no one could be certain whether their defenses would hold. Under Billy's furious assault, even a top-tier warrior at the early Eighth Tier would need careful preparation to block it, let alone this group, where Suigintou was the only one at early Tier 7.

BOOM~~~!

At last, the crimson beam slammed into their defenses, causing everyone’s hearts to leap into their throats as they braced for the catastrophic impact. Strangely, aside from a sudden, sharp rise in the ambient temperature, there was not a single shockwave, and even the outermost wing shield remained completely intact.

At the same time, the group realized a figure had appeared before them. Suigintou quickly lowered her wing shield, and to their astonishment, they saw a blonde woman in golden armor standing guard in front of them. Centered around her, a golden ring of energy had formed, completely neutralizing Billy's attack. This golden-armored woman was none other than Asmita.

Asmita still maintained her meditative posture, floating a full meter above the ground with an ethereal and miraculous grace. As the crimson beam faded, she turned her head to offer Suigintou an apologetic smile and said, "Pardon the delay, Lady Suigintou. It took some time to get here."

"Phew... You're finally here." Seeing Asmita, Suigintou finally let out a sigh of relief, while the others stared in utter shock.

After a long silence, Aiolos asked, "Such a posture... Could you be the legendary Virgo Gold Saint, Asmita?"

With a serene expression, Asmita nodded, then turned back to face Billy and said, "Everyone, please step back. I shall use a Gold Technique to eliminate this sinner."