282: Chapter 282 Heaven is fake, Anar's home is real.

"Let go."

Lin Motong stood at the edge of the shield.

She did not rise into the air, nor did she summon a horde of zombies.

Michael glanced down at her, his palm continuing to press toward Anar's forehead.

Chains of Holy Light dug into her four wings. The memories Anar had left behind at Tiangong No. 1 were being dragged out of her body, piece by piece.

The birthday party cake lost its color.

The sound of footsteps in the master bedroom corridor faded away.

The Barbie doll's new dress dissolved into specks of light.

The image of Lin Yuan standing behind her as they passed through the rain was also dragged toward the clouds by the chains.

Anar grabbed the chain at her neck, the back of her hand sliced open by the Holy Light.

"Young Miss..."

She looked toward the edge of the shield.

"Don't let him take it."

Lin Motong bent down and placed the crooked-eared teddy bear at her feet. The bear's eyes lit up with a bloody glow.

"The things that happened here."

"No one is allowed to delete them."

Black and red ripples spread out with Tiangong No. 1 as the center.

The deep pit on the outer rim, the sky above Jiangcheng, and the descent channel were all covered by the mental Domain.

The sound of the wind vanished.

The artillery fire lost its sound.

The prayers in the Holy Court channel were reduced to nothing but opening and closing mouths.

The battlefield maintained its original appearance; dust hung in the collapsed buildings, and weapons of Holy Light hovered in the high sky. In everyone's ears, only Lin Motong's voice remained.

Michael unfurled his six wings.

Platinum light flooded the Domain.

"Heaven is real."

"Memories created by contamination are all illusions."

The voice pressed back into the global channel. The chain piercing Anar's forehead began to rotate. The cake, the teddy bear, and the dress were pressed into thin slices of light, cracks appearing at their edges.

The Heavenly Armory reassembled behind Michael.

Sword. Spear. Bow. Shield.

The four weapons locked onto Lin Motong.

The Pope of the Holy Court led the believers in kneeling. Prayer nodes distributed across various shelters were activated one after another, and mental fluctuations crossed the ocean, surging into the descent vessel.

Michael's originally overlapping six wings solidified into physical form.

Liu Qing typed rapidly on her keyboard. The mental readings broke through the scale, and the main screen was left with only patches of garbled code.

"Master, the instrument cannot measure the upper limit."

The Holy Court took over the live broadcast.

An assessment from the Covenant Renewal Society was posted to the global channel.

[Lin Motong: Corpse control, no frontal combat capability.]

The believers raised their arms.

"Judgment!"

Michael swung down his war sword. The sword light passed through the edge of the shield, slashing Lin Motong from her shoulder to her waist.

In the Tiangong command room, several people braced themselves against the control console.

The water around Wang Ya surged to the ceiling.

Qin Yumo's twin blades were already unsheathed.

The sword tip hit the ground.

Lin Motong's body dissipated into black and red water ripples.

What Michael had struck was merely a projection deemed to be illusory.

The real Lin Motong was still standing next to the teddy bear.

Her skirt hadn't moved.

She hadn't shifted even half a step from where she stood.

The shouting in the Holy Court channel stopped.

Lin Motong looked up.

"The so-called Heaven's descent is fake."

Michael's six wings paused.

"Anar has eaten cake, worn dresses, and played with dolls with me at Tiangong No. 1."

"That is real."

The fragments of life that were about to shatter stopped in mid-air.

The first piece returned to Anar's chest.

The second piece embedded itself in her forehead.

The cream on the cake regained its color. The Barbie doll put its dress back on. The teddy bear's crooked ear wobbled twice.

Anar lifted her face.

Her unfocused eyes locked back onto Michael. Black and red patterns ran through her four wings.

She grabbed the chains and pulled them apart to both sides.

Snap! The chain at her neck snapped.

Lin Motong aimed her right hand at the Heavenly Armory.

"Weapons only judge enemies; this rule is fake."

The war sword stopped above Michael's head.

"A summoned weapon must first judge the summoner."

The sword tip turned. The spear piercing Anar's left wing pulled itself out, blood dripping along the blade. The spear shaft swept in a semi-circle, locking onto Michael's chest plate.

The bowstring was pulled taut. The giant shield slammed toward the six wings. The four Holy Light weapons completed their redirection.

The Pope of the Holy Court slapped the off button. The live broadcast continued.

The prayer network was locked in reverse by the mental Domain. Every prayer surging toward Michael became a coordinate marking the descending consciousness.

The garbled code in front of Liu Qing began to snap back into place. The blurry points of light were peeled away layer by layer.

"Locked on."

"His consciousness core is in the center of his brow."

Anar broke free from the remaining chains and landed in front of Lin Motong. Her four wings spread out, blocking the high sky. Lin Motong raised her hand and pushed her aside.

"This time, I'll protect you."

Michael abandoned the Heavenly Armory.

His six wings ignited, and the descent vessel turned into a ball of platinum fire. The remaining consciousness dispersed along the prayer network, fleeing toward global nodes.

Lin Yuan walked to the front of the shield.

Grayish-white water currents rose into the sky. The moisture in the air converged into a closed canopy, completely sealing off the sky above Jiangcheng.

The Holy Light that had escaped into the prayer network slammed into the water curtain, retreating back to the battlefield in segments.

"Mo Tong."

Lin Yuan raised his hand.

"Close the door."

Lin Motong clasped her hands together.

The zombie horde in Jiangcheng stopped tearing and biting.

In the port area of Shanghai, a million zombies looked up simultaneously.

In the ruins of Zhe City, the Mutants lying on the roads propped up their bodies.

The seas of zombies in the three locations emitted the same mental echo. The scattered remnants of his soul were squeezed out of the nodes one by one and pressed back into the six-winged descent vessel.

Michael slammed into the water curtain.

The first wing snapped.

The second wing burned out.

The remaining four wings flapped against the firmament, the Holy Light leaving large scorch marks on the water surface.

He opened his mouth.

"I am the Holy—"

Lin Motong was already standing in front of him.

She raised her hand and reached into the center of Michael's brow. Her five fingers dragged a humanoid mental projection out of the Holy Light.

The projection was still proclaiming.

"The Holy is inviol—"

Lin Motong pulled her hands apart. The humanoid projection split from the top of its head to its waist.

She stacked the two halves together and tore them apart again.

Once.

Twice.

As the third strike fell, the proclamation was cut off.

The war sword pierced through Michael's chest plate.

The spear stabbed into the roots of the six wings.

The Holy bow fired continuously, arrows pinning the descent vessel.

The giant shield crashed down from the high sky, pressing Michael toward the ground.

In the global live broadcast, the six-winged archangel knelt before a fourteen-year-old girl. His head hung low.

The Heavenly Armory disintegrated from the inside. The sword, spear, bow, and shield turned into specks of Holy Light, piercing through the six wings and chest plate. Michael's descent vessel shattered into specks of light filling the sky.

That combat power assessment was still hanging in the corner of the channel.

[Corpse control, no frontal combat capability.]

Liu Qing pushed up her thick glasses and revised the assessment.

[Lin Motong: SSS-rank Rule Mental type.]

[Frontal execution of SSS-rank descending consciousness.]

[Original assessment personnel have been purged and cannot be held responsible.]

The Holy Court prayer network went dark in large swathes.

The crosses in the three locations lost their radiance.

The remaining knights stopped in their tracks. Some dropped their weapons, others knelt in the ruins, repeatedly pressing their malfunctioning communicators.

In the sky above the outer rim, the teddy bear slid from the edge of the shield. Anar dove to catch it.

She landed before Lin Motong, patted the dust off the bear's ears, and offered it back with both hands.

"Young Miss."

Lin Motong took the teddy bear and held her hand. She returned to Lin Yuan's side and looked up.

"Dad."

"I protected our home."

Lin Yuan patted her head.

"Mm."

"From now on, you can protect others too."

Lin Motong hugged the teddy bear, her shoulder pressing against his arm.

The Holy Light in the high sky dissipated completely.

A feather core burning with colorful flames fell from the clouds. The grayish-white water current caught the feather core and delivered it into Lin Yuan's palm.

[Detected SS-rank pseudo-god core.]