The Gentleman at the End

William still greatly inherited Yi Chen's memory,

and naturally knows that the sort of divinity related to Heaven on the Main Material Plane roughly embodies purity, sanctity, gravitas, and aesthetic beauty.

But when Heavenly Divinity falls upon the most evil fallen being of the Old World, it is as though it is subjected to absolute desecration, such that even the divinity itself chooses to yield, to utterly meld with this desecration, birthing a brand-new product.

A unique divinity rank belonging to Art.

Seemingly gold, yet of abscess material,

seemingly angelic, yet of a vulgar jester,

seemingly a church, yet a center of plague,

a robe woven from "golden tumor threads" further signifies desecration, with patterns sewn onto the robe depicting the Holy Trinity.

But the Holy Trinity depicted here is somewhat peculiar, showing three golden skulls in various stages of decay, with one reduced to a purely golden skull.

Each skull maintains a smile due to infection from the clown virus, connected by a Holy Ring, depicted on the back of the robe.

While previously Art's pope-like attitude may have imitated some extramundane image to a certain extent, it is now constructed by Art's ego, uniquely his own pope.

Also known as Tumor Emperor,

the scenario initially brought by the storybook is completely altered by Art, transforming into his own "Tumor and Heaven," which can be considered a malignant overlaying.

However.

In his Abyssal State, William looks at the ultimate form exhibited by Art, at the golden city being covered by malignant tumors in front of him, feeling this power nearing that of the Plague Master.

He isn't merely observing the changes unfolding before him,

due to the Abyss Flipping, William's face is entirely black with no features, yet somehow a faint laughter can be heard, a laughter rising from the deep of the Abyss.

It's a small yet heartfelt laughter, delighted to witness Art's manifestation of "Tumor and Heaven," seemingly the scene he had wished to see all along.

William reaches into his attire, pulling out the storybook condensed from malignance, the whole book covered in large and small golden tumors due to the overlay of Tumor and Heaven.

"It's time…"

A whisper emerges from within the Abyss.

Subsequently, he slowly brings the book closer to the abyssal region of his abdomen, performing the first "Flipping" on the book… Though the book's origins are special, even gods of the Main Material Plane are quite wary, even fearful, of this malignant condensation, hence the difficulty of flipping it can be imagined.

Boom!

As the book is slowly drawn into the Abyss along the vortex structure, the city scene generated by the storybook shakes slightly, but not intensely.

Art, immersed in the posture of the Tumor Emperor, engrossed in the new divinity he has shaped, merely regards the slight tremor as an effect of the "Tumor and Heaven" encroachment upon the city.

With Art pulling himself out of excitement, his gaze locks onto William not far away,

"Alright… Let me show you the difference between us."

As his words fall.

The "golden rain" descended by the angels immediately converges between Art and William, condensing into a yellow carpet unfurling completely between them.

Forcibly bestowing the identity-related concept to individuals on either side of the carpet,

William as the Pilgrim, and Art as the Holy,

instantly, an irresistible force acts, causing chains of golden grapes to grow rapidly on William's knees, the golden layers on the surface separating the internal tumors and William's Abyss Body, temporarily preventing the effect of flipping.

As the golden grapes become denser, the pressure on his knees increases.

Thud!

William collapses directly to his knees, shortly after, strings of grapes begin forming on his arms, forcing him to prostrate on the ground,

resembling the image of a pilgrim.

If William had eyes, his eyeballs would turn golden and emit pus, seeing Art as an incomparably noble Holy Emperor in his field of vision, irrefundable.

Art, treading the yellow carpet, walks slowly forward,

each step he takes, a crowd of 'people' effuses from the carpet's surface, lifting Art's feet with their hands, supporting his forward stride.

Under the collective elevation of the populace believers, the Tumor Emperor Art approaches the prostrated William, enveloped entirely in grapes.

Smack! Art snaps his fingers.

The golden grapevines violently grow over William, propping his entire body up, displayed in a cruciform before Art.

In Art's new golden vision, he seems to perceive the essence of the Abyssal State,

it's merely utilizing spatial lubrication to flip the abyssal rock layer outward, while flipping William's essence into the 'Inner Subspace' internally.

The current Art disdains drilling into the Abyss to hunt down William hiding inside, deciding instead to shatter the Abyss head-on.

Drip-drip-drip~ The golden liquid flows constantly from between the sleeves, forming peculiar tools for rock-breaking within both his hands.

"Hammer and Holy Nails"

Just as Art prepares to place the Holy Nails on William's chest for the first abyssal rending.

A breath of death suddenly exudes ~

Yi Chen again emerges from the Abyss, appearing this time at the shoulder with incredible speed and a fierce slash!

Slash!

Boom! The adjacent tall building collapses completely in the aftermath of death,

but the situation before the eyes appears somewhat off, even Yi Chen's eyes widen, the blade in his hands halted.

Art's golden arms on his roulette wings firmly catch the blade barehanded, blocked the slash of death without inflicting any harm upon Art, merely the diffused shockwave wrecked the building nearby.

Yi Chen hastily withdraws the blade, retracting his essence back into the Abyss before emerging again at the waist, with a horizontal slash!

Clang!

The situation remains the same,

among the twelve golden arms on the roulette, one nearest always extends timely to catch the blade with its bare hands.

Observing Yi Chen's increasingly weary slashes, Art responds with a smile:

"The injuries inflicted by the Great Emperor on you are difficult to repair in the short term, thus greatly weakening the potency of your strikes, it's quite a pity… I originally thought Mr. Yi could become my arch-nemesis, providing me with long-lasting joy.

Now it seems this pleasure will cease here."

Art no longer concerns himself with Yi Chen's attacks, the concept of death can no longer threaten him,

failing to penetrate his high-rank physique that has completed the inner-pilgrimage,

failing to penetrate the attire woven of golden tumor threads,

failing to penetrate the Tumor Emperor divinity Art birthed by merging his plague.

He comes before William ensnared by the grapevines, offering a proud remark,

"Dark, treacherous, disguised and deceptive… even if you are such a person utterly contrary to the golden spirit, as the Pope, I will not renounce your redemption.

I will personally break your outer shell and guide you onto the Golden Road."

Clang!

With a strike of the hammer, a golden Holy Nail is driven into William's abyssal outer shell, cracks appear and spread from the nail tip, infiltrated with golden liquid alike.

With one blow after another,

William's abyssal body gradually falls apart and disunites,

the final strike,

Art moves the Holy Nail to the brow region already permeated with fractures, this blow will completely break through the abyssal rock layer, reaching the inner flipping madness brain, ending this interesting William thoroughly.

Perhaps sniffing the scent of victory prematurely,

Art unveils an exaggerated smile once worn in the Circus, utterly unfitting with his current identity,

Clang!

The brow shatters entirely under the impact of the Holy Nail,

the abyssal head follows suit, cracking open completely, the internal condition clearly visible to Art,

but it differs somewhat from his expectations,

within the broken abyssal skull, there is no madness brain, nor is William hiding inside, instead, a cold, lifeless 'Sun' floats within.

"An Evil Sun? No, why is it so cold, what is this thing actually?"

At this moment,

from within the depth of the Inner Subspace comes William's voice,

"Flipping complete."

Suddenly, the entire city trembles with a tenfold increase in intensity, the golden angels flying in the space frantically scatter due to sensing danger, colliding with one another, with some even crashing headlong into skyscrapers.

It's not merely the tremors, the whole city actually begins to rotate…