As the power of the three led by Andre surged, the radiance on the Holy Light Cross intensified until, with a sudden, violent explosion, it shattered into countless white motes of light, completely dissolving into the air.

With the disappearance of the Holy Light Cross, the shield projections of the Holy Light Shield vanished as well. The endless barrage of ice arrows immediately struck the members of the Knights Templar. Only Commander Jack and one deputy, being powerful enough, managed to block all the incoming ice arrows; the rest of the members were all shot down and instantly turned into ice sculptures.

The ice arrows reached the three Cardinals, but now that the three were brimming with power, a mere flicker of their strength shattered the ice arrows, causing them absolutely no harm.

"Mega Fireball!" Andre roared, instantly summoning a colossal fireball from thin air and hurling it towards Miss Yu. His power had reached its zenith; he could actually summon a super-sized fireball now.

The old man protecting Miss Yu still cleaved at the massive fireball with his sword, but this time the fire spell did not disperse. Instead, it instantly melted the longsword in the old man's hand, sent him flying backward, and continued its trajectory toward Miss Yu.

"Seeking death!" Miss Yu was furious. With a pointed finger, she condensed a longsword from the Boundless Snow Sea, placing it before the fireball. The two collided with a sharp hiss, and then both vanished.

"Great Ice Spike!" Ovimass re-coalesced a massive ice spike, but instead of launching it, he held it suspended before him.

"Armor Piercing!" Cardinal John waved his hand, casting a ball of cyan light onto the great ice spike. The pointed tip of the spike immediately turned bluish-purple. Ovimass pointed a finger, and the great ice spike shot toward Miss Yu.

Miss Yu responded with another point, but this time the great ice spike ignored her command and continued flying straight toward her.

"Miss, danger!" The other old man protecting Miss Yu perceived the threat and stepped in front of her, preparing to cleave the spike with his sword. Unexpectedly, the spike, enhanced by Armor Piercing, was incredibly potent. Not only was it not repelled by the sword, but it instantly snapped the blade in two, then pierced through the old man's shoulder and shot far into the cliff face behind Miss Yu.

"Old Zhang!" Miss Yu cried out in alarm.

"Miss, I'm fine, be careful!" Old Zhang, his shoulder pierced, instantly lost combat effectiveness, yet he gritted his teeth and held fast, not wanting Miss Yu to worry.

"Great Ice Spike!" Ovimass summoned another great ice spike, holding it before him, and John once again cast Armor Piercing upon it.

Liu Hui and Zhou Tengyun saw the grim situation and immediately prepared to intervene. The power gained by the three Cardinals by sacrificing the remainder of their lifespans was truly overwhelming; Miss Yu might not be able to match them.

"Old Zhang, Old Wang, the two of you, quickly assist me!" Seeing the opponent preparing to launch another empowered Ice Spike, Miss Yu hardened her resolve, ready for a fight to the death.

The old man named Old Wang immediately abandoned blocking Andre’s great fireball, joining Old Zhang to stand behind Miss Yu. They placed their hands on her shoulders and simultaneously activated a secret art, pouring all the essence of their lives into her body.

Over at Jiang Nanyi’s side, seeing the crisis, they immediately aimed their machine guns at Cardinal Andre and Cardinal Ovimass and opened fire. Perhaps due to the recent white light enhancement, the small-caliber bullets from Jiang Nanyi’s team simply could not penetrate Andre’s body. However, their attack did cause Andre and the others momentary disarray, preventing them from immediately casting their large fireballs and ice spikes, thus buying Miss Yu some precious time.

As Old Zhang and Old Wang poured their life essence into Miss Yu, the two elders began to age rapidly. Their hair turned white and fell out, their eyes sunken, and all muscle vanished from their bodies, leaving only stretched skin. Miss Yu, infused with their life essence, glowed with color and vitality.

"Enhanced Boundless Snow Sea!" Miss Yu suddenly shouted.

The area where heavy snow had been falling—the Boundless Snow Sea—suddenly expanded, engulfing all five of Andre’s group. As soon as Andre and the others were caught in the enhanced Boundless Snow Sea, they found the temperature impossibly low, dropping below negative one hundred degrees Celsius, which instantly slowed their movements.

Andre and his two companions were greatly alarmed and hurriedly increased the casting speed of their respective spells, hoping to eliminate this terrifying enchantress immediately, lest they all freeze to death in the extreme cold.

"Spear of Glacial Chill!" With just a thought from Miss Yu, a sapphire-blue spear materialized within the Boundless Snow Sea. Upon appearing, the spear shot toward Ovimass, piercing him before he could launch the Ice Spike he held. The sapphire spear vanished after transfixing Ovimass, who instantly had his life extinguished and was frozen into an ice sculpture.

"Ovimass!" Andre and John cried out in anguish upon seeing their long-time comrade perish. They prepared to unleash their full potential to destroy this terrifying demoness.

"Spear of Glacial Chill!" With another thought from Miss Yu, the sapphire spear suddenly materialized behind Andre’s head. With a single strike, it pierced through his skull, and Andre instantly became an ice statue, the sapphire spear vanishing once more.

"Demon, I’ll fight you to the death!" John roared, preparing to activate his forbidden technique again. He suddenly saw a blue flash before him and instinctively tried to retreat, only to find his movements drastically slowed by the intense cold. Though he saw the trajectory of the sapphire spear piercing toward him, his body failed to respond, and he was instantly impaled through the forehead. In his final moment, Cardinal John’s last thought was: With Augustus already killed and all the artifacts lost, if the three last supreme experts of the Holy See—himself, Andre, and Ovimass—were killed here in the Afghan mountains along with the last artifact, the Holy Light Cross and the Knights Templar, who would be left to safeguard the future security of the Holy See?

Miss Yu displayed overwhelming power, achieving a complete reversal in an instant. That single sapphire spear annihilated all three Cardinals. Meanwhile, the Knights Templar Commander Jack and the expert deputy had long been frozen stiff by the extreme cold, becoming ice sculptures.

Liu Hui and Zhou Tengyun exchanged looks. They had been just about to act, but before they could, this seemingly delicate Miss Yu had wiped out all the Vatican personnel in the blink of an eye. Even if they had acted themselves, they likely wouldn't have been as efficient. They instantly became deeply wary of this woman.

"Miss Yu, are you alright?" Jiang Nanyi asked urgently as Miss Yu turned toward them, her face flushed red.

Old Zhang and Old Wang still stood behind her, maintaining the posture of pouring life essence into her.

"I'm fine. Quickly take care of these two Afghans," Miss Yu said coldly, her eyes already fixed on the fate of Liu Hui and Zhou Tengyun. "They know too much; I absolutely cannot let them leak what happened here." In an instant, she decided their doom.

Jiang Nanyi hesitated only briefly before giving Iron Mountain and Xiao Fei a look. They understood and immediately moved to flank Liu Hui and Zhou Tengyun.

"Third Brother, let's go. That woman is terrifyingly strong; I don't want to fight her," Liu Hui said to Zhou Tengyun in a different dialect of Arabic when he saw the turn of events. The sheer combat power Miss Yu had displayed made him deeply apprehensive. He wasn't sure if he could withstand that sapphire spear if he engaged her directly, but he could always choose to retreat; after all, stepping back often led to clearer skies.

Zhou Tengyun acknowledged him. Liu Hui immediately shot skyward, leaping onto the cliff above. With a few bounds, he vanished from sight. Zhou Tengyun followed suit, disappearing with Liu Hui.

"This..." Jiang Nanyi was momentarily stunned. The lambs ready for slaughter had suddenly transformed into tigers returning to the forest; the instantaneous contrast left him slow to react.

"Miss Yu, we don't know who those two were; they even managed to deceive us. Moreover, they surely learned many of our secrets. Why don't you pursue them and finish them off?" Iron Mountain couldn't help but interject.

But Miss Yu merely stared at the cliff above, silent, her face intensely flushed. Suddenly, her mouth opened, and she spat out a large mouthful of blood before collapsing to her knees, coughing violently and vomiting blood. Soon, a large pool of blood formed on the ground.

Jiang Nanyi was shocked. The amount of blood Miss Yu expelled was like a faucet turned on full blast. The pool on the ground was substantial—preliminarily estimated at thirty to forty kilograms. He wondered if she would die from blood loss, noting that even a burly man didn't carry that much blood.

Miss Yu retched on the ground, then lifted her head. A trace of blood still stained her lips, and her face was deathly pale, even whiter than before.

"Miss Yu, are you alright?" Jiang Nanyi asked nervously. This woman was not only the strongest combatant of their small unit but also the key to completing his mission. Furthermore, Miss Yu had a powerful background; if anything happened to her under his watch, the forces behind her would surely not let him off easily. Even if he completed the mission, the nation might not speak well of him and might instead push him forward to absorb their wrath.

"Cough, cough, Captain Jiang, I am fine," Miss Yu managed to say after a few coughs, seemingly regaining her breath.

"It's good you're alright," Jiang Nanyi sighed in relief.

"But Old Zhang and Old Wang..." Miss Yu looked genuinely distressed, a stark contrast to her usual cold demeanor.

"What happened to Elder Zhang and Elder Wang?" Jiang Nanyi had noticed the strange state of the two elders, but didn't know what had occurred.

"Captain Jiang, please take their remains," Miss Yu said, her brief lapse instantly controlled as she returned to her normal composure.

"Ah, they just dropped dead? But this way is too bizarre; it’s like some monster sucked their essence dry," Iron Mountain exclaimed nearby. The strange appearance of Old Zhang and Old Wang was completely beyond his comprehension.

"Iron Mountain, shut your mouth!" Jiang Nanyi roared angrily.

"If I weren't heavily injured, based on what you just said, you would have died ten times over," Miss Yu said coldly.

Iron Mountain flinched and immediately hid behind Jiang Nanyi. He was terrified of Miss Yu now and dared not speak further.

"Those two just now were incredibly powerful and deeply hidden. I misjudged them earlier. Today feels highly suspicious, but I will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly in the future. That Afghan driver, I have a strange feeling about him; perhaps this feeling will help me find him someday," Miss Yu murmured, gazing toward the cliff where Liu Hui and Zhou Tengyun had vanished.

Liu Hui and Zhou Tengyun kept running through the mountains, now far from the recent battlefield. Zhou Tengyun caught up and ran alongside Liu Hui.

"Boss, that woman was incredible. She took down those three Cardinals just like that," Zhou Tengyun said with admiration.

"Judging by her attire and the skills she used, she likely comes from the same place as that all-white elder we encountered in Bashan. It’s just that the strength of the elder in white wasn't as great as this woman's," Liu Hui commented.

"Heh heh, I didn't expect those Vatican pests to be dealt with so easily. Life is truly filled with drama," Zhou Tengyun remarked with rare sentiment.

"That's true. Who would have thought we’d run into Jiang Nanyi in this desolate mountain area, or that the Vatican people would catch up to us here? The most unbelievable part is that the two factions ended up fighting each other," Liu Hui agreed, feeling the situation was too coincidental.

"We’ve been inexplicably hunted and forced to fight these past few days. Now it seems our luck has turned; the people actually hunting us got wiped out by someone else," Zhou Tengyun chuckled.

"Don't celebrate too early. This is still Afghanistan, still within the sphere of influence of the US military. Who knows what else we might run into," Liu Hui warned.

"Boss, you're right. We need to hurry and get out of this godforsaken place called Afghanistan as soon as possible. It’s a shame we’re so far from that highway; otherwise, the motorcycle in your spatial storage could have been useful," Zhou Tengyun said with a hint of regret.

"Don't worry. In the mountains, our speed might not be slower than a car," Liu Hui replied.

Thus, Liu Hui and Zhou Tengyun stopped talking and sprinted toward the edge of the mountains based on the coordinates displayed on their GPS.

Vatican City, in a secret chamber deep underground, an old man with pure white hair sat in meditation, eyes closed. On the wall opposite him, several memorial tablets were displayed. Suddenly, there were a few sharp sounds from the opposite wall; in the silence, these sounds were strikingly clear. He opened his eyes and saw that three of the memorial tablets on the wall had cracked.

The old man paused. In the history of the Holy See, there had never been a precedent for three memorial tablets breaking simultaneously. Nevertheless, he did not forget his duty and pulled a nearby cord. A bell connected to the cord began to sound.

Soon, an old man wearing a white cassock entered the secret chamber. Upon seeing the man in white robes enter, the white-haired old man bowed slightly and said, "Your Holiness, the life tablets of Lord Andre, Lord John, and Lord Ovimass have shattered."

The Pope looked at what the old man said, then at the three broken tablets on the wall, and was so shocked he could not speak.

After a long moment, the Pope finally spoke with a trembling voice, "How is this possible? Andre and the others were carrying the Holy See's last artifact—the Holy Light Cross. Even if they were overpowered, they could use the Sacred Sacrifice Art, burning their lifespans for immense power to eliminate the enemy. They would even have time to return to the Holy See to settle their affairs. Now their life tablets are all broken. Who, who exactly, killed them all?"

"Your Holiness, shall we immediately activate the Soul Search technique to find the enemy who killed the three Lords?"

"Activate it. It is such a waste. Augustus had only just become a Chief Judge and didn't have time to have a life tablet made before he was killed. Otherwise, we would immediately know who killed him and wouldn't have needed the three Cardinals to pursue the matter personally. Now that these three Cardinals have also been killed, our high-end military strength has been wiped out. Is Heaven intending to destroy our Holy Church?"

Only a day earlier, Milton had been basking in immense honor. The US Navy SEAL Team 171 he led had become world-famous after successfully eliminating Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. His team was idolized throughout America, and he and his men were about to receive tremendous glory.

The day before they were scheduled to return home for an awards ceremony at the White House, the US forces in Afghanistan suddenly received intelligence: a deputy of General Mohmandas, one of the Taliban warlords, had been captured. This deputy eventually defected and revealed Mohmandas's location. At the same time, CIA Middle East Bureau Chief Miller arrived in Afghanistan and informed the US forces there that al-Qaeda terrorists might be transporting a large cache of weaponry into Afghanistan to launch terrorist attacks against the US forces stationed there, seeking revenge for the killing of bin Laden.

US authorities in Afghanistan became extremely anxious, preparing to track down the arms and eliminate the threat before it materialized, lest the US military pay a heavy price. Just then, the defecting Taliban deputy relayed news that Mohmandas was about to trade a batch of arms, even providing some detailed lists of the weapons to be exchanged. US authorities in Afghanistan combined this news with Director Miller's intelligence and immediately deduced that this impending arms deal involved the exact cache the CIA had lost track of in Yemen. They immediately ordered the decorated SEAL Team 171, which was preparing to return home, to remain and execute this critical mission.

Thanks to the book friend: Money Family's Youngest Master for the 3000-word update ticket A.