223: Cooperation reached

“Transfer control?”

“Absolutely not!”

Alicia’s sharp cry rang out almost simultaneously with Elric’s voice, even overpowering it.

She stomped forward, pure rage burning in her cerulean eyes, pointing at the Metal Knights who were struggling in pain under the Holy Light’s suppression, their eyes flashing red.

“The souls of these Knights belong to the Holy Light! Their will should not be enslaved by anyone!”

“Lin Feng, you have no right to demand their control! What you should demand is to break their shackles and return their freedom!”

Her voice resonated with divine magic, filled with an undeniable sense of justice, and the grace of the god of light on her chest glowed intensely, as if crowning her declaration.

The Dark Gold Leader’s visual sensors, amidst the frantic flashing of holy white light and uncontrolled blood red, seemed to experience a faint ripple of resonance from the depths of its soul due to Alicia’s words.

“Heh.”

Lin Feng let out a short, cold sneer, the sound piercing Alicia’s passionate declaration like an ice pick.

He turned his head, his gaze falling on the Saintess’s face, which appeared exceptionally holy due to her anger and persistence. There was no appreciation in his eyes, only undisguised mockery and condescending pity.

“Freedom? Alicia, you are truly… laughably naive.”

Lin Feng’s voice was not loud, yet every word was like a knife, clearly entering everyone’s “ears.”

His gaze swept over the Metal Knights who were struggling in pain under the Holy Light’s suppression, their eyes flashing red, finally settling on Alicia’s face, which appeared exceptionally holy due to her anger and persistence, a cold arc forming at the corner of his mouth.

“Look at them! Look at this tower beneath your feet! Look at the king of alchemy before you! Can your Holy Light purify the shackles Elric carved into the core of their souls? Can you bring yourself to destroy these Metal Knights and stop them from taking the divine artifact in your hand?”

With each question Lin Feng asked, Alicia’s face grew a shade paler.

The divine artifact on her chest still glowed intensely, but Lin Feng’s words were like venomous snakes, precisely biting at the deepest sense of powerlessness within her.

Yes, she simply could not strike at these Temple Knights who had maintained their unwavering faith for centuries!

Even if the divine artifact in her hand possessed the power to destroy them!

But what if she agreed to Elric’s terms?

Alicia turned her gaze to Lin Feng.

At this moment, half of Lin Feng’s body was still at the entrance of the Fallen Space, and her spatial confinement could not hold Lin Feng now. Moreover, her body could not indefinitely support her unrestrained use of the grace of the god of light. At most, she could only activate the power of the divine artifact in her hand one more time!

This one opportunity to use it must be seized carefully!

“Miss Alicia.”

Elric’s cold voice rang out at the opportune moment.

“You possess the grace of the god of light, a symbol of the Holy Light. Cooperate with me, and I promise that after completing the great work of ‘God Creation,’ I will release the souls of all the Knights, allowing them to return to the embrace of the Holy Light.”

“Your divine artifact will also receive the most perfect protection.”

Elric tried his best to convey his sincerity in his tone, but Alicia didn’t even want to look at him!

How much these last Temple Knights trusted him, and what did he do?!

He actually transformed all these Knights who unconditionally trusted him into machines, and even left imprints on their bodies that could control them at any time!

This was unforgivable!

Thinking of this, Alicia continued to look at Lin Feng beside her.

“I only have one request: after this is done, transfer control of some of the Metal Knights to me.”

“These Knights… they were once living people! Guardians of the Temple! Even if not all, I hope that some of them can gain freedom!”

“Agreed!”

Lin Feng replied after a brief consideration.

Alicia took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing her body’s fatigue and the tremor in her soul. She knew in her heart that this was the greatest benefit she could secure at this stage.

As for Elric’s proposal, she hadn’t even considered it!

Moreover, she believed that these Temple Knights would never let her agree to Elric’s terms!

“Edward Elric…”

Alicia’s voice carried a barely perceptible tremor, yet it was exceptionally firm. She raised her head, resolute flames burning in her cerulean eyes.

“You imprisoned the souls of the Temple Knights, transformed them into cold killing machines, desecrating life and the Holy Light! Your actions are unforgivable to any follower of the God of Light!”

She abruptly turned to Lin Feng, the divine artifact on her chest erupting with its final brilliant radiance. It was not an attack, but rather channeled all its power into suppressing Elric’s domain of laws and interfering with the Metal Knights.

“Lin Feng! I will help you! Suppress him! But remember your promise!”

“Wise!”

Lin Feng’s eyes flashed with brilliance. Almost the instant Alicia’s words fell, Lin Feng’s figure suddenly blurred, as if melting into space itself.

He no longer needed to retreat but stepped directly forward!

“Buzz!”

A purple-black rift, far deeper and more defiled than before, like the gaping maw of a demon, instantly opened before Lin Feng!

This time, the rift did not lead to the safe depths of the Fallen Space but appeared directly within the core of Elric’s domain of laws!

“Roar!!!”

Countless viscous and defiled fleshy tentacles, twisted arthropod phantoms, accompanied by mad whispers capable of corroding the soul, surged out of the rift like a bursting dam, violently crashing into the absolute domain of starlight laws surrounding Elric!

Alicia’s Holy Light acted like the strongest dam, firmly suppressing Elric’s domain from the outside, while the Fallen Space torrent summoned by Lin Feng acted like the most defiled drill, madly eroding it from within!

Two forces of diametrically opposite natures, yet equally powerful, formed a bizarre synergy at this moment!

“Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!”

The starlight laws, Holy Light, and Fallen Space energy violently collided and annihilated, emitting a grating sound.

The metal floor beneath Elric’s feet violently undulated like boiling lava, and the converging starlight vortex spun wildly, attempting to stabilize, but violently twisted and deformed under the terrifying force of the internal and external assault!

“Damn it!”

Elric’s voice carried a hint of offended fury and… a trace of unbelievable shock!

He had simulated countless possibilities but had never anticipated that Alicia would so resolutely side with Lin Feng, nor had he expected Lin Feng to so precisely “detonate” the power of the Fallen Space directly within the core of his domain!

“Boom!”

The Hall of Starlight seemed about to collapse!

Violent energy currents swept through everything!

The Dark Gold Leader and the Metal Knights, having received no orders from Elric, simply allowed the chaotic currents to continuously impact their mechanical bodies, without any resistance!

Elric’s “thought core” completed billions of calculations within one-ten-thousandth of a second.

Alicia’s defection and Lin Feng’s fatal blow completely shattered the balance of power.

He instantly calculated that under the pincer attack, he had a 27.8% chance of losing absolute control over the core area of the Starlight Tower!

Furthermore, even if he and the Metal Knights acted together, the probability of Lin Feng and Alicia escaping into the Fallen Space was as high as 88.8%!

The cold numbers overwhelmed all anger and unwillingness.

For godhood, everything could be sacrificed, including… these “perfect” tools he had spent a century painstakingly creating.

“…Deal!”