The Po River, the largest river in Italy.
Originating from Mount Viso at an altitude of 3,841 meters in the Cottian Mountains on the border between Italy and France, the river flows from west to east, turns north to Saluzzo, passes Turin and bypasses the Monferrato Plateau, then turns east again at Chivasso, and finally flows into the Adriatic Sea 20 km east of Porto Tolle.
The river is 652 km long and has a drainage area of about 75,000 square kilometers. It runs across the northern part of the country and forms the Po Plain. It flows through cities such as Turin and Piacenza. There are many lakes in the middle and lower reaches. Its tributaries include the Tanaro, Scrivia and Trebbia rivers.
The town where the "Night of Varzia" took place is located near a small water network east of the main trunk of the Po River, and Shinji fled all the way west in order to escape with the help of this largest river in Italy.
Since the Dead Apostles are the prototype of vampire legends, many of the vampire characteristics in the legends are real, such as sucking human blood, having servants, being afraid of sunlight, being able to be exterminated by baptism rituals, and - being unable to cross flowing water (with just the body), rivers and seas are boundaries that cannot be crossed for them. As far as Shinji knows, the only one who has overcome this is Smere, a mutant Dead Apostle who is also one of the 27 ancestors and is known as the "Water Demon".
As long as he could enter the Po River, he would be safe. The water of the Po River would wash away the traces of human activities, and the characteristic of the Dead Apostles being restrained by the flowing water could also prevent Oteng Luoche from chasing him.
Shinji thought so and did so. It is conceivable that when he heard the sound of rushing water and saw the river shimmering in the moonlight, he was filled with joy.
However, before the joy of escaping could be felt on his face, his injured and exhausted body tensed up again.
The King of the Dead Apostles, dressed in white and with white wings, stood on the river bank, his face showing a calm and peaceful expression, as if he was just appreciating the moonlight on the lake.
Seeing Shinji coming, he still had the leisure to greet him: "You're here, a little later than I expected."
"I'm really sorry to disappoint you." Shinji responded while using this precious time to adjust his state.
After fighting for such a long time, Shinji already understood the powerful recovery ability of the King of the Dead Apostles. If he didn't want to fail at the last moment, he had to seize every minute and every second.
Unfortunately, this little calculation was also seen through by "White Wing Prince". He smiled and snapped his fingers: "I'm not disappointed. If I let you escape, I would be disappointed, so -"
The left claw pulled horizontally, the right claw chopped vertically, and ten invisible slashes blocked Shinji's escape route from all directions.
"—Please fall down here."
It’s not that I don’t want to chat with Shinji more, but I don’t dare.
Yes, I dare not.
During the pursuit, the "White Winged Prince" had forced his prey into desperate situations many times, but every time at a critical moment, Shinji would come up with a trick to escape danger. Ottenroche always thought that it should be the last surprise, but Shinji always found another way to survive when he was in a desperate situation.
Snake hunting sickle, Indra's thunder, Athena's shield, Hades' cloak, Hermes' feather shoes, King Kong's left arm, magic spear and bow, rune magic bullets, command spell enhancement, rune magic... ... it seems endless and has no end.
If it weren't on the banks of the Bo River, if it weren't at dawn, "Prince White Wing" would really like to see how many tricks this strange magician had left to use, even if he would be covered in dust and dirt, even if he would get hurt.
But at this moment, "Lord White Wing" cannot afford to be careless, otherwise the cooked duck will fly away, and he, the ancient king of the Dead Apostles, will become a laughing stock.
Knowing the enemy's plan, Shinji stopped talking and decided to put all his energy into fighting.
Athena's shield materializes, blocking the invisible slash;
The Eye of Medusa opened, dyeing the world in front of it gray.
Having suffered a loss once, the "White Wing Prince" naturally would not suffer a second loss. The moment the shield appeared, he went straight to Shinji's side and engaged in close combat with Shinji.
When the two sides shortened the distance to a certain extent, the long weapon Snake Hunting Scythe could not be used. Without this weapon that the King of the Dead Apostles was most wary of, he could give full play to his advantages and crush Shinji.
You can’t use your weapons, you can’t match my strength, and our experience gap is huge. I wonder what else you can do
I have to say that "Lord White Wing"'s strategy was correct and his playing style was very cautious, but he underestimated Shinji's determination and will, and even more so his education and broad thinking (imagination) - the Snake Hunting Scythe was sealed, so he really thought there was nothing I could do
Shinji's arms were swollen and his mouth and nose were bleeding after being beaten by "White Wing Prince". A fierce look flashed in his eyes, and a Buddha's light flashed. He grabbed the wrist of the King of the Dead Apostles with his left hand, the only hand that could wrestle with the latter, and then he rushed forward with his whole body, causing "White Wing Prince" to tilt his body.
But before Shinji could release his left hand and distance himself from the enemy, the "White Winged Lord" reacted and grabbed Shinji's left hand, and then he pressed forward. However, he did not hit the magician like Shinji did, but directly stretched out his left claw to grab the magician's head. As long as he grabbed the vital part, the outcome was set. The King of the Dead Apostles had no less than ten ways to deprive the magician of the ability to resist.
The left claw of "White Wing Prince" came so fast that Shinji didn't even have the chance to raise his hand to block it.
A confident claw came towards him, and one could even see the confident smile of "White Wing Prince" through the fingers.
However, the smile froze when the claws fell.
The sharp claws that could cut gold and jade as easily as tofu pierced through the mask on the magician's face, and then pierced through the head behind the mask.
There were no mask fragments, no blood, no brain matter, nothing, as if all he was grasping was a ball of air.
Illusion? But what about the left hand being clasped by the right hand
It turns out that the special effects of Hades' cloak only affect the various senses of living things, rather than directly changing their appearance and body shape. Shinji's disguised height is 180cm, which is very common for Westerners, but his actual height is less than 150cm. If you try to scratch your head according to your disguised height, you will miss because it is too high.
In order to avoid being discovered, Shinji tried not to come into direct contact with people in his disguised form, especially with his upper body. At this time, in order to plot against "White Wing Lord", he suddenly had the idea of doing the opposite, and the effect was surprisingly good.
Before "White Wing Prince" could react to what was happening, thunder suddenly sounded in his ears and raging golden lightning suddenly appeared in front of his eyes.
The magician, whose "head" was pierced by the claws, held the most destructive golden weapon in his right hand. The black pearl at the end of the weapon was filled with unpredictable and frightening lightning.