Saint Samuel Church.
Archbishop Anthony was waiting for the Red Gloves team to bring him news of victory.
At that moment, the statue of the Goddess before him suddenly began to tremble slightly for no reason!
Not only that, more than a hundred stained-glass panels on the dome suddenly shattered, and the light cast by the crimson moon became far brighter than usual.
What happened?!
Archbishop Anthony's heart pounded uneasily. His face turned grave as he looked up at the starry sky.
The sky shone brilliantly. It seemed that it was not only the crimson moon that was shining, countless stars were also emitting a brighter and more dazzling light than usual.
Something major has definitely happened!
Archbishop Anthony quickly withdrew his gaze, offered a few apologetic words toward the trembling statue of the Goddess, then moved through the passage created by the shattered glass in the dome and arrived at the top of the church.
His sharp gaze searched in all directions until he finally found the source of tonight's anomaly.
Inside an inconspicuous house, the soil and stones on the ground began to churn. Bright but not too dazzling light was continuously gathering there.
The light of the stars in the sky seemed particularly fond of that place, constantly casting their gaze toward it.
At that moment, Archbishop Anthony understood. The Red Gloves team had been chasing only an illusion tonight. The true heretic hiding near the church was only now revealing himself!
"Any heretic who disturbs the Goddess's peace shall be buried by the night!"
Anthony's figure flickered, and he appeared where the light was gathering. Just as he was about to make a move, the soil and stones below completely split open, and the light gradually faded.
What appeared before him was a young man.
He looked about twenty-five years old, with black hair and handsome features. Especially his eyes, they were as deep as the starry sky above.
The man stood at the bottom of a deep pit, in the center of the collapsed ruins of the house, looking up at the stars in the sky.
And… he was completely naked.
Yet this scene did not feel blasphemous as one might expect. Instead, there was a sense of holiness.
Like an innocent angel descending into the world, arriving in complete nakedness.
But Anthony quickly discarded that thought. He could clearly sense an increasingly strong and foul aura belonging to the True Creator emanating from the other party!
"This is blasphemy!" Archbishop Anthony suppressed the strange feeling in his heart and labeled everything before him as blasphemy!
Being naked was the greatest offense to the Goddess!
"Sleep!"
"Be destroyed!"
"Perish within the night!"
As Archbishop Anthony softly chanted, the surrounding night surged silently like a living entity.
Black tentacles extended from the darkness, turning the area where the young man stood into absolute darkness.
But it had no effect. Starlight shone brilliantly around the young man. In an instant, it dispelled the illusory darkness.
From his left arm extended a chain seemingly forged from starlight. It stretched and grew, whipping rapidly through the air and smashing apart every black tentacle that dared approach.
Under Anthony's tense and oppressive gaze, the young man finally looked at him.
But he only glanced briefly before shifting his gaze toward Saint Samuel Church. His mouth opened slightly, as if softly uttering the word "night."
A groundless fear began spreading through Archbishop Anthony's heart.
What kind of heretic was this?!
How dare he blaspheme the Goddess like this!
"Blasphemous heretic, only death can cleanse your sins against the Goddess!"
Anthony's lips moved as the natural spirits and vengeful ghosts sealed within his teeth emerged. As he opened his mouth, they turned into waves of black tide and surged outward!
Spirits of mountains, spirits of rivers, spirits of trees, fearful ghosts, vengeful shades of death…
These were special beings he had encountered and sealed throughout his life. To obtain them, he had ventured many times into the dangerous regions of the spirit world.
More than half the sky turned into a black tide rushing toward the young man below.
"Bind." The young man softly spoke a single word.
All the natural spirits and vengeful ghosts in the sky were instantly restrained. Transparent chains wrapped around every part of their bodies, preventing them from moving.
His eyes merely swept across them once. The restrained spirits and ghosts were completely annihilated.
Rain began falling from the sky. A rain of thick, black liquid.
While the torrential black rain poured down, the young man opened a gateway to the spirit world and swiftly left.
Archbishop Anthony, whose limbs felt slightly cold, did not hesitate. He also entered the spirit world, refusing to let the evil heretic escape the Goddess's punishment.
What he did not understand was why the Goddess's gaze had not descended.
Moreover, he had sensed a trace of a familiar aura from that evil heretic.
It was the aura of night. At the same time, he had vaguely sensed another hidden scent on that heretic.
What kind of blasphemy and rebellion was this!
...
Mr. A felt that he was about to die.
Originally, he believed that with the versatility of his Shepherd abilities, even if he were surrounded, he could still leave calmly.
But he had overestimated himself and underestimated his opponents. They had come prepared, while he had been careless.
Bang!
His shoulder was smashed apart once again. Flesh wriggled as it began repairing the wound, but the recovery speed was far too slow. Before it could fully heal, half of his body along with his shoulder was blasted apart.
If not for the Beyonder abilities of the Rose Bishop, he would have long since become a pile of flesh on the ground, unable to move.
"Huff… huff… huff…" He gasped rapidly. His exposed heart beat continuously in rhythm with his breathing.
"Lord… merciful Lord… your loyal believer begs to enter your divine kingdom and continue serving you."
Mr. A shouted loudly, then spat out a large mouthful of blood and collapsed into the pool of blood.
At the brink of death, he seemed to see the Lord answering his call, sending an angel of the earth to save him.
Did the Lord send Lord Oroboros?
Mr. A widened his eyes, trying to see clearly, but ultimately he could not see anything.
"Leave quickly!" A sudden warning surfaced in Leonard's mind. He immediately retreated and called for his teammates to withdraw as well.
But before they could leave the spirit world, a young figure descended in front of Mr. A. He raised his hand slightly, and all the attacks aimed at Mr. A instantly disintegrated.
He extended a finger and pointed at Mr. A. The surrounding flesh and blood belonging to Mr. A began flowing back and reassembling. Within just a few breaths, Mr. A had completely recovered, without even a single scratch on his face.
"Leave here immediately!" After receiving the warning again, Leonard once more urged his teammates to retreat instead of staying behind to seek death.
His shout drew the attention of a gaze.
Just from the first moment their eyes met, Leonard felt his heart stop beating. His body went rigid, trembling as he became unable to utter a single word.
His teammates were the same, including the two bishops from Saint Samuel Church. Their bodies trembled uncontrollably.
This was absolute suppression of status.
Even though the other party had not activated a mythical creature form, just a single glance completely robbed them of their ability to fight.
Fortunately, the mysterious young man did not stay long. Grabbing Mr. A by the shoulder, he immediately left and disappeared.
While Leonard and the others looked at each other in confusion, not knowing what to do, Archbishop Anthony finally arrived.
After listening to the report, Anthony sighed.
"Let's go back first." He had no intention of continuing the pursuit. The difference in speed between them was too great, he could never catch up.
Even if he did catch up, could he deal with the opponent?
He could only smile bitterly.
Leonard let out a sigh of relief. He knew he had once again escaped a great calamity.
Following everyone back to Saint Samuel Church, Leonard looked up at the shattered stained glass in the dome, his heart shaken.
Had even the Goddess been alarmed?
After asking a few brief questions, Archbishop Anthony let them return to rest.
Back in his room, Leonard impatiently asked, "Old man, old man, do you know what happened tonight?"
"The offspring of the evil god from the Aurora Order has been born."
"?!" Leonard's eyes widened. He nearly jumped off the bed. Suppressing the shock in his heart, he quickly asked for more details.
"Do you remember when you dealt with Lanevus last time, and the divinity inside his body was taken away?"
"I remember… the one who acted… was Mr. A tonight?"
Leonard finally understood everything. Tonight Mr. A had willingly served as bait in order to buy time for the birth of the evil god's offspring.
"Old man, didn't you say that if powerful Beyonders act in Backlund, it might trigger a descent of the gods?"
Leonard raised another key question. If the offspring of the evil god had truly been born in that alley not far from Saint Samuel Church, and had even alarmed the Goddess, why had no divine descent occurred?
"A divine descent requires time and preparation. Do you really think They can come whenever They want?"
"But why was it only discovered tonight when it was so close?"
"Perhaps the gaze of the Evernight Goddess is not on Backlund right now."
"Old man, you're not sure either?"
"Of course not! That's a true god, and the Goddess specializes in concealment!"
Hearing the old man's clearly irritated voice, Leonard finally relaxed after the tension of the night. He turned over on the bed, lying on his back, and murmured:
"Old man… what level do you think his strength is at? I feel like he's much more terrifying than Archbishop Anthony."
"In order to avoid triggering a divine descent, he suppressed his aura and power as much as possible. There's a high chance he's Sequence 2."
"Sequence 2?! Are the offspring of evil gods always this terrifying once they're born?"
"..." Leonard did not receive an answer.
Clearly, even the old man had not figured out that question.