Chapter 312: The Descent of Angels (IX)
"My lords, the heretics' ritual formation is right ahead."
One of the clergymen spoke in a tense voice.
"The evil aura surrounding the barrier is extremely dense. Anyone who approaches gets contaminated almost immediately…"
Standing beside him were three men from the Holy Court Clerical Order who had arrived as reinforcements.
There should originally have been a fourth member as well, but that person had gone to the nearby temporary encampment earlier.
Among the three, one wore black-rimmed glasses and appeared to be in his twenties. At the moment, he was listening with complete seriousness.
The instant he heard the phrase "contaminated," the bespectacled young man immediately grew anxious.
"Did you purify him with holy water?"
"How is his recovery?"
"Are there any signs of spiritual corruption spreading?"
The guiding priest bowed slightly.
"Reporting to Lord Innocent Gregory—the injured man has already undergone exorcism treatment."
"Because the battle remains intense, we haven't yet been able to conduct a complete mental evaluation…"
"How can that be acceptable?"
Innocent shook his head gravely.
"The influence of evil energy works subtly over time."
"The victim may already be suffering mentally at this very moment."
The guiding priest froze.
"Thank you… for your concern, my lord."
"The priest only suffered minor contamination. We'll carry out a full assessment afterward according to your instructions."
"That's good."
Innocent nodded approvingly.
"When exactly did it happen? What suspicious symptoms have you discovered so far?"
The guiding priest: "…"
He glanced awkwardly toward the barrier.
Inside it, the two heretics were openly watching them.
Yet Lord Innocent still wore the expression of someone waiting patiently for a proper report.
"At… at present, none…"
the priest answered through gritted teeth.
"That won't do!"
Innocent immediately shook his head again.
"There are many symptoms caused by evil contamination. Personality changes, sudden mastery of unfamiliar skills…"
The guiding priest nearly collapsed.
"I was just making something up to brush this off!"
"And why is this the priority right now?!"
he screamed internally.
---
Smack!
A heavy hand suddenly slapped his shoulder.
The priest nearly stumbled before hearing a rough voice beside him.
"Hey! That's just how Innocent is!"
Turning around, he found another one of the Holy Court reinforcements.
The man wore a sleeveless shirt that exposed his muscular arms.
"Lord Galvin Ashur…"
"You don't need to bother with him."
"Since Lord Jolan sent us, you can leave the rest to us."
Galvin grinned.
"Take your people farther away so you don't get caught in the crossfire."
Hearing this, the guiding priest nearly burst into tears from relief.
After bowing hurriedly, he ran off at full speed.
---
"Galvin, that wasn't appropriate…"
Innocent frowned slightly.
"Of course it was!"
"You're the team leader—you have to consider every possibility!"
Galvin immediately responded with absolute sincerity.
"But right now, those heretics are trying to do something evil. I think only you can guide them back onto the right path!"
"As for helping John collect samples…"
Galvin turned around—
Only to discover nobody standing behind him anymore.
"…Anyway."
"Sid is handling the treatment work."
"Our mission is to uncover the weaknesses of those undead soldiers. Lord Jolan is still fighting for his life up there."
He pointed toward the sky.
"Mmm… you're right."
Innocent immediately walked toward the corrupted barrier.
"Finally, some peace and quiet."
Galvin stretched his arms lazily.
Then he noticed several skeletal soldiers approaching.
"Looks like today's theology homework can be completed alongside training."
He reached toward his lower back and removed a water flask along with a glass bottle filled with milky-white powder.
Pulling out the cork, he dumped the powder into the water, shook it thoroughly, and drank the entire thing in one go.
"Burp~"
After wiping his mouth, he pulled out a portable cassette player from the same bag.
He placed the headphones over his ears and hit play.
THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP—
Violent drumbeats mixed with screaming electric guitars.
Galvin clenched his fists.
"Standard push-ups."
"Two hundred per set."
"Begin!"
The moment he finished speaking, he dropped to the ground and started moving up and down at speeds almost impossible to see.
At the same time, the skeletal soldiers closed in.
Yellow-brown sludge dripped from their bodies, corroding the ground beneath them.
Clack. Clack.
The skeletons raised their weapons simultaneously and thrust downward at Galvin.
"First set complete!"
At some unknown moment, Galvin was already back on his feet.
"I'll use these four enemies as my rest period between sets."
A grin spread across his face while holy light enveloped his entire body.
BOOM!
Dirt exploded into the air.
When the dust settled, the skeletal soldiers had vanished completely.
Only a massive man remained on the ground, continuing his push-ups at terrifying speed.
---
Meanwhile, near the temporary encampment—
Several injured clergy stood together, pointing nervously toward an open field.
Numerous undead soldiers lay there bound tightly in gray chains.
Nearby crouched a white-haired middle-aged man examining a skeleton carefully.
"Height: five feet."
"Estimated skeletal age: around three hundred years…"
"Hey! Stop moving your foot bone around."
John Kerson casually dodged a kick.
He tightened the chains around the skeleton further.
"Ah… no need to apologize. I understand this isn't your true intention."
"Come now, turn your head this way. Good."
The undead soldier suddenly lifted its jaw and spat out a mouthful of yellow-brown sludge.
John sidestepped again.
The sludge splattered near the observing priests.
Sizzle… sizzle…
The grass instantly dissolved.
White smoke rose from the ground.
Gulp.
The observers swallowed nervously.
They stared at John as though he were a complete lunatic.
One of them finally turned toward a nun who was currently changing bandages nearby.
"Lady Sid… is that man your companion?"
"No."
She answered instantly.
"…Huh?"
The priest blinked in confusion.
"That's strange…"
"I clearly saw Sister Sid arrive with three other people…"
---
Elsewhere—
"The chest contains a fatal piercing wound."
"Doesn't appear to have participated in the original war…"
John rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Ah, thank you for your cooperation."
"Next."
He dragged the undead soldier aside with chains.
After only a few steps, however, he suddenly stopped.
"What did you say?"
He turned toward the skeleton.
"You'll tell me the source controlling all of you if I release the sin trapped within your remains?"
The skeleton continued struggling violently.
"That's something you should've mentioned earlier."
John licked his lips and smiled brightly.
"Come on, then."
"Let me personally examine your body."
---
A short while later, he returned to the camp.
"The undead army is being controlled physically, not spiritually."
"As long as we sever the energy connection inside them, we should be able to stop them."
He handed a report over to Sid.
She was currently replacing bandages for the injured observers.
After reading the report, Sid frowned.
"Innocent already checked earlier."
"The evil force covers an extremely large area. Even if the connection is disrupted temporarily, it rapidly restores itself."
"The safest method is still destroying the rune structure inside the remains entirely."
"That way, no external force can control them anymore."
John spread his hands helplessly.
"These rune structures are like fingerprints."
"Every single one is different."
"There's no way to decipher thousands of corpses quickly."
One of the injured priests hesitated before speaking.
"L-Lady Sid… this man is…"
"The person who came with me."
She answered casually.
"We're companions who've survived life and death together,"
John added proudly.
"Then why did you say you didn't know him earlier—AHH! THAT HURTS!"
Sid ripped away the old bandages without mercy before tossing them into a waste bin.
Then she asked coldly:
"How are those other two idiots doing?"
"Probably not dead yet."
John rubbed his hands eagerly.
"I'll deliver this information immediately."
"Maybe Innocent can figure something out."
As he reached the road, he suddenly turned back.
"Oh, right—don't dispose of those undead soldiers yet."
"I haven't finished examining their bodies."
"Hehehe…"
The moment he finished speaking, he vanished instantly.
Sid pressed a hand against her forehead.
"So much nonsense."
"Muscle-brained."
"Mentally unstable…"
"Why did I end up with teammates like this?"
"Lord Jolan mentioned a new recruit might arrive soon."
"Hopefully that one will be normal…"
---
In front of the corrupted barrier—
Abraham was also holding his forehead.
"Hey."
"Are you fighting or not?"
"If not, hurry up and leave."
Outside the barrier came Innocent's voice.
"Then will you cancel the ritual formation?"
"Of course not!"
"What the hell is wrong with your brain?!"
Abraham nearly exploded.
"But…"
"You've harmed so many innocent people."
"Don't you realize this ritual itself is evil?"
"That's because…"
"We ARE the bad guys!"
Abraham pointed furiously behind himself.
At the center of the pentagram formation lay countless offerings.
Men's and women's severed arms formed wings.
Clergy corpses created the outline of a head.
Countless legs combined into monstrous lower limbs, while beastlike claws formed the feet.
Together, they created the image of an angel.
Abraham stepped aside dramatically.
"As villains guilty of monstrous crimes, isn't doing evil completely normal?!"
He finished while panting heavily.
"But…"
Innocent replied sincerely,
"You can still abandon the evil within your hearts."
"You can reclaim kindness and compassion."
"I am willing to accept you according to God's guidance."
Silence filled the air.
Abraham's eyes widened so much that even his glasses tilted sideways.
At that moment, it felt as though something inside his brain had gone completely flat.
Not long ago, Wings of Vengeance had stormed the Church's sacred grounds and accomplished a feat the rest of the world never dared imagine.
Afterward, they rampaged through this lost domain, forcing the evil spirit and the Church into conflict.
Now, the souls of the entire realm had become their soldiers.
They stood only one step away from their great goal.
And yet…
This Church slave was telling him to repent and become good?
"Heh…"
"Hehehe…"
Abraham was so angry he started laughing.
Turning around, he saw Beelzebub holding two chunks of flesh carved from corpses.
Beelzebub pointed at his own ears, gave a thumbs-up, then offered the meat over.
Abraham stared at the bloody chunks silently.
Eventually, he rejected the gesture.
"Believe whatever you want."
"If you refuse to leave, then stand there and watch."
He snorted and returned to the edge of the ritual formation.
"Watch?"
"You've finally decided to stop this evil ritual?!"
Innocent sounded genuinely excited.
"You motherfu—"
---
Of course, this small pocket of absurdity was only one corner of the battlefield.
Elsewhere, screams and battle cries still raged violently.
"Huff… huff…"
Two clergymen leaned against each other, covered in wounds and blood.
Across from them crawled a skinless undead soldier.
The two priests' squad had encountered the creature not long ago.
It moved with terrifying speed. Within mere seconds, they had already lost one companion.
To destroy the monster, the squad had tried nearly every method they could think of, but the holy water they carried was unable to completely purify it.
As for ritual arrays… only members of the Clerical Order and a handful of exceptionally powerful clergy possessed that capability.
And there were far too many monsters like this roaming the battlefield. No one had the manpower to deal with them all.
So in the end, this squad could only gamble on one final strategy: finding the creature's weakness.
After sacrificing three comrades in succession, they finally discovered something.
"When this thing feeds, it becomes temporarily unable to attack," the round-faced priest said through gritted teeth.
"That's our only chance."
"But there aren't any other corpse soldiers nearby…"
The tall priest hesitated, his expression pale.
"Don't even think about it!"
"They died for us! We can't desecrate their souls like that!"
The round-faced priest stared fixedly at the monster.
"I'll create an opening for you."
Before the tall priest could react, the man had already rushed forward.
Splurt!
Sharp fangs pierced straight into the round-faced priest's shoulder.
"What are you doing?!"
The tall priest's eyes widened in horror.
"NOW! KILL IT!"
Tears welled in the tall priest's eyes as he grabbed an ancient cruciform sword from the ground and charged.
The creature immediately tried to retreat.
"Oh no you don't!"
"You killed so many of us—you think you're escaping?!"
The round-faced priest pulled out a dagger.
"I've got plenty of meat on me!"
"You think one bite is enough for you?!"
Enduring the agony, he hacked off the hand on the side being bitten.
Fresh flesh filled the creature's mouth, forcing it to swallow.
That single moment bought the tall priest enough time.
"Li… live on…"
The round-faced priest's consciousness blurred from blood loss.
"DIE!!"
The tall priest reached the monster and hacked wildly at its vulnerable spots.
Within moments, he chopped the creature into mangled chunks.
"Wake up!"
He grabbed the round-faced priest in his arms—
But the man had long since stopped breathing.
"…Ugh…"
The tall priest tilted his head upward as tears streamed uncontrollably down his face.
Splurt.
A headless corpse suddenly collapsed to the ground.
Another monster had appeared without warning and decapitated him from behind.
Thud… thud…
The two corpses dropped onto the battlefield, becoming food for the monsters.
Crunch. Crunch.
The sound of bones being chewed echoed through the air.
BOOM!
Another deafening explosion suddenly rang out overhead.
The monster lifted its head.
A massive shockwave was descending from the sky.
"Hssss—!"
It bared its fangs and growled.
Seconds later, the shockwave slammed into the earth.
Trees and debris were swept violently into the air.
When the trembling finally stopped, the monster was gone.
Only a pile of mangled flesh remained where it had stood.
---
Above the clouds—
A crimson slash carved through the storm clouds, carried forward by violent currents of air.
It traveled several kilometers before finally dissipating.
The entire cloud layer split cleanly in half, as though the sky itself had been torn open.
Xila's amber eyes flickered rapidly, tracking movements around her.
The next instant, a brilliant sphere of light burst from the clouds.
She tilted her head slightly to avoid the blinding radiance, then instinctively raised her cruciform greatsword.
CLANG!
An ancient cross collided with the sword's tip.
The shockwave from the impact blasted both combatants apart.
"Though you have also undergone sanctification,"
Xila said coldly while looking downward,
"how could power inherited by humans ever rival the divine?"
"Hah…"
"Gods?"
"They're nothing but a pack of fallen creatures."
Jolan panted heavily.
Xila frowned slightly.
"There's little meaning in continuing pointless arguments."
"Especially when your defeat is already inevitable."
At this point, Jolan's aura had weakened considerably.
Even the luminous sphere behind him had dimmed.
"Once you die, everyone below will become nourishment for the true god."
"Don't speak too soon."
"Look at your own body first."
Xila's brows knit together.
She lowered her gaze—
Only to discover seven glowing nails embedded across her body, each radiating golden light.
At the same time, her power abruptly stagnated.
Her entire body began plummeting downward.
"Haa…"
"So in the end, I still had to rely on dirty tricks."
"May the Lord forgive my pettiness."
Jolan drew a cross over his chest.
Then he glanced toward the battlefield below and suddenly smirked.
"Heh… that brat finally made it."
A small squad had quietly reached the edge of the battlefield.
One of them stopped every few steps to carefully observe the surroundings.
Just as Jolan prepared to descend—
Something suddenly felt wrong.
Xila was still falling toward the ground.
But throughout all their previous clashes, no matter what method Jolan used, she had always found a way to counter it.
Why had she suddenly fallen for this so easily?
Then Jolan remembered—
During their very first encounter, he had already used holy nails to wound Xila once before.
His expression changed instantly.
"Shit!"
Jolan plunged downward like a cannonball.
At the same time, his roar echoed through the battlefield:
"RUN!"
On the ground—
Hiss Roger, Bettice, and the others all looked upward at the sound.
What they saw was a streak of crimson descending from the heavens.
But Gideon saw more clearly than anyone else.
It was a pair of amber eyes overflowing with murderous intent.
(NEXT UPDATE. 4 OCTOBER.)
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