Chapter 14: 9
Final Kill
Chapter 1089
The Church of Absolute Knowledge is located on top of the church in the center of Morola City.
The square below, which was crowded with exiles and law enforcers, presented a strange scene. The mob, numbering more than 30,000, leaned against the walls and tree roots, and even fell asleep while crowded together, making the battlefield filled with blood and black smoke become extremely harmonious, which stunned William and Tia who were looking out of the window.
They could guess that all this was caused by Archbishop Heraberg, but they had no idea what power he used and why he did not stop the riot at the beginning.
As if sensing the doubts in the two people's hearts, Heraberg smiled and said in a warm tone that seemed to never change:
"This can only temporarily restrict them and the seal underground. The final outcome of the entire city depends on the outcome of the battle in the underground mausoleum."
I feel like you alone can handle all the people in the "Exile City"... William was thinking, and just as he was about to speak, the archbishop in front of him asked again:
"I'm curious, if your captain is in danger underground, and your help may increase her chances of survival, will you take the risk to save her?"
What does this mean? Some kind of test? Regardless of whether or not you would be willing to do this if you really encountered such a thing, there is only one verbal answer... Tia's thoughts raced, and just as she was about to nod, William, with a serious expression, had already answered:
"It will depend on my success rate after joining. If I can provide great help, then risking my life will be worth it. If dying together will hardly change the outcome, then I will be more rational and choose to give up and keep my strength to avenge her."
This idiot is too honest. The archbishop was just asking. Shouldn't he agree readily and show his determination? Tia looked at William with wide eyes, wondering what medicine her good friend had taken wrong today.
But when she turned her gaze back to Heraberg, she found a satisfied smile on his face.
"You are honest and wise. Have you ever considered joining the Church of Knowledge?"
Seeing William shaking his head without hesitation, he smiled and stopped persuading him. He turned his gaze back to the window, looking at the Morola exiles who had fallen into a deep sleep and were influencing the activity of the underground "0-01".
Suddenly, the suppressed aura from underground that made people want to surrender and kneel down surged to the ground again, waking up more than 30,000 sleeping people like a stimulant, and the square fell into chaos again.
Not only that, in the cemetery behind the church, skeletons that were buried deep underground crawled out, with dark red or pale light flashing in their eye sockets, and they were running or crawling and wriggling, gathering towards the church square.
The degree of revival of the "Salinger Blood Flag" has deepened again!
————
The top of the mountain of corpses in the underground mausoleum.
The same "resurrection of the dead" as in the church cemetery also occurred on this mountain made up of countless corpses and bones. With "0-01" as the center, the corpses that had long lost their lives and had been lying here for who knows how many years shook their heads, stretched their limbs and slowly climbed up, with their eyes burning with flames of different colors looking towards the three people present.
These puppets, which had long belonged to the Blood Flag of Salinger, spontaneously prepared to eliminate the three "intruders".
At this moment, Lisa had just merged into the sapphire ring, and her captivating eyes looked at Elaine and Gu Xin. The colorless flames burning around them kept extinguishing and reappearing, causing the iron-black flagpole to sway more and more, as if it would break away from the base of corpses and gain true freedom in the next moment.
This chaotic scene was covered by an ever-expanding gray-white color. The puppets rushing towards Lisa, the corpses crawling from the ground, and even the originally invisible and colorless transparent fire were all stained with a gray-white color like the rough surface of stone.
It was… "petrification"!
Elaine, who had seen Miss Angelica fight, immediately recognized the power represented by this terrifying color. Without any hope, she switched the rose necklace to the "Crimson Scholar" soul, turning herself into moonlight-like red scales. The magic mirror in her arms also began to connect to the mirror world, preparing to use multiple methods at the same time to avoid this gray and white, running as far as possible.
But before the outline of her body disappeared, her entire body froze completely. Her body, clothes, and even her flaming red hair turned into stone and lost their color.
Before this, Gu Xin, who was closer to Lisa, had already turned into a gray-white stone statue burning with gray-white flames. His soldier puppets also became stone statues holding weapons and maintaining a forward posture among the countless dancing corpse stone statues.
Except for the charred and bloody flag on the "Salinger Blood Flag", the entire hall of corpses became part of the stone sculpture made by the "Original Witch".
A trace of regret flashed through her black pupilless eyes. "Lisa"'s gaze left the petrified Elaine, without even glancing at Gu Xin, and turned back to look at the still fluttering flag.
It seemed to be struggling against the power of the "Original Witch" and was unwilling to surrender.
"You still hate me? I had no choice at the time..."
"Lisa" suddenly spoke in a tone that did not belong to her at all, with a tone that contained a charm and ambiguity that made the stone statues on the mountain turn around, and the sadness in her eyes almost took shape.
As if in response to her, the shaking amplitude of "0-01" suddenly intensified, and the mountain, which had completely turned into a gray-white stone statue, shook violently. The mottled stones on the surface shattered one after another, revealing transparent flames underneath and more corpses with burning eye sockets.
They desperately crawled over their petrified companions and pounced on "Lisa".
At the same time, the stone statue of "Count" Guxin also exploded, and the armor-like stones peeled off, revealing a body burning with green flames underneath.
There was a flag-like blood-red symbol on his forehead, his eyes were spewing flames, and he opened his bottomless mouth and let out a roar that was not like a human voice. He broke free from the shackles of "petrification" and crashed into "Lisa".
In order to stop the witch in front of him, "0-01", who had partially escaped from the seal, chose Gu Xin, who had a familiar breath in his body, and made him his agent.
As long as this position is not vacant, no one else can expect to gain its true recognition!
Knowing this, Lisa felt her body rapidly collapse under the huge divine power. She locked her eyes again on Gu Xin, who had resurrected from the dead and had long lost his self. She was going to bring real disaster and destruction to him and get rid of this useless agent.
But at this moment, the space between the two of them shattered like a mirror, and a figure quickly emerged. Her red hair fluttered, and she looked more graceful than before. Her face, which seemed to express different ages and different beauty at the same time, turned to Lisa and smiled.
She is Elaine Soren, who also came back from the dead.
At this moment, even Lisa, who was already in a divine descent state and possessed part of the consciousness of the "Original Witch", showed some surprise.
But she immediately determined that the person in front of her had merely obtained the power of the Immortal Witch as a "gift" and was resurrected from the mirror.
This state of gaining Sequence 3 power with a Sequence 5 body is extremely unstable and can be easily destroyed by a "disaster", so Lisa's eyes moved from the flaming Gu Xin to Elaine, immediately triggering all the conflicting and unfused powers in her body, putting her in danger of losing control.
But before this "disaster" broke out completely, the dressing mirror that Elaine placed on her chest, which was completely exposed, emitted an orange-red light and a breath that could kill all living things.
The former shot straight at Lisa, causing the gray and white around her and the "disaster" in her eyes to slow down and almost stop; the latter blocked in front of more crawling corpses and Gu Xin who had resurrected from the dead and became an agent, causing them to stop in their steps, lower their heads, and lose control.
At this second, Elaine's magic mirror connected to another mirror in an underground memorial hall of a certain city, allowing the power of "The Glory" and "Archon of Death" to briefly appear in the underground mausoleum.
Affected by these two different yet similar and interconnected forces, the fog near the ceiling dispersed again, and the deep "darkness" that had been seeping into the mausoleum from the ground reappeared and fell towards the constantly shaking blood flag of Salinger.
Blocked for a moment by the power of "Dusk", Lisa's sight that brought destruction and disaster failed to capture Elaine who quickly flashed to the side, but instead fell on Gu Xin who was shrouded in "death" and unable to move for a while.
The hunter, who was full of contradictions both physically and mentally and was temporarily used as an agent by "0-01", had his blue flame extinguished in an instant. His corpse, covered in smoke, fell to the ground and returned to the arms of death again.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Elaine rushed to Lisa at an extremely fast speed, reached out and grabbed the magic mirror on her chest, and pressed the mirror with black edges and alternating orange and black inside against her chest.
Sharp silver-white light immediately burst out from all parts of Lisa's body, tearing the body into countless small pieces.
They lost their support and collapsed to the ground, quickly turning into a pool of pus that could not be identified, and then seeped into the mountain formed by corpses.
Before being killed by the "Silver Rapier", her physical and spiritual bodies as a vessel for God's descent had already collapsed, and the power of the "Original Witch" also left her body.
"hehe..."
A soft laugh sounded in the ears of Elaine and Angel on the other side of the mirror, full of temptation and making people imagine endlessly.
————
Ground floor, Church Square.
The corpses that kept crawling out of the cemetery and pouring into the square, crowded together with the crazy exiles, attacking everyone indiscriminately, lost their second life one by one and fell to the ground. The strength to pull the necks of the more contaminated exiles also disappeared unknowingly.
The exiles, who were originally filled with violence and vowed to overthrow the rule of the Church of Knowledge, came to their senses. Most of them were now full of confusion, not knowing how they had participated in this riot and why they had all gathered in the square.
In the room at the top of the church, Archbishop Heraberg's amber eyes swept through the crowd below and landed on the entrance to the underground mausoleum in the cemetery.
A figure slowly walked out from underground. The flag-like symbol on her forehead was slowly merging into her skin. In one hand she held a lantern, and in the other she held an extraordinary characteristic that looked like a withered heartJump Path
Chapter 1090 Jump Route
The journey back to the ground from the underground mausoleum was very smooth.
Now Elaine does not need to abide by the taboo of "entering only with eyes blindfolded", because the special mirror world formed in this area has changed its owner, and the "person in the mirror" produced by pollution will no longer appear, and will not replace the people who see the mirror and see their own appearance and leave the mausoleum on their behalf.
But Elaine still could not violate the rule of "there must be light", so she picked up the lantern, followed the way she came, easily left the mountain of corpses and the winding passage, and returned to the cemetery behind the church.
Based on this, Elaine suspects that the power within the mausoleum is divided into two parts. The power to control the puppets and master the special mirror world belongs to "0-01" itself, while the power to make people disappear in the dark belongs to the other side that seals it and prevents it from maintaining its activity.
Before leaving, she also found the "Pain" witch attribute left by Lisa, the "Judge" sequence magical item in the shape of a cross, and Gu Xin's "Reaper" attribute.
Even if she didn't get the "Salinger Blood Flag", the spoils of this trip to the underground mausoleum were completely worth the risk of death, not to mention...
Standing at the entrance of the mausoleum, Elaine was a little surprised to see the cemetery which looked like it had been turned over, with tombstones tilted to one side and tombs pushed open from the inside.
She originally thought that the resurrection of the dead was limited to the Corpse Mountain where the power of the Sealed Object "0-01" was leaking out more strongly, but she didn't expect that the same thing was happening in the cemetery above.
Fortunately, it has been sealed again, and the power should have disappeared... Looking at the dead bodies and bones paving a road leading to the church square, Elaine muttered in her heart, her eyes flashing, and she used her eyes as a mirror to come to the mirror world. According to the positioning formed by the magic mirrors on William and Tia, she came to the room at the top of the church, and her figure was outlined from the glass window near the square.
William, who was originally leaning against the window looking down, suddenly felt that there was someone beside him. He looked up and found that his captain had returned safely. Just as he breathed a sigh of relief, he noticed that Elaine had changed greatly compared to when they separated in the morning.
Not only does she have fair and translucent skin, seemingly without any of the roughness from spending years at sea, she also perfectly blends the characteristics of different age groups. Her eyes are as calm as a lake, but she has a lively smile on her lips. Her every move is both elegant and wild, which makes people's heart beat.
Just like Miss Angelica whom he met some time ago... William had a bold guess in his heart, but he didn't dare to believe it.
Tia, who was beside him, had already been mesmerized by the natural charm of this beauty and was speechless.
Archbishop Heraberg, who had been holding the heavy book in his hand, squinted his amber eyes and glanced at Elaine. His gaze lingered on the center of her brows, and he nodded and said:
"It looks like the operation in the underground mausoleum went smoothly?"
"Thanks to your help on the ground. If the flag had not been sealed again, I would have become its puppet down there, living with the puppets and corpses."
Elaine replied respectfully.
She knew very well that if the deep, dark aura that came from the ground to the hall below had not suppressed the "Blood Flag of Salinger" twice, how could she and Lisa, Gu Xin and other extraordinary people who were not even demigods have the qualifications to compete for this level 0 sealed object?
Of course, the final result was no different. Some of the awakened flags wanted to find a suitable "agent", and the three were fighting for the power to control the seal. No matter who survived to the end, they would be more polluted and completely controlled by it...
After touching the skin between her eyebrows where there was originally a red flag mark, which was now a little sore, Elaine continued:
"During the battle, Guxin tried to summon the 'Great God of War', but something unexpected happened; while Lisa attracted the descent of the 'Original Witch' and almost became the final winner with the power of 'petrification'.
"Finally, with the help of the gift of the 'Immortal' Witch, I gained the ability to resurrect from the mirror, which delayed the time of God's descent and made me stand until the end.
"Now, I have become the 'agent' of that seal."
What original witch, what god of war, and the agent... William and Tia were stunned as they listened to the fight below. Only then did they realize that so many things had happened in the underground mausoleum while they were watching the fight below. It even involved the descent of an evil god?
But before they could think about it, a feeling of fatigue enveloped the two of them, followed by pain in the throat and constant coughing.
"Oh, sorry, I forgot that this Beyonder characteristic will spread disease around..."
As Elaine spoke, she used ice to seal the translucent Beyonder Property in her hand, which was like a shrunken, dried heart.
"This is the extraordinary characteristic of the witch Despair," Heraberg said suddenly, "It is not part of your spoils."
"Yes, it was given by Miss Angelica, and it is part of another thing I want to ask of you..."
Elaine said carefully.
"After receiving the 'Gift' with a Sequence 5 body, my current body and spirit are no longer stable. Even if the Gift is not taken back, I can't hold on for too long. Miss Angelica asked me to come to you for some help."
Looking at Elaine, whose expression was calm but with a hint of expectation, Heraberg smiled and asked in a gentle tone:
"How did that person know that I would be able to do it?"
"He said that the Church of Knowledge has sealed that item for so many years, so it should have gained a lot, and you should have made a prophecy." Elaine replied immediately.
After a moment's silence, Heraberg nodded slightly and opened the thick book in his hand.
This turned out to be a hollow book, with the interior space divided into two halves of equal size, filled with extraordinary materials of various shapes, bottles of blood, powder, and even a strand of magma in a molten state contained in a high-temperature resistant transparent bottle.
Pointing to the storage compartment containing blood, Heraberg said in a loud voice:
"This is the auxiliary material for the 'Despair' potion, and the other side is for the 'Iron Knight'."
Iron-Blooded Knight, Sequence 4 of the Hunter Path, my original goal... Elaine was a little dazed for a moment. She looked at the "Despair" witch's extraordinary characteristics sealed by frost in her hand, and realized what kind of "help" she was about to get.
In order to save her body and spirit that had been thrown into imbalance by the temporary powerful gift she had obtained, she had to be promoted to a demigod in order to stabilize her physical condition and give Miss Angelica a chance to extract the gift of the "immortal" witch.
And when the power of the witch's path is already in the body, jumping the path and becoming the "despair" witch is undoubtedly a better choice.
No wonder after the battle, He passed this extraordinary characteristic to me through the mirror world... Elaine's thoughts almost froze, and she subconsciously asked:
"What is the promotion ceremony of 'Despair'?"
She didn't ask about the "Iron Knight" ceremony because Miss Angelica had already revealed to her in advance that she should form a team of no less than 30 people who share her mindset so that she could form a ceremony when she was promoted.
And until now, including William and Tia in front of him, there are less than ten crew members who meet the requirements.
"The ritual of 'despair' is difficult outside, but it is very simple in Morola," Heraberg said without hesitation, "Let more than 30,000 people be involved in a severe plague, and take the potion in their despair and pain."
"Your Miss Angelica used another method to defeat a demigod head-on, replacing the suffering of a large number of ordinary people with his despair, but I think..."
As he spoke, Heraberg looked out the window, at the exiles who were still gathered in the square, preparing to continue besieging the Church of Knowledge at the instigation of a few people with ulterior motives.
"...You probably won't refuse to help us deal with these thugs."
As he spoke, Elaine looked at the crowd, which had exceeded 30,000 and was still growing. Suddenly, she felt that the Beyonder Characteristics in her hand was a little heavy.
————
In the square outside the church, the exiles who had gradually calmed down because "0-01" was sealed again are now getting restless because of the increasing number of their own people and the growing gap between them and the law enforcers protecting the church. They plan to take advantage of the chaos to attack the church again, drive out the clergy of the Church of Knowledge, and restore Morola's "autonomy".
But a thick fog had enveloped the center of the city at some point, covering the church square like a thick curtain, blocking everyone's view.
Such extreme weather changes were not uncommon in Morola. They had seen earthquakes and volcanoes, so why would they retreat because of this little bit of smog?
But soon someone discovered that this smog was different from usual. Not only was the color of the smog depressing iron black, as if mixed with burning volcanic ash, but staying in it would soon make people dizzy, their limbs would fall down weakly, and they would make desperate, gradually low coughs.
"It's poisonous, this fog is poisonous..."
"It was those people from the Church of Knowledge who did this!"
"Don't block the road, get out now."
Amid the shouts in the thick fog, Elaine appeared quietly, wearing a cloak with her face concealed.
She wandered through the mist created by her guide "0-01" that had no effect on her vision, her gaze lingering on the fallen exiles.
They are all death row inmates for serious crimes such as murder and rape. They are people who deserve to die. They were exiled here to seal the "Blood Flag of Salinger". I just want them to stop suffering from pollution and get out of the misery as soon as possible... Her own voice in her head muttered, trying to find a justification for her behavior of spreading the plague and getting promoted.
But no matter what, I am a murderer, and I will kill tens of thousands of people... She sighed secretly, took out a glass bottle that had been filled with auxiliary materials from her pocket, put the dried heart of the "Despair" witch in it, and watched it dissolve in the purple liquid to form a finished potion that was as red as blood.
Beside her, the first exiles who were infected with the occult plague had died in despair and pain. Those further away still had some strength left and tried to escape towards the streets around the square. Layers of human bodies crawled towards the edge of the smog, as if they could escape the despair of death as long as they reached there.
But most of them could not escape death under the plague caused by the "immortal" witch power bestowed upon Elaine.
Feeling the despair of countless exiles in the smog-covered square converging towards her, almost forming a tangible thread pulling her, Elaine no longer hesitated, raised her head and drank the prepared potion.
The strands of her red hair floated, grew thicker and longer, and were stained with an ominous black, turning into a dark red like solidified blood.
In the eyes of the few remaining exiles who were still sober, this woman who exuded an inexplicable charm was like a witch who spread plague, brought disaster and death.
No, she is the real witch of despair!
————
In the room at the top of the church, William and Tia looked out the window at the haze that covered everything below, waiting for their captain to return safely.
The cries in the fog had become very weak. Most of the exiles infected with the plague either died directly or fell into weakness and coma. A few lucky ones at the edge of the fog managed to escape and ran to other streets without looking back, spreading the terror and despair here to every corner of Morola.
In the future, this city will probably have the legend of the "Great Smog of the City of Exile", just like the Great Smog in Backlund... Tia felt a little empty and uncomfortable inside, feeling that this kind of promotion was not what she wanted, but she also had a little yearning for the powerful "Despair" witch.
This is too far away from me. I'd better think about how to get through the fifteen minutes of burning at the stake when I am promoted to "painful"... She muttered to herself as she obtained the formula for the Sequence 5 potion in advance due to the results of her recent actions, and moved her eyes away from the iron-black haze.
Suddenly, the glass surface in front of her began to ripple with water-like patterns, becoming the entrance and exit to the world in the mirror. Elaine walked out of it slowly but firmly and returned to the church.
Her hair was no longer thick and flowing, but the originally flaming red had been tinged with a hint of black, and her emerald green eyes had taken on a hint of the blue of the sea.
Compared to the perfect appearance that showed the characteristics of different ages when she had the gift of "immortality" just now, Elaine at this time once again had some of the heroic spirit of a "hunter", but it was better concealed by her captivating beauty, which made Tia fall into intoxication again.
"Promotion successful?"
William on the side was the first to react and asked in a deep voice.
"Thank you for the final contribution made by these exiles." Elaine replied with a forced smile, but there was no smile in her eyes.
She turned to look at Heraberg, bowed again, and asked respectfully:
"Your Excellency the Archbishop, how does the Church of Knowledge plan to deal with '0-01'? It has regained some activity. Will it look for a new 'agent' after I leave, causing more problems?"
"Its seal is still quite solid, and Morola's population has long exceeded the seal's needs. What happened today will not affect our future actions."
What it means is that it will be the same after what happened before... Elaine nodded in understanding and continued,
"Can we leave now?"
"This city has never restricted anyone from leaving. They act as part of the seal and are also affected by '0-01' and are unwilling to leave."
Heraberg explained patiently.
Elaine breathed a sigh of relief, and finally bowed to thank the archbishop who had helped her a lot. Then she took William and Tia down to the first floor of the church and came to the wooden door through which they entered Morola two months ago.
Seeing that there was indeed no one to stop them, the three of them passed through the corridor illuminated by the gems on the wall and where strange swallowing sounds were heard from time to time, and returned to the underground Temple of Knowledge in Azshara, Lunburg.
Until they walked out of the towering white tower, the three were not stopped by any clergyman. It was as if they were guests visiting the interior of the church rather than prisoners who had been in the "City of Exile" for two months.
Returning to the hotel where she had stayed during her previous arrests, Elaine asked William to buy the fastest steam train ticket to leave the city and return to the sea. She went into the bedroom and stood in front of the decorative half-length mirror, stroking the smooth surface of the mirror, making the mirror that reflected her perfect and somewhat unfamiliar face become dark and deep.
The next second, she came to the real mirror world, wandering in the dim passages extending in different directions. Following the guidance of her own spirituality, she quickly sank into the depths and arrived at a space with very sparse passages in the mirror, but stained with blood red and iron black.
The "Golden Queen" Angelica, with long light golden hair, deep purple eyes and a skirt fluttering in the wind, was waiting for her here.
(End of this chapter