Chapter 443

The tide of magical beasts around the Valla Empire was not only a huge obstacle for adventurers who intended to enter from outside in search of treasures, it was also quite a problem for those who wanted to leave the Valla Empire.

"Don't be afraid. Goblins are the lowest of magical beasts. They're cowardly, and quickly killing some of them would make the rest lose their will to fight!"

Kristina was loudly instructing her subordinates to prevent their perimeter from being overwhelmed by the goblins that outnumbered them by ten times.

She did not make an OMO face either, and simply watched on.

As a church that worshipped Kratos, the God of War, the Temple of Glory naturally did not speak based solely on 'qualifications' like the Brilliant White Church.

While it was not to the point where the strong preyed on the weak, one would never be able to secure a high position in the Temple of Glory if they did not have enough ability and courage to fight.

That was probably why the Temple of Glory and the Brilliant White Church always suffered a little when it came to governance. Even the Temple of Glory's pontiff, who was over sixty years old, was still a muscular man who could kill a Dragonfang with a single punch. While it was partly due to the grace of the God of War, he had basically earned his position by punching and kicking himself.

If even the pontiff was like that, one could only imagine what the Temple of Glory's hierarchy was like. That was why they certainly could not compare to the Brilliant White Church when it came to playing mind games.

Naturally, the Brilliant White Church would only stretch their legs and try to trip them up, never crossing the line or doing things that would harm the Temple of Glory without benefiting themselves (although they often did it to other churches). That was because they knew that the Temple of Glory's hierarchy were all tough men with no brains, and if they really disgust them too much, they wouldn't care about things like 'the greater good' or 'the future of mankind', and would definitely pick up a knife …

Anyway, as the Scepter of the Temple of Glory, Kristina was naturally a champion who had grasped combat aura and was outstanding in ability.

Moreover, she was one of the few Extraordinary individuals the Temple of Glory had sent to the Valla Empire.

Summoning the Chaos Scepter, the sacred item exclusive to Scepters, the girl cried out and joined the perimeter.

Although the Chaos Scepter was called a staff, it actually looked like a Chinese guandao. However, the blade at the head was more curved and shaped like a crescent moon.

The item would constantly accumulate its user's combat aura, and in battle, it could unleash a non-attribute air blade with a single swing, achieving long-range attack.

The special effect of the Temple of Glory's Sacred Artifact was that the wielder could add all sorts of cool light effects and special effects to the air blades while wielding the Sacred Artifact — the power itself wouldn't be increased, but it would simply look better.

After all, the position of Scepters was similar to imperial envoys, and while there were not many of them, it was spread across the entire continent.

Even if the Temple of Glory was one of the two major churches of this era, it was impossible for them to equip every scepter with a sacred item in the truest sense.

In this case, the effect was cool, the cost of materials and God's Grace were not high, and the Chaos Scepter could be mass-produced to a certain extent. The price-to-performance ratio was very high …

Once Kristina joined the fray, she easily cut down a dozen goblins with the Chaos Scepter's long-range attack. The goblins that had been charging at her like a tidal wave were at once intimidated by her presence, their movements slowing considerably.

On the other hand, the other believers of the Temple of Glory were encouraged and began to cut down the goblins even faster, almost as if they were harvesting wheat …

And yet, their plan to repel the goblins in one fell swoop was thwarted. The sharp-eyed Kristina noticed burly bear-goblins appearing in the depths of the forest, just as the phantom-like silhouettes of goblins and wolf riders flashed past on their wargs.

"No wonder there aren't any signs of other monsters in this area. Looks like there's a high-level 'Goblin Lair' monster with a danger rating of XX and above here. If we let it grow, it might evolve into an underground city …"

If a large group of goblins migrated to this area, their grandiose march route would never escape the notice of the humans in the surrounding towns, just as the human rulers would dispatch armies to clean up any threat to the towns.

But until now, according to the information the girl had, no one had noticed them, which meant that they did not live in the Prime Material Plane, but were brought here by the 'Goblin Lair', a monster that disguised itself as a cave.

The Lair looked like a huge yellowish-brown sack, with its lower body always hidden beneath the ground and only its mouth exposed. In fact, its body was a spell-like ability similar to a dimensional bag, with the space inside being much larger than its body and able to hold a city's population. Moreover, there would usually be some low-level gregarious monsters such as goblins and kobolds inside the Lair's body.

When a Lair grew to a certain extent, the space inside its body would change again, and the number, species, and quality of the monsters would increase substantially. When that happens, it would no longer be a normal monster, but a living underground city.

Each time a living underground city appeared, there would be one or more cities that were destroyed by the monsters. That was why even if the Lair itself was not destructive, it was rated as quite dangerous by many churches.

"Wait a minute. Now that I think about it, with so many monsters suddenly appearing around the area, could this Lair have evolved into an underground city?"

Even as Christina's heart skipped a beat, her hands did not stop as she continued harvesting the goblins' lives.

The goblins that were used as cannon fodder had long since lost their morale, but with bear goblins and goblin wolf-riders supervising them from behind, they did not even have the courage to run, and could only brace themselves and charge at the humans to die.

While it appeared that the Temple of Glory was in a good position, it could not go on like that.

Aura was energy born from the combination of divine grace and lifeforce. It was not endless, and they would die from exhaustion sooner or later if this continued.

They could not break out of the encirclement, nor could they finish off the cannon fodder when they attacked, not to mention that there were bear goblins guarding the rear. Even if they tried to scatter and flee, there were still goblin wolf-riders with superior mobility glaring at them.

It's over.

But just as everyone thought that they were at their wits' end, a young voice suddenly yelled. "Get down!"

Though the Temple of Glory believers' minds were blank due to the incessant slaughter, they could not even realize that it was not Christina's order, and could only subconsciously do as she yelled.

And in the instant that they dropped to the ground, a turbid torrent shot at them from behind, scattering the dense ranks of goblins. The goblin army that had no formation in the first place was thrown into utter chaos at once, and even the bear goblins and goblin wolf-riders could not recover in a short time.

Christina instantly understood the meaning of her rescuer.

"Follow me!" The girl shouted like Joan of Arc, raising the Chaos Staff high above her head.