The cathedral of Louen was located in the elliptical square in the center of the city. The wide square was paved with neat white stone slabs and was surrounded by 22 avenues that extended to all corners of the city like the trunk of a spider web. As a typical Theocratic city, the cathedral was also the administrative center of Louen. Therefore, it was the only large building in the center of the city. There was not a second building that could compare to the cathedral within a few kilometers of the square, or even in the entire city. Now, the once magnificent steeple cathedral was shrouded in the shadows of darkness and Chaos like the rest of the city, and was gradually falling into oblivion.
Countless zombie-like figures appeared on the street, looking creepy and creepy. They were the citizens of Louen, the poor, the nobles, and even the monks and the city guards. Their faces were stiff, and their eyes were lifeless. They moved toward the cathedral step by step in the darkness, like the souls and shadows that lingered forever in the legendary Kingdom of Death.
The scene was creepy even from afar, not to mention walking up close and witnessing it with one's own eyes. Even a knowledgeable person like Hao Ren could not help but feel a chill run down his spine. The Sanctum investigators were even more nervous. Calaxus drew a sacred symbol on his chest. "The evil forces of Chaos must have distorted these innocent citizens. They have lost themselves."
A church knight drew his sword, but he was at a loss. "We can't let them defile the sacred cathedral. But there are too many of them!"
Yes, there were too many of them. Everyone at the scene could see that the target of these zombies was the sacred cathedral. Everyone's first thought was to stop them. But there were not just one or two zombies on the street, but tens of thousands of them! Maybe even hundreds of thousands! Even if every single one of them had no power to resist, it was impossible for a few knights and monks to stop them.
Hao Ren looked solemnly at the cathedral in the center of the square. He knew that it was impossible for them to stop such a wave of zombies. There was only one way to stop the zombies before they entered the cathedral, and that was to blow up the cathedral before it fell. But there was a problem with doing so, and that was, Calaxus might go crazy.
While Hao Ren was pondering about the feasibility of solving a thousand problems with a single shot, he suddenly saw a 'zombie' in the square swaying a few times, and then as if it had evaporated, it turned into a puff of black smoke and disappeared.
Then, a second, a third … More and more zombies seemed to be purified by an invisible force as they instantly turned into black smoke and dissipated in the air. This reminded Hao Ren of the monsters of Chaos who had been killed by the power of Order. Those monsters also turned into smoke and disappeared quickly after being killed by the power of Order.
"It seems that they can't get within a hundred meters of the cathedral," Lily muttered after noticing the scene.
Calaxus looked relieved. "The power of the great goddess still remains in the holy land, and the cathedral is still under the protection of the goddess."
More and more zombies were purified by the invisible divine power around the cathedral like moths flying into a flame. Not long after, the swaying shadows in the square were reduced by half, and the surroundings became clear. At this moment, Hao Ren saw something moving in the glass window on the side of the cathedral. It seemed to be a figure.
"There is someone in the cathedral!" Hao Ren immediately said.
"In the cathedral?" Calaxus and an assistant bishop looked at each other. "Under the protection of the goddess, they may still be sane!"
They immediately ran toward the cathedral, crossing the sparse number of zombies on the square. The zombies were still staggering forward, seemingly unaware of the people running past them, and did not show any intention to attack. Hao Ren and Calaxus came to the front door of the cathedral without any hindrance. But when they were a few meters away from the door, a white light suddenly shot out from a narrow window beside the door and exploded in front of Calaxus as a warning.
At the same time, a vigilant voice rang out. "Do not come any closer!"
"We are the senior priests from Fidelinopolis!" Calaxus immediately stood still and shouted. "We mean no harm. We just want to find a place to stay and ask some questions!"
"Fidelinopolis?" The voice in the cathedral hesitated for a moment, apparently surprised and doubtful about the answer. "In the sanctuary of the goddess, lying will bring ten times the punishment! Are you really from Fidelinopolis? "
Calaxus was puzzled. "What's wrong with coming from Fidelinopolis? I am the senior bishop of the Basilica Icon, Calaxus. If you don't believe me, you can check the list of senior priests stored in your library. I am standing right here, and you can compare the portrait on the list! "
The voice in the cathedral hesitated again and became more serious. "Fidelinopolis has long been … How can a senior priest come out of there at this time?"
"What happened to Fidelinopolis?" Calaxus was shocked. He heard a few words from the voice that made his hair stand on end. "What do you mean?"
The voice in the cathedral did not answer. Instead, it questioned, "You don't even know this? Then your identity is even more suspicious. "
"No, we are indeed from Fidelinopolis, but we have been away from there for more than a month." Calaxus knew that the situation might be beyond his expectations. He quickly explained, "We are the investigation team from Fidelinopolis to Ansu Continent more than a month ago under the orders of His Holiness the Pope. We have records of our trip. The investigation team encountered an accident on Ansu Continent and only returned today …"
"Investigation team?" The voice in the cathedral seemed to finally believe it. "It seems that there is such a thing … But it is said that the investigation team encountered a storm before they reached Ansu Continent. The last news that Sanctum received was their emergency communication. Did you manage to escape? "
It seemed that the matter of the investigation team of Sanctum was not a secret here, and the voice in the cathedral was also a priest of a certain status in the church system. He even knew this news.
"Goddess bless us," Calaxus could not help but recite. "We got the help of a local leader and luckily survived the storm of Chaos. But we lost the Sacred Hammer, so we lost contact with Sanctum and could not send back news of rescue."
The voice in the cathedral was silent for a moment as if thinking. A moment later, it said, "You don't look like the minions of the nightmare. Wait a minute, I will inform the bishop. Don't trespass the cathedral. The indiscriminate defense of the cathedral has been activated. Trespassers will be attacked. "
Then the voice quieted down. Hao Ren and his team waited patiently outside. After a few minutes, they heard footsteps coming from behind the door.
There was a faint glimmer on the door of the cathedral, and a gap appeared in the defense circle that covered the entire building. When the door opened, a middle-aged man in a white robe with a broad and square face appeared at the door.
The middle-aged man looked at the people standing at the door. He noticed that several of Calaxus' men were dressed in the uniforms of Sanctum clergy and combatants, but their clothes and armor were damaged, which was in line with the description of the Sacred Hammer crash. But Hao Ren, Lily, and Lady Gloom standing next to Calaxus puzzled the middle-aged man.
Their attire was different from that of the Sanctum. Even in the secular kingdom, it would be considered bizarre. Lady Gloom's cloak and hood were slightly better, but if they were thrown out on the street, it would be easy to alert the police.
"They are from the Ansu Continent." Now that the situation was unclear, the survivors hiding in the cathedral might not be completely trustworthy. Even if they could be trusted, there was no guarantee that the minions of the dark had spies around the cathedral. So Calaxus was cautious about what he should reveal. "They are the messengers of the Kingdom of Taros. I can guarantee that they are reliable. Can we go in now? "
The middle-aged man stepped aside, revealing the dimly lit assembly hall. "Come in, before the second nightmare begins."
As they stepped into the cathedral, Calaxus frowned as he looked at the gloomy hall. It used to be a place for believers and priests to worship, brightly lit all year round. But now, all the lights seemed to have been removed, and even the magic circle at the top of the cathedral remained silent. Dim mithril lines intertwined on the vault of the hall into an obscure pattern, making the entire assembly hall look gloomy and depressing.
Between the rows of benches, the high-grade cultivator saw many curled up figures.
It seemed that there were more survivors hiding in the cathedral than expected.
"Why don't you light up the place?" Hao Ren asked casually, feeling that it was strange for a sanctuary to be so dark.
The middle-aged man sighed. "The light in the dark will attract the unclean, and our sacred crystal reserves are limited. We can't afford to use it too much."
Calaxus glanced at the middle-aged monk. "What position do you hold in this church?"
"I am in charge of the archives of the Cathedral of Loen. Blessed by God, I am now an official priest," the middle-aged man replied. "You can call me Bernstein."
"Where is the bishop of the region?"
"Bishop Holtzman and other refugees are in the crypt. His lordship suffered a mental backlash when he resisted the nightmare and now needs to rest. I am in charge of the aboveground affairs for the time being. Of course, you can go and see him. "
Calaxus nodded slightly and did not say anything else.
All the questions would be answered when they met the person in charge here.
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