Inside the dim underground palace, the pillars of light mixed with flames struck down nonstop. The deep darkness melted as quickly as the first snow meeting the sun. All kinds of strange worms were petrified, and the evil shadows were screaming miserably.
A dim light flashed, and the oracles floating in the air suddenly fell down, as if they were being dragged down by their ankles. The defensive layer on their bodies did not have any effect, and most of the evil arts were stopped abruptly.
Before they realized what was going on, they saw that the intimidating golden-haired middle-aged man extended his right hand and opened his fingers. On every finger, a small eye protruded, and at the center of his palm, a giant brown eye that was mixed with blood appeared.
The five weird, terrifying eyes were in different colors and shot out different rays. The giant brown eye, on the other hand, emitted a dim light, making everybody feel that their body was heavier, as if the gravity in this place had been greatly increased.
Different rays hit the black-robed priests, slowing, paralyzing, petrifying, or even turning them into countless spots of light. The powerful enemies that the pastors, bishops, saint Knight, and night watchers could not deal with were immediately suppressed. Victory was about to be won.
Some of the cultists shouted in panic. They had never encountered such a weird and powerful enemy before!
"Where … Where's the high priest?"
"Wasn't the high priest stopping him?"
At the critical moment, they thought of their leader, the supreme chosen of the Queen of Chaos. Wasn't he fighting the intimidating middle-aged man just now?
Hearing their call, the middle-aged man in a white robe accelerated his attack. Evil eyes of different colors grew out of his face and his other hand, shooting out rays of defense and attack. He snorted, "You think a level-seven priest of a cult can stop me? I've killed almost thirty priests who were stronger than him. "
What? After confirming the death of the pontiff, the mental defense line of the cultists and the priests immediately collapsed. They even forgot to pray for strength from the Queen of Chaos. After the rays of light came at them, they soon lost their combat ability in panic and were captured or killed by the night watchers, the reverends, and the divine knights. None of them escaped.
"Hehe. Too many uncanny cults have popped up recently. We have to find the source!" The creepy eyes on the face and hands of the intimidating middle-aged man were closed, leaving no trace at all.
One of the night watchers said gratefully, "Thank goodness that you were nearby, my lord. Otherwise, the priests of the Queen of Chaos might've escaped."
As a matter of fact, it would've been more than just escaping. They would've all been killed. Thankfully, Winchell, the Eye of Brilliance, who ranked third among the night watchers, came with another clue and avoided such a terrible consequence.
"I'm responsible for dealing with the cultists. It's my duty to deal with them." Winchell nodded and said, "You will search around in groups. Do not let go of any cultist."
"Yes, my lord," the captain of night watchers replied respectfully.
Winchell paced in the hall and looked at the messy altars that were carved with naked women and men, looking for clues that could be used for investigation.
Looking at the magnificent but old underground palace, the dim environment where corpses were lying on the ground, and the ancient stone gates and chambers, Winchell somehow had mixed feelings. He had encountered such scenes too many times. In both his previous life as an adventurer and the operation to purge the cultists after he joined the night watchers, it was inevitable that he had dealt with underground palaces, battles, secret chambers, and hidden secrets.
"Those wretched ancient sorcerers always like to dig underground …" Winchell cursed.
Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat. His eyes turned into rubies and shot out two rays of light, which directly shattered a nearby wall and revealed the secret door inside.
Having no time to summon the other clerics, he simply flew into the narrow tunnel and chased after the cultists.
After turning a corner, Winchell found many shocked cultists before him. They were crawling into a chamber one after another.
Hehe. Winchell sneered. You want to run away from me?
The dense eyes were opened again, and the cultists fell to the ground one after another. Winchell broke into the secret chamber and pressed forward, chasing after the enemy in the front. Those who had lost their combat ability were naturally dealt with by the clerics who came later.
As he chased after them, the cultists in the front gradually became fewer and fewer until they were nowhere to be seen. However, Winchell did not stop. His intuition told him that there were still big fish up ahead, big fish that were as big as the 'chosen one' earlier.
Bam. A stone gate that was full of patterns was shattered by the rays. Winchell stepped into the secret chamber at the deepest part and looked around warily. However, there was nothing but a statue of 'Queen of Chaos' that was holding a burning fire. There were no other cultists.
Why was there no cultists? Winchell looked around, slightly stunned. As a gold Knight, even though he was more inclined to cast spells, he was quite confident in his intuition.
Suddenly, a cool wind blew over, making Winchell shiver even though he was a gold Knight. He sensed danger for the first time tonight.
The feeling was not very strong. Winchell did not run away immediately. Instead, he launched defensive rays and surrounded himself with an iron wall.
Looking around, Winchell saw nothing but lifeless walls, a quiet, empty room, and a common, crude statue. He did not find the source of the danger.
However, this feeling of coldness and solitude made his hair stand on end. He couldn't help but take a few steps back. At this moment, the flame held by the Queen of Chaos statue suddenly rose and burned fiercely as it let out a sinister laugh.
For a moment, Winchell intuitively sensed an indescribable danger that was hundreds if not thousands of times more intense than before. Even though he was a night watcher who often walked on the edge of danger, he still couldn't help but shiver. He understood a lot of things. His sense of danger was not strong earlier because somebody had interfered with it. Someone who could interfere with his intuition so effectively was definitely not someone that he could resist, just like how the priest faced him just now.
While he shivered, Winchell's strong willpower helped him stabilize himself. His abundant experience allowed him to see through the problem. It would've been more than easy for such a being to kill him now that he had locked onto his location. However, he spent more time and effort luring him to leave the team and enter the secret chamber. It was obvious that he had other purposes.
"Who is it?" he asked tentatively, with dirty liquid flowing out of the eye in his hand.
The fire rose into the shape of a human and said in an old and coarse voice, "It doesn't matter who I am. What matters is what I can offer you."
"Hehe. I am the Lord's guard in darkness. I would rather die than make a deal with the devil." Winchell basically ruled out the possibility that it was a demon.
Inside the empty secret chamber, the fire's laughter echoed. "What if it's to make you closer to your Lord so that you can serve him better?"
"What do you mean?" Winchell found it hilarious, but he was also solemn and confused from the bottom of his heart.
The fire's tone became solemn. "Do you not find it odd? As devout believers and guards of the God of Truth, the pastors, bishops, ascetics, and part of the Knight Saints can receive the divine powers that he grants, but most of the night watchers who are not pastors can only fight with their blood power. Also, most of the Saint Knights are far weaker than the pastors of the same level. Why is that? Why would the impartial God of Truth treat his own guards so unfairly? "
"Nonsense! We are guilty of original sins. We can only receive the Lord's blessings through selfless devotion! "Winchell's fury was somewhat unreal.
"Is that so?" The fire mocked. "How much devotion have you made to the God of Truth? You can't be granted divine powers, but you can at least be improved as a Knight, can't you?"
Right when Winchell was about to argue angrily again, the fire continued, "Everything has nothing to do with the God of Truth, because what he granted to you has been intercepted by the pope and the Grand Cardinals. Also, he is sleeping right now and is unaware of it."
"What?" Winchell was not so "angry" if it were not because of the Lord.
"You can read this file. It's a reward from the God of Truth that you deserve." Words jumped out of the fire and constituted an article that was full of obscure symbols.
Winchell was wary of the temptation of the devil, but his confusion still made him read the article. After all, he would not betray the Church! That was his position!
The moment he saw the article, he couldn't move his eyes away. He was completely fascinated by it.
"Well …" He shook his head in both fear and excitement.
"As the supreme god, why does the God of Truth spread faith by force? Is it necessary? It's because the power of faith is a reward for the devout guards like you so that you can polish yourself and get closer to Him with it. However, it has been completely intercepted by the pope and the Grand Cardinals without leaving any for you. Do you understand why they are so strong now? "The voice of the fire became gentle, and Winchell was shuddering after every word.
"I don't believe it." He shook his head hard and asked in self-contradiction, "You're showing me such an important method just like that?"
The way to "steal" and make use of the power of faith had been deeply etched in his head.
"Now that you've asked sincerely, I'll tell you frankly that I am the embodiment of fairness, and I hate such injustice the most." The fire chuckled. Then, under Winchell's incredulous eyes, he continued, "I'll ask you for some information now and then. Rest assured. Nobody will suspect you. I have other sources of intelligence, such as many red robes."
Red robes? Winchell's pupils constricted violently. In the past hundreds of years, because of the uniqueness of the heart of faith, there had never been any spies in the level of red robes in the Church. That was mostly for outsiders. The North and the South Churches had planted a lot of spies in the level of red robes.
Was he from the North Church?
"With such a method, will your heart of faith be shaken? So, don't guess who I am. Just remember my codename, Red Burier. "The fire gradually died down.
Winchell stood where he was and looked at the empty room, not saying anything for a long time. He felt that he had just had a bizarre dream. Had he received a method that was most precious and useful without paying anything?
… …
Inside the Land of Truth, Lucien said to Douglas with a smile, "Viken secretly announced the way to become a demigod, trying to make the legendary experts fight each other. Then, we'll do the same and spread the secrets of stealing and making use of the power of faith among some of the red robes. By stealing the power of faith layer by layer, the foundation of the South Church will be disrupted. After all, spreading faith is different from the sorcerers' arcana studies and the exploration of the world. They have to be organized, which is something that Viken cannot avoid, unless he can project a seed in the heart of every cleric."
"If I weren't worried that Viken might discover it, I would've announced the way to steal the power of faith through 'Arcana Voice'.
"If Viken learns how you 'use' such a precious method, his face will certainly be very interesting." Douglas chuckled. After all, who could've foreseen that somebody would disseminate the method? Did they think that there were not enough competitors? Only grand arcanists such as Lucien and himself, who had never thought of such a path, could've made such a bold move.
Lucien opened his hands. "Maybe he will curse me for being insane."
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