Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 263: Settlement! People of the Storm

It was a beautiful victory.

Compared with the previous time the enemy infiltrated the church, there were no casualties this time.

This was not only due to the improvement in the church's defense capabilities - the church's clergy had also become noticeably stronger in repeated fierce battles with the enemy, which made Luo Xiu quite pleased.

The crisis was temporarily resolved, and Anthony dragged the tightly bound fang-headed prisoner to Luo Xiu.

Through the panel detection, Luo Xiu knew that the [Lost] Fang Leader in front of him, his name was Lias Blancha.

His profession is "Elemental Priest". He originally possessed the ability to control fire and lightning, but now he has completely become a captive of the church.

"What should we do with him?" Anthony asked Luo Xiu for instructions.

In fact, Luo Xiu had already made a decision on how to deal with Lias.

This is the "Fang Chief" who has always been serving the "Executioner" Koros. Luo Xiu intends to pry some information out of him.

However, the "Elemental Priest" Lias, who had clearly fallen into the hands of the church, was no longer suitable to use the ability of soul manipulation to directly interrogate his soul.

Besides, this interrogation method is not sustainable, and Luo Xiu also has better options.

He then said to Anthony: "You go to the border court in person and ask the 'Knight of the Throne' Frosa to come and receive the prisoners."

"I will guard this 'Fang Head' here, and then I will escort him to the border with Frosa."

"Anthony, I will lend you the Golden Pegasus temporarily. He will be able to protect your safety."

"If you are blocked by the enemy, you should prioritize protecting yourself."

"Okay." Anthony nodded.

After Anthony took on this temporary and urgent task, Luo Xiu summoned the "Golden Pegasus" again, and Anthony immediately jumped on the horse.

Pegasus spread his wings from his waist, and after flapping them twice, he and Anthony suddenly flew into the air. Soon they turned into spots of light and disappeared from Luo Xiu's sight.

Because the "High Priest's Residence" had been severely damaged in the previous battle, Luo Xiu immediately took the "Elemental Priest" Lias to the Holy Inquisition. Other clergymen of the church surrounded the Holy Inquisition in three layers, waiting for Anthony and the "Knight of the Throne" Frosa to return.

……

Inside the Inquisition.

In the most central room - originally the holy office of the "chief officer" Anthony, there were only two people in it at this moment: Luo Xiu and the "elemental priest" Lias who was tied up.

Pamier and Chiranta, two lieutenants of the Holy Inquisition, were leading other clergymen to guard the periphery.

Lias was still in a coma at this time and had no awareness of the surrounding situation.

While waiting for Anthony to come back, Luo Xiu opened the mailbox panel.

The rewards for killing Afatak and two "Fang Heads" were still quietly lying in his mailbox.

Luo Xiu took advantage of this opportunity to complete the settlement of these three rewards.

After silently performing the necessary ritual sacrifices, Luo Xiu immediately gave the instructions for "settlement".

The three bright red dots suddenly disappeared from the panel. A flash of light and shadow appeared, and the settlement page suddenly jumped out.

[Kill "Singer" Zadwell (lv.31), gain 2289 basic experience points]

[Rewards settlement, actual experience points gained: 2289! ]

【…】

This was the last [Lost] Fang Head that Luo Xiu killed, but his strength was too far behind Luo Xiu. Although he was a transcendent with the "Quadruple Destiny", he did not get more kill rewards.

Luo Xiu didn't care about these things. He continued to focus on the subsequent settlement.

[Kill "Curser" Laqishi (lv.38) and gain 2773 basic experience points]

[Rewards settlement, actual experience points gained: 2773! ]

【…】

["The Curse Master" Laqishi is a mad curse-level boss]

[Rewards for killing the Mad Doom boss are being generated...]

[Kill rewards generated]

[Obtain the expertise "Doomsday Curse (Rare)", free attribute points*5]!
[Doomsday Curse (Rare): You have embraced your misfortune, and gained a more powerful way to cast curses.]

[Benefit: The "Curse" you release will deepen its effect by one layer, and it has a built-in "Curse Penetration" effect - if the cursed target has the corresponding curse resistance, the "Curse" you release can still take effect at 50%. ]

[Price: You will become unlucky. Your "Luck" attribute will be constantly below 10 points. For every 1 point above the threshold, 1 point of other random attributes will be deducted at the same time, and the gain of "Doom Curse" will be reduced by 1%. The part exceeding 50% will continue to be converted into a loss. ]

【…】

"..."

"……what?"

Luo Xiu tilted his head, his eyes filled with some doubt.

This was a very strong "rare" quality skill for the Lost Spellcaster, but for Luo Xiu, it was a complete negative improvement.

Luo Xiu's "luck" attribute has been finally accumulated to 39 points through various specialties. This non-free attribute point allocation of "luck" attribute value cannot be washed away by the "Double-Faced Doll". Therefore, he is not prepared to confirm the settlement of this kill reward.

There is no need to "confirm the settlement" immediately. The cooling time of Luo Xiu's "Lost Path Explorer" is less than half a day. After the cooling time is over, Luo Xiu will prepare to refresh the settlement result again.

Temporarily hiding the reward interface for killing the Curse Master Lacish, Luo Xiu prepared to make the final settlement.

The kill reward for "Storm Warrior" Afatak is calculated!

[Ku Tu] The warrior profession's specialties are basically improvements to basic attributes, and it is unlikely that there will be a situation where it is completely incompatible like the "Spellcaster" specialty.

As for the kill rewards that are most likely to yield good stuff, Luo Xiu always likes to save them for last.

A flash of light and shadow appeared before his eyes, and the panel soon displayed the result of the settlement.

[Kill "Storm Warrior" Afatak (lv.40), gain 3028 basic experience points]

[Rewards settlement, actual experience points gained: 3028! ]

【…】

[“Storm Warrior” Afatak is a mad boss]

[Rewards for killing the Mad Doom boss are being generated...]

[Kill rewards generated]

[Obtain the expertise "Storm People (Epic)", free attribute points*5]!
[Storm People (Epic): Face the storm, step into the storm, and rise above the storm people. 】

[Your "Constitution" attribute increases by 24 points, "Resistance" attribute increases by 18 points, and "Defense Reduction" gains an additional calculation base of 3 times the value of "Constitution". ]

[Your body is greatly enhanced: When your health is lower, you will get a high amount of total damage reduction - for every 10% of your health lost, you will get 5% total damage reduction (up to 40%), when your health drops to 10% and below, you will be immune to all control effects and increase physical attacks by 50%, which will last until your health is restored to more than half, or the current battle ends. ]

【…】

"This is good..." Luo Xiu's eyes were bright and he pondered in his heart.

This is an "epic" quality feat where the enemy becomes stronger as the fight goes on, and this was indeed reflected in the previous battle between Afatak and him.

But at that time, Afatak did not benefit from the bonus effect of "health value less than 10%" in this expertise, and was killed by Luo Xiu who triggered the inherent skill of "Poisonous Bite", which also allowed Luo Xiu to inadvertently avoid an unnecessary fierce battle.

He was very satisfied with the settlement of the reward for killing Afatak and confirmed the result of the settlement.

Afterwards, Luo Xiu closed the panel and began to concentrate on guarding the fang-headed prisoner in front of him, while waiting for Anthony's return.

……

Outside of Red Maple City, in the pitch-black military camp, the "Executioner" Koros was in the big tent in the middle, waiting for his "Fang Chiefs" to return and report the results of the operation to him.

Next to him, an old man in a dark blue robe and holding a silver-studded cane was looking at him with a strange expression, half smiling and half laughing.

"I told you, Cross."

The old man suddenly spoke to Koros in a hoarse voice: "'Don't try easily, and don't be overly cautious.' I have advised you a long time ago. When 'temptation' and 'caution' work together, you will gain nothing."

"If you ask me, you shouldn't let your minions go deep into that city."

"...If this is the only way to deal with the enemies in the city, then there is no need for us to come here at all - you should go there yourself and kill all the extraordinary people in the church, the border court, and the square monument courtyard before dawn. This is the most efficient way."

"..."

"...Baberon, you make too many assumptions." Koros responded in a sharp and cold voice.

"How do you know that my 'Fangs' can't complete my mission? We have already encountered the Holy Deacon of the Songyuan Parish of the 'Holy Court' halfway, and even almost met the 'Throne Knights' of Lord Gawain Bakar. I certainly have reason to suspect that there are still secrets in that city that I don't know."

"Besides, the rebellion of Guillotine Bagli has made it impossible for me to trust any of the information about Red Maple City that he previously sent back to us. I also need to ask the Fangs to find a way forward for me once again."

After a pause, Koros continued:

"For this reason, as long as we can find out the enemy's true strength, even if a few '獠首' die, it won't be a serious loss to me. As long as one of the people I send comes back alive, it will be fine."

"Moreover, I received an order from the 'Grand Duke' to take over the command of the nearby vanguard army and capture Red Maple City and its surrounding towns before the main army actually arrives at the front line."

"Red Maple City is a strategic location, but to me, it's just a 'stepping stone'. Do you understand, Baberon? Although I don't know why you must follow me, but since you are here, you must obey my orders."

"Haha." Upon hearing this, Baberon just smiled faintly.

"Then we can make a bet on how many of your 'Fang Heads' can come back alive. If you lose, you have to give me the original copy of 'Said's Notebook'."

"Haha, Koros. You sent a total of twelve fang heads to the church, the border court, and the square monument courtyard at the same time. I guess, at most only half of them can come back."

"..." A hint of cruelty flashed across Koros' face, but he did not flare up, nor did he respond to Baberon's invitation to gamble.

Just when the conversation between the two reached a stalemate, the door curtain of the tent was suddenly lifted.

A bloody figure flashed in. He was covered in blood and mud, as if he had exhausted almost all of his strength just to get here.

The figure then staggered and knelt in front of Koros and Baberon.

"Hey, 'Alchemist' Sodler, my disciple, and the first 'Fang Head' to come back alive."

Baberon looked at Koros with a smile and spoke like a narration.

Without paying attention to Baberon's aside, Koros asked Sodler directly: "How is the operation?"

"…Aphatak died in battle, Lord Koros."

Sodler answered quickly:

"Once we invaded the church, we headed straight for the residence of their 'high priest' according to the established plan - but this turned out to be a deadly trap!"

"Zadwell, Graydu, and Lias entered the residence, but were isolated inside by the barrier that suddenly opened."

"Afatak, Laqishi, and I were surrounded by the group of priests. Afatak died at the hands of the 'high priest'. It seems that Laqishi was not able to enter the Mist Ring Gate in the end. He must be in danger."

"...I understand." Koros nodded.

Just as Sodler was reporting this, the tent curtain was once again lifted.

Koros looked up and saw that the one who came in this time was the fang leader of Nothingness, 'Gray Cross'.

Huidu's condition was much better than Sodler's. Apart from his robe being stained gray, he did not suffer any particularly serious injuries.

Graydu glanced at Sodler and guessed that he had already reported the general situation to Koros, so he saluted Koros and said:

"Lord Koros, I am glad to see you again."

"Sodler and I are probably the only two survivors of the 'Fang Heads' that invaded the church this time. The situation in that church is really quite dangerous, and the strength of that 'High Priest' has once again exceeded our expectations."

"..."

"Hey, Cross, look."

Baberon's hoarse voice came from the side again, "Of the six 'Fang Heads' sent to the church, only two returned alive. I told you, such temptations will only yield nothing."

"…You should shut up, Baberon."

Koros said in a cold voice, "Perhaps, I should have let you be killed by that 'Holy Deacon' instead of saving you."

……

Afterwards, the surviving "獠首" who were sent to the border and Fangbeiyuan also returned one after another.

Of the four Liao leaders sent to the border, only two returned alive; and of the two Liao leaders sent to Fangbeiyuan, only one returned alive.

Whether it is the church, the border court or the Fangbei Courtyard, they have long begun to guard against the possibility of the arrival of the "Executioner" - this is the information that Koros summarized and learned from the surviving "Fang Chief".

This is also the main reason why the "獠首"'s actions failed.

"Haha, you lose, Koros."

Baberon said to Koros in a hoarse voice: "Then you should hand over the "Notes of Sayde" to me."

"...Humph. I didn't promise you, Baberon."

Koros refuted him with a cold voice, then slowly stood up and said with a ferocious look on his face:

"I already know who our biggest threat is."

"Come with me, Baberon. You will assist me."

“I always knew what to do—I’ve never been more lucid.”

"If nothing unexpected happens, it will only take one day."

"I will make Red Maple City a river of blood."

……

Half an hour later.

Luo Xiu, who was waiting in the Holy Court, suddenly felt his spirit tremble.

His "Golden Pegasus" has flown back to the church, along with Anthony and the "Knight of the Throne" Frosa.

Luo Xiu then stood up, picked up Lias, who was tied up on the ground, with one hand, and walked out of the Inquisition.

As soon as he walked out of the gate of the Inquisition, he saw Anthony and Frosa walking towards him.

Their eyes soon fell on Lias, who was tied up in Luo Xiu's hands.

Froza quickly came to Luo Xiu, and a hoarse voice came from under his blood-stained helmet, saying:

"It seems that the church has also been attacked by the enemy. However, I am glad to see that you are okay, Master Luo Xiu."

Also? It seems that the "Border Court" has also been invaded by the fangs... But Frosa came here and didn't say anything else, which means that he and Baines are fine... Luo Xiu thought to himself, and then he listened to Frosa say:

"I have heard from your priest that you have captured an enemy leader and are preparing to hand him over to our border court."

"Bianting thanks you for your trust, Lord Luo Xiu. In addition, I would like to invite you to come with me to the Border Court and participate in our interrogation of the prisoners. This is also what Baines asked me to convey."

"I am honored, Mr. Frosa." Luo Xiu nodded and responded to Frosa:

"It just so happens that I also got the news I wanted from this '獠首'."

……

(End of this chapter)