Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 265 [Shadow Devouring the Heart]!
——'Bishop of the Dead' Passaro Adoya!
When he heard Lias say this name, Luo Xiu was obviously stunned.

He didn't expect that he could actually pry out such important information from Lias.

That was a "bishop"! And he was the bishop of our old rival, the "Ancient Priory"!

He is the third enemy of the "Fivefold Fate" that they know of, in addition to "Executioner" Koros and "Hidden Elder" Baberon!

Fuck...

Luo Xiu's heart was in turmoil.

Is this a payback for the previous plot to kill the "Spirit Adventist" Starro and destroy the "Ancient Hermitage"'s plan in Red Maple City?

The strong sense of crisis made Luo Xiu clench his fists involuntarily. Sweat continued to seep out from his palms and was about to drip down from between his fingers.

At this moment, he looked at the "Grand Inquisitor" Baines beside him, only to find that his expression was also frozen for a moment, and his constantly trembling pupils betrayed his inner astonishment.

It's no wonder that Baines couldn't control his expression. It would be difficult for anyone to remain truly calm when they find out that the enemies they are about to face are three saints who have attained the "Fivefold Destiny".

He was just shocked and bewildered, but not desperate or cowardly. Baines' psychological quality was already quite high... Luo Xiu thought to himself, and his gaze fell on Lias in front of him.

He once again carefully examined the character panel of Benlias.

This time, Luo Xiu directly swiped through the long row of "Skills", "Skills" and "Expertise" columns and looked directly at Lias's "Status" column.

In the "Status" column of Lias, in addition to the complicated gain and loss status, there are two inconspicuous status entries mixed in among the regular status entries.

[Death Binding Curse] and [Shadow Gnawing Heart]!
As a believer of [Lost], Lias's profession is also related to "Curse", so it is normal for him to have various abnormal conditions.

However, for these two abnormal conditions, even though the names of the initiators did not appear in the entry details, it was easy for Luo Xiu to guess that [Death Binding Curse] was planted on him by the "Bishop of the Dead" Passaro, and [Shadow Gnawing Heart] was the work of Koros!
The former can be actively triggered by the "Bishop of the Dead" Passaro. Once it is activated, Lias will soon die miserably.

This can be seen as a secret game between "Bishop of the Dead" Passaro and "Executioner" Koros - if Passaro, who serves the Theocracy, does have a secret connection with Koros, then the lives of the "Fang Chiefs" under Koros can also be seen as a bargaining chip for Passaro to gain greater benefits for the Theocracy and himself.

The effect of [Shadow Heart Devouring] is similar to the former. Koros is also firmly controlling Lias' life and may "devour" his heart at any time!
Passaro obviously underestimated Koros's ruthlessness. The words "submission to coercion" were not in Koros' dictionary at all.

Luo Xiu had reason to believe that, if necessary, Kolos would not mind "detonating" his men in front of Passaro, thereby intimidating Passaro and directly overturning his bargaining chips!

Although [Death Binding Curse] and [Shadow Heart Gnawing] are now in an "inactivated" state, Luo Xiu has learned more from them.

From the status bar of the previously transformed "Front Leader" Bagli, I have not seen any similar restrictions like "heart detonator"...

This should be a new insurance set up by Koros to prevent the emergence of a second Bagri. Although maintaining them requires Koros to divert more of his spiritual power and energy, it is indeed effective.

It was less than an hour since Lias was captured and brought to the dungeon of the border court for interrogation.

One hour was not enough for Koros to judge the real-time status of his "fang chiefs".

This was probably the reason why Koros did not "detonate" Lias' heart immediately - if the interrogation was delayed for even half an hour, there was a high probability that Koros would have given up directly, and they would not have been able to interrogate so much information!

Luo Xiu couldn't help but feel fortunate, as the "Border Court Chief" beside him knew nothing about this information.

While Baines was still digesting the huge amount of information he had just received, Luo Xiu had already begun to silently pray for two sacred arts. He then intensified his questioning of Lias:

"So, where is the 'Bishop of the Dead' Passaro Adoya?"

"... on Gustave Street... on the ..."

Just before Lias was about to reveal the specific hiding place, his voice suddenly stopped, and his two eyeballs suddenly bulged forward from his eye sockets.

"Haha...haha..." A phlegm-like sound began to surge in Lias' throat, and black lines appeared and covered his face.

When Luo Xiu noticed the change in Lias, before Baines could react, his right hand had already emitted a golden light and opened the "Triple Holy Guard" barrier.

Pale golden light curtains overlapped layer by layer in front of Luo Xiu, while also protecting the "Great Inquisitor" Baines.

After that, he opened up the field of "Pure Glow", allowing the purifying light to fill the entire prison.

Just when Luo Xiu finished all this, the changes in the "Fang Head" Lias in front of him had reached its peak!
The dense, nematode-like black lines have spread all over Lias's body. At the same time, his bulging pupils have become as turbid as ink.

Thick black smoke like burning charcoal was pouring out from his eye sockets, ears, nostrils and even mouth. It sometimes rose and sometimes settled, and finally accumulated on the ground and turned into boiling black water.

——【Shadow Devouring Heart】! The "Executioner" Koros, who was far outside the Red Maple City, finally detonated it!

In an instant, the "shadow" devoured Lias' heart. The health displayed on his panel instantly returned to zero, without even giving Luo a chance to repair his knife.

It was visible to the naked eye that the body of "Fang-Head" Lias shrank rapidly, and the area of ​​his chest corresponding to his heart gradually eroded from the inside out, forming a horrifying hole filled with black water.

The erosion of "Shadow" did not stop for a moment, and soon, half of Lias' body turned into black water.

The remaining part of Lias' body, which had not yet dissolved in water, was hanging in the shackles at the end of the chain, like a body torn apart by a chariot, swaying strangely in the black smoke.

And this last part quickly disappeared, and the shackles became empty in an instant, leaving only the thick black smoke that was still rising or sinking, and a pool of sticky black water that emitted a foul odor.

These products of the detonation of [Shadow Gnawing Heart] were purified and decomposed into intangible spirituality and dissipated when they spread to Luo Xiu's side. The "corrosive" power did not have any effect on Luo Xiu and Baines, and the clothes they were wearing were not stained by it.

Only after the "Pure Glow" completely purified the black smoke and black water did Luo Xiu withdraw the two sacred arts and said to Baines:

"It's a pity that Lias is dead. The 'Executioner' Koros seemed to have noticed something, and he may have taken the initiative."

"But we have obtained very important intelligence - the 'Bishop of the Dead' Passaro Adoya has sneaked into the city and is somewhere on Gusta Street."

"We have discovered new threats... Although the truth is depressing, it is better than being kept in the dark."

As he spoke, Luo Xiu spread his hands and made a helpless expression to Baines.

Baines also came back to his senses. He looked at Luo Xiu, then at the shackles that had previously locked Lias but were now empty, shook his head and said:
"Hmm... Hmm. Lord Luo Xiu, you are right."

"At least this is not the worst situation. Dying with consciousness is a hundred times better than dying without knowing anything."

Baines said this calmly, with a smile of inexplicable relief on his face.

Uh, I used to think that Baines was “calm”... why does he look so indifferent to life and death now... Luo Xiu complained in his heart.

Throne Knight Frosa also came over and said, "Lias is dead, Lord Luo Xiu. But the information he confessed was too shocking, and the Border Court needs some time to digest it."

Baines also said: "Yes, that's right. The appearance of an 'executioner' has already made the situation delicate, not to mention that now, three such enemies have appeared at once... I have drafted a letter asking for help from the lord, but before the reinforcements arrive, we have to ensure that we can hold on until then." "Yes, I understand." Luo Xiu nodded, and then added:

"Now is the most dangerous moment for Red Maple City, but I always believe that a turning point is hidden in danger."

"Since Lias is dead, I plan to return to the church and not stay any longer."

After saying that, Luo Xiu saluted slightly to Baines and prepared to return first.

The interrogation of Lias was over, and there was no place to stay in the side court. Baines and Frosa immediately escorted Luo Xiu out of the dungeon and sent him to the door of the side court.

After saying a brief farewell to Baines and Frosa, Luo Xiu immediately rode on the "Golden Pegasus" and returned to the church in the night.

……

Red Maple City, Glorious Church.

In the half hour that Luo Xiu went to the border court to participate in the interrogation, the clergy of the church had almost cleaned up the mess caused by the battle.

The damaged buildings could not be restored, but the ruins of those that had collapsed had been cleaned up.

The bodies of those "fang heads" have also been completely burned by the "holy flame", completely eliminating the possibility of "deformation" of their bodies.

Afterwards, the church entered a state of "martial law". Some clergymen went to block the surrounding streets, and the remaining clergymen, under the command of Anthony, patrolled the church all night.

This was a consistent arrangement - to prevent enemy remnants from hiding in nearby streets, and to maintain stability so that civilians would not fall into panic.

……

Luo Xiu returned to the church and went straight to his "high priest's residence" as usual.

But halfway through the journey, he remembered that the "High Priest's Residence" had already been completely destroyed in the previous battle.

At this time, the "Great Priest's Residence", originally a two-story building, was destroyed to the point that only the base remained.

Fortunately, the small tower of the "Medium of Barrier" was still intact, and it would be a quick task to rebuild the residence.

...But I definitely can't go back home tonight. Luo Xiu then turned around and walked towards the Holy Office Hall.

After entering the Holy Office and opening the door of the "bishops' room", Luo Xiu decided to spend the night there.

……

The next morning.

Luo Xiu, who had been lying on a soft chair all night, rubbed his sore waist.

He stayed up all night to prevent a possible second attack from the enemy, and even more to prevent the "Executioner" Koros from taking action personally.

Fortunately, this extreme situation did not happen, and the possibility of them sneaking in and attacking during the day was much smaller than at night, which gave Luo Xiu enough time to prepare.

Luo Xiu then sat up and began his routine day work.

The only advantage of sleeping in the office is that it saves the trouble of traveling... Luo Xiu thought to himself with self-mockery. He quickly finished his work for the day, opened the panel, and calculated the time when the cooldown of "Lost Path Explorer" would end.

And at the moment the cooldown ended, he reopened the kill reward interface of "The Curse Master" Lacish and re-calculated it without hesitation.

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

[Kill rewards have been regenerated]

[Obtain the expertise "Battlefield Mage (Rare)"]!
[Battlefield Mage (Rare): You have received professional training. Compared to mysterious places, you can exert your full strength on the battlefield. 】

[Your "Strength" and "Constitution" attributes +8, the physical damage you receive is reduced by 10%. When the attack initiated by you causes damage to five or more targets, an additional damage is caused to all damaged targets, and the damage value is 10% of the basic damage. ]

【…】

Uh... Battlefield Mage...

Luo Xiu held his forehead with his hand. He thought of some strange professions in other games in his previous life and felt like laughing for some reason.

This expertise still doesn't help Luo Xiu much, but compared to the "Doom Curser", it is a substantial improvement.

Luo Xiu was not prepared to wait for another three days for the cooling-off period, so he simply confirmed the result of this settlement.

Then he stood up from his chair, walked out of the bishops' room and came outside the Holy Office.

He planned to go to the Holy Inquisition and ask Anthony to investigate the matter of the "Bishop of the Dead" Passaro.

But as soon as he walked out of the door of the Holy Office, Luo Xiu saw the chief officer of the "missionary station", Mayev, rushing here in a hurry.

He walked hurriedly, holding a stack of brand new files with the ink not yet dry.

It goes without saying that these were reports on the damage caused by the invasion of the Fangshou the night before... The clergy of the "missionary station" worked overtime all night for this.

There was a faint gleam of "fatigue" in Mayev's eyes.

Luo Xiu then waited there, and Mayev soon saw him and walked towards him with the file in his arms.

When Mayyev came to Luo Xiu, he said:
"Greetings, Lord Luo Xiu, the 'High Priest'. My colleagues at the mission station have sorted out the damage, and you are needed to make the final review."

As expected... Luo Xiu was not surprised and just nodded lightly.

He then listened to Mayev saying:

"Also, the three 'Guardian Knight Colossi' and the materials for the two 'Golden Barrier Altars' that you asked me to prepare earlier have been fully prepared at the missionary station."

"The prototype has been created, and now only the final step remains."

"As long as you infuse them with enough [Glorious] spirituality, they can be put into use."

……

(End of this chapter)